In this episode—not for the faint of heart—Rachel and Melody discuss deep questions about death, dying, and decomposition!

Check out what we talked about:

"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory" by Caitlin Doughty with readalike "From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death" by the same author. Also, Caitlin's YouTube channel Ask a Mortician, website OrderoftheGoodDeath.com, Ted Talk "A Burial Practice That Nourishes the Planet", and podcast Death in the Afternoon.

"Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach with readalike "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" by the same author, as well as podcast This Podcast Will Kill You by Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke.

2010 film "Third Star" featuring Benedict Cumberbatch (also known as Benedryl Cabbagepatch, Bandicoot Crashington, Buttercup Catapult . . . you get the idea).

Netflix show "Endgame" with watchalikes "Extremis" and BJ Miller's Ted Talk "What Really Matters at the End of Life."

Check out books, movies, and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System:

https://countycat.mcfls.org/

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

https://wplc.overdrive.com/

https://oakcreeklibrary.org/

Rachel and Melody welcome special guests Sarah and Jill to discuss the art of happiness!

Check out what we talked about:

"You Are a Badass" by Jen Sincero with readalike "The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck" by Sarah Knight.

"The Book of Joy" by Dalai Lama XIV and Desmond Tutu with readalikes "The Art of Happiness" by Dalai Lama XIV and "How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan.

"10% Happier" by Dan Harris with Harris's readalike "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics" and the readalike “A Simple Act of Gratitude” by John Kralik.

Netflix show "Rilakkuma and Kaoru" with readalike series Cozy Classics by Jack and Holman Wang.

Netflix show "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" with Kondo's readalikes "Spark Joy" and "The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up."

Interested in self-help? Try this booklist: https://oakcreeklibrary.org/adult-booklists/#tableid=75

Want to earn prizes for reading? Sign up for our Summer Reading Challenge here: https://oakcreeklibrary.org/src/

Check out books, movies, and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System:

https://countycat.mcfls.org/

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

https://wplc.overdrive.com/

https://oakcreeklibrary.org/

Rachel and Melody welcome special guest, Sarah, to discuss LGBTQ reads this month!

Check out what we talked about:

"Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Sáenz with readalike "The Inexplicable Logic of My Life" by the same author.

"The Paying Guests" by Sarah Waters with readalike "Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932" by Francine Prose.

"The House of Impossible Beauties" by Joseph Cassara based on the 1990 documentary film, "Paris is Burning." Also, "Sketchtacy" by Matilda Bernstein Sycamore.

Sarah's Recommended Reads:

"Stone Butch Blues" and "Drag King Dreams" by Leslie Feinberg

"Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel

"Mean" by Myriam Gurba

"For Today I Am a Boy" by Kim Fu

"Dryland" by Sara Jaffe

"Boy Meets Boy" and "Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan

Interested in more LGBTQ reads? Check out our LGBTQ booklist: https://oakcreeklibrary.org/adult-booklists/#tableid=78

Looking to earn prizes for reading? Sign up for our Summer Reading Challenge here: https://oakcreeklibrary.org/src/

Check out books, movies, and and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System:

countycat.mcfls.org/

www.hoopladigital.com/

wplc.overdrive.com/

oakcreeklibrary.org/

Rachel and Melody talk about their favorite disaster novels and discuss whether they'd survive an apocalypse!

Check out what we talked about:

"One Second After" by William R. Forstchen with "One Year After" and "The Final Day," the remaining books in the After series. Also, the 2018 films "A Quiet Place" and Netflix's "Bird Box."

"Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel with readalike "The Gracekeepers" by Kirsty Logan.

"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood with "The Year of the Flood" and "MaddAddam," the remaining books in the MaddAddam series. Also, Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."

"Dry" by Neal Shusterman with readalike "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson and the Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman.

TV shows "Doomsday Preppers" and "Jericho."

Interested in Disaster reads? Try our Dystopian booklist: https://oakcreeklibrary.org/adult-booklists/#tableid=76.

Wondering about your survival chances? Take this quiz: https://zomboid.com/zombie/

Check out books, movies, and and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System:

https://countycat.mcfls.org/

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

https://wplc.overdrive.com/

https://oakcreeklibrary.org/

Rachel and Melody discuss their latest steampunk reads, as well as two TV and film adaptations based on graphic novels!

Check out what we talked about:

"Soulless" by Gail Carriger with readalike "The Dark Days Club" by Alison Goodman.

"Mortal Engines" by Philip Reeve with his other works including the Fever Crumb series and "Night Flights" as well as readalike "Worldshaker" by Richard Harland. Also, the 2018 film "Mortal Engines."

"The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman with readalike series The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

The Battle Angel Alita series by Yukito Kishiro as well as the 2019 film "Alita: Battle Angel."

TV show "The Umbrella Academy" based on The Umbrella Academy series by Gerard Way.

Interested in Steampunk? Try this booklist: https://oakcreeklibrary.org/adult-booklists/#tableid=98.

Check out books, movies, and and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System:

https://countycat.mcfls.org/

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

https://wplc.overdrive.com/

https://oakcreeklibrary.org/

Join Melody and Rachel as they discuss what they've been reading. This month, we chat about "Girl, Wash Your Face" by Rachel Hollis, "Descender" Volumes 1-3 by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, and "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" by Maria Semple. Check out these books and more at the Oak Creek Public Library, hoopladigital.com, wplc.overdrive.com, or the Hoopla Digital and Libby apps!