Terrible Book Club

Waldo Beyond the Walls: Adventures in the Galaxy by Bill Shook was recommended by an anonymous fan who has been a devoted listener to the podcast for 5 years. Thanks, anonymous friend! We very much appreciate your devotion. Our wonderful anonymous listener here recommended this book because, "It read not like…someone's first pass at writing something...It was so utterly abysmal that it deconstructed my brain…and put me off reading for a wh[o]le week…I ran the [book] by [4 family members, one of whom is] a professionally published writer. Their opinions were in line with my own, and I'm sure yours will be as well…It has been optioned for a movie; these truths need [to] be expressed [so] that [Waldo Beyond the Walls] may be extinguished."

In addition to our usual barnyard language, today's episode includes some discussion of 1990s-era "multiculturalism" which means we'll be touching on race and racism but not heavily.

• Vikings in North America:

• https://brewminate.com/the-norse-in-america-and-the-myth-of-viking-discovery-fact-and-fiction/ or the video version: https://youtu.be/ldOtYQOqCw8?t=450

• https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2023/01/vikings-in-north-america-heres-what-we-really-know

• Massa-two-setts:

• https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/massachusetts-loses-maine.html

Chris found this being discussed on various subreddits related to men writing female characters. The book was pulled from Amazon and other platforms shortly after the internet criticism began, but someone managed to save it on an archive.org page. Thanks to them, our minds are now poisoned - and yours can be, too!

In addition to our usual barnyard language, this episode includes mentions or discussion of nearly every heinous thing you can imagine, some of which include: auto-cannibalism, blood drinking, domestic partner abuse, r*pe/sexual assault, racism, and deadly amounts of misogyny.

• If tackling red-pilling and misogyny feels too big and heavy, follow Sam Kirsch for a quick anti-patriarchy tip of the day and other men's mental health topics in short form (and also some features on books, body mods, guitars, & heavy metal)
• If you're OK with being slowly eaten alive by a woman you hate for the chance to have sex, consider therapy and other health resources instead:
  • https://mantherapy.org/
  • https://www.bethedifferencescv.org/resources-for-men.php

Our Patron Julius the Nice Dragon requested today's book saying, "I want to nominate..."First Impressions" by SJ Saunders…It's the first of three installments in a rather short trilogy I found floating on audible, but it never found an audience. Several years later it has about five total reviews online! So I think the question [for] this book is - Why did it flop the YA "dystopia" space? Is it too mediocre? Just got bad and irrelevant? Good but undiscovered?"

We return to The Dunks! This book is all about cyborgs and supersoldier cloned teens in future Boston. Naturally, we discuss the MBTA for too long because we discover that even in an imagined highly advanced technological society, it still doesn't work. In fact, there is so much Boston-talk in this episode that it may be dangerous to listeners outside of New England. Please be advised.

Our Patron Lucek requested today's book saying, "Drew Hayes is becoming one of my favorite comedic authors. His NPCs and Fred the Vampire account series are very good. . . but we all have to start somewhere. So, I was hoping you'd read his first published novel, Pears and Perils." Join us on the island of Kenowai for a Scooby Doo-esque friendship adventure including a cat who is king, a magical pear, and capitalist buffonery.

This week, we were asked to review The Long Moonlight by our Patron Arrant with nary another word. Such mystery - why was this recommended for the show? Why is this moonlight so very löng?

Many thanks to Arrant for their longtime patronage of the show!

In addition to our usual barnyard language, this episode includes discussion of general fantasy violence/gore.

Our Patron Donnie wrote to us to request Things in Jars saying that neither he nor his wife - nor anyone in their neighborhood book club - was able to finish it, find it enjoyable, or even determine exactly what was happening within the plot. He wanted to know if it was just them or if this book did indeed have a terrible tinge. We were happy to take the case this week and ended up having a lot to discuss in the realms of good, bad, and beyond.

Thank you, Donnie - we very much appreciate your patronage and this recommendation especially!

In addition to our usual barnyard language, this episode includes discussion or mention of: child abduction, decapitation, jarred specimen, surgery, and our non-graphic but ever present ghoul, sexual assault.

This time, our Patron Austin requested that we read Sword Woman by legendary fantasy author Robert E. Howard. We learn that Chris doesn't know how to use a Table of Contents and Paris confesses her fear of reading Howard and potentially inviting the fury of her entire musical subculture.

Our thanks go out to Austin for this recommendation because it was (a) not porn and (b) didn't suck!

This week's review of Millenium University is the product of another of Chris's Amazon Short Reads explorations. Join us this time for some true book sins, like writing out counts for arm stretches, accidentally sentient kitchens, and pacing whiplash!

Listener and friend-of-the-show Charlotte donated Afterlife Love to the show and one look at the cover was enough to secure it a place on the schedule for 2023. This week, we take a trip back to Arizona in 1999 and then onward to all of the etheric and astral planes!

Content Warnings: In addition to our usual barnyard language, this episode includes discussion of: cults, dangerous levels of woo-woo, astral travel, pyramid/MLM schemes, sex, and sexual assault/r*pe.