Episode 86 - The Secret of Moon Lake by Sofia Nova (Gloria Tesch) *Patron’s Choice*
Release Date: 06/09/2020
Hope Never Dies (An Obama Biden Mystery) by Andrew Shaffer *Patron's Choice* - Episode 189
Terrible Book Club
Today's episode features a book that many folks have asked us to read, but it took our brave Patron Miles to finally force us to do it. At last, we've read the famous satirical Obama/Biden crime thriller from 2018 and, honestly, it could've been a lot worse. Thanks so much for your support, Miles, and we hope you like the episode! Remember that if you, too, would like to have us read and review a book of your choice on the show, you can gain that power by .
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Dear America: Down the Rabbit Hole - The Diary of Pringle Rose by Susan Campbell Bartoletti - Episode 188
Terrible Book Club
Today's episode is Part 2 of our childhood nostalgia retrospective! We each chose a book for each other from a series we loved as kids. Paris remembered reading several books in the Dear America series, so Chris chose Down the Rabbit Hole - The Diary of Pringle Rose for our second nostalgia adventure. We actually found ourselves really enjoying this one, so this week's episode is a completely different experience from last week with The Hardy Boys.
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The Witchmaster's Key (The Hardy Boys #55) by Franklin W. Dixon - Episode 187
Terrible Book Club
Today's episode is Part 1 of our childhood nostalgia retrospective! We each chose a book for each other from a series we loved as kids. Chris remembered reading all of The Hardy Boys series, so Paris chose The Witchmaster's Key for our first return trip to childhood. Prepare yourselves for 1970s Satanic Panic absurdity in the UK, complete with evil dentists, rubber masks, the reddest of herrings, and a scene straight out of Misery! Join us next week for Part 2 where we discuss our experience reading something from Paris's beloved childhood book series, Dear America.
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Butch by Jay Rayn - Episode 186
Terrible Book Club
We read Butch for today's episode at the request of listener Os who emailed us last year saying,"A while ago, I read a book that, while incredibly badly written, still somehow left me feeling for the protagonist, because all the other characters are (in every sense of the word) ridiculously homophobic. It's called "Butch" by Jay Rayn. It's a "life story thus far" type of book about a butch woman who constantly ights discrimination in the most cartoonish ways possible and romances just about every woman she meets. I'm 99% sure this is just a veiled attempt at rewriting her own biography by...
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How it Unfolds (Far Reaches Book 1) by James S.A. Corey - Episode 185
Terrible Book Club
This time, we read How it Unfolds (Far Reaches Book 1) by James S.A. Corey, published by Amazon Original Stories in 2023. Chris really enjoyed The Expanse by Corey, so he was looking through other works by them and found this short story. Unfortunately, though, it had a description that made him think it was more suitable for TBC than for his personal reading adventures. Today's episode includes our usual barnyard language along with some discussions of sex and relationship dynamics.
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Valentine's Day for Baby Zeke: An Unofficial Minecraft Book by Dr. Block - Episode 184
Terrible Book Club
Paris & Chris dive back into children's literature and find that Dr. Block may have written some of the healthiest relationship dynamics in all of the books we've reviewed so far for the show.
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Wicked by Gregory Maguire: Part Two *Special Guest The Good Witch of the Northeast* - Episode 183
Terrible Book Club
We had so much to say about Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire that we needed two episodes and an extra person to do it! If you haven't listened to Part One, we recommend going back and listening to last week's episode before listening to this one. This was recommended to us by The Good Witch of the Northeast, who made time to float in on a bubble to be our special guest for this two-part episode. In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of: ableism, pregnancy, parental abuse, racism, sex, &...
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Wicked by Gregory Maguire: Part One *Special Guest The Good Witch of the Northeast* - Episode 182
Terrible Book Club
We had so much to say about Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire that we needed two episodes and an extra person to do it! We'll finish up our discussion in Part Two which will be out next Tuesday. This was recommended to us by The Good Witch of the Northeast, who made time to float in on a bubble to be our special guest for this two-part episode. In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of: ableism, pregnancy, parental abuse, racism, sex, & sexual assault.
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Double Feature: Rathew Love Story: A Love Story by Argus G. + Curiosity: A Book for Curious Minds by Bookinsky* - Episode 181
Terrible Book Club
We've got another Amazon Double Feature for you! Today, we tackle two more pieces of book-like debris that Chris found in the bowels of an Amazon search, the criteria of which has been lost to time: Rathew Love Story: A Love Story by Argus G. Curiosity: A Book for Curious Minds by Bookinsky* (yes, the asterisk is in the author name) Paris goes on a methodology queen adventure as she and Chris discuss whether both of these authors are actually just AI. They also ponder if Paris will live through Season 9 due to the condition of her New England apartment. Over the last several...
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The Getting Even of Tommy Dodd by William Hope Hodgson *Special Guests: Antiques Freaks* - Episode 180
Terrible Book Club
Ring in the new year with the Terrible Antique Book Freaks! The join us today to do a live read of The Getting Even of Tommy Dodd by William Hope Hodgson, a cross-dressing revenge fantasy on the high seas. We know it's not a Carnacki, and we know it's not even scary, but it's the best we can do having read all the 'nacks already. As usual, we're using Eye of Argon rules to read this and we encourage you to get out and help us re-tool them for more generalized Hodgson tomfoolery. In addition to our usual barnyard language, this episode includes or makes reference to: sexual humor...
info_outlineToday's book was read at the behest of our patron Ciaran. Thanks so much for supporting the show, Ciaran! Check out our Patreon here to get this and other rewards for yourself.
Sofia Nova is the new identity of Gloria Tesch. Free from her father's direct influence, she has written a new book outside of the world of Maradonia (though with some noticeable carry-over, from mermaids to boys who just love fishing to the art work). While The Secret of Moon Lake isn't something we'd recommend in its current state, this book shows significant improvement over the Maradonia saga. With some re-writes and good editing, this could sit comfortably in the Goosebumps pantheon.
Content Warning: In addition to our usual barnyard language, this episode contains a brief discussion of pedophilia as well as sirens and sounds of arrest at the very beginning.