Dear America: Down the Rabbit Hole - The Diary of Pringle Rose by Susan Campbell Bartoletti - Episode 188
Release Date: 04/02/2024
Verity by Colleen Hoover - Episode 205
Terrible Book Club
This week we're discussing our experience reading Verity by Colleen Hoover. We selected this for today’s episode because it has appeared fairly often in reddit posts regarding bad books. Plus, we like to try to touch on current, popular authors when we can amidst the sea of deep weird terrible books we cover throughout the year. Off-topic musings and derailments include: Paris Uses Maps About It™, the truth of our Dark Lord Mr. Peanut, and we struggle to solve this GRE murder problem. In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of...
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Special Bonus: Rock Band Romance Novel Guessing Game *Special Guest The Mothman* - Episode XXXX
Terrible Book Club
We've released this as an alternate episode if today's regular episode is a bit too much for you on this particular day. Please enjoy the audio from a Patron-only video special from 2021 where Paris and The Mothman (Antiques Freaks Ken) play a guessing game that Chris created. You can find if you'd like to see us in all of our three-years-ago-physical-glory. We know you love the games we come up with sometimes here at TBC, so Chris has challenged Team MothParis to a game where they must choose which bands are real or from rock band romance novels and which musician names Chris made up....
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The Way of the Shadow Wolves: The Deep State and the Hijacking of America by Steven Seagal & Tom Morrissey *Patrons Choice* - Episode 204
Terrible Book Club
*The US general election is TODAY! Get out there and vote in person if you haven’t yet voted early or by mail. Head to for all the information you need to help you cast your ballot.* We've released an alternate episode for you if today's regular episode is a bit too much to listen to on this particular day. Please enjoy where Paris and The Mothman (Antiques Freaks Ken) play a romance novel guessing game that Chris created. You can find the audio-only version in our regular feed in your podcast app. Musings and derailments in this episode include: jihadi dentists, Mt. Rushmore vs. the...
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What the Spell? (Life’s a Witch #1) by Brittany Geragotelis - Episode 203
Terrible Book Club
This was recommended eons ago in the age of 2021 by Twitter user KirliaHookah who described this book as, “Hey what if we crossed Sabrina the Teenage Witch with Mean Girls poorly?" which turned out to be perfectly accurate. Musings and derailments in this episode include: Chris's DeathNote powers, George Michael Clooney, the Dance of Tables, the limits of school guidance counselors, Chris's criminal past, and we play a magic word guessing game. In addition to our barnyard langauge, today's episode includes discussion or mention of bullying.
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The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth *Special Guest Mary Parker* - Episode 202
Terrible Book Club
Happy Octoberween, dear listeners! In honor of the season, we bring you some spook-adjacent books for October's episodes. Today, our favorite guest Mary Parker is back with the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera musical - in book form! Although it was also turned into a musical, but remember this book is not the sequel to the original Phantom of the Opera book by Gaston Leroux...yeah. Musings and derailments in this episode include: the morning routine underneath the Opera Populaire, Paris transforms into Girl Boss Mammon, Mary becomes a Valley Girl Priest, and Chris plays God. In addition to...
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Second, Ambitions (Book #2 of Last Intentions) by SJ Saunders *Patron's Choice* - Episode 201
Terrible Book Club
Julius the Nice Dragon offered us a true Patron's Choice: Return to The Dunks or choose a new path. We still had plenty of iced coffees to trade, so we made the only choice we could as Bostonians. We rarely recommend prerequisites for episodes, but we think you should check out our review of the first book in this series before listening to today's episode because a) it's a good episode and b) we'll address elements of the series in that episode that we skipped today: Musings and derailments in this episode include: Boston, the MBTA, Mass Metal Gear Solid, store brand names, and a brief...
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Fourth Wing Storytime & Terriblo's Choice Awards - Episode 200 Livestream Spectacular
Terrible Book Club
Chris read Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros on his own and retold the plot to Paris on this very special Twitch livestream to celebrate 200 episodes of Terrible Book Club. Afterwards, we bestow honors on the last 100 books over 11 categories in the 2nd edition of Terriblo's Choice Awards. Watch the video version of this episode for free on ! *The general election is coming up fast! Head to to check your voter registration, register to vote, preview your next ballot, or request a mail-in or absentee ballot.* (1:58:47) The 2nd Quadrennial Terriblo's Choice Awards - Episodes 101-199: ...
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Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree *Patron's Choice* - Episode 199
Terrible Book Club
We finally got around to checking out this 2023 BookTok phenomenon thanks to our Patron Austin, who described Legends & Lattes as, "a cozy and wholesome story about overcoming your past and settling down to...side with the mob threatening to burn down your establishment.” Despite the nerdy theme, the focus today is more on the cozy than the fantastical. Our poisoned expectations are completely subverted and we've rarely been so delighted. In addition to our usual barnyard language, we warn you that this discussion will make you think about how you could really go for one...
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Less Terrible Book Club 2024 - Episode 198
Terrible Book Club
This time, we read stuff NOT for TBC, listened to music, watched TV and movies, and played video games! After a failed guest episode, we had to fill the schedule so we decided to do another recap of the non-TBC books, music, and video games we've enjoyed so far this year like we did at the end of last year. If this is your first time listening to this show, maybe choose another episode because today we’re talking about our personal media consumption so far in 2024, so you’ll (mostly) hear about things we actually liked for once. Musings and derailments in this episode include: our love for...
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Cultural Passport: Book 1 by Shivangi Sharma - Episode 197
Terrible Book Club
A fateful tweet last summer by the author themselves brought this book into our terrible orbit. At first glance, it looked like a short read by someone with expertise in the field they were writing about, so we figured why not? We've never done a travel book on the show! Little did we know: our passports were about to be stamped for a journey on a AI-fueled train to capitalist hell. Today's episode includes our usual barnyard language and some references to colonialism and sex. Please Note: Chris accidentally mispronounced Cristiano Rinaldo's first name as Christian throughout the entire...
info_outlineToday'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.