Points of Origin by John L. Orr *Patron’s Choice* - Episode 221
Release Date: 07/01/2025
A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas *Special Guest Emily* - Episode 231
Terrible Book Club
The time has come. It was inevitable; at last, we submitted to the will of Terriblo, listeners, and fate to bring down the evil monarch and find our destined mate - I mean, bring you our review of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, popularly known by its acronym of ACOTAR. To ease us through this experience, I’ve brought my emotional support Emily who herself is an avid reader who has suffered through not only this first book, but most of the series that follows. In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of hunting, kidnapping,...
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The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas - Episode 230
Terrible Book Club
Happy Halloween! This episode was supposed to air on 11/4, but we figured you'd all appreciate hearing this one a week early in the spirit of the season. The next episode will air on schedule on 11/18, so make sure you check out some older spooky season TBC episodes while you wait: This week it was Chris's turn to head over to r/horrorlit to pick through more of the sub's worst horror books from 2024. He was lured to The Paleontologist simply based on the thought that ghost dinosaurs seemed an especially funny concept. In addition to our usual barnyard language,...
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Other Misfortunes (The Enchantment and You'll Find It's Like That All Over) by Eric LaRocca - Episode 229
Terrible Book Club
For this year’s Spooky Season, we headed over to reddit to see what r/horrorlit thought were the worst horror books they read in 2024. It seemed that Eric LaRocca’s novella Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke was widely hated by the sub, but since the Antiques Freaks already reviewed that back in October 2023, Paris chose to instead read two short stories packaged together as Other Misfortunes with Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke in the edition she had. Other Misfortunes: The Enchantment You'll Find It's Like That All Over In addition to our usual barnyard...
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From Fan To Family: Embracing Jason Momoa’s World by Ligaya “Aying” Espina Cerny - Episode 228
Terrible Book Club
Today's book was suggested to us by a fan on Instagram who said, “Your schedule is probably still full but I have the book to end all terrible books. [Redacted] wrote this about her love (obsession) for Jason Mamoa and it is a mess; it’s absolutely terrible." This extremely personal book of poetry rotates around the axis of Jason Momoa and takes us to many strange, sad places. In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of intense parasocial relationships, cancer/terminal illness, and big 'ol age gap relationships. References &...
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After Dinner Conversation Magazine: Sample Issue - Episode 227
Terrible Book Club
This week, Paris discusses her experience reading the sample issue of a magazine called After Dinner Conversation from the non-profit philosophy and ethics short fiction publisher of the same name. They DM’ed us on Twitter saying they wanted us to try their free sample issue, so we actually took them up on this offer because we’ve never reviewed a magazine before. It's a year of firsts on TBC! Stories featured in the sample issue: Abrama’s End Game by David Shultz The Lives and Times of David Hackman by Patrick Hueller Pappou’s Garden by Fotis Banis The Zombie in the Bathroom by...
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I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki / Illustrated by Yoshi Yoshitani *Patron's Choice* - Episode 226
Terrible Book Club
Our patron rootbeercutie recommended I Am Not Starfire and since we had somehow not done a graphic novel in the 10 years of this podcast, Chris stepped up to tackle this Teen Titans spinoff. Today's episode features a whole lot of superhero tropes and parent/child strife; even good art and a lesbian protagonist who gets a happy ending couldn't save this one, though.
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Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives by Gretchen Rubin - Episode 225
Terrible Book Club
We haven’t done any self-help lately, so Paris braved Oprah's Book Club list to pull the recently published Secrets of Adulthood straight from its maw. Though it attempted to take her, she fought her way out to bring you this episode about the science of happiness and the pop cultural grift which swirls around it. References & Resources: Content Warnings: In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of capitalism and eating the rich.
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TBC Plays DragonRaid by Dick Wulf *Special Guests Phoebe & Kami* - Episode 224
Terrible Book Club
One dark day in the TBC Patreon chat dungeons, our Patron Austin scrawled the following message to us: "...[D]uring the 80s there was a guy literally named Dick Wulf (Not to be confused with law and order producer and writer Dick Wolf) who made a Christian version of D&D called Dragonraid. There's very little documentation online about what the game system was like but it did exist and from what I can gather there was some sort of mechanic involving casting spells by reciting bible verses. Cut to like 2020, some forty years later, some Christian company approaches Dick Wulf to buy the...
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Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff by Sean Penn *Patron’s Choice* - Episode 223
Terrible Book Club
Paris must conquer her fear and loathing to survive this gonzo, idiocratic adventure from the mind of Sean Penn (yes, the actor). Our Patron George submitted this as his Patron's request this season saying, “I've been listening to you guys for a long time and this is the first time I've ever found anything that you folks might be interested [in]. I present to you: Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, a book that is only 176 [pgs.] and was somehow still one of the most dreadful slogs I've ever read.” Thank you so much for your support, George! We hope you enjoy this episode we made just for you. In...
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Icebreaker by Hannah Grace *Patron's Choice* - Episode 222
Terrible Book Club
In this second half of our accidental TBC of Ice & Fire recording session, Chris tackles a book left on his doorstep by a minion of Terriblo themselves with a note: "Dear Paris and Chris, I, the Dark God of horrid literature, appreciate your work in spreading the word of terrible books with your podcast. As such I've tasked one of my cultists, your listener Lucek, with delivering this book to your care. Please take this donation to the cause as an act of support and not a means of disencouragement, regardless of what the book does to your sanity. I hope to see many more years of great...
info_outlineParis is on the case again this week! Our Patron Patrick requested that we read and review Points of Origin saying, “This book was written as a fictional story about a fictional investigator trying to catch a serial arsonist who was terrorizing California in the 1980s. The author was a[n] actual fire investigator at the time and this [was] based off of real events. Literally real events! Because it turns out the author John Orr, the arson investigator, was [convicted of being] the real life arsonist…This book was even used during his trial. In the book he had knowledge about the crimes which weren't available to him and [he] wouldn't have known. At one point in the book the author slipped up and switched from 3rd person to first person when talking about one of [the] victims."
Thank you so much for supporting the show, Patrick! We hope you enjoy this very special true crime episode of TBC.
We owe some additional thanks to the rest of our patrons whose funding allowed us easier access to extra research material for this episode. All hail the patrons!
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 joining our Patreon at the appropriate tier.
Today’s episode includes our usual barnyard language in addition to arson, fires and their fetishization, infidelity, murder, sexual assault, and other sexual themes.
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