Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives by Gretchen Rubin - Episode 225
Release Date: 08/26/2025
"I Don't Believe It!": Richard Wilson's Book of Absurdities by Richard Wilson - Episode 249
Terrible Book Club
This week, it was Scribando's turn to dive into the Box o' Books (aka, The Book Hole). He emerged into another episode of READ, wherein he must speed-run the episode so the podcast doesn't blow up. Once again we're fairly out of our depth with anything from the U.K. and have no real understanding of who Richard Wilson is. Published in 1995 by Michael O'Mara, this book is full of questionable factoids and 1990s-standup-level humor, so be prepared to not find any of the book's content funny. Today’s episode includes our usual barnyard language in addition to some sad excuses for humor from a...
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The Archive: Chapter One (An Interactive Horror Story) by Tin Tipping *Patron's Choice* - Episode 248
Terrible Book Club
Bookbarella is our Dungeon Mistress today as she narrates the first chapter of an interactive story which Scribando must try to survive as the sole player character. Can he make good choices after partaking in the wizard's leaf? Our Patron Tin submitted this to the show - and, for once, we were actually excited about an author's self-submission: "I’m a long time listener and a recent $10/month Patreon member. I’d like to request a review of my game book, The Archive: Chapter One. It’s the first installment of a much larger story, so it’s inevitably going to feel incomplete. It should...
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The Latte Factor by David Bach and John David Mann *Patron’s Choice* - Episode 247
Terrible Book Club
Our Patron Lucek requested any, "...pop financial advice book with some well dressed person with a Rolex and no clue how to actually survive in the real world," so Scribando answered the call. He scrolled and scrolled through the Amazon Bestseller's list for Self Help books until he found this - a parable (that's right - no real-life examples here) about money management that somehow took two adult men to put together despite the fact that its content could fit within a single infographic. Today's episode includes our usual barnyard language and a brief mention of fictional death. We remind...
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The Long Winter by John Christopher - Episode 246
Terrible Book Club
Feeling rather uninspired and lacking the will to live, Bookbarella once more turned her gaze to The Box of Books that a friend sent her a few years ago (thanks again Morgan). Within, she found The Long Winter, originally published in 1962 by Fawcett Publishers. A supposed satire, this feels more like a story trying to be about racism and nationalism in a climate fiction setting and somehow failing at all of these elements in different ways. Today’s episode includes our usual barnyard language in addition to some 1960s flavored racial strife and soap-opera-level infidelity. TBC is an...
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Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc - Episode 245
Terrible Book Club
Scribando ties on his apron and fastens his bowtie for his return to early 20th century American capitalist food business book hell! Our Patron JC suggested this in our Patreon chat simply saying, "I really enjoyed the Orville Redenbacher story. Get ready to GRIND IT OUT with Ray Kroc!!" Oh boy, are we grinding it out here. Every day, the sun rises on a new McDonald’s. Today’s episode includes our usual barnyard language. TBC is an AI-free production. Audio by Oselka Sound.
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The Time of the Dark (Book #1 of the Darwath Trilogy) by Barbara Hambly - Episode 244
Terrible Book Club
Several years ago, while Bookbarella was away for a few months, this 1980s fantasy book appeared on her desk and no one ever admitted to leaving it there. She saw a wizard on the cover and tossed it into the future TBC pile, thinking nothing of it. Years later, she was consulting a friend about which books she should pick for TBC episodes this year and he helpfully reminded her that the wizard on the cover is a bit different from most wizards you see on fantasy book covers - he's sitting in a shitty apartment, having just cracked open a foaming beer above a bag of potato chips spilled on the...
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Addiction To Anxiety (Cyber Midnight Society Book 1) by Jeff Barber *Patron’s Choice* - Episode 243
Terrible Book Club
Scribando tackles a rare author Patron's Choice this week which we tend not to do that often, since most authors and publicists just fire off an email to any podcast with the word “book” in it and want to be a guest on the show. However, our Patron Jeff seemed to get what was going on here. When asked if he understood the show, he replied: "Honestly, after I had listened to a handful of random episodes both recently and a couple years ago, I think my book might just be on brand for your brand...the book is like an onion with layers and at its core it might be either sweet or stinky...
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The Last Days of Christ the Vampire by J.G. Eccarius - Episode 242
Terrible Book Club
Sometimes you go to a pool party. Sometimes, that pool party also has a car with a trunk full of books. This was one of those books. Resources & References: Important Show Update: This episode was mostly edited, but did not go through our final editing process because, most unfortunately, Scribando's laptop was lost in Canada yesterday. If any of you live in or near Montreal, we wouldn't mind some help retrieving it (seriously)! The show may need to take on a different character for a few episodes while we get our bearings to deal with this major loss of material. We were about...
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The Footprint Of Mussolini by Errol Murphy: Part II *Patron's Choice* - Episode 241
Terrible Book Club
This is the continuation of Episode 240. If you haven't listened to that, please go back and do so because otherwise this isn't going to make a ton of sense. If you've ever wanted TBC to be a sleepy podcast to help you drift off into dreamland, you're in luck this episode and the next! Scribando worked really hard on this one but it is really just him retelling history, both real and imagined. Our Patron Miles submitted this as his Patron's Choice this season saying, "This book was originally published online via the website Alternatehistory.com and then was later given an actual published...
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The Footprint Of Mussolini by Errol Murphy: Part I *Patron's Choice* - Episode 240
Terrible Book Club
If you've ever wanted TBC to be a sleepy podcast to help you drift off into dreamland, you're in luck this episode and the next! Scribando worked really hard on this one but it is really just him retelling history, both real and imagined. Our Patron Miles submitted this as his Patron's Choice this season saying, "This book was originally published online via the website Alternatehistory.com and then was later given an actual published release. Much like a lot of stories on that site, it's broken up into various segments detailing how things have changed leading up to a certain point. I suppose...
info_outlineWe 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:
- Dr. Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
- The Good Life by Robert Waldinger, MD & Marc Shulz, PhD
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The Science of Well-Being: Dr. Laurie's Yale course, free for adults and a teen version
- University of New Hampshire - Positive Psychology
- The You You Are by Ricken Hale, PhD
Content Warnings: In addition to our usual barnyard language, today’s episode includes discussion or mention of capitalism and eating the rich.