The Worst Bestsellers – Details, episodes & analysis

 

Hot Evelyn Summer comes to a bewildering conclusion with The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. We were joined by writer and standup comedian Laura Merli (@passiveabrasive) to discuss this time loop locked room mystery. Fun fact: the American publisher added a 1/2 death to make this title less similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Listen to this episode after watching Laura’s new standup special, Belly Slappin’ Fun, on YouTube!

Readers advisory: Here.

Announcement: RSVP for our live show at Porter Square Books Boston on Tuesday, September 17th at 6pm!

Footnotes: LAPL Interview with Stuart Turton.

Coming up next: Crush by Tracy Wolff.

Don’t cry because Flashback Summer is over; smile because Hot Evelyn Summer is beginning! Returning bisexual icon Margaret H. Willison (1/3 of Two Bossy Dames, don’t check the math) joined us to discuss The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. We had a great time unpacking Evelyn’s wardrobe (which is much more substantial than her frame narrative). If you listen to this episode, you’ll come closer to being able to distinguish Evelyn Hugo from Evelyn Hardcastle.

Readers advisory: Here.

Announcement: RSVP for our live show at Porter Square Books Boston on Tuesday, September 17th at 6pm!

Footnotes: “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Movie: All About the Highly Anticipated Adaptation” by Rebecca Aizin

Coming up next: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Harcastle by Stuart Turton.

Y’all horny for some dragons? We forged a soul bond with comedian, writer, and Scary Mommy Sarah Aswell by reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros together. Listen to this episode while pondering ways to legally murder your classmates!

Content warning: Here there be dragons. Also, dead parents.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: “How Rebecca Yarros Packed Dragons, Magic and Steamy Sex Into a Blockbuster Fantasy” by Alexandra Alter

“Q&A: Rebecca Yarros on Chronic Illness Representation in Fourth Wing” by Riyana Straetker

NPR Weekend Edition: “Veronica Roth’s ‘Carve The Mark’ Is A Fantasy Inspired By Chronic Pain”

Coming up next: Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon.

Flashback Summer is off to the races! Well, kind of. We eventually got to the races after a long slog through the wilderness. We read The Black Stallion Revolts by Walter Farley with returning guest Carrie. It's the classic story of a horse and a horse boy. And a crime boy. Well, we're still waiting for the fingerprint analysis to exonerate the crime boy. Listening to this episode might just cure your amnesia!

It's our 150th episode, and to kick off our 4th Flashback Summer, we asked to hear from you, our listeners. We loved hearing about everyone's childhood favorite books and sharing a little bit about ours.

Bad news: A Werewolf in Riverdale by Caleb Roehrig is not a tie-in to the CW show Riverdale, but rather to the town of Riverdale from the Archie comics. Well--from the Archie Horror comics. Good news: we once again teamed up with J. and Collision from I Don't Even Own a Television to tackle the big questions raised by this novel, most importantly: did you know that Jughead's little hat is called a "whoopee cap," and when Jughead transforms into a werewolf, does he still wear his whoopee cap?

We like X-Men. Our guest Anna (@lcarslibrarian) likes Star Trek. So we thought it would be fun to read the Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men crossover novel Planet X by Michael Jan Friedman. But it turns out that this exhausting crossover novel spends most of its time focused on a new character who isn't particularly connected to either franchise. Set your phasers for "none" and don't read this book!

When the going gets tough, the tough get to reading cozy cat mysteries. We read The Fast and the Furriest by Sofie Ryan, the story of a small coastal town plagued with murder and antiquers. Our opinions were split--Renata liked the cat but not the murder, Kait liked the murder but not the cat, and Duarte just hopes that feline detectives are paid a fair wage. Listen to this episode at a safe social distance from any murderers and/or antiquers!

Katharine McGee's novel American Royals dares to ask: what if the United States had a royal family? And what if the modern-day American royal children were a little bit horny? The Bellwether Friends, Anna and Alene, joined us to discuss this book's baffling structure, insufficient world-building, and potential Wawa sponsorship.

We've been reading too much frivolous lady fiction around here, so we had to make time to read a Serious Book by an Important White Man. Our guest Amy used her human skills of persuasion to get us to read Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan, Finally, someone has dared to ask the questions: what if robots could have emotions and also working penises and also what if the UK had lost the Falklands War?