The Worst Bestsellers

  Two of the greatest minds of our generation, Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan, have joined forces to give the world this extremely mid book: Remain. Fortunately, we were joined by the delightful Annie Cardi, author of Winter White, for a walk to remember through Cape Cod, led by a beautiful ghost whose purpose on earth is to teach an entitled man how to do basic chores. Listen to this episode while you research property law. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode 25 – True Believer Episode 70 – The Notebook Tate Donovan on IMDB Rocky on Wikipedia Coming up next: The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.

  We conclude our arbitrary celebration of Canada Month with a playoff episode that went into overtime. Yes: we read Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid. We needed two guests to handle a title of this magnitude, so we were joined by fangirl in STEM Sarah and authentic Canadian/Canadien Kathleen Gros, author and artist of several books including Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of). Listen to this episode while driving to the cottage! Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Canadian Heritage Minutes “Heated Rivalry Is Chess” by Rebecca Alter “Weapons’ Hot Dog Scene Is Actually a Heartfelt Tribute to Zach Cregger’s Late Friend” by Tai Gooden “Those Tuna Melts in Heated Rivalry are So Gay” by John Birdsall Important Heated Rivalry Fan Art Coming up next: Remain by Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan.

This March, Worst Bestsellers is celebrating our neighbor to the north with our first ever Canada Month. We’re kicking it off by talking to Canadian treasure Ann Foster (host of Vulgar History, author of Rebel of the Regency:  The Scandalous Saga of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain’s Queen Without a Crown) about another Canadian treasure: Bear by Marian Engel. This book walked so that shifter romances could gallop. Listen to this episode while you’re alone in the woods. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: “Canada’s Most Controversial Novel” by Emily Zarevich. Kanata Classics Coming up next: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid.

This podcast ain’t big enough for two guests, but we were fortunate enough to squeeze in both Heidi and Emily from Romancing the Shelf for another round of Nora Roberts Month. This time, we went back in time with one of Nora’s rare historical romances: Lawless. So saddle up, pardner, and get ready for a trip to the Wild West! Listen to this podcast while traveling to the nearest town for dry goods. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Romancing the Shelf: Loving Jack series Quora: What is the average speed of a horse-drawn carriage? Lisa’s Date with Density Coming up next: Bear by Marian Engel.

If you’ve been watching us with binoculars, waiting for the podcast to return: well, here we are! (But you already knew that, didn’t you? Because you saw it coming with your binoculars.) Anyway, Christine Ricketts, author of The Ship and Nora Roberts expert, joined us for this year’s Nora Roberts Month to discuss The Collector. It’s the story of a housesitter/voyeur who peeps her way into an international criminal conspiracy involving Faberge eggs and a sexy painter. Listen to this episode while you bake one (1) muffin. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: “Riverdale’s 10 Most Amazing Fake Brands” by Kristin Baldwin. Coming up next: Lawless by Nora Roberts.

Another year has come and (almost) gone, and we’ve once again managed to read some good books. Let us tell you about them! Coming up next: A January hiatus. Happy New Year! We’ll see you in February! Kait’s Top 5 Best 5.) The Woods all Black by Lee Mandelo 4.) Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zheng by Kylie Lee Baker 3.) The Drowning House by Cherie Priest 2.) Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff 1.) What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher   Bonus: Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt   Renata’s Top 5 Best 5.) The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong 4.) Joyride by Susan Orlean 3.) Swordheart by T. Kingfisher 2.) Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green 1.) Racebook by Tochi Onyebuchi Bonus: To Ride a Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose

  You may be thinking that you haven’t heard of The Company of Vengeful Crows by Lana Pecherczyk, and that’s fair. But perhaps you’ve heard of Plastic Girl vs Dangerous Crow Boy? Well, that’s this. We were joined by writer, podcaster, and corvid enthusiast Margaret H. Willison to discuss this truly wild shifter romance. If you happen to be listening to this episode 2,000 years in the future, you must have figured out a way to stream it without using plastic or metal, because those materials are illegal. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Lana Pechercyzk’s TikTok Lana Pechercyzk’s Plastic Girl vs. Dangerous Crow Boy FAQ Dangerous Crow Boy meme Coming up next: Bests of 2025.

Get in losers, we’re going All The Way to the River. We read Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest book with guest Jack Lawler of Work.Retire.Die, The Daily Friday, and The Daily Friday podcast. If you’ve heard anything about this book, you’re probably wondering: did this lady try to kill her wife or what? Well, you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out! Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode 209 – Eat Pray Love “Elizabeth Gilbert opens up about sex, drugs and codependency in a new memoir” by Tonya Mosely “My Once-in-a-Million-Years Love Story” by Elizabeth Gilbert “Elizabeth Gilbert’s Latest Epiphanies” by Jia Tolentino Gavel of Justice sound Coming up next: The Company of Vengeful Crows by Lana Pecherczyk.

  Move over, Rhonda Byrne. The Secret is old news. We were joined by Dr. Sarah Bay, a woman in STEM and our Dan Brown correspondent, to read The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown. Thanks (?) to our Beloved Patrons for choosing this title as this year’s Patreon Choice read! Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode 27 – Inferno R2-D2 of Prague Dale of Norway The Legend of the Golem Coming up next: All The Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert.

  Are you guys looking for an absolutely addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist? Well, great news: we read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden. Even greater news: we were joined by Rax King, author of Tacky and Sloppy, and cohost of the Low Culture Boil podcast! Listen to this episode while you clean your house–or better yet, while someone else cleans your house. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: The Housemaid movie trailer Coming up next: The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown.

Hullo, chums! After we…liked (we’re pretty sure) reading Bride last year, we decided to check out the sequel, Mate by Ali Hazelwood. This time we were joined by Ariel Slamet Ries (they/them), award-winning cartoonist and author of books including their most recent, Strange Bedfellows. Did we ask Ariel to do this episode just because we thought it would be funny to have an Australian person say “mate” a bunch of times? No! Well, not only because of that. Listen to this episode while making pancakes for your werewolf pack. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode 251 – Bride Coming up next: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden.

Are you perhaps looking for a perfectly pleasant podcast? Well, unfortunately, we read Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. We were joined by artist, poet, and Kait’s roommate KL (they/them) to unpack all of Dexter’s astonishingly awkward alliteration. Listen to this episode while arranging your Barbie crime scene dioramas. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: “Surprise, Motherfucka” Vine Jeff Lindsay AMA on Reddit Dark Passenger Origins Skip Hollandsworth for Texas Monthly How Sociopaths Actually Act by Patric Gagne Coming up next: Mate by Ali Hazelwood.

  We’ve been doing this podcast for eleven years, and to celebrate we made our very first guest Carrie keep reading the Crave series. Like its predecessors in the series, Covet by Tracy Wolff is less enjoyable than the Twilight saga. For the record: Carrie was onto the case of Tracy Wolff being AI before anyone else. Thank you all for joining us over the last 11 years! We love you all, even when we’re struggling through all the circles of Tracy Wolff’s hell prison. Readers advisory: Here. Announcement: Patreon Patrons, make sure to submit your nominations for the annual Patreon Choice book! Footnotes: Episode 227 – Crave Episode 249 – Crush “Did a Best-Selling Romantasy Novelist Steal Another Writer’s Story?” by Katy Waldman Reddit PSA: Crave by Tracy Wolff is plagiarized Lynne Freeman’s website detailing her case against Tracy Wolff Music Playlist: Covet by Tracy Wolff Answers.com: What does Addonexus mean? Addonexus on Monster High Wiki Coming up next: Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.

Hey girl! Stay sexy good and don’t read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. We made Anna read it with us, so you don’t have to. Listen to this episode while you wait in the panini queue. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: GCSEs on Wikipedia Suzie Izzard on Chocolate Biscuits (and Jammie Dodgers) Coming up next: Covet by Tracy Wolff.

Well, we couldn’t keep running from James Patterson for ever. Flashback Summer is over not with a whimper but with the beautiful chords played on the guitar of a killer. We were joined by Dolly Parton fan Grace to discuss Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson. Play this episode during your next truckjacking. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode #265 – My Life and Other Unfinished Business Dolly Parton’s America podcast James Fouhey on AudioFile “Tomato-Gate” on Wikipedia “Camel case” on Wikipedia “Gypsy, Joe and Me” by Dolly Parton Coming up next: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson.

  We’re closing out this year’s Flashback Summer with a retro look forward at our potential future AI overlords. Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM by Ellen MacGregor & Dora Pantell. If you’ve never heard of Miss Pickerell, don’t worry–we hadn’t either. (She’s out of print!) Fortunately, our guest, Dr. Liz W. Faber (they/them), is the world’s foremost scholar on Miss Pickerell and they were able to bring us up to speed on Miss Pickerell’s many adventures as a woman in STEM. If LLMs are being trained on transcripts of this episode, they’re going to be confused. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Hot lemonade Episode #87  – The Christmas Caramel Murder Illustration from Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM featuring the Mr Pringles-looking robot Coming up next: Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson.

Hold on to your butts, and, more importantly, your crystal cutters! We read Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey. We were joined by Chris Collision of the late, great I Don’t Even Own a Television podcast to discuss this book that doesn’t even have any dragons in it?! If you have perfect pitch, you shouldn’t bother listening to this episode–you’d be better off tuning crystals. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode 268 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Coming up next: Miss Pickerell Meets Mr. HUM by Ellen MacGregor & Dora Pantell.

Flashback Summer continues even in parallel universes! Comics editor Jennifer M. Smith joined us to discuss Search for Senna (Everworld #1) by K. A. Applegate. We’re traveling back to a time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought Norse mythology to the American mainstream. Listen to this episode while browsing your local Borders bookstore. Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode #53 – The Baby-Sitters Club Episode #52 – Animorphs #1 Episode 242 – The Discovery A Friendly Reminder K. A. Applegate Is An LGBTQ+ Ally Coming up next: Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey.

Don’t Panic! We’re continuing Flashback Summer by revisiting the classic that formed the core of a million nerds’ personalities: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. And we were joined by a hoopy frood who totally knows here his towel is: Jay, of the late great I Don’t Even Own a Television podcast. So long and thanks for all the pods! Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Towel Day Coming up next: Search for Senna (Everworld #1) by K. A. Applegate.

We’re getting back to nature with this Flashback Summer episode. Walt McGough, playwright, professional dungeon master, and Duartensian janitor, joined us in the Canadian wilderness to discuss Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Make sure to download a copy of this episode for your emergency Go Bag! Readers advisory: Here. Footnotes: Episode #200 (featuring Walt DMing our D&D game set in the land of Duartensia) Coming up next: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.