Cracked Spines

This week we read Ex Marginalia, a collection of essays edited by Chinelo Onwualu that focuses on the experiences of marginalized creators writing speculative fiction. In addition to talking about our favorite essays, we discuss everything from Sofia Tolstoy to Sarah's complicated relationship with her own identity, the joys and pitfalls of masculinity in the media and our own experiences with publishing. Sadly, our multiple digressions talking about how cute our cat was being had to be cut for time. We apologize for what is no doubt a devastating emotional blow. Support the show

The episode title actually doesn't refer to the whole concrete and flooring situation Cyrus has got going on in the basement. This week, we're talking about Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke and Other Misfortunes, a collection of horror stories by Eric LaRocca. We. Didn't LOVE it. Support the show

Who's hungry? This week we're sampling the delights of Dungeon Meshi, aka Delicious in Dungeon, a manga by Ryoko Kui. 50 percent of our podcasting duo is scared of eating zucchini, while the other 50 percent would probably give boiled boot leather a try, so reading a food-related manga really brings out our spirit of debate. But mostly about how to tally up visual novels in our relative book tallies. Also featuring discussions of adaptations, favorite recipes, and the inescapable horrors of immortality. Support the show

I mean, look at the title. What do you want us to say. This is not a traditional episode so much as it is a 50 minute apology-brag about the most exciting thing in our lives right now. We bought a house, and Cyrus is single-handedly tearing it apart, and they are so so happy. I'm happy too, but doing less property damage in general. Support the show

This week on Cracked Spines, we discuss SO MANY BOOKS by British children's fantasy writer Frances Hardinge. Sarah gushes over the strange little girls and bizarre worlds of the books. Cyrus finds a character who is Tobias from Animorphs but somehow sadder and latches onto her instantly. We talk about what defines writing for children and come up with no real answers, but we do get relentlessly bullied by our cats this episode so our lack of conclusion is probably their fault. Books mentioned (all, obviously, by Frances Hardinge): The Lie TreeUnraveller DeeplightCuckoo SongA Skinful of ShadowsA Face Like Glass Support the show

This week we're discussing books 6-10 of Animorphs. This includes The Capture which is a great piece of sci-fi horror that hit Cyrus' preteen brain like a comet. It also includes the first Megamorphs, which isn't a masterfully crafted work of delicious psychological torture but does contain some absolutely perfect set pieces of animal vs knife hurricane chaos so I think they're about equal. We talk about how so many of our predictions for the books came true so quickly and try to what the hell is going to happen next. Sarah gets weird about brain slugs. Cyrus gets weird about Ax eating trash. We are an Animorphs household now. Support the show

Gender, self-determination, and law drama collide in Ann Leckie's Translation State!  Your hosts rank their favorite characters; unsurprisingly, Cyrus was head over heels for pro-vivisection Qven, whereas Sarah was charmed by Enae's swagless detective whimsy. Also, this book about terrifying unknowable aliens and sci-fi political drama is a regency romance, actually. Occasionally we devolve into wailing about how we miss the protagonist of the Imperial Radch trilogy, Breq. Bear with us. Support the show

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, guys. It's time for us to discuss the best of what we read, our disappointments, and what we're planning on next year. Cyrus discovers they're making good progress on their reading list for next year, but only because they forgot that they've already read one of the books. Sarah tries very hard to connect two works together for reasons beyond "...China," with frankly dubious success. The first ten minutes is actually an intervention about cookie making, and it doesn't work even a little. Goodbye, 2023. You treated us alright, but we're ready for the next one. Media Discussed:She Who Became the Sun and He Who Devoured the World by Shelley Parker-ChanThe works of Francis HardingeThe Hand of the Emperor by Victoria GoddardThe Scum Villain's Self-Saving System and Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong XiuShoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun by Wafaa Bilal and Kari Lydersen Thistlefoot by GennaRose NethercottA Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra RowlandForeigner by C.J. CherryhHow to Sell a Haunted House by Grady HendrixSupport the show

Thanks to our generous benefactors on Patreon, we're embarking on our journey to read and discuss the entire 54-book Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate, plus at least a few of the extras! And listen, I know we already had an episode titled "Warcrimes 4 Kids"  but these books make Avatar: The Last Airbender look like a splash fight in an inflatable pool. We talk about the psychological horror elements, the body horror elements, the pervasive sense of tragedy, and the fact that it probably shaped Cyrus as a human being after they got obsessed with the series as a kid. Like, really, they almost named themselves after an Animorphs character. This is our first episode, discussing the set-up for the series and our predictions for what's to come. We'll be spreading out our future episodes over the next few months, so keep an eye on our feed for the next part of the series!Support the show

This week Sarah and Katie (wait whomst? guest host filling in as Cyrus is sequestered in Spain!) discuss two books that are basically the same idea, prepared two different ways: Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente and The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. We talk about the horror of marriage, the horror of cyclical violence, the horror of being treated like a thing, and the Westmoonster Dog Show, which is the setting of a movie we're pitching about the class system and also a werewolf who competes in dog shows. Thanks again to Katie for filling in! Support the show

First things first, this is Sarah and I say an incorrect fact at the end of the episode, the Catholic Church actually updated their guidelines for exorcisms in 1999. Second off, hello, hi, this week, we're discussing My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix,  a book I put off reading for so long that it became a running joke in our household. Turns out? It's good. Also, I talk a lot about exorcisms. Like. A lot. Cyrus this episode is doing the equivalent of meditating underneath a waterfall (the waterfall is made of facts about exorcisms). Other discussion points include: girl best friends, the inherent horror of no one believing you, and how goddamn hard it is to read a book at the hospital. Support the show

Whoops! Your hosts are still totally under the sway of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. This episode, we recap the series as a whole from our favorite characters to which of the cast would bomb the worst at improv comedy. We probably spend a bit too long on that last part.Also featuring Cyrus's undying love for Jiang Cheng, Sarah's touchingly high-brow fanfiction ambitions, and a love letter to alternating timelines.Media Mentions:Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong XiuHamlet by ShakespeareSupport the show

Sarah got Covid! She's fine now. But if you're looking for the stuffiest, most pathetic audio experience you'll ever have in your life, we recorded this episode just for you.  We're taking a hiatus from our intended topic because Sarah's brain isn't working. Instead, we're talking about our experience at Wasteland Weekend: a spectacular all-themed post-apocalyptic extravaganza with amazing people that we spent a good amount of time ignoring to try and read more. Sarah discusses the books on Chinese history and myth she read; Cyrus discusses their acquisition of 100 scalpel blades.Our next episode concluding the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation series will go up one week from now to make up for lost time, and our episode on My Best Friend's Exorcism (that's right folks, Sarah is finally reading it) will go up on October 30th. Thanks for bearing with us through our agonies.Content notes: We briefly touch on abortion rights in the context of feminism as a whole.Support the show

Y'all, y'all, we're real excited for this one. It's a sloppy lil episode where we discuss the first two books of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Dao Zu Shi. The first book took us months to read. The second? A couple days. Shit picks up and gets pretty evil. Delicious. Sarah talks about the walking source of embarrassment that is Wei Wuxian. Cyrus loses their mind over one man psychologically torturing another. We both do our very best with pronunciations, and we plug the bonus episode on The Untamed maybe a little too much. We cannot WAIT to read more. Support the show

No spaceships, no magic systems this week, it's time for some straight up Literature. This week, we're reading Less and Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer. The first book is one of our favorites from 2020; the second is a sequel that dared us to ask the question, "wait what the hell could the sequel possibly be about?" We talk about the inherent romance of loving someone's flaws, the charming writing style of literary farce, and what we'll do to get out of social events. And also. America. A lot of America. If you love navel gazing about what America means, this episode might be up your alley. We only sing "Proud to be an American" a little bit and we promise it's 95% ironic. Support the show

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an elfin asshole with a knife! It's Peter Pan! Or specifically, in this case, Peter Darling by Austin Chant, a delightful romance novel where Peter leaves his identity as Wendy Darling behind to go to Neverland and have a rivalmance with Captain Hook. Exquisite. We discuss the difficulty in adapting challenging (read: rancid) source material, how the original canon traps Wendy in hell, and our ideal casting for James Hook. Despite Cyrus's efforts to the contrary, about a quarter of this episode is dedicated to discussing the 2014 NBC live musical Peter Pan, somehow. Spoiler warning, it's not a good musical.Support the show

This week, we're talking about the first two books of the Aubrey–Maturin series, Master and Commander and Post Captain, but really more specifically we're talking about:  1) how much boat talk is too much boat talk; 2)  is Jack a himbo or THE himbo; and 3) do we want to read 18 more of these. We're both pretty positive about the books while affirming that no, we're not gonna read 18 more. It's a lifestyle commitment we're just not ready to make. Support the show

This week we read uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh well it depends on who you ask. One of us read Delivered from Distraction. One of us read Driven to Distraction. This was. Not on purpose. See how long it takes us to realize. Other talking points include: why case studies are the best form of literature, the brand new eating disorder Sarah's been reading about, and Cyrus' inability to remain within the country. Books discussed: Driven to Distraction (Revised): Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder Paperback by Edward M. Hallowell M.D. and John J. Ratey M.DDelivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder by Edward M. Hallowell M.D. and John J. Ratey M.DThe Picky Eater's Recovery Book: Overcoming Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder by Jennifer J. Thomas, Kendra R. Becker, and Kamryn T. Eddy Support the show

This week, we're digging into the graphic memoir Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe! We're talking gender, fandom, identity, pronouns, sexuality, and our own experiences with all of the above.  Based on our mutual experiences, gender is stored in the gruff old nautical man. Also featuring discussions of all five members of One Direction: Zayne, Harry, James, Brandon, and Ricki-tiki-tavi. Not included in this episode: the number of times we said "Gender Queer" in the Chucky from Chucky voice. A note: This episode contains discussions of transphobia.A second note: Maia Kobabe uses spivak pronouns (e/em/eir). A couple times in this episode, we goof up and use the wrong nonbinary pronouns when referring to em. We're sorry for the slip ups, and we hope you'll find this episode to be entertaining and interesting nonetheless! Support the show

This week we're talking enemy time-spies, bee sting letters, and of course, the all-powerful influence of Trigun twitter. That's right, it's This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. We discuss the age-old label battle of speculative fiction vs literary fiction, Cyrus pitches a tragically unironic World of Warcraft AU, and Sarah stoically endures the criticism of her Until Dawn feelings. And yes, in case you were wondering, the new kitten situation is still destroying our audio. Support the show