Happy Hump Day to you all, beloved listeners! It’s time for another seasonal book preview (the most wonderful four times of the year) (except for Christmas, Christmas is still the actual most wonderful time). Whiskey Jenny and I also answer some listener mail, update you on what we’re reading, and review the fluffy, fun Dear Emma, by Katie Heaney. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go! Episode 61 What We’re Reading City on Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg The Summer before the War, Helen Simonson…
4 CommentsAuthor: Jenny Hamilton
Jack Viertel’s The Secret Life of the American Musical (hat-tip to the fabulous Kim for the recommendation!) isn’t a history of the American musical — a thing about which I would not care at all1 — but rather a dissection of what goes into making it. Viertel breaks down an array of musicals, from Gypsy to Hamilton, into their component parts to explore what makes their engines run. Some of this I was already familiar with, like the not-a-rule-but-sort-of-a-rule that the protagonist has to sing an “I Want” song early on, to get the audience on board with whatever the stakes are…
25 CommentsNot that I am bitter. (I’m not.) But since I wasn’t able to make it this year1, please pop by in the comments and tell me one lovely thing that is happening at BEA. Or if like me you couldn’t go this year, tell me only lovely thing that has happened to you this week. Also, this is your final notice that today is Friday the 13th. Take all reasonable precautions. or any year, thus far? I mainly care about meeting bloggers, and I can do that fine without actually being inside of a convention center ↩
50 CommentsLook, here’s the thing. Let me tell you what the thing is. If you say “sci-fi retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo,” I am going to read that book even if I have to go to several different libraries to get it, which is how Influx, by Daniel Suarez, became one of the oldest books on my TBR spreadsheet, which is how I came to be reading it in the car on a recent road trip. (That’s not the thing.) Influx is about a man called Jon Grady who is such a Maverick that he invents a thing called…
31 CommentsHappy Wednesday, and May the Fourth Be With You! We welcome back special guest star Ashley to discuss All the Birds in the Sky and have a wee showdown between books about science and books about magic. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go! Episode 60 Get at me on Twitter, email the podcast, and friend me (Gin Jenny) and Whiskey Jenny on Goodreads. Or if you wish, you can find us on iTunes (and if you enjoy the podcast, give us a good rating!…
1 CommentOne day, Ajie’s older brother Paul leaves their home in Nigeria, and he never comes back. Ajie was the only one who saw him go. And After Many Days is about the loss of Paul and his presence in their family before he goes. I was reading it in between other things (you’ll be hearing about The Raven King on Monday) that frankly I cared about more, and nevertheless I thought And After Many Days was awfully good. It tells the story of a 1990s Nigerian family in a way that makes a faraway (from me) country in an increasingly faraway time feel…
21 Comments