Monthly Archives: October 2023

Episode 229 – Practical Magic

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Spooky season is here, so we were joined by Lily Sparks, author of the Teen Killers Club trilogy (including the latest book, Teen Killers at Large) and the upcoming The Merciless King of Moore High. We got witchy with the Owens women in Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. This episode will bring all the cats to the schoolyard!

Announcement: Join us in our Discord server on Monday, October 30th at 8:30pm Eastern Time for a live watch of the Practical Magic movie! (It’s currently streaming on Hulu.)

Content warning: Light mention of death of parents, domestic violence, and death of a boyfriend.

Readers advisory: Here.

Footnotes: “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks.

Episode 122 – A Discovery Of Witches

Coming up next: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.

Filed under Podcasts

Readers Advisory: Episode 229 – Practical Magic

Here’s what we suggest instead of/in addition to reading Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. Listen to the podcast to hear us talk about some of these titles in more depth!

Continue reading

Filed under Readers Advisory

Episode 228 – Go Set A Watchman

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

We just wrapped up Banned Books Week in the USA, a time to celebrate our freedom to read and also to speak up about book challenges! We were joined by Jen and Dan, the hosts of the Banned Camp podcast, where they read banned books to investigate why they were banned. They previously read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which is frequently banned and challenged. So together we read the controversial Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, and you know what…maybe we’re challenging it. No, like, we’re not going to call for it to be removed from libraries or anything, just like…are you sure you want to read it? Listen to this episode on your next train ride to Maycomb.

Content warning: Discussion of racism (though we 100% guarantee we do not say the n-word aloud on the podcast, although it is in the text of the book itself), sexual assault, and death of a sibling.

Readers advisoryHere.

Footnotes: Unite Against Book Bans

“How to Fight Book Bans and Challenges” by Kelly Jensen

“Banned Spotlight: To Kill a Mockingbird” by Betsy Gomez

“See where ‘Go Set a Watchman’ overlaps with ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ word-for-word” by Keith Collins and Nikhil Sonnad

Harper Lee: The controversy that still surrounds author’s ‘lost novel’ Go Set a Watchman by Andrew Buncombe

Coming up next: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.

Filed under Podcasts

Readers Advisory: Episode 228 – Go Set A Watchman

Here’s what we suggest instead of/in addition to reading Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. Listen to the podcast to hear us talk about some of these titles in more depth!

Continue reading

Filed under Readers Advisory