Vampires do Sexy Science

Explicit content warning

12/06/20 • 71 min

It's... our November episode! In December! Because reasons!
We hope that our sporadic upload schedule (sorry about that) is made up for (we hope) with two amazing books - and our Christmas Book Box unboxing! If you have no idea what our Christmas Book Box is, well, listen to the episode and you'll find out. Easy peasy.
Jess binges and gushes about the page-turned that is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, the first book in the All Souls trilogy. Part foray into dark academia, part Anne Rice vampires do sexy science, this is a book that comes highly recommended.
Vee has a moment with His Majesty's Dragon, the first book in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik - the second Novik book read by Vee this year, and the third book by Novik covered by us this year! Are we... a Naomi Novik podcast? We'll get back to you on that.
We also talk about e-readers, the joys (and necessity) of libraries in Covid times, and laugh a lot. Oh, and did we mention our Book Box unboxing?

Previous Episode

Of course this is our Halloween episode...

In this episode, Vee rationalises that she's reading a spooky Halloween book because all fantasy, if you think about it, is an exploration of the Other. Right? And what is Halloween but a showcase of those things that we avoid and reject and therefore become afraid of? Am I convincing anyone? Probably not.
A Dreamer's Tales by Lord Dunsany (Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany) is a unique exploration of both that otherworldly fantasy that lifts you out of the familiar and yet, at the same time, the fantasy that lives in the mundane. But it's also over a century old, so don't expect anything modern.
Jess reads The Girl He Used To Know by Tracey Garvis Graves, a romance about a neurodivergent protagonist (gasp!) that takes place over two decades. Does this fit the Halloween vibe? Sure.... since it... explores the perspective of someone outside of what society considers typical, and thus someone who's likely to be othered and treated like a ghost! Bam, October read, right there.
And for anyone interested, here's the essay about how Twilight is, and always will be, a disastrous series: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721993/chapters/1339216

Next Episode

Memory Lapses & Pronunciation Problems

'Tis December, which means it's time to rant about our Book Box books! (If that makes no sense to you, listen to the last episode - or, at least, the last ten minutes of it) Well, rant may be a strong word, because we loved both of our books.
Vee reads (most of, sorry!) Circe by Madeline Miller, a retelling of the goddess Circe's story that upheaves the world and smashes the patriarchy and just, gosh, it's so good.
Jess shares what she found most eye opening about Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, self help book but not a self help book about shame and vulnerability and perfectionism, and engages in an act of vulnerability herself!
Happy holidays to everyone!