Did you know it's really hard to write jokes about books with central themes of racism? Cyrus and Sarah find this out while covering Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, an epic historical fiction novel about the the 20th century Korean experience of Japan. Our intrepid readers, who were sooo sleepy this week, cover personal experiences with identity, the Kore…

Are we in the cultural zeitgeist yet? This week, Cyrus and Sarah cover Sunrise on the Reaping AND The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, the two latest Hunger Games novels, both of which are prequels to the original trilogy. Did our intrepid readers kind of forget how brutal these books can get? Yeah a little bit. But if we've learn…

RESULTS ARE IN, FOLKS. In the past month, Sarah and Cyrus made a bet to see who could read the most books out of their combined TBR piles. Sarah is a super fast reader with one day a week to functionally dedicate to churning through books; Cyrus is an absolute competitive maniac who would rather destroy their body and mind rather than lose. The sta…

Back at it again in the Animorphs mines. This time, we're reading books 28 through 32, a group that contains vitally important plot, thoughtful and moving character moments, and also whatever is happening in book 28. Cyrus professes their undying love for Marco's self-aware ruthlessness. Sarah understands the world better through children's literat…

Okay, maybe it's not a death pact. More of a "financially ruinous" pact for Cyrus specifically. But with the stakes on the table, they're more than willing to dive in. And with how annoying Cyrus is in this episode, Sarah is happy to crush them beneath capitalism's bootheel. But this is mostly, theoretically, not an episode about engaging in potent…

This week on Cracked Spines, we are discussing Animorphs books 23 through 27, a chunk that includes one of the best books of the series so far and also Cassie lying to strangers about androids while inside a Spencer's Gifts. The series contains multitude and, as we get into this middle stretch, filler. Join us as we watch young teens grapple with i…

Our favorite horror writer is back at it again! This week we read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, a truly harrowing mixture of pregnancy horror, social horror, and eels. In this episode, as you can probably imagine, we talk a lot about abortion rights, fucked up pregnancy stuff, and infanticide. Like honestly probably way too much di…

Hey, everyone! Sarah is one of the thousands of unionized healthcare workers on strike in Oregon. At their last job, Cyrus saw how hard a company will work to destroy a union. Let's do some labor chatting. This is a different episode than usual. We've been thinking about doing some extra episodes on our off weeks about stuff, and this episode? Well…

We discuss the new Murderbot novel, System Collapse by Martha Wells! Which came out in... 2023. We're really part of the zeitgeist. And really, we only talk about Murderbot a little bit before the episode just becomes a confessional booth. Our financial habits are tearing this family apart. Our construction projects are tearing our house apart. Her…

Haunted catacombs! Mysterious knights! Rat man! For those looking for a game manual on their quest through Vermis, you couldn't ask for more. For those looking to actually play Vermis, well, we've got bad news. The book is a video game manual for a retro soulslike that doesn't exist. It's a fantastic piece of meta-fiction with amazing art by Plasti…

Everyone was like, "look out for David *eyes emoji*" and in this episode we find out why. These three books are jampacked with moments that made us scream a little and we discuss them. (Spoiler: RACHEL. I LOVE YOU, QUEEN.) Sarah marvels at Animorph's Pain Per Page ratio. Cyrus ponders if they could fight a whale. None of the characters are happy, b…

Another year, another yearly wrap-up episode. This week, we have a somewhat meandering conversation (gasp! so different from normal!) reflecting on our personal and literary lives. Turns out buying a house will derail your life. We share our favorite books, our upcoming resolutions, and our intimate relationships with our local Lowe's paint counter…

We are pleased to announce this is NOT an episode about Mortal Kombat. You might be surprised at the challenge that presented. It is, however, an episode about the phenomenal science fiction political thriller, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine! Sarah and Cyrus discuss the challenges and delights that such a complex world presents, and Sarah…

Hi, guys! We read more Animorphs. Don't...look at how long its been since the last one. In this episode: Trauma! Murder! Elaborate set pieces! These kids are fighting a war they can't tell anyone about, and they are handling it so well. We discuss character rankings, philosophical quandaries, and the essential nature of Cassie. Like, A LOT of Cassi…

This week on Cracked Spines, Sarah did all the dang work and presents to Cyrus volume one of three Chinese danmei series for their consideration: The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, and You've Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post. Two-thirds of them are completely insane and the last one is morally reprehensib…

What does a feel-good video about compassion in nursing, a trainwreck of social ineptitude at the site of a roadside attraction, and the television show Gravity Falls all have in common? Well, they're all in this episode, kinda funny, and somehow blisteringly earnest! After winning a prestigious Daisy Award for nursing last year, Sarah was selected…

Well, guys. The third of our recorded episodes about Gravity Falls. This is really our Return of the King. Cyrus and Sarah discuss media in-ties for a children's show--Journal Three, Lost Legends, and The Book of Bill, all written by Alex Hirsch. Sarah ponders about the challenges of adapting a story from one medium to another. Cyrus explains why G…

In today's episode, Cyrus bullies Sarah into reading a book she really enjoys. Sucker! For fans of pining, fealty, political maneuvering in a fantasy setting, and panic attacks, you can't go wrong with A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland. Naturally, Sarah spends the entire episode second-guessing how to pronounce the names after literally…

This week, we're reading Nat Cassidy's second horror novel about vampires, babies, and New York real estate that is so completely not ADA compliant. With special guest, our friend and resident horror book recommender Katie! Talking points include: navigating the inherent antisemitism of vampire mythology, Capri-sunning a human being, different type…

Cyrus saw Alien Romulus and loved it so much they immediately went back to see it a second time; Sarah saw Alien Romulus and experienced an internal crisis about the state of feminism in 2012. Somehow, we reconcile these two experiences. Contains spoilers for all of Alien Romulus, discussions of racism, and discussions of sexual assault in the cont…

It makes a valiant effort to try to be, but ultimately fails. We're rusty! We took the summer off! We're just vibing! We're so rusty that frankly the audio on this episode is maybe our worst ever. We're working on it, guys. We come in fresh off watching an episode of Interview With the Vampire, and we won't shut up about it. Cyrus explains all the …

Is there anything better than receiving package in the mail? Well, it helps if you actually enjoy the stuff inside of it. Cyrus and Sarah discuss three months worth of Illumicrate subscription boxes with the ultimate conclusion that maybe this one isn't for us. Cyrus remains a freak for body sharing. Sarah cannot resist trinkets. We also talk about…

Oh my GOD we finally read this book. And it was good! But we are not without thoughts. Turns out 400+ pages of characters hating themselves is occasionally a bummer. Cyrus flip flops on the topic of duologies. Sarah is weirdly positive about the constant misogyny. They both don't talk enough about the horny pain play. Support the show…

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 masculi…

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…

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 sho…

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 w…

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 hurr…

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 …

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 wor…

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 p…

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 bein…

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. Turn…

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 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 p…

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 Wuxia…

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 rom…

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…

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…

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, a…

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, Jame…

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, …

This week, we're talking about The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. Sarah is wildly enthusiastic about the prospect of exploring the complex functioning of a massive government for 900 pages. Cyrus was super busy this week but is extremely game to talk about intimate friendships. Like, weirdly intimate friendships. Like let's get to the ce…

This week on Cracked Spines, it's time to dig into Cyrus' special interests: Ted Lasso and fungus. Mostly fungus. I'd say 90 percent fungus. Cyrus explains their fascination with the organisms that are like if plants had meat and their major gripe with the current state of fungal works out there. Sarah does not wish to join the fungal hivemind but …

MIME STOPS FOR NO MAN. In this episode we primarily discuss Grady Hendrix's newest horror novel, "How to Sell a Haunted House." Of course, we quickly devolve into discussing the entire Hendrixverse and its delicious all you can eat buffet of sloppy nightmare women. Why is Grady Hendrix so good at writing female characters? And most importantly, why…

Hey guys, we got a crazy one. Bad sex, problematic dynamics, and weird, epic love(?): that's right, we're reading The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu! Sorry for all the cross talk in this one, we're just really excited about this absolutely bonkers book. Sarah physically cannot articulate the act of reading this book. Cyrus p…

This week, Sarah and Cyrus tackle a subject that is a particular passion of one of them: the character type of Brave Little Girls. Sarah posits a working definition of what this phrase might mean, and gushes over fictions weird little girls who are asked to do too much and who rise to the occasion. Cyrus wonders if anyone had a normal childhood or …

This week on Cracked Spines, we're talking about one of Cyrus' top books of last year, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, a story about one of our favorite things--a real weird location that does weird things to your brain. Neat! Sarah likes the book but isn't really sure it's about a haunted house. Cyrus likes the book and maintains that of course, of co…

Did you know that Pixar's Cars is actually an installment of the Cosmere? The pieces are all right there. This episode, your hosts talk about epic fantasy to the tune of Brandon Sanderson, from the Stormlight Archives to Mistborn (Sarah's read that, right?) Let's dig into what makes Sanderson's work so hugely popular, and why it doesn't always hit …