The Un-Book Reporter’s Four Favorite Podcasts So Far

Sorry to report that I’m still not feeling up to a normal UnBook Report. I’m still adjusting to the new meds and still in the middle of a massive project, and also it’s my birthday and my gift to myself was to just relax. But of course I don’t want to leave you with nothing, so I thought I’d share my new hobby—listening to podcasts. …Look, I’m slow to pick up on new things. The first two podcasts analyze stories and the second two are stories. I hope you find something new to enjoy.

Mythcreants Podcast—Geeky Conversation

If you read my last post, the Mythcreants should sound familiar. I love their articles and am loving their podcast just as much. I’m not very far in (there are 72 at time of writing) but the Mythcreants Podcast has been my go-to means of relaxing this last week; I listened to two today.

The Mythcreants podcast’s topics of discussion are as broad as the topics covered by their articles. I like the conversational nature between the three…authors? Narrators? I’m not sure of the correct terminology here. But listening to this podcast feels like I’m hanging out with friends. Because yes, this is the kind of stuff I discuss with my friends. What can I say? I’m a story-geek.

A Brief Collection of The UnBook Reporter’s Story Studying Resources

I need some more time before I’m back in full UnBook Reporting shape so tonight will be another short post tangentially related to my normal content. Still working on that project, and also changing antidepressants—things got bad enough during the previous two…three? weeks that I made an appointment to see my doctor.

Anyways, tonight I thought I’d share some of my favorite places online to research the all the elements that go into making a story.

Tvtropes—The Site That Formalized My Obsession

TvTropes Will Ruin Your Life and Your Vocabulary and I have happily embrace both forms of ruination. My first foray onto tvtropes was probably when I began officially studying story structure, character archetypes, genre conventions, and all the rest. I’ve always loved stories and found myself picking up on patterns, but tvtropes helped cemented my desire to actually study them. Seriously though, don’t even glance at that site unless you’ve got at least a solid three hours to spend down that rabbit hole.

Something a Little Different

I’ve got a big project taking all my energy and time right now but I didn’t want to leave you with nothing. So here’s a few links to some book review blogs I like. Hope you enjoy.

Books By Proxy

Books By Proxy has some fun “features” in addition to the reviews, such as Book Haul, Teaser Tuesday , Tough Traveling (inspired by Diana Wynne Jones’s Tough Guide to Fantasyland which is back in print!), amongst others. But my favorite feature is The Friday Face Off, where the author compares the different covers of a single book. Lots of fantasy books reviewed, and crime, historical fiction, and some scifi.

Girl Who Reads

Girl Who Reads has multiple writers and a variety of styles of post. Some are straight up reviews of a single book, others posts talk about a collection of books centered on some theme. Right now they’re about half through a series of articles called the #AtoZChallenge. All genres reviewed, including some non-fiction.

Lauren’s Bookshelf

Lauren’s Bookshelf is the newest addition to my collection of book reviewing sites. I’ve found the articles I’ve read so far insightful and well thought out. There are some author guest posts, and a good handful of genres reviewed, all of which categories are conveniently linked to at the top of the site.

Conclusion

I should be back with a normal review next week (I even have the show I want to do picked out and just one more episode to watch). Meantime, happy reading!

Furiously Happy—Crazy Awesome and Awesomely Crazy

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson, the Bloggess

The subtitle for Furiously Happy is “A Funny Book About Horrible Things” and it is exactly that. There isn’t a cohesive narrative to the chapters (and some chapters can only dubiously be called cohesive themselves) but this isn’t exactly an anthology either. I think “conglomeration” might be suitable. This review will also be more personal than my usual because everything about this book is personal, a life and soul simultaneously laid bare and clothed in humor. Because human beings are contradictory bastards.

1—Laughing About Things That Should Not Be Funny

Because seriously, some of the things in this book are just awful, like bleeding feet and chlamydia, but Jenny Lawson just makes them hilarious. Because if she can laugh about it when she lived through it (not chlamydia, that’s the koalas) then I can laugh at it, and I can laugh at the horrible shit in my life too. And that’s the point, to learn to see the humor in the terrible things, and to learn to take joy both in spite of and because of all the screwed up stuff.

The Parasol Protectorate Series—A Mellifluous Melding of Genres

The Parasol Protectorate series, by Gail Carriger

Mellifluous has two meanings. The first—having a smooth, rich flow—describes well how Gail Carriger blends supernatural intrigue, historical peculiarity, and amusing romance with wondrous steampunk gadgets. I earlier reviewed another series of Ms Carriger’s which takes place before the Parasol Protectorate, but these are the books that started it all. I was hooked from the first scene in the first book, Soulless, wherein Alexia is accosted by a rogue vampire who knocks over the tea trolley and lands in the treacle tart! Which brings to mind the second meaning of mellifluous—filled with something that sweetens. And Alexia does love her sweets.

1—The Heroine

Adventure, drama, and intrigue are rarely so much fun, and much of that is due to Alexia’s practical yet mannered outlook on events. Ms Carriger went straight onto my “favorite author” list with that first book, and every book since has just confirmed that place in my heart.