The Book Lantern

A few weeks ago, I wrote a glowing review of the podcast Missing Richard Simmons. Now, I'm not so sure, and I've a lot to consider regarding the relationship between pop culture and fan, between subject and reporter. Read my messy thoughts on Bibliodaze.

I heard all the cool kids were into this Hamilton thing so I wrote about making Hamilton a movie & some stuff on movie musicals for Screen Rant, where I'm now a features writer, hurrah! 

"Awards are not and have never been solely used as a marker of merit, and shouldn’t be viewed as such: But what they can be used for is to provide a weathervane of the changing industry and the people and trends that drive it. That’s why what the Sad/Rabid Puppies have done matters. They may not be the most prominent voices in the industry, and their abhorrent views may be condemned in public, but the fact that they were allowed to fester for so long undisturbed speaks volumes."

"Ew, mummy porn."

"Aren't they sexist?"

"Something something Fabio."

*sigh*

Let's deal with this. 

Enjoy!

What are yours?

Romance! Feminist comics! Unreliable narrators! Rockstar memoirs! And the one book I just found insufferable!

Check out Bibliodaze for my list of my favourite books of 2015, and the one really bad one. Because I know that's what you're really interested in. 

That thing where you write a post about a YouTube cooking show but it's more about online fame & your anxieties.

 "Altogether, these two incidents reminded me of some pertinent points about publishing, literature and our critical reactions to it that shape the entire ecosystem: Women will be dismissed, even for the works and industries they create, and those works won’t be legitimised until a man appropriates them."

Read more on Bibliodaze.

"Readers note the messy incidents and problematic content so they can make informed consumer decisions in the future, and they warn their friends about notably dangerous examples so they can protect themselves if need be. We shouldn’t have to do this, but we do and we move on. We treasure the relationships we have with authors, many of whom we consider good friends, and we share our passions in an enthused but reasonable manner. There are outliers, and unfortunately always will be. The route is precarious, but we navigate it. Our weariness is not entitlement – it’s experience."

I love this book.

I love it so much I gave it 5 stars.

Yes. 5 stars.

Check out my review and then buy the book and read it so we can squee. 

 "They say you should never have heroes. I hesitate to give that accolade to author Meg Rosoff, but she was always a writer whose work I admired, and who I had had a brief but very pleasant encounter with a few years ago. I’ve read most of her work and recommended it to friends and fellow readers. I can’t say I’ll be able to do so in the future."

Read the full piece on Bibliodaze.

Bloodsucking Feminists finally cover the dreaded sparkly elephant in the room. Yes, it's the Twilight episode.

The Great British Bake Off is one of my favourite shows so I wrote a bit about why I love it and why its particular take on Britishness is so appealing to me. 

I discuss my latest podcast discovery & how it hits really close to home.

"It’s hard to make money as a critic now. As some of the top names in film criticism are forced to go freelance while others lose their jobs entirely, establishing your work in an oversaturated field of free content is an exhausting prospect. It’s not enough to be good at your job, if it ever was enough. Extremes do well, be they anger or hilarity. Offering a full blooded take-down of an easy target has increasingly become a reliable business practice, much in the same way as Buzzfeed style click-bait."

Read more on Bibliodaze!

Sometimes I do things besides read books. Try This is my chance to share my new discoveries outside of the literary world. Today, I bring you a podcast to remember.

"You Must Remember This is a longform podcast narrated by Longworth (with occasional guest voices) that seeks to explore, analyse and contextualise the ‘secret and forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century’. At a time where podcasts are in their golden age of legitimacy, thanks to journalistic storytelling like Serialand the glut of wildly popular comedy networks such as Earwolf, Longworth’s effort stands out in a saturated field."