Cracked Spines

Animorphs Part 8: You Can't Keep Inventing Gods!

Hello friends, it's that special time of year - Animorphs time! And also Wasteland Weekend, but you don't care about that, you care about Cyrus and Sarah dunking on these traumatized teens! This week, books 38-42 are up for discussion, and they're kind of a mixed bag: strong performances from Ax and Jake, and a subpar showing from Sarah's fav, Rachel. Also on the docket: the squirrels that live in our ceiling and Cyrus' murderous vendetta against them, mispronouncing words, and the fact Sarah took an edible right before they started to record, and it starts to become very obvious at about the halfway mark. Fun is had by all.Support the show

Heaven Official's Blessing (Part 3 and 4)

This week, Cyrus and Sarah are back in the danmei mines, this time with books three and four of Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and if you thought the last two books were complicated and convoluted, get ready for more characters, more extended flashbacks, and more messy interpersonal drama! Listen in awe as our intrepid readers struggle with character names, timelines, and how much these books have in common with zeitgeist-y movie Saltburn. Support the show

Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin

This week, Cyrus and Sarah dig into Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin, a horror novel that asks what if Invasion of the Body Snatchers was set at a conversion camp, and wouldn't that just be so super fucked up? Also on the table is a larger discussion of the extreme horror genre, the nightly abduction of our rooster Bubba, and PISS KINK (all caps). According to Cyrus, the only things a book really needs are the following: body horror, transgender stuff, and goo. Cuckoo has all three!Support the show

Heaven Official's Blessing (Volumes 1 and 2)

Welcome to our first episode covering the Heaven Official's Blessing series by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu! And also the Saw franchise. A media match made in heaven that definitely makes complete sense to pair in one episode, because isn't Xie Lian's life just one long Saw trap, in a way? As Cyrus is reading the series for the first time and Sarah for the second, delicious dramatic irony ensues. Sarah and Cyrus discuss the budding character relationships, the MXTX of it all, and speculate on the meaning of BeefLeaf. Support the show

Chicken Book Extravaganza feat. Our Actual Chickens

Greetings listeners, here it is - the chicken episode, featuring our five beautiful daughters. This week, Cyrus and Sarah dig into some books about chickens: their personalities, their care and keeping, and how to turn your beautiful backyard into a chicken paradise. If you're a patron, head on over to the Patreon to see our intrepid co-hosts desperately try to get these unruly birds to sit in their laps. It goes about as well as you'd expect. Support the show