It’s Lord Worldwide, Thank You Very Much: From the Editor’s Desk June 2024
Hello again, dear readers. I’m back with another peek over my shoulder at the bookish media I’m loving, excited about, or generally tickled by. Today, I have a hilarious TV recommendation with a book club storyline, some ancient history nerdery, a few podcasts, including one on an IRL Nancy Drew mystery, and how I’ll be referring to Pitbull going forward.
The Wrong Way to Book Club, Brought to You by Abbott Elementary
If you aren’t yet watching Abbott Elementary, porque? It is one of the best shows on television. The writing is so good and the comedy does not miss! This is unsurprising since it’s created by, written by, and stars pocket-sized powerhouse Quinta Brunson, whose rise from Buzzfeed content creator and queen o’memes (“he got money!!!”) to award-winning actress, comedian, writer, and producer is nothing short of fascinating. If you don’t know much about Quinta, run and grab her book, She Memes Well.
Back to Abbott Elementary: in Season 3, Episode 11, “Double Date,” Ava (Janelle James) hosts her first book club and it goes just about the way you think it will if you watch the show. She calls it Ava And Her Reading Bitches (AARB), and picks Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower for their first read. It spirals into a whole thing with Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) and I’ve watched it at least four times.
All Access members: read on for the rest of this bonus send!
Cleopatras, Plural
One day, you’re a spry young thing who parties on the weekends in 5-inch stilettos, powered by Flaming Hot Cheetos, caramel apple martinis, and spite. The next you’re power-walking to estate sales in your Hokas after your morning meditation, listening to one of your favorite history podcasts. Some may call that tragic. I call it a life well lived.
One of my favorite history podcasts is The Ancients. In interviews with historians and archaeologists, host Tristan Hughes covers a specific theme from antiquity each week. I really enjoyed this episode on the Cleopatras — yes, plural, there were several— featuring Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones who wrote a book on the subject. If you enjoyed Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff and want to go on a deep dive about the long line of Cleopatras our main girl Cleo comes from, check out The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt.
A Nancy Drew Mystery
As a mystery reader and a person who is generally all up in the bookish world, I’m always tickled when I come across a bit of bookish lore, history, or especially a mystery that somehow passed me by completely. Such was the case with this recent episode of the Very Special Episodes podcast dedicated to a Nancy Drew mystery. The podcast tells one incredible story each week, covering stranger-than-fiction tales on everyone and everything from Marie Antoinette, the Spiderman musical, and in this case, Nancy Drew. I somehow did not know that there was drama about the identity of author Carolyn Keene?? You can listen to “The Case of the Two Nancy Drews” here.
A Wig Full of Swans and Lord Worldwide: A Bunch of Bridgerton Things
I first began writing this up a month ago and was sad that all my fun Bridgerton links would be stale stuff by now. BUT I was wrong, because the second half of Season 3 drops today! Huzzah!
If you, too, have marveled at the gravity-defying wonders that are Queen Charlotte’s wigs, especially that one from Season 3 (it has a frickin’ pond! with frickin’ swans!), check out this TikTok from the wig’s architect. The hair and costumes in this show are just art! Also, this.
Jess Pryde of When in Romance fame joined yours truly on the Book Riot Podcast last month to discuss the first half of Bridgerton Season 3. We had a lot of fun (I am still not over “birdman”) and discussed how desperately we both wanted to be in the room with the folks who pick the music for the show on the day that someone was like, “Oh the carriage scene? Dale.” Pitbull. Pitbull! I was already delighted by this choice when this tweet sent me to another stratosphere. I will henceforth refer to him only as Lord Worldwide.
Lastly, if you aren’t yet hip to the official Bridgerton playlist, here you go.
That’s A Lot of Romance
Remember earlier when I said I love bookish history? Here’s some of a romance variety. A recent episode of Noble Blood taught me all about Dame Barbara Cartland, who, in her lifetime, wrote over 700 books that would sell more than 750 million copies worldwide. Imma be real with you: the messages in her romances were not my cup of tea. I’m good on all the purity talk, gracias! Still, it was a fascinating story on a fascinating podcast. Go forth and learn.
That’s it for me! I’ll catch you all in a few weeks for another roundup of random bookish media. What other pods, playlists, etc are y’all loving right now? Let’s chat in the comments!
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