Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

At the behest of listener Evelina, we're reading 2023's Stolen, by Sami author Ann-Helén Laestadius. C/W: graphic animal murder.Using contributions from listeners Victoria and Tea, Books & Chocolate, we dig into this three part intergenerational tale of trauma, environmental activism, racism, and suicide. It's a very heavy book (!) but it's also thrilling and beautifully written.Plus: queering Elsa and Minna's relationship, Lasse's suicide, Sami magic, why the ending is so unexpected, and fears for the forthcoming Netflix adaptationWanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to listener Neera, Brenna and Joe cook up a definition of NA (New Adult), who or what falls into it, and why agents shouldn't dismissive of the category!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray / @mittenstrings (Instagram)> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After waiting forever, Brenna and Joe finally get to watch Nick Bruno and Troy Quane's feature film adaptation of Nimona (2023) and it's...fine?Ok, it's more than fine, but there is something missing. While the obviousness of the trans elements and the changed ending are perfect for the current political moment, the messy, interesting character flaws and unpredictable format of ND Stevenson's original comic are missing.References:> Sam Adams. "Nimona Is the Rare Story Hollywood Made Gayer. Is It Better?" Slate> Caroline Cao. "Nimona’s radical page-to-screen story changes were a queer necessity." PolygonWanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i

Listener Tea, Books & Chocolate asks the important question: what *is* Wattpad? Brenna and Joe discuss the platform's model, why we have issues with it, and announce a lucrative new partnership!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zzzzzz.Oh sorry, Brenna and Joe fell asleep trying to read Jenny Han's debut YA novel The Summer I Turned Pretty and watch her seven episode Amazon TV show. Belly...is so boring and we can't make ourselves care about her romantic triangle, which is confusing because we're huge Han Stans!Plus: Cam Cameron deserves better, back to back drunk episodes, musicality overload, and how will S02 of this show work?!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe introduces Brenna to the silly, satirical humour of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence's Clone High (we watched all 10 episodes of S02).Up for discussion: the Gandhi controversy that literally got the show cancelled, how the white male creators are a model for controversy, the angular cartoon style, the wit and wordplay, our fave characters, and the musical episode!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listener Jessica writes in with details about how she used the show's Monkey Beach episode as a genre categorization exercise for her university students, which prompts Brenna and Joe to discuss our desire for the show to act as a breezy accessible academic text.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3> Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce, 2006) - Submit by Aug 11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ready for more Wattpad? Brenna and Joe are utterly baffled by Arianna Godoy's 2022 novel Through My Window, as well the lack of chemistry between the leads of Marçal Forès' Netflix adaptation. In addition to being poorly edited, the book features far too much anatomically incorrect (and dangerous!) sex. The film is better, but outside of a weirdly incestuous sex scene and a hilariously melodramatic climax, it's surprisingly snoozy. Folks, we can do better than these texts!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're headed Down Under to discuss Gary Lonesborough's beautiful text, Ready When You Are.Joining us are listeners Tea, Books & Chocolate, Victoria, and Miriam (who recommended this, along with listener Toni) who praise the relationship between Jackson and Thomas, the depiction of Koori art, and how real the fictional Mish setting reads.Plus: racism and class, hot sex, and comparisons to last month's book club.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenna and Joe tag along on a Chinese quest as we read Gene Luen Yang's exquisite 2006 comic American Born Chinese and watch Kelvin Yu's eight episode Disney+ adaptation.We *love* the comic, with its gorgeous art, confronting imagery and careful pay-off (stick with it!). The TV show is a mixed bag: the cast, including all of the stuntcasting, is great, but the narrative is both streamlined and drawn out which reduces its emotional components. And what's with the cliffhanger? We don't need a second season!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to listener demand, Brenna spends 5 hours with her least favourite To All The Boys I've Loved Before character: Kitty, who gets the spin-off treatment with XO, Kitty (2023)We're joined by returning guest Jenny Nulf to unpack the highs and lows of S01, which has too many characters and subplots, a traditional Korean fascination with poop, and a surprising queer plot we want more of.Plus: Joe's frustration with Minho, Rahim from Love, Victor, and why Brenna is done with the dead mom storyline.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremote> Jenny: @jennyleighx33Have a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's mailbag, Brenna stumbled onto a Library Thing list created by norabelle414 that has documented all of the books we've read. We love it! Send us all the things you use the show for!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to listener Alex, Brenna and Joe head to South Africa to discuss conscription, Apartheid, and queer New Adults in André Carl van der Merwe's semi-autobiographical 2006 novel Moffie and Oliver Hermanus' 2019 film adaptation.This is a rough one! Apart from the homophobia we expected from a military narrative, there's also plenty of racism, misogyny, and animal death.Each text has something to recommend: the book is poetic and rich with detail, while the film's scenery and a key long take flashback are stunning.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, listener Tea, Books & Chocolate writes in to recommend books about menstruation, including Tamora Pierce's Alanna: The First Adventure and The Naming by Alison Croggon. Plus: real life stories and Joe's fave pop culture euphemism!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> Stolen (Ann-Helén Laestadius, 2023) - Submit by July 3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 50 years and a few delays, we're *finally* talking about Kelly Fremon Craig's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, only our second Judy Blume adaptation! (We previously talked about the book in our third Book Club episode)Brenna and Joe adore this gentle, charming adaptation which maintains the gist of the iconic book, with expanded screen time for Rachel McAdams's Barbara and a stuntcast grandma (Kathy Bates).Plus: period comedy, resisting Hollywood conflict, showing blood on screen, and a last minute catch from Brenna about gendered language.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> May 16: Ready When You Are (aka The Boy from the Mish) by Gary Lonesborough (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ready for a discussion neither Brenna or Joe wanted to have? We're ready to tackle Matthew Quick's 2010 novel Sorta Like A Rock Star and Brett Haley's 2020 (confusingly retitled) All Together Now...so that we never have to talk about them again.We're unhappy with both texts for different reasons. Quick's grating prose, inauthentic voice, and unbelievable characters are deal breakers, and while the film correctly diversifies the cast, it squanders its musical components and leans into the underlying "deserving poor" theme of the book. We can't lie: these texts are just bad!Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> May 16: Ready When You Are (aka The Boy from the Mish) by Gary Lonesborough (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's mailbag, Tea, Books & Chocolate follows up on her Book Club email and zeroes in on the trans elements of Naomi Kanakia's We Are Totally Normal.Plus: Brenna ponders TB&C's question about a "white lady pipeline" from slash or fan fiction to Goodreads reviewer.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> May 16: Ready When You Are (aka The Boy from the Mish) by Gary Lonesborough (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back with a contentious book club pick in Naomi Kanakia's We Are Totally Normal (2020), which is light on plot and big on (unimportant?) HS politics, frank sex, and questioning sexuality.With help from listeners Victoria and Tea, Books & Chocolate, Brenna and Joe unpack this divisive pick, grant it leeway considering its timing with Kanakia's own coming out as a trans woman and raise the alarm over Goodreads criticisms that it's "not gay enough."Reference:Naomi Kanakia. "If you dislike my novel, you’re really not alone!" Woman of LettersWanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> May 16: Ready When You Are (aka The Boy from the Mish) by Gary Lonesborough (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenna and Joe travel to Germany for Andreas Steinhöfel's 1998 novel The Center of the World and (arbitrary title change alert!) Jakob M. Erwa's 2016 film adaptation, Center Of My World.While this boy-led / dysfunctional family / coming of age narrative is quite long, it is incredibly well-constructed and features fascinating characters.The film's reliance on sex and sexuality, however, feels very "queer film festival circuit". We both like it, but in trying to adapt too many key moments, Erwa simplifies the book's richness, particularly nuanced characters like Nicolas and Dianne. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> May 16: Ready When You Are (aka The Boy from the Mish) by Gary Lonesborough (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's mailbag, we hear from Swedish listener Evelina about reparations for the Sami people and we endeavor to read Stolen by Ann-Helené Laestadius for Book Club.Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:> Brenna: @brennacgray> Joe: @bstolemyremoteHave a mail bag question or a comment about book club? Email us at hkhspod@gmail.com or tweet us your responses before the following deadlines:> May 16: Ready When You Are (aka The Boy from the Mish) by Gary Lonesborough (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.