The Terrible Reading Club

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The Terrible Reading Club

The Terrible Reading Club is a podcast about great books for truly terrible times. Host Nora McInerny knows a thing or two about this kind of literature, because she's written several books herself about tough subjects like grief and loss and mental health (and moving forward in the face of it all). Each episode centers a book that deals with Hard Stuff and features an interview with the author about their work. And the best part about this reading club? You don't need to read the book ahead of time! For book discussion guides and a community of Terrible bookworms just like you, join The Terrible Reading Club on Substack! It's free! https://terriblereadingclub.substack.com/ Got a book you want to recommend? Reach out to us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co. The Terrible Reading Club team is Nora McInerny, Claire McInerny, Megan Palmer, Marcel Malekebu, Kara Nesvig, Jordan Turgeon, and Michelle Plantan. Our upcoming reading list can be found on our Substack: https://terriblereadingclub.substack.com/p/our-upcoming-book-selections.

  1. 23. "Slenderman" with Kathleen Hale

    07/01/2024

    23. "Slenderman" with Kathleen Hale

    In 2014, 12-year-old Payton "Bella" Leutner was stabbed 19 times by two other tween girls. The crime was well publicized as the Slenderman stabbings because the two girls who committed the stabbing said a fictional character named Slenderman told them to do it. The girls were tried as adults for attempted murder (Payton lived) and went to jail.  In her book Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls, journalist Kathleen Hale looks at this true crime story through a new lens: that the girls who stabbed Payton were dealing with severe mental illness that the justice system in Wisconsin ignored.  Nora and Kathleen discuss the legal realities of this case, how the media portrayed the story and how we can all think about true crime consumption differently. — Wanna read the book? When you purchase from Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    59 min
  2. 22. “Christmas Orphan Club” with Becca Freeman

    03/12/2023

    22. “Christmas Orphan Club” with Becca Freeman

    ‘Tis the season for a holiday read, and Becca Freeman has written the coziest novel that ticks all the boxes: friendship, romance, and just a sprinkle of grief and trauma. Nora and Becca share all about their past holidays, favorite Christmas movies, and more. Wanna read the book? When you purchase from Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 5m
  3. 21. 2023 Gift Guide!

    19/11/2023

    21. 2023 Gift Guide!

    Happyish Holidays and welcome to our first ever TRC gift guide! Nora and Kara (and our awesome TRC community) have compiled book recs for everyone on your gift list — from the youngest of picture book readers to the father in law who you can only talk to about the weather.  Find all of our 2023 Holiday Gift Guide children’s and YA book recs here. Find all of our 2023 Holiday Gift Guide adult book recs here. Every time you purchase through our Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    44 min
  4. 20. "This Time Tomorrow" with Emma Straub

    05/11/2023

    20. "This Time Tomorrow" with Emma Straub

    When author Emma Straub’s dad got sick, he told her one night in the hospital, “You should write a book about a daughter visiting her father in the hospital.” So that’s what she did, and that book became This Time Tomorrow. Emma and Nora talk about Emma’s latest novel and the realities of grief after losing a parent.  Read Emma’s GQ essay, My Father’s Rolex.  — Wanna read the book? When you purchase from Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 2m
  5. 19. I Read That: "The Woman in Me" by Britney Spears

    29/10/2023

    19. I Read That: "The Woman in Me" by Britney Spears

    Everyone knows who Britney Spears is … or do we? For many people, Britney is frozen in time circa 2002. For others, she faded away after 2008 until her gut-wrenching testimony about her 13-year conservatorship in 2021. Much of Britney’s life story has been told to us by others: Us Weekly, Perez Hilton, her father, the speculating crowds of the internet. But for the first time in a very, very long time, Britney is telling her own story in her new memoir, The Woman in Me.  Today on Terrible Reading Club’s first-ever EMERGENCY EPISODE, Nora and fellow Britney superfan Kara Nesvig (who also created The Britney Spears Oracle Deck) do a deep dive on The Woman in Me, Britney’s legacy and the many, MANY people who owe Britney a public apology.  —  Wanna read the book? When you purchase from Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 57m
  6. 18. "This Story Will Change" with Elizabeth Crane

    08/10/2023

    18. "This Story Will Change" with Elizabeth Crane

    Elizabeth Crane didn’t want to get divorced, but her husband did. Thus, her memoir, This Story Will Change: After the Happily Ever After, was born — a book about the death of a marriage, the start of a new life and everything in between. Elizabeth joins Nora to talk about how her views on marriage have changed, what propelled her to write through the sadness, anger and grief, and where her story stands today. Wanna read the book? When you purchase from Apple Books or Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Nora’s new Happyish journal and affirmation deck based on her own journaling practices launches today! We have a special deal for you on these new items:  25% discount for the Em & Friends website. Coupon code: HAPPYISH25. This will only work on the Em & Friends website, not on Amazon. — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    46 min
  7. 17. September Read/Reading/TBR

    24/09/2023

    17. September Read/Reading/TBR

    Join Nora for her first monthly book check-in to see what she loved, what she’s currently reading, and what’s next on her list. Wanna read the books? When you purchase from Bookshop.org, you help support our show!  This episode’s featured books are:  The Noonday Demon Lessons in Chemistry Friends Like These Weyward The Guest Creep  George: A Magpie Memoir Glossy The Valedictorian of Being Dead No Bad Parts Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Nora’s new Happyish journal and affirmation deck based on her own journaling practices launches today! We have a special deal for you on these new items:  25% discount for the Em & Friends website. Coupon code: HAPPYISH25. This will only work on the Em & Friends website, not on Amazon. — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54 min
  8. 16. "How To Stay Married" with Harrison Scott Key

    10/09/2023

    16. "How To Stay Married" with Harrison Scott Key

    When Harrison Scott Key discovered his wife was cheating on him, he wasn’t about to break his wedding vows. He was going to save his marriage, and that quest involved taking a good hard look at how he’d failed his wife too. The result? A happily ever after — well, sort of — and the memoir How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told. Harrison joins Nora to talk about the extremely wild ride called marriage and why he decided to let his wife write the (second to) last chapter in their not-quite divorce story. Wanna read the book? When you purchase from Apple Books or Bookshop.org, you help support our show! Got a book recommendation? Send it our way by emailing us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co.  — Nora’s new Happyish journal and affirmation deck based on her own journaling practices launches today! We have a special deal for you on these new items:  25% discount for the Em & Friends website. Coupon code: HAPPYISH25. This will only work on the Em & Friends website, not on Amazon. — Find all our shows and our store at feelingsand.co. The episode transcript can be found here. Find The Terrible Reading Club on Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 1m
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About

The Terrible Reading Club is a podcast about great books for truly terrible times. Host Nora McInerny knows a thing or two about this kind of literature, because she's written several books herself about tough subjects like grief and loss and mental health (and moving forward in the face of it all). Each episode centers a book that deals with Hard Stuff and features an interview with the author about their work. And the best part about this reading club? You don't need to read the book ahead of time! For book discussion guides and a community of Terrible bookworms just like you, join The Terrible Reading Club on Substack! It's free! https://terriblereadingclub.substack.com/ Got a book you want to recommend? Reach out to us at terriblereadingclub@feelingsand.co. The Terrible Reading Club team is Nora McInerny, Claire McInerny, Megan Palmer, Marcel Malekebu, Kara Nesvig, Jordan Turgeon, and Michelle Plantan. Our upcoming reading list can be found on our Substack: https://terriblereadingclub.substack.com/p/our-upcoming-book-selections.

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