Cracked Spines

Cyrus Amelia Fisher and Sarah Palmer
  • 4.8 (22)
  • COMEDY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Crack open a good book with two wise-cracking besties. Sarah and Cyrus are two queer English majors who use their degrees to commit crimes against literature.Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes and merch! https://www.patreon.com/crackedspinespodcast

  1. FEB 10

    Taboo Romance and Captive Prince

    Dark romance should be DARKER!!! But where is the line? This week we approach that age-old question through the lens of Captive Prince, a 2016 novel by C.S. Pacat, especially in comparison to the dark/taboo romance more popular today. We talk about censorship, purity politics, and the way that Amazon's restrictions on self-publishing content shapes the trends and tropes in romance today. Featuring a special guest star who finally SOLVES the issue of censorship vs freedom of expression forever! Yippee, we did it!  (This episode contains spoilers for the three books in the Captive Prince trilogy) Content warnings: Discussions involving sexual assault, bestiality, and pedophilia.  Support the show

    1h 7m

  2. JAN 26

    There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

    It's a book! An actual book! Can you believe it? This week, Sarah and Cyrus read 'There Is No Antimemetics Division" by qntm, a novel that was originally a web serial about the SCP foundation, but has since found a home with its serial numbers filed off in tradpublishing. Sarah knows a little bit about SCP, Cyrus knows nothing, and they spend a good chunk of the episode trying and failing to come up with a tagline for this podcast.  Support the show

    50 min

  3. JAN 13

    THE PILE: Dissecting Our TBR Lists

    This week Cyrus and Sarah each bring their book stacks to the table to discuss what they are planning to read this year. They get immediately sidetracked into an argument about how many books you should have in your "to read" pile, how many books you should have in general, when you should decide to give a book away, and--most importantly--the most recent ways Cyrus nearly died due to hubris. Sarah is literally stunned speechless. Cyrus has learned nothing. They both have some ambitious reading goals for 2026.  Support the show

    52 min

  4. JAN 1

    2025 ROUND UP: The Milk Chronicles

    At long last, the moment we've all been waiting for: Cyrus has finally obtained their white whale du jour, two specimens of the world's tallest chicken. Also it's the end of the year! Here is the big breakdown of all the books we read, enjoyed, were let down by, and thought about a lot. Cyrus has detailed stats from their spreadsheets and Sarah will die before giving up her beloved Book of Books. It's not a numbers game, but Sarah won.  Support the show

    49 min

  5. 12/16/2025

    What To Read When You Aren't Reading

    Hello, gang, time for the annual oopsie episode where we acknowledge the sins of our past (not uploading podcast episodes) and lay out our plans to change in the future (start three more podcast?). We catch up on life then eventually discuss THE question we return to again and again: what do you do when your TBR list gets too daunting. Cyrus discusses the frustration of false starts. Sarah gives up on the young adult genre. No shovels were harmed in the making of this episode, which makes these 50 or so minutes completely unique compared to the rest of Cyrus's enterprises.  Support the show

    53 min

  6. 09/22/2025

    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

    55 min

  7. 09/08/2025

    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

    59 min

  8. 08/25/2025

    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 f****d 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

    1h 1m
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4.8
out of 5
22 Ratings

About

Crack open a good book with two wise-cracking besties. Sarah and Cyrus are two queer English majors who use their degrees to commit crimes against literature.Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes and merch! https://www.patreon.com/crackedspinespodcast

Information

  • Creator
    Cyrus Amelia Fisher and Sarah Palmer
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    155
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Cracked Spines
  • Show Website
    Cracked Spines

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