F**k Your Book Club Shan Fitzgerald

Hey, hey! Just dropping into your ears for a lil’ BONUS ep filled with all the questions you, the listeners, have asked me over Season 1 of the pod (and that I’ve been tactfully ignoring because I’ve been busy AF reading books, nursing hangovers, and learning how to podcast).
 
But more importantly, this is a chance for me to share with you my BIG plans for Season 2 of FYBC, which includes a new format with the same ~vibe~. Think: Conversations with interesting people from all walks of life with one thing in common: a boner for books.
 
Different genres. Polarizing opinions. Booze-free alternatives. And a helluva’ lot more fun.
 
Want to be a guest on Seasons 2? Pfft, of course you do. Drop me a line at shanny@wildsparkcopy.com or slide into my DMs @fckyourbookclub. 
You choose the book + booze + whatever else you wanna chat about; I’ll go and do the research and school myself so we can have a damn good yarn.
 
See ya in April for Season 2!
 
Let’s be drinking buddies:
@fckyourbookclub Insta
@wildsparkcopy Insta
 
Wanna’ work with me? Come say hey ✌️ https://wildsparkcopy.com 

Book: Love Stories
Author: Trent Dalton
Non-fiction 
STOP READING THIS IMMEDIATELY AND GO AND BUY A COPY OF THIS BOOK NOW!
 
I’m not even shitting you; this is hands-down THE best book I’ve read in the past 12 months (and trust me, it’s the perfect antidote to the shitshow that has been the last 2+ years).
 
Filled with raw but non-wanky stories – actually, conversations – written on the streets of Brisbane during the 2021 wave of the pandemic, I believe Trent Dalton’s Love Stories is the literary equivalent of the ‘Rona vaccine.
 
Read it. Listen to this poddy. Try and change my mind.
 
Buy it from:  https://www.booktopia.com.au/love-stories-trent-dalton/book/9781460760932.html 
 
Pair With: A fresh schooey of Brisbane Pale Ale brewed by our mates at Brisbane Brewing Co.
 
Let’s be drinking buddies:
@fuckyourbookclub Insta
@wildsparkcopy Insta
 
Wanna’ work with me? Come say hey ✌️ https://wildsparkcopy.com

Book: My Dark Vanessa
Author: Kate Elizabeth Russell
Modern/Contemporary Fictional Novel
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses sexual abuse, pedophilia, grooming, and other complex topics. If these topics negatively affect you, skip it and wait for next week's ep. (Seriously.)
 
This week’s read is a dark one. (No pun intended.) 
 
In today's episode, I'm talking about my experience reading American writer Kate Elizabeth Russell’s My Dark Vanessa, a dark, squirming-ly uncomfortable, unflinchingly bold, yet powerful AF novel about a predatory relationship between a high school teacher and his 15-year-old student.
 
Not only do I talk about the book itself, but I also disclose my personal experience as a teenager in Vanessa's shoes and how this book has the power to break you down and wish you'd never read it.
 
My Dark Vanessa tackles one of the most complex issues of our age under the glaring spotlight of the #MeToo movement, one that has been swept under the covers and disbelieved by society for too long. 
 
Buy it from:  https://www.booktopia.com.au/my-dark-vanessa-kate-elizabeth-russell/book/9780008342289.html 
 
Let’s be drinking buddies:
@fuckyourbookclub Insta
@wildsparkcopy Insta
 
Wanna’ work with me? Come say hey ✌️ https://wildsparkcopy.com

Book: Late Bloomer: How an Autism Diagnosis Changed My Life
Author: Clem Bastow
Non-fiction, memoir
Don't be quick to dismiss this week's pick as an "I don't have to read this because I'm not Autistic" kinda book. IDGAF if you're neurotypical as all f*ck (the correct term for *cough* ~normal~ peeps) or proudly neurodivergent and learning to find your feet; this book is a MUST READ for any human with a fkn heartbeat and an ounce of humanity.
 
Obviously, I have a pretty good reason to be deeply invested in a story like Clem's, which I talk a fair bit about in this ep. 
 
But it's more than that; it's the raw honesty and plain-speaking forwardness (#AutieTraits) that allows readers to understand the complex way of experiencing life faced by our Autistic amigos. Or, simply put: It makes a challenging topic easy as f*ck to understand.
 
And for me? Well, I learned a few home truths about myself that have changed my self-perception for the better. (And I now *totally* get why the things I was obsessed with as a teenager made other peeps cringe with awkwardness…) 
 
Buy it from:  https://www.booktopia.com.au/late-bloomer-clem-bastow/book/9781743796009.html 
 
Pair With: A Happy Meal from Maccas (just as Clem would)
 
Let’s be drinking buddies:
@fuckyourbookclub Insta
@wildsparkcopy Insta
 
Wanna’ work with me? Come say hey ✌️ https://wildsparkcopy.com

Book: We Should All Be Mirandas
Author: Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni
Part parody/Part self-help guide/Part snarky manifesto
Hello, my name is Shan, and I'm a proud Miranda (with a Samantha rising).
 
As a teenager of the 90s, I first discovered Sex And The City one late night back in 1999 as I was flicking through the four channels offered on TV back then. It was after 9pm on a school night (ooh!) when I stumbled across this new show that had fascinating characters in New York City talking frankly, openly – and at times, shockingly – about sex and life from the perspective of (shock! gasp!) women, something that was unheard of in Aussie society at that time. Yes, I'm *that* old.
 
And while SATC hasn't aged well (#awks), and is probably the source of most of my misguided adventures in sex, partying, and trying to figure out all this (*gestures vaguely*) throughout my late teens and all of my twenties, I still learned a lot of great lessons from the ladies, and I'm a proud OG fan of the series. (Except for that second movie. That sucked ass.)
 
So, choosing to add ‘We Should All Be Mirandas’ by Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni – the geniuses behind one of my all-time fave Insta accounts, @everyoutfitonsatc – to my reading list was as simple as choosing which guy was better for Carrie: Aiden or Big. (Aiden, duh.)
 
Filled with chapters spewing forth the gospel according to Miranda, including advice on how to survive a threesome, the virtues of building a sneaker collection, and The Miranda’s Guide To Not Treating Yourself Like Shit, this snarky, funny, so-fkn-on-point practical parody is the ultimate guide for anyone who survived the 90s/00s pretending to be a Carrie or a Charlotte, but want to embrace their true inner Miranda now that they’re older (and a f*ckload wiser).
 
Buy it from:  https://www.booktopia.com.au/we-should-all-be-mirandas-chelsea-fairless/book/9780358022367.html
 
Pair With: If you don't drink a classic Cosmopolitan while reading this book, are you even a real Miranda? Get a head start on yours with a bottle of Mr Consistent’s Cosmo Mixer – just add some top-shelf vodka, and you'll be set quicker than you can say ‘Manolo Blahnik.’
 
Let’s be drinking buddies:
@fuckyourbookclub Insta
@wildsparkcopy Insta
 
Wanna’ work with me? Come say hey ✌️ https://wildsparkcopy.com

Book: Imaginary Friend
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Fictional novel (Like, a really fkn BIG one)
Look, I don’t wanna talk too much smack about *any* book. After all, anyone who has the balls (literal or metaphorical) and the creative chops to write a novel deserves my basic respect, at the very least. (Well, except for the author of Fifty Shades – that’s just trash.)
 
But.
 
BUT.
 
When it comes to this week’s read, it hovers somewhere between the joy of getting a speeding ticket and visiting the gynecologist for a pap smear, both of which I’d choose over re-reading this beast any day of the week.
 
Buy it from:  https://www.booktopia.com.au/imaginary-friend-stephen-chbosky/book/9781409184812.html
 
Pair With: Warm up with a Grey Goose Vodka with soda and lime, followed by a damn good dram of your favourite whiskey, like Tasmania’s very own Lark Christmas Cask Release III @larkdistillery
 
Let’s be drinking buddies:
@fuckyourbookclub Insta
@wildsparkcopy Insta
 
What I do when I'm not readin' 'n drinkin': https://wildsparkcopy.com