Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re continuing Em’s unit on the Great Detective trope with another of the most famous detectives in literature, Hercule Poirot. Join us as we talk about train murder, hunt for the perfect pair of toad eyes, and 100% stay on topic perfectly without going off on any tangents whatsoever. Recommended Reading: Ace Attorney video games The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle The Conductors by Nicole Glover The Tea Maste...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re reading yet another Marco POV involving angst about his Yeerk mom. We’ve got stress-induced morphing problems, a useless villain of the week, and a nonsensical plan to take care of said villain. The only good thing about this one is that it intros the next book in the series. Of. Join us next week for another book in Em’s unit on the great detective trope! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for ou...
Mar 08, 2021•57 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re starting a new unit on garbage girls! After a lengthy discussion on what makes a garbage boy in the Spinning Silver episode, we wanted to see if the trope could be gender swapped. We asked listeners for some suggestions, and you all delivered! Thank you! Our first book we’re covering for the unit is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Does Eleanor qualify for the trope? And how did Anna actually manage to read ...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 24 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we're reading a Cassie POV with the most irrelevant title and confusing tagline. We've also got Arn, Hork-Bajir, and the Bandalites on a whole new (to them) planet. Join us next week for the first book in a new listener-slubmitted unit! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: youtube.com/fretwiz. Twitter: @shelfawarecast, @amdeebee, @emnoteliza Email: shelfa...
Feb 22, 2021•58 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware! This week we're taking a look at a classic example of a military sci-fi book, Starship Troopers. How will the book compare to the cult classic film? And is there anything Anna can find redeeming about this genre? (Spoiler alert: no.) Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended reading: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson Sources: https://www.worldswithoutend.com/MilitaryScienceFi...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 8 min
cw: Torture, self-harm, child abuse, child neglect, bullying Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we've been given a break from the monotonous middle books of the series with this very dark Tobias POV. Tobias struggles with identity and girlfriend problems. All set to a soundtrack written by the Goo Goo Dolls. Join us next week for the second book in Anna's military sci-fi series! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Chec...
Feb 08, 2021•55 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re starting Em’s brand new unit on the great detective with The Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes. Why doesn’t Em particularly care for this trope? And just what, or WHO, is the real hound of Baskerville? (Spoilers, it’s John Watson, that dumb, loyal creature.) Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended Reading: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark A very spe...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Animorphs: The Separation by K.A. Applegate by Anna and Em
Jan 25, 2021•52 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re wrapping up our weird western unit with Territory by Emma Bull. Will this book save the genre for us (it automatically gets points for having more than one woman in it)? Is Anna secretly a horse girl? And honestly, what actually happened at the O.K. Corral? Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended Reading: Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong A very special t...
Jan 18, 2021•1 hr
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we're reading book #31, The Conspiracy. A Jake POV. And the Morph Fatigue is hitting Anna pretty hard. Will Jake be able to save his older brother from the Yeerks? Or will Jake slide closer to the dark side? And don't worry, our fearless leader IS able to sneak in a cockroach morph. Join us next week for the final book in our Weird Western unit! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Che...
Jan 11, 2021•43 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware! New year, new us: we’re starting Anna’s new unit on military science fiction with the book On Basilisk Station by David Weber. Why was this book over 400 pages long? Does anything actually happen in it? Why is this series 14 books long??! Thank you (I guess????) to Lindsay for the slubmission! Join us next week for another Morph Monday episode. Recommended Reading: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente The Aurora Cycle series by ...
Jan 04, 2021•58 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re reading book #30 in the Animorphs series, The Reunion. We’ve got a Marco POV that includes a lot of mom angst, questions about disappearing clothing, and Erek actually being slightly useful for once! Join us next week for the first book in Anna’s new military science fiction unit. A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: youtube.com/fretwiz. Twitter: @s...
Dec 28, 2020•54 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to a special holiday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re continuing a series that Anna had hoped they’d left behind in 2018. A series of books based on her least favorite Christmas song. A series of books about Christmas miracles. And blessings. And shoes? That’s right, we’re reading the second book in Donna VanLiere’s Christmas Shoes series, and boy. It’s just awful. Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended Reading: The Long Way to a Small, A...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware. This week, the Bandalites are roaring through time, hitting up some brutal battles throughout history, watching their BFFs get killed. I'm sure it'll be NBD. This is a Megamorphs book, after all. Join us next week for a very special holiday episode. Ugh. A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: youtube.com/fretwiz. Twitter: @shelfawarecast, @amdeebee, @emnoteliza Email:...
Dec 14, 2020•55 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zones. This week, we’re closing out Em’s unit on haunted house books with a book about a very tiny, wandering haunted house in the book The Garden of Bewitchment by Catherine Cavendish. Also up for discussion: ponytails, American Girl Doll catalogues, whether or not twins exist, and some Hades pro strats. Join us next week for another Morph Monday episode! Recommended Rea...
Dec 07, 2020•58 min
Animorphs: The Sickness by K.A. Applegate by Anna and Em
Nov 30, 2020•57 min
Dawn in Damnation by Clark Casey by Anna and Em
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re reading an Ax POV that is truly a bottom tier Animorphs book. We’re dealing with Moses’ law professor, the worst version of Cassie, and a whole lot of shit. At least there weren't any bug morphs, I guess...? Join us next week for the second book in our listener slubmitted unit on weird westerns. Thanks, James! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: yo...
Nov 16, 2020•48 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zones. This week, we’re wrapping up Anna’s unit on parallel novels with a classic Sherlock Holmes AU, The Infernal Device by Michael Kurland (thought whether it counts may be up for debate). We’ve got exploding submarines, firework fights in hot air balloons, and, honestly, some of our best accent work ever. Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended Reading:...
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re back with another ghostwritten book, but this time it’s our girl Rachel’s POV. We’ve got some wild hijinks, including a Spencer’s gifts, a police shootout, and possibly our new favorite character…? Join us as we discuss the *hidden depths* of this entry in the Animorphs series. Huehue, get it? Depths??????? It’s a good joke. Join us next week for the last book in Anna’s parallel novel unit! A very s...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to a spooOoOoOoky episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zones. This week we're covering the second book in Em's haunted house unit, and we're proud to announce we've both finally earned our PhDs. Or at least our MAs. Regardless, we're experts in our field, and today's well prepared episode definitely proves that. Join us next week for another Morph Monday episode! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song!...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week we're discussing another surprisingly good Jake POV. We've got lore dumps, we've got new alien races (and a lot of questions about their shopping guild), and we've even got some kissing. Are you #TeamJassie or #TeamCarco? Join us next week for the second book in Em's haunted house unit! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: youtube.com/fretwiz. Twitter: @sh...
Oct 19, 2020•55 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zone. This week, we're starting a new unit submitted to us by our listened, James! We're blending spec fic and westerns, and we're a little divided on how we feel about it. Whether or not it comes down to the genre specific tropes or this book specifically will remain to be seen. Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended Reading: Beach Read by Emily Henry Th...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we're discussing the first of the ghostwritten books in the series, The Extreme. We've also got some important opinions on The Bachelor and whether or not wind chill is real (we are not taking questions at this time). Join us next week for the first book in a new listener slubmitted unit! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! Check out his YouTube channel: youtube.com/fretwiz. Twitter: ...
Oct 05, 2020•58 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zones. This week, we're reading the second book in Anna's parallel novel/flipped perspective unit: Till We Have Faces. Is this one of the first examples of fanfiction? How many names does each character need? And what is the plural of "Jesus"? Join us next week for another Morph Monday. Recommended Reading: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie Hovergirls by Genev...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we're covering book #24 in K.A. Applegate's Animorphs series: The Suspicion, the last book written without ghostwriters. What exactly IS the suspicion? How do you even spell "laser"? And have we actually found the worst book in the series, or are there more duds awaiting us further on down the line…? Join us next week for the next book in Anna's parallel novel unit. A very special thank you to Ben Cope fo...
Sep 21, 2020•57 min
cw: Sexual abuse, suicide Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zone. This week, we’re starting the first book in Em’s haunted house unit with a book she read in her childhood. And it dealt with some surprisingly heavy topics. How will it stand up on a reread? And can we learn to appreciate spooky books in this very spooky season? Join us next week for another Morph Monday. Recommended Reading: The Grownup by...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Apologies for the late episode. We had some problems with audio and had to rerecord parts of this one, so things might sound a teensy bit disjointed. Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week we’re getting deep into some lore, learn about the eating habits of the vile Taxxons, and follow along as Elfangor becomes an eventual war prince. Join us next week for the first book in Em’s new unit on horror! A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our th...
Sep 08, 2020•58 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another episode of Shelf Aware, the podcast where we delve into books outside our comfort zone. And this week, we’re finally here to discuss the almost 700 page teenage romance involving sparkly, brooding Edward, and lol-I’m-so-clumsy Bella. That’s right. We read Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer, the first book in Anna’s new unit on parallel novels. Hope you’re ready for this experience. Join us next week for another Morph Monday! Recommended reading: Artificia...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 33 min
Welcome back, Literary Slummers, to another Morph Monday episode of Shelf Aware! This week, we’re discussing the 23rd book in the Animorphs series, The Pretender. Finally! A Tobias POV! Full of angst and self-doubt and romance. It’s everything we wanted and more - K.A. Applegate drops a huge lore moment on us, and we were not prepared. Join us next week for the first book in Anna’s new unit. We’re doing it. We’re reading Midnight Sun. :( A very special thank you to Ben Cope for our theme song! C...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr
