Big Book Energy

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Big Book Energy

A podcast by book lovers, for book lovers! Tune in to listen to two archivists talk books they love, books they hate, and everything in between.
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https://linktr.ee/bigbookenergy

27/10/2021

Did you miss me? 👀👻🎃

26/08/2021

🎃 Are you ready for fall? 🎃

Well folks, I started working at a public library just over a week ago and I'm already back on my bu****it: checking out a lot of books in spite of my enormous existing TBR.

I got four graphic novels this week and really I had to start with Rainbow Rowell's Pumpkinheads. What an adorable story and perfect for that fall ~aesthetic~.

I don't recommend reading unless you have snacks with you though, because you will be craving some pumpkin patch food for sure.

I'll likely read this again once we get into October, but PLEASE send me some of your fav fall reads. I know I've asked this before, but I would like to build a list for this year!

23/08/2021

Swipe ➡️ to see some of Paige's photos from her first few days in Iceland! She made it safely and is now feverishly learning Icelandic before grad school starts, but not before checking out some epic volcanoes, lava fields, and waterfalls.

Jennifer is not jealous, like not at all.

09/08/2021

📚 Happy 📚

I'll be celebrating by reading on one of my favorite topics: cryptozoology. This is a reasoned, skeptical approach and I am very excited to read some science-based opinions on some of my favorite cryptids. I'll always believe in my heart though 🤓

What are you reading today to celebrate??

04/08/2021

🧶 Update: so the little throw for my reading chair turned out larger than I expected....

Scarlet is looking forward to using it with me this fall though! Looking forward to some spooky reads while wrapped up in this massive thing 🥰

Anyone else already looking forward to fall?? And some ~aesthetic~ reads??

28/07/2021

💙 Blue Stack 💙

Okay so maybe a blue-green stack?? But this is a nice sampling of exactly how eclectic my physical book collection is 😂 I ask you how many of these stacks you've seen put Machiavelli and Bigfoot together???

23/07/2021

🎙New Episode!🎙

This week in our first episode of BBE Shorts, Jennifer asks the big questions:

➡️ What does guilty pleasure read even mean?
➡️ What are her personal guilty pleasure favorites?
➡️ Where does guilt in reading come from?

Leave your fav guilty pleasure read below and Jennifer may review it in a future BBE Shorts episode!

16/07/2021

Look at this adorable little free library 😍 this is one of two available to me in my neighborhood and this one matches the house behind it! That is also the corner of a bench that they put out next to it for readers' convenience. Do you have a little free library near you?

13/07/2021

📚 July Lineup 📚

We're going where BBE has not gone before: 🌶️ spicy romance 🌶️
Want to listen to Paige and Jennifer be very uncomfy for an hour? Then you don't want to miss our July pick: The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang. Episode release is July 30th and don't forget if you want full access you can head on over to Patreon to support us for as little as $5/month (link in bio).

Also keep your eyes peeled for Jennifer's first BBE Short coming out next week!

01/07/2021

📣 Season 4 Theme 📣

The people have spoken, and our chosen theme for Season 4 is: Guilty Pleasures 😈

Stand by for our schedule announcement and make sure you leave your fav guilty pleasure reads down below in the comments ⬇️ Who knows? Maybe it'll show up in the next episode 👀

24/06/2021

📣 Poll time 📣

Help us choose our theme for season 4 by heading over to our twitter (link in bio) and voting in our poll - maybe share it around, too 😏 Will you be picking our books for us next season? Maybe you'll be hearing about our guilty pleasure reads? The choice is up to you!

08/06/2021

🌲 Reflection 🌲

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us through Season 3 of the pod! I don't really know how far I thought we'd get with this thing, but I'll always be so proud of the amount of work we've put into BBE over the past year and a half, and the growth we've seen as a result.

Right now, we are looking towards Season 4 which will debut in July, exact date TBD. Both Paige and myself have some big life changes coming up this fall so that may mean some big changes for the pod as well. Keep your eyes peeled 👀 for more news, we couldn't do it without you 💚

02/06/2021

📣 The Lost Episode 📣

Remember all the way back in February when we had to skip an episode because Paige's computer ate our audio? Well, as promised, here it finally is! Our very last episode of Season 4 covers K. Arsenault Rivera's THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER. Pulling from a variety of Asian mythological influences, THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER includes f/f romance and some good demon slaying. But how will Paige like it after a second read? Check it out using the link in our bio! Or visit us on any major podcasting app.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the pod during Season 3, this was perhaps our most enjoyable season yet. We will definitely miss the mythology & folklore theme, but stay tuned to help us cook up something new for Season 4 👀

01/06/2021

🌆 The City We Became 🌆

Paige's review on N.K. Jemisin's latest masterpiece is up on the blog. Just a hint? Paige ranked this even higher than her beloved Network Effect 😬 Check out her full review using the link in our bio!

29/05/2021

📣 New Bonus Episode 📣

For our very last bonus episode of Season 3, join us for a conversation with our friend and co-worker, Dianna, about Maisie Hill's book PERIOD POWER. While Hill's book gives crucial education on the menstrual cycle and period poverty, there are also some not-so-hot-takes that we have a lot of THOUGHTS about.

Want to listen to our heated discussion? We're on all major podcasting apps or you can check out the link in our bio 😉

25/05/2021

📚 do you have a near you?? 📚

There are a couple in my neighborhood and I just happened to stop by one last week and what do you know, they had Ace by Angela Chen. I've had a hold out on this book for weeks, so this was truly serendipitous. I'm so excited to dive into this one, and also so grateful that Free Little Libraries across the country are providing free books to those who need them!

I'll have to comb through my bookshelf so I can drop off some books in return soon 👀

18/05/2021

📣 New Episode! 📣

This week, Paige brings us to her homeland of Ireland to tell the tale of an infamous cattle raid. The Tain is often referred to as the "Irish Iliad" & the hoodwinks and hijinks of the characters are unlikely to disappoint.

QOTD: Are you familiar w/ Irish mythology?

17/05/2021

📚 What do you think about your digital habits? 📚

Let's not pretend that we aren't all VERY AWARE of how addicted most of us are to our devices. Personally, I KNOW that I spend way too much time on my computer and phone, and that the constant interaction only contributes to my anxiety and absolutely tanks my productivity. And yet...I still continue on in these same habits. I'm not sure how many times I have made resolutions to reduce x, y, and z, but still end up back in the same place.

Which is where DIGITAL MINIMALISM, by Cal Newport, comes in. The information in here wasn't exactly revolutionary - I already knew that my eyeballs are a hot commodity in the so-called attention economy. Nearly all the apps in my phone vie for my attention and clicks, and Google whispers sweet nothings in my ear every time I get bored with a task. Despite this, Newport's book is inspiring in the extreme, and even gives you an easy-to-follow manual for how to craft your own digital detox. It's time that your digital tools start working for you and not the other way around.

With this is mind, it is quite possible you'll be seeing less of me on here 👀 As creators, the algorithm encourages us to be ON, ALL THE TIME. And I'm not about that, it is extremely draining for my introverted self and not good for my mental wellbeing when all I can do is compare, compare, compare our account to other amazing ones on the platform. But I do love participating in the book community, so it's time to devise a plan where I can do this mindfully!

QOTD: are you addicted to your digital tools? How much time a day do you think you spend on your phone or computer? (And do you have the actual screen time receipts to prove it...)

05/05/2021

📣 New Episode 📣

Our conversation on Joseph Campbell's THE POWER OF MYTH is live! Campbell is widely known for creating the archetypal "Hero's Journey" that has inspired many a writer since (most notably, George Lucas when creating Star Wars). He also participated in a series of conversations with Bill Moyers that became a wildly popular PBS series in the late 1980s. THE POWER OF MYTH is a transcript of these conversations.

Campbell based his theories on the idea that common themes could be found in different mythologies across the world, but contemporary scholars criticized Campbell for making overgeneralizations in a nuanced field. So what is our take on the monomyth? Check out the link in our bio to find out!

04/05/2021

📣May Sneak Peek!📣

Check out what we're covering in our final month of Season 3:

📚 THE POWER OF MYTH, Joseph Campbell
📚 THE TAIN, translated by Thomas Kinsella
📚 PERIOD POWER, Maisie Hill

What are you most excited to read this month?

01/05/2021

✨ A New Nebula Review ✨

This month Paige and Jennifer reviewed P. Djèlí Clark's RING SHOUT. To check out what they thought, head over to the blog! (Link in bio).

QOTD: We seem to be on a bit of a horror kick on the podcast this month, what was the last horror book you read?

24/04/2021

What are some books that you enjoyed, but will never recommend?

This one was pretty clear cut for us, Zimmer Bradley's alleged actions make it pretty intolerable to read her works knowing what we do now. But this specific instance does bring up the continuing conversation over separating problematic authors from their works. In this case, we are very comfortable never recommending The Mists of Avalon for others to read despite having a positive opinion overall of the content. For other authors (looking at you, Asimov 😒)....we still have no firm answers.

23/04/2021

🎬 New Vids! 🎬

The smug face of someone who stayed up way past their bedtime, but managed to get 2 new youtube videos up 😎

Actually I took this pic weeks ago, but I wasn't feeling a photoshoot this morning lol. Check out the link in our bio to watch my (very late) March Wrap Up and learn why I don't buy books 👀

** Paige very much still buys books lol, I'm the weird one.

21/04/2021

🧙‍♀️ New Episode! 🧙‍♀️

Our episode on THE MISTS OF AVALON by Marion Zimmer Bradley is live, had you had a chance to listen yet? Paige guides us through this women-focused retelling of the Arthurian saga, but what will our final recommendation be when we address Bradley's own dark past? While Morgaine is a nuanced interpretation of a typically stereotypical villainess, the quality of this work is hard to reconcile with what we learned about the author after the fact. Tune in to hear us revisit the topic of problematic authors (we wish it didn't come up so often!) Link in bio.

QOTD: how do you deal with problematic authors? Are there situations where it is unacceptable to separate from the author from their work?

20/04/2021

🌷 B U R N O U T 🌷

Do you ever experience burnout as a podcaster? Are you juggling a million other things in life in addition to trying to upload regularly and stay active on social media?

Tbh this is me all the time! I am really bad at biting off more than I can chew and then I get overwhelmed and then the procrastination sets in. How do I deal with this? Well I haven't stopped procrastinating 😅

But I do try and set a lot of boundaries (sticking to them is harder lol) in terms of my time and how much space I allow this business to take up. I also just have to accept that with working full time, I simply won't be able to do all the things I'd like! Or post as often as the "algorithm" would prefer me to.

How do you prevent or deal with burnout? We'd love to hear more solutions!

15/04/2021

✨ The Nebulas are here! ✨

Well...not quite. The winners of 2021 Nebulas won't be announced until June 5th, BUT did you know BBE is publishing reviews on Nebula novel and short story nominees this year?? Once a month we'll be posting reviews on the blog, starting with Paige's review on NETWORK EFFECT from her beloved Murderbot series. Check it out using the link in our bio!

QOTD: Out of SFF, do you prefer the sci-fi or the fantasy?? 👀

13/04/2021

✨ P R I O R I T I E S ✨

Do you ever have books you really NEED to get to but you...read something else instead? This is something I am really struggling with this week as I SHOULD be reading The Library at Mount Char but instead I have been non-stop listening to The Conductors by Nicole Glover.

I am always so hesitant about approaching fiction in audiobook form, but this has been ~excellent~ so far. The magic system is so cool and original (as far as I know lol) and how Glover interweaves it convincingly into the history of American race relations is really masterful.

Thank you librofm for this ALC copy! As always, check them out if you love audiobooks and want an alternative to Audible.

QOTD: What books *should* you be reading right now? Are you actually reading them?

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🎙New Episode!🎙 This week in our first episode of BBE Shorts, Jennifer asks the big questions: ➡️ What does guilty pleasure read even mean? ➡️ What are her personal guilty pleasure favorites? ➡️ Where does guilt in reading come from? Leave your fav guilty pleasure read below and Jennifer may review it in a future BBE Shorts episode!

📣 Poll time 📣 Help us choose our theme for season 4 by heading over to our twitter (link in bio) and voting in our poll - maybe share it around, too 😏 Will you be picking our books for us next season? Maybe you'll be hearing about our guilty pleasure reads? The choice is up to you!

👒 how many hats do you wear? 👒 We don't just talk about books here at BBE, we do it all, including long extinct species of deer with the largest antlers on record that also happens to be available as a fossil in Animal Crossing. Just another way in which we provide you with ~culture~ while also plugging public institutions like libraries, or in this case, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History! Enjoy this blurb from our episode on The Tiger's Daughter, and make sure you're all caught up with Season 3! Link in bio.

📢 ANNOUNCEMENT 📢 Hi book nerds, Jennifer here. I've been working on a super secret project for a while now and I figured it was time to let you all in the know... We're starting a YouTube channel!! We are so excited to be creating in the Booktube space and can't wait for our first videos to be released later this month. If you'd like to subscribe you can head to the link in our bio! Comment down below with any of your favorite Booktubers or any video ideas you'd like to see us tackle.

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