Cracked Spines

Apr 07 2025 138 ep. 53 mins 111

Cracked Spines Podcast artwork

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.

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Animorphs Part 6: The Bright, Clear Line

Apr 07 2025 58 mins

Back at it again in the Animorphs mines. This time, we're reading books 28 through 32, a group that contains vitally important plot, thoughtful and moving character moments, and also whatever is happening in book 28. Cyrus professes their undying love for Marco's self-aware ruthlessness. Sarah understands the world better through children's literature. We both get increasingly nerv

TBR Pile Death Pact

Mar 24 2025 65 mins

Okay, maybe it's not a death pact. More of a "financially ruinous" pact for Cyrus specifically. But with the stakes on the table, they're more than willing to dive in. And with how annoying Cyrus is in this episode, Sarah is happy to crush them beneath capitalism's bootheel. But this is mostly, theoretically, not an episode about engaging in potentially friendship-ending contests o

Animorphs Part 5: The Weekend is Cancelled

Mar 10 2025 62 mins

This week on Cracked Spines, we are discussing Animorphs books 23 through 27, a chunk that includes one of the best books of the series so far and also Cassie lying to strangers about androids while inside a Spencer's Gifts. The series contains multitude and, as we get into this middle stretch, filler. Join us as we watch young teens grapple with intergalactic war, cross-species da

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Feb 24 2025 68 mins

Our favorite horror writer is back at it again! This week we read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, a truly harrowing mixture of pregnancy horror, social horror, and eels. In this episode, as you can probably imagine, we talk a lot about abortion rights, fucked up pregnancy stuff, and infanticide. Like honestly probably way too much discussion of infanticide, oopsie, s

Sarah's Bummer of an Extended Vacation: The 2025 Oregon Healthcare Strike

Feb 18 2025 58 mins

Hey, everyone! Sarah is one of the thousands of unionized healthcare workers on strike in Oregon. At their last job, Cyrus saw how hard a company will work to destroy a union. Let's do some labor chatting. This is a different episode than usual. We've been thinking about doing some extra episodes on our off weeks about stuff, and this episode? Well, I'm not sure it's the best examp

This is KINDA an Episode about Murderbot

Feb 10 2025 61 mins

We discuss the new Murderbot novel, System Collapse by Martha Wells! Which came out in... 2023. We're really part of the zeitgeist. And really, we only talk about Murderbot a little bit before the episode just becomes a confessional booth. Our financial habits are tearing this family apart. Our construction projects are tearing our house apart. Here is a link to Emily Axford's jour

Vermis: Which Flesh is Your Flesh?

Jan 27 2025 60 mins

Haunted catacombs! Mysterious knights! Rat man! For those looking for a game manual on their quest through Vermis, you couldn't ask for more. For those looking to actually play Vermis, well, we've got bad news. The book is a video game manual for a retro soulslike that doesn't exist. It's a fantastic piece of meta-fiction with amazing art by Plastiboo, and we loved it so much---and

Animorphs Part 4: We HAVE to Talk about David

Jan 13 2025 58 mins

Everyone was like, "look out for David *eyes emoji*" and in this episode we find out why. These three books are jampacked with moments that made us scream a little and we discuss them. (Spoiler: RACHEL. I LOVE YOU, QUEEN.) Sarah marvels at Animorph's Pain Per Page ratio. Cyrus ponders if they could fight a whale. None of the characters are happy, but boy did we have a good time. Su

2024 Recap: DIY, Top Fives, and the Raw Power of Animorphs

Dec 30 2024 67 mins

Another year, another yearly wrap-up episode. This week, we have a somewhat meandering conversation (gasp! so different from normal!) reflecting on our personal and literary lives. Turns out buying a house will derail your life. We share our favorite books, our upcoming resolutions, and our intimate relationships with our local Lowe's paint counter. Thanks for sticking around for a

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Dec 16 2024 51 mins

We are pleased to announce this is NOT an episode about Mortal Kombat. You might be surprised at the challenge that presented. It is, however, an episode about the phenomenal science fiction political thriller, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine! Sarah and Cyrus discuss the challenges and delights that such a complex world presents, and Sarah definitely doesn't struggle to sa