Quill & Slate

THE MAN WHO CAUGHT THE STORM 🌪️ BOOK REVIEW

Tim Samaras was a storm chaser: a person who chases intense weather conditions for a variety of reasons, whether that be professional or recreational. For Samaras, it was a bit of both: a love of tornadoes turned to sponsored trips trying to set probes in the path of tornadoes to find out what happened in the heart of the vortex. In this well-researched biography, we find out not only about Samaras' life, but about tornadoes, the storm chasing community at large, and the dangers and high-points the job brings.

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 37th episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch the sixth episode of Big Little Lies on HBO. In this penultimate episode, we see multiple major developments. We finally see the planned co-parenting dinner come to fruition, Madeline's play has it's opening night, Abby's secret project is revealed, Celeste makes a major move towards leaving Perry, and Renata and Jane reconcile. We discuss the improbable Kermit-green color of Madeline's puke at the highly anticipated dinner with Bonnie and Nathan. We address Perry's continuing use of manipulative tactics to try and further isolate Celeste from her friends by attempting to guilt her out of attending the opening night of Madeline's play. We expand on last week's discussion regarding how involved Celeste's therapist has become in her situation. We rejoice over Jane and Renata's decision to put their differences aside to best deal with the evolving situation regarding Amabella's abuse and Ziggy's exclusion at school. We end with our final round of theories regarding the murder at the core of the show.

Next week we will be watching episode 7 (the final episode of season 1) of Big Little Lies on HBO.

No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 58th episode of No Improvement, we watch and discuss the first two episodes of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, season 2. Listen to us discuss season 1 or the All in Good Storytime podcast discuss the book at these links! Next week, we will be watching and talking about the third episode of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, season 2.

YOU THINK IT, I'LL SAY IT 😨 BOOK REVIEW

Many of the stories in Curtis Sittenfield's new short story collection, You Think It, I'll Say It, revolve around women, their relationships, and how both fall apart. Each story examines a specific character, all of which carry their own neuroses and anxieties, some unfounded, some completely rational (or at least so it seems to someone with their own anxieties). If you like watching how people lose it and how grudges, insecurities, and doubts can grow lives of their own in the right hands, then this is the book for you.

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 36th episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch the fifth episode of Big Little Lies on HBO. In this episode, Madeline and the play director get in a car accident, Jane has a confrontation with her possible rapist, Amabella's bully has progressed to biting her, and Celeste continues seeing her couple's counselor alone.

We begin by discussing Madeline's affair and how her storyline, while more ordinary than the others, is still heartbreaking in its simplicity. We focus on the increasingly unsettling looks from Ed and share our hope that this will be explained before the end of the season. We examine Jane's visit to her potential rapist to determine whether she had realized he was her assailant. We begin to question whether Renata is more likely to be the victim or the murderer in this tale. We also discuss how well the cycle of abuse is portrayed in Celeste and Perry's relationship. When Perry shows remorse it is easy to genuinely hope that he can get better, but the show makes it clear that this is not an option. We end with updated predictions regarding the murderer and their victim, including the theory that this is a cathartic group murder carried out against an innocent bystander.

Next week we will be watching episode 6 of Big Little Lies on HBO.

No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 57th episode of No Improvement, we watch and discuss Paddington 2, which is the film sequel to... Paddington. Listen to our in-depth, life-changing analysis below. Next week, we will be watching and talking about the first two episodes of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, season 2.

"NO TEARS LEFT TO CRY" BY ARIANA GRANDE 💃 SINGLE REVIEW

A fun story: the first time I saw the new Ariana Grande single's cover I thought it was Hayley Kiyoko. And the new hair might not be the only new thing from this new era for Ariana: her new single "No Tears Left to Cry" is a fun track about dancing once you've cried all your grief out. And it is a bop and a jam and is giving me whiplash when I listen to it back to back with the new Florence + the Machine song. Truly all this new music is giving me the full spectrum of human emotion.

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 35th episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch the fourth episode of Big Little Lies on HBO. In this episode, we see Celeste back in her element as a lawyer representing Madeline and her play and she begins seeing her couple's counselor alone. Nathan invites Madeline to dinner to discuss co-parenting Abigail and Ed shows up at Bonnie's studio to discuss the upcoming dinner. Madeline makes out with the play director and we learn that they once had an affair. Jane brings Ziggy to a child psychologist after she learns that Amabella is still being bullied. Madeline potentially discovers who raped Jane. We discuss the bad vibes we got from Ed and Bonnie's discussion and how Ed is appearing increasingly creepy especially in light of the fact that we now know he likes to dress up in costumes. We question whether Bonnie's remark, “You know we all have baggage, Ed," was a reference to something in her own past, or in Ed's. We express how we would have felt worse about Madeline cheating on Ed with the play director if we had learned about it before Ed's creepy side was revealed. We speculate as to who is bullying Amabella if it isn't Ziggy. We discuss how transparent and controlling Perry is being when he suggests that he and Celeste have another child just as they are beginning to fight as the possibility of Celeste working again is introduced. Finally, we question what is going to happen with Jane now that the identity of her rapist has potentially been revealed.

Next week we will be watching episode 5 of Big Little Lies on HBO.

No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 56th episode of No Improvement, we watch and discuss Psych: the Movie, which is the film sequel to the popular USA Network TV show, Psych. Next week, we will be watching and talking about Paddington 2, which is the film sequel to... Paddington.

"SKY FULL OF SONG" BY FLORENCE + THE MACHINE 🙌 SINGLE REVIEW

Good news everyone, I'm dead. I have died and ascended and am writing this review from the great beyond. It's pretty sick here; we even have new Florence + The Machine material! And so, I have been scalped in the afterlife.

"BARBIE TINGZ" AND "CHUN-LI" BY NICKI MINAJ 👀 SINGLES REVIEW

On this, the twelfth of April 2018, Nicki Minaj released two new singles, "Chun-Li" and "Barbie Tingz" and Jesus Christ people, can we listen to the music for just one second before we start hunting down who each individual line is shading?

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 34th episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch the third episode of Big Little Lies on HBO. In this episode, Madeline and Renata's feud escalates as Amabella finally has her birthday party and Madeline makes good on her promise to host an alternative party at Disney's Frozen on Ice. Renata explicitly considers killing Madeline. Madeline learns that Abigail has decided to go live with her father and we question whether this decision was truly driven by Madeline's helicopter parenting or if it possibly involved Ed.

We discuss how Bonnie's character is only developed as an adversary for Madeline and how the town as a whole also has a complicated relationship with her. Jane confides in Madeline about her history of rape, and based on her flashbacks we theorize that Perry may have been her assailant. We realize that Jane's PTSD, Ziggy's sleepwalking, and the gun under Jane's pillow are a potentially lethal combination. We examine the heartbreaking scene where Celeste and Perry finally go to counseling in an attempt to mend their broken marriage.

Next week we will be watching episode 4 of Big Little Lies on HBO.

No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 55th episode of No Improvement, we read and discuss The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie. To listen to our review and discussion of the first book, The Abyss Surrounds Us (to which this book is a sequel), click here. If you love sea monsters, pirates, gal pals 😉, and Pacific Rim, you'll want to read these books.

Next week, we will be watching and talking about Psych: the Movie, which is the film sequel to the popular USA Network TV show, Psych.

BOBBIE CLEARLY 🌽 THEATRE REVIEW Bobby killed Casey in a cornfield in Milton, Nebraska ten years ago. Now he's being released, and no one in Milton knows how to feel about - or why he did it in the first place.

GOLDEN HOUR BY KACEY MUSGRAVES 🌈 ALBUM REVIEW

Kacey Musgraves' new album Golden Hour takes her acerbic writing, updates it from her country roots by adding some new synthetic sounds, making her small focused songs and making them sound a lot roomier and poppier, making this her most accessible album so far.

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 33rd episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch the second episode of Big Little Lies on HBO. In this episode, the tension that was building up between Madeline and Ed, and Bonnie and Nathan, reaches a climax when it is revealed that Bonnie brought Abigail to Planned Parenthood for birth control pills. Ziggy is snubbed and is the only student not invited to Amabella's birthday party, and Madeline responds by inviting all the kids to go see Frozen on Ice instead. Chloe and Skye attempt to repair the damage between Amabella and Ziggy in a well-intentioned scheme that goes horribly wrong.

In this episode, we discuss why Avenue Q, a play that is being put on at a community theater and not at a school, is being so heavily scrutinized by the town. We debate whether or not Bonnie crossed a line in taking Abigail to Planned Parenthood and we further examine the root of Madeline's resentment towards Bonnie. We begrudgingly look at the scene between Celeste and Perry which reveals their increasingly violent marriage. Additionally, we discuss Jane's evident symptoms of PTSD which are resurfacing following the accusations toward Ziggy at school. We end by sharing our theories regarding the identities of the murderer and victim.

Next week we will be watching episode 3 of Big Little Lies on HBO.

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 32nd episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch the first episode of Big Little Lies on HBO. In this first episode, we are introduced to Jane, Madeline, Celeste, Bonnie, and Renata. The five women all have children entering the first grade in Monterey, California. The episode begins with a murder of an unknown victim carried out by an unknown assailant. Through flashbacks, we are brought back to the beginning of the school year and see the events that led to the night of the murder. Jane, the mother of young Sheldon, is new to town and quickly befriends Madeline. Madeline is now married to Ben from Parks and Rec but she also has a teenaged daughter with Nathan, Bonnie's husband. Celeste is married to Alexander Skarsgard, and while their public displays of affection draw the disgust and jealousy of the town, in the privacy of their home we see a darker side to their relationship. During the kids' first day of orientation, Renata's daughter says that Jane's son choked her, an accusation he vehemently denies, and we are introduced to the second mystery of the show. In this episode, we discuss general emphasis on motherhood seen in the contrast between the working mothers and the stay at home moms as well as the differences between mothers like Reese Witherspoon, high-strung and neurotic, and Zoe Kravitz, effortlessly cool and free-spirited. We examine the relationship between Celeste and Perry Wright and how even before the true nature of their abusive relationship was revealed their interactions were already clearly unsettling. Finally, we question the implications of Jane's flashbacks regarding her own personal trauma and how that influences her relationship with her son.

Next week we will be watching episode 2 of Big Little Lies on HBO.