16: I just got French whiplash

Ears God made by accident

We’re back, and Molly is cursing more than ever before. Your Bookstupid hosts are fresh off their longest stint apart since Claire studied abroad in college (did you know?? That she studied abroad??). In addition to a much needed catch up on our lives, Ali Hazelwood’s Not in Love x Problematic Summer Romance, Christina Lauren’s (but really Lauren’s) Love and Other Words, Widow’s Bay, and Every Year After, we do a close read on a generational new romance text: Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. Oliva, we have received your message.

18: Huffin’ and puffin’ and blowin’ my house down

If you’re reading this, former president of Fordham University Father McShane, we’re going to watch Fifty Shades of Grey. We know about s-e-x and we’re allowed to watch that movie. This week, we talk about the steamy scenes that inspire us, and we’re still figuring out what that means exactly. We also discuss Obsession, the newest season of Four Seasons, and weird dates we witnessed in the wild this week. This is a message to the women of Manhattan: dump him!

17: Race you on the loom!

If it seems like Claire is bursting with energy in this week’s episode, it’s because she can hardly wait another second to talk about the new season of her favorite Scandinavian horror show, The Chestnut Man. Also this week, we discuss the lifestyle movies that made us yearn for womanhood (The Devil Wears Prada), as well as a show that makes us sad about girlhood (The Testaments). Finally, we review a new summer romance — and Little Women fanfic — on shelves now: Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune.

16: I just got French whiplash

The state of our writing mirrors the state of our Union: bleak, bordering on hopeless. But we barely talk about the economy and AI in this episode, if you can believe it! Instead, we discuss the Off Campus tv adaptation, Molly’s cult-of-one classic LOL (starring Miley Cyrus and D’mi Moore), and Claire’s latest second chance romance Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan — in addition to workshopping our own rough writing. It’s about time you put us in your prayer books.

15: Bad dad, fine king

This week, we catch up after an eventful weekend that includes a James Patterson commencement speech, a trip down memory lane, a mostly sober viewing of The Devil Wears Prada 2, and the rescue of 1,500 beagles. Since we last met, Molly finished Rites of the Starling and Claire (finally) finished The Poisonwood Bible. Also this week, we tackle Claire’s favorite romance trope: airports and airplanes. Hopefully you can’t catch Molly’s chronic cough through your headphones.