Hardcover Hooligans

The Return of the King - Part 1

Episode  |  January 29th, 2024  |  1 hr 40 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien

Mc and Danylo read Book 5 (a.k.a. the first half) of The Return of the King. Battles with orcs, battles with pirates, and battles with despair!
Plus, Mc shares an internet book culture pet peeve.

The Two Towers - Part 2

Episode  |  January 15th, 2024  |  1 hr 15 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien

Our heroes get ever closer to Mordor, where it’s dangerous to look at the evil stuff for too long. Danylo definitely thought this part was going to be boring (it was not), and Mc gets confused about the layout of a cave. But in all sincerity, the main take is that these books definitely don’t get enough credit for their subtlety, nuance, and literary merit. It’s just good.

The Two Towers - Part 1

Episode  |  January 1st, 2024  |  1 hr 9 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien

Danylo and Mc chug some ent-draughts and discuss the first half of The Two Towers. Dwarves love running actually, Wormtongue is the alt-right pipeline, and waving around a sword cures depression. We also meet the second and final woman in these books! Wow!

The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 2

Episode  |  December 18th, 2023  |  1 hr 30 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien

Danylo and Mc read the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring, during which they try to answer the question “what if Frodo was wearing armor made of Bitcoin?”

The Fellowship of the Ring - Part 1

Episode  |  December 4th, 2023  |  1 hr 27 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien

Danylo and Mc throw a long-expected party by reading the first book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (we know it’s not technically a trilogy, it’s one whole story, but who cares). Danylo constantly compares the book to the movies (sorry), and Mc revisits one of his favorite books. They both have a crush on Aragorn.

The Hobbit

Episode  |  November 20th, 2023  |  1 hr 28 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, fantasy, geek, review, tolkien

Mc and Danylo read a classic in the fantasy genre, which is also a classic in the “cheating at riddle games to get over-powered jewelry” genre.

Dune Messiah

Episode  |  November 6th, 2023  |  1 hr 5 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi

After the baffling conclusion of Dune, Danylo and Mc read the sequel, Dune Messiah. We get the satisfying conclusion of the epic story of Paul Muad’Dib Atreides, as well as a bunch of weird 1960s sci-fi pervert stuff.

Dune - Part 2

Episode  |  October 23rd, 2023  |  1 hr 15 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi

The sweeping, epic adventure story of Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides just suddenly kinda…ends. And he wins. And beats everyone. And becomes emperor. Okay.
Danylo and Mc talk about Dune’s legacy, lasting impact, and how Frank Herbert doesn’t know what women talk about when there are no men around.

Dune - Part 1

Episode  |  October 9th, 2023  |  1 hr 19 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi

Kwisatz Haderach. Bene Gesserit. Fremen. Melange. Muad’Dib. The C.H.O.A.M. Company.
What do these goofy words even mean? Find out on this week’s episode.
Hint: they’re all things in the novel Dune, by Frank Herbert.

The Dispossessed - Part 2

Episode  |  September 25th, 2023  |  1 hr 14 mins

book, book podcast, books, booktok, comedy, criticism, discussion, geek, review, sci-fi

We return to the twin moons of Urras and Anarres to see if capitalism and ownership have poisoned our interpersonal and societal relationships (spoiler alert: yes).

But there’s still kind of a happy ending??? Based. 10/10.