Welcome back to the Empyrean! Every single character in this ENTIRE world is going to be mentioned in the first 20 pages. Hope you figure it out! By the way, we made up a new villain out of nowhere and we're going to the Poptropica islands. Thankfully we have Ridoc and Garrick to carry us the entire way.

This episode contains spoilers for the entirety of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, along with the two books that precede it. Book discussion starts at (06:49) and spoilers start at (16:09). Thanks for coming to our January book club!

Rating: 6 / 10

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads

Suzanne Collins! Stranger Things! Unicorns! Here's everything that's on our radar for 2025. We've got a lot of new books we are looking forward to and some questionable live action movies we are not.

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads

Its our first vibe check of 2025 and we were READING. This a spoiler free review of everything we consumed in December and what we are looking forward to in the month ahead.

8:09 - Books

Chronicles of Narnia (Lion, the witch and the wardrobe through Dawn Treader, Spectacular by Stephanie Garber, Puck and Prejudice by Lila Riley, The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Emily Wilde's Map of Otherlands by Heather Fawcett, Bad Mormon by Heather Gay, Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldtree, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

55:55 - Movies

A Real Pain, Hot Frosty, A Complete Unknown, Moana 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Singin in the Rain

1:16 - Television

Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

1:25:55 - Music

SOS Deluxe: LANA by SZA

1:26:50 January Watchlist

For our December Book Club we read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, which turned out not to be an encyclopaedia at all! (We were confused at first.) This whimsical tale was a very unique read for us and we're OBSESSED with Wendell Bambleby. Tune in for our thoughts on the journal entry writing style, Emily's unreliable narration, Wendell's weird cleanliness quirk, and more!

Rating: 8 / 10

This episode contains spoilers for the book starting at (10:32). The second book Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands is also mentioned, but no spoilers given.

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....2024 is wrapping up so here is our annual Best Of spoiler free episode. From books to pop culture we share our top picks and our biggest flops.

Titles discussed:

Albums: Don't Forget Me by Maggie Rogers, Short and Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter, MEGAN by Megan the Stallion, Vertigo by GRIFF, TTPD by Taylor Swift, BRAT by Charli XCX, Sugar Water by Maude Latour, and Cowboy Carter by Beyonce. Flops: Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves, Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa, and 143 by Katy Perry

Books: Animal Farm, None of this is True, and Bitterblue. Flops: Verity and Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

Movies: Wicked, Challengers, Dune pt 2, Wild Robot, Twisters, Mad Max: Furiosa, Saturday Night, A Real Pain. Flops: Madam Web, Megalopolis, and Mean Girls

TV: Agatha All Along, Nobody wants this, RHOSLC, John Mulaney's Everybody's in LA, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Love Island USA

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads

This could also be called our 2024 Year In Review: Book Edition. We're tier ranking all 20 books we read for the podcast this year and reflecting on which ones impacted us most. This episode is spoiler free, but we still opine AT LENGTH about some of these books so buckle in!

Tiers explained starting at (07:17) and actual ranking starts at (08:33).

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads

Growing up is realizing you are actually an Edmund, not a Lucy. In this episode we discuss the movie adaptation of C.S. Lewis iconic The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. We discuss the way our perception of the story and characters has changed, the movie 's stunning visuals, and quality casting. Also, Will Poulter's glow up.

Contains spoilers for the entire Chronicles of Narnia series.

Rating: 7.5/10

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads

Our November reading & watch report is in there somewhere... along the way we get into some C.S. Lewis vs. J.R.R. Tolkien discourse we have no business having, plus some impassioned hateration about live action remakes and lots of confusion about The Inheritance Games series. Oh, and we loved Wicked!

(06:38) Reading Report

• Never Whistle at Night by Shane Hawk (08:06)
• Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell (14:06)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (19:17)
• Spectacular by Stephanie Garber (23:17)
• The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young (25:24)
• The Witch Wedding by Erin Sterling (31:19)
• The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (33:47)
• The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis (43:45)

(52:39) Watch Report - Movies

• Conclave
• Gladiator II
• The Merry Gentlemen
• American Assassin
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

(01:21:39) Watch Report - TV

• Great British Bake Off
• RHOSLC & RHONY
• Agatha All Along

(01:26:25) Music

• The Great Impersonator by Halsey
• Hello Miss Johnson by Jack Harlow

No spoiler warnings - we kept today's episode spoiler free!

FIND US AT:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegreatobsessionpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email: thegreatobsessionpod@gmail.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RiLee's Goodreads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sam's Goodreads