Kristina, Rachel, Tim and Alex chat about what they're into right now, including:

00:57 - Jill Lepore books

07:48 - Ghosts

12:52 - Late Night with the Devil

16:04 - Shōgun

19:05 - Police Story

~~~~~

For our complete show notes and links to items we mention in this episode, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

Kristina, Rachel, Tim and Alex celebrate National Board Game Day (April 11th) by discussing their lasting appeal, why they're a perfect fit for libraries and making some recommendations.

00:00 - What Makes Board Games Great?

04:12 - Our Introduction to Board Gaming

05:56 - Board Gaming's Growing Popularity

11:41 - Where to Start?

19:20 - Libraries & Board Games

23:14 - Facts & Trivia

38:25 - Recommendations

~~~~~

For our complete show notes and links to items we mention in this episode, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

Tory, Kristina and Alex chat about what they're into!

00:50 - Dark Souls

16:43 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

24:21 - The films of William Castle

35:22 - Mommy

39:33 - Decoder Ring

43:46 - Love & Pies

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

April is National Humor Month! To celebrate, Alex, Marianna and Melissa talk about some of their favorite comedy books, shows and movies. Plus comedy recommendations for every sense of humor! Which one are you? Take this quiz the find out!

00:21 - Intro & Comedy Memoirs

12:37 - Stand-Up

15:10 - Has Your Sense of Humor Changed?

26:11 - TV & Film Recs

36:42 - Martin's Four Humor Styles + More Recs

~~~~~

For our complete show notes and links to items we mention in this episode, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

To coincide with the release of the hit new game Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, our resident Final Fantasy "amateur experts" explore the history of the iconic franchise and why it remains the king of RPGs 37 years later.

01:26 - Why celebrate Final Fantasy?

03:07 - What makes a Final Fantasy game so unique?

09:54 - History of Final Fantasy (1987-1994)

17:35 - Final Fantasy VII, the game that changed everything

33:33 - History of Final Fantasy (1999-2024)

44:09 - Our Perfect Final Fantasy

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Kristina and Alex chat about what they're currently into!

00:46 - Monster

04:29 - Dredge

08:19 - Fargo: Season 5

12:36 - Fantasy High

15:54 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

The Oscar Review Crew shares their post-Oscar thoughts and designs their perfect Academy Awards show.

01:04 - Introduction & Oscar Picks Winner

04:34 - Opening Monologue & Hosting

09:04 - Favorite Presenters

23:20 - Winners, Losers and Surprises

40:56 - Designing the Perfect Oscars

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Between the Shelves' Oscar Review Crew reunites to celebrate the 96th Academy Awards! Alex, Sean, Rachel and Maria discuss this year's biggest snubs and surprises and share their personal Best Picture nominees.

02:16 - Best Picture category

21:14 - Snubs

44:43 - 2023 Movie Disappointments

52:22 - 2023 Movie Surprises

59:55 - Personal Best Picture Nominees

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

To celebrate International Pokémon Day, Alex and Kristina discuss how the niche Game Boy game grew into the world's biggest franchise and share their personal journey's to becoming Pokémon Masters.

00:53 - Introduction

03:18 - History of Pokémon

15:11 - Cultural Impact

19:54 - First Experiences

33:09 - Pokémon Concierge review

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Tory, Kristina and Meg chat about what they're into!

00:46 - The Traitors (Peacock)

04:45 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

07:32 - Bride by Ali Hazelwood

10:27 - RuPaul's Drag Race

12:14 - Independent Bookstores

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Special guest host Tory chats with Kristina and Meg about romance books and it's many alluring subgenres!

01:04 - Hallmarks of romance

03:23 - First flings

10:34 - Romantasy

17:04 - Urban Fantasy

21:44 - Romance Manga

28:12 - Sports Romance

34:25 - Historical Romance

43:42 - Contemporary Romance & Fan Fiction

53:50 - AI does romance

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Tory and Derek ("A Bite Of" podcast) join Alex to talk about what they're into! Mentioned in this episode:

00:42 - Big Brother (CBS)

05:16 - Past Lives

10:02 - One Piece (Netflix)

15:57 - Superfan (CBS)

19:23 - Rosemary Joaquin

20:50 - Queen Herby

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For this (and all) show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Tory and Alex are joined by special guest Derek ("A Bite Of" podcast) on a deep dive of the music phenomena that is K-POP! Tory and Derek also share their top 5 K-Pop tracks, so don't miss!

02:27 - What is K-Pop?

05:00 - K-Pop vs. Western Pop

13:21 - How did you get into K-Pop?

17:08 - K-Pop Fandom

24:46 - K-Pop Mania

29:09 - International Appeal

35:29 - "Not Shy" by Itzy

38:05 - "Hero" by Monsta X

40:41 - "BANG BANG BANG" by BIGBANG

43:51 - "As If It's Your Last" by BLACKPINK

46:12 - "Hello B**ches" by CL

48:58 - "Shine" by Pentagon

51:40 - "Hot" by Seventeen

54:05 - "Dumb Dumb" by Red Velvet

56:27 - "Fancy" by Twice

58:40 - "View" by SHINee

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our complete show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Alex is joined by Melissa and Steph to talk about what they're into!

Mentioned in this episode:

00:38 - Steam Deck repair & The Makery

03:30 - Old Nickelodeon Shows

05:58 - Class of '07

08:09 - Good Trouble

09:54 - Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford

15:32 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

[WARNING! This episode contains explicit language.]

Between the Shelves celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with our tribute its best era, the '90s. Alex, Melissa and Steph play some of their favorite '90s hip-hop tracks and talk about what makes this decade rap's greatest.

00:48 - Why's '90s Hip-Hop?

05:58 - A Tribe Called Quest

10:23 - Mary J Blige

13:17 - Kris Kross

15:14 - Big L

17:52 - Old Dirty Bastard

20:11 - Salt-N-Pepa

23:40 - The Fugees

27:09 - Wyclef Jean

30:57 - Notorious B.I.G.

33:55 - The Roots

36:44 - Warren G

39:39 - Gang Starr

41:45 - Cut For Time, 2000s & Wrap-Up

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

In our final "Best of 2023" episode, Jenn, Marianne, and Peter join Alex to discuss their favorite books, TV shows and albums of the year!

01:23 - North Woods by Daniel Mason

08:22 - How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

14:23 - The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

20:17 - Neom by Lavie Tidhar

23:30 - Nobody Needs to Know by Pidgeon Pagonis

29:33 - Telemarketers

35:59 - The Bear

40:38 - Fisk

43:43 - Our Flag Means Death

50:17 - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die (world war) by Jaimie Branch

53:27 - Workin on the World by Iris Dement

56:31 - This Girl's Crying In Her Latte by Sparks

57:59 - Everything is Alive by Slowdive

1:00:00 - "Burden of Guilt"

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Kristina and Tory join Alex to share their favorite books, TV shows, music and video game of 2023!

00:59 - Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux

05:23 - The Reunion by Kayla Olson

09:06 - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

11:56 - Wellness by Nathan Hill

17:18 - American Fiction

23:19 - Our Flag Means Death

29:09 - The Continental

35:55 - So Much (for) Stardust by Fall Out Boy

39:21 - 3D Country by Geese

44:10 - Theatrhythm Final Bar Line

49:46 - Here Lies Love

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Tim, Lizzie and Sam join Alex to discuss their favorite books, albums, and TV shows of the year!

01:48 - The Golden Age, Book II by Roxanne Moreil & Cyril Pedrosa

05:14 - In Limbo by Deborah Lee

06:54 - The He-Man Effect by Brian "Box" Brown

07:43 - Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

10:18 - Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

15:08 - Scavengers Reign

21:04 - Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

25:56 - How To with John Wilson

30:48 - Shelter

34:36 - Blondshell by Blondshell

37:44 - I Play My Bass Loud by Gina Birch

40:23 - The Maybe Man by AJR

41:25 - Guts by Olivia Rodrigo

42:17 - Javelin by Sufjan Stevens

45:04 - Heaven is a Junkyard by Youth Lagoon

46:36 - Subtract by Ed Sheeran

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

Kristina and Alex review season 1 of Ahsoka and chat about some other things they're currently into, like ghost stories, suplexing trains, and exploring the strange stories behind America's favorite theme park.

00:39 - Ahsoka review

17:27 - Works of Junji Ito

21:39 - Final Fantasy VI

27:57 - Ghostland by Colin Dickey

33:04 - Defunctland & Yesterworld

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.

In honor of Life Day, the cherished Wookiee holiday, Kristina and Alex celebrate by thoroughly examining the galactic disaster that is the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.

00:33 - Setting the Life Day table

07:58 - Meet the Wookiees

12:16 - A New Low

17:05 - We need to talk about Itchy

22:45 - "The Story of the Faithful Wookiee"

28:41 - A New New Low

31:23 - Bea Arthur is canon

38:00 - So what is Life Day exactly?

44:34 - Closing thoughts

~~~~~

Have a question, comment or topic idea? Let us know at alex@sayvillelibrary.org!

For our show notes, visit sayvillelibrary.org/podcast.