Most review outlets like to post positive reviews. Readers like positive reviews, and, the thinking goes, authors have a hard enough time without some review outlet slamming their book—even if it’s well-deserved. So we may see a bad review in the New York Times, or on Kirkus, but it’s rare.
Enter Tyler King and Matt Marovich, co-hosts of the podcast Your Book Is Why Daddy Drinks. While they will occasionally recommend books they actually like, for the most part, each podcast features a riotous take-down of books that are, simply put, ridiculous.
A couple disclaimers: we’d rate this podcast an R for language, so we can’t vouch that any episode is either work-safe or child-appropriate. Second, this is what you’d call a “grassroots” podcast, meaning some of the production values aren’t as polished as you might find on better funded sites, such as NPR. (Of course, there are those that might say NPR is too polished…)
With that out of the way, why not give it a listen? Sometimes, it’s good to laugh at this stuff, even if we consider ourselves serious writers. Maybe especially if we consider ourselves serious writers. And hey, sometimes the hosts even sober up enough to raise some money for a good cause.
From a review of the fourth-worst rated book on Amazon to a review of a novel featuring an inter-species relationship, it’s all here. Enjoy.