Santa Clarita Diet S2 🍖 TV Recap


Written by Thelonia & Tia


Well, that opening's not getting any better.

In the spirit of the fact that Santa Clarita Diet is the first show we watched for the No Improvement podcast (listen here!), we decided to tackle season 2 as well—but this time in blog form. Check out our recaps and reviews of all of the episodes from season 2 below:

No Improvement Podcast 👯 Episode 53



No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 53rd episode of No Improvement, we watch and discuss Pacific Rim Uprising, the Pacific Rim sequel, which came out on March 23, 2018.

Next week, we will be watching and talking about The Snowman, the notoriously bad 2017 British crime thriller starring Michael Fassbender. Pray for us.

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Game Night 🎲 Film Review





Written by Thelonia


Max and Annie are those people when it comes to games. Every week they host Game Night with their friends Ryan, Kevin, and Michelle. But between avoiding their overly interested and wildly deadpan neighbor Gary who keeps trying to get invited to Game Nights, and Max's much more successful brother Brooks, this Game Night promises a lot more challenges than they're prepared for.

A Guide for Murdered Children 👼 Book Review





Written by Thelonia


In Sarah Sparrow's new debut novel, the souls of murdered children possess the bodies of the recently dead to find those who killed them and achieve a 'moment of balance'. But in periods when the children's 'Watcher' gets replaced, there comes a great imbalance which sees all the rules and normal circumstances become topsy-turvy.

All in Good Storytime 📚 Episode 31



All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 31st episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch Annihilation (the recent movie based on the book that we previously read on the podcast), directed and written by Alex Garland. We discuss the complicated relationship between the diverse mostly-female cast, allegations of white-washing, and the handling of the sole queer female character who suffered the most gruesome on-screen death. We highlight the numerous changes from the book such as the addition of a geomorphologist to the team, the replacement of the surveyor and anthropologist with a physicist and paramedic, and the fact that all the characters were addressed by their names in the film instead of solely by their profession.

We also describe how the film's tendency to provide us with answers for every encountered phenomenon compared with our experience reading the book which actively avoided providing explanations. We address the twist ending with numerous references to Inception and we provide our own interpretations of what we believe happened to Lena. Finally, we questioned if Alex Garland is Jeff VanderMeer's green, alien double and if he ran away with the script after 10 minutes of interpretive dance-fighting.

Next, next week we will be watching episode 1 of Big Little Lies on HBO.

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No Improvement Podcast 👯 Episode 52



No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 52nd episode of No Improvement, we watch and discuss Bright, the infamous 2017 thriller/fantasy film with Will Smith. Ho boy.

Next week, we will be watching and talking about Pacific Rim Uprising, the Pacific Rim sequel, which comes out on March 23, 2018.

Subscribe on iTunes!

Sometimes I Lie 🙊 Book Review




Written by Thelonia


There are three things you should know: 
1. I'm in a coma.
2. My husband doesn't love me any more.
3. Sometimes I lie.

No Improvement Podcast 👯 Episode 51



No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 51st episode of No Improvement, we watch and discuss Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time (officially out in theaters March 9, and based on the book by Madeleine L'Engle).

Next week, we will be watching and talking about Bright, the infamous 2017 thriller/fantasy film with Will Smith. Ho boy.

Subscribe on iTunes!

🙋 Which TV Show Should You Binge Next, Based on Your Interests? 👀




Written by Thelonia & Tia


We know that in this age of "too much content" it can often be hard to find a new show to watch. So we figured, why not make it easy? Below is our list of recommendations for TV shows you can start watching right now, based on other shows (and sometimes books/films) you may already like. Let's simplify the recommendation process.

No Improvement Podcast 👯 Episode 50



No Improvement is a sort-of-funny talk show that explores the vast, untapped potential of TV shows, books, films, and more. Quill & Slate blog runners Thelonia and Tia review—and then reimagine—the stories you know and love until you can barely recognize them anymore. Hopefully in a good way. And if not, well, we hope you are still entertained.

In the 50th episode of No Improvement, we read and discuss Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.

Next week, we will be watching and discussing Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time (officially out in theaters March 9, and based on the book by Madeleine L'Engle).

Subscribe on iTunes!

The Wicked Deep 🏊 Book Review





Written by Thelonia


Hocus Pocus meets Practical Magic with a bit of The Craft tossed in, The Wicked Deep is a fun, quick read that has enough twists and turns to keep you intrigued.

All in Good Storytime 📚 Episode 30


All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!

In the 30th episode of All in Good Storytime, we finish reading White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. In this concluding section, we see Miranda fighting off the urge to eat Ore, Ore's terrifying visit to the Silver House, the Goodlady being cracked open by Ore to reveal the true Miranda, and then we watch as Luc and Eliot cope with Miranda's disappearance when she decides to take on said Goodlady.

We discuss Miranda/the Goodlady's multiple instances of suicidality from hanging outside of Ore's window, laying in a crosswalk in the middle of the night, pressing a screwdriver to her neck, to finally swallowing batteries. We also look at the numerous times that Miranda bites or strangles Ore and how this parallels the soucouyant tale. We also touch on the vaguely incestual past of Miranda and Eliot and the revelation that Eliot may not have gone to South Africa at all but may have been stalking Miranda at college. We finally question what truly happened to Miranda at the end and if she was strong enough to fight off the Goodlady or if she has simply joined her ancestors as a prisoner of this house.

Next, next week we will be watching Annihilation (the recent movie based on the book that we previously read on the podcast).

Subscribe on iTunes!