#008 Savvy Storytellers: All About Rainbow Rowell

Savvy Storytellers: All About Rainbow Rowell

Hello podcast listeners. Welcome to Rants and Reviews. In this episode we discuss all things Rainbow Rowell, and dive into the stories we love, the ones we weren’t so keen on, why we like her young adult novels more than her adult ones and, most importantly, how to pronounce her last name.

Currently Reading

Each episode of Rants and Reviews we’re going to be sharing what we’re currently reading, so you can discover our favourite genes, add some books to your TBR pile, and hear us rave and rage about characters, plot, setting and more. You may notice that Sophie’s When in Rome by Nicky Pellegrino has come up in episodes before this one. 

Anjali is currently reading:

• The Dark Between Stars by Atticus

Sophie is currently reading:

• The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
• When in Rome by Nicky Pellegrino
• What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

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Main feature

(06:23) Rainbow Rowell! We begin our discussion by trying to figure out how to actually say her last name. Ro-well? Raol? T-Rowell without the T?

(07:30) Sophie Googles how to say Rowell, and we share our findings.

(08:16) We (properly) start our Rowell chat by discussing Eleanor and Park. We both gave it the same amount of stars (tune in to see what we gave it!). In 2013 it won a Goodreads Choice Award, which is pretty neat, and it was the third book review that Sophie wrote on her blog. 

(12:12) Sophie drops a bomb and Anjali can’t even. We circle back to this later. 

(13:30) We take a sidebar about catching the bus. 

(17:30) Anjali gives us an overview of Fangirl, and we spend the next few minutes chatting about how this is one of our favourites from Rowell. It’s on both our re-read lists. 

(19:40) Fanfiction - yay or nay? We have a quick talk about the fanfiction world both in Fangirl and if we’ve ever written our own fanfiction. One of us has! Find out which one by tuning in! Click here to read it! 

(24:12) The short story collection of two stories: Midnights and Kindred Spirits. Sophie really likes Kindred Spirits, and the bomb that was dropped in (12:12) comes back on the scene. Anjali tells us the story of her Star Wars watching endeavours when she was a child. It’s on topic, we promise.

(28:30) We wonder if Rainbow Rowell is super geeky like how she portrays her characters to be. Dear Rainbow, please let us know. 

(29:28) Anjali asks Sophie if she ever lined up for Harry Potter, and Anjali shares her experience of going to pick up Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 

(33:55) Landline is one that Sophie has started but not gotten past the first few chapters, whereas Anjali has yet to read it. 

(35:50) Rowell’s book, Attachments, is less YA more adult, and Anjali gives us a quick synopsis of the book. 

(37:55) Anjali fangirls over Carry On for way too long. [Sophie reads Carry On later, post-recording, and didn’t enjoy it as much as Anjali wanted her to. You win some, you lose some. And that’s sad. But that’s life. Sigh. You can see Sophie’s review here on Blogger’s Bookshelf… verses Anjali’s review here.] Five minutes later we’re still talking about Carry On. Anjali apologises. But also regrets nothing. Supernatural also comes up in this conversation. 

(42:50) Fun fact: Rainbow Rowell is her real name. We decide she can’t ever branch out into the horror genre; it just wouldn't work. 

(42:45) Anjali ends on a pun. It’s really bad. We keep it in, just for you. 

Outro

And that’s a wrap. What’s your favourite Rainbow Rowell novel? Let us know on social media. Until next time!

Books mentioned in this episode

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell Landline by Rainbow Rowell Attachments by Rainbow Rowell Carry On by Rainbow Rowell The Dark Between Stars by Atticus The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan When in Rome by Nicky Pellegrino What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Charlie St Cloud by Ben Sherwood Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling Jack Thorne and John Tiffany

Have you read any of Rainbow Rowell's books? Let us know!