Off Book — Melissa & Alex on Dystopian Fiction, Celebrity Memoirs & Captain Underpants

About the episode

In this Off Book mini episode of the Genre’d podcast, we sit down with Melissa—Elyse's longtime friend, former underwear-store co-worker, and devoted dystopian fiction reader. If you love books about bleak futures, authoritarian governments, and one brave person asking “why?”, this is the episode for you.

We trace Melissa’s genre origin story back to reading The Giver in fifth grade, talk about how A Wrinkle in Time and The Handmaid’s Tale shaped her reading life, and dig into why she believes dystopian novels are secretly hopeful, not just doom and gloom.

From there, we cross into her “cheat genre”: celebrity memoirs. Meli

ssa shares why memoirs are the perfect palette cleanser after heavy near-future nightmares and gives a handful of bingeable recommendations.

And because this is Off Book chaos at its finest, the episode ends with a bonus interview featuring Melissa’s four-year-old son, Alex, who tells us about his favorite kids’ books, including Captain Underpants and The Pigeon Has to Go to School, and shares the cutest breathing tip for dealing with big feelings.

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What we cover in this Off Book episode

How dystopian fiction became Melissa’s comfort genre

We start with Melissa’s first big “who let us read this?” moment: The Giver by Lois Lowry in elementary school. Emotional suppression, government control, mandated sameness—at age ten. That reading experience unlocked her lifelong love of:

• Dark, authoritarian futures

• Stories that question power and control

• Characters who choose to care, even when the system wants them quiet

She also connects that to A Wrinkle in Time, which looks like fantasy on the surface but reads more like speculative, dystopian fiction when you revisit it as an adult.

Best dystopian books for beginners (and when to “level up”)

If you’re new to dystopian fiction, Melissa’s starter recommendation is:

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – fast-paced, emotional, and incredibly accessible, perfect for readers who want a gripping story with high stakes and clear worldbuilding.

Once you’re hooked, she suggests trying the classic, “denser” dystopian novels that often get assigned in school:

• 1984 by George Orwell

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (more historical than futuristic, but still surprisingly heavy for a 13-year-old)

We also rant a bit about how many of these classics hit much harder when you read them as an adult instead of as homework.

The biggest misconception about dystopian fiction

A lot of readers assume dystopian books are depressing, but Melissa argues the opposite: the best dystopian stories are “love letters to humanity.” We talk about how:

• Dystopian novels are often mirrors of our current world, not predictions of the future

• There’s always at least one character who chooses to resist, even when everything feels hopeless

• The genre is less about suffering and more about resilience, hope, and resistance

If you’ve skipped dystopian books because you’re worried they’ll be too dark, this conversation might change your mind.

Favorite dystopian tropes & moments

We dig into Melissa’s comfort tropes—the scenes she waits for in every dystopian novel:

• The “truth drop” reveal

  • When Jonas discovers what “release” really means in The Giver

  • When Winston in 1984 realizes the true impact of rewriting history

  • When Katniss understands how deeply she’s being used as propaganda in The Hunger Games

• The Rebel Awakens

  • That one character who finally asks “why?” and decides the world doesn’t have to stay this way.

These moments are gut-punches, but they’re also what make readers feel seen and hopeful in a broken system.

Why fantasy and magic don’t work for her (but tech dystopias do)

Even though Melissa enjoys some pop-culture staples like Twilight, she hasn’t read Harry Potter, The Hobbit, or Lord of the Rings, and high fantasy in general just doesn’t click. We unpack why:

• Fully invented high fantasy worlds are harder to sink into when you’re not reading every night

• She prefers near-future, tech-based dystopian fiction that feels like it could happen “just a few years from now”

• She’s all in when the villain is a system, an AI, or a piece of technology gone wrong

We also talk about adjacent recs you might like if you share those tastes:

• Silo by Hugh Howey (and the Apple TV+ adaptation)

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

• Warcross by Marie Lu

• The Power by Naomi Alderman

• Vox by Christina Dalcher

Her “cheat genre”: memoirs and celebrity memoirs

When the dystopian vibes get a little too real, Melissa switches to memoir and celebrity memoir as a reset:

• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt as an early favorite

• Celebrity memoirs from Mindy Kaling, Jessica Simpson, Drew Barrymore, and Britney Spears

• Mark Hoppus’s memoir, which blends music nostalgia with his cancer journey

We talk about what makes a great celebrity memoir (strong narrative voice, real vulnerability) and why the celebrity lifestyle can feel like its own kind of modern dystopia—constant scrutiny, zero privacy, and the pressure to perform a public version of yourself.

Bonus: Alex’s kid book recommendations & big feelings advice

In the second half of the episode, you’ll hear from Melissa’s four-year-old son, Alex, who absolutely steals the show. In his kid-book corner, he talks about:

• Why Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Noodle Nuggets is his favorite

• Why he loves The Pigeon Has to Go to School! (and how the pigeon goes from “I already know everything” to being excited about school)

• His rainbow bear Coco, who’s a model student and always listens to the teacher

• The deep-breathing exercise he uses when he’s sad or mad: in through your nose, out through your mouth

It’s adorable, grounding, and honestly the best emotional-regulation advice we’ve had on the podcast.

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Books & media mentioned in this episode

Dystopian & speculative fiction:

• The Giver by Lois Lowry

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

• The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

• The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

• 1984 by George Orwell

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

• The Power by Naomi Alderman

• Vox by Christina Dalcher

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

• Warcross by Marie Lu

• Silo series by Hugh Howey

Fantasy / pop culture touchpoints:

• Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (mentioned)

• The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Game of Thrones (TV) / A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

• Manifest (TV series)

• Descendants (Disney Channel)

• K-Pop Demon Hunters (animated film)

Memoir & celebrity memoir:

• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

• Memoirs by Mindy Kaling

• Memoir by Jessica Simpson

• Memoir by Drew Barrymore

• The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (audiobook read by Michelle Williams)

• Mark Hoppus’s memoir

Kids’ books:

• Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1: The Night of the Nasty Noodle Nuggets by Dav Pilkey

• The Pigeon Has to Go to School! by Mo Willems

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Listen & join the conversation

Tell us in the comments or on social:

• What was your first dystopian book?

• Are you a dystopian-fiction superfan, a celebrity-memoir bingewatcher, or a kids’-books-all-day reader?

• Which dystopian novels or memoirs should we cover next?

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