Chamomile & Clove

Happiest Sunday, Clovers! We're here to talk about Chapters 30 and 32 of Time's Convert in our SECOND TO LAST chapter episode for the book! In the next episode, we'll join all of the storylines and talk about endings and beginnings and change... it is a book in the All Souls Universe, after all. Today, we're committing crimes against the German language (sorry), issuing an elegy for Marcus's youth...

In today's episode, we're deep in the throes of Marcus's youth--and the French Revolution--in Chapters 25-27 of Time's Convert . There's lots of tricky talk about ideals and extremism, mental health, and perspective -- and there are more penis jokes than we remembered. C'est la vie, c'est la révolution. Pour yourself a big cup of Liberté, Égalité, et Fraternité and settle on in. We have new mercha...

In today's episode, we're covering Chapters 21-22 of Time's Convert -- Marcus's transformation from human to vampire, some thorny issues of transformation and consent, questions and answers, family and rebirth, manners, and an unexpected musical interlude. We're rapidly approaching the 2020 Real-Time Reading of A Discovery of Witches! If you haven't participated before, the Real-Time Reading is an...

Vive le vignette! In this episode we discuss chapters 15-17 (sequential!) of Time's Convert, and all of the moments leading up to Marcus being turned into a vampire.  

We have finally made it into the beginning of Marcus' story in this week's episode covering Ch. 6, 9, and 12 of Time's Convert. We're discussing family dynamics, problematic stereotypes, being a product of one's time, , infectious diseases, and more. Plus, this week in our reading we get a special cameo from OG Sarah Bishop! Content warning for discussion of domestic violence. 

In today's episode, we're covering Chapters 29, 31, and 34 of Time's Convert ! This rounds out the storyline for Diana, Matthew, and Marcus in the present before we get into the heart of the book - Marcus's past! In these chapters, we're talking about the trouble with spellbinding, parenting and trauma, breaking analogies (and characters), and what kind of a cake you bake for solstice. There may o...

In this episode, we're covering Chapters 20 and 24 of Time's Convert . It's Matthew's rebirthday party and we've FOOLISHLY invited Baldwin to dinner to make a ruckus in the name of family time. It gives us a great opportunity to talk about acceptance, tolerance, body image, vampire hierarchy, and why biting is (and simultaneously is not) a great tool for solving problems. Guys, there's so much bit...

In today's episode, we're talking about Chapters 11 and 14 of Time's Convert, where a charming character introduction leads us smack into a confrontation with Diana's identity, the challenges of parenting, mistakes and personal growth, and what exactly Marcus has on repeat on his "I Miss Phoebe" playlist. Don't forget that the All Souls Discussion Group begins its Time's Convert reading and discus...

We hope this finds you well and safe on a gorgeous Sunday morning. At the outset of this episode, we're taking a couple of moments to talk about the #BlackLivesMatter movement and how we're working on dismantling racism in our lives outside the podcast and what that means for our podcast work going forward. We're committed to you, our listeners, to truly intersectional feminism, and to learning (a...

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to our American listeners and friends -- we hope you're safe at home and enjoying the best of the early summer. In this episode, we're talking about Chapters 28 and 33 of Time's Convert . Phoebe's a fledgling, now, so she's got a lot more privileges... and a lot more issues to contend with as she strikes out in the world. We've got a lot to say this week about vampire fe...

Wherever you are, we hope you are well and safe --- we hope you get to spend the day remembering, honoring, and celebrating the caring, nurturing people in your life. If today is hard for you, we wish you peace and hope that you find something today that brings you joy. Who knows, maybe it will be this episode! Phoebe's frisky, and so are we! Today, we're exploring consent, parenting, and the rela...

Wherever you are in the world, we hope it's a peaceful, quiet day and that you're safe and healthy and making the best of things. Today's episode covers Chapters 7, 10, and 13 of Time's Convert and Phoebe Taylor's first few days as a vampire (and as Miriam's daughter!). Join us for a discussion of maturity, privilege, morality, and more as we see what life is like on the other side of rebirth. You...

You guys! We're back! Thanks for giving us a little bit of a break to decide how we're going to process Time's Convert -- it's a very different book from the All Souls Trilogy, so we decided to approach it in a non-linear (but highly sensical!) way. Today, we're starting strong with Chapters 1, 2, and 4 -- we've got a VERY AWKWARD dinner party to attend before we turn Phoebe into a vampire and beg...

Happy Sunday, Clovers. At long last, you have the nerd-a-riffic, highly specific content you've been waiting for -- the whole All Souls Trilogy plot shebang in one spreadsheet. It was a (very colorful, slightly stressful) labor of love, but it definitely puts things in a whole new perspective. You can download the PDF version of the slides here: Episode 72 - The Spreadsheet Olympics Download This...

We promise -- the plot and time travel discussion is coming -- we're just chickens. Procrastinating chickens. This week, we're talking about all the themes covered by the All Souls Trilogy -- identity, family, love and trauma, redemption, the meaning of the epigraph, and on and on. While wrapping our brains around these huge topics, we're also talking about redeeming antagonists, the price of resp...

How does one wrap up a trilogy? How does one pick up all of the threads of plot and character and all of the questions we asked in the dozens of episodes we asked in between the first cover and the last? You try your damned best and see what shakes out at the end. We made a list and we tried to follow it, y'all. In this episode, we're talking about character arcs, genre, antagonists, narration, fa...

Join us in episode 69 for discussion of themes, motifs, listener feedback, and favorites, as we close out our discussion of The Book of Life. 

Y'all, you know what's coming. It's big, it's messy, it's COLOR-CODED. It's Cait's Book of Life plot slideshow ! Once you grab a copy of the slideshow and the beverage of your choice, you're ready to embark upon the semi-epic discussion of the *seven* primary plots in the Book of Life and what does (and doesn't) make the story move. In this episode, we're also talking about character arcs and the...

We can't believe that the day has finally come, but it's time to close the last cover on Deb Harkness's The Book of Life and close out our chapter discussion of the All Souls Trilogy. Hours and hours of planning and note-taking, laughing, crying, recording, and editing has come to an end. In this episode, we're talking about Chapters 40 and 41 of the Book of Life, including the narrative conceit o...

It's a momentous day. Somehow, on Matthew and Diana's wedding anniversary (four hundred and something years later), Cait and Jen have made their way to the climax of the Book of Life. In Chapters 37-39, they're talking about rescuing Matthew, James Bond, Peak Diana, moral authority, and the difference between justice and vengeance. It's a fitting end to a momentous, exciting story and C&C is so gl...

In this episode, we're planning a heist! Join us as we discuss Chapters 34-36 of the Book of Life and learn how Diana plans to acquire... the Book of Life. We'll talk about symmetry, villainy, some Peak Harkness writing craft, and the illustrious Bright Born. If you have THOUGHTS, IDEAS, QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or POLL IDEAS for our book and trilogy wrap episodes, now is the time! Get in touch via Tw...

In today's episode, we're tackling Sol in Sagittarius -- Chapters 31-33 of Deborah Harkness's The Book of Life. In these chapters, we've got to christen some babies, exchange Christmas presents, check in with the world conflict, and get moving towards The End of the Story. In so doing, we've got time and space to talk about pregnancy and protagonism, plot movements large and small, and what Marcus...

Join us as we discuss the entirety of Sol in Scorpio and inch our way ever closer to the end of The Book of Life. Somewhere between New Orleans and Baby Town we may also have gotten a bit, erm, distracted by certain events. 

In today's episode, Cait and Jen talk about the end of Sol in Libra -- Chapters 27 and 28 of The Book of Life! In these chapters, Diana tracks down the last page of Ashmole 782 and returns to the Bodleian... only to run smack into the clutches of the world conflict. It's time to talk about divinity and mythology, conflict structure, antagonism, and dachschunds (SO MANY DACHSCHUNDS). If you like wh...

In this episode, Cait and Jen discuss Chapters 25-26 of Deborah Harkness' The Book of Life and continuing the search for the last missing page of Ashmole 782. There's mild extortion, magic, and cake -- it's a better combination than you'd expect. Between now and the next episode, be on the lookout for more #RealTimeReading2019 posts and show news. Follow the show on Twitter @chamomilenclove or joi...