Another Book on the Shelf

It's our last episode of 2022, so we're taking a look back at our reading and writing goals for the year, as well as looking ahead to 2023. Show Notes: We may have dropped the ball on 52 Weeks of Short Stories, but that doesn't mean we won't try something new in 2023. The Artist's Way, anyone? Jette is so close to being done her graphic novel script! Gen finally finished the first draft of her YA...

In Episode 109, Gen and Jette discuss Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. We absolutely loved this one and are now planning on reading everything Emezi has written, including Bitter, the prequel story to Pet. Show Notes: This episode is in keeping with our annual December tradition of replacing a discussion about a certain series featuring a certain boy wizard in favour of queer, and especially trans, stories....

It's November, aka National Novel Writing Month, so in episode 108 Gen and Jette talk all things writing! We get into the projects we're currently working on, the ones that have fallen by the wayside (ahem, 52 weeks of short stories), and what we're doing to cultivate a writing routine. As always, we come away with some fresh inspiration and creative spark. Show Notes We were bright eyed and bushy...

In Episode 107, Gen and Jette discuss their latest book club book — How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown. This was Jette's pick and we had a great time nerding out about all things space. Should we become astronomers? Show Notes The trans-Neptunian objects discovered by Mike Brown and his team include Quaoar, Sedna, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Is there actually a ninth planet...

It's almost Halloween! Which means episode 106 is dedicated to all things spooky — specifically Something Is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, and Miquel Muerto. And we're welcoming guest and friend of the pod, Mike Storey, to talk all things horror and graphic novels. Show Notes Mike is well-versed in the horror genre and is also an artist. It was so much fun to have hi...

It's time for a fall hang out episode, which means it's also our podcast anniversary! We're celebrating 4 years of awesome books, reading discoveries, and so much more. In four years, we've recorded 105 episodes that have listeners in over 70 countries, and we're pretty proud of that! A huge thank you to all our listeners who've been with us over the years, and a welcome to all our new listeners!...

Inspired by Jette's recent blog post , we dive into some of the books we should have read by now—whether it's because they touch on current issues or because they've been on our shelf for ages. Turns out we have a lot of these books, so we made a pact to read at least one book from our list before the end of this year. Listen to find out which ones we chose! Books & Authors Mentioned Parable o...

In Episode 103, Gen and Jette dive into Gen's book club pick - How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee. After seeing this book everywhere and reading so many rave reviews of Chee's work, we knew we had to read it. Obviously, we are now obsessed. An amazing read if you do anything creative. We're both now headed into Autumn feeling inspired and ready to write and create and more. S...

In Episode 102, Gen and Jette head back to the 1800s with Little Women in another edition of our Page to Screen series. We talk about Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel and the 1994 and 2019 films. Show Notes Yes Jette is still obsessed with her trip to Concord MA and her visit to Orchard House This was the first book that managed to stump us both but we swear we will finish reading it eventually LOL...

In episode 101, Gen and Jette talk about the settings that feel so alive they become an entire character in the novel — the haunted houses, the seaside towns, the cities that feel like living, breathing entities, we're here for all of it! Show Notes Make sure to check out Gen's blog post , which inspired this episode. We, uh, talked about a lot of books. Find (most of) them listed below! In our ne...

It's our 100th episode! We're celebrating by talking about all our favourite moments from the podcast over the last few years, including our favourite episodes, interviews, and books. The podcast has evolved a lot since we started and we've both expanded our reading — which was the entire point! Achievement unlocked. We're so excited to keep growing and evolving. A huge thank you to all of our lis...

In Episode 98, Gen and Jette discuss The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This episode falls into our #BookstagramMadeMeDoIt series, which lets us jump on the train of a popular book to see what all the fuss is about and if it lives up to the hype. Evelyn Hugo has been all over Instagram and TikTok and we can see why! Just like with Daisy Jones and the Six , Jenkins Reid craft...

In Episode 98, Gen and Jette discuss their latest book club book, Home Before Dark by Riley Sager. It's our first time discussing a thriller and we had a grand spooky time. Sager's story within a story keeps you guessing right until the very end, making for a great #IcedCoffeeRead this summer. Notes The snake pit that Jette mentions in Manitoba is called the Narcisse Snake Dens . It's exactly what...

In Episode 97, Gen and Jette collaborate with one of their favourite Toronto indie publishers, House of Anansi, to give you a preview of one of their upcoming new releases, A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm. This memoir chronicles Chisholm's time in Paris, scraping out a living in a restaurant as he works his way up from runner to waiter. As former barista/servers/etc., we loved this deep dive...

It's June, which means it's Pride month, and to celebrate Gen and Jette dedicate Episode 96 to all things queer lit! We talk about a lot of different books in this one and realized that quite a few of our past episodes feature queer books and writers. Hell yeah! Show Notes Quite a few of our favourite books get mentioned in this episode and you can find the complete (as possible) list below of eve...

In Episode 95, Gen and Jette finally take on the science fiction genre! We've put it off until now because neither of us thought we read much sci-fi, but it turns out we've read more than we thought and we actually love it! A lot of the books we talk about in this one might not be the ones that first come to mind when you think of sci-fi, but that's what makes the genre so interesting — there's so...

In Episode 94, Gen and Jette discuss their latest book club book — Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. We couldn't stop talking about the style and structure of this novel written in verse. Acevedo writes such a full and vivid narrative even with her pared back style and we're in awe. Show Notes Keep an eye out for Elizabeth Acevedo's newest book, still untitled, expected to be released next...

In Episode 93, Gen and Jette kick off their graphic novel book club with Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. This graphic novel memoirs chronicles Bechdel's complex relationship with her father, and she does it with nuance, honesty, and humour. It's a fantastic read and we nerd out a lot on literature, as well as the graphic novel form. Show Notes: Fun Home was adapted as a musical and won a Tony Award fo...

Gen and Jette had the pleasure of speaking with Stephanie Cookie - an award-winning writer and editor based out of Toronto, Canada. She’s a comic book fan, avid gamer, movie watcher, and pun appreciator. Her graphic novels, Oh My Gods! and ParaNorthern are out now from Clarion Books. A sequel to Oh My Gods! was just released on April 5th, 2022. We talked so many awesome books and movies and video...

In Episode 91, Gen and Jette dive into another book to film adaptation with a discussion of The Martian. We love a well done adaptation and Ridley Scott's film does Andy Weir's book full justice. Plus, we got to indulge our inner space nerd. Show Notes The cast is stacked in this film and rewatching it was a fun exercise in exclaiming, "I forgot they were in this!" We didn't just nerd out over spa...

In Episode 90, Gen and Jette sit down for another cup of tea to chat about the year so far. While we haven't been up to much in the last few months, we have actually been reading. Join us for this casual chat about what we're reading, what we're planning to read, and what we have in store for the podcast over the next few months. Show Notes We can't believe this already episode 90! Absolutely wild...

In Episode 89, Gen and Jette chat about their first book club book of the year, Three Pianos by Andrew McMahon. Get your inner emo kid ready! This memoir is an emotional and beautifully written account of McMahon's life. It begins with his childhood and takes the reader through his life as a musician, experienced through the lens of his relationship with three different pianos. Yes, it's as incred...

In Episode 88, Gen and Jette chat about Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu. This collection of short stories was generously sent to us by Coach House Books, who always seem to know exactly which books we’re going to love. Lesser Known Monsters is no exception. We’re obsessed with the weird and wonderful worlds that Kim Fu creates in these stories. Other Coach House Episodes 26: Pa...

In Episode 87, Gen and Jette talk all things alternative to purchasing physical copies of books. We chat e-books, audiobooks, apps, and more. There's a lot of library love in this episode and all around appreciation for all the different ways we can experience books! Show Notes This episode was inspired by a few of our old blog posts: " 4 Audiobooks and E-readers that Make Reading More Accessible,...

In Episode 86, Gen and Jette discuss Our Violent Ends, Chloe Gong's sequel to These Violent Delights. ( Listen to that episode here! ) This book solidifies it — we'll officially read everything Chloe Gong writes! Show Notes We go off o:n a few tangents about Shakespeare, retellings, and art history. Check out this Buzzfeed article for the complete list of teen movies based on classics: "17 Teen Mo...