Beyond the PhIrst Page

We are talking fantasy academy tropes for Chapter 4 of the Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast! The books we will be discussing are The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, The Emperor's Blades by Brian Stavely, and Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. Listen to this episode to see which of these three books you should read this summer!! Spoiler... it might be all three

In Club Meeting 65 the siblings talk to Dr. Shirley Samuels who is the Picket Family Chair of the Literatures in English Department at Cornell University. She discussed the following three texts from “American Women’s Suffrage: Voices from the Long Struggle for the Vote 1776–1965”: Letters from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March - 5 April 1776 Ernestine L Rose's Speech at the National Woman...

This club meeting the siblings discuss the following three texts from Black Writers of the Founding Era: 1. A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture 2. 1799 Petition of Absalom Jones, and Others, People of Color, and Freemen Against the Slave Trade to the Coast of Guinea 3. Belinda Sutton’s 1783 Petition Professor Marquita Reed-Wright joins them in the conversation to lend her professiona...

To kick off Chapter 3 the Beyond the PhIrst Page read a staple in American Revolution Literature, “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. They discuss what each of them thought was the most compelling argument that Paine made for America to separate from Great Britain and how the text can be applied to America today. This chapter was inspired by House of Speakeasy’s “We The People Tour” where our friend D...

Chapter 3 of the Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast is celebrating the 250th Anniversary of America by reading texts about the American Revolution in collaboration with the "We The People x Library of America Bookmobile Tour." The siblings decided to read "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, selections from "Black Writers of the Founding Era" and selections from "American...

In this episode of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings get to talk with Don who studied philosophy at Princeton and focused specifically on the presocratic philosophers. There is no place this discussion doesn't go from Hollywood all the way to feminism isim in ancient greek texts. As always they end the episode with their recommendations if you liked Stephen Fry's retelling of the Odyssey...

This episode the siblings are discussing a classic in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. They discuss how the trailers to this new release give very different vibes than this novel does. This is less a love story and more of a revenge story. Phil also shares a few historical tidbits that really shed light on this story. As always, they end with book recommendations and their ratings of this boo...

Beyond the PhIrst Page discusses Hamnet which is Maggie O’Farrell’s take on why Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. This book is unique because it is told from the perspective of Shakespeare’s wife Agnes or Anne Hathaway. The siblings discuss with Max who majored in Preforming Media Art at Cornell University about the subtle nods to Hamlet that this book had as well as the accessibility of this novel on the...

Chapter 2 is centered around recent books to movie adaptations.

The siblings saved the best for last! They close out Chapter One of 2026 with In the Woods by Tana French. The last installation in their detective novel chapter. They talk about how good this book is all around, plot, characters, and writing. This is a book for everyone but especially people who love a phycological murder mystery that will leave you wanting another book with these same characters...

Club Meeting 56 finds the siblings discussing book two in their Detective Novel Chapter: The Late Show by Michael Connelly. The siblings dub this book and series a classic for readers looking for a true cop book. They discuss the way that Connelly ties together his universe as well as somehow drawing a comparison between Renee Ballard, the main character, and a gynecologist?? Listen till the end t...

This weeks episode kicks of the first book in Chapter One, our chapter on detective novels! We are starting off with a book by Anthony Horowitz called The Word is Murder. The unique aspect of this book is that Horowitz himself is a character in the book. The siblings discuss this nontraditional take on a detective novel, the parallels between this book and Sherlock Holmes and if red herrings are a...

Happy 2026! This year the Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast is breaking up their segments into Chapters. Each Chapter will have a theme giving the second pagers a couple of really good options to read within a specific theme of book. To start of the siblings read 3 different detective novels and are going to discuss them for chapter one. Listen to this episode first to see which of the 3 you would be...

On the final episode of Season Two of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast, the siblings discuss The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book is a great New Years book since it is all about following your dreams and achieving your goals. The siblings discuss the religious aspects of this book as well as the overwhelming amount of life lessons packed into the pages of this short novel. As always at the end t...

This club meeting the siblings discuss Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These. A short story set in a small Irish town. They discuss how they saw the actions of the main character differently from each other. They also talk about how much they enjoyed Keegan's writing and were happy to read a second book by her for the podcast. As always they closed with their ratings and suggestions if y...

This week on the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings talk with the one and only Evan Cornell or as they like to call him "Dad." Evan talks with them about one of his favorite children's books "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate Dicamillo. They discuss how great the characters are, how well executed the writing is and how deep and poignant the message is. This epi...

In episode 50 of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings discuss Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe with Summer Boismier. Summer is currently a doctoral candidate and was a former English teacher who resigned in protest of the HB1775 bill that was passed in the state of Oklahoma which mandated the censorship of some reading materials. To comply with this law, she covered those reading materials with...

The siblings discuss one of their favorite reads this year. Project Hail Mary is a feel good sci-fi that had their attention from start to finish. The siblings discuss how Andy Weir makes all the scientific aspects of the book seem easy even to readers like them with no scientific background. They also discuss the amazing character development and how the story is a great balance of suspense and s...

This book and club meeting gave the siblings quite the fright! We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer was the perfect horror/thriller to tee up the Halloween season. The siblings discussed what differentiates a horror and a thriller as well as talked about how men writing female characters can be a total smash or a swing and a miss. As always the siblings discuss what books you would like if you l...

Don't have time to read a 1,200 page long book? Don't worry Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast has you! We read Mark Twain by Ron Chernow and are discussing the highlights of the book from the authors potential bias towards Twain to all the hilarious quotes the great American Author had. As always listen to the end for our ratings and recommendations if you liked Mark Twain!

This episode is a fan pick and surely a fan favorite! The siblings talk with their friend Kevin about the timelessness of this C.S. Lewis masterpiece. It has the bones of the ideal fantasy and you can look into the allegory of Christianity or just enjoy it for all the fantastical elements it offers. The siblings laugh about funny quotes and Turkish delight as well as discuss the merits of audio bo...

The siblings discuss Patriot by Alexei Navalny with Greg Wall who shares a great perspective on the background of the Russian opposition leading up to the attempt on Navalny's life and subsequent incarceration. The discussion really has the reader thinking with topics like Kissinger's Philosophy and Letter from Birmingham Jail. The siblings and Greg also discuss love of country vs state to...

Beyond the PhIrst Page discusses another fantasy read this week! Blood Over Bright Haven has a shocking magical system for the siblings to discuss in this weeks book club. The book also has the siblings contemplating what real life injustices this book is drawing comparisons. They get a bit philosophical as well discussing intent versus' actions and what makes a good person. Listen till the en...

This episode will have listeners laughing along with the siblings as they discuss the hilarious novel by Jonas Jonasson. This book creatively weaves the past 100 years of history into one mans life in the most light hearted way possible. The siblings discuss the translation and how well done they think it is along with all their favorite parts from The 100-Year-Old-Man. As always at the end they d...

This weeks read got 5 stars from all 3 of the siblings! It was a must read book for the PhIrst Page Podcast and the siblings discuss many of the things they loved about this book. The historical aspect of this book spanned a time period and part of the world that none of them were familiar with and that is what really stood out to them. They also discuss the cultural aspect of this book and how th...