Beyond the PhIrst Page

The siblings take on a gothic novel that delivers on all things grotesque for Club Meeting 41. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn is a masterpiece that the siblings speculate wouldn't have seen the light of day in today's day and age. The characters give the siblings endless things to discuss making this book yet another awesome read for the club. The siblings also reminisce about their favorite...

At the recommendation of the second pagers, the siblings discuss We Do not Part by Nobel winner Han Kang for their 40th club meeting. They are joined by Bo Stewart, a childhood friend and avid book recommender! Bo shares some great thoughts on the overall meaning he took away from the book as well as a few disclaimers on how this book is definitely one to pick up if you are looking to challenge yo...

In episode 39 of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings get to talk to Sydney Mayes, the 2024 Only Poets, poet of the year. Sydney gives a mini master class in all things poetry. The siblings got the chills after hearing her read her poem the walker system which won the 2024 Academy of American Poets Prize. The discussion is centered around how to analyze poems for amateurs, structure of poem...

In Episode 38 of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast the siblings discuss the runner up of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize, Headshot, by Rita Bullwinkel. This unique novel follows young female boxers through a national boxing competition and the siblings talk about the themes of feminism throughout this novel. They also discuss the realistic characters and the way this book was written as a sporting event woul...

This episode the siblings get to discuss the winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize, Trust, by Hernan Diaz. This incredibly original novel is broken up into four parts weaving an extraordinary story with quite a few unexpected twists. The siblings discuss how the artful writing created very believable complex characters. The discussion also covered multiple instances of financial crashes throughout Ame...

In this lighthearted episode the siblings discuss Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto. This San Fransisco “cozy” murder mystery features Vera, a tea shop owner as the main character. The siblings discuss the believability of her character, the plot and who they would recommend this book to! As always they end the podcast with their ratings of the book and recommendations...

The week the Phirst Pagers discuss Charlotte Brontë’s classic, Jane Eyre! They get into what a modern day retelling of this would look like, red flags and themes of feminism throughout the book. Phebe tries to get a good yap session going as they discuss if Jane should have made the choices she did throughout the novel. They close with book recommendations and their overall rating of Jane Eyre. 

On Episode 34 of the Beyond the Phirst Page Podcast siblings Phebe, Phil, and Isaac discuss The Wager by David Grann. This book outlines a little known shipwreck off the coast of South America and the struggles the captain and crew face during their time at sea. The siblings have a few differing opinions when it comes to what the crew should have done, and if this story was worth reading. Listen a...

This week’s discussion is the first fan pick of the podcast, Martyr! The siblings get to talk with Noelle about her favorite book of 2024. Martyr is the perfect book club book and a debrief on the ending is much needed. Nothing is off the table when theorizing how they think this novel ends. The foursome also discusses what it means to be a martyr and if they thought certain characters rose to tha...

On this episode of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast, the sibs get to discuss Fire Weather by John Vaillant with BCG Climate and Sustainability Consultant Neil Slighton. Slighton offers insight around the call to action of this book which was centered around climate change and divesting from big oil. The book clubbers talk about the writing, event or topic and call to action of this book citing merit...

If you were confused about how Playground by Richard Powers ended this is the episode for you… because so were the second pagers. Club meeting 31 finds the siblings theorizing about what the books ending meant. They discuss how it was amazing to them that three people can read the same book and take away such different meanings from it. Listen along to see if any of the siblings had the same theor...

In Club Meeting 30 The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, the siblings introduce club members to the epic world of the Omehi People. Their world is full of fighting, love and dragons! Listen along as the siblings discuss all their favorite characters, plot points and point of view changes that had them flipping pages for more of this epic fantasy! As always the siblings rank this book, 5’s across the...

In the second episode of 2025 , the siblings dive into a full analysis of Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips, the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner. They break down the characters, plot, and writing, and ultimately discuss whether the book deserves the Pulitzer, from the perspective of three average readers. They get into the intense and disturbing sexual assault scene, which they found incredibly memora...

The siblings discuss award winning novel James by Percival Everett for their first book club book of 2025. This book did not disappoint! The siblings discuss how Everett artfully used philosophy and this old “American classic,” to create a true masterpiece. The siblings discuss the hallucinations that James is having, the relationship he has with Huck and the importance of diction and the written...

On the first episode of the new year, the siblings are releasing a special book club. Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast got to talk with award winning Author RJ Barker about his newest trilogy the forsaken trilogy. They discussed everything from tropes to world building and RJ narrowly avoids spilling any of the details about the third and final book in the series that is coming out in the summer of...

In the final episode of Season 1 and 2024, the siblings hold A Calamity of Souls on trail. Phil and Isaac defend their opinions of the book in a court room style podcast with Phebe presiding as the judge and jury. Listen along as the prosecution and defense bring their cases forward with specific quotes and passages from the book. As always at the end, the siblings give you their recommendations i...

Club Meeting 26 has the siblings discussing the first younger adult book they have read for the book club, Impossible Creatures by Kathrine Rundell. They discuss what makes a book suitable for readers who are just starting to get into chapter books and how this book is much more fast paced than the siblings are used to reading. They also compare and contrast books they read when they were in eleme...

As the year draws to a close the siblings discuss Erik Larson’s Dead Wake in Club Meeting 25. They discuss things this nonfiction book taught them along with some of the short comings they thought it had. Since the siblings can’t pass up a good conspiracy they discuss the possibility that the Brits knew the Lusitania was going to be sunk. They also throw out some books they think listeners would e...

On Club Meeting 24 of Beyond the PhIrst Page Podcast siblings Phebe, Phil and Isaac discuss Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword. The siblings talk about representation in fantasy and fiction and discuss the merits or lack there of, of Arthurian lore. Isaac and Phebe also wish Phil a happy 26th birthday during the club meeting. As always the siblings end the club meeting with recommendations for the li...

In this special episode, siblings Phebe, Phil, and Isaac chat with author Aaron Fischman about his book A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back . Together, they explore who deserves a biography and why Aaron chose to write about Tony Barnette. They also discuss how to introduce complex foreign concepts to readers and the challenges of becoming a professional athlete. A Baseball Gaijin...

The Cornell siblings discuss one of their favorite books ever written during club meeting 23! Phil and Isaac especially enjoyed My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel laureate. This book is a murder mystery that is steeped in philosophy and artful writing and explores art, the Islamic faith, vanity and originality. It really does have something for everyone. The siblings push back on each other in...

On club meeting 22, the Cornell siblings discuss Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The siblings identify themes of masculinity and prosperity and discuss how the Igbo tribe viewed their mothers versus their fathers. They also give an early year in review of all the books the club has listened to outlining what books to read and what books to avoid from their diverse booklist. As always they wrap...

This week in book club meeting 21, Phebe Phil and Isaac discuss Mind Games by Nora Roberts. Starting off, the siblings play a few rounds of “This or That” book addition to get their literary juices flowing! They offer alternate endings to the novel as well as talk about Goodreads ratings versus the ratings they would give to this “thrilling” tale. Join them at the end for some recommendations if y...

This week's book club is filled with laughter and reflection as the siblings talk about niche hobbies they are passionate about as well as what they loved about Amy Tan's collection of essays, The Backyard Bird Chronicles. This novel had deeper meanings peppered throughout as well as beautiful hand drawn sketches by the author of birds from her backyard. Also, listen till the end for more...

An epic of a podcast for an epic of a novel!! This weeks read was Brothers K by Fyodor Dostoevsky and the siblings get candid about the amount of research and digging they had to do to get the most out of this 19th century philosophical Russian novel. The siblings take three passages from the book and help each other to understand the deeper meanings they believe the author intended from those exc...