Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

Join us for this super special bonus episode featuring the full version of our conversation with Jessi about Supernatural and Paranormal Nonfiction . Your hosts in this episode Jessi| Matthew Murray Recommendations Haunted Hotels by Jo-Anne Christensen National Geographic Ultimate Guide to Supernatural Places: Close Encounters, Haunted Houses, and Other Spooky Hot Spots Around the World by Sarah B...

Just in time to miss Halloween, this episode has us reading Supernatural and Paranormal Non-fiction . And by "reading" we mean "not reading", as several of us fail to finish any books. Thankfully, we can blame everything on gremlins. Plus wolfmen, ghosts, mermaids, dramatic readings, and special guests.   Your hosts this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Inti Dewey |   Jessi Rec...

This episode we take on the genre of Self Help , and are decidedly unenthused. We talk about reading what was on our parents' book shelves, books filled with terrible advice, and the fact that even if the advice in a book is good we're probably just going to ignore it. Your hosts in this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte |   Jessi | Matthew Murray Recommended Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Straye...

This episode we tackle a fantasy genre for the first time and once again ponder the question "How much history do you really want in your historical [genre]?" We encounter a lot of ghosts and westerns, but not nearly enough luchadores, wonder how steampunk fits into Historical Fantasy , and discuss the importance of research, the appeal of setting, and how authentic we should expect historical fic...

This episode we take on books about Spies and Espionage , which meant extra painful reading for Anna. We tackle topics like how to pronounce John Le Carré's name, if the Cold War is necessary for the spy-espionage genre, how to use Novelist to read diversely, whether we need a "Badass Women" subject heading, if spy novels are fundamentally boring, what to do when authors don't write their own book...

Our "genre" this month ( Zines! ) is one that is close to our hearts. We discuss our extensive and not so extensive backgrounds in zine reading and creation, what distinguishes zines from other self-publishing efforts, how Matthew is a big cheater, whether the motivations behind writing zines is different from reading zines, when Amanda and Meghan used to be twins, the best time of day to make a z...

Our genre this month ( Religious Fiction ) demands we take a look at what makes a book count as "religious fiction" (instead of just fiction about religion). Plus in our one hour and 48 minute episode, Meghan reads too many books (as usual), Amanda explains Sex Magicks, Matthew makes terrible jokes, and Anna fails to finish anything. BIG spoiler for the graphic novel Therefore, Repent! by Jim Munr...

In this episode we discuss Space Opera and all the endless tangents. This is a LONG conversation (we almost split it in two, but we're trying to catch up episodes to our current reading topic). We talk about losing our solid footing on genre definitions, defining the term "worldbuilding", when re-reading books from your youth goes horribly wrong, wondering just what is up with those TV and movie t...

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Aboriginal, Indigenous, and First Nations Books .   This episode we're looking at another thematic genre/non-genre, so join us as we discuss the problems of reading aboriginal or indigenous characters written by non-indigenous authors, how we really didn't get enough education in F...

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Christmas and Holiday Reads .   It's Christmas in July as we talk about library displays, book stickers, the wonders of Terry Pratchett and Edward Gorey, Christmas and holiday series', finding Christmas books in every genre, nostalgia, and coziness. Your Hosts This Episode Anna Fer...

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Cozy Mysteries .   Listen to your hosts Anna Ferri, Meghan Whyte, Matthew Murray, and Amanda Wanner discuss why people read cozy mysteries, character vs. plot, how everything seems to be a series, and their favourite punny titles . Your Hosts This Episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte...

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Books in Translation .   Listen to your hosts Anna Ferri, Meghan Whyte, Matthew Murray, and Jorge Cardenas discuss  the reasons for reading books in translation, publishing barriers to international works, the importance/effect of a translator, which language should you read a book...

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Religion (non-fiction) .   Listen to your hosts Anna Ferri, Meghan Whyte, and Matthew Murray discuss how/whether reading non-fiction is different than fiction, Scientology, new religious movements, travelogues, biographies, how religion interacts with different cultures, accessibil...

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Psychological Thrillers .   Listen to your hosts Anna Ferri,Meghan Whyte, and Matthew Murray discuss appeal factors (atmosphere vs plot, literature vs pulp), the violence against women trope,grown-ass women, the Twist (plot, not dance), reading a book because you mistake it for som...

  Your Hosts This Episode Anna Ferri  | Amanda Wanner | Matthew Murray We discuss online reading vs book reading ("I just want to read the wiki article"), whether pop science is formulaic, if we read non-fiction to learn explicit facts or provoke thought generally, the impact of blog writing/reading on technology books, our audiobook preferences, anti-narratives (handbooks), edutainment, "There is...

In a podcast where we set out to read every genre (regardless of our actual interest) our second episode features: Gothic Literature. Listen to hosts Anna Ferri, Meghan Whyte, Amanda Wanner, and Matthew Murray discuss dread, castles, fear of foreigners, just what exactly counts as "gothic" literature, and all the vampires.  (With a slightly lower sound quality than the first; our apologies!) Your...

  In a podcast where we set out to read every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we are hit with a doozy for our first episode: Historical Romance. Listen to hosts Anna Ferri,  Meghan Whyte,  Amanda Wanner,  Sam Mills, and Matthew Murray discuss royal marines, princesses, pirates, concubines, and far too many rakes and dukes.   Your Hosts This Episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Amanda Wann...