Shelf Esteem

Glenna Turnbull, author of the recently released novel The Art of Getting Lost and Found, talks to me about the book, her writing process, and the pressure of a self-imposed writing deadline.

Shelf Esteem Episode 66: We Read Canada Reads by Trudy Morgan-Cole

Episode one of the new audiodrama Terra Arcana, from Shelf Esteem host Trudy Morgan-Cole and frequent guest host Emma Cole. If you like it, subscribe to the Terra Arcana podcast for more!

In this month's episode, I talk with author Sharon Bala about her new novel Good Guys, a sometimes-scathing satire of the world of non-profits and well-meaning charity. We both dive a little into personal experience, and we also discuss what Sharon's been reading. Then, Emma joins me for another look at this year's Canada Reads books, where we continue to judge books by their covers.

I talk with journalist and author Heather Barrett about uncovering little-known women's history in her new book The Mill Girls. Stay tuned at the end for a little Canada Reads preview in which Emma Cole and I literally judge books by their covers.

My latest author talk finds me sitting down with Jen Winsor to talk about the joys and perils of working on a cruise ship, unexpected parenthood, and writing your first book. You're going to want to pick up a copy of Jen's book "Ship Moms." Links to where to find it and more info are in the show notes at https://shelfesteem2017.wordpress.com/2025/11/28/episode-63-author-talk-with-jen-winsor/

In this month's Author Talk, I chat with local filmmaker and first-time author Debbie McGee about her powerful memoir of love and loss, Cautiously Pessimistic -- as well as about why she was initially reluctant to admit that she was writing a memoir. As always, we talk about the writing life as well as the reading life, including the dangers of listening to audiobooks while doing home renovations.

Shelf Esteem is back after a several-month hiatus with a series of Author Talks! My guest this month is novelist, journalist, visual artist and general powerhouse Angela Antle. Listen to find out about her new novel The Saltbox Olive, about Newfoundlanders fighting in Italy in World War Two (and so much more!). If you listen to the end there's a teaser for my new podcast project, Terra Arcana. Sho...

Episode 60: We Descend to the Level of the Sentence and We Come Back Up for Air by Trudy Morgan-Cole

Poet, novelist, and avid reader George Murray drops by to talk about what he's been reading, which gets us into discussing genre boundaries, literary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, artificial intelligence, what it means to be human, and why we shouldn't (yet) fear the rise of the robots. For the full list of books we discussed, check out the show notes at https://shelfesteem2017.wordpress.com/

It's time for murder and mayhem as librarian Julia Mayo and I discuss two bookswapped mysteries - Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes, and The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (which is, arguably, not a mystery at all). We end up talking about those two novels and many, many others in this crime-filled episode.

Journalist and broadcaster John Gushue joined me in my new recording location at Bad Times Club Studio to discuss what we've been reading lately, particularly the memoirs that have fascinated us. That led us into a deep dive into a book that I read on John's recommendation and we both had a lot of thoughts about: Sarah Polley's collection of personal essays Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations W...

In the first podcast episode of 2024, we have a Black History Month special where I visit with Xavier Michael Campbell and Heather Barrett and talk about their book Black Harbour. Our conversation ranges from the record of enslaved people in Newfoundland history, to peppermint knobs, salt fish, and men named Junior, as well as to the idea that "there's no Black people in Newfoundland," why we can...

For my last podcast episode of 2023, I sat down with my frequent co-host and even more frequent daughter, Emma Cole, and two of her friends, Emma Pappas and Myles Bradley, to discuss the book they'd just read for their friend-group book club, Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment.

Martha Muzychka and I enjoyed a thorough discussion of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, wrapping up my three-episode celebration of the 100th anniversary of Whose Body, the first Lord Peter novel.

Continuing my summer series celebration 100 years of Lord Peter Wimsey, I bookswapped Murder Must Advertise with Kate Atkinson's Shrines of Gaiety -- two novels set amongst a drug- and crime-ridden London underworld -- in conversation with writers, visual artist, and cousin, Jennifer Morgan.

Back from an unplanned hiatus, I dive into a summer mini-series where I get my reading partners to read some of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, my favourite book series of all time, by Dorothy L. Sayers. This month, Emma and I swapped the first of the Lord Peter books, Whose Body, with the Truly Devious mystery series by Maureen Johnson. Tune in to find out what a Gen Z reader thinks of a novel publ...

In this month's Bookswap, Lori Savory and I discuss two recent novels that are both, in their way, "pandemic novels," though only one is explicitly set during the Covid19 era. Both deal with isolation, finding your path in life, breaking up with the perfect or imperfect boyfriend ... and somehow, the whole discussion ends with us talking about our dogs.

Christine Hennebury - writer, storyteller, founder of Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl, and all-round powerhouse -- swaps fantasy novels with me. In discussion "The City of Brass" by SA Chakraborty and "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking" by T Kingfisher, we touch on the topics of powerful young women, hot but jerkish mentors, and the ability of fantasy and sci-fi to let us imagine a bett...

In another mother-daughter bookswap, Emma and I discuss Kate Beaton's graphic novel Ducks, and Mariko and Jillian Tamaki's YA graphic novel This One Summer. We touch on coming-of-age stories, the power of the everyday, both external and internalized misogyny, and a whole lot more!

Three fellow avid readers join me for this year-end special, each to discuss one book that both they and I read and loved this year. It's December 28 as I post this and I'm still not ready to commit to a Top Ten of 2022, but these three are definitely in at least my Top 25 of the 125 books I read this year.

Once again, Emma Cole joins me for a deep dive into two novels: one that each of us has recommended for the other to read. In this case, though the books are very different, the titles are easily confused: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab. Join us for a conversation about fake celebrity memoirs, sexy devils, and SPOILER...

In our fifth BOOKSWAP!, Emma reads Jennifer Weiner's "The Summer Place," I read Emily Austin's "Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead," and we talk about what a "beach read" is, or should be.

My guest this month was L'nu playwright and artist Leahdawn Helena. We had a wonderful conversation about books, which led naturally into talking about her brilliant upcoming play, Stolen Sisters. Follow this link to find out everything you need to know about the play, which runs from August 16-28 in St. John's and will later tour to the West Coast of Newfoundland: https://www.persistencetheatre.c...

Cultural power couple Ainsley and Andrew Hawthorn joined me for a wide-ranging discussion that touched on beloved and problematic children's books, issues of consent in the Twilight series, why audiobooks, e-books, and graphic novels are all perfectly valid books ... and a lot of talk about Jack the Ripper that was not really about Jack the Ripper, because he gets talked about too much already.