Another Book on the Shelf

It's February, which means it's time for our annual James Baldwin episode. This we're reading his short story collection, Going to Meet the Man, published in 1965. Show Notes As you might have noticed, we could talk about Baldwin for hours, so let us know your favourite James Baldwin books!  We spent a good chunk of time before recording trying to figure out why we didn't have a James Baldwin episode in 2022 and we have no answers. We were sure we had done one every year since reading Another Country, but apparently not in '22! Time is fake. In our next episode we'll be reading Property by Kate Cayley, which is a novel recently released by our fave indie publisher, Coach House Books.  Don't forget to read along with our book club! We're currently reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk and we'll be talking about it on March 4. Other James Baldwin Episodes 55: Another Country 61: If Beale Street Could Talk 113: Giovanni's Room 141: Notes of a Native Son   166: Go Tell It On the Mountain

Yes, we're doing it, we're talking about Heated Rivalry. If you follow us on Instagram you already know that this series has eaten Gen's brain, so it only seemed fitting that we do an official episode. We're talking about the first two books in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series and the TV adaptation. So hop into Shane's very normal, practical car with us, we're going to the cottage. Show Notes This is our longest episode yet, surprising precisely no one, because Gen physically can't shut up about these boys. Are we going to end up doing an episode on the rest of this series? Probably. Will we wait for Season 2 to drop? That depends how soon we get it. This show is so Canadian. We're so proud. The seventh book in the series, Unrivaled, (yes, another Ilya and Shane book!) drops on September 29 of this year. Pre-orders are already open, but if you go here, you already know that. Canada Dry forever, especially the mini cans. Our next episode is our annual Jame Baldwin episode. This year we're talking about his short story collection, Going to Meet the Man. And don't forget to read along with our book club pick, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. Books in the Game Changers Series by Rachel Reid 1. Game Changer 2. Heated Rivalry 3. Tough Guy 4. Common Goal 5. Role Model 6. The Long Game 7. Unrivaled (Forthcoming September 29, 2026)

It's 2026 and we're back with our first episode of the year! As always, it's a book club book, and we're talking about Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. We had a great time discussing the screenplay style in this one and all the layers of meaning that Yu is playing with throughout the story.  Show Notes Are there other books like Interior Chinatown? If you have any recommendations, let us know because we absolutely loved it! Our Kobos continue to hang on to life, but we wouldn't be mad if we had to get new ones. #TheKoboLife It's Jette's turn to choose a book club book, and she's decided we'll be reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. We've both seen her books everywhere, what with being a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and all, and we can't wait to see what this one is all about. In our next episode we'll be discussing the book and tv show that has taken over not just Gen's brain, but perhaps our collective societal brain. Yes, we're talking about Heated Rivalry. 

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It's time for one of our favourite episodes of the year! Yes, episode 187 is our annual FU to JKR, and as always we're reading something hella queer. This year the book of honour is The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish. We spent basically the whole episode gushing about how cute this was. It's the perfect holiday romance read! Show Notes We need to visit New Orleans immediately. It's calling to us! Couples reading books aloud to each other is goals. It is peak romance. A few moments in this reminded us of our spooky season read, Somebody is Walking on Your Grave by Mariana Enriquez. Partly because of Lafayette No. 1 and partly for...other reasons. And some of the quotes and insights from all our loveable characters had us thinking back to our last episode about David Lynch's book, Catching the Big Fish. Next episode is our Holiday Wrap! We're pretty excited to say goodbye to 2025. And to find out exactly how wild Jette's reading stats are this year. Other Books by Roan Parrish The (Most Unusual) Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy The Remaking of Corbin Wale (and honestly so many more but those were the ones we mentioned) Other FUJK Episodes 57: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas 83: A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee 109: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi 135: Pluralities by Avi Silver 161: Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

For non-fiction November, and with a nod to NaNoWriMo (RIP), we're reading Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch. Somehow this ended up falling exactly at the intersection of all our interests—creativity, art, yoga, film, science. It's all coming together.  Show Notes Of course this made us want to do all the creative things. We just have to do them! We know. We know! We're getting there. This is such a great book to read in little snippets if you need a bit of creative inspiration. Are we going to have to try Transcendental Meditation? Apparently the Toronto TM centre is in the Royal York Hotel.  Our next episode is our annual FUJK episode, in which we read something hella queer instead of the boy wizard series by she who must not be named. This year we're reading The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish. And our last episode of the year will be our Holiday Wrap Up episode! How is almost 2026 already? Books and Movies by David Lynch Room to Dream by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna Eraserhead (1977) The Elephant Man (1980) Dune (1984) Blue Velvet (1986) Wild At Heart (1990) Twin Peaks (1990-1991; 2017) Lost Highway (1997) Mulholland Drive (2001) Inland Empire (2006)

In episode 185, Gen and Jette talk about their latest book club episode, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This was Jette's pick and our third Jenkins Reid episode! Show Notes We've done two previous episodes on books by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Way back in the Patreon archive we did a bonus episode on Daisy Jones and the Six which eventually became episode 47 of the podcast. And in episode 99 we talked about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Taylor Jenkins Reid did extensive research for this book and the story takes place during the very real Space Shuttle Program at NASA in the 80s. Shoutout to Sally Ride, the first woman in space, and to the Canadarm, the robotic arm that Canada developed for NASA and the Space Shuttle Program. In our next episode we'll be talking about David Lynch's book on creativity and meditiation, Catching the Big Fish. And our final book club pick of the year is Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. This is Gen's pick and it works our perfectly because both of us have it on our shelf for ages. We'll be talking about it in our first episode of the new year in January. Other Books by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Daisy Jones and the Six Malibu Rising Carrie Soto is Back

Episode 184 is our last episode of spooky season (although it's always spooky season in our hearts), and we're reading Somebody Is Walking On Your Grave by Mariana Enriquez. Show Notes You may remember that we did another episode featuring Mariana Enriquez. In Episode 137, we talked about her short story collection, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed. This is Mariana Enriquez's first non-fiction collection. If you know how we can also become cemetery travel writers or something like that, please let us know! In our next episode we'll be talking about Jette's latest book club pick, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. We're pretty sure it's going to emotionally destroy us. Other Books Mentioned To Shake the Sleeping Self by Jedidiah Jenkins Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Robert Kirk

It's episode 183, but even more importantly, it's our 7th Anniversary Hangout Episode! We can't believe it's already been seven years. It's been a blast and we can't wait for another seven more! Show Notes We've read so many incredible books over the past seven years and recorded so many fun episodes. Stay tuned for a blog post of our personal favourites coming soon! Speaking of favourites, or at least popularity, our most-listened to episode is still The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan, followed by Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem in second place, and Colleen Hoover's Verity sliding in at third. Shout out to our fourth most-listened to episode, Another Country by James Baldwin because it was our very first Baldwin and kicked off our annual tradition and life long love of his work. There's a new Jedidiah Jenkins books coming out in 2026, so you know we'll be reading that. If you're in Toronto and you love science fiction, fantasy, and/or children's books make sure to check out the Lillian H. Smith library branch. They have small exhibits set up showcasing books from their extensive collection. Did you know there's a Ouija museum in Salem? If your in Europe and want to check out some cute books store cafes, these are the ones Gen went to: Paludan Bog Cafe in Copenhagen, Minoa in Berlin, and Bookstor in The Hague. In our next episode we'll be talking about Mariana Enriquez's new book, Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave. And then it's time for our next book club discussion! We're reading Jette's pick, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Books Mentioned Elsie Silver's Chestnut Spring Series Laurie Gilmore's Dream Harbor Series Exquisite Corpses by James Tynion IV You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston Happy Medium by Sarah Adler Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks Lost in the Garden by Adam S. Leslie Part of Your World by Abby Jiminez Harriet Tubman Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen Worldtree by James Tynion IV Minor Arcana by Jeff Lemire Make Me a Mixtape by Jennifer Whitehead The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Boys Weekend by Matty Lubchansky The Late Night Witches by Auralee Wallace Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel It by Stephen King Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

In Episode 182, we're kicking off spooky season with the cozy witchy vampire slaying vibes in Auralee Wallace's The Late-Night Witches! Show Notes This is like a cozy version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer set in PEI with sea witches. Obviously we loved it. Auralee Wallace is also the author of the Otter Lake mystery series and the Evenfall Witches B&B mysteries.  Is there going to be second book after this one? There definitely could be! Our next episode is our 7th anniversary episode! Whoa! We've read so many amazing books over the years. And this year we've been blessed with three episodes in October, which means we'll have another spooky read for you (as if we ever wait for October for that LOL). We'll be reading Mariana Enriquez's new book, Somebody is Walking on Your Grave! Other Books and Authors Mentioned The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin Rachel Harrison

Episode 181 is another installation of our Page to Screen series, this time with Scott Pilgrim! We read the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley and watched the film adaptation. It might be the most Toronto thing we've ever read or watched! Show Notes The Scott Pilgrim comic series was released in six digest-size volumes between 2004-2010, and was originally published in black and white. Hardcover colour versions were released between 2012-2015. Edgar Wright directed the film, with Bryan Lee O'Malley as executive producer, and he nails the stylized look so that the film feels like a comic book come to life. Both the book and the film feature some iconic Toronto locations, including Casa Loma, Sneaky Dee's, the Toronto Reference Library, and Honest Ed's (RIP). This cast is stacked! In 2020, for the 10-year anniversary of the film, most of the cast reunited for a table read of the script. You can watch it on YouTube Shout out to Canadian bands Broken Social Scene and Metric for writing songs for the fictional bands in the film (Crash and the Boys and The Clash at Demonhead respectively), and to Chris Murphy of Sloan for being the musical performance supervisor on the film. Beck wrote the songs for Scott's band, Sex Bob-omb. We truly had a blast reading and watching this. It was just so much fun! We're definitely going to watch the anime series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.   We're officially kicking off spooky season with our next episode on October 1. We'll be talking about Auralee Wallace's recent relsease, The Late-Night Witches. Apparently, we're also keeping the CanCon going because it takes place in PEI! There's going to be three episodes in October, so stick around for our 7th anniversary episode in the middle of the month on the 15th, and then we're wrapping up Halloween season with Mariana Enriquez's new release, Somebody is Walking on Your Grave. Other Books and Media Mentioned By Bryan Lee O'Malley: Lost at Sea, Seconds, Snotgirl Directed by Edgar Wright: Hot Fuzz, Last Night in Soho, Baby Driver

In Episode 179, Gen and Jette team up with one of their favourite indie publishers, House of Anansi Press. We're reading the newly released English translation of The Hand of Iman by Ryad Assani-Razaki. This one broke our hearts. Show Notes Ryad Assani-Razaki is a Beninese-Canadian writer and The Hand of Iman, or La main d'Iman in French, is his first novel. It won the Prix Robert Cliche in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Governer General's Award in 2012. Check out our full list of House of Anansi episodes below.  We did in fact have an episode dedicated to our 100th! What should we do for 200? We're getting close! In our next episode we'll be talking about Gen's book club pick, the graphic novel edition of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. We'll be following up our book club episode with a Page to Screen episode and some CanCon for you with Scott Pilgrim! Other House of Anansi Episodes 20: 2019 House of Anansi Spring Releases (Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin and Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renée Lavoie) 39: House of Anansi New Releases 2020 (Pallbearing by Michael Melgaard and Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger) 43: You Are Not What We Expected by Sidura Ludwig 70: A Boring Wife Settles the Score by Marie-Renée Lavoie 97: A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm 128: The All + Flesh by Brandi Bird 156: Who Will Bury You? by Chido Muchemwa Other Books Mentioned The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (Episode 124) Paper House by Dominique Fortier (Episode 26) Born by Heather Birrell (Episode 174) Parable of the Sower by Octavie Butler (Episode 172) The Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

It's time for a summer hangout episode! We're barely surviving the endless heatwaves and smoky skies, but at least we've got some good books to read. Show Notes The bookstore in Port Dover that Gen was talking about is called Beach Reads Bookshop. It's super cute and if you're ever in Port Dover, be sure to check it out! We are going to make zines and we are putting it here in writing as well to keep ourselves accountable. The Lillian H. Smith library branch in Toronto houses one of the world's leading research collections of speculative fiction. So cool! Our next episode is our annual House of Anansi book. We'll be talking about The Hand of Iman by Ryad Assani-Razaki. Books Mentioned The Gaysians by Mike Curato Grace: The Jeff Buckley Story by Tiffanie DeBartolo Your Blood My Bones by Kelly Andrew The Orphanage by the Lake by Daniel G Miller I'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong Human Rites by Juno Dawson Flawless by Elsie Silver Glittering Edge by Alyssa Villaire The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Syllabus by Lynda Barry Walking in This World by Julia Cameron Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Night Road by Kristen Hannah State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg This SIde of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins VenCo by Cherie Dimaline Perfume & Pain by Anna Dorn It by Stephen King

In Episode 177, we're (finally!) talking about Human Rites, the third book in Juno Dawson's series, Her Majesty's Royal Coven. What a ride! We absolutely adore all these characters.  Show Notes We've covered this whole series (more or less) on the podcast now! It's been so much fun, but we're sad to say goodbye to these characters. Episode 142 covers the first book, Her Majesty's Royal Coven, and episode 145 is all about the second one, The Shadow Cabinet. We didn't get around to reading the mini novella, Queen B, on the podcast, but it's book 0.5 in the series and acts a preqeul going back to Henry VIII's court and the execution of Anne Boleyn. Nicola Coughlan narrates the audiobooks if you want to check those out! Join us for a summer hangout in our next episode. We'll be talking about what else we've been reading and probably complaining about the heat. Other Books and Media Mentioned Also by Juno Dawson: This Book is Gay, Mind Your Head, Margot and Me, The Gender Games Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (Episode 69) Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong (Episode 86) Doctor Who

In Episode 176, we talk about Jette's book club pick, Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy. It follows tattooed, queer, punk nun, Sister Holiday, as she investigates a string of arson fires at St. Sebastian School where she teaches. Show Notes This book was published under Gillian Flynn's imprint with Zando. The spelling of chequered temporarily broke our brains and Gen forgot how State abbreviations work.  We had a great time reading this and can't wait to read the next books in the series. Blessed Water is out now, and Divine Ruin is slated for publication in January 2026.  In our next episode, we're continuing on with another beloved series of the pod, Her Majesty's Royal Coven! The third instalment, Human Rites, is finally here! We've only been waiting on the edge of that cliffhanger for a year. Our next book club pick is the graphic novel adaptation of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys, which you might know by now is one of Gen's favourite series. It's not out yet, but will be available July 29, so you still have plenty of time to read it before the episode in September! Other Books and Media Mentioned VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

Happy Pride! For this year's Pride episode we read How We End by LM Juniper, which follows a group of seven strangers as they navigate a zombie apocalypse.  Show Notes We fell in love with all of these characters and the little family they create for themselves! Don't worry, the dog lives. If you want more Frances (who wouldn't want more Frances?), you can read her short story, 'Til I Die, available on LM Juniper's website as an ebook. There's also a novella in this world, called How We Began, that is not really a sequel, but a companion book. It's recommended to read How We End first! As you know, we read all the queer books all year long, including the two books we'll be reading in July. Our next episode we'll be talking about Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy. And then the long awaited third instalment of Her Majesty's Royal Coven! We'll be talking about Human Rites by Juno Dawson mid-July. Other Books and Media Mentioned The Walking Dead The Last of Us Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

In episode 174, we team up with one of our favourite local indie publishers, Coach House Books. This year we're reading the newly released novel, Born by Heather Birrell, which tells the story of a high school teacher going into labour during a lockdown, diving deep into character through multiple viewpoints. Show Notes The Coach House Books episode is truly one of our favourite episodes of the year. Their books are always incredible, and of course Paper Houses remains an all time fave.  This book was so good, so you know we rambled about that a bit, but we did get aroung to highlighting some of the amazing writing. Heather Birrell has several other books, including two short story collections also published by Coach House: Mad Hope and I know you are but what am I? In our next episode, we're reading How We End by LM Juniper. It's our queer rep Pride pick, but it turns out we're keeping that theme going into July. Speaking of which, don't forget to read along with our next book club pick, Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy. After that, we finally get to the next installment of Her Majesty's Royal Coven: Human Rites. It better not end with a cliffhanger this time! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and check out our website!

Episode 173 is another spring hangout episode! Yes, somehow spring has been the longest season and yet somehow May is already over?? Anyway, come hangout with us while we chat about our fun little trips and how we're both crushing our reading goals this year. Show Notes Snag some cute knitting notions, like button and stitch markers, from our talented friend Riley! She's @_soft.spoken on Instagram and she's going to have a shop update very soon. Speaking of knitting, Jette went to the Fibre Witch Festival when she was in Salem! She also hit up the Harvard National History Museum and got to look at a lot of cool, weird rocks. Is spooky crystal/rock horror a thing? Jette is going to make it a thing. Check out the Woo Woo Podcast for more witchy and weird content! Our next episode is our annual Coach House Books episode! We'll be reading on of their upcoming novels, Born by Heather Birrell. We're all set for Pride month with How We End by LM Juniper. Think zombie apocalypse with a cool trans main character! And don't forget to read along with our current book pick, Scorched Grace by Margaret Douaihy. Other Books and Media Mentioned After We Were Stolen by Brooke Beyfuss Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney Horse by Gerladine Brooks The Honeys by Ryan LaSala Weyward by Emilia Hart Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Universality by Natasha Brown The Strawberry Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison Bad Dolls by Rachel Harrison Alone in Space by Tillie Walden Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison Freaks, Gleeks and Dawson's Creek by Thea Glassman Paranoid Gardens by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud Walking in the World by Julia Cameron Syllabus by Lynda Barry Making Comics by Lynda Barry Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lydia Cohen Loigman Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

Episode 172 is a book club book! This month we're talking about Gen's pick, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. The novel follows Lauren through her journal entries as she is forced from her home and navigates a hostile world ravaged by climate change and social inequality. Show Notes Gen has been putting off this book for a long time because it takes place largely in the mid-late 2020s and that felt a little too close to home. Parable of the Sower is the first book in a planned series that Octavia Butler unfortunately didn't have the chance to finish, as she died of a stroke in 2006. The second book is Parable of the Talents, which was published in 1998. The planned third book was to be called Parable of the Trickster. As you can probably guess, a lot of what happens in this book was distressingly familiar. Did Suzanne Collins read Parable of the Sower? Inquiring minds would like to know. There are definitely some common themes with The Hunger Games series. Our next book club selection is Jette's pick, Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy. It's about a tattooed, queer nun who solves mysteries! What more could you ask for? This is the first book of the Sister Holiday mysteries and we'll be talking about it in July. Next episode is a(nother) spring hangout episode. We'll be talking about everything else we've been reading, which is always a fun time. Keep an eye out for our annual Coach House episode. We'll be reading their forthcoming publication, Born by Heather Birrell. Other Books Mentioned Kindred by Octavia Butler The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins