Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

It's episode 208 and time for us to talk about our Reading Resolutions for 2025! We discuss our love of spreadsheets, the churn of books in public libraries, literacy, unschooling, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

2025 Goals/Intentions/Etc.

• Jam
  • Theme of the year: "Cultivation"
  • Use Storygraph instead of Goodreads
    • Jam on Storygraph
  • Maybe put a book on the nightstand so I'll read it before bed
• Meghan
  • Subscribe to print reading material
• Anna
  • Track favourite reads of the year in the spreadsheet
  • Try to figure out why she reads less fiction than she used to
• Matthew
  • Read every book on fiction to-read list published before the year 2000
  • Record the "why" when adding books to TBR

Other Media We Mentioned

• Folio podcast
  • Jam's episode isn't out yet
  • Immanence
• British Library Tales of the Weird
• The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes
• The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, translated by Yuri Machkasov
• X-Men Classic Omnibus by Chris Claremont and others
• Role Models by John Waters
• Radical Unschooling: We NEED to Talk About This!
• Sold a Story podcast

Links, Articles, and Things

• Episode 190 - Reading Resolutions and Rants
• r/AmItheAsshole (Wikipedia)
• If Books Could Kill (Wikipedia)

50 Recent Short Story Collections by BIPOC Authors:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

For this list of short story collections, we've focused on titles published within the past four years.

• Ghostroots by 'Pemi Aguda (2024)
• Coexistence: Stories by Billy-Ray Belcourt (2024)
• Death by a Thousand Cuts by Shashi Bhat (2024)
• Your Utopia by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur (2024)
• Green Frog by Gina Chung (2024)
• Weird Black Girls by Elwin Cotman (2024)
• Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima (2024)
• Peacocks of Instagram by Deepa Rajagopalan (2024)
• Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi (2024)
• Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (2024)
• A Kind of Madness by Uche Okonkwo (2024)
• Tomb Sweeping by Alexandra Chang (2023)
• Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (2023)
• Every Drop Is A Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (2023)
• No One Will Come Back for Us: And Other Stories by Premee Mohamed (2023)
• Drinking From Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu (2023)
• Jackal, Jackal by Tobi Ogundiran (2023)
• Tiger Work by Ben Okri (2023)
• Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo (2023)
• Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele (2023)
• Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go by Cleo Qian (2023)
• New Suns 2: More Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl (2023)
• The Goth House Experiment by SJ Sindu (2023)
• Chrysali by Anuja Varghese (2023)
• Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality by Lindsay Wong (2023)
• The Hive and the Honey by Paul Yoon (2023)
• Girlfriends by Emily Zhou (2023)
• Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang (2022)
• Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho (2022)
• God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu (2022)
• Self-Portrait with Ghost by Meng Jin (2022)
• The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai (2022)
• Bliss Montage by Ling Ma (2022)
• Uncertain Kin by Janice Lynn Mather (2022)
• The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae (2022)
• The Consequences by Manuel Muñoz (2022)
• Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers (2022)
• Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (2022)
• Her First Palestinian by Saeed Teebi (2022)
• Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight (2022)
• Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel (2022)
• Home of the Floating Lily by Silmy Abdullah (2021)
• Skinship by Yoon Choi (2021)
• Tainna: The Unseen Ones by Norma Dunning (2021)
• Eat The Mouth That Feeds You by Carribean Fragoza (2021)
• My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (2021)
• The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado (2021)
• 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell (2021)
• Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So (2021)
• Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap (2021)

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, March 4th when we'll be talking about the genre of Design!

Then on Tuesday, April 1st we'll be talking about the genre of Romantasy!

It's episode 207 and time for us to talk about the genre of Monster Romance! We discuss what counts as a "monster," massive hogs, Beautify and the Beast, listening to audiobooks at 3.5x speed, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta
• A Blue Ribbon Romance by C.M. Nascosta
• Sworn to the Orc by Evangeline Anderson, narrated by Ada Sinclair
• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
• That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming
• Strange Love by Ann Aguirre
• How to Marry a Marble Marquis by C.M. Nascosta
• Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon, narrated by Felicity Munroe and Hiro Diaz

Other Media We Mentioned

• In the Arms of the Spider Hunk by Nova Wrytzwell
• The Shape of Water (Wikipedia)
• The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus
• Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
• I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming
• Mistlefoe by Kimberly Lemming
• Gargoyles
• Taken by my TBR: A Sentient Object Story by Holly Wilde

Links, Articles, and Things

• Where To Get Started With Monster Romance
• 15 Monster Romance Books That Will Make You the Biggest Fan
• Monster Romance 101
• Minotaur Sex: The Best New Smut Genre
• Bad Dragon (Wikipedia)
  • There are lots of other companies doing similar things
• Hark! Episode 374: Biblically Accurate Krampus
• Were|House - We Try to Date a Kelpie - Friday Night Spooktacular Visual Novel Stream
• Baba Yaga (Wikipedia)

11 Monster Romance Books by BIPOC Authors:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• I Married a Lizardman by Regine Abel
• My Summer Girl by Maeve Black
• The Captive Merman's Promise by Zoey Castile
• I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend by Jessica Cage
• Queenie & the Krakens by Aleera Anaya Ceres
• How to Fail at Avoiding an Alpha Demon by Liz E. Cooper
• Threads of Fate by Lexi Esme
• Sasquatch Summer by Talia Greer
• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
• Sweet Vengeance by Viano Oniomoh
• Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, February 18th when we'll be discussing our reading goals and resolutions for 2025!

Then on Tuesday, March 4th we'll be talking about the non-fiction genre of Design!

It's episode 206 and time for us to talk about the genre of Cultural Studies! We discuss bureaucracy, affluenza, dinosaurs, Dungeons & Dragons, Batman, The Fast and the Furious, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
• The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy by David Graeber
• Clever Girl: Jurassic Park by Hannah McGregor
• They Came to Slay: The Queer Culture of D&D by Thom James Carter
• Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us--and How to Fight Back, 3rd Edition Mutation by John De Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas Naylor
• Second Language Learning and Identity: Cracking Metaphors in Ideological and Poetic Discourse in the Third Space by Mika Yoshimoto
• On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint by Maggie Nelson
• 2 Trans 2 Furious: An Extremely Serious Journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies edited by Tuck Woodstock and Niko Stratis

Other Media We Mentioned

• Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body by Susan Bordo
• Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber
• The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
• The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning by Maggie Nelson
• Suicide Squad Isekai
• Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up

Links, Articles, and Things

• Tartan Noir
• Secret Feminist Agenda
• Jurassic Park
• Extreme Championship Wrestling
• Pyotr Kropotkin
• Chainmail
• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Lambda Literary Awards
• Girl Dad Press

30 Cultural Studies by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
• Aboriginal TM: The Cultural and Economic Politics of Recognition by Jennifer Adese
• The Cultural Politics of Emotion by Sara Ahmed
• Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
• The Location of Culture by Homi K. Bhabha
• The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Producing Sovereignty: The Rise of Indigenous Media in Canada by Karrmen Crey
• Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross
• Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique by Roderick A. Ferguson
• Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution by Amin Ghaziani
• Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures by Gayatri Gopinath
• White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad
• Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
• Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda Kafai
• Have You Eaten Yet? Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan
• Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics by Lisa Lowe
• Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century by Bianca Mabute-Louie
• The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
• Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics by José Esteban Muñoz
• Decolonize Hipsters by Gregory Pierrot
• Black Meme: A History of The Images That Make Us by Legacy Russell
• Introducing Cultural Studies by Ziauddin Sardar
• The Afterlife is Letting Go by Brandon Shimoda
• Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre by Niigaan Sinclair
• Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith
• Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
• Big Brands Are Watching You: Marketing Social Justice and Digital Culture by Francesca Sobande
• Music Is History by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson
• In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space by Irvin Weathersby Jr.
• Gaza on Screen edited by Nadia G. Yaqub

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, February 4th we'll be talking about the genre of Monster Romance!

Then on Tuesday, February 18th we'll be discussing our reading goals and resolutions for 2025!

It's episode 205 and time for us to talk about our favourite reads of 2024! We discuss fiction and non-fiction books we read for the podcast, plus comics, videos, music, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Check out Hark! Jam's holiday music podcast!

Favourite Fiction

• For the podcast
  • Anna
    • The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence (Episode 200 - Library Fiction)
  • Jam
    • A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (Episode 202 - A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking)
  • Matthew
    • The Sixth Gun Omnibus, vol. 1 by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, Bill Crabtree, and Tyler Crook (Episode 201 - Weird West)
  • Meghan
    • Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (Episode 203 - Dark Academia)
• Not for the podcast
  • Jam
    • Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman
  • Matthew
    • Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day: And Other Tales of the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard, narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith
  • Meghan
    • When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
  • Anna
    • Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
      • Trailer

Favourite Non-Fiction

• For the podcast
  • Matthew
    • I Am the Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future by Michael Molcher (Episode 195 - Pop(ular) Culture Non-Fiction)
  • Meghan
    • Telling It to the Judge: Taking Native History to Court by Arthur J. Ray (Episode 197 - Law & Legal Non-Fiction (for the layperson))
  • Anna
    • Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli (Episode 194 - Indie Publishers)
  • Jam
    • Why I Adopted My Husband: The True Story of a Gay Couple Seeking Legal Recognition in Japan by Yuta Yagi (Episode 192 - Non-Fiction Graphic Novels & Comics)
• Not for the podcast
  • Meghan
    • Secret Gardens by Jennifer Potter
  • Anna
    • Bunker: Building for the End Times by Bradley Garrett
  • Jam
    • Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run by Martinus Evans
  • Matthew
    • How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Other Favourite Things of 2024

• Anna
  • Cats
  • Buldak Cream Carbonara
  • Go Go Town!
• Jam
  • Diceomancer
  • "California" by Chappel Roan
  • Galway Food Tour
• Matthew
  • The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel by Jenny Nicholson
  • Giant Days by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Lissa Treiman
  • Spy x Family by Tetsuya Endo
    • Matthew talked about this and Giant Days in Episode 193 - Spring Media Update
  • Spy x Family / Designer Chairs
• Meghan
  • Living Small - Laura Fenton (series: Small Takes)
  • BBC: The Secret History of British Gardens with Monty Don
  • Dwell magazine

Runner-Ups

• Jam
  • Books for the podcast
    • Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (Episode 204 - Cozy Fantasy)
    • Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (Episode 189 - Romantic Comedies & Humorous Romance)
    • Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante (Episode 194 - Indie Publishers)
  • Picture Books
    • I Won't Give Up My Rubber Band by Shinsuke Yoshitake
    • 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli by David LaRochelle
  • Games
    • Wingspan (both board & Switch Edition)
    • Crossword puzzles
  • Movies/TV/Video
    • Delicious in Dungeon
    • I Saw the TV Glow
    • Robot Dreams
    • Gastronauts
    • I Want to Tell You About My Favorite Fight Scene
• Anna
  • River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (Episode 201 - Weird West)
  • Kimiko Does Cancer by Kimiko Tobimatsu and Keet Geniza (Episode 192 - Non-Fiction Graphic Novels & Comics)
• Matthew
  • Comics (For series I'm linking to volume ones regardless of what volumes I read or how many I read this year.)
    • Astro City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
    • Blade Runner 2029 by Mike Johnson and Andres Guinaldo
    • Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang
    • Do A Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson
    • Friday by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente
    • Kit + The Wolf by John Allison
    • Lost Cat by Jason
    • Night Cry by Borja González
    • Orcs by Christine Larsen
    • Reckless, vol. 5: Follow Me Down by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
    • Silver by Stephan Franck
    • Of Thunder & Lightning by Kimberly Wang
    • Where The Body Was by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
  • Manga (For series I'm linking to volume ones regardless of what volumes I read or how many I read this year.)
    • A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch by Hiro Kashiwaba
    • Akane-banashi by Yūki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue
    • Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
    • Blue Period by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
    • Dementia 21 by Shintaro Kago
    • The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai
    • Heavenly Delusion by Masakazu Ishiguro
    • I'm a Terminal Cancer Patient, but I'm Fine by Hilnama
    • Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki
    • Mimi's Tales of Terror by Junji Ito, Hirokatsu Kihara, and Ichiro Nakayama
    • Okinawa by Susumu Higa
    • Seven Little Sons of the Dragon by Ryoko Kui
    • Sketchy by Makihirochi
    • Soara and the House of Monsters by Hidenori Yamaji
  • Books
    • Fiction
      • A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
      • New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction By People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl
      • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
      • Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
        • Episode 201 - Weird West
      • Tales of the Tattooed: An Anthology of Ink edited by John Miller
      • Unauthorized Bread by Cory Doctorow
      • Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper
      • We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang
    • Non-Fiction
      • Anime: A History, 2nd edition by Jonathan Clements
      • Media Law Through Science Fiction: Do Androids Dream of Electric Free Speech? by Daxton Stewart
        • Episode 197 - Law & Legal Non-Fiction (for the layperson)
      • Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas
      • Poisoned Chalice: The Extremely Long and Incredibly Complex Story of Marvelman by Pádraig Ó Méalóid
        • Episode 195 - Pop(ular) Culture Non-Fiction
      • The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr
        • Episode 199 - Summer Media Update
  • Video Essays
    • Alpha Protocol Retrospective | An Extremely Comprehensive Critique and History
    • Reform!
    • X Men Video Game Retrospective | A Complete History and Review
    • DB2024 - The Taco Bell "Wedding" in Decentraland
      • The Future is a Dead Mall - Decentraland and the Metaverse
    • The Great Game: The Making of Spycraft
    • The Bizarre World of Fake Video Games
• Meghan
  • French
    • Balcons by Marianne Brisebois (contemporary fiction)
    • Cariacou by Olivier Lussier (poetry, prose)
    • La véritable histoire de la maison mobile des Miller by Dave Eggers (childrens, illustrated)
  • Fiction
    • The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir (horror, translated)
    • Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (cosy fantasy, series)
    • The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (supernatural)
    • The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (time travel)
    • The Gathering by C.J. Tudor (horror, vampires)
    • Bride by Ali Hazelwood (supernatural romance)
    • The Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (horror, series)
    • Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante (contemporary)
    • Frontier by Grace Curtis (scifi, western)
    • Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang (horror)
    • The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan (weird, translated, series)
    • The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes (scifi, spy thriller)
    • Roaming by Jillian Tamaki by Mariko Tamaki (graphic novel, new adult)
  • Nonfiction
    • Instructions for Travelling West by Joy Sullivan (poetry)
    • Island Home: a Landscape memoir by Tim Winton (essays, memoir, Australian)
    • Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place by Daniel Coleman (essays, history, Canadian)

Occult/Mysticism/New Age books by BIPOC Authors:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda
• The Living Tarot: Connecting the Cards to Everyday Life for Better Readings by T. Susan Chang
• The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
• Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions by Lilith Dorsey
• You Are the Medicine: 13 Moons of Indigenous Wisdom, Ancestral Connection, and Animal Spirit Guidance by Asha Frost
• Inner Witch: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Craft by Gabriela Herstik
• Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labor by Alice Sparkly Kat
• The Power Wish: Japan's Leading Astrologer Reveals the Moon's Secrets for Finding Success, Happiness, and the Favor of the Universe by Keiko
• Spell Bound: a New Witch's Guide to Crafting the Future by Chaweon Koo
• Spirit Talker: Indigenous Stories and Teachings from a Mikmaq Psychic Medium by Shawn Leonard
• Blood Sex Magic: Everyday Magic for the Modern Mystic by Bri Luna
• Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Chris Marmolejo
• Brujas: The Magic and Power of Witches of Color by Lorraine Monteagut
• Next World Tarot: Pocket Edition by Cristy C. Road
• The Mexican Witch Lifestyle: Brujeria Spells, Tarot, and Crystal Magic by Valeria Ruelas
• The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
• Crystal Clear: Reflections on Extraordinary Talismans For Everyday Life by Jaya Saxena
• Enchantments: A Modern Witch's Guide to Self-Possession by Mya Spalter
• Signs & Skymates: the Ultimate Guide to Astrological Compatibility by Dossé-Via Trenou
• White Magic by Elissa Washuta
• Tarot of the Divine Handbook: A Guide to Understanding Tarot Symbolism by Yoshi Yoshitani

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, January 7th we'll be discussing the genre of Cultural Studies!

Then on Tuesday, February 4th we'll be talking about the genre of Monster Romance!

It's episode 204 and time for us to talk about the genre of Cozy Fantasy! We discuss what makes something cozy, romantasy, breakneck cozy fantasies, how much fantasy people need in their fantasy, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
  • Comparison between US and UK covers
• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
• The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
• The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
• Sorcery and Small Magics and Maiga Doocy
• The Baker & the Bard by Fern Haught
• Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynn Jones
  • Howl's Moving Castle (film)
• Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Other Media We Mentioned

• The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
  • Matthew meant "solarpunk" as the genre that this is often described as
• Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
• A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
  • Episode 202 - A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
• Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children)
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
  • Canadian residential school system
• Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
• Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
• LoadingReadyRun
• The House Witch by Delemhach
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
• Moonstruck, vol. 1: Magic to Brew by Grace Ellis and Shae Beagle
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
• The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill
  • The Tea Dragon Society Card Game
• Balatro

Links, Articles, and Things

• What Counts as Cozy Fantasy?
• In Defense of Low-Stakes Fiction
• Iyashikei
  • "portraying characters living out peaceful lives in calming environments, and is intended to have a healing effect on the audience"

11 Cozy Fantasy by BIPOC Authors:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
• Best Hex Ever by Nadia El-Fassi
• DallerGut Dream Department Store by Mi-Ye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee
• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
• The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
• Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim
• The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• The Fae's Bride by R.L. Medina
• The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai
• The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, December 17th it's time for our "best books of the year" episode!

Then, on Tuesday, January 7th we'll be discussing the genre of Cultural Studies!

It's episode 203 and time for us to discuss the genre of Dark Academia! We discuss aesthetics as genres, cosplaying as academics, anti-intellectualism, the differences between Canadian and American university experiences, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
• Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker
• An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
• The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
• If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
• The Cloisters by Katy Hays
  • The Cloisters (the museum)
• And He Shall Appear by Kate Van Der Borgh

Other Media We Mentioned

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Howl's Moving Castle (film)
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Goth House Experiment by S.J. Sindu
  • Includes "Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc"
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
• Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
• Bunny by Mona Awad
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
• The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake
• Faust

Links, Articles, and Things

• Dark academia (Wikipedia)
• Episode 115 - New Weird
• Kurt Vonnegut
• Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• University of King's College
• Sour Patch Kids
• Magic Circle
• Bottle episode
• Episode 202 - A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
• Skull and Bones
• Episode 172 - Domestic Thrillers
• Cottagecore

15 Dark Academia by Authors of Colour:

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by POC (People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
• The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf
• Bunny by Mona Awad
• The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
• Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown
• Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
• The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
• Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
• An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
• Babel by R.F. Kuang
• The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
• Land of No Regrets by Sadi Muktadir
• Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda
• Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
• How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, December 3rd we'll be talking about the genre of Cozy Fantasy!

Then on Tuesday, December 17th it's time for our "best books of the year" episode!

It's episode 202 and that means it's time for our One Book One Podcast Battle of the Books episode where we discuss A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Media We Mentioned

• A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
• The House Witch by Delemhach
• The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
• Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
• The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
  • Episode 058 - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
• Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher
• Tangled

Links, Articles, and Things

• Flogging Molly (based in LA with an Irish lead singer)
• Dropkick Murphys (the Boston punk band Jam was probably thinking about)
• Garderobe
• Don Bluth

15 Erotic Romance Books by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen
• Up for Air by Christina Berry
• If She Says Yes by Tasha L. Harrison
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
• Being Hospitable by Meka James
• Cuffed by Candlelight: An Erotic Romance Anthology by Beverly Jenkins
• Just for the Cameras by Viano Oniomoh
• Glutton for Pleasure by Alisha Rai
• Double Pleasure, Double Pain by Nikki Rashan
• Yes, Roya by C. Spike Trotman & EA Denich
• Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon
• The Perfect Find by Tia Williams
• Quarantine and Chill by Kenya Wright
• Wild Ones by Kristine Wyllys
• A Taste of Sin by Fiona Zedde

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, November 5th when we'll be discussing the genre of Dark Academia.

Then on Tuesday, December it will be time for our final genre of the year, Cozy Fantasy!

It's episode 201 and time for us to discuss the genre of Weird West! (Just in time for Halloween!). We talk about the potential temporal and geographic restrictions on western fiction, folklore, tall tales, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian, narrated by John Pirhalla
• The Gunslinger by Stephen King, narrated by George Guidall
• Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse
• The Sixth Gun Omnibus, vol. 1 by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, Bill Crabtree, and Tyler Crook
• The Witch Owl Parliament by David Bowles and Raúl the Third
• Lone Women by Victor LaValle
• River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Other Media We Mentioned

• Vermilion: The Adventures of Lou Merriwether, Psychopomp and Molly Tanzer
• The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger (Probably the version Matthew saw)
• Lucky Luke
• The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout
• The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

Links, Articles, and Things

• Episode 029 - Westerns
• Episode 082 - Steampunk
• Episode 106 - Alternative/Alternate History
• Episode 183 - One Book One Podcast: Upright Women Wanted
• Space Western (TVTropes)
• Skin-walker
• Land-grant university
• Map shows where Colorado's 8 known free-roaming wolves wandered in September
• Libro.fm's Audiobook Listening Copy Program
• Jonah Hex

10 Weird Western Books by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• The Witch Owl Parliament by David Bowles and Raúl the Third
• Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
• The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
• Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (forthcoming 2025)
• Sisters of the Wild Sage: A Weird Western Collection by Nicole Givens Kurtz
• Lone Women by Victor Lavalle
• The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin
• Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse
• How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, October 15th when it's time for our "We All Read the Same Book" episode as we discuss A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.

Then on Tuesday, November 5th we'll be discussing the genre of Dark Academia.

It's episode 200, which means it's (finally) time for us to discuss Library Fiction! We talk about the stereotypes and tropes of library fiction, unacknowledged work of library workers,and more. Plus: we talk way more about our actual jobs than we usually do.

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
• The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence
• Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries, and Lore by Paula Guran (below are direct links to many of the stories from this collection)
  • In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages
  • In Libres by Elizabeth Bear
  • Those Who Watch by Ruthanna Emrys
  • Paper Cuts Scissors by Holly Black
  • Summer Reading by Ken Liu
  • Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
  • With Tales in Their Teeth, From the Mountain They Came by A.C. Wise
  • The Librarian's Dilemma by E. Saxey
  • The Green Book by Amal El-Mohtar
  • A Woman's Best Friend by Robert Reed
  • If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Xia Jia, translated by Ken Liu
  • The Sigma Structure Symphony by Gregory Benford
  • The Fort Moxie Branch by Jack McDevitt
  • The Last Librarian: Or a Short Account of the End of the World by Edoardo Albert
• How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
• Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen

Other Media We Mentioned

• The Library of Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
• The Empty Crown by Rosemary Edghill
• Meghan meant The Abortion by Richard Brautigan (not Trout Fishing in America)
• The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
• The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
• Bookhunter by Jason Shiga
• Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes
• Library Comic by Gene Ambaum and Willow Payne
• Welcome to Night Vale
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
  • Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
• Abbott Elementary
• Pounded In The Butt By My Handsome Sentient Library Card Who Seems Otherworldly But In Reality Is Just A Natural Part Of The Priceless Resources Our Library System Provides by Chuck Tingle
• My Librarian Is A Beautiful Lesbian Ice Cream Cone And She Tastes Amazing by Chuck Tingle
• Party Girl
• Public Enemy - Fight the Power

Fictional Librarians

• 50 Fictional Librarians, Ranked
• Rupert Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
• Barbara Gordon (DC Comics)
• The Librarian (Discworld)
• Lucien (The Sandman)
• Evelyn Carnahan (The Mummy)
• Marian Paroo (The Music Man)
• Librarians (Welcome to Night Vale)
  • "While their description is never fully given, minor details of their physical characteristics have been described:"
    • yellow, gnarled teeth
    • sharp claws and pincers
    • Wings
    • Tentacles
    • thousands of spiny legs
    • rattles (that make noise when they move)
    • thoraxes

Links, Articles, and Things

• Two-Fisted Library Stories zines
• North Boulder Library is ready to open (there's a slide in image 6!)

15 Librarian & Library Fiction by POC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
• What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
• Cora's Kitchen by Kimberly Garrett Brown
• The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez
• The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
• The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
• The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana
• The Plotters by Kim Un-Su
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
• The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
• The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé
• The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
• Bookhunter by Jason Shiga

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, October 1st we'll be getting ready for spooky season with the Weird West! (That's Supernatural Horror Westerns)

Then on Tuesday, October 15th it's time for our "We All Read the Same Book" episode as we discuss A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.

It's time for our Summer Media Update! We're talking about podcasts, videos, books, comics, games and more that we've recently enjoyed! We discuss Balatro, Carter Vail, Catwoman, and beading!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Join our Discord Server!

Things We Read (or tried to…)

• Meghan
  • Carter Vail -The Dirt Man
    • Bonus: If I was fish
  • The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
    • The Coode Street Podcast Episode 649: Nghi Vo and The Brides of High Hill
  • In the Palace of Shadow and Joy by D.J. Butler
• Anna
  • The Hoof GP (NOT for the squeamish)
  • Bunker: Building for the End Times by Bradley Garrett
  • Making tiny little beaded fruits :)
    • Any round beaded fruit (Apple, watermelon, orange, pear) from TOMO Handicraft - super easy start point! Use larger center beads and just add 1 or 2 more small beads per row to make the watermelon.
    • Little Cherries from Tezukuri Notes! - I just make the fruit, not the jewelry, but it's easy and a good next step.
    • Larger Cherries from Tezukuri Notes! - this is the one I kept counting wrong. You can make the berries into any round fruit - I add a stem and leaf based on what I learned from other videos to make an apple and it looks great. I also leave out the center bead apples. But if you are going to make cherries, watch the video all the way through first!
    • Orange (or other round fruit) from Tezukuri Notes! - I tried this one first and it came out ugly. But now that I have done a bunch more and learned better practices, I am going to go back to try it again.
    • Next up - bananas and watermelon slices!
    • (There'll be a photo of Anna's project jar of beaded fruits on our Discord Server!)
  • The unsettling universe of ASMR restocking videos (plus the various commentary on them). I always watch them feeling like there is something foundational about the modern American (aspirational) middle class mental landscape represented there, and I am uncomfortably mesmerized by it.
• Jam
  • TV Chef Fantasy League (podcast)
    • TVCFL on youtube
  • Kill James Bond (podcast)
    • KJB Highlights on youtube
  • Balatro (video game)
    • Balatro's 'Cursed' Design Problem (video)
  • Slow AF Run Club by Martinus Evans
• Matthew
  • The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr
  • Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang
  • Soara and the House of Monsters, vol. 1 by Hidenori Yamaji
  • Orcs! The Legend by Christine Larsen

Other Media We Mentioned

• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
  • Episode 058 - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
• Hark! Podcast
• Perc - Imperial Leather (The track Matthew's coworker said was "a lot.")
• She Past Away - Durdu Dünya (The track Matthew said was "listenable.")
• A bunch of cooking shows Matthew is too tired to find Wikipedia articles for.
• Um, Actually hosted by Ify Nwadiwe
• Philosophy Tube
• When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Links, Articles, and Things

• Trader Joe's (Wikipedia)
  • Pirate Joe's (Wikipedia) (The bootleg Trader Joe's that used to exist in Vancouver.)
• American Manga Awards (Winners to be announced August 22nd.)

13 Bizarro Fiction Books by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

• Elaine by Ben Arzate
• Cartoons in the Suicide Forest by Leza Cantoral
• She Said Destroy by Nadia Bulkin
• The Pulse Between Dimensions and the Desert by Rios de la Luz
• Technicolor Terrorists by Andre Duza
• Clickers by J.F. Gonzalez & Mark Williams
• Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias
• Zombie Sharks With Metal Teeth by Stephen Graham Jones
• Not Seeing Is A Flower by Erhu Kome
• Wet and Screaming by Shane McKenzie
• Jah Hills by Unathi Slasha
• Notes from the Guts of a Hippo by Grant Wamack
• Vegan Zombie Apocalypse by Will-vary

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, September 3rd when it's time for episode 200 and we'll be talking about Library fiction!

Then on Tuesday, October 1st we've decided to celebrate 200 episodes with the first of four genres we picked. We'll be getting ready for spooky season with the Weird West! (That's supernatural horror westerns.)