Brews & Reviews

Jaz & Sharn spent January dabbling with The Storygraph & they discuss the triumphs and tribulations of using this exciting new platform with Kerry from @linesiunderline. Part 1 of 2.

Find us:

• Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
• Jaz: @travelsinfiction
• Sharn: @caffeineandcommas
• Kerry's: @LinesIUnderLine

Mentioned:

• The StoryGraph
• Netflix show: Dark Tourist

Books mentioned: 

In today’s episode, we are joined by the lovely Lois to talk about our first book club pick: The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun. This eco-thriller is translated from Korean and follows a woman who works at a company specialising in ‘disaster tourism packages’. 

Content warnings for discussions of sexual assault/harrasment in reference to the book.

Book club discussion starts at 23:31

Our overall thoughts and ratings

• Do we get frustrated with Yona’s apathetic tone?
• Discussion about sexual harassment working in an all-male office, and the ‘Angry Black Woman’ stereotype
• Do we think the tone of the book changed at all during translation?
• Was it weird to read about travel and tourism during Covid?
• What did we think of the ironic ending?

Find us:

• Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
• Jaz: @travelsinfiction
• Sharn: @caffeineandcommas
• Lois’ Insta: @LochanReads

Mentioned:

• The Little Contemporary Corner
• Netflix show: Dark Tourist

Books mentioned: 

• The Disaster Tourist - Yun Ko-Eun
• Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
• Wilder Girls - Rory Powers
• The Billionaire Murders - Kevin Donovan
• The Shadows - Alex North
• Out of the Woods - Luke Turner
• Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde
• The Stonewall Reader
• Pie in the Sky - Remy Lai
• An Ordinary Wonder - Buki Papillon
• Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
• The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
• Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi
• The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
• The Girls I’ve Been - Tess Sharpe
• How to Pronounce Knife - Souvankham Thammavongsa
• Adventures of a Young Naturalist - David Attenborough
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
• Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson
• The Kiss Quotient - Helen Hoang
• Happy - Fearne Cotton

In today’s episode, Jaz and Sharn are talking about all things book covers! From the popular trends they’ve noticed, to movie book covers, to sprayed edges and printed stickers on books, we *cover* it all. See what we did there? 👀

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

People and things mentioned: 

• Khadija Mbowe: ‘Race-baiting, queer-baiting, colorism, featurism, and performative diversity’
• Guardian article: Why are UK and US book covers different?
• MPRnews article: UK vs US book covers

Books mentioned:

• The Other F Word - Angie Manfredi
• Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson
• The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse - Charlie Mackesy
• Do You Dream of Terra-Two? - Temi Oh
• The Disaster Tourist - Yun Ko-Eun
• Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
• The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel
• Tin Man - Sarah Winman
• From the Ashes - Jesse Thistle
• The Stonewall Reader
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth
• The Hate U Give, On the Come Up and Concrete Rose - all by Angie Thomas
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë (Chiltern Classic edition)
• One of Us is Lying - Karen M. McManus
• Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Ones We’re Meant to Find - Joan He
• Bridgerton: The Duke and I - Julia Quinn
• Fates and Furies - Lauren Groff
• Educated - Tara Westover
• Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata
• The Night Tiger - Yangsze Choo
• Gingerbread - Helen Oyeyemi
• City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert
• When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
• Queenie - Candice Carty-Williams

Jaz and Sharn chat about the last minute books they want to squeeze in before winter is over, and what books they have been saving to read in Spring (regardless of the fact that Sharn hates Spring 👀)

--------

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

--------

Books mentioned:

• 21 Things You Might Not Know About The Indian Act - Bob Joseph
• Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo
• Get a Life Chloe Brown, Take a Hint Dani Brown, Act Your Ae Eve Brown - Talia Hibbert
• The Black Flamingo - Dean Atta
• Exit West - Mohsin Hamid
• The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams
• Catch and Kill - Ronan Farrow
• Parachutes - Kelly Yang
• The Pretty One - Keah Brown
• One by One - Ruth Ware
• The Shadows - Alex North
• Us Against You - Fredrik Backman
• Little Darlings - Melanie Golding
• Darling Rose Gold - Stephanie Wrobel
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Greenwood - Michael Christie
• The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
• The Chaos Walking Trilogy - Patrick Ness
• Frankly in Love - David Yoon
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - Charlie Mackesy
• Beartown - Fredrik Backman

In today’s episode, Jaz and Sharn go on a virtual bookish night out, courtesy of the Bibliophile Night Out Book Tag (Created By Beth @BooksNest). Come and join us for a fun and chill book tag, which, of course, has many bookish tangents.

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

Shoutouts:

Amy / @AmysBookshelf
Beth / @BooksNest

Books Mentioned:

• Vi - Kim Thúy
• Concrete Rose - Angie Thomas
• Tin Man - Sarah Winman
• My Friend Fear - Meera Lee Patel
• Clap When You land - Elizabeth Acevedo
• 21 Things You Might Not Know About The Indian Act - Bob Joseph
• Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert
• The Pretty One - Keah Brown
• Let Me Hear a Rhyme - Tiffany D. Jackson
• Amphibian - Christina Neurwirth
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins
• The Simple Wild - K.A. Tucker
• Love from A to Z - S.K. Ali
• A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
• Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
• To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before - Jenny Han
• The Disaster Tourist - Yun Ko-eun
• Beartown - Fredrik Backman
• Middlemarch - George Eliot
• That Reminds Me - Derek Owusu
• Less - Andrew Sean Greer
• The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon
• Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
• Heartstopper - Alice Oseman
• Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
• One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston
• I’m Afraid of Men - Vivek Shraya

In today’s episode, we catch up - as we always do -on what we’ve been reading this week! We especially dive into a conversation about the short memoir I’m afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya and the way it discusses themes around what it means to be a woman.

Do we read specific genres on audiobooks? Do we set TBRs or are we mood readers? Do we forget to read eBooks because they’re not staring at us incessantly on our shelves? We cover the whole shebang in today’s episode all about reading habits!

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

Other shoutouts:

Kayla / @BooksandLala

Kerry / @linesiunderline

Amy / @AmysBookshelf

Lois / @LochanReads

Angie / @ReadWithAngie

Books mentioned:

• My Grandmother Sends her Regards and Apologies - Fredrik Backman
• Love in Colour - Bolu Babalola
• The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett
• Sawkill Girls - Claire LeGrand
• Cinderella is Dead - Kalynn Bayron
• I’m Afraid of Men - Vivek Shraya
• Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo
• The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
• Home Body - Rupi Kaur
• Thirteen - Steve Cavanagh
• Before the Coffee gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
• The Little Black Book - Otegha Uwagba
• 21 Things You Might Not Know About The Indian Act - Bob Joseph
• The Disaster Tourist - Yun Ko-eun
• Turtles All the Way Down - John Green
• This Green and Pleasant Land - Ayisha Malik
• Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
• In a Holidaze - Christina Lauren
• The Simple Wild - K.A. Tucker
• The Body is Not an Apology - Sonya Renee Taylor

In today's episode, Jaz and Sharn announce the Brews & Reviews book club – a quarterly book club for chill 2021 reading. Head to our Instagram to vote on the first book pick. 

Then, because sometimes reading is hard, we dive deep into reading slumps, how we deal (or don't) deal with them, as well as giving tips for reading when you're busy!

________________________

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

________________________

Books mentioned:

• Roller Girl - Victoria Jamieson
• Indians on Vacation - Thomas King
• One by One - Ruth Ware
• In a Dark Dark Wood - Ruth Ware
• The Death of The Death of Mrs. Westaway - Ruth Ware
• My Grandmother Sends her Regards and Apologies - Fredrik Backman
• Love in Colour - Bolu Babalola
• Taking Up Space - Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi
• It’s Not Like It’s a Secret - Misa Sugiura
• I’m Afraid of Men - Vivek Shraya

The 4 Book Club options:

• The Disaster Tourist - Yun Ko-Eun
• The Secret History -  Donna Tartt
• The Girl with the Louding Voice - Abi Daré
• The Good Son - Jeong Yu-jeong

On today's episode, Jaz & Sharn give book recommendations based on their Instagram "Ask Box"

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

Books Mentioned:

• The Other People by C.J. Tudor
• Sapiens: A Graphic Novel by Yuval Noah Harari
• One by One by Ruth Ware
• Indians on Vacation by Thomas King
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• The Library Book by Susan Orlean
• My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
• The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong
• Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya
• Bad Blood by John Carryrou
• This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik
• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
• My Grandmother Sends her Regards and Apologies by Fredrik Backman
• Gods and Conquerors by Aaron Kane Heinemann
• All the Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman
• Under Solomon Skies by Berni Sorga-Millwood
• When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
• Sitting Pretty by Rebekkah Taussig
• Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
• Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix 
• The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Links:

Jacaranda books: https://www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk/collections/twentyin2020 

Casey + Bri: Books before Death BookTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWB5nvnEhvgdIIHsXFYojmw 

Shazia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khan.library/

- What books did we read in school? 
- How are literary exams different in Canada and the UK?
- Why do schools make you read classics? 
- Do we think schools should teach more contemporary novels? 
- What even makes ”a classic” a classic?

Come and take a trip down memory lane with us as we discuss what books we read in school in the UK and in Canada. Before that, however, apparently we’re not reallllllly a book podcast because we spent the first half of this episode essentially talking about school uniforms, exams and everything school related! We hope you find it as interesting as we found it.

________________________

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

________________________

People mentioned:

Seji @TheArtisanGeek
Charlotte @WonderfullyBookish
Books and Bones Podcast @booksandbonespodcast
Books Unbound podcast @books_unbound

________________________

Books mentioned: 

• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
• The Other People by CJ Tudor
• One by One by Ruth Ware
• Sapiens Graphic Novel by Yuval Noah Harari
• Kensuke’s Kingdom and Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• 1984 and Animal Farm by George Owell
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Many plays by Shakespeare (lol)
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• The Great Gatbsy by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge
• The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

And many more but this list was getting long! We hope you enjoyed this episode!

On this week's episode, Jaz and Sharn go through their unreasonably large to be read shelves and pick out books to unhaul, but wait! there’s a catch - the books will Shelf Destruct!  The hosts are allowed to keep the books of the next six months and if they still go unread then the books will be officially unhauled.

Our Instagram: @brewsandreviewspodcast
Jaz: @travelsinfiction
Sharn: @caffeineandcommas

________________________

Books mentioned: 

• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
• The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness
• Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
• The Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle
• Sapiens A Graphic Novel by Yuval Noah Harari
• One by One by Ruth Ware
• Indians on Vacation by Thomas King
• The Escape by C.L. Taylor
• The Fear by C.L. Taylor
• All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
• The Future of Capitalism by Paul Collier