Reading Materials

Published in April 2022, Emily St. John Mandel's speculative fiction novel 'Sea of Tranquility' tells a story across centuries and space. Join us as we wrap our heads around pandemics, time-travel and simulation theory.

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

03:10 - Spoiler Warning

03:30 - An Introduction to the Author

08:20 - Blurb

10:00 - Discussion of Sea of Tranquility

01:11:10 - The Book We Will Be Discussing Next Time

01:11:45 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned in This Episode:

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Links:

Emily St. John Mandel on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

Continuing the theme of recent publications, Akwaeke Emezi's new book "You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty" gives us some real food for thought as we grapple with some interesting issues through the medium of a rather unexpected romance! Described on Emezi's Instagram account as "horny bisexual chaos", we certainly had some Thoughts and Feelings - join us to discover this rather unusual novel and see if you agree with our assessment!

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

00:18 - Life Updates

03:00 - Spoiler Warning

15:32 - The Blurb

17:02 - Discussion of You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty

48:30 - Expletive warning

01:31:05 - The Book We Will Be Reading Next Time

51:00 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned:

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

Links:

Elle.com interview with the author

Akwaeke Emezi's website

Akwaeke Emezi on Goodreads

Akwaeke Emezi on Twitter

Akwaeke Emezi on Instagram

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

Emily Henry is back to open the new season with her newest hit, Book Lovers. Join us as we wax lyrical once again about her ability to write great characters, funny dialogue and to give her readers all the tropes they could ask for. In case you couldn't tell, we both loved this one.

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - Life Updates

02:10 - Spoiler Warning

05:10 - The Blurb

05:55 - Discussion of Book Lovers

50:20 - The Book We Will Be Reading Next Time

51:00 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned:

Beach Read by Emily Henry

People We Meet on Vacation / You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Links:

Emily Henry on Goodreads

Emily Henry on Instagram

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

In this bonus episode, we get trapped in the eerie halls of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Tune in as we explore haunted houses, unsettling family secrets, colonial undertones—and yes, magic mushrooms. This one’s all decay, dread, and dark delights.

Trigger Warnings: this episode contains references to gaslighting, rape, incest and cannibalism, which some listeners might find upsetting.

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - Life updates

02:45 - An introduction to the author

05:50 - Spoiler warning

06:30 - The blurb

08:10 - A discussion of Mexican Gothic

55:10 - The book we will be discussing next time

56:15 - Outro

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Links:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

In this week’s bonus episode, we dive into the tender and tear-jerking pages of The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (translated by Philip Gabriel).

Join us as we talk about loyal pets, lifelong friendships, and the kind of emotional gut-punch only a cat’s perspective can deliver. Tissues advised.

Note: there is some background noise from about 30 minutes until the end of the episode, as one of the hubbies was making dinner. Sorry about that!

Episode Time Points:

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - Life Updates

06:15 - An Introduction to the Author

08:40 - The Blurb

10:00 - Discussion of The Travelling Cat Chronicles

11:15 - Spoiler Warning

47:45 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned In This Episode:

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson

Links:

Hiro Arikawa on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

We wrap up Season 3 with special guest Luisa and a wild ride through Marc-Uwe Kling’s QualityLand.

From rogue AIs to political satire—and yes, unexpected pink dolphin vibrators—we unpack this sharp, strange, and bitingly funny dystopia where algorithms know you better than you know yourself.

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

01:00 - Introduction to Luisa

03:45 - An Introduction to the Author

07:30 - The Blurb

08:55 - A Discussion of QualityLand

12:52 - Slightly belated spoiler warning.

01:25:00 - The Book We Will Be Discussing Next Time

01:26:57 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned in This Episode:

QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling

Die Kaenguru-Chroniken by Marc-Uwe Kling

Kafka

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Other media mentioned:

Star Wars

Monty Python

Black Mirror

Bridgerton

Links:

Marc-Uwe Kling on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

In the penultimate episode of the season, we unpack Claire North’s The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August—a time-travel tale with a twist.

From looping lives to moral grey zones in science, we unpack nonlinear storytelling and ask: if you could live your life over and over… should you?

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

00:15 - Some Life Updates

06:55 - Spoiler and Trigger Warnings

08:05 - An Introduction to the Author

11:10 - The Blurb

11:55 - A Discussion of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

01:08:45 - The Book We Will Be Discussing Next Time

01:10:25 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned in This Episode:

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Mirror Dreams by Catherine Webb

Timekeepers by Claire North

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle by Catherine Webb

Touch by Claire North

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling

Links:

Claire North on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

Surprise switch-up! Instead of aliens, we’re diving into The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams.

Join us for a chat about second chances at love, subverting romance tropes, and yes—the infamous book boner scale. Turns out, emotional vulnerability is swoon-worthy.

Episode Timepoints:

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - Life Updates

03:15 - Brief Discussion of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

07:10 - An Introduction to the Author

08:30 - Spoiler Warning

09:00 - Blurb

10:15 - Discussion of The Bromance Book Club

01:02:05 - The Book We Will be Discussing Next Time

01:04:15 - Outro

Other Books Mentioned in this Episode:

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Beach Read by Emily Henry

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Links:

Lyssa Kay Adams on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

Welcome to Discworld—a flat planet, four elephants, one giant turtle, and infinite chaos!

In this episode, we dive into MORT by Terry Pratchett and chat about brilliant world-building, magical mishaps, laugh-out-loud moments, and whether damsels really need saving.

Episode Timepoints:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:40 - Life Updates

00:02:13 - Spoiler Warning

00:02:37 - Introduction to MORT 

00:05:20 - An Introduction to the Author

00:09:10 - The Blurb

00:10:07 - A Discussion of 'MORT'

00:40:10 - The Book We Will be Discussing Next Time

00:42:42 - Outro

Books we discussed in this episode:

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Game of Thrones by George R Martin

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

MORT by Terry Pratchett

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Links:

Terry Pratchett on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].

It’s our one-year podiversary! 🥳 And what better way to celebrate than by diving into Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro?

Join us as we get deep (and a little emotional) about creativity, control, and the quiet heartbreak of a life not fully lived. 

Episode Timepoints:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:17 - Happy Anniversary to our Podcast

00:02:40 - Life Updates

00:04:50 - Introduction to Never Let Me Go

00:05:49 - Spoiler Warning

00:06:21 - An Introduction to the Author

00:11:26 - The Blurb 

00:12:33 - A Discussion of 'Never Let Me Go'

01:15:17 - The Book We Will be Discussing Next Time

01:16:58 - Outro

Books we discussed in this episode:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

MORT by Terry Pratchett

Links:

Kazuo Ishiguro on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Goodreads

Lucia on Goodreads

Corrie on Goodreads

Reading Materials on Instagram (run by Lucia with minimal input from Corrie!!)

Thank you for listening! You can send your feedback, thoughts, questions and book recommendations to us at [email protected].