TW: Suicide and Self-Harm

Happy New Year (despite the first time you hearing this episode being February 1st)!  We hope you had a nice holiday season and the beginning of 2025 is treating you well. This month's pick was Ian's, and he choose Sofia Ajram's: Coup de Grâce, which takes place in an ever-expanding, liminal, Montreal train station. The main character is a suicidal person named Vicken, who gets stuck and is forced to try and survive as they search for an escape from this place.

February's pick is Ronnie's and she's chosen: Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi.

It's a little late, but we're all caught up now on the podcast. Between Ian's sickness and traveling for the holidays we fell behind, but we did read Atalanta by Jennifer Saint. Both Ian and Ronnie are big into Greek mythology and have a lot to discuss. We end up comparing Atlanta to other famous characters like Jason and Medea and explore Atlanta's story in the larger context of Greek mythology. 

For January 2025, Ian's pick is Coup de Grâce by Sofia Arjam which is a horror story that takes place in an infinite Montreal subway. Join us next month for our discussion and also check out the Fable app! We made a Shared Pages book club on there. All you have to do is download the app, import your Goodreads lists, and search the book clubs for Shared Pages! 

So this episode is very late. Unfortunately, Ian had an upper respiratory infection and was pretty much bedridden for three weeks. You can still hear the sickness in his voice, but we wanted to make sure that we at least discussed East West Street a little bit. East West Street is part memoir, part historical text, and part legal scholarship. The text explores many people's lives-including the author's grandfather-focuses largely on Raphael Lemkin who coined the term 'genocide' and Hersch Lauterpacht who introduced the term 'crimes against humanity'. This text was different from what Ian expected, but we still learned a lot and had an interesting conversation about history and what we learned in school. 

Coming up at the end of December is Ronnie's pick which is Atalanta by Jennifer Saint. 

It feels like it's been forever (even though it's only been a month) but it's Halloween and time for Ronnie's book of the month which is R.F. Kuang's, Yellowface! Ian picked Babel last year and we both loved it, so now we're jumping in again with the story of Juniper Song, an author who steals her deceased "friend's" draft and publishes it as her own. From there, the story unravels in a satire about publishing, racism, and who can tell what stories. Listen to the episode and find out what we thought!

November's book is Ian's pick: Phillipe Sand's, East West Street.  

We're a little late this month. Sorry about that, but with hurricane Helene, flooding, and guests, we had to record a day late. This month is Ian's pick and he found Hannah Ritchie's: Not the End of the World via a Vlog Brother's video in which John Green recommended books. Not the End of the World addresses climate change, and the doom we all feel around it, but also gives us a reason to be hopeful. The book starts big and moves inward, addressing facts, myths, and worries we all have. We enjoyed learning about our world and the reasons to be optimistic about it! 

October's book of the month is Ronnie's choice and she chose R.F. Kuang's, Yellowface. Join us next episode to hear us talk about our thoughts regarding the book! 

For the month of August, Ronnie chose, M. L. Wang's: "The Sword of Kaigen" which is a self-published novel set in an original universe created by the author. It's a pretty hefty tome, with a map, glossary, and all kinds of cool stuff inside. It turns out that we decided to read a heavy world-building novel the same month we moved but we got through it and have a lot to talk about. The novel follows a family living on the coast of Kaigen who defend the country from other country's initial attacks. As the novel progresses it explores ideas like misogyny, propaganda, honor, and duty. 

September's novel is: "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet" by Hannah Ritchie. 

July was Ian's pick and he chose Magda Szabó's: The Door which follows the lives of two women just after World War II. When the main character, Magda, whose work has been censored for some time begins to get attention, she realizes that she needs a housekeeper. Emerence is recommended to them by a friend but turns out to be a bit strange. She sets her own hours, tasks, and wages, but slowly a friendship grows between the women. However, Emerence lives alone and never lets anyone see through her door and what's behind it surprises everyone. 

Next month's pick is The Sword of Kaifen by M.L. Wang. Read along with us and let us know what you think over at SharedPagesPod on Twitter. 

Originally, Bethany Baptiste's: The Poisons We Drink was supposed to be read earlier this year, but due to publishing delays, we had to move things around. Then, Ronnie's original pick for this month got delayed so we brought back The Poisons We Drink. Baptiste's debut novel explores an urban fantasy world where magical humans named Witchers live among us. One of these Witchers, a woman named Venus, brews love potions- an especially dangerous trade among Witchers. At the same time, the novel explores discrimination related to Witchers, political plots and intrigue, morally gray characters, and revenge. There's a lot going on in this story so take a listen a let us know what you think. For clarity, The Poisons We Drink wasn't our favorite novel but that doesn't mean we can't have a good discussion about it. 

Next month's book is Ian's pick, The Door by Magda Szabó.

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years is a memoir of Mary Poppins herself: Dame Julie Andrews. The memoir covers a broad range of years from Mary Poppins up until Victor/Victoria and details not only her rise to fame with movies like The Sound of Music but also focuses on her marriages to Tony Walton and Blake Edwards. In the memoir she also focuses on her relationships with her children, friends, and family, while adjusting to Hollywood and the demands of success. Ian is a big musical theater fan so he really enjoys chatting about the Queen of Genovia herself.

Next month's pick is Ronnie's and she choose, "The Poisons We Drink" by Bethany Baptiste. If you enjoyed the podcast be sure to leave us a rating or send us a message on Twitter! We like to hear from you!!  

Trigger warning: War, Violence, Assualt, and Starvation

Well, originally we planned to read The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptise, but due to printing delays, we had to change our book. So Ronnie chose Zoulfa Katouh's: As Long As the Lemon Tree Grows. The story is set during the Syrian Civil War and follows Salama whose family has been killed. She is reckoning with her survivor's guilt, as well as her desire to stay and fight for her country. During all of this, she meets Kenan who is trying to protect his two siblings as well as make sense of the state of his country. Together, the two of them help each other survive. 

Next month's book is Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews. Be sure to read along and let us know what you think over at Twitter.Com/SharedPagesPod