The Bookstore

Today we discuss Nicole Dennis-Benn's novel Patsy, which won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.

Content warning: brief mentions of miscarriage, sexual and physical assaults, abusive relationships

Our next book discussion will be Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

For the month of May, our prompt is to read a dystopia or post-apocalyptic work of fiction. Corinne's pick is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. We have both read this book already and jumped at the chance to reread and discuss this book, that we describe as being "about what it is to be human."

Content warning: captivity, death, disease, euthanasia, brief mentions of sexual awakening, torture, and suicide

Our next book discussion will be Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

Our first book for May's prompt to read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel is Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Set in a Toronto that has been abandoned by the government and anyone with means, Ti-Jeanne has to learn how to survive and how to protect the ones she loves.

Content warning: mentions of violence, suicide, drug addiction

Our next book discussion will be I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

Today's book discussion is on Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović, translated from Croatian by Ena Selimović. We get slightly off-topic talking about the top news stories from the 90s and reminiscing about playing with Barbies.

Content warning: war (mentions of bombing and snipers), swearing

Our next book discussion will be Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us!

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

Becca's pick for April's prompt to read a book based on its cover or title is Nonfiction: A Novel by Julie Myerson, because the contradiction between the title and genre was too compelling to pass up.

Content warning: drug addiction

Our next book discussion will be Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

The March prompt is to read a book published by an indie press, and Corinne's pick is Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated by Heather Cleary, and published by Catapult.

Content warning: brief mentions of violence, including sexual violence

Our next book discussion will be Nonfiction by Julie Myerson. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

Becca's pick for March's prompt to read a book published by an indie press is Earthlings by Sayaka Murati, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori, and published by Grove Atlantic.

Content warnings: sexual assault, death, murder, violence, cannibalism

Our next book discussion will be Witches by Brenda Lozano. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

February's prompt is to read a book with a non-human narrator or from a non-human perspective. Corinne's pick, that we'll be discussing today, is Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, which is about a house/plot of land.

Content warning: swearing, Nazism, repressive regimes, book has sexual and physical violence

March prompt is to read a book published by an indie press, our first book is Becca's pick, Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, and published by Grove Atlantic. Corinne's pick is Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated by Heather Cleary and published by Catapult.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2025, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

Romantic Goat sex on today's episode. We read The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan.

Next time we will read Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck

Content Warnings: Violence, sexual violence

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon

Last episode for January is Pastoralia by George Saunders, this is a book of short stories that all have the trademark Saunders satirical edge.

Content warning: swearing, brief mentions of death and a sick child

Our next book discussion will be The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us.

If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025.

Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD.

Website | Patreon