Book Club For Masochists: A Readers Advisory Podcast

In last week's episode (Episode 047 - Creative Writing/Books About Writing) Matthew threatened to read some of the fiction he'd written for exercises from Ursula K. LeGuin's Steering the Craft: A Twentieth-first Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story. For better for worse he's recorded some, so here you go. (He didn't even do some of them properly!) If for some reason you want more of Matthew's fiction, check out Two-Fisted Library Stories, the fiction anthology zine he edits. Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, March 6th when we’ll catch you up on what other things we’ve been reading. Then come back on Tuesday, March 20th when we’ll be talking about Southern Gothic books!

This month our genre is Creative Writing/Books About Writing! With real, live, award-winning authors! (Well, one anyway.) We discuss our own experiences with these sort of books, why people might read them, and whether hairstyles might affect someone’s ability to stop time. Plus: Meghan reveals her knowledge about accordions! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards Books We Read This Month Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie Goldberg The Last Word: Reviving the Dying Art of the Eulogy by Julia Cooper The Elements of Style (Illustrated) by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, illustrated by Maira Kalman Steering the Craft: A Twentieth-first Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga by Hirohiko Araki Triggering Town: Letters a

This episode we look back on our Reading Resolutions from last year and discuss our plans for reading in 2018! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify (new!), or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray Links, Articles, and Things Two-Fisted Library Stories Books on my shelf that I have not read National Novel Generation Month  Book Riot's Reading Tracking Spreadsheet Book Riot’s 2018 Read Harder Challenge The Master List of 2018 Reading Challenges Circulating Ideas - The Librarian Interview Podcast Questions Do you have any Reading Resolutions in 2018? Send us questions for our 50th episode! Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, February 20th (not the 16th as we said in the podcast) for our episode on our Non-fiction Creative Writing Books! Then come back on on Tu

This episode we're reading Family Sagas! Do they have to be incredibly long? Do they have to be boring? Plus: We talk about diversity, reading books from earlier time periods, and we say farewell (for now) to a host. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify (new!) or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books We Read This Month Pachinko by Min Jin Lee The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende Moonglow by Michael Chabon Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg Fried Green Tomatoes (movie) The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin Wikipedia article Books and Other Media We Discuss The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder Note: Matthew has never read these and has no idea what he

It’s time for our Best of 2017 episode! We’ll talk about our favourite things we read for the podcast, our favourite things we read that weren’t for the podcast, and lots more! Please note, while many of the titles we recommend were published in 2017, this is our list of best of that we read in 2017, so there is some older material on the list as well. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Top Book Club Picks Non-Fiction Anna The Argonauts (2015) by Maggie Nelson (Episode 031 - LGBTQ+/QUILTBAG Non-Fiction) Jessi The Witches: Salem, 1692 (2016) by Stacy Schiff (Episode 027 - Non-Fiction Audiobooks) Matthew Prose: The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA (2017) by Doug Mack (Episode 039 - Non-Fiction Travel) Comic: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (2017) by

In this episode we chat about what happens when books go from page to screen in Adaptations! In the process we argue about lots of stuff (as usual) and you learn more than you ever wanted to know about manga sound effects! Plus: psychic sidekicks, librarian in-jokes, our faith in Ellen DeGeneres, and what we want to see adapted for the screen. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books and Other Media We Read This Month Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki; Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (movie 1984) The Princess Bride by William Goldman; The Princess Bride (movie 1987) The Snowman by Jo Nesbø; The Snowman (movie 2017) Stardust by Neil Gaiman, illustrated Charles Vess; Stardust (movie 2007) Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones; Howl’s Moving Castle (movie 2004) Uprooted by Naomi Novik; adaptation i

We’re going back in time this episode as we talk about our Childhood Favourites! (Or childhood favorites for the Americans.) We talk about problematic faves, Matthew drones on about X-Men comics, and we can’t figure out a book we’ve all read and enjoyed. Plus: Mysterious clunking noises and sloppy editing! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books and Other Media The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson Garfield by Jim Davis Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson Alfie Gets in First by Shirley Hughes Stellaluna by Janell Cannon Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut by Margaret Atwood, illustrated by Maryann Kovalski The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde, adapted by Jane Ray The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer, illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft Caps for

This episode, Dystopian Fiction! And some of us are considerably more excited about it than others. We talk about the difference between oppressive and consumerist dystopias, how things that were shocking or innovative in fiction in the past may no longer be seen as such, and whether we live in a dystopia. Plus! Special guest senior foreign correspondent, Amanda, reporting in after being undercover in the overthereland! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi | Amanda Wanner Dystopian books we read for the podcast Steeple by Jon Wallace The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (The Midwich Cuckoos was turned into Village/Children of the Damned not Children of the Corn) The Lottery by Shirley Jackson The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree Jr. Literary criticism on the portrayal of the body (Wikipedia section) The Power by

In this weirdly chill episode, we talk about memoirs and track cycling and magical fantasy and female relationships and six-legged octopuses. Plus: The mystique of a book club in which you might actually read a book you enjoy. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray Books and Other Media Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self by Manoush Zomorodi The Weekend Effect: The Life Changing Benefits of Taking Time Off and Challenging the Cult of Overwork by Katrina Onstad Unplugged: Evolve from Technology to Upgrade Your Fitness, Performance, Consciousness by Brian Mackenzie, Andy Galpin, and Phil White Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green The Rider by Tim Krabbé The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst (Anna mistakenly calls thi

Pack your bags, because it’s time for our episode about non-fiction Travel books! We talk about haunted libraries, North Korea, Komodo dragons, and lightning farms. Plus: Technical difficulties! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books We Read (or tried to) Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer, Ella Morton, and Dylan Thuras (and the website!) The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen White Sands by Geoff Dyer Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine Eerie America: Travel Guide of the Macabre by Eric R. Vernor and Kevin

It’s October which means it’s time for our Halloween episode! We talk about our favourite spooooooky movies, books, comics, video games, and more! Plus: Early Canadian history! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books (& relevant links) Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix The Little People (Nazi Leprechauns) Armageddon Film FAQ by Dale Sherman; which was mentioned way back in Episode #11 on Religion (fiction), of all things Through the Woods by Emily Carroll The Girl Under the Bed by Dave Chua and Xiao Yan Uzumaki by Junji Ito Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu by Junji Ito Urban/Paranormal Fantasy for non-spooky Halloween reading: Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews The Mediator series by Meg Cabot The Voodoo Killings by  Kristi Charish Women of the Otherworld s

This episode we talk about Experimental Fiction and stumble all over our words and can’t pronounce anything right. We explore experimental comics, wonder at what point experimental fiction stops being experimental, and are amazed at how a book with no plot at all can break through a reading slump. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi   Books (and things) We Read (or tried to) The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić 17776: What football will look like in the future by Jon Bois Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson (and yes, Anna hasn’t a clue how to pronounce this) Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra How to be Both by Ali Smith Books We Mentioned Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey Frankenstein by Mary Shelley or… Ulyss

This episode we talk about our favourite podcasts! Weightlifting, comics, poetry, wrestling, books, and more! Plus: Tales of living in the woods in Alaska, radio dramas, cosplay, and Belgian hip hop! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray Podcasts We Chose as...Favourites? (We start to talk about specific podcasts at 16:32) Anna Pop Culture Happy Hour Book Riot Podcasts - there’s a lot on this list, and these are just the active ones  (Anna’s favorite Book Riot Podcasts) All the Books Get Booked New York Times - Book Review Podcast Meghan IndieFeed Performance Poetry Kitchen Sisters Barbell Shrugged Matthew Wait, What? Baxter Building (Fantastic Four podcast) House to Astonish Sidewalk Slam (on YouTube, too) Jessi The Read Sooo Many White Guys (we repeatedly say this wrong at one point) My Favourite Murder Ou

Gardens! Plants! Growing things! Can we do it? Probably not! But we read books about it anyway. We talk about houseplants we’ve killed, the appeal of beautiful pictures of plants, and failing to grow things. Plus: Another chance to enter our contest! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books We Read (or tried to) Lone Pine Publishing 37 Houseplants Even You Can't Kill by Mary Kate Hogan Bunch Up!: A Step-By-Step Guide for Budding Florists by Irene Cuzzaniti, Irene Rinaldi Public Natures: Evolutionary Infrastructures by Marion Weiss and Michael A. Manfredi Cougar Annie’s Garden by Margaret Horsfield Tiny World Terrariums: A Step-by-Step Guide to Easily Contained Life by Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow Terrariums Re-Imagined: Mini Worlds Made in Creative Containers by Kat Geiger Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Minia

We give an update on how our reading resolutions for the year are going, talk about recent reads (and watches) we’ve enjoyed, and briefly discuss San Diego Comic-Con. Plus: Enter our contest to win fabulous prizes! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books We Mentioned Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Waters, Shannon Watters, Brooke A. Allen, and others Ooku by Esme Shapiro Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura B.R.U.H.: Black Renditions of Universal Heroes by Markus Prime The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevskii The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden Chew by  John Layman and Rob Guillory Tortall Universe (series) by Tamora Pierce Tempests and Slaughter (out February 2018) Tortall: A Spy's Guide (out in October) Alanna (the Song of the Lioness series) Wild Magic (the The Immortals ser

This episode we talk about Legal Thrillers! We discuss how much time lawyers should spend in the courtroom, if we’d prefer to read about a lawyer or a barista investigating a murder, and tariff laws and sci-fi/fantasy cultures. Plus: Tabula rasas and table lamps! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books We Read (or tried to) Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone (recommended) Blood Flag by Steve Martini The Pelican Brief by John GrishamBut Remember Their Names by Hillary Bell Locke Hell Gate and Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein She Hulk: Law and Disorder by Charles Soule, Javier Pulido, and Ron Wimberly (recommended) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Vol 1+ 2) by Kenji Kuroda (Matthew recommends it, he even read more after the episode!) Books We Mentioned The Client by John Grisham The Runaway Jury by John Grisham Black Water

Time for a special bonus episode (which apparently happen every sixteen episodes?) where we talk all about what we did at BookExpo America and the American Library Association Annual Conference. Plus: Reviews and previews of upcoming books we’re excited about. (If you just want to hear about upcoming books skip to 21:54.) You can download the podcast directly, find it  on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Matthew Murray Books We Mentioned Many of the books we discuss this episode are not yet published, but are books we are looking forward to. Check their release dates and place holds or make purchase requests at your local public library! From DC’s Young Animal Imprint Doom Patrol, Volume 1: Brick by Brick Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, Vol. 1: Going Underground Shade, the Changing Girl, Volume 1: Earth Girl Made Easy Mother Panic, Volume 1: Work in Progress Balance: A Dizzying Journey Through the Sc

In this 40 minute (short!) episode we try to define reading slumps and reading fatigue, talk about reading as a job, extol the wonders and magic of giving up on books, and discuss choosing what to read next. Plus: Matthew finds a way to complain about the comic book publishing industry (because of course he does). You can download the podcast directly, find it  on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray Books We Mentioned Sex the Paranormal: Human Sexual Encounters with the Supernatural by Paul Chambers The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson (recommended) Crying Freeman by by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami Links, Articles, and Things Reader’s Fatigue (What Are You Reading?, post by friend of the podcast Alan Woo) When Your Reading Life Falls Apart (Book Riot) 5 Things My Six-Month Long Reading Slump Taught Me (Book Riot) Reading Fatigue And The Marginalized Reader (Book Riot) Reading Sl

Just in time for LGBT Pride Month, this episode has us discussing LGBTQ+/QUILTBAG Non-Fiction books! We talk about queer Canadians, own voices, the importance of cultural context, and how this is our newest episode ever (in terms of publication dates for books). Plus: Anna and Matthew will be at the American Library Association conference in Chicago this weekend. Tweet at us if you’ll be there and want to say “Hi!”. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi  Books We Read (or tried to) The Lesbian Lexicon by Stevie Anntonym (recommended) Queer Game Studies edited by Bonnie Ruberg and Adrienne Shaw (Matthew mistakenly called this Queer Gaming) David Bowie Made Me Gay by Darryl W. Bullock (out November 21st, 2017) (recommended) Outlaw Marriages by by Rodger Streitmatter Queers Were Here: Heroes & Icons of Queer Canada edited by

We talk about when, why, (whether), and what we Reread, and what does it all mean? Plus: format shifting for rereads, plays vs. scripts, cover versions of fiction, and the suck fairy. You can download the podcast directly, find it  on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system.  In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi  Books We Mentioned Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne Shapton The Kingkiller Chronicle series by Patrick Rothfuss The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett The BPRD: Hell on Earth series by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and others A spinoff of the Hellboy series by Mike Mignola and others The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth Grendel by John Gardner (Jessi said “John Green”, but she meant this one) Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison The Hating Game by Sa