Do you ever have that thing happen where you pick up a book and it's just what you wanted to read at that exact moment? Yeah. That's what happened when Vee read A Sense of the Mysterious by Alan Lightman, a wholeheartedly human book about the artful balance between science and the practice of it.  Jess talks about (via audiobook, because AUDIOBOOKS ARE BOOKS) Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark (we may have forgotten to mention their names, but like, who doesn't know them by now? amiright? probably not), a part memoir ..read more

Vee finally releases the hold that The Glass Sentence (by S.E. Grove) has had on her mind for nearly a year and finishes a DNF! Who would have even thought that possible. Middle grade books are just not her thing, despite the time-bending narrative and wonderful world building that this book has to offer. And Jess talks about not just one, but two oposite-of-queerbating graphic novels: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang, a fairy tale love story that explores beyond the gender binary, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki, a queer coming of age novel that uncovers the ..read more

It's that time of year again... when your brain is mush from all the reading you've been trying to stuff into the last few days of the year, because you haven't quite come to terms with the fact that you won't reach your reading goal for this year and that good habit you tried to pick up last, oh, what, a month or two, and you're too ashamed to even admit your shame to yourself. Sound familiar? It's okay. It happens.  But, hey. We made it through this year. Good for us. And in celebration, we're learning from our #nopressure2020 and going into 2021 with wherever reading takes us. Happ ..read more

Jess and Vee both read books like nothing they've read before, even though Vee has already said that about the same author and - well,  Jess is probably right. She often is. Jess reads The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, a beautifully written story about a woman from the 18th century who makes a deal with night to live forever - but where no one will remember her. An instant classic! Vee reads A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and talks about the controversy surrounding the book, from first impressions and heightened emotions to opinions developed after taking in other pe ..read more

In this week’s episode, we delve into the finales of two vastly different fantasy series. Jess talks about Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns #4), a YA fantasy quartet about sister queens fighting to the death for their crown, amid the tatters of unravelling allegiances and lore.  Vee fawns over The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth #3), an eerily familiar post-apocalyptic world where magical prowess or brute force hold nothing against the sheer perseverance of understanding an(other) that breaks not only the curse of trauma but the world itself. Ugh. How do I e ..read more

In a strange turn of events (that we are blaming entirely on this being episode number thirteen), neither Jess or Vee finished the books they wanted to read for this episode - but by no fault of the books themselves.  Jess read half of Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch (and plans to finish it soon - no DNFs here), and Vee almost finished Winter by Ali Smith (and has already finished it by the release of this episode!). We talk a lot about reading for deadlines, book clubs, and introduce a change to the way we do this podcast!  Because guess what: we'll be a monthly podcast from ..read more

Vee talks about the adorable and emotionally bewildered phenomenon that is Geralt of Rivia in The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski, and finds surprising parallels to our modern climate - despite it having been published nearly 30 years ago!  And Jess raves about the teenage perspective of rape, assault, and justice in The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis. Alex is definitely not someone to be trifled with.. but at what cost to herself? As per usual: spoilers ahoy! As different as these two books seem, they share a common thread in offering lessons in how to navigate ..read more

Fresh from the front lines of the Polish Appreciation Club, we bring you our Naomi Novik and Witcher extravaganza episode, in which we talk about how amazing the new Witcher show is and share our love (and criticism) about two of Naomi Novik's bestsellers.  Jess reads Spinning Silver, Novik's most recent standalone novel about a young moneylender who becomes entangled in the world of magic and winter faeries. Vee talks about Uprooted, another standalone by Novik that won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2016 because of its stunning portrayal of magic, misunderstanding, familiarity, and ..read more

Welcome to our most off the wall, uninhibited, nonsensical and rant-fuelled episode yet. I mean, we’ve gotta live up to the “Rant” in our name somehow, right? Vee breaks in the new year with the worst book she’s ever had the joy of reading, Three Princes by Ramona Pierce, and Jess gushes about her favourite faerie smut, A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas.  Rants include fluffy misogyny, the importance of caring about characters when revelations are dropped on the reader, consensual character relationships, and why we read. Also lots of uncontrollabl ..read more

Listen,  I think we just needed to have a chill episode.  So, here it is.  A chill episode.  Vee talks about an old favourite, Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison, and thinks about how books change over time and reveal new secrets with age.  Jess discusses the importance and heartbreaking reality of This Place: 150 Years Retold, a graphic novel exploring the last 150 years of so-called Canada through the lens of Indigenous voices and experiences.  ..read more