Another Book on the Shelf

Gen and Jette up their CanCon for Pride this year with Junior High — a middle grade semi-autobiographical graphic novel from Canadian musical duo Tegan and Sara, with the illustrations of Tillie Walden. Show Notes Tegan and Sara's memoir High School was released in September 2019 and has since been turned into a TV series on Amazon Freevee. We've never heard of this show or Amazon Freevee, but we're definitely going to look it up. There is going to be a sequel to Junior High! It's called Crush, but there's no word yet on a potential release date for it. Tegan Sara's latest album is called Crybaby and came out in 2022. If you've never listened to Tegan and Sara before, go do it now! Gen recommends starting with So Jealous. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

Episode 159 is a book club episode. Gen and Jette talk about Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids. The book chronicles her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their early days in New York City before they were the artists we know them as today. Show NotesThis book. THIS BOOK! We just want to be artists doing all the things with our soulmate muses.We saw Patti Smith at Budweiser Stage last summer. She was incredible and exactly as cool as you'd think. Listen to her cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" if you want to cry. Patti Smith wrote this book for Robert Mapplethorpe and we'll by crying about it forever.Check out the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to see some of his work. We're going to be reading everything else Patti Smith has written.This podcast is taking a stand against deckled edges. They are the WORST.Next episode we'll be honouring non-fiction November and NaNoWriMo (though we are not participating) with Haruki Murakami's book, Novelist as a Vocation.Our next book club selection is Gen' pick, and we'll be reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, about a labyrinthine house.Other Books by Patti SmithM TrainDevotion

In Episode 158, we're talking about our official spooky season book pick: We Mostly Come Out at Night. This short story collection, edited by Rob Costello, features queer retellings and re-imaginings of classic monster stories and tropes. It was super fun and we had a great time reading it.Show NotesRob Costello's book, The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times, came out earlier this year. Did anyone else play creepy games at sleepovers like Bloody Mary or that Concentrate one? Here's the full Concentrate text. It's, uh, way creepier than I remembered. In our next episode we'll be talking about Just Kids by Patti Smith, our current book club and Jette's pick. We're excited to read it, but not excited about the deckled edges.For non-fiction November and in honour of NaNoWriMo (which neither of us is even going to pretend to attempt this year), we'll be reading Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murikami. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 157, we're celebrating our 6th anniversary of the podcast! It's been an amazing six and we can't wait for another six more.Show NotesA huge thank you to all of our regular listeners! We're just a little podcast and we appreciate each and every one of you. We're so glad you join us every episode to talk about books and writing.We're at more than 13,000 total listens, which may not sound like a lot compared to bigger podcasts, but it's kind of mind blowing for us.The Bonne Maman advent calendars aren't sold out yet, so you can still get one. Or get a cookie one from Gen (shamelessly self-promoting the cookie business). In our next episode, we'll be talking about We Mostly Come Out at Night, a collection of queer horror YA stories edited by Rob Costello.Read along with our current book club pick, Just Kids by Patti Smith. We'll be discussing it first thing in November.Books MentionedPayback's A Witch by Lana HarperWe Used to Live Here by Marcus KliewerThe Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie GilmoreWho Will Bury You by Chido MuchemwaSummer Sons by Lee MandeloReality Squall by Jason KrawcykI Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham JonesAmazing Spiderman Edge of the Spiderverse by Gerard WayQueen B by Juno DawsonSaving Noah by Lucinda BerryThe Five Year Lie by Sarina BowenGhost 19 by Simone St. JamesFreaks, Gleeks and Dawson's Creek by Thea GlassmanThe Return by Rachel HarrisonSilence for the Dead by Simone St. JamesPractical Magic by Alice HoffmanSpells for Forgetting by Adrienne YoungThe Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne YoungIf Something Happens to Me by Alex FinlayThe Poet X by Elizabeth AcevedoMargaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body by Megan MilksThe Pairing by Casey McQuistonThe Lost Girls of Paris by Pam JenoffSilver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-GarciaBury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

In Episode 156, we've teamed up with one of our favourite indie publishers, House of Anansi Press, to read the short story collection Who Will Bury You? Written by Zimbabwean author Chido Muchemwa, the stories take place across generations, in Toronto and Zimbabwe, and grapple with loss, family, and the meaning of home.Show NotesWe love working with House of Anansi! This is our seventh episode featuring their books, and we hope to read even more in future episodes. Check out the list of previous HOA books below.One of the best parts of reading is learning new things and we both realized how little we know about Zimbabwean history and culture. Now we want to know all about the construction of the Kariba Dam, the story of the Zambezi river god Nyami Nyami, and more about the mermaids.When we talked about flash fiction, Gen talked about The Forever Workshop, available through Substack and run by the cool people at Chill Subs/Write or Die. If you sign up for their paid newsletter, you get the entire back catalog of their self-paced workshops! Our next episode is our anniversary episode! This one marks six years of being in the podcast business. Can you believe it? We can't. It was 2018. It was a different world.Other House of Anansi Episodes20: Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin & Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renee Lavoie 39: Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger & Pallbearing Stories by Michael Melgaard 43: You Are Not What We Expected by Sidura Ludwig 70: A Boring Wife Settles the Score by Marie-Renee Lavoie 97: A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm 128: The All + Flesh by Brandi Bird

Episode 155 is a book club episode, and we're talking about Gen's summer pick, Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo. It offers up some spooky southern gothic vibes with a side of car races and a family curse. Show NotesAfter picking this book, Gen realized it was blurbed by the author of her last book club pick, Starling House by Alix E. Harrow.As Jette aptly pointed out, this is the most Gen book ever, complete with fast cars and ill-advised road races.This is Lee Mandelo's debut novel. He has since written two novellas, Feed Them Silence, and The Woods All Black, the latter of which made it onto Gen's Top 10 Books for 2024. Our next book club pick has been on Jette's list for ages: Just Kids by Patti Smith. She's finally diving in, and Gen is reading it for a second time. She's ready to be wrecked by it all over again.In our next episode we'll be talking about Who Will Bury You? by Chido Muchemwa, a short story collection generously sent to us by House of Anansi Press. We love working them and are super excited to see what this one is all about. Other Books MentionedHer Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno DawsonThe Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

In Episode 154, it's time for another instalment of #BookstagramMadeMeDoIt with I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones. We just can't stay away from the spooky books this summer, but this one has a distinctly summer vibe with it's unique twist on the slasher genre. You'll want to read it with a bowl of popcorn handy!Show NotesIf you like your horror with a dose of meta, Scream-style, then this book is for you. We had a such a great time reading and talking about this. It's so much fun!You might recognize Stephen Graham Jones from his New York Times bestselling book, The Only Good Indians, or My Heart is a Chainsaw. He's written so many books, and we're definitely eager to check them out!Our next episode is a book club episode, and we're sticking with our spooky summer vibes. We'll be discussing Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo, so get ready for some ghosty southern gothic goodness. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 153, Gen and Jette talk about Reality Squall by J. Krawczyk. Space-time gets funky in this one, so you know we loved it! Show NotesOne of Jason's other books, It Look Like Dad, was published by Little Ghosts Books, one of our favourite Toronto bookstores that is also a publisher! Jason Krawczyk is not just a writer of books, but a filmmaker too. His production company is called Alternate Ending Studios. We've talked about time travel before on the pod—the first time being way back in Episode 9 with Eating the Dinosaur—but we've never read about different dimension and universes colliding. Whoa.Shout out, as always, not just to our local bookstores, but also our local libraries. Even if you don't use your library card, just getting one helps support them. Plus, why wouldn't you want access to everything that Hoopla and Libby and Kanopy has to offer?Summerween continues in our next episode with I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones. Other Books by Jason Krawczyk“Crusade” – Hellbound Books – Madame Gray’s Vault of Gore 2021“An Earth That Knows Magic” – Black Hare Press – Novella 2022“It Looks Like Dad” – Little Ghosts Books – Novella 2023Films by Jason Krawczyk Writer/Director, The Briefcase (2013) Ft. Vincent Pastor and Kip Pardue. Crystal Palace FestivalWriter/Director, He Never Died (2015) Ft. Henry Rollins and Steven Ogg. SXSW, FantasiaWriter/Producer – She Never Died – (2019) Companion sequel to He Never DiedWriter/Director – Sunset Superman (2023) Ft. Michael Jai White and Billy Zane Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

The sun is out, the weather is sweaty, which means it's time for our summer hangout episode. We're talking about what we've been reading over the last couple months and checking in on our reading goals now that we're halfway through the year.Show NotesThe Aberfoyle Antique Market runs until late October if you want to check it out. Write or Die has some amazing writing workshops. If you're interested in Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya's Queer Imagination workshop, she's running it again in September. Or sign up for her Gays and Ghouls queer horror workshop in October. Keep an eye out for Gen's next blog instalment of most anticipated 2024 book releases coming soon.Read along with our current book club pick, Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo, which we'll be talking about in September.Books MentionedThe Return of Ellie Black by Emiko JeanAngels in America by Tony KushnerWitchcraft: A History in 13 Trials by Marion GibsonGender Queer by Maia KobabeMiddle of the Night by Riley SagerThe Midnight Feast by Lucy FoleyThe Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe Five Year Lie by Sarina BowenSilence for the Dead by Simone St. JamesUS by Sara SolerYellowface by R.F. KuangRainbow Black by Maggie ThrashUnder the Bridge by Rebecca GodfreyBeautyland by Marie Helene-BertinoFuture Feeling by Joss LakeThe Artists Way series by Julia CameronThe Only One Left by Riley SagerGhost 19 by Simone St. JamesMurder Road by Simone St. JamesMargaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body by Megan MilksThe Pairing by Casey McQuistonBody Work by Melissa FebosCraft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema by Caden Mark Gardner & Willow Catelyn Maclay Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 151, we're doing another instalment of Page to Screen with Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey and the mini series of the same name. It's a true crime story based on the 1997 murder of Reena Virk in Victoria, BC.Show NotesThis is our second true crime story, the first being way back in Episode 8 with Killers of the Flower Moon. In a strange coincidence, that film adaptation stars Lily Gladstone, as does Under the Bridge. We're fully committed to Summerween at this point. Next up we have a hangout episode, which will surely feature some thrillers, then a book from Little Ghosts Books, followed by Stephen Graham Jones' upcomjng release, I Was a Teenage Slasher.Don't forget to read along with our book club book, Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo.Other Books MentionedKillers of the Flower Moon by David GrannThe Torn Skirt by Rebecca GodfreySharp Objects by Gillian FlynnUnder the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!  

It's our 150th episode! Very fittingly, it's a book club episode, which is the entire reason this podcast exists. In this episode, we're talking about Jette's pick, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and we loved reading more of Moreno-Garcia's work. Show NotesWe can't believe we've recorded 150 episodes of book content! Of those episodes, 38 have been book club discussions. That's...a lot of books. And somehow our TBRs are still threatening to topple over. It was way back in Episode 59 that we talked about Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This book is loosely based on The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells, which was published in 1896. The film of the same name starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer came out in 1996. Our next episode is another instalment of Page to Screen and we'll be discussing Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey and the series adaptation of the same title. Our next book club pick is Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo. Other Books MentionedBy Silvia Moreno-Garcia — Silver Nitrate, Certain Dark Things, Velvet Was the Night, The Seventh Veil of SalomeBy H.G. Wells — The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The War of the WorldsHorror Movie by Paul Tremblay Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 149, Gen and Jette continue to celebrate Pride Month with Tony Kushner's award-winning play, Angels in America. We had to cut ourselves off eventually because we could talk about this play forever.Show NotesWe went to see this play last December at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto. It was produced by That Theatre Company and directed by Craig Pike. (Yes, Torontonians, Craig Pike of Craig's Cookies.) It was phenomenal and we knew we had to read the play and dedicate an episode to it. The play runs about 7 hours long in total and is technically two separate plays: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika.HBO made a mini series, adapted for the screen by Tony Kushner, in 2003.In 2017, The National Theatre produced a revival starring Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane and it eventually went to Broadway. This play has won a lot of awards and it's very clear why. We'll definitely make it a point to see any production of this that we can get to.This spring, Gen went to see another 7-hour long play called The Inheritance, put on by Canadian Stage Company. It's a reimagining of E.M. Forester's novel Howard's End and also deals with AIDS and being gay in America, but in a contemporary setting that takes place before and after the election of Donald Trump. Our next episode is our 150th! Appropriately, it is a book club episode. We'll be talking about Jette's pick, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Other Media MentionedThe Inheritance by Matthew LopezCaroline, or ChangeMunich (2005)Lincoln (2012)West Side Story (2021)The Fabelmans (2022) Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!  

In Episode 148, Gen and Jette are kicking off Pride Month with Maia Kobabe's graphic novel memoir, Gender Queer. Show NotesThis graphic novel memoir was such a great entry point for talking about gender and sexuality. Maia Kobabe uses Spivak pronouns, e/em/eir.You can check out Kobabe's other work in a number of anthologies, including Gothic Tales of Haunted Love and Be Gay, Do Comics.Super into all the required classes that Kobabe took in High School at the Waldorf School.Watch our Instagram for some Pride book recs this month, and check out some of our queer reading lists on the blog:A Queer Reading List to Keep Pride Going All Year LongTop 7 Pride Month Books to Celebrate Queer JoyOur love for The Storygraph is never ending, especially the reading stats. In our next episode we'll be talking about Angels in America by Tony Kushner. We went to see the play last December, so now we're going to read it, and probably watch the HBO mini series and/or the National Theatre production.Other Books and Media MentionedPet by Akweke EmeziTranny by Laura Jane GraceThe Laramie Project Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

It's spring, which means it's time for another hangout episode. We love having these chats about all the non-podcast books we've been reading and the writing projects we're working on.Show NotesWe actually hung out IRL recently. It was so much fun to walk around TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival) and then chat for hours at Cafe Landwer afterwards. While at TCAF, we got to chat with Cecil Castellucci, who wrote Shade, The Changing Girl—one of our first (maybe the first?) graphic novel episodes! We're so on top of our reading goals this year. Wild.October's reading theme might end up being books about cursed films.Gen's Top 10 Books of 2024 is up on the blog! We broke it into two posts: Part 1 and Part 2 Our 150th episode is coming up, and very fittingly it's going to be a book club episode. We're reading The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno Garcia and will be talking about it July 3.In our next episode we're kicking off Pride month with Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, which is a graphic novel memoir.Other Books & Media Mentioned By Lynda Barry: What It Is; SyllabusThe Witching Hours published by Cloudscape ComicsBy Cecil Castellucci: Shade, The Changing Girl; Girl on FilmEveryone Is Tulip by Dave BakerMourning Doves Are People Too by Demi NaitoThe Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson (Episode 145) Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (Episode 146) The Night Eaters, Vol. 1 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Episode 144)The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootAngels in America by Tony KushnerThe Broken Girls by Simone St JamesThe Fran Lebowitz ReaderGiant Days, Vol. 1 by John AlisonCats Cafe by Matt TarpleyA Guest in the House by EM CarrollSomething is Killing the Children, Vol. 6 by James Tynion IVWitchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials by Marion GibsonVivian Maier: A Photographer's Life and Afterlife by Pamela BannosHorror Movie by Paul TremblaySilver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno GarciaThe Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 edited by R.F. KuangBeautyland by Marie-Helene BertinoThe Midnight Library by Matt Haig Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 146, Gen and Jette talk about their most recent book club pick—Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. We are so here for the spooky houses and gothic vibes!Show NotesEleanor Starling was giving Mark Ryden and Margaret Keane vibes.Starling House is a portal fantasy of sorts, as is Harrow's debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January. She also wrote a short story called "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies." Our next book club pick is The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia MorenoGarcia. It's based on H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau. So we're sticking with the gothic, spooky vibes. We loved Mexican Gothic and we're sure this one is going to be great! We'll be discussing it first thing in July.We may also have to watch the 1996 film, The Island of Doctor Moreau, starring Val Kilmer, Marlon Brando, and Fairuza Balk, among others. It looks like a wild time. Other Books MentionedLost in the Neverwoods by Aiden ThomasPeter Pan by J.M. BarrieBefore the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu KawaguchiThe Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. LewisAlice in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollVelvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno GarciaCertain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno Garcia Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno Garcia Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 145, we're back with the sequel to Her Majesty's Royal Coven! This is probably the fastest we've ever read the second book in a series, but we simply couldn't wait. So much happened in this book. Can we have the next one already please?Show NotesJuno Dawson is absolutely killing us with these cliffhangers. Yes, another one. Always with that last sentence!The next book in the series, Queen B, seems to be a prequel of sorts. It's a shorter novel that traces the origins of HMRC that began with Anne Boleyn. The final instalment of the trilogy doesn't appear to have a release date yet, but looks like it might be called Human Rites. Unfortunately, we couldn't find very much information about it at all, so it looks like we'll be waiting awhile for it!HMRC is currently in development to be turned into a TV series, from the producers of The Crown. You know we'll be watching whenever it drops.Join us next time for a book club episode. We'll be discussing Starling House by Alix E. Harrow.Other Books & Media MentionedThe Sixth SenseTwilight by Stephenie MeyersMother, Nature by Jedidiah JenkinsThe series that must not be named (you know the one) Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 144, Gen and Jette read the first volume of Night Eaters, a horror graphic novel by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. You know we're all about the creepy graphic novels, but this one had the added bonus of being very funny. Safe to say we loved it!Show NotesMarjorie Liu and Sana Takeda have worked in all corners of the comic/graphic novel world, including Marvel and their co-created series, Monstress, published by Image Comics. They've both won Hugo and Eisner awards, and Liu is the first ever woman (and woman of colour) to win an Eisner in the Best Writer category.Shout out to Hoopla, as always. We love being able to read even more graphic novels through their library platform.Somehow we stumbled across this graphic novel separately...maybe? Hard to say. We might just share a brain now.Another shout out belongs to the Concord Bookshop, where Jette snagged her copy of Night Eaters from their amazing graphic novel section. In our next episode, we'll be talking about the sequel to Her Majesty's Royal Coven, The Shadow Cabinet, because that cliff hanger means we need to discuss it ASAP!!Other Books MentionedSomething is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'EderaPaper Houses & Pale Shadows by Dominique Fortier, translated by Rhonda MullinsThe Martian by Andy WeirFight Club by Chuck PalahniukMystic River by Dennis Lehane Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 143, Gen and Jette talk about everything they've been up to so far this year, including what books they've been reading and what they've been writing.Show NotesWe may end up squeezing in an episode on The Shadow Cabinet as a follow up to Her Majesty's Royal Coven. Word to the wise if you decide to work through The Artist's Way — buy a smaller notebook.In our next episode we'll be talking about the graphic novel The Night Eaters by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda. Our current book club pick is Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, so make sure to read along with us before the episode drops on May 8.Books MentionedThe Artist's Way by Julia CameronThe Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana EnriquezFlung Out of Space by Grace Ellis and Hannah TemplerA Twist of the Knife by Anthony HorowitzNotes of a Native Son by James BaldwinPaper Houses by Dominique Fortier, translated by Rhonda MullinsPale Shadows by Dominique Fortier, translated by Rhonda MullinsHer Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno DawsonThe Last Thing He Told Me by Laura DaveCouplets by Maggie MilnerThe Silent Woman by Minka KentLeslie F*cking JonesFamily Lore by Elizabeth AcevedoFall On Your Knees by Anne Marie MacDonaldCome Tumbling Down by Seanan MaguireHangsaman by Shirley JacksonConfessions of the Fox by Jordy RosenbergAmateur by Thomas Page McBeeFreaks, Gleeks and Dawson's Creek by Thea GlassmanThe Fran Lebowitz Reader Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 142, Gen and Jette discuss their latest book club selection, Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson. Obviously we loved the witchy vibes and the stellar queer rep, but also the end of this book had us screaming. Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger!Show NotesWe haven't done a book quite like this one before! Obviously we've done witchy books in the past, but not one that was so action-packed and full of such cool world building.Spoilers abound! Especially by the end. We need to read the next book immediately and may have borrowed it on Libby while we were recording lolIf you loved the series about a certain boy wizard about which we no longer speak, but find that author loathsome, this book is exactly the grown-up, queer positive version you're looking for.Our next book club selection is Gen's pick and we'll be reading Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. It has some gothic haunted house vibes that sound amazing.Next episode is a hangout episode to catch you up on everything we've been reading, writing, etc. and there's a high chance we'll end up talking about the sequel to HRMC.Other Books by Juno DawsonHRMC #2: The Shadow CabinetThis Book Is GayMind Your HeadMargot & MeThe Gender GamesCleanMeat Market Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!

In Episode 141, it's time for another James Baldwin book! If you've been around for a while, you'll know that James Baldwin is one of our favourite authors, so we've turned it into an annual tradition to read one of his works every February. This time we're reading Baldwin's non-fiction with his first essay collection, Notes of a Native Son. As usual, we had an incredible time talking about this, and we just need more Baldwin in our lives.Show NotesBaldwin wrote the introduction to the 1984 edition while he was in Amherst, Massachusetts. The universe is telling us we need to go visit.Another Country was our first Baldwin book, and it's still one of our favourites. You could start anywhere with his work, but this one remains high on the list and we're so glad it was the first one we read.We loved getting to learn more about Baldwin's life in America and abroad in Europe.Be sure to read Jette's blog post 5 Must-Read James Baldwin Books That Will Change Your Life. Yes, we already dropped a Pale Shadows reference in this episode.In our next episode we'll be talking about Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson. Other Books by James BaldwinGo Tell It on the MountainThe Devil Finds WorkThe Fire Next TimeAnother Country (Episode 55) If Beale Street Could Talk (Episode 61) Giovanni's Room (Episode 113) Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear from you! Sign up for our newsletter and add us to Pinterest!