It's Non-Fiction November and NaNoWriMo, so for Episode 160 we decided to read Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami. In this essay collection, Murakami talks about everything from his journey as a novelist to his writing routine to his thoughts on school and literary prizes. Show Notes As you can probably guess, we absolutely loved this one an…

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 Notes This book. THIS BOOK! We just want to be artists doing all the things with our soulmate muses.…

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 Notes Rob Costello's book, The Dancing Bears: Queer F…

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 Notes A 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…

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 Notes We love working w…

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 Notes After 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 ap…

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 Notes If you like…

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 Notes One 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 filmm…

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 Notes The Aberfoyle Antique Market runs until late October if you want to check it out. Write or Die h…

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 Notes This is our second true crime story, the first being way back in Episode 8 with Killers of the Flower Moon. In a st…

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 Notes We can't believe we've recorded 150 episodes of book content! Of tho…

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 Notes We went to see this play last December at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto. It was produced by That Theatre Company and dir…

In Episode 148, Gen and Jette are kicking off Pride Month with Maia Kobabe's graphic novel memoir, Gender Queer. Show Notes This 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 Tale…

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 Notes We 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…

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 Notes Eleanor 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…

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 Notes Juno Dawson is absolutely killing us with these cliffhangers. Yes, another one. Always with…

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 Notes Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda have worked in all corners of the comic/graphic novel …

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 Notes We 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 …

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 Notes We haven't done a book quite like this one before! Obviously we've done witchy book…

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 usu…

In Episode 140, Gen and Jette get to revisit one of their favourite books, Paper Houses, with the sequel, Pale Shadows. Dominique Fortier's follow-up to her reimagining of Emily Dickinson's life, traces the publication of Dickinson's poems after her death and the women who helped it happen. Obviously we loved this. It's time to add every Emily Dick…

In Episode 139, Gen and Jette continue their #BookstagramMadeMeDoIt series with The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz. It's our first whodunnit style mystery, and we had a great time. Show Notes While we've definitely seen this book floating around Instagram (hence why we picked it), we've also seen a lot of others by Anthony Horowitz. Probably …

In Episode 138, Gen and Jette discuss the graphic novel Flung Out of Space by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer. It reimagines the life of author Patricia Highsmith and the inspiration for her classic lesbian novel The Price of Salt. Show Notes We've begun a bit of a tradition of reading a graphic novel as our second episode of the year, and we're lov…

It's our first episode of 2024, and as usual we're kicking it off with last year's final book club book. In episode 137, we're talking about The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez. It's a fantastically strange and creepy collection of short stories, so of course we loved it. Show Notes Neither of us knows enough about Argentinian history…

It's the end of the year, so it's time for our annual wrap-up episode! Join us as we chat about what we've been up to the last few months, how we did with our reading and writing goals this year, and what we have coming in the new year. We've got a few teasers in there to look out for! Show Notes Obviously one of our most hotly anticipated 2024 epi…

In Episode 135, it's time for our annual FUJK book selection. Once upon a time, before a certain author who wrote a book about a certain boy wizard revealed herself to be a piece of trash, we had begun working out way through the series. Now we choose a queer trans author to read instead! This year we're reading Pluralities by Avi Silver. We absolu…

In Episode 134, it's the re-return of podcast fave Jedidiah Jenkins. We're talking about Jenkins' latest book Mother, Nature, about a road trip he takes with his mother and their relationship. Show Notes This is Jenkins' third book and our third episode about one his books (yes, we've done all of them). I think that officially makes him our most re…

In Episode 133 Gen and Jette revisit one of their favourite authors, Hilarie Burton Morgan, and kick off Non Fiction November with Grimoire Girl. Burton's latest book combines personal stories with her tips and simple spells for creating your own personal grimoire. Show Notes We have allll the ideas and creative inspiration now. Like so many projec…

In Episode 132, Gen and Jette tackle a horror novel with The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. It had a moment that shocked both of us and definitely gave us lots to talk about. Show Notes We're officially in our fifth season of the podcast! Gen has a theory that the horror genre is like country music. Listen to the end of the episode…

Episode 131 is an anniversary hangout. We're celebrating 5 years of Another Book on the Shelf. 5 years of great books, great discussions, and amazing listeners! We can't wait to bring you another 5 more! Show Notes We're actually going places out in the world now and it's very exciting. Check out Gen's cookie website Honeybee Cookie Co. and get you…

In our latest instalment of Page to Screen, Gen and Jette talk about The Silence of the Lambs. We had a great time talking about the classic film and the novel by Thomas Harris to kick off spooky season. It's easy to see why Hannibal Lecter has captivated people! We're not saying we like him necessarily, but he's definitely fun to read about (and w…

In Episode 129, Gen and Jette dive into "the most controversial Canadian novel" ever written. A woman goes to work in Northern Ontario and begins a relationship with a bear. Spoiler in 2023, it wasn't that wild. Or was it? Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter or email us at hello@anotherbookontheshelf.com. We’d love to hear f…

In Episode 128, Gen and Jette team up with one of their favourite local publishers, House of Anansi Press, to read The All + Flesh by Brandi Bird. It's the second book of poetry for the pod and we absolutely loved it. Show Notes House of Anansi's namesake comes from the spider god of West-African tradition, Kwaku Anansi, who created the world. Hous…

It's time for another hang out episode! In this episode, Gen and Jette talk about what they've been up to and what they've been reading (actually so much!). We may be ready for fall already, but we're making the most of summer while it's still here. Show Notes Check out our latest blog post, Top 7 Most Anticipated Books for Fall 2023 The new show o…

In Episode 126, Gen and Jette team up with indie publisher Stelliform Press. They generously sent us a copy of their recent release Sordidez by E.G. Condé, which follows different members of communities trying to survive in a world ravaged by war and climate catastrophe. Show Notes We first heard about Stelliform Press at last year's Word on the St…

It's time for another round of #BookstagramMadeMeDoIt! Actually, it was mostly BookTok this time. We're finally diving into one of Colleen Hoover's books. Verity has been all over Instagram and TikTok, and when friend of the pod Kattie read it, we knew it was time. We had a lot to say about this one. Let us know where you fall on the CoHo books – l…

In Episode 124, Gen and Jette talk about The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder. This was Jette's pick for our book club and we loved the dystopian vibes and talking all about memories. Show Notes Yōko Ogawa has won every Japanese literary award, including the Akutagawa Prize and Yomiuri Prize. Playing It Cool is a 2014 film …

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 n…

In Episode 122, Gen and Jette keep up their CanCon with a discussion of Canadian authors. Show Notes If you're unfamiliar with CanCon, it's the stipulation that all Canadian media contain a certain percentage of content produced, written, etc. by Canadians. It turns out we have a lot of episodes about books by Canadian authors (though not 35% as di…

In episode 121 Gen & Jette sit down for Another Cup of Tea and a spring hangout. We're talking all about what we've been reading lately and what we have planned for the coming months. Show Notes If you're in Toronto on May 27 & 28, be sure to stop by the Word On the Street festival. Find out more about Gen's upcoming summer retreats. Our next episo…

In Episode 120, Gen and Jette dive into the latest book club pick and talk all things writing with The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. This one has been on Gen's list for a while and the consensus it that it should be required reading for any writer or artist. Show Notes You can sign up for Gen's writing and yoga retreat here: Fort Erie July 17-20 &…

The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. 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 118, Gen and Jette continue their series #BookstagramMadeMeDoIt with Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It takes place in a Tokyo cafe that allows people to time travel...though there are a few rules. We're always suckers for a time travel story and immediately fell in love with this one. Show Notes Before the Coffee Get…

In Episode 117, Gen and Jette discuss a new release from Coach House Books — Sing, Nightingale by Marie Hélène Poitras, translated by Rhonda Mullins. We always love the unique books from Coach House, and this one is no exception. Show Notes Obviously we talked about Paper Houses by Dominique Fortier (also translated by Rhonda Mullins). The books we…

In episode 116, Gen and Jette sit down with a cup of tea for a casual chat about what they've been up to and what they have planned for the spring, and of course what they've been reading. Show Notes Gen is co-hosting two yoga and writing retreats in the summer — one in Fort Erie and one in Prince Edward County — find out more about them at Wild Wa…

In Episode 115, Gen and Jette talk about Jette's most recent book club pick — Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion. How have we gone 115 episodes before doing a Didion episode? I know, right. While Jette can't remember where the idea for this book as her pick even came from, she's glad she picked it. This collection of essays from the 1960s, …

In Episode 114, Gen and Jette read the latest novel from Elissa R. Sloan, Hayley Aldridge is Still Here. The novel follows the life of former child star Hayley Aldridge as she tells her story and works to get out from under a conservatorship that she's been in for a decade. Sound familiar? Sloan draws on the real life stars of the '90s and early '0…

In Episode 113, Gen and Jette return to one of their all time favourite authors, James Baldwin. We're finally talking about Giovanni's Room, probably Baldwin's most well known novel. Get ready to be devastated and blown away by Baldwin's writing all over again. (No, we'll never get over it. Yes, we will continue to ramble our glowing praise.) Show …

In Episode 112, it's time for another instalment of our unofficial graphic novel book club — this time with Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. We cover volumes 1 & 2 (with little sneak peeks at volumes 3–5) of this supernatural noir thriller from one of the most celebrated duos in graphic novels today. Show Notes Ed Brubaker has won a whoppin…

In Episode 111, Gen and Jette talk about their most recent book club book, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. It's a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's short story, "The Horror at Red Hook" that subverts the xenophobic message of the original tale. Show Notes: We fell down a Lovecraft rabbit hole that made us realize how little we know about him…