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Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

Book Club for Masochists
Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast
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  • Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

    Episode 237 - Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

    2026/09/01 | 1h 4 mins.
    It's episode 237 and time for us to talk about Post-Apocalyptic Fiction! We discuss the apocalypse, the post-apocalypse, the post-post-apocalypse, androids, dystopias, breaking into people's houses, and more!
    You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
    In this episode
    Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇
    Things We Read (or tried to…)
    The Fireman by Joe Hill
    Wool by Hugh Howey
    The Ragpicker by Joel Dane
    Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, vol. 1 by Hitoshi Ashinano
    Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, narrated by Julienne Irons
    Other Media We Mentioned
    Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
    Moon of Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
    The Passage by Justin Cronin
    A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
    Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
    Scorpio by Marko Kloos
    A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
    The Giver by Lois Lowry
    Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
    Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
    Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhouse
    Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey Episode 183 - One Book One Podcast: Upright Women Wanted

    Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins No TV series, but there were several movies

    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
    The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey
    Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
    Silo (TV series) 
    Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky
    Earthdivers by Stephen Graham Jones, Davide Gianfelice, and others
    Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
    The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin Episode 083 - The Fifth Season

    Links, Articles, and Things
    Libro.fm Audiobook Listening Copy Program
    'We've Already Survived an Apocalypse': Indigenous Writers Are Changing Sci-Fi Matthew was wrong, the "We've already survived an apocalypse" quote is from Rebecca Roanhorse

    Waffle House Training - Pull Drop Mark Order Calling Method Not Denny's!


    20 Post Apocalyptic Novels by BIPOC Authors
    Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
    Murder at the End of the World by Akane Araki
    Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney
    The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
    The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
    Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
    Zulus by Percival Everett
    Trinity Sight by Jennifer Givhan
    The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
    Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
    The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina
    Severance by Ling Ma
    The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed
    How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
    Not With a Bang by Temi Oh
    Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
    This is the Year by Gloria Munoz
    Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
    Metatron's Children by Chy Ryan Spain
    Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías
    Zone One by Colson Whitehead

    Give us feedback!
    Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
    Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
    Join us again on Tuesday, October 6th when we discuss Cosmic Horror!
    Then on Tuesday, October 20th we'll be talking about The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett.
  • Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

    Episode 236 - Summer 2026 Media Update

    2026/08/18 | 54 mins.
    It's episode 236 and time for our summer media update! Join us as we talk about books, games, and comics we've recently enjoyed.
    You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
    In this episode
    Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
    Things We Read (or tried to…)
    Matthew Mister Invincible by Pascal Jousselin
    The Jellyfish by Boum
    How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King

    Meghan Read Weird Open Wide by Jessica Gross
    Devil House by John Darnielle
    Pour un paquet de Player's by Daniel Grenier

    Meghan Tries to Read a Series Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
    Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines series) by Marko Kloos
    The Greatcoats by Sebastien de Castell

    NonFiction standouts Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephan King by Caroline Bicks
    Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games by Kawika Guillermo
    A Truce is Not Peace by Miriam Toews


    Jam A Small Change by Rae-Hyeon Kim
    Cain Culto Chismosa (w Jarina De Marco)
    BASTA YA (w Xiuhtezcatl and Snow Tha Product)
    a plague, a pestilence
    BIMBAMBAU

    Jam's May/June/July playlist and spreadsheet
    Cannon by Lee Lai

    Anna Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library!
    Curious Archive The Most Powerful Type of Worldbuilding (Moldy Worldbuiding)

    Coriander Noodles Spicy Beef Flavor Soup Base

    Other Media We Mentioned
    Miike Snow - Genghis Khan
    Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
    Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
    Mea Culpa - Dark Hours "About an hour later, once it became clear to me that the web app I had launched using Claude was strikingly similar to his open source project, even reproducing a bug he had later fixed, it was clear that there wasn't anything to do except to redirect the domain directly to him and kill any plans I had to launch an iOS app for the project."

    The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood
    Mercy Thompson (series) by Patricia Briggs
    Alpha and Omega (series) by Patricia Briggs
    The "tandem read" books by Sarah J. Maas are Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn. There are some horrifying reading guides to these. Apparently the author doesn't recommend doing this!
    Gender Reveal podcast The Lee Lai episode is "bonus content" but you can download the trasncript

    Links, Articles, and Things
    Forest of (Multiple Nouns)
    Episode 142 - Sequels and 2022: The Year of Book Two
    Episode 167 - 2023 Reading Goals & 2022 Reading Report
    Boiling point of water with elevation
    15 Arts Non-Fiction Books by BIPOC Authors:
    Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
    Black Paper: Writing in a Dark Time by Teju Cole
    Imperfect Solidarities by Aruna D'Souza
    Double Melancholy: Art, Beauty, and the Making of a Brown Queer Man by C.E. Gatchalian
    Truly Tribal: Contemporary Indigenous Tattooing edited by Dion Kaszas
    The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam by Lana Lin
    A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
    Graphic Design Rules: Hints and Tips to Improve Your Designs by Chen Meihuan
    Arctic/Amazon: Networks of Global Indigeneity by Gerald McMaster
    Poor Artists by Zarina Muhammad and Gabrielle de la Puente
    Art of Protest: Creating, Discovering, and Activating Art for Your Revolution by De Nichols, illustration by Diana Dagadita, Olivia Twist, Molly Mendoza, Saddo, and Diego Becas
    I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays by Nell Irvin Painter
    Me Artsy edited by Drew Hayden Taylor
    The Best of Roy Henry Vickers: 80 Selected Works by Roy Henry Vickers
    1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei
    Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade by Winnie Won Yin Wong

    Give us feedback!
    Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
    Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
    Join us again on  Tuesday, September 1st we'll be discussing Post Apocalyptic fiction! (As suggested by nikkinaboo.)
    Then on Tuesday, October 6th we'll be talking about Cosmic horror! (As suggested by soitgoes4two.)
  • Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

    Episode 235 - Celebrity Memoirs

    2026/08/04 | 59 mins.
    It's episode 235 and time for us to talk about Celebrity Memoirs! We discuss who counts as a celebrity, non-celebrity memoirs, creative non-fiction, memory, success, survivorship bias, and more!
    You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
    In this episode
    Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇
    Things We Read (or tried to…)
    I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
    You with the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate
    Elsa Lanchester, Herself by Elsa Lanchester
    Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks
    My Wonderful World Of Slapstick by Buster Keaton and Charles Samuels
    Finding Me by Viola Davis
    Other Media We Mentioned
    Lessons from a Lifetime: 90 Years of Imagination and Activism by David Suzuki
    Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
    Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir by Melissa Auf der Maur
    Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
    Bossypants by Tina Fey
    On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
    iCarly
    Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
    The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
    Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
    Married... with Children
    Bride of Frankenstein
    Pandora's Box
    Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler
    Sherlock Jr.
    Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson
    Awake by Jen Hatmaker
    A Truce That is not Peace by Miriam Toews
    The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You by Neko Case
    That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You by Elyse Myers
    Links, Articles, and Things
    Department Store
    Hudson's Bay (department store)
    Hypermarket
    MeToo movement
    Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang Book Trailer 
    Gilean Douglas Fonds Collection of digitized photos including ones from the sets of One Stolen Night, The Fortieth Door, Rupert of Hentzau, Quincy Adams Sawyer, Oliver Twist, Robin Hood, and this specific Hall Room Boys film. 

    Charlie Chaplin
    Tom Mix
    Laurel and Hardy
    Abbott and Costello
    Groucho Glasses
    Hays Code

    33 Celebrity Memoirs by BIPOC Authors:
    Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
    Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve by Drew Afualo
    Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles
    She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
    A Thousand Threads by Nehneh Cherry
    Unfinished by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
    Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen by Jon M. Chu
    Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung
    Let Love Have the Last Word by Common
    Transcendent by Laverne Cox
    Simply More by Cynthia Erivo
    Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg
    In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
    Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday
    Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish
    We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
    Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome by Aparna Nancherla
    Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
    Unprotected by Billy Porter
    Some New Kind of Kick by Kid Congo Powers
    Truly by Lionel Richie
    The Universal Tone: My Life by Carlos Santana
    The Race to Be Myself by Caster Semenya
    A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring by Omar Sharif Jr.
    The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley
    All the Way: My Life on Ice by Jordin Tootoo
    Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo
    I, Tina by Tina Turner
    Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson
    Sidesplitter: How to Be From Two Worlds at Once by Phil Wang
    Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again by Reggie Watts
    Scenes from My Life by Michael K. Williams
    Cack-Handed by Gina Yashere
    Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
    Give us feedback!
    Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
    Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
    Join us again on  Tuesday, August 18th when we'll be giving our summer media update!
    Then on September 1st we'll be discussing Post Apocalyptic fiction!
  • Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

    Reminder to vote in the 2026 BC4M Battle of the Books (voting closes July 31st!)

    2026/07/28 | 1 mins.
    What Book Should We Read? (Click to vote by July 31st!)
    Anna's Pick - Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic (2025)
    Matthew's Pick - Starter Villain by John Scalzi (2023)
    Jam's Pick - Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (2025)
    Meghan's Pick - The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge (2025)
    Listen to Episode 233 - Battle of the Books 2026 to hear what we had to say about each of the books!
  • Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

    Episode 234 - Novels in Verse

    2026/07/07 | 50 mins.
    It's episode 234 and time for us to talk about Novels in Verse! We discuss rhyme, meter, interiority, whether any of us understand poetry and more!
    You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
    In this episode
    Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
    What Book Should We Read? (Click to vote by July 31st!)
    Listen to Episode 233 - Battle of the Books 2026
    Things We Read (or tried to…)
    Goodlord: An Email by Ella Frears
    Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
    Dear Mothman by Robin Gow
    Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
    The Call-out: A Novel in Rhyme by Cat Fitzpatrick
    Here Is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan
    The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo
    Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead
    Other Media We Mentioned
    The Bronze Horseman by Alexander Pushkin
    Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
    Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei: How a Chinese Poem Is Translated by Eliot Weinberger
    We Computers: A Ghazal Novel by Hamid Ismailov
    Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers
    Finding Baba Yaga: A Short Novel in Verse by Jane Yolen
    Beowulf
    Project Hail Mary (film)
    Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
    Aniara (film)
    Aniara: A Revue of Man in Time and Space by Harry Martinson There are two different English translations!

    Links, Articles, and Things
    Metre (poetry)
    Episode 182 - Lyric Poetry
    Concrete poetry
    Iambic pentameter
    We should be excited that spoken word is reinventing literature
    Selena
    Tejano music
    Epistolary novel
    List of countries by tertiary education attainment
    Stacey Kade (S. A. Barnes)
    Tommy Pico
    17 Novels in Verse by BIPOC Authors:
    Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers' Advisory Podcast chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
    Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
    The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
    The Fragments That Remain by MacKenzie Angeconeb
    Eureka by Victoria Chang
    The Last One by Fatima Daas, translated by Lara Vergnaud
    The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo
    Syncopation by Whitney French
    King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin
    Beaver Hills Forever by Conor Kerr
    Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lại
    Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
    Here Comes the Dogs by Omar Musa
    The Perfect Nine: the Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo
    Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds with artwork by Jason Griffin
    Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler
    Death's Country by R. M. Romero
    Saints of the Household by Ari Tison
    Give us feedback!
    Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!
    Check out our Tumblr, join our Discord Server, or send us an email!
    Join us again on  Tuesday, August 4th when we'll be talking about the genre of Celebrity Memoirs as suggested by Kjs4658
    Then on August 18th, we'll be giving our summer media update.
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About Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast
A Readers' Advisory Podcast about becoming better library staff by reading every genre, whether we like them or not! Every month we read books from a new, randomly picked genre; then on the podcast we discuss our reading choices, experiences, opinions, appeal factors, and other related topics as friends and library workers.
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