Book Club for Masochists: a Readers' Advisory Podcast

It's episode 233 and time for Battle of the Books 2026! Which book will we all read and discuss? You decide!
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
What Book Should We Read? (Click to vote by July 31st!)
Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic (2025)
Starter Villain by John Scalzi (2023)
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (2025)
The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge (2025)
Runners Up
Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women by Victoria Smith (2024)
How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom by Johanna Hedva (2024)
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (2018)
Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas (2024)
How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva (2026)
Cannon by Lee Lai (2025)
Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky (2023)
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz (1995/1998)
Stoner by John Williams (1965)
Other Media We Mentioned
Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara
Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly
How to Read Now: Essays by Elaine Castillo
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King
Miike Snow - Genghis Khan 
007 First Light
You Only Live Twice
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
Redshirts by John Scalzi
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
Links, Articles, and Things
Episode 215 - Battle of the Books 2025
Episode 220 - How Far the Light Reaches
Volcano Lair (TVTropes)
Vancouver SkyTrain
Matthew's favourite Vancouver SkyTrain update YouTube channel
15 Adventure 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.
So Wild a Dream by Win Blevins
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
God's Country by Percival Everett
Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey
Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo
Escape from Baghdad by Saad Z. Hossain
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley
Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Barren Grounds by David Robertson
Travelers Along the Way: a Robin Hood Remix by Aminah Mae Safi
Stranded by Nikki Shannon Smith
The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang
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, July 7th when we'll be talking about Novels in Verse!
Then on Tuesday, August 4th we're discussing Celebrity Memoirs! (As suggested by Kjs4658.)

It's episode 232 and time for us to talk about coming of (old) age! 
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
Things We Read (or tried to…)
The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
Becoming Crone by Lydia M. Hawke
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
The Correspondent by Virgina Evans
Shadow Life written by Hiromi Goto, illustrated by Ann Xu
Other Media We Mentioned
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End by Kanehito Yamada
The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
The Witches Discworld books by Terry Pratchett
Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye written by Gerard Way and Jon Rivera, art by Michael Avon Oeming
Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
What Makes Olga Run?: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives, by Bruce Grierson
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Links, Articles, and Things
Irene Adler
Library of things
Commercial Drive
Gavel
UBC University Mace
UBC Macebearer
10 Coming of (Old) Age 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.
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis
Mr Katō Plays Family by Milena Michiko Flašar, translated by Caroline Froh
Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto, illustrated by Ann Xu
The Unbroken Coast by Nalini Jones
Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell
In West Mills by De'Shawn Charles Winslow
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, June 16th, when we'll each be pitching a book we think we should all read and you get to vote on which!
Then on Tuesday, July 7th we'll be talking about Novels in Verse!

It's episode 231 and time for us to talk about Sapphic Horror! We discuss which monster is the most sapphic, unrealistic reality TV shows, and how queer a book has to be to count as sapphic.
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…)
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen
Night's Edge by Liz Kerin, read by Chase Sui Wonders
Extasia by Claire Legrand
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Moonflow by Bitter Karella
This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
The Scourge Between the Stars by Ness Brown
The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran, translated by Gene Png
Other Media We Mentioned
Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire edited by Amber Dawn
Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
When I Arrived at the Castle by E.M. Carroll
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories edited by Alan Ryan (contains Carmilla)
Why was I invited to Beast Studios? by Folding Ideas
Beast Games 2 Strong/Smart: an Exhaustive Review by Folding Ideas
Killing Eve
18 Sapphic Horror 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.
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses
Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado
A Guide to the Dark by Meriam Metoui
Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris
But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo
The Salvage by Anbara Salam
The Plans I Have for You by Lai Sanders
On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Chlorine by Jade Song
The Wicked and the Willing by Lianyu Tan
We Don't Swim Here by Vincent Tirado
She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
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, June 2nd we'll be talking about "Coming of (old) age," suggested to us by Meghan's mom.
Then on Tuesday, June 16th, we'll each be pitching a book we think we should all read and you get to vote on which!

It's episode 230 and time for us to talk about media we've been enjoying! We discuss music, video essays, movies, comics, books, crafts, 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 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We're Enjoying:
Matthew The Music Video Is Dead, Long Live The Music Video by Patrick (H) Willems
Hobtown Mystery Stories, vol. 2: The Cursed Hermit by Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes, colour by Jason Fischer-Kouhi
Witchy Stitching: 25 Patterns to Haunt Your Home by Meg Black The Witchy Stitcher


Meghan KEXP "Me more cowboy than you" by the Brudi Brothers
Glass Beams (full set)
Angine de Poitrine (full set) The kerfuffle Meghan mentioned

Live on KEXP podcast

Live music at local venues
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Jam New music highlights (YouTube playlist): The Apple Tree Under the Sea by Hemlocke Springs
Nothing's About to Happen to Me by Mitski
"23" by Lime Garden
"Bend Your Knees" by Henry Mansfield
"ça pik un peu quand même" by Miki

Jam's full Jan-Feb 2026 New Music Playlist (spreadsheet will be shared in our Discord)

Hundreds of Beavers (2022 movie)
Raspberry and almond sourdough cake Based on the "Cherry and Almond Bake" recipe from 10-Minute Sourdough by Vanessa Kimbell


Anna Twinkleby
Nicole Rudolph Who Cursed us with Popcorn Ceilings?
The Myth of a Clean Home
They're selling us AI floor plans (with @AbbyCox )
TMFD Alum Spotlight: Nicole Rudolph, Fashion Historian

Webtoons Love is Loading (mature) by 97pieces
Love is Loading (all ages)
Our Sunny Days by  Jeong Seokchan
Our Sunny Days, vol. 1


Other Media We Mentioned
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Childish Gambino - This is America
Beyoncé - Formation
Lambrini Girls on KEXP
triple j - Like a Version playlist
Jam's music  podcast
The Apothecary Diaries
Links, Articles, and Things
Artemis II
Beyoncé explains why she stopped making music videos
YouTube Ditches the Billboard Charts
15 Non-Fiction Books about Psychology 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.
Patterns That Remain: a Guide to Healing for Asian Children of Immigrants by Stacey Diane Arañez Litam
Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma by Mariel Buqué
Flourishing Kin: Indigenous Wisdom for Collective Well-Being by Yuria Celidwen
Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho
What My Bones Know: a Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color by Natalie Y. Gutiérrez 
Empire of Madness: Reimagining Western Mental Health Care for Everyone by Khameer Kidia
But What Will People Say? Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love and Family Between Cultures by Sahaj Kaur Kohli 
How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes From a Frustrated Black Psychologist by Johnathan Mathias Lassiter
Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice by Jennifer Mullan
Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life by Shigehiro Oishi
Autistic and Black: Our Experiences of Growth, Progress and Empowerment by Kala Allen Omeiza 
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee
All the Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety by David A. Robertson
Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans by Jenny T. Wang
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, May 5th when we'll be talking about Sapphic Horror!
Join us again on Tuesday, June 2nd we'll be talking about "coming of (old) age" books.

It's episode 229 and time for us to talk about Media Criticism. We talk about what counts as media, the challenges of writing about emerging forms of media, how we interact with criticism, 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 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Things We Read (or tried to…)
The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men by Manuel Betancourt
Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean by Douglas Wolk
Marvel Age of Comics: Doctor Strange: A Decade of Dark Magic by Stuart Moore, narrated by Jason Lasky
Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games edited by J. Robert Lennon and Carmen Maria Machado
Culture Creep: Notes on a Pop Apocalypse by Alice Bolin
Pop Classics #15: Ugh, as if!: Clueless by Veronica Litt
Selected Amazon Reviews by Kevin Killian
We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film by Tre'vell Anderson
The Devil Finds Work by James Baldwin
Why I love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature edited by Becky Siegel Spratford
Bad Indian Bookclub: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds by Patty Krawec
Other Media We Mentioned
Parasite Eve
Clever Girl: Jurassic Park by Hannah McGregor
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
33 ⅓
The Importance Of Being Earnest | Official Trailer | National Theatre Live
Lady Sings the Blues
Video Essayists Answer Your Assumptions (with hbomberguy‬, ‪D'Angelo Wallace, and Mina Le, ft. Spencer Agnew)
Our Favourite Video Essayists/Reviewers/Reviews
Action Button
Amanda the Jedi
Any Austin
Dungeon Chill
Every Frame a Painting
Folding Ideas
I Finished a Video Game
Jacob Gellar
Jenna Stoeber
Jenny Nicholson
hbomberguy
Lindsay Ellis
Matt McMuscles: The Worst Fighting Game
Matty Bites
Princess Weekes
ReRez: Just Bad Games
Ryan Hollinger
Super Eyepatch Wolf
T1J
Todd in the Shadows
The WWE's complex "Black" history by F.D Signifier
Extremely Overdetermined Adventure Game Tier List | Part 1: Re-ranking the Top 20 by Innuendo Studios and Questing Refuge
Jam's list of top 10 video essays about media I've never seen
Links, Articles, and Things
The Times Literary Supplement
Bubbles Zine
The Comics Staple
Libro.fm Audiobook Listening Copy Program
20 Media Criticism 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.
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
Indigenous Celebrity: Entanglements with Fame by Jennifer Adese and Robert Alexander
We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film by Tre'vell Anderson
The Devil Finds Work by James Baldwin
Black Music by Amiri Baraka
The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men by Manuel Betancourt
New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi and K-Pop by Fatima Bhutto
Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood by Donald Bogle
Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television From Soul Train to Black-ish and Beyond by Bethonie Butler
Producing Sovereignty: The Rise of Indigenous Media in Canada by Karrmen Crey
Original People, Original Television: The Launching of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network by Jennifer David
Everything to Play For: An Insider's Guide to How Video Games are Changing Our World by Marijam Did
Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema by Karen Han
Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris
Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World by Wil Haygood
The Creative Gene: How Books, Movies, and Music Inspired the Creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid by Hideo Kojima
Our Gang: A Racial History of the Little Rascals by Julia Lee
Asian American Media Activism: Fighting for Cultural Citizenship by Lori Kido Lopez
The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema From Fodder to Oscar by Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris
Music Is History by Questlove

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, April 21st it's time for our Spring Media update!
Then on Tuesday,  May 5th, we'll be talking about Sapphic horror (as suggested by tmauch)