Feminist Book Club: The Podcast www.feministbookclub.com

Pride Month is here and we've got our queerly beloveds on our minds. In this double header, you'll first hear Rah and Jordy discuss their favorite sapphic romances and why they love a good WLW love story. Then, Ashley and Mhairie tackle the question of whether we can ever separate a piece of art (such as a certain nostalgic magical series) from the artist when they actively harm the people we love.

Queerly Beloved - Sapphic Stories to Light Up Your Pride Month (1:47)

Happy Pride Month! We don’t need an excuse to read sapphic romances, but if you're looking for one, this is the perfect month to dive in! Tune into this segment where Rah and Jordy discuss a few of their favorite sapphic romances and books with sapphic romances in the background. Get ready to have your TBR list bursting with books that showcase some delightful WLW antics.

The FBC Community asks, Can we separate art from the artist? (20:46)

Ashley and Mhairie delve into a question from a Feminist Book Club community member posed in our online community : how do you deal with authors whose beliefs go against your own yet their books were some of the most meaningful to you? The conversation includes what cancel culture means, accountability culture, and if you can separate art from the artist. 

Books/Resources Mentioned:

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The Fiance Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur 

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 

Outdrawn by Deanna Grey

No Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall - (listen to Nox’s Review here!) 

Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America by Krista Burton

Chlorine by Jade Song

Payback’s a Witch and In Charm’s Way by Lana Harper

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Here we go again Alison Cochrun

Support this episode’s hosts and guests: 

Follow Rah: Instagram // TikTok // The StoryGraph

Follow Jordy: Instagram

Follow Ashley: Instagram // Twitter // Website

Follow Mhairie: Instagram

Today’s episode is sponsored by Thank You, More Please by Lily Womble from Legacy Lit and The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent from HQ Digital, an imprint of HarperCollins. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting independent feminist media.

Get our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday here.

Check out our online community here! 

This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.

Original music by @iam.onyxrose
Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.

We’re truly in the golden age of book adaptations but move over, Reese Witherspoon, Patricia Highsmith is the reigning queen. Tune in to listen to Renee, Ashley, and Mariquita thoughtfully and hilariously discuss the 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, as well as the 1999 film, and the new Netflix series. They compare and contrast the three texts, dive into the enduring themes of queerness in each, why the book withstands the test of time, Matt Damon vs. Andrew Scott, and all the aspects they loved in the latest series. Finally, they attempt to answer the question, “What the hell is Mr. Ripley’s talent anyhow?”
 
Books/Resources Mentioned:
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999 film)
Ripley (2024 Netflex series)
The Guest by Emma Cline
Sociopath by Patric Gagne
Mindhunter (TV series)
Sugar (TV series)
Bad Sisters (TV series)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (film)
 
Support this episode’s hosts and guests: 
Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph
Follow Mariquita: Instagram 
Follow Ashley: Instagram // Twitter // Website
 
Today’s episode is sponsored by Thank You, More Please by Lily Womble from Legacy Lit and The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent from HQ Digital, an imprint of HarperCollins. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting independent feminist media.
Get our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday here.
Check out our online community here! 
This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.
Original music by @iam.onyxrose

Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.

When Sally mentioned in our team Slack that she was considering reading the six books on the short list for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Renee chimed in that she’d already read two of them. Like the true feminist nerds they are, they teamed up to read three each. In this podcast episode, Sally and Renee rank the six books and make a prediction for which one will win the prize later this week.
 
 
Books/Resources Mentioned:
Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming
Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
A Flat Place: Moving Through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma by Noreen Masud
Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
 
Special thanks to Melville House for providing a complementary copy of A Flat Place.
 
Support this episode’s hosts and guests: 
Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph
Follow Sally: Instagram // The StoryGraph
 
Today’s episode is sponsored by Thank You, More Please by Lily Womble from Legacy Lit and Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America by Shefali Luthra from Doubleday. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting independent feminist media.
 
Get our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday here.
 
Check out our online community here! 
 
This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.
 
Original music by @iam.onyxrose

Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.

Beach read season is upon us! There are lots of definitions of beach reads out there but to us, a good beach read is something that is smart, sexy, funny, and full of heart. Tune in to hear Jordy and Mariquita discuss This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune and then stick around for Renee’s review of The Husbands by Holly Gramazio.
 
This Summer Will Be Different discussion (0:23)
Jordy and Mariquita sit down to discuss Carley Fortune’s newest book, This Summer Will Be Different. This is a heavy-hitting romance novel that explores the love we receive from friendships, found family, and romantic partners. You’ll laugh, cry, swoon, and get into all your feels with this summer read. 
 
Renee’s Review Corner: The Husbands (25:33)
Lauren comes home from a bachelorette party to find her husband waiting up for her. But she doesn’t have a husband. It turns out, she has a magic attic. If you like funny books that are smart but irreverent, listen to Renee’s review of The Husbands by Holly Gramazio.



Books/Resources Mentioned:
This Summer Will be Different by Carley Fortune
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Happy Place by Emily Henry
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery 
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio



Support this episode’s hosts and guests: 
Follow Jordy: Instagram // TikTok
Follow Mariquita: Instagram 
Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph



Today’s episode is sponsored by Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America by Shefali Luthra from Doubleday. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting independent feminist media.
 
Get our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday here.
 
Check out our online community here! 
 
This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.
 
Original music by @iam.onyxrose
 
Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.

Today’s episode features two seemingly disparate segments with a lot in common. Alternate titles included Wisdom from the Windy City, Voices of Chicago Youth and Elders, Notes on Compassion, or something about absurdism and groundedness. Mariquita, Rah, and Renee discuss the new book Kittentits by Holly Wilson, then Ashley interviews Chaz Ebert about her book It’s Time to Give a FECK.



Kittentits and the Absurd (1:40)
Mariquita, Rah, and Renee discuss Kittentits by Holly Wilson and grapple with elements of the absurd. Mariquita shows off her pop culture knowledge by pointing out millions of references to Return to Oz that went way over Rah’s and Renee’s heads and also schools us on the Chicago World’s Fair of 1992 that never was. Renee shares a bit about absurdist philosophy and Rah straps in for a good time.
 
It’s Time to Give a FECK with Chaz Ebert (27:50)
Ashley spoke with Chaz Ebert about her book, It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness. The conversation includes writing the personal stories with the research and how FECK can be better shown in the media. 



 
Books/Resources Mentioned:
Kittentits by Holly Wilson
Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness by Chaz Ebert
 
Support this episode’s hosts and guests: 
Follow Mariquita: Instagram 
Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph
Follow Rah: Instagram // TikTok // The StoryGraph
Follow Ashley: Instagram // Twitter // Website
Follow Chaz Ebert: Instagram




Today’s episode is sponsored by The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shanté from Page Street YA and Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America by Shefali Luthra from Doubleday. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting independent feminist media.
 
Get our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday here.
 
Check out our online community here! 
 
This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.
 
Original music by @iam.onyxrose
 
Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.

Is anyone else just generally Going Through It? Here at Feminist Book Club, we all kind of feel like life is a lot at the moment. So today we’re here with some feminist brain candy to keep you company when the going gets rough. Renee shares some books she’s read recently, then Ashley and Rah discuss the new film Challengers. 
 
What to Read When Everything Sucks (1:40)
When times feel especially heavy, Renee leans on genre fiction and what she calls “feel-good literary fiction.” In this segment, she shares a bunch of the lighthearted books that have been keeping her sane while the world feels like it’s on fire. 
 
Challengers: More Than a Horny Tennis Movie (12:18)
Ashley and Rah both scored discounted tickets to see Challengers recently so they teamed up to discuss what they thought about this film and Zendaya’s breakout leading role. 
 
 
Books/Resources Mentioned:
Comedic Romantasy is My Self-Care by Steph on the FBC Blog
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The Kielbasa Killer by Geri Krotow
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Glory Be by Danielle Arcenaux
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa
My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
The Society of Shame by Jane Roper
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
 
Support this episode’s hosts and guests: 
Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph
Follow Ashley: Instagram // Twitter // Website
Follow Rah: Instagram // TikTok // The StoryGraph



Today’s episode is sponsored by The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shanté from Page Street YA and Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America by Shefali Luthra from Doubleday. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting independent feminist media.
 
Get our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday here.
 
Check out our online community here! 
 
This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.
 
Original music by @iam.onyxrose
 
Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.