Today we are talking about The Wall by Austrian author Marlen Haushofer, published in the 1960s. In addition to the book, we also discuss how quickly we'd die in a similar situation due to our complete lack of survivalist skills. Content warning: animal death Our next book discussion will be Toad by Katherine Dunn. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD. Web...
Mar 23, 2026•39 min•Ep. 201
I, Becca, have been going through a big life transition, and that is why this episode is so incredibly late. I will be okay though! It also kind of fits because Olga Tokarczuk's House of Day, House of Night, is all about transition and liminal spaces. Content warning: we mention breasts and vaginas (more like vaginal art). Minnesota mutual aid Immigration law funds Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD. Website | Patreon...
Feb 25, 2026•54 min•Ep. 200
Due to this being a weird year (Corinne had a baby!) instead of our usual wrap-up of the year's books, we decided to take a look at our historical Year in Reviews and talk about the books we remember, and the ones we don't. We swear a bit and mention some adult topics briefly, so use caution when listening. Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD. Website | Patreon...
Jan 06, 2026•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 199
Content warning straight off the top for this one! Both for the actual content, in which Becca recommends a terrible tv show and for the book, which is described as being erotic, and then also a big warning for us being disorganized and confused. We are getting our groove back, please be patient. If you're still listening to us, we love you, and we are in love with you. Next episode will be our Year in Review. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The St...
Dec 10, 2025•34 min•Ep. 198
We're back! We're a bit all over the place in this episode, but mostly it's me (Becca) recommending a few horror/scary books I've read. Most likely, we will be popping in once a month to update everyone until life settles down a little more. Thanks for listening! (Quick correction: I mention the movie The Devils by Ken Russell, and what I guessed what the outline of the plot. Since recording, I have watched the movie and I was wrong. Great movie though!) Books mentioned: Night Watcher by Daphne ...
Oct 16, 2025•48 min
We are now officially on hiatus! Corinne is on maternity leave, although that's not why this episode is late, I just forgot about uploading it. Our second book for June is Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025 . Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTO...
Jul 08, 2025•44 min•Ep. 197
Today we discuss Nicole Dennis-Benn's novel Patsy , which won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. Content warning: brief mentions of miscarriage, sexual and physical assaults, abusive relationships Our next book discussion will be Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get...
Jun 10, 2025•52 min•Ep. 196
For the month of May, our prompt is to read a dystopia or post-apocalyptic work of fiction. Corinne's pick is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. We have both read this book already and jumped at the chance to reread and discuss this book, that we describe as being "about what it is to be human." Content warning: captivity, death, disease, euthanasia, brief mentions of sexual awakening, torture, and suicide Our next book discussion will be Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn. You can fi...
May 27, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 195
Our first book for May's prompt to read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel is Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Set in a Toronto that has been abandoned by the government and anyone with means, Ti-Jeanne has to learn how to survive and how to protect the ones she loves. Content warning: mentions of violence, suicide, drug addiction Our next book discussion will be I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with u...
May 13, 2025•45 min•Ep. 194
Today's book discussion is on Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović, translated from Croatian by Ena Selimović. We get slightly off-topic talking about the top news stories from the 90s and reminiscing about playing with Barbies. Content warning: war (mentions of bombing and snipers), swearing Our next book discussion will be Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson. Find it at your local library or bookstore and read along with us! If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you...
Apr 29, 2025•45 min•Ep. 193
Becca's pick for April's prompt to read a book based on its cover or title is Nonfiction: A Novel by Julie Myerson, because the contradiction between the title and genre was too compelling to pass up. Content warning: drug addiction Our next book discussion will be Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are rea...
Apr 08, 2025•49 min•Ep. 192
The March prompt is to read a book published by an indie press, and Corinne's pick is Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated by Heather Cleary, and published by Catapult. Content warning: brief mentions of violence, including sexual violence Our next book discussion will be Nonfiction by Julie Myerson. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are readi...
Mar 25, 2025•46 min•Ep. 191
Becca's pick for March's prompt to read a book published by an indie press is Earthlings by Sayaka Murati, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori, and published by Grove Atlantic. Content warnings: sexual assault, death, murder, violence, cannibalism Our next book discussion will be Witches by Brenda Lozano. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to se...
Mar 11, 2025•54 min•Ep. 190
February's prompt is to read a book with a non-human narrator or from a non-human perspective. Corinne's pick, that we'll be discussing today, is Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, which is about a house/plot of land. Content warning: swearing, Nazism, repressive regimes, book has sexual and physical violence March prompt is to read a book published by an indie press, our first book is Becca's pick, Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, and published by Grove Atlantic. Co...
Feb 25, 2025•40 min•Ep. 189
Romantic Goat sex on today's episode. We read The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan. Next time we will read Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck Content Warnings: Violence, sexual violence If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore Challenge 2025 . Get two audiobook credits for the price of one at Libro.fm when you sign up using the code BOOKSTOREPOD. Website | Pa...
Feb 12, 2025•40 min
Last episode for January is Pastoralia by George Saunders, this is a book of short stories that all have the trademark Saunders satirical edge. Content warning: swearing, brief mentions of death and a sick child Our next book discussion will be The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month...
Jan 28, 2025•56 min•Ep. 187
New year, same us. We discuss (more like complain about, to be honest) Maggie O'Farrell's novel After You'd Gone . January's prompt is to read a book published in the year 2000. Our next book discussion will be Pastoralia by George Saunders. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas for your TBR: The Bookstore ...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 186
We are back and we have a recap of our reading in 2024, along with the challenge prompts for 2025, since I don't know how we chose books before we starting following these prompts. The challenge prompts start around 37:04. Prompts from past years. Our books for January are After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell and Pastoralia by George Saunders. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2025, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are reading for each month and get ideas...
Jan 05, 2025•46 min
Unfortunately, we are not releasing an episode today because we're going on hiatus. We are fine in terms of physical health and have not experienced personal family tragedy, we just need to take a break right now. I am sorry to be springing this on everyone without advance notice, it's just something we have to do right now. Thank you to all of you who subscribe, who have ever listened to any of our episodes, gave us a good review, and absolutely all of our lovely patrons. We will absolutely be ...
Nov 12, 2024•2 min
We were in Chicago during the week we should have been recording and editing this episode, so apologies for the lateness! Today we talk about The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk. Next time we'll be talking about our first choice for November's prompt to read a book about a lost city or civilization, and that is Hav by Jan Morris. The second November book is Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz. Find them at your local bookstore or library and read along with us! Content Wa...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 185
Google Doc for Helene Recovery Resources LESBIAN. VAMPIRES. We read The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez for October's prompt to read a book in one of the following genres: monster/vampire/gothic. Content warning: We briefly talk about violence and murder. The book also contains scenes of the main character experiencing racism. Our next book is The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge ...
Oct 08, 2024•48 min•Ep. 184
This book has everything, except for an idea of how novels are formulated. Our next read will be The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez.
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 4 min
For September's prompt to read a book by a celebrity, Corinne has chosen The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker and Dick Lochte. Al Roker is a tv personality and the resident weatherman of NBC's Today show. Content warnings: swearing, discussion of different types of murder, offensive accents (in the book, we do not quote the book), sexism Our next book discussion will be Swan by Naomi Campbell. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along wi...
Sep 11, 2024•52 min•Ep. 182
Our last book for August's prompt to read a book that won a translation award is Every Fire You Tend by Sema Kaygusuz. Very poetic and beautifully written, it might have been too spiritual for us to fully engage with. Content warning: mentions of ethnic cleansing and genocide, rape, sexual assault Our next book discussion will be The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge ...
Sep 01, 2024•37 min•Ep. 181
Our first book for August's prompt to read a book that won a translation prize is Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed. Corinne picked this one, and we both loved it. It's a beautifully illustrated graphic novel split into 3 stories, all revolving around 3 First Class Wishes. What are first class wishes? Listen and learn about the incredibly imaginative world Mohamed created! Our next book discussion will be Every Fire You Tend , by Sema Kaygusuz. You can find it at your local bookstore or library an...
Aug 14, 2024•39 min•Ep. 180
Coming in late with our discussion of Nobel Laureat Kenzaburō Ōe's The Silent Cry . This book is difficult in basically every way a book can be, so be warned. Content warnings: suicide, sexual assault, violence. August's Challenge prompt is to read a book that won an award for translation. Our first read will be the graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed (also published as Your Wish is My Command in other English speaking countries). Find it at your local bookstore or library and read alo...
Aug 02, 2024•43 min
Look! You just got another free Patreon Episode of Corinne spoiling the ever living life out of It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. Next week we will have our discussion of Kenzaburo Oe's The Silent Cry . Then August's prompt is to read a book that won a translation award and our first selection for that will be Deena Mohamed's Shubeik Lubeik (otherwise known as Your Wish is My Command in other English editions). Content warnings: domestic violence, sex, we spoil the entire book and make fun of C...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Corinne's pick for July's prompt to read a book published 20 years before you were born is The Stud by Jackie Collins. It's a wild ride with lots of rich and rich-adjacent people exhibiting poor impulse control! Contains: sex, swearing, discussion of homophobia and transphobia, other offensive behaviors, attempted rape Our next book discussion will be The Silent Cry by Kenzaburo Oe. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Book...
Jul 09, 2024•48 min•Ep. 178
Let this be a sign that if the only Nabokov book you've read is Lolita , you should remedy that. Despair is Corinne's pick for June's prompt to read a book about twins or doppelgangers. Content warning: mention of suicide, murder, Dostoevsky Our next book discussion will be The Stud by Jackie Collins. You can find it at your local bookstore or library and read along with us. If you want to read along with The Bookstore Challenge 2024, you can join us on The StoryGraph to see what others are read...
Jun 26, 2024•51 min•Ep. 177
Today we discuss Wise Children by Angela Carter, a book about twins, fulfilling June's prompt to read a book with twins or doppelgangers. It's Angela Carter, so everything is in excess, not just one set of twins, but multiple, plus all the twins share the same birthday. There's a confusing family tree, there's a housefire, there's an attempted Hollywood career, and there's bizarre behavior from the characters right down to the last page. Content Warning: incest, death, grooming If you want to re...
Jun 11, 2024•44 min•Ep. 176
