Book Club with Julia and Victoria

No philosopher ever needs to ponder the nature of humor or ask the question, “What makes something funny?” ever again because Julia and Victoria have definitely solved it with this episode’s discussion of Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that give us a commission if you decide to make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Learn more.Mentioned in the episode:    The West Wing (HBO)    View From the Top (film)    The West Wing Weekly (podcast)    The Graham Norton Show    The Mighty Boosh    The Double (film)    Submarine (film)    The Crystal Maze (game show)    The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger    John Oliver    The Arctic Monkeys    Radiohead    The YeahYeahYeahs    Vampire Weekend    Kasabian    The Great British Baking Show    “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper    Heideger (philosopher)    Ways of Seeing by John Berger    Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett    Watching the English by Kate Fox    Shrill by Lindy West    Samin Nosrat    Hrishikesh Hirway Recommendations:    The Grip of a Film by Richard Ayoade    Gold Plated Girls newsletter    Big Fat Quiz of the Year    IT Crowd    How Did This Get Made (podcast)    Shit, Actually by Lindy WestCurrently Obsessed:    Big Mouth (Netflix)    The Allusionist (podcast)   “ Isolation,” by The Parasocial Club    Dear White People season 4 (Netflix)    Money Heist season 5 (Netflix)    Montero by Lil Nas X    Starcrossed by Kacey Musgraves    Screen Violence by Chvrches

Julia and Victoria, along with Julia’s mom, chat about their comfort books and the novel Leave It To Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram and Storygraph!Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that give us a commission if you decide to make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Learn more.Mentioned in the Episode:A Bounty of Blandings by P. G. WodehouseAll Creatures Great and Small by James HerriotTake a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia HibbertTwelfth Night by ShakespeareShe’s the ManKing Lear by ShakespeareAyoade on Top by Richard AyoadeBlade Runner 2049Recommendations:Psmith series by WodehouseGood Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry PratchettFunny Girl by Nick HornbyThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsThe Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha ChristieCurrently Obsessed:Victoria’s storygraph accountCan’t Believe It’s Not Meat (restaurant)Sex Education season 3Dune (film)If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power album by Halsey

Julia and Victoria read their favorite (and only) social anthropology book, Watching the English by Kate Fox, which helped Julia tap into her innate anthropological powers.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:Topping and Company Booksellers, ElyAnthropologist Robin FoxStar TrekRecommendations:Quiet by Susan CainUgly Delicious on NetflixHome Game on NetflixX by Daniel SlossThe Culture Map by Erin MeyerNativLang on YoutubeLost in the Pond on YoutubeCurrently Obsessed:Exiles by Max Richter

Julia and Victoria try to solve the Who, the How, and the Why of Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu and may or may not reach a verdict. Victoria invents a new grammatical tense.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in this Episode:- Birdman (film)- Master of None on Netflix- Bob’s Burgers on Fox- Westworld on HBO- Legion on Hulu- Sorry For Your Loss on Facebook Watch- Charles Yu on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah- Law and Order: SVU on Hulu- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl- Jane Austen’s Use of Free Indirect Discourse- Virginia WoolfRecommendations:- Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade- Community on Netflix- The Truman Show (film)- How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe by Charles Yu- Sorry Please Thank You by Charles YuCurrently Obsessed:- Duolingo- Bleachers new album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night

Julia and Victoria enter a dream state to talk about Beloved by Toni Morrison and its place within both the horror genre and American history.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:- American Horror Story, TV Series- National Women’s History Museum- St Anthony- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison- Sula by Toni Morrison- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison- True story of Margaret Garner- Charlotte Brontë- Get Out film, directed by Jordan Peele- Rosemary’s Baby film, directed by Roman Polanski- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf- Outlander, TV series- Beloved film directed by Jonathan Demme- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks film, directed by George C. Wolfe- BROCKHAMPTON, band    Recommendations:- Atlanta, TV Series- Tar Baby by Toni Morrison- Jazz by Toni Morrison- Paradise by Toni Morrison- Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah- Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria MachadoCurrently Obsessed:- American Boyfriend, album by Kevin Abstract- Atypical season 3- Olympics story of male high jumpers sharing gold- Hotel TV, album by Lawrence- Anna Locke moon circles

Julia reads her essay “What Your Autistic Body Feels Is Real: How I Found Out I Was Gaslighting Myself For Years and What I’m Doing Now.”Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:The Cozy Robot ShowNeurotribes, by Steve Silberman (and Book Club episode)The Reason I Jump, by Naoki Higashida (and Book Club episode)Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8, by Naoki igashida (and Book Club episode)The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion (and Book Club episode)Book Club membership tiersThe original essay on medium

Julia and Victoria, who had somehow never read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery, are joined by ANGR Podcast host Sofia Syntaxx, who has collected upwards of ten editions of the book from all over the world, including the most recent translation into their indigenous language Anishinaabemowin. They talk about translation across languages and cultures, childhood dreams, and being haunted by the Duolingo owl.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:ANGR podcastSofia’s blog Too Sexy for Contactslink.tree/sofiasyntaxxBook Club #bookstagram episodeThere There by Tommy OrangeGambit from X-MenAnishinaabemowin language - The Seven Grandfather teachingsA Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’EngleWind, Sand, and Stars by Atoine de Saint ExuperyOgimaans: Ojibwe translation of The Little PrinceReading Rainbow“The Emperor’s New Clothes”Lemonade (film) by BeyonceRecommendations:Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard BachThe Hobbit by J. R. R. TolkienWaiting for Godot by Samuel BeckettThe Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoThe Velveteen Rabbit by Margery WilliamsCurrently Obsessed:This Way Up season 2 on HuluHalsey’s new album/film If I Can’t Have Love I Want PowerBlack Widow filmCamp Creep podcastYou’re Wrong About podcastMaintenance Phase podcastYou Are Good podcast

Julia and Victoria contemplate mortality (and whether they could be buried under paper trees to become books in their next lives) with the help of the darkly comic memoir Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Katelyn Doughty about a young woman trying to become a mortician and revolutionize the way Americans handle death.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:The OfficeParks and RecreationThe Order of the Good Death, website“Ask a Mortician” YouTube seriesFrom Here to Eternity, book by DoughtyWill My Cat Eat My Eyeballs, book by DoughtyThe Nightmare Before ChristmasKeaton Henson, musicianGiri / Haji, on NetflixOmnivore’s Dilemma, book by Michael Pollan - listen to our episode here!Science Mike from the podcast, The Cozy Robot Show “Stories of the Pandemic” Book Club minisode - listen here!The Great British Baking ShowRecommendations:“Dark,” comedy special by Daniel SlossInstitute of Human Anatomy YouTube channel“Movement to bring death closer,” episode/article from The Daily/New York TimesTale for the Time Being, book by Ruth OzekiCurrently Obsessed:Perfect Sounds, podcastLaura Mvula, musician

Julia and Victoria try to figure out why their 2011 Harper Teen copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte looks suspiciously like Twilight and why that’s interesting for the genre of Gothic literature.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:Twilight, by Stephanie MeyerJane Eyre (2011), directed by Cary Joji FukunagaFallen, novel by Lauren Kate  Beautiful Creatures, first novel in Caster Chronicles series by Kami Garcia and Margaret StohlThe Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann RadcliffeNorthanger Abbey, by Jane Austen Jane, graphic novel by Aline Brosh McKennaThe Madwoman in the Attic, book by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar Sour, album by Olivia Rodrigo  Shrill, TV series by Lindy West        Recommendations:Agnes Grey, by Anne BrontëWuthering Heights, by Emily BrontëMiddlemarch, by George Elliot (Mary Anne Evans)Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott    Currently Obsessed:Shit, Actually, book by Lindy WestCall Me If You Get Lost, album by Tyler, the CreatorBaumgartner Restorations YouTube channel

When Julia and Victoria found out there was a book out there in the world which combined feminism, writing, and data (aka their three favorite things) called Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez, they absolutely had to read it for Book Club. Victoria talks very fast about women’s unpaid labor, and Julia realizes she can ask the world to design things that actually fit her tiny hands. Fair Warning: This is not the book to read before bed because it will fill you with a burning feminist rage that cannot be contained.Become a Member! Follow Us on Instagram! or Join the Storygraph Challenge!Mentioned in the Episode:The Women’s Room projectDo It Like a Woman by Caroline Criado PerezOlivia RodrigoSeven-Eights PianoGender-inclusive Bible translationUS Army expanding acceptable hairstyles for womenBook Club episode on This Is Your Brain on Birth Control by Dr Sarah E HillJohn Mulaney Kid GorgeousArticle about doctors ignoring self-reported pain of black womenShark Tank on ABCThinx period underwearHuffPost article on Twitter report buttonBook Club episode on Feminist EssaysRecommendations:Perez’s Invisible Women newsletterMen Explain Things to Me by Rebecca SolnitRoxanne GayThis Is Your Brain On Birth Control by Dr. Sarah E. HillPeriod. End of Sentence. documentaryWanda Sykes Not NormalCurrently Obsessed:Master of None season 3The Legend of Korra on NetflixThe Queen’s Gambit miniseriesGatcha! by LucyprAna activewear