Episode 215 - Battle of the Books 2025

It’s episode 215 and time for our annual Battle of the Books! This year we’re each pitching a non-fiction book we think we should all read and discuss and then you (our listeners) get to vote on which one! Plus! A chance for a listener to win a book!

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!)

• 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 by Elaine Castillo
• How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

Titles from our Short Lists

• Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
• Why Are People Into That?: A Cultural Investigation of Kink by Tina Horn
• I Was a Stripper Librarian: From Cardigans to G-strings by Kristy Cooper
• A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird by Rosemary Mosco
• Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
• Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
• Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

Links, Articles, and Things

• Review of Mood Machine from Publishers Weekly
• The Ghosts in the Machine: Spotify’s plot against musicians by Liz Pelly
• If Books Could Kill

Previous episodes

• Episode 058 - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (2018)
• Episode 079 - Which Book Should We Read? (2019)
• Episode 083 - The Fifth Season
• Episode 103 - Battle of the Books 2020
• Episode 107 - Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
• Episode 130 - Battle of the Books 2021
• Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• Episode 154 - Battle of the Books 2022
• Episode 159 - Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart
• Episode 179 - Battle of the Books 2023
• Episode 183 - One Book One Podcast: Upright Women Wanted
• Episode 196 - Battle of the Books 2024: One Book One Podcast
• Episode 202 - A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
• Matthew finally made a category

15 Supernatural Thrillers 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.

• Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal
• Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
• The Good House by Tananarive Due
• Shutter by Ramona Emerson
• The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
• When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
• Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw
• Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina
• Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Model Home by Rivers Solomon
• Honeysuckle and Bone by Trisha Tobias
• The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth

Give us feedback!

• Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

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Join us again on Tuesday, August 5th when we’ll be discussing the genre of Rural Noir and Grit Lit!

Then on Tuesday, August 19th when it’s time for our summer Media update when we’ll talk about books, comics, games, music and more!