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Julia and Victoria share the final episode of Book Club discussing the Jane Austen novel about home (and the moral bankruptcy of the upper classes) that started their friendship: Mansfield Park. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Where to Find Us Long-Term: Email us [email protected]  Access the Archive + Bonus Content on Buy Me a Coffee Mentioned in this Episode: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Simple Girl: The Improbable Solace of “Mansfield Park” by Anna Keesey (Los Angeles Review of Books)  What Should I Read Next? “Episode 451 Digging into Nikki May’s delicious Mansfield Park reimagining” Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Recommendations: Emma by Jane Austen Persuasion by Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Middlemarch by George Eliot This Motherless Land by Nikki May Currently Obsessed: Overcompensating (TV show) A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin Good Hang with Amy Pohler Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Ted Lasso (TV show)

Content warning: this episode includes discussions of suicide and homophobia.Julia and Victoria reminisce about their 20s comparing the novel Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur, and its recent TV adaptation. It involves a lot of pointing out red flags and crying about friendship. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Mentioned in this episode: Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park (book) 117 Beyond the Story by BTS & Kang Myeong-seok — A Memoir or an Official Wiki?  Love in the Big City (TV show) Love in the Big City (film) The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta by Sang Young Park Boys Love Boys Love (podcast) Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, English translation by Anton Hur Anton Hur interview with Booker International Prize True to You: A Therapist's Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself by Dr. Kathleen Smith Film Club with Julia & Victoria 127 The Pairing by Casey McQuiston — Who Is the Elf?  V&O: Sea Change by Gina Chung — Loneliness & Adaptation  Recommendations: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong To My Star 2 (film) The Wedding Banquet (2025 film) Funny Girl by Nick Hornby Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu Sea Change by Gina Chung One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston Currently Obsessed: Taskmaster (season 19) The Last of Us (season 2) Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Slow Horses by Mick Herron Slow Horses (TV show) Green Frog by Gina Chung Las Culturistas (podcast)

Julia and Victoria try to find the line between history and fantasy in The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang. They use their incredible communication skills to meet in the middle of their opposing opinions. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us onBookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria onThe StoryGraph. Mentioned in this episode: The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang Yellowface by R. F. Kuang Circe by Madeline Miller Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith “The Fires of Pompeii” - Doctor Who, Season 4, Episode 2 “In The Poppy War Series, R.F. Kuang Asks: 'What If Mao Was A Teenage Girl?'” by Alan Yu (NPR) Victoria’s favorite reddit review of Poppy War A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin Recommendations: The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang Shanghai 1937 by Peter Harmson Comfort Women by Yoshimi Yoshiaki The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang The Burning God by R. F. Kuang Babel by R. F. Kuang Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan Currently Obsessed: SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver (album) Hacks, Season 4 (TV show)  Deli Boys (TV show) The Pitt (TV show) True to You: A Therapist’s Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself by Dr. Kathleen Smith Cat and Bird by Kyoko Mori

The Book Club takes a big bite of all the genres and references in Casey McQuiston’s fourth romance novel, The Pairing. Julia invents a new branch of theory entirely based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Victoria calculates her Saturn Return. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Mentioned in this Episode: The Pairing by Casey McQuiston 124 One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston — Spec-Fic-Rom WooLaWoo  (Book Club with Julia & Victoria) One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston 085 Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Book Club with Julia & Victoria) Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston Pushing boundaries, breaking norms, and the ADHD brain (Casey McQuiston's story) (ADHD Aha! podcast)  Casey McQuiston: Celebrating queer love and joy and navigating the future of romance (Bookends podcast)  Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Roman Holiday (1953) Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkein The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein Recommendations: A Room with a View by E. M. Forster A Room With a View (1985 film) Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu Moonlight Chicken (tv series) Only Friends (tv series) Novels by Jasmine Guillory I’ll Get Back to You by Becca Grischow Currently Obsessed: Heaven’s Official Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu Love in the Big City (tv show)

Julia and Victoria marvel over the masterful point of view shifts and scream about the ending of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Victoria buys some lemonade. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Mentioned in this episode: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - Book 1 and Season 1 My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult - Book and Movie Our Flag Means Death The Divergent series by Veronica Roth Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Tamsyn Muir interview with Three Crows magazine Recommendations: Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Babel by R. F. Kuang The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher Yellowjackets (TV show) Currently Obsessed: Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout

This discussion of Index, a History of the by Dennis Duncan is a big day for Victoria because it’s an episode all about her favorite thing ever: sorting things into categories. Julia is there to help translate the Middle English quotes. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Mentioned in this episode: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer The Great Vowel Shift Book Parts edited by Dennis Duncan and Adam Smyth Victoria’s very rough attempt at an index of Julia’s thesis American Society for Indexing The Daily Show Scalable sociality William Poole Recommendations: Internet Archive Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chaika The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (book) The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (podcast) Garbage Day newsletter on Substack Currently Obsessed: Alligator Bites Never Heal 2024 album by Doechii 2024 What a Devastating Turn of Events 2024 album by Rachel Chinouriri Dunya 2024 album by Mustafa

“Excuse me, sir, there’s some magic in this romance”:  Julia and Victoria unpack Casey McQuiston’s sophomore novel, One Last Stop. This episode was recorded on September 2, 2024. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The 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 this episode: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald Doctor Who and River Song Casey McQuiston Is As Attached To Their Characters As You Are by Olivia Harrison (Refinery 29) Lost (TV series) This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar Jasmine Guillory Talia Hibbert Recommendations: We Are Lady Parts (TV show available on Hulu) Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert Last Night at the Telegram Club by Malinda Lo Currently Obsessed: Ethel Cain

Julia and Victoria discuss the last vampire book of The Vampire & the Octopus series and then get very excited about two questions: Are there any ethical choices under vampirism? And, if so, are ethical vampires even interesting? Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The 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 this episode: “I won’t always ask”: Complicating Agency in Octavia Butler’s Fledgling” by Florian Bast Devil Girl From Mars (film) Patternmaster by Octavia Butler The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice Twilight by Stephanie Meyer Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda Grady Hendrix’s vampire podcast Super Scary Haunted Homeschool Dear Hank and John (podcast) Recommendations: The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin Wild Seed by Octavia Butler Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Invincible comic book series Currently Obsessed: Interview with the Vampire (tv series) We Are Lady Parts (tv series) The Pairing by Casey McQuiston Scamanda (podcast) Big Ideas by Remi Wolf (album)

Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The 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 this episode: The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang Semiotics The Tusks of Extinction novella by Ray Naylor Arrival (film) The Octopus: A Story of California by Frank Norris How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin Recommendations: Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith Biosemiotics: An Examination Into the Signs of Life and the Life of Signs by Jesper Hoffmeier Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang Currently Obsessed: Interview with the Vampire season 2 Walkin About podcast Lawrence album Family Business Still Woozy album Loveseat

Julia makes her case of why the creature in Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is NOT really a vampire, and Victoria makes a counterargument that it is actually the MOST vampire. They are both generally infuriated with everyone in this novel except Mrs. Green. Content Warning: mentions of sexual violence. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us onBookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria onThe StoryGraph. Mentioned in this Episode: Grady Hendrix’s website “Charleston native Grady Hendrix and best-selling horror author wants to terrify you, and you’ll never be more happily horrified” by Stephanie Hunt, Charleston Magazine  Dirt Candy (book) Dirt Candy (restaurant)  Amanda Cohen, Iron Chef Canada Grady Hendrix’s “The Great Stephen King Reread” series Grady Hendrix’s vampire podcast: Super Scary Haunted Homeschool The Strain (tv show) Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, edited by Carmen Maria Machado Recommendations Unbelievable (tv show) Spotlight (film) Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry Yellowjackets (tv show) How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix Beloved by Toni Morrison Currently Obsessed Interview With the Vampire season 2 (tv show) Hacks season 3 (tv show) Who Shat on the Floor at My Wedding season 2 (podcast) The Dragon Republic (Poppy Wars Trilogy Book 2) by R. F. Kuang Through the Ages board game mobile app

Julia and Victoria read a pandemic book called The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller where the octopus is not the focus of the story, but is at the heart of the book’s major themes of captivity and embodiment. Victoria makes the ill-advised choice to revisit some of her early-pandemic journals. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Mentioned in this episode: The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery Staying in With Emily and Kumail Recommendations: Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Hartman Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Stroud My Octopus Teacher on Netflix Currently Obsessed: Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa (album) Jacob Collier’s existence Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish (album) Interview With the Vampire season 2

Julia and Victoria get very hungry talking about the trope-flipping, contemporary vampire novel Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us onBookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Mentioned in this episode:  Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe Tár (film) Claire Kohda: "I wouldn’t change being mixed-race for anything" by Isabella Silvers (Mixed Messages) A Vampire Hungry for Blood and Intimacy by JR Ramakrishnan (Electric Lit) Recommendations: Carmilla by Joseph Le Fanu, edited by Carmen Maria Machado Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen maria Machado Tar Baby by Toni Morrison When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo “Close Cover Before Striking” by Silvia Moreno Garcia in F(r)iction No. 21 The Unseen Issue Sea Change by Gina Chung Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Ugly Delicious on Netflix Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV show) Currently Obsessed: Shōgun on Hulu Heartbreak High season 2 on Netflix Monkey Man (film) You Had Me At Hello by ZBI (album) Boys Love/Ampliverse reaction to ZB1’s “Sweat” MV The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang The StoryGraph’s buddy read feature

Julia and Victoria discuss Sea Change by Gina Chung and how authors use the octopus to contemplate loneliness and change. They discover that life really is about the friends we made along the way in this first book of The Vampire & the Octopus series. Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. 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. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph. Check out Julia’s bonus discussions of How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler and World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil on our Buy Me a Coffee! Mentioned in this episode: “The Love Song of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat” by Gina Chung in F(r)iction Green Frog: Stories by Gina Chung "Losing My Octopus Best Friend is the Final Straw" interview with Gina Chung in Electric Literature  Recommendations: Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman Before the Ruins by Victoria Gosling Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil Currently Obsessed Djesse Vol. 4 by Jacob Collier (album) Jacob Collier Unites the World - Switched on Pop Beyoncé's Country - Switched on Pop Found Heaven by Conan Gray “Good Luck Babe” by Chappell Roan

Victoria teaches Julia all about the origins, tropes, and metaphors of vampire lore that create the undead monster we read about today. They discuss the origins of vampire stories in Slavic folklore, the Great Vampire Epidemic of the 18th century, the blood-sucking breakup novel Lord Byron’s “travel companion” wrote about him, and lament the loss of a key source for Victoria’s vampire-as-justice analysis that disappeared when she accidentally closed all her tabs. (And don’t forget to check out the bonus content where Victoria shares all the thoughts on Twilight that didn’t make it into the episode!) Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The StoryGraph: Book Club with Julia & Victoria (Episodes 1-100) Reading Challenge Book Club with Julia & Victoria (Episodes 101+) Reading 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 this episode: Dracula by Bram Stoker What We Do In the Shadows (tv show) What We Do In the Shadows (film) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer Interview With the Vampire (tv show) Slayers and Their Vampires by Bruce McClelland “Mothers, Daughters, and Vampires: The Female Sexual Dilemma in Eighteenth-Century Vampire Poetry” by Ashley M. Quinn “Der Vampir” by Heinrich August Ossenfelder “The Bride of Corinth” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The Vampyre by John Polidori "Two Species of Irish Vampire" (1831) Olivia Rodrigo’s song “Vampire” 118 Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu — The One with the Lesbian Vampire 011 Dracula by Bram Stoker (archive) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Smith Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Julia takes Victoria on a deep dive of octopus stories throughout time and space in this first episode of The Vampire & the Octopus series. We tackle questions like “Are octopus stories a form of colonizer horror?” and “What’s with all the octopus books coming out recently?” and “Why did the 19th century French think the octopus was the physical embodiment of hell?” Views expressed on Book Club with Julia and Victoria and bookclubwithjv.com are solely those of the hosts and not necessarily those of their employers, clients, guests, and collaborators. Become a Member! Shop with us on Bookshop.org! Follow the podcast on Instagram and hang out with Victoria on The 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 this Episode: The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Finding Nemo (film) Finding Dory (film) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (film) Oceanic Mythology by Roland B Dixon “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” and “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife” art by Hokusai Devilfish Bay “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” painting by Caspar David Friedrich “The Kraken” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett “The Octopus or The Devilfish of Fiction and Fact” by Henry Lee The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells The Sea Raiders by H. G. Wells The Call of Cthulu by H. P. Lovecraft The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham It Came From Beneath the Sea (film) Kraken by China Mieville The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (TV series) Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith My Octopus Teacher (film) The Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery Remarkably Bright Creaturesby Shelby Van Pelt