Feminist Book Club: The Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Mariquita welcomes Sarah Knickerbocker, the host behind Eugene, Oregon's Horrible Bingo, as they discuss shifting the lens on horror to find the threads of feminism, examine how the genre uniquely showcases women's stories, and to untangle why horror fans are so frequently wonderfully queer.

For an extra bonus and to exponentially grow your TBR, check the show notes for more books recommended by Sarah.

Books/Resources Mentioned:

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer 

Men, Women, and Chainsaws by Carol J. Clover

Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) by Eleanor Johnson

Other recommended books from Sarah:

It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror edited Joe Vallese

Corpses, Fools, and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Brainwyrms  by Alison Rumfitt

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Negative Space by B.R. Yeager

Support and follow our guest and host!

Follow Sarah Knickerbocker: Instagram // Website 

Follow Mariquita: Instagram // Threads // StoryGraph

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 Amarissa

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

CW: Child death, Miscarriage, Infertility, Blood, Grief, Death of Parent, Dementia 

Marlena and Mariquita discuss Mother is Watching, the horror debut by Karma Brown. In this spoiler-free conversation, they explore how the novel uses horror to amplify everyday anxieties around motherhood, bodily autonomy, and identity. Together, they unpack the emotional stakes at the heart of the story, examining how art, obsession, and pregnancy intertwine to blur the line between psychological unease and the supernatural. Along the way, they reflect on the ways domestic life becomes a site of tension, control, and quiet terror and why this chilling read lingers long after the final page.

Books mentioned:

Mother is Watching by Karma Brown

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

Support and follow our host and guest!

Follow Marlena: Instagram // Blog  

Follow Mariquita: Instagram // Threads // Storygraph // Bluesky

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 Amarissa

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

Our contributors teamed up to tell one another about their favorite books of the year. Renee and Nox round out this podcast series with their cozy, feel-good favorites. If you need a book that's like a warm hug (and who doesn't right now?), tune in!

Book and resources mentioned:

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton

The Baby Dragon Cafe by AT Qureshi

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

What Happened to Belen? by Ana Elena Correa

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club by Gloria Chao

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell

Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Support and follow our hosts!

Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph

Follow Nox: Instagram // TikTok // Threads

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 Amarissa

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

MINI POD! Jordy and Renee discuss their creative obsession: junk journaling! They chat about the origins of the junk journal and how they adapt this creative activity to suit their needs. This is a two-part series. See more spreads and the video of this conversation in our Mighty Network community!

Resources mentioned:

Jessica Swift's online retreats

Skillshare

Buy Nothing

PangoBooks

Art Scraps

Support and follow our hosts! 

Follow Jordy: Instagram // Bookworm Reads // Pagebound.co

Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph

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 Amarissa

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

Our contributors have teamed up to tell one another about their favorite books of the year over the next couple of weeks! Casey and UyenThi come together to discuss their top 5 reads of 2025. From memoirs, to romance, to translated fiction, to dark academia, these are the stories we read in 2025 that we feel need to be on everyone's TBR. 

Book and resources mentioned:

James by Percival Everett

The Simple Art of Killing a Woman by Patricia Melo

Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hull
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

The Night Eaters by Marjorie Liu

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

• #PouredOver interview with Nnedi Okorafor 

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

I'll Tell You When I'm Home: A Memoir by Hala Alyan

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Support and follow our hosts!

Follow Casey: Instagram

Follow UyenThi: utranmyhre.com 

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 Amarissa

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

As access to abortion is being increasingly restricted, trustworthy resources for abortion care and loving someone through an abortion can be difficult to find. Becca Rea-Tucker has written the go-to manual for just that. Whether you're considering an abortion for yourself or know someone who might need support, The Abortion Companion should be on every feminist's bookshelf. 

*Join us for a community-wide online Q&A with Becca on January 25, 2026. Your first week in our community is free, sliding scale available: Join the FBC community!

Book and resources mentioned:

The Abortion Companion by Becca Rea-Tucker

Baking by Feel by Becca Rea-Tucker

Relinquished by Gretchen Sisson

Baking the Resistance with Our Favorite Sweet Feminists (Becca's previous appearance on the pod!)

Find abortion resources: ineedana.com

National Network of Abortion Funds

See Becca on her book tour!

Support and follow our hosts!

Follow Renee: Instagram // The StoryGraph

Follow Becca Rea-Tucker: Instagram // Substack

Our contributors have teamed up to tell one another about their favorite books of the year over the next couple of weeks! In this episode, Mariquita and Jordy reflect on their favorite books of 2025, celebrating stories that lingered long after the final page. From fierce heroines and sharp social commentary to swoony romance and dark intrigue, they unpack the reads that made them feel, think, and stay up way too late turning pages. 

Book and resources mentioned:

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson 

Silver Elite by Dani Francis 

Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver 

This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman 

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas 

The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma 

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith 

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon 

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli 

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison 

How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina Swamidoss McConigley 

The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas 

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns 

All We Want is Everything by Soraya Chemaly  

Unbearable: The Perils of Pregnancy in America by Irin Carmon 

Podcasts referenced:  

Unbearable: A Discussion with Irin Carmon on Pregnancy in America 

Bread and Roses (The Rose Bargain) 

Thrills & Chills (Tourist Season) 

Damsel? Never heard of her (This Princess Kills Monsters) 

Support and follow our hosts!

Follow Mariquita: Instagram // Threads // Storygraph // Bluesky

Follow Jordy: Instagram // Bookworm Reads // Pagebound.co 

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 Amarissa

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

Our contributors have teamed up to tell one another about their favorite books of the year over the next couple of weeks! First up, Shoshana and Mhairie share a spoiler free gush session of their favorite books of 2025. This conversation includes books from every genre and format, a sure bet to please these long winter nights. Take care of yourself, friends, be sure to check the content warnings before reading. 

Book and resources mentioned:

Shoshana's Books 

5. He's to Die For by Erin Dunn 

4. The Black Gods Drums by P Djeli Clark 

3. ZomRomCom by Olivia Dade 

2. I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming 

1. A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna  

Mhairie's Books 

5. The Book of Witching by C J Cooke 

4. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 

3. Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

2.  What Hunger by Catherine Dang 

1. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett 

Bonus Books from Shoshana: 

Check Please # 1 and Check Please #2 by Ngozi Ukazu  

The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe 

Faking It: the Lies Women Tell about Sex--And the Truths They Reveal by Lux Alptraum 

Alchemised by SenLinYu  

A Murder of Crows by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett 

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen 

Looking for Group by Alexis Hall 

Bonus Books from Mhairie: 

Blood Relay by Devon Mihesuah - Publishes 2026 

Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones 

The rest of the Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett (Encyclopedia of Faeries and Map of the Otherlands) 

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey (read in 2024 but I have bought this as a gift no less than 3 times and keep recommending it. Def my top non fiction of the last couple years. Hella interesting.) 

Support and follow our hosts!

Follow Shoshana: Storygraph // Instagram // Bluesky 

Follow Mhairie: Instagram // Bluesky // Storygraph

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 Amarissa

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

New to fanfic? Not sure where to start or whether you even should? We got you! In this episode, Jordy, Mhairie, and Shoshana explore the world of fanfiction, its fandom roots, its role in uplifting marginalized voices, and why it remains a powerful feminist space. They also dig into the ethical complications of engaging with fanworks inspired by harmful or problematic creators. Together, they unpack how fanfiction becomes a site of creativity, community, and cultural resistance. 

Book and resources mentioned:
Alchemised Discussion in the Feminist Book Club community

Alchemised by SenLinYu 

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

Article on fandom culture - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/2021-year-in-fandom  

https://archiveofourown.org/  

AO3 Diversity statement - https://archiveofourown.org/diversity  

AO3 FAQ on tagging - https://archiveofourown.org/faq/tags?language_id=en  

Article of the brief history of LGBTQIA+ fanfiction - https://www.themarysue.com/first-published-slash-fanfiction/  

TV Shows Mentioned 

Stargate SG - 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate  

Star Trek - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek  

Teen Wolf - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Wolf_(2011_TV_series)  

The Night Agent - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Agent  

Support and follow our hosts!

Follow Jordy: Instagram // Bookworm Reads // Pagebound.co 

Follow Shoshana: Storygraph // Instagram // Bluesky 

Follow Mhairie: Instagram // Bluesky // Storygraph

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 Amarissa

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

MINI POD! Jordy dives into two books: A Beautiful and Terrible Murder and Dream by the Shadows. Both books follow women who refuse to be silenced by corrupt institutions. From Oxford's secretive halls to a dream-haunted kingdom, these stories are full of clever rebellion, dark intrigue, and empowered women.

Books mentioned:

A Beautiful and Terrible Murder by Claire M. Andrews

Dream by the Shadows by Logan Karlie

Support and follow our host! 

Follow Jordy: Instagram // Bookworm Reads // Pagebound.co

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 Amarissa

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