April Invite & March Replay: "Reading with Wonder" Book Club

+ Discussion Qs for THE TAINTED CUP, Our Next Book Club Pick

Joanna Phoenix and Evelyn Skye

Mar 31, 2026

∙ Paid

Hello, Protagonists!

In this post, you’ll find:

🎥 The video replay of our March meeting
📚 Your invitation + discussion questions for The Tainted Cup, our next book pick
🗓️ Upcoming Book Club Picks
💛 RSVP & Zoom link (below the paywall)

xo, Joanna & Evelyn

The “Reading with Wonder” Book Club is for our community members who want to dive even deeper into how great books work. Come nerd out with us! 🤓

🎥 Replay: The Correspondent

If you missed our last Book Club meeting, you can now watch the full replay above.

We had such a fantastic discussion of The Correspondent and talked about:

Epistolary novels!
- We discussed how the novel's structure impacted our understanding of the characters. The letters helped set an intimate and gentle pace from the start, but it took time for us to learn the characters’ voices such that several of us needed to check the signature before starting each letter to get context.
- We compared this novel to other epistolary works, including The Geurney Literary Potato Peel Pie Society.
- Some of us guessed the unaddressed correspondent; others did not!
Grief was a major theme in the novel.
- We talked about the different types of grief Sybil experienced and how they created cascading layers of loss and contributed to her questionable choices.
- We considered the magnitude of losing a child compared to any other loss, and understood the ripple of trauma throughout her life.
Famous authors
- We respected the courage it took to write as other famous authors in a work.
- We wondered if Virginia Evans needed permission to use the identity in the letters of the book. Maybe that’s how Ann Patchett came to blurb the book?!
- We enjoyed tossing around some book recommendations for Sybil. Can you imagine her reading Fourth Wing? :)
Slow-burn, word-of-mouth hit
- We discussed how Evans was close to giving up on writing fiction before this success, and how wonderful it was to see a novel succeed because readers loved it, rather than due to a pricey marketing campaign.
- We considered whether this novel could be adapted into a movie or TV series.
- We questioned if this could be called a “feel-good” read, which some of the word-of-mouth buzz led us to believe.

During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we explored:

We each named elements of our creative lives that we’ve needed to grieve. Putting words to our creative losses and knowing that losses happen at every stage of a creative career was powerful.
We owned the honesty of our disappointment and the importance of dedication to the creative process rather than the outcome.

As always, the replay is available to paid subscribers to keep our discussions cozy and private.

📚 You’re Invited: The Tainted Cup

Whether you’re a curious reader or a fellow writer, we’d love to have you join us. No need to be “an expert”—just bring your thoughts and your love of books.

Our next Book Club pick is:

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
We chose this book because several readers we love with wildly different book preferences all enjoyed it. We can’t wait to discuss all the elements that gave this story such broad appeal.

Meeting Date:

Wednesday, April 22, 2025
8pm ET / 5pm PT
Zoom link below

💬 During the book discussion, we’ll chat about:

Genre: Fantasy and Mystery
- How did Bennett play with or subvert mystery and/or fantasy tropes? Which genre did you think served as the primary one?
- What do you think of the term “biopunk” as a descriptor?
Character: The Balance
- How did Bennet balance the strengths and flaws of the characters?
- What are some foundational character qualities that make detective-assistant pairs work? How are these dynamics similar or different to character pairs in other genres?
World-building: What worked, what didn’t?
- What did you think of the world of Khanum? Which parts were the most intriguing?
- How did Bennet establish the rules of magic in the novel? And what questions remain about the world?
Theme: Memory
- What did the novel communicate about memory on a personal and societal level? When should we forget, and when should we not?

💬 During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we will talk about our own memories:

We’ll discuss the nature of our memory and how it enhances and impacts our creative life, including the negativity bias, where we may prioritize negative experiences, criticism, and failures over positive ones.
Guided Positive Memory Recall Exercise
- Focusing on a small, ordinary, positive moment in your creative life
- Recalling the sensory details of the moment
- Writing down and sharing the moment