July Invite & June Replay: "Reading with Wonder" Book Club

+ Discussion Qs for Yesteryear, our next book club pick

Joanna Phoenix and Evelyn Skye

Jun 30, 2026

∙ Paid

Hello, Protagonists!

In this post, you’ll find:

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

💕 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: These Summer Storms

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

We had such a wonderful discussion on These Summer Storms.

We talked about how MacLean’s historical romance background came through in her women’s fiction, with its tightly paced plot, open-door intimate scenes, and direct prose style.
We felt that the multiple constraints used to drive the plot forward, including the private island, one-week timeline, and inheritance game with per-character rules, drove tension without feeling heavy-handed.
Everyone desired a greater understanding of Elisabeth and Franklin - wanting to know how their marriage unraveled and how they made parenting choices, but we ended up recognizing that this lack of clarity could have been intentional by MacLean because when a parent dies, countless things are left unanswered.
We admired the level of planning it takes to reveal so many secrets in a progression to mirror character arcs and build emotional stakes.
We touched on the sub-genre of books about rich people behaving badly and noticed that MacLean embedded wealth details (designer chairs, Picasso, antiques) subtly in scene-setting rather than making them a major focus, in contrast to Crazy Rich Asians or The Idea of You, which critiqued or celebrated luxury.
We felt MacLean did an incredible job of hopping from historical romance to book club fiction and discussed other author transitions, including Taylor Jenkins Reid, Emily Henry, Evelyn Skye, and Adrienne Young.

During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we explored:

Inspired by MacLean’s celebration of pleasure and joy, we shared different pleasures in our creative lives. Some pleasures show up in what we write about, including food, animals, and cozy hobbies/settings (gardens, bookshops, and cottages).
We also talked about leaning into pleasure during the act of writing by creating sensual tactile environments like velvet chairs, soft blankets, smooth notebooks, flowing pens, and tea. May we all enjoy the power of our own pleasure!

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

📚 You’re Invited: Yesteryear

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:

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
It seems that no book club would be complete this year without discussing this book! If you hate it, love it, love to hate it, or hate to love it, everyone will have something to say and something to learn. We can’t wait to discuss it from a craft perspective.

Meeting Date:

Sunday, July 26, 2026
8pm ET / 5pm PT
Zoom link below

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

Character - the balance of crafting unlikable characters.
- What was your first impression of Natalie’s public persona, and how did that impression shift as you read?
- How does the book handle sympathy? Did you find yourself judging Natalie, understanding her, resisting her, or all three?
- What makes an “unlikable” or difficult protagonist compelling enough to keep reading?
- What does the book suggest about character desire? What does Natalie think she wants, and what deeper need might be underneath that?
Authenticity and Creativity - What is the boundary between art and truth?
- Natalie’s life is, in many ways, an aesthetic project. What does the book suggest about the difference between making a life beautiful and making a life true?
- For artists, writers, designers, or content creators: where is the line between cultivating a recognizable style and becoming trapped by it?
- Which scenes made you most aware of the gap between fantasy and lived reality?
Craft - What skills did you learn from this book?
- What do you think about the way Burke builds tension out of contradiction rather than only external danger?
- How does the novel use irony? Are readers usually ahead of Natalie, behind her, or uncomfortably aligned with her?
- How does Burke balance critique with entertainment? Did one ever overpower the other?
Staying Power - What will you take away from Yesteryear?
- Where did you feel the book was funniest, sharpest, or most uncomfortable?
- What is one image, phrase, scene, or idea from the book that you think will stay with you?
- What conversation did the book start in your head that you didn’t expect?

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

Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a past period, place, or person. What are you nostalgic for? What time in your life do you long for?
What elements from that period, place, or person do you miss, and how can we find or create them in our present?