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

The Power of Mystery & Trusting the Reader's Intelligence and Patience

Joanna Phoenix

Apr 28, 2026

∙ Paid

Hello, Protagonists!

In this post, you’ll find:

🎥 The video replay of our April meeting on The Tainted Cup
📚 Invitation + discussion questions for our next Book Pick: Writing, Creativity, and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd
🗓️ 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 Tainted Cup

We LOVED this book club meeting. So many hot takes on genre, trusting readers, and character construction. And finally settling the question - What does a Leviathan look like?! (There were encyclopedias involved… goodness, we love this group.)

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

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

Genre: Fantasy and Mystery
- After debating if the novel was fantasy with mystery or mystery with fantasy, David J offered a fascinating perspective on genre: Fantasy/sci-fi are setting genres, mystery is a plot genre, and romance is a character genre. The Tainted Cup excelled across all of them.
- We discussed the expected story beats in mystery and how we can all learn to plant reader questions by drawing inspiration from this genre. We all wanted to re-listen to the podcast episode with Andrea Bartz to learn more.
Character: The Balance
- All of us adored Ana and Din's partnership, which had strong Sherlock-Watson vibes, and the found family elements gave the mystery a sense of coziness despite the high stakes.
- The characters were well-balanced in both personal and magical strengths and flaws. Bennet avoided the “Superman problem” of having any overpowered characters, with each power having a cost.
- We discussed the expert strategy of introducing the characters in well-timed waves to avoid overwhelming readers at the start.
- We marveled at the tricky balance of engagement and confusion maintained throughout the novel. Things were not over- or under-explained, demonstrating the author’s trust in the reader’s intelligence and patience.
World-building: What worked, what didn’t?
- We all struggled picturing the Leviathians. So, David J looked up Leviathans in his Mystical Beastry reference. The picture captured some of our imaginings, and we learned that Leviathans have a biblical origin. We all wanted to know more about the Leviathans, sparking interest in the next book of the series.
- We talked about the blend of magic and science, called Biopunk.
- The choice of modification and the social commentary of the magic system in society raised questions about power, class, and agency.
- Recommended fantasy resource: The Magic System Blueprint
Theme: Memory
- We discussed the difference between lossy and eidetic memory and the impact of each on an individual and society, which had insights for our culture with ubiquitous cameras and AI.
- We brought up the protective effects of forgetting on the psyche.
Bonus Goodies
- Christine recommended Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott.
- David J told us all about the inaugural week-long writers’ retreat he ran on a cruise ship called Wave Writers! It went so well, they’re doing it again! Enrollment is open for next year.

During the Mini Creativity Coaching portion, we explored:

After discussing the theme of memory in the novel, we talked about how our brains can often suffer from a negativity bias, remembering the harsh critiques and failures more than the positive experiences.
Joanna led the group on a grounded reflection, asking each member to recall a concrete positive memory in their creative life, including all the sensory details. We then shared our memories and left the meeting on a connected, creative high.

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

📚 You’re Invited: Writing, Creativity, and Soul

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 love of books.

Our next Book Club pick is:

Writing, Creativity, and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd
The Secret Life of Bees was one of our favorite books, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see inside the mind that wrote it and enjoy the creative wisdom found along the way.

Meeting Date:

Sunday, May 31, 2026
8pm ET / 5pm PT
Zoom link below

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

In Writing, Creativity, and Soul, Sue Monk Kidd blends memoir with practical craft advice and deep philosophical inquiries into the creative process.

The Soul of Writing

Kidd grounds her book in the belief that writing is a spiritual act, drawing from a wellspring between imagination and feeling. How does this framework align with your own experience of writing? Do you actively try to tap into your “soul” when you draft, or does it happen inadvertently? Or do you not experience this?
Drawing from Maya Angelou, Kidd notes that writers need something to say, the ability to say it, and the courage to say it. Which of these pillars comes most naturally to you, and which challenges you?

Process and Craft

Kidd talks about the balance of chaos and order in the writing process, saying that “Creativity begins in chaos...The challenge is to bring form and order to it.” How do you go about this balance in your work?
Regarding plot pacing, Kidd strives for “hurrying slowly.” What did you think about that concept, and how does it relate to your reading and writing experience?

The Realities of the Writing Life

Referencing Virginia Woolf, Kidd discusses the necessity of a “Room of One’s Own” and the tension between making art and managing daily life. How do you actively protect your writing time and physical space against the demands of your day job, family, or other obligations? What are your “self-ordred patterns of time”?

Literary Mentors

Kidd emphasizes that you cannot write fully from the depths of your soul without reading the best writing you can find. What is one book that shifted your understanding of what prose can do?
Throughout the memoir, Kidd pays homage to the literary voices that shaped her. If you were to set your own “Brontë Table” of literary mentors, who would be sitting there?

What was your biggest insight, quote, or concept from the book that might shape your writing practice or creative outlook?

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

Kidd quotes Marion Woodsman: “In our creating, we are created.”

Joanna will lead a reflection on how our creativity has transformed aspects of ourselves. We will pay attention to how our art has impacted our internal and external experience of the world and share what we learned with one another.