Pen & Page Gals: Recent Episodes
Pen & Page Gals
Pen & Page Gals is a podcast hosted by Jensine and Sophia, two book loving mamas flipping through our favorite and recent reads. In a digital age when everything is fast-paced and fighting for our attention, we hope to inspire you to slow the scroll and pause for some pages instead.
It's March and spring is in the air! Listen in as we discuss all things fitness & diet (and also get the scoop on what we care about and don't care about when it comes to staying healthy). We chat about this month's book club, a sexy Rumplestiltskin retelling: Gilded by Marissa Meyer. Did we love it? Hate it? Feel like Ms. Meyer has written better fairytale retellings? You'll have to check out this episode to find out. And of course, we end our episode with some fantastic AITA scenarios, one of which takes us down a rabbit hole discussion about traveling with friends. Enjoy & happy spring y'all!
Find us on IG!
@penandpagegals
@jensane
@sophiaksays
Or our website/blog: www.penandpagegals.com
We're a few days late but February's episode is finally live! In (belated) honor of Valentine's Day, we talk about our love stories with our husbands and also discuss our book club pick of the month: The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon!
Next month's book club pick is drumroll Gilded by Marissa Meyer! So get your library holds ready and join us in reading this gem for March.
IG: @penandpagegals
Sophia: @sophiaksays
Jensine: @jensane
Happy New Weird, we mean, Year! We go in depth about our wonky, wompy start to 2022 and how the you-know-what caught up to us. We delve into the very different-than-our-usual book club pick: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Spoiler: it’s a page turner but with some questionable caveats). And we deal with some double-you-tee-eff AITAs! It’s a long one but oh so good. Join us for next month’s book club as we dial in the romcom with The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon.
Deck the pod with us as we dive full on festive for our favorite time of the year!
Bookmate Banter: Do we do Santa and how we do it? What does Christmas morning/day look like in our house?
Page Turner or Burner: One Day in December by Josie Silver (hint hint or sniffle sniffle... can you tell Jensine just finished bawling)
Am I the Antagonist: Tis the season for all the mishaps and miscommunications ;)
Next month join us as we kick off 2022 with The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton!
Welcome to season three of Pen and Page Gals! Join us for real life takes on the stories we live and love.
Bookmate Banter: Favorite holiday traditions; Sophia's new puppy & backstory
Page Turner or Page Burner: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
Am I The Angagonist?: Abandoned babysitter, Thankless Host, Period Police
Celebrating the conclusion of our second season by trying not to celebrate Halloween. Who is she? But we do introduce some new segments to spice up our next season!
Bookmate Banter: Halloween decor or not and costumes of Halloween past and present
Page Turner or Burner: Caraval Trilogy by Stephanie Garber
AITA (Am I The Antagonist): For making my husband wear a costume to my sister's Halloween party -and- for complaining about all the kids who don't live in our neighborhood but specifically come to trick-or-treat every year?
November Book Club Pick: The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
IG: penandpagegals
Blog: penandpagegals.com
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It's Sophia's birthday month, and as much as we love a fun read, we love a festive birthday even more! In this podcast episode, we dish details on how we celebrated our favorite 36 year old as well as our thoughts on our book club pick for September: Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim.
Make sure to read along next month for our fantastical October book club pick as we dive into the magical world of The Caraval Trilogy by Stephanie Garber!
Follow us on IG:
@penandpagegals
@jensane
@sophiaksays
And on our website penandpagegals.com
Happy reading!
Back for Sept...AUGUST; we talk shop our mom styles, Spin the Dawn, and recent reads.
In this episode:
- Jensine doesn't know what month it is
- Sophia tells a story of when she impersonated Jensine to an airline
- We discuss our thoughts on this month's book club pick: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
Next month we'll be discussing Unravel the Dusk (sequel to Spin the Dawn) - read along and tune in to hear our thoughts in the September podcast!
**
Korean folk tale Sophia briefly references in this month's episode:
http://asianfolktales.unescoapceiu.org/folktales/read/korea_2.htm
Follow us on IG:
@penandpagegals
@jensane
@sophiaksays
In this episode, Jensine & Sophia start with girl chat about their strict upbringings, learning to sneak makeup around their parents, and the summers that they both felt like they finally came into their own. Episode highlights include:
- How Sophia first heard of who Jensine was
- Thoughts on how to encourage our own kids to explore their unique styles without letting them run rampant
- Where we feel like "The Summer I Turned Pretty" could have done better
Make sure to follow us on at Instagram @penandpagegals, @jensane, and @sophiaksays. Thanks for listening!
We talk about our worst vacation moments in celebration of our June PPG book club pick: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry! Episode highlights include:
- Our pre & post June 15th Disneyland experiences (we both went with our families two weeks apart from each other!)
- Sophia talks about the time her daughter threw up 7 times in a row on a flight home from Mexico
- Jensine shares a business class faux-pas she made on an international flight
- We discuss our thoughts on our book club pick this month and announce next month's book club pick for the month of July! (Hint: It's a trilogy by the same author as To All The Boys I've Loved Before)
Make sure to follow us on at Instagram @penandpagegals, @jensane, and @sophiaksays. Thanks for listening!
We made it through the Fold and back, to Ketterdam and now to the edges and the end of the Grishaverse... or so we thought. We discuss the many shocking bits of the King of Scars duology by Leigh Bardugo and how we REALLY feel about it all.
And as we head into hot mom summer, a break from all these heavy-handed fantasy series with a fun Beach Read... join us for "People We Meet on Vacation" by Emily Henry for our June book club!
We chat about our girls' weekend away, how we celebrated Jensine's 32nd birthday, and all the thoughts we had on Shadow & Bone on Netflix (hint: it's worth watching for Mal alone).
We also dive into our April book club discussion, talking all things Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. Which series from the Grishaverse do we love more? Listen to find out!
Blog: penandpagegals.com
IG: @penandpagegals
Jensine: @jensane
Sophia: @sophiaksays
A time capsule to start. Then a Saint, a Privateer Prince, and an Amplifier in THE perfect trilogy for this month’s book club discussion of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. Oh and Ben freaking Barnes. The end.
Join us next month for Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom in preparation for the Netflix drop on 4/23!
We dig into the long-awaited next installment of our favorite Sarah J. Maas series, A Court of Silver Flames. Plus, school discussions and reviews for the Cursebreaker series by Brigid Kemmerer and American Royals by Katharine McGee.
Show Notes:
Girl Talk: School decisions in the time of COVID.
Book Club: #ACOSF 3/5 stars
- Is Maas still YA?
- Do we like Nesta?
- Team Elriel or Team Gwynriel?
Reviews + Reactions:
- Cursebreaker series
- American Royals series
Next month’s book club pick: the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo!
In the first PPG episode of 2021, Jensine & Sophia sit down to chat about New Years goals, a Q1 low-buy challenge, and best of all - the A Court of Thorns & Roses Series by the queen herself, Sarah J. Maas.
We say so long to 2020 aka the longest year ever with our last book club and our first split decision... find out who loved and who didn't fall for Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. Plus real life updates, book recs, and our first PPG pick for January (it's a magically, royally, ridiculously great one). So thank you thank you thank you for joining us this last trip around the sun; and we're signing off with a signature "byeeeee!" for auld lang syne.
Reasons to celebrate? Can we say SEASONS to celebrate! Not only are the holidays upon us, but it is officially our Pen and Page Gals big wild wonderful ONE year birthday/anniversary and the start of a new season of episodes where we dish and discuss our favorite and recent reads. To bookmark this milestone, we are sharing a giftaway with you, our beloved biblo-community. Tune in to hear more about what you can win and how to enter!
This month we also chat Thanksgiving plans and Sophia shares her first Christmas debacle in true 2020 fashion. And our November book club pick was In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren, our favorite pair of romance writers. Find out if we gave it thumbs up or down and don't forget to stop by our brand new site, penandpagegals.com.
With special guest host, Stephanie, we three non-experts explain the Enneagram and our appreciation for our types, as well as how it informs our relations to the books we read. Then we tune into our love for this month's book club pick, The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez.
Sophia's Reads:
- The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
- The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
Jensine's Reads:
- Beach Read by Emily Henry
- Bringing Down the Duke + A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore
Next month's book club pick: IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren!
We celebrate Sophia's birthday and chat about our special traditions (or lack of) and how this year changed everything. For our first book club month, we dive back into the sleepy town of Forks, WA with our favorite vampire family and discuss Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer.
Notes:
- The awesome wine Jensine brought to Sophia's birthday dinner is the Trader Joe's Petit Reserve Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc available for just $7.99 ;)
- The TV show Sophia mentions is called Awake from NBC
Jensine's reads:
- Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston
- The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
Find us at jensanotes.com + sophiaksays.com for more behind the scenes... And don't miss our announcement and join us for next month's book club!
We say so long to summer aka the spring break that never ended with our recent reads, girls' trip, and upcoming school year plans, plus! a super special PPG announcement.
Shownotes:
Sophia's Recents:
- A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler
- The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
- The Remnant Chronicles Trilogy by Mary E. Pearson
- The Friend Zone by Abby Jiminez
- The Program Series by Suzanne Young
- Always the Last to Know by Kristin Hannah
Jensine's Recents:
- American Royals by Katharine McGee
- Anna K., a love story by Jenny Lee
- All the Scars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace
- Bone Crier's Mono by Kathryn Purdie
Tune in next month to discuss Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer!
We discuss Tower of Dawn (Sophia and Stephanie's favorite) and Kingdom of Ash, books 6 and 7 of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, including the epic ending! Cue sob faces And yes, we're all still nursing massive book hangovers.
We discuss Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms (Jensine's fave), books 4 and 5 of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas with our special guest, Stephanie! It's the perfect series for a little escape from this extended Shelter-In-Place.
Kicking off summer with all the surprises. We have our very first special guest, Stephanie, who has been a PPG since day one and who we've lovingly dubbed our podcast EP! Together we discuss book 3 of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, Heir of Fire... but guess what?! We just couldn't stop there, so the three of us blazed through the rest of the series because. it's. just. that. good. Spoilers abound, but if you love this series like we do, jump on in and brave our hours of gushing, or at least let us convince you to join the fun.
We popped back on the podcast mics for our May episode, after an eventful April since the beginning of shelter-in-place, and we catch up on all the fun reads and watches that aren't COVID-canceled and the upcoming Twilight book retold from Mr. Cullen's perspective!
Shownotes:
Sophia's Recents:
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
- Dinner List by Rebecca Serle
- Dating You, Hating You by Christina Lauren
- Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
- You've Been Volunteered by Laurie Gelman
- The Wedding Date series by Jasmine Guillory
- My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella
- The Perfect Couple by Elin Hildbrand
- Audio Books: Open Book by Jessica Simpson; When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan
Jensine's Recents:
- House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas
- Honey Don't List by Christina Lauren
- Honorable Mention Shows: Never Have I Ever (Netflix), The Last Dance (ESPN), Ozark (Netflix), McMillions (HBO)
Crown of Midnight recap! Next: Heir of Fire
We’re practicing social distancing with our first remote pod and sharing some recent reads and more recommendations to help pass the time during this pandemic!
Sophia’s TBR:
- You’ve Been Volunteered by Laurie Gelman
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins
Jensine’s TBR:
- Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
- Traitor’s Circle trilogy by Erin Beaty
- Malcolm Gladwell’s audiobooks
Sophia’s Recents:
- Twice in a Blue Moon + Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
- City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Jensine’s Recents:
- An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
- Josh and Hazel’s Guise to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
- Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
- The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
Throne of Glass Recap:
- Synopsis and then spoilers
- Team Dorian va. Team Chaol
- Predictions
Stay healthy, safe and sane, everyone!
We explore the origins of our love for reading and how it blossomed, dish all about the new TATBILB Ps. I Still Love You movie, and gush about our February book crushes.
Show Notes:
- How we got into reading and our favorite childhood classics
- Tips for encouraging the love of reading in young ones
- To All The Boys I Love Before PS. I Still Love You
Sophia's Reads:
- "Tell Me Three Things" by Julie Buxbaum
- "Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating" + "My Favorite Half Night Stand" by Christina Lauren
- Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black
Jensine's Reads:
- "Thief's Cunning" by Sarah Ahiers
- "A Curse So Dark and Lonely" + "A Heart So Fierce and Broken" by Brigid Kemmerer
- "Sorcery of Thorns" by Margaret Rogerson
Spoiler Alert! Skip the end if you haven't read "The Assassin's Blade" yet.
- "The Assassin's Blade" novellas by Sarah J. Maas. We're reading Book 1, Throne of Glass to discuss on next month's pod!
We welcome 2020 with a slew of new years resolutions and a new roundup of reads, including a series to read along with us!
Show Notes:
75Hard Challenge:
- https://medium.com/@simoncaruso_58869/what-is-75hard-and-why-im-doing-it-4ac40342447
- https://andyfrisella.com/blogs/mfceo-project-podcast/75hard-a-75-day-tactical-guide-to-winning-the-war-with-yourself-with-andy-frisella-mfceo291
Sophia's blog: mannaformommy.com
Book titles mentioned:
“Living Forward” by Michael Hyatt & Daniel Harkavy
“Unhoneymooners”; “Twice in a Blue Moon” by Christina Lauren
“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
“PS I Like You” by Kacie West
“Serpent & Dove” by Shelby Mahurin
“Assassin’s Heart”; “Thief’s Cunning” by Sarah Ahiers
“Book of Life” by Deborah Harkness
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang
La La La by Kate DiCamillo
To All The Boys: PS I Still Love You movie premieres on Netflix Wed 2/12!
We review our favorite reads of the year and countdown a couple honorable mentions and do not reads. Cheers to the new year and new reads!
Show Notes:
Sophia’s Picks:
- All the Kristan Higgins’ books!
- "Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty
- "Verity” by Collen Hoover
Honorable Mentions:
- "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- "The Kiss Quotient” by Helen Hoang
Jensine’s Picks:
- "Tell Me Three Things” by Julie Buxbaum
- "Queen of Nothing” (Folk of the Air) by Holly Black
- "King of Scars” by Leigh Bardugo
Honorable Mentions:
- "Three Dark Crowns” by Kendare Blake
- "Dance of Thieves” by Mary E. Pearson
We chat about our family traditions and give you book recommendations for the lit lover in your life, including five of our favorite categories: Faith-Based Book, YA Rom-Com, YA Fantasy/Dystopian, Non-YA Fiction, and Kids' Books. Season's readings and have yourself a merry little bookmas!
Show Notes:
Faith-Based Books:
“Gospel Treason” by Brad Bigny
"Beholding and Becoming” by Ruth Chou Simons
YA Rom-Com:
"Somewhere Only We Know” by Maurene Goo
YA Fantasy/Dystopian:
“A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
Non-YA Fiction:
"The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah
Kids’ Books:
Tales that Tell the Truth series
Elephant and Piggie series
Welcome to Pen & Page Gals, the podcast where we are flipping through our favorite and recent reads. Your hosts are Jensine and Sophia; and in a digital age where everything is fast-paced and fighting for our attention, we hope to inspire you to slow the scroll and pause for some pages instead.