【the courtesan and the nun: finding spaces for female eroticism in renaissance italy】

If you are the courtesan and the nun: finding spaces for female eroticism in renaissance italylooking for a new superhero obsession, look no further than Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, come to end Ares' wrath upon this world. A.K.A Wonder Woman.

Since she hit the silver screen in the new Wonder Woman movie (and let's be honest: she completely stole the show in 2016's Batman v Superman), Diana has been wowing audiences. In fact, Mashablecalled the new Wonder Woman"the most inspiring superhero movie in years."

But as always, you should read the book, too.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss Wonder Woman Vol 1: The Liesfrom DC Comics' new Rebirth run. The book is a telling of Wonder Woman's origin story, sharing a new, strong, yet vulnerable Wonder Woman struggling to find her way back home.

Join us below as we talk about various iterations of Wonder Woman, what separates Wonder Woman from other superheroes, and what the comic book world can teach us about the beloved character.

Then, inspired by Wonder Woman, we chat about our favorite, badass, and inspiring women in literature including Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, Beatrice from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games, and Jo March from Little Women.

And as always, we close the show with recommendations:

• Aliza recommends the new season of Orange Is The New Black. "You want to talk about some of the best female characters in television, it's that entire cast."

• Peter recommends being in a book club or reading the same thing as your friends. "It's made reading so much more enriching and resourceful and pleasant."

• Nicole recommends DC Comics' Doom Patrol. "It is written by Gerard Way (from My Chemical Romance fame) and drawn by Nick Darrington, and it's one of the best things I've ever read." She also recommends the podcast My Favorite Murder.

• MJ recommends the poetry collection Our Numbered Daysby Nick Hilborn (who's poem OCD went viral in 2013.) "What I love about his poems is that they are earnest with a twist." He also recommends getting drunk and going blind poetry shopping, which is how he found Our Numbered Days.

Next week for the podcast, we are reading and discussing the classic The Lord of The Flies by William Goulding. We hope you'll join us. And if you're looking for a longer book to sink your teeth into, don't forget to check out our MashReads Book, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawleyby Hannah Tinti. You can RSVP to chat with Hannah and MashReads IRL here on June 29.

And if you're looking for more book news, don't forget to follow MashReads on Facebook and Twitter.

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