Book Club Kit
Dear Reader, Thank you for choosing The Ex Talk for your book club! This book has been rattling around inside my brain for the past ten years, but it was only a few years ago that it solidified into something with characters and a plot. Like Shay, my main character, I’ve always been very career-focused, and possibly even a little too single-minded. I started college certain I wanted to study journalism, though this morphed from print to radio my sophomore year. I was so convinced it was my forever career path that I never considered anything else. Finding radio opened up a whole new world for me. I started a podcast my senior year of college while interning on a call-in show not unlike the one Shay works on at the beginning of the book. I devoured "This American Life" and "Fresh Air" and a number of smaller local shows. When I landed my dream job producing a weekly show at a Seattle NPR station, I was thrilled. I’d overworked myself and definitely underslept, but I’d made public radio the center of my life, and it had paid off. A little over two years later, I felt it: the burnout. Fatigue, restlessness, a lack of focus. I was approaching my mid-twenties, and it took me longer than it should have to recognize it for what it was. I didn’t think it would happen to me so soon, and especially not with journalism. I had no idea where to go next. What brought me the most joy during this time was writing—not for work, not for a radio script, but for myself. I left public radio for a job that allowed me time and space to write on the weekends, and while those first few book attempts never went anywhere, I realized something else about myself. I wasn’t just a journalist or just a producer—I was a storyteller.
The Ex Talk is a romance novel that deals with the challenges of millennial adulthood, but it’s also a book about reconfiguring career expectations when you’ve wrapped up your entire identity in one thing. It’s a book about how I found my way back to radio and how I fell in love with it again—and I hope you can, too.
Happy reading! Rachel Lynn Solomon
Rachel ’s Favorite Podcasts How Did This Get Made? The first podcast I started listening to regularly—and the one that got me hooked on podcasts! Actors Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas deconstruct (and mock) some of the worst films ever made.
NPR Up First The perfect alternative to doom-scrolling. A fifteen-minute podcast with “all the news you need to start your day,” as the hosts say at the beginning of every episode. I always feel a little calmer after listening.
Here to Make Friends If you’re a fan of The Bachelor/ette , I can’t recommend this one enough! Two journalists and a slew of great guests break down all the absurd and problematic elements of the franchise.
The Bechdel Cast Two comedians take a look at popular movies through an intersectional feminist lens. I never laugh more than when listening to this one!
Rachel Lynn Solomon
worked in public radio before her love of storytelling carried her to fiction. She’s the author of several books for teens and adults and will tell anyone who’ll listen that it really doesn’t rain that much in Seattle, where she lives with her husband and tiny dog. rachelsolomonbooks rlynn_solomon
Author photo © Sabreen Lakhani
Discussion Questions 1.
At the beginning of the book, Shay’s animosity toward Dominic centers on her feeling overshadowed by him at work. Is this something you’ve experienced? How did you handle it?
2. If you started this book with prior knowledge of public radio and
podcasting, how did it change upon finishing? If those worlds were new to you, what did you find the most interesting? What were you most surprised by?
3. Shay and Dominic set aside their journalistic integrity to lie on
the air, though they’re a bit forced into it by their boss. Was the show worth temporarily sacrificing their journalistic ethics, and do you feel they adequately come to terms with this by the end of the book?
4. If you could read the book from Dominic’s point of view, what do you think his character arc would be?
5. In many romance novels with M/F pairings, the male character is
often the one who is more sexually experienced, taking the alpha role in the bedroom. What did you think of the reversal of that dynamic in this book? Did this match up with your expectations of Dominic’s character? Why or why not?
6. Do you think Shay and Dominic would have begun a relationship if
not for The Ex Talk ? Did it jump-start their relationship in a positive way, or was it more of a roadblock they needed to overcome?
7. 8. 9.
Shay’s father passed away when she was in high school, but she’s still living with her grief. Do you think working in public radio helped or hindered her in terms of processing that grief? Kent, Shay’s boss, is an example of the quiet ways misogyny goes undetected in the workplace. Why do you think he was able to get away with it for so long? Shay and Dominic often joke about their poor adulting skills. By the end of the book, in what ways would they find themselves successful? How has that definition of success changed over time?
10. What do you think the future holds for Shay's and Dominic’s careers?