Currently Reading

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are joined by show regulars Roxanna and Mary and they are discussing:

• An Ask Us Anything Episode!: You asked, and we answered!

• Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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2:30 - Ask Us Anything

What was the first book that got you hooked into reading?

3:00 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (Mary) 4:59 - Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (Roxanna)

7:07 - Do Not Open by Brinton Turkle (Kaytee)

7:39 - The Witches by Roald Dahl (Kyatee)

8:26 - The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Meredith)

If you could only recommend one book to read for the rest of your life, what book would that be?

10:09 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (Roxanna)

10:17 - Circe by Madeline Miller (Mary)

10:29 - All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle (Kaytee)

10:36 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Meredith)

What is the book you ACTUALLY recommend the most to people?

11:03 - This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel (Mary)

11:10 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Kaytee)

11:19 - I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (Meredith)

11:32 - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Roxanna)

11:44 - The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers (Roxanna)

If you were to do a podcast about something unrelated to books, what would it be?

12:26 - Homeschooling (Kaytee)

13:13 - The joy of being a novice (Mary)

15:11 - Style in the everyday (Roxanna)

17:52 - All things Enneagram (Meredith)

What is your favorite beverage to have while reading? 

19:55 - I’m a seltzer girlie (Mary)

20:27 - Very cold ice water with crunchy ice (Kaytee)

21:45 - Masala Chai (Roxanna)

22:18 - Coffee, preferably Texas Pecan (Meredith)

How many hours a week do you spend reading?

23:36 - I aim for an hour a day (Mary)

26:09 - Ideally an hour or two a day, but sometimes it’s 15 minutes at that’s ok (Roxanna)

28:38 - Around 10 hours a week (Kaytee)

29:23 - Between 90 minutes and 2 hours on the weekdays, and 4 hours total on the weekends (Meredith)

If you could only read one genre for the next year, which would it be?

30:33 - Romance (Kaytee)

30:51 - Women’s Fiction (Roxanna)

32:27 - Mystery - but not gory or true crime (Mary)

33:47 - Historical Fiction (Meredith)

34:50 - Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

What turns you off of a book almost immediately?

36:22 - Second person narration (Meredith)

35:35 - The miscommunication trope. Go to therapy. (Mary)

36:43 - The lack of quotation marks (Kaytee)

36:55 - Characters that make bad decisions but everyone thinks its fine (Roxanna)

How do you feel about books people recommend to you?

38:29 - I feel like I always do. If you rec it, I won’t read it. It’s all in my head. (Kaytee)

40:08 - IRL I don’t have many bookish friends so I get a lot of “hot” book recs which I don’t read. So I just say “Oh yeah maybe I’ll pick that up!”... and never do. (Roxanna)

40:55 - If from bookish friends or CR listeners, I will take it under advisement and check Goodreads to see if I’d like it. (Mary)

42:44 - I love when people send recommendations. (Meredith)

44:03 - The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Where are you when recording an episode of Currently Reading?

45:03 - In my small walkin closet because the audio is the best here. I’m located in Toronto. (Roxanna)

45:39 - At my basement therapy office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Mary)

46:05 - Normally i’m in my bedroom in Gilbert, Arizona but today I am in Colorado for a family reunion in a guest bedroom/office. (Kaytee)

44:46 - I always record on the floor of my closet. (Meredith)

What are the mechanics of us scheduling recordings?

48:09 - SPREADSHEETS! (Kaytee)

How do you come up with deep dive topics?

49:55 - A mixture of places. Some come off mic in conversation. Some get emailed or dm’d. Some get brought up in the bookish friends group. If we think of one ourselves, we just pop them into the spreadsheet. (Meredith)

What is your number one bookish recommendation source?

51:57 - A single person would be Katie Proctor but a broader source is the Indie Press List (Kaytee)

52:28 - Instagram (Mary)

53:20 - Backlist podcasts (Roxanna)

54:03 - Elizabeth Barnhill with 19% of my recs so far this year (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. July’s IPL comes to us from Booktenders in West Virginia!

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor’s Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Listener Presses: This year we have 20 fantastic titles from our listeners. Our TBRs exploded, and we hope yours do too!

• Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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2:19 - Your Listener Presses

3:48 - The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown (pressed by Katie)

6:40 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 7:32 - Poison for Breakfast by Daniel Handler i.e. Lemony Snicket (pressed by Kimberly)

10:30- The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore (pressed by Jessie)

12:38 - @thewilltoread on Instagram

12:41 - Reproduction by Louisa Hall (pressed by Bill)

13:32 - Chouette by Claire Oshetsky

13:33 - Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky

14:53 - The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (pressed by Emer)

18:29 - The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (pressed by Heather)

18:51 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

21:30 - Go As A River by Shelley Read

22:11 - Zorrie by Laird Hunt

22:49 - The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (pressed by Mirabella)

24:54 - The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

26:18 - Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Azemien (pressed by Matt)

28:05 - Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro (pressed by Ana)

31:08 - Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer (pressed by Amy)

31:14 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

34:35 - In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez-Lovato (pressed by Amanda)

35:48 - A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

35:50 - Breathless by Amy McCulloch

36:45 - The Body in Question by Jill Ciment (pressed by Alana)

40:40 - The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin (pressed by Avery)

44:26 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

44:27 - All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle

44:33 - The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher (pressed by Kristen)

45:36 - Roscoe Books

46:12 - Hearts and Daggers podcast

46:43 - @birdbrainbooks on Instagram

46:45 - Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka (pressed by Holly)

49:02 - Leaving Coy’s Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke (pressed by Aubrey)

50:33 - Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

51:46 - I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalize Sue (pressed by Hannah)

53:01 - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

53:02 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

53:35 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

53:38 - The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel

55:08 - Country Dark by Chris Offutt (pressed by Cindy)

57:25 - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (pressed by Jessica)

59:46 - What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (pressed by Abi)

1:01:17 - The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe

1:02:03 - Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. July’s IPL comes to us from Booktenders in West Virginia!

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor’s Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Welcome, readers. We are so excited to continue this new content from the creators of Currently Reading Podcast! This spin-off podcast series will tackle book to screen adaptations in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book and watched the film version before listening to the episode, because we don’t shy away from strong opinions OR from all the spoilers, unlike our regular episodes.

Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will still include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading.

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The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabrielle Ba

2:29 - Previews

Book Name and release date. Sales info and awards.

The Umbrella Academy - Vol 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way

Movie name and release date. Box office and awards.

The Umbrella Academy on Netflix

10:16 - The Cutting Room

Pivotal Book scenes and how they translated to the screen

Pregnancy/birth scenes

Vanya turning into the White Violin

Transition into superheroism

Vanya getting upset enough to play with the orchestra

Changes from Book to Movie

Time of birth of the kids

Five’s disappearance and reappearance

Fleshing out of characters

Diversity of the cast

Hazel and Cha-Cha are moved up from later volumes

Saving of Earth at the end

Left out of the adaptation

Carnival Fire and Dr. Terminal

Why Ben is dead

Why Diego is called the Kraken

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

Added to the movie

Hazel and Cha-Cha

Detective Patch

Leonard Peabody/Harold Jenkins

The Handler

The Day that Wasn’t/The Day that Was

Klaus’ journey into the past (Vietnam)

Suspicion around Hargreeves’ death

The sibling relationship

General Thoughts

Cinematography

Elliot Page being credited correctly

Dr. Terminal and Eiffel Tower being included

Bad guys can’t shoot good guys: Stormtrooper Effect

Bowling alleys are slippery

Actors can’t play violin

Problematic elements

Nothing of note

Casting and mis-casting

Visual representation of characters

Reginald Hargreeves: Colm Feore → Jeff Goldblum

Number 1/Luther: Tom Hopper → Alan Richson

Number 2/Diego: David Cataneda → Josh Cigara

Number 3/Allison: Emme Raver-Lampman → Zoe Kravitz

Number 4/Klaus: Robert Sheehan → Nicholas Holt

Number 5/Five: Aiden Gallagher → Mike from Stranger Things

Number 6/Ben: Justin H Min → Simu Liu

Number 7/Vanya: Elliot Page → Emme Rossum, but really no one

Pogo: Adam Godley

44:06 - Award Season

Worst and best parts of the adaptation.

The adaptation is so dark in the filming of it

All the things

Soundtrack

Sense of humor

Worst and best actors.

Leonard Peabody

Agnes, the Waitress

Klaus

Worst and best book characters.

Diego

Hargreeves

Vanya

53:33 - Book/Flick Energy

Book scored on a 5 star scale.

Book on Goodreads

The Review I read aloud

Series scored on a 10 point scale.

Movie on Rotten Tomatoes

Movie on IMDB

58:09 - A Leftover Popcorn Kernel

Would you use your superpowers on your kids?

How do you think the world will end?

1:02:29 - End Credits

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Available on Paramount +

Connect With Us:

Currently Reading Podcast | Kaytee | Meredith

Shad is in the Bookish Friends FB Group (for our Patreon supporters)

Our Website | Email Us

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Buy Some Merch

*Please note that Kaytee was out of her regular recording space this week and it affected her audio. It’s not you, it’s us. Back to normal next week!*

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: binging a great series and re-introducing morning reading

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: you get to boss our summer TBRs!

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:29 - Ad for Ourselves

3:42 - Join us for $5 a month! patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast

3:59 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

4:37 - Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir

5:20 - Morning Reads

6:55 - Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

7:50 - Our Current Reads

7:59 - The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Kaytee) 9:32 - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

12:18 - The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Meredith)

13:30 - Long Bright River by Liz Moore

16:19 - Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anapara (Kaytee)

20:01 - The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry (Meredith)

21:00 - Beacon Hill Books, Boston

25:31 - The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley (Kaytee)

26:02 - The Guncle by Steven Rowley

29:12 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

29:23 - The Stand by Stephen King (Meredith)

32:56 - 11/22/63 by Stephen King

39:01 - Boss Our Summer TBRs!

Vote on Meredith and Kaytee’s Boss My TBR!

42:45 - Faebound by Saara El-Arifi (Kaytee Option #1)

43:50 - Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins (Kaytee Option #2)

44:45 - The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory (Kaytee Option #3)

44:51 - Season 1 Listener Press Episode

46:18 - Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Meredith Option #1)

46:21 - Circe by Madeline Miller

46:37 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Meredith Option #2)

46:51 - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Meredith Option #3)

49:44 - Meet Us At The Fountain

49:47 - I Wish You the Best Summer Reading Available to You (Kaytee)

49:49 - Pantsuit Politics Podcast

50:56 - I wish that People Would Stop Being Afraid of Reading Big Books (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. July’s IPL comes to us from Booktenders in West Virginia!

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor’s Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: meeting Currently Reading show regulars

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: what. we think goes into a good book review

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:21 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:26 - @MeredithMondaySchwartz on Instagram

1:31 - @Roxannathereader on Instagram

3:27 - @Maryreadsandmakes on Instagram

5:15 - Our Current Reads

5:30 - Middle of the Night by Riley Sager (Meredith)

10:04 - What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez (Kaytee)

13:02 - The Council of Animals by Nick McDonell (Meredith)

14:17 - Charter Books

16:34 - Animal Farm by George Orwell

17:28 - Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (Kaytee)

17:37 - Funny Story by Emily Henry

18:31 - Happy Place by Emily Henry

21:41 - All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Meredith)

22:48 - We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

25:13 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

25:15 - Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson

29:38 - Come Together by Emily Nagoski (Kaytee)

30:07 - Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

30:27 - Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

33:42 - Deep Dive: What Makes A Good Book Review

36:14 - A review that’s honest

36:41 - A review that’s thoughtful

38:39 - A review that includes title, author, short setup and honest thoughts

39:01 - Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

39:48 - A review that’s more than two sentences.

40:04 - A review that’s self aware

40:44 - A review that’s respectful

41:34 - A review that puts into context the reader’s life

43:54 - A review that accounts for what the author is TRYING to convey and were they successful

44:28 - A review that includes anything that makes the book unique

44:35 - West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman

46:04 - Meet Us At The Fountain

46:22 - If summer means slower paced for you, I wish for you to find some bookish community somewhere. (Meredith)

46:59 - Currently Reading Patreon

48:37 - I wish for a reader camp that includes all my favorite things. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. June’s IPL comes to us from our anchor store Schuler Books in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor’s Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Mary are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: book recs that land with non readers and Kaytee meeting an octopus!

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: how we recommend books to readers outside our own wheelhouses

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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Season 6, Episode 45

1:27 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:50 - Happy Place by Emily Henry

6:52 - Our Current Reads

6:59 -  Ready or Not by Cara Bastone (Mary)

10:41 - Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery (Kaytee)

10:50 - The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World by Matt Kracht (Fabled link, not available on Bookshop)

11:14 - Secrets of the Whales by Brian Skerry

11:16 - Secrets of the Elephants by Paula Kahumbu and Claudia Geib

11:33 - The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

13:45 - Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (Mary)

15:51 - Boswell Books

16:55 - Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart (Kaytee)

17:01 - The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

17:13 - Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being In Love by isthisselfcare

22:25 - The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Mary)

25:51 - Drowning by T.J. Newman (Kaytee)

25:57 - Falling by T.J. Newman

26:02 - CR Season 5: Episode 41

30:12 - Deep Dive: How To Recommend Books Outside Your Wheelhouse

32:21 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

32:23 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gayle Honeycutt

36:24 - This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

36:30 - The Guncle by Steven Rowley

36:44 - Starter Villain by John Scalzi

36:46 - Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

36:52 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

39:31 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

39:55 - All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle

41:19 - Breathless by Amy McCulloch

41:43 - The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

44:29 - Drowning by T.J. Newman

48:55 - Meet Us At The Fountain

48:59 - I wish people would give slow and steady reading a try. (Mary)

49:35 - Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

51:30 - I wish everyone would keep a readerly profile. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. June’s IPL comes to us from our anchor store Schuler Books in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor’s Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: book recommendations and…. book recommendations!

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: books we wish we read sooner

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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:10 - Bite Size Intro

1:44 - Send us your listener presses! Here’s what we need: A voice memo with - Your name, location, book title and author, “Here’s the setup”, and why you love it. Three minutes or less please!! Email those to [email protected] 

4:36 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

8:10 - Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

8:53 - Our Current Reads

9:09 -  A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson (Meredith)

11:05 - Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

12:38 - The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy (Kaytee)

15:52 - The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare

16:30 - 2034 by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis (Meredith)

20:54 - 2054 by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis

21:50 - New Nigeria County by Clare Brown (Kaytee, audio only)

22:05 - @clarabelletoks on Instagram

22:37 - libro.fm

26:51 - A Better World by Sarah Langan (Meredith)

29:34 - Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

31:19 - High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver (Kaytee)

31:39 - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

34:55 - Deep Dive: Books We Wish We Read Sooner

35:44 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

36:34 - A  Little Life by Hanya Yanagahira

37:33 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

37:50 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

38:55 - The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

39:32 - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

40:27 - A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

40:29 - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

40:51 - East of Eden by John Steinbeck

40:52 - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

40:58 - The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

41:09 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

41:47 - Roots by Alex Haley

42:01 - 11/22/63 by Stephen King

42:05 - On Writing by Stephen King

43:20 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

43:50 - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

44:05 - Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

44:11 - Circe by Madeline Miller

46:21 - Meet Us At The Fountain

47:09 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

50:06 - I wish more people would read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. (Meredith)

50:47 - I wish books would tell us if they are right for us when we pick them up. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. June’s IPL comes to us from our anchor store Schuler Books in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor’s Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Roxanna are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: meeting bookish friends and “salt” books

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: difficulty in starting new books

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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:10 - Bite Size Intro

2:14 - Currently Reading Patreon

5:50 - PLEASE send us your Ask Us Anything questions to [email protected]

6:43 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

11:13 - The Stand by Stephen King

12:17 - Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

14:50 - Our Current Reads

14:58 - Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah (Roxanna)

15:02 - Canada Reads

16:56 - How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

19:38 - Diavola by Jennifer Thorne (Meredith)

21:35 - @mother.horror on Instagram

24:10 - The Ghoul of Windydown Vale by Jake Burt (Roxanna)

29:21 - In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides (Meredith)

34:15 - Funny Story by Emily Henry (Roxanna)

38:02 - Small Change by Roan Parrish

43:43 - The Mars House by Natasha Pulley (Meredith - Meredith mistakenly said Mars Room initially. Sorry for the confusion!)

45:03 - Charter Books

45:42 - The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

49:51 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

49:56 - Babel by R.F. Kuang

52:16 - The Measure by Nikki Erlick

53:40 - The Difficulty Of Starting A New Book

57:54 - Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

1:01:19 - The Feast by Margaret Kennedy

1:02:07 - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

1:02:12 - The One by John Marrs

1:02:21 - Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

1:04:07 - Meet Us At The Fountain

1:04:11 - I wish everyone would watch Butterfly in the Sky on Netflix. (Roxanna)

1:04:14 - Butterfly in the Sky on Netflix

1:06:37 - Hello Bookstore

1:07:11 - I wish everyone would reflect on how summer reading affects your reading life. (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May’s IPL comes to us from Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode.

As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. 

Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode.

1:56 - Putting the Book Into Context

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Published Sept. 28, 2010 by Minotaur Books

4.36 rating on Goodreads

Seasonal setting - Winter

Book Awards: Anthony Award for Best Novel in 2011, The Agatha Award, The New Blood Dagger Award, The Arthur Ellis Award, The Barry Award, and the Dilys Award

Critic Reviews

Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book

7:20 - The Setup

16:22 - A Deeper Exploration

Setup and first paragraph

The pacing of the novel

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Quebec vs American History

Anglophone vs. Francophone history and culture

Themes: “bury your dead”, “with time”

P.345 - Not everything buried is actually dead.

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

One bit of lightness in the entire novel

Location, Location, Location

Relationship between Beauvoir and Ruth Zardo

Who leaked the video?

Enneagram Corner

The Ending

1:14:36 - Superlatives

Favorite Scene

Character MVP

Biggest loser

Best food description

Favorite Quote

No spoilers this episode! 

The next book will be A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May’s IPL is brought to you by Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Roxanna | Kaytee

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: more bookish podcasts and new to us books

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: books we have recently DNFd or NRNd

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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:10 - Bite Size Intro

:57 - Half Priced Books

1:26 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:41 - Talking Scared Podcast

1:48 - Tea & Murder Podcast

4:01 - PangoBooks

4:28 - Bookmans

5:34 - Our Current Reads

6:03 - Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis (Meredith)

7:33 - An Unlikely Story

9:11 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

9:26 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

9:57 - Fabled Bookshop

9:58 - Bear Necessity by James Gold-Bourn (Kaytee)

13:38 - The Field Guide To Dumb Birds of the Whole World by Matt Kracht (Meredith)

14:34 - Merlin App

14:55 - The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

13:48 - Charter Books

17:48 - The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht

19:52 - The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S.A. Cosby (Kaytee)

23:47 - The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson (Meredith)

24:59 - The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker

27:14 - @bookishbetsie on Instagram

27:44 - Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Kaytee)

28:06 - Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

32:14 - Our Recent DNFs and NRNs

33:08 - The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff (Meredith)

34:12 - Jade City by Fonda Lee (Kaytee)

36:37 - The Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp (Meredith)

38:29 - Sunshine, Sangria and Scandal by Wendy Day (Kaytee)

40:19 - Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

40:44 - The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (Meredith, Wheel of Time series #2)

41:27 - Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Meredith)

43:16 - Keynan Masters and the Peerless Magic Crew by Davaun Sanders (Kaytee)

44:45 - Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

46:25 - Meet Us At The Fountain

47:16 - I wish there was an easier way to find trusted sources’ reviews on Goodreads. (Meredith)

48:42 - Meredith’s Goodreads 

49:02 - I wish to reject the notion that more books equals a better reading life. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May’s IPL comes to us from Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: bookish mail and more tech to help our reading lives

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: what makes an unputdownable book and some examples

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:26 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:48 - All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

1:50 - The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

3:15 - Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

6:35 - The Outsiders by S.E Hinton

8:44 - Our Current Reads

8:54 - Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by isthisselfcare (Kaytee)

9:11 - Season 6, Episode 25 w/Knox and Jamie

14:07 - Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz (Meredith)

15:16 - Foyles UK

16:08 - The Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

19:05 - Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (Kaytee)

19:18 - Libro.fm

21:57 - Article About AI Friends

25:10 - The Legacy by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Meredith)

26:32 - I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

29:53 - Breathless by Amy McCulloch (Kaytee)

34:10 - Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews (Meredith)

35:55 - The Princess Bride by William Goldman

36:25 - The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews

38:49 - The Most Unputdownable Books

42:03 - Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

42:15 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

43:39 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

43:51 - The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

44:17 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

45:35 - Confessions by Kenae Minato

45:48 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

45:50 - Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

45:56 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

46:17 - Cover Story by Susan Rigetti

47:18 - No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister

47:37 - Kaytee mentions Adenrele Ojo being a Recorded Books copyright narrator but it is actually Simon and Schuster!

48:06 - The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

48:34 - Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

48:51 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

49:27 - Drowning by T.J. Newman

49:28 - Falling by T.J. Newman

49:41 - Bird Box by Josh Malerman

49:44 - Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

49:52 - Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

50:31 - Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

51:49 - Check Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

51:51 - Heartsopper by Alice Oseman

51:58 - March: Book One by John Lewis

53:00 - El Deafo by Cece Bell

54:16 - Meet Us At The Fountain

54:24 - I wish more people would give graphic novels a chance. (Kaytee)

55:35 - Currently Reading Patreon

56:28 - I wish I could collect Precious Moments dolls committing all kinds of murder. (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May’s IPL comes to us from Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: accepting bookish feedback and purging our bookshelves

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: our current top 5 reads of 2024

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:29 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

9:18 - Our Current Reads

9:53 - The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (Meredith)

17:02 - Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (Kaytee)

20:29 - 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered by Sadie Hartman (Meredith)

20:36 - @mother.horror on Instagram

25:57 - The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (Kaytee)

28:18 - A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

28:20 - One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

29:07 - Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy (Meredith)

30:05 - An Unlikely Story

30:30 - Commonplace Books

32:26 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

33:43 - Sociopath by Patric Gagne (Kaytee)

39:23 - Our Top 5 Reads of 2024 (So Far)

42:36 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker

43:24 - Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsen (Kaytee)

43:56 - The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Meredith)

44:43 - A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (Kaytee)

44:57 - Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

45:12 - Confessions by Kanae Minato (Meredith)

46:11 - Wolfsong by T.J. Klune (Kaytee)

47:30 - The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Meredith)

48:36 - James by Percival Everett (Kaytee)

49:32 - All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Meredith)

50:06 - We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

51:17 - Family Family by Laurie Frankel (Kaytee)

52:19 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Meredith)

54:40 - Meet Us At The Fountain

54:51 - I wish you could bottle up the feeling of reading a book for the first time. (Meredith)

54:56 - Family Family by Laurie Frankel

54:57 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

55:45 - I wish I could press All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle. (Kaytee)

56:17 - All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle

57:11 - Minisode w/Mike Gayle

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May’s IPL comes to us from Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: talking podcasting with young people and book to film buzz

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: All kinds of bookish overhype

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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:10 - Bite Size Intro

1:36 - Currently Reading Patreon

3:48 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

6:42 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

7:17 - The Martian by Andy Weir

8:46 - Our Current Reads

8:53 - Olivetti by Allie Millington (Kaytee)

10:40 - Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

11:54 - Zorrie by Laird Hunt (Meredith)

13:07 - Storybound Subscription from Fabled Bookshop

14:31 - Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

15:42 - The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May (Kaytee)

16:12 - Wintering by Katherine May

19:31 - No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall (Meredith)

20:21 - What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

20:23 - Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

23:17 - James by Percival Everett (Kaytee)

23:36 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

27:01 - Erasure by Percival Everett

27:50 - The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (Meredith)

31:12 - @thewilltoread on Instagram

31:47 - The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

32:18 - The Bookish Overhype

34:15 - The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

34:20 - Deacon King Kong by James McBride

34:42 - Zorrie by Laird Hunt

35:51 - James by Percival Everett

36:22 - The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

36:41 - The Fury by Alex Michaelides

37:28 - End of Story by A.J. Finn

39:11 - The Women by Kristin Hannah

39:21 - The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

41:05 - Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

43:25 - Happy Place by Emily Henry 

43:38 - Funny Story by Emily Henry

43:40 - People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

44:34 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

44:47 - Meet Us At The Fountain

44:51 - I wish that books that make you question yourself would give an assessment quiz at the end. (Kaytee)

45:03 - The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May

46:41 - I wish everyone would watch the episode of The Twilight Zone called “Time Enough At Last”. (Meredith)

47:08 - Twilight Zone Season 1: Episode 8 (This is Amazon Prime but you can watch on Paramount + as well!)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. May’s IPL comes to us from Commonplace Books in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: our children reading to the elderly and finally talking to authors

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: Boss My TBR for two bookish friends

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:42 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

4:47 - All The Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

5:30 - What the Dead Know by Barbara Butcher

6:09 - An Unlikely Story

8:34 - Currently Reading Patreon

9:01 - Our Current Reads

9:06 - Right at Home by Bobby Berk (Kaytee)

12:10 - Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz (Meredith)

16:54 - That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming (Kaytee)

20:13 - That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming 

21:03 - The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo (Meredith)

26:01 - Game Changer by Neal Shusterman (Kaytee)

26:05 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman

28:45 - 11/22/63 by Stephen King

28:49 - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’engle

32:12 - Reef Road by Deborah Goodrich Royce (Meredith)

34:15 - 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

37:12 - Deep Dive: Boss My TBR

From Becca K.

39:18 - Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (Arc of a Scythe #2)

39:24 - Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #2)

39:30 - Us Against You by Fredrik Backman (Beartown #2)

39:36 - Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orisha #2)

39:43 - The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (The Royal We #2)

39:57 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman

39:58 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

39:59 - Beartown by Fredrik Backman

40:00 - The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

40:37 - The Winners by Fredrick Backman

From Rachel M.

43:45 - Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

43:49 - Look Closer by David Ellis

43:52 - The7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

43:57 - The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

44:01 - The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

48:23 - Meet Us At The Fountain

48:30 - I wish to press The Guncle into your hands. (Kaytee)

48:45 - The Guncle by Steven Rowley

48:50 - The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

51:12 - I wish when I am reading a book with a good “house” sense of place, I could go to that place and see, smell, touch, and hear all about it. (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April’s IPL comes to us from A Room Of One’s Own in Madison Wisconsin!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Welcome, readers. We are so excited to continue this new content from the creators of Currently Reading Podcast! This spin-off podcast series will tackle book to screen adaptations in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book and watched the film version before listening to the episode, because we don’t shy away from strong opinions OR from all the spoilers, unlike our regular episodes.

Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will still include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading.

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The Dry by Jane Harper

1:07 - Here’s the Setup

3:41 - Previews

Book Name and release date. Sales info and awards.

The Dry by Jane Harper

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

The Exiles by Jane Harper

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

Movie name and release date. Box office and awards.

The Dry (2021)

Force of Nature (coming 2024)

6:57 - The Cutting Room

Pivotal Book scenes and how they translated to the screen

Historical flashbacks

The actual dryness

Catching Scott Whitlam

Aaron Falk’s ostracization

Anything left out that shouldn’t have been

There are pieces of the movie that don’t make sense without the book

Clyde PD

Grant’s role in Ellie’s death

The note that implicates Aaron/his dad

Defacing Falk’s car

Love triangle/sexual tension

Luke’s death details and the bike tire marks

Added to the movie

Suspense building elements

Mushy middle

Weird product placements

Pub room versus big hotel

Casting and mis-casting

A few non-Australians were cast! But very few

Falk - Simon Baker, Ryan Kwanten

Gretchen - Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Margo Robbie, Toni Collette, Naomi Watts

Raco - just a Hemsworth

Whitlam - another Hemsworth, let’s go with Chris

Gerry - Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, Mel Gibson

Problematic elements

Discussion of the “gay f-word”

44:06 - Award Season

Worst and best parts of the adaptation.

The note that implicates Aaron

Mushy middle

Cinematography and score

The dryness, and the climax scene

Worst and best actors.

Young Luke

Raco, the actor

Eric Bana as Falk

Worst and best book characters.

Mal Deacon and Grant Dow

Luke Hadler

Raco

Karen Hadler

Aaron Falk

1:01:27 - Book/Flick Energy

Book scored on a 5 star scale.

Book on Goodreads

Movie scored on a 10 point scale.

Movie on Rotten Tomatoes

1:05:07 - A Leftover Popcorn Kernel

If you were to commit a murder, do you think you could get away with it?

And how would you do it?

What’s the scariest thing in Australia: the snakes, the spiders, the wildfires or the drought?

1:09:49 - End Credits

The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way

Available on Netflix - Season 1

Connect With Us:

Currently Reading Podcast | Kaytee | Meredith

Shad is in the Bookish Friends FB Group (for our Patreon supporters)

Our Website | Email Us

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Buy Some Merch

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Mary are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: fun new hobbies and maybe not having a bookish moment

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: our love for all things memoir

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:39 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

8:06 - Our Current Reads

8:14 - Bride by Ali Hazelwood (Mary)

10:29 - Wolfsong by T.J. Klune

11:58 - Unhinged by Vera Valentine

12:29 - Renegades by Marissa Meyer (Kaytee)

12:40 - Cinder by Marissa Meyer

15:47 - The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune

16:47 - Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (Mary)

19:55 - An Inconvenient Cop by Edwin Raymond (Kaytee)

20:03 - Booktenders

24:51 - A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (Mary)

28:26 - @ginnyreadsandwrites on Instagram

28:44 - Fairyloot

29:07 - Pango Books

30:16 - Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

30:34 - Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

31:53 - A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (Kaytee)

32:10 - Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

35:29 - Deep Dive: Our Love For Memoirs

36:10 - Sarah’s Bookshelves

39:49 - The Black Count by Tom Reiss

41:43 - My Life in France by Julia Child

42:30 - Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling

42:32 - Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

42:46 - Bossypants by Tina Fey

42:51 - Spare by Prince Harry

43:12 - Becoming by Michelle Obama

43:42 - Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

43:47 - I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg

44:04 - I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg (young readers’ edition)

44:59 - Waypoints by Sam Heughan

45:31 - Finding Me by Viola Davis

46:20 - As You Wish by Cary Elwes

46:58 - Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

47:50 - Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother by Beth Ann Fennelly

47:55 - Heating and Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly

48:06 - Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan

48:10 - These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

49:04 - Soil by Camille T. Dungy

49:15 - An Exact Replica of A Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

50:29 - Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder

50:37 - What Looks Like Bravery by Laurel Braitman

50:43 - After This by Claire Bidwell Smith (amazon link)

50:58 - Tragedy Plus Time by Adam Cayton-Holland

51:15 - Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottleib

51:30 - When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

51:53 - A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

52:02 - At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

52:52 - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

53:05 - The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

53:12 - A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

53:43 - The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton

53:45 - Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

53:48 - The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

54:03 - Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

54:15 - I Take My Coffee Black by Tyler Merritt

55:17 - Meet Us At The Fountain

55:21 - I wish to press the Ember Quartet series, starting with Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. (Mary)

55:30 - Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

56:52 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

56:53 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

57:22 - Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

58:38 - My wish is for more bookish board games. (Kaytee)

58:47 - By the Book game

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April’s IPL comes to us from A Room Of One’s Own in Madison Wisconsin!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: learning of new kinds of books and creating outdoor reading spaces

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: how we manage our massive TBRs and how we choose our next read

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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**We are aware of a sound quality issue with Kaytee’s audio. We are in the works to hopefully get that fixed soon! Thanks for hanging with us through it!

2:55 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

5:56 - Breathless by Amy McCulloch

7:54 - Our Current Reads

8:18 - Confessions by Kanae Minato (Meredith)

11:21 - @bookishbetsie on Instagram

11:22 - @readlexyread on Instagram

11:36 - The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

12:34 - Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (Kaytee)

14:57 - 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

15:48 - There’s Something I Have To Tell You by Michelle McDonagh (Meredith)

18:25 - The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

19:40 - Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin (Kaytee)

20:08 - The Happier Podcast

23:48 - Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (Meredith)

27:55 - A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (Kaytee)

28:10 - Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

32:01 - Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

32:29 - Deep Dive: Managing Our Massive TBRs

33:09 - Hearts and Daggers Pod

33:43 - Currently Reading Patreon

44:00 - 3 tier rolling cart on Amazon

47:16 - NetGalley

47:51 - Middle of the Night by Riley Sager 

50:53 - Half Price Books

51:55 - Meet Us At The Fountain

52:14 - I wish people would read The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino. (Meredith)

54:31 - My wish is to share a collaboration between Mychal Threets and PBS. (Kaytee)

55:00 - Mychal Threets on Instagram

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April’s IPL comes to us from A Room Of One’s Own in Madison Wisconsin!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: changing up book subscriptions and implementing new technology into our reading

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: what would we ask the book fairy to change in our books

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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**We are aware of a sound quality issue with Kaytee’s audio. We are in the works to hopefully get that fixed soon! Thanks for hanging with us through it!

1:35 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:51 - Satisfiction Book Subscription

2:18 - Fairyloot

2:19 - Illumicrate

2:20 - OwlCrate

3:00 - @Meredithmondayschwartz on Instagram

7:33 - Our Current Reads

7:42 - Betty by Tiffany McDaniel (Kaytee)

7:48 - Booktenders

10:57 - @authortiffanymcdaniel on Instagram

12:02 - An Unlikely Story

12:04 - The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Meredith)

17:58 - Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones (Kaytee)

20:14 - I Take My Coffee Black by Tyler Merritt

20:49 - Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

21:49 - Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (young readers version)

22:21 - Rabbit by Patricia Williams

22:46 - The Gathering by C.J. Tudor (Meredith)

24:18 - The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

24:20 - The Drift by C.J. Tudor

26:49 - Wolfsong by T.J. Klune (Kaytee)

28:48 - The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune

28:52 - The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

28:54 - Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

31:35 - The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland (Meredith)

36:14 - Deep Dive: Book Wishes To The Book Fairy

40:01 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

56:38 - First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

49:09 - Meet Us At The Fountain

49:21 - I wish everyone would follow @weeklyhomecheck on Instagram. (Kaytee)

50:36 - I wish everyone would listen to the podcast The Canada Reads Podcast (Meredith)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April’s IPL comes to us from A Room Of One’s Own in Madison Wisconsin!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: more efficient book signings and reading when we need to recharge

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: an unofficial deep dive into no prep episodes

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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:10 Bite Size Intro

1:49 - Currently Reading Patreon

5:10 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

9:43 - Our Current Reads

12:19 - Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor (Meredith)

12:54 - From the Front Porch podcast

18:12 - Better the Blood by Michael Bennett

19:21 - Family Family by Laurie Frankel (Kaytee)

19:56 - This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

25:00 - One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

25:42 - Everyone Is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf (Meredith)

27:15 - The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

30:53 - CR Season 4: Episode 30 (about one-night stand books)

31:29 - Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (Kaytee)

31:54 - Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

35:13 - libro.fm

37:38 - First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (Meredith)

44:02 - Evil Eye by Etaf Rum (Kaytee)

44:14 - A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

51:58 - Deep Dive: Talking Through Our Off The Cuff Episode

56:37 - Everyone Is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

56:38 - First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

59:15 - Meet Us At The Fountain

1:01:26 - I wish everyone would try doing summarizing thoughts immediately after reading a book in some way shape or form. (Meredith)

1:01:58 - I wish for a book recommendation on call service. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. April’s IPL comes to us from A Room Of One’s Own in Madison Wisconsin!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Roxanna are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: pastries while reading and huge bookish hangovers

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: the ways our reading lives and changed and expanded over time

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:32 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

3:11 - Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

4:45 - All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Releases June 25, 2024)

7:30 - Our Current Reads

7:36 - The Night Raven by Johan Rundberg (Roxanna)

14:09 - The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson (Meredith)

18:09 - The Fact of a Body by Alexandra Marzano-Lesnevich

21:54 - Burning Roses by S.L. Huang (Roxanna)

22:51 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

26:06 - Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber (Meredith)

27:14 - Caraval by Stephanie Garber

31:22 - In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado (Roxanna)

31:51 - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

31:54 - Finding Me by Viola Davis

36:23 - Better the Blood by Michael Bennett (Meredith)

41:24 - Deep Dive: Changes In Our Reading Lives Over Time

47:27 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

48:07 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

49:55 - The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

50:39 - 10 Things To Tell You podcast w/ Sara Hildreth

50:42 - @fictionmatters on Instagram

53:36 - Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

53:45 - Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

55:48 - Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

58:55 - A Dead Djinn In Cairo by P. Djeli Clark

1:00:32 - Meet Us At The Fountain

1:00:45- I wish everyone knows about shepherd.com (Roxanna)

1:00:52 - Strong Sense of Place podcast

1:01:17 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

1:03:19 - Shogun by James Clavell

1:03:28 - CR Season 1: Episode 14

1:04:45 - I wish more people would read Shogun. (Meredith)

1:05:18 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL comes to us from our Anchor store An Unlikely Story!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode.

As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. 

Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode.

3:45 - Putting the Book Into Context

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

Published Sept. 29, 2009 by Minotaur Books

4.20 rating on Goodreads

Seasonal setting - Autum

Book Awards: Anthony Award for Best Novel in 2010

Critic Reviews

Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

10:50 - The Setup

16:22 - A Deeper Exploration

Setup and first paragraph

First paragraph hooks the reader so completely 

Reminds Meredith of the Vera series by Ann Cleeves

The pacing of the novel

The deliberate pulling away from the “quaint village mystery”

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Quality of writing itself - if it could be written as a whole series in today’s publishing

Themes: human behavior, conscience, Thoreau’s Walden, contentment, fathers

p.172 quote about conscience

p. 298 quote about happiness

p.175 quote about Walden

P. 495 quote about fear and contentment

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

Side plot with Jean-Guy and the notes left by Ruth Zardo

The Oddness Factor (is usually in superlatives but gets talked about early in this episode!)

The Ending

1:15:31 - Superlatives

Biggest Flaw

Character MVP

p. 403

Favorite Character

Biggest loser

Best food description

Fear Factor

1:29:47 - Within the Series

Is this book skippable?

Favorite Quote (gets asked after the skippable portion so I added it here for time stamp sake)

1:34:08 - SPOILERS AHEAD HERE

Next episode’s read: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL is brought to you by our anchor store, An Unlikely Story.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Roxanna | Kaytee

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: book signings and reading retreats

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: revisiting what is working and what isn’t working in our current reading lives

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:23 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

2:45 - CR Season 5: Episode 37

4:17 - An Unlikely Story bookshop

4:45 - Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

6:20 - Our Current Reads

6:51 - One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall (Meredith)

12:21 - My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson (Kaytee)

12:26 - The Friend by Dorothy Koomson (amazon link)

15:23 - Blackwell’s

16:33 - The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Meredith)

18:15 - The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (Penguin Random House link)

21:42 - @pieladybooks on Instagram

22:43 - A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow (Kaytee)

25:48 - The Deep by River Solomon 

25:51 - Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

25:53 - Sing Me To Sleep by Gabi Burton

27:17 - Near the Bone by Christina Henry (Meredith)

28:54 - @mother.horror on Instagram

32:10 - No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister (Kaytee)

35:50 - Deep Dive: Revisiting What Is Working and Not Working In Our Reading Lives

44:06 - Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1) by Robert Jordan

44:18 - @thewilltoread on Instagram

57:14 - Meet Us At The Fountain

57:27 - I wish if you buddy read, find a reader who reads in different genres than you do. (Meredith)

59:32 - I wish to implement SSR in my home. (Kaytee)

1:00:05 - @books.are.word.tacos on Instagram

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL comes to us from our Anchor store An Unlikely Story!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: puzzle competitions and a new to Meredith podcast

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: a recap of Kaytee and Meredith’s annual CR get together

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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:10 Bite Size Intro

2:33 - Currently Reading Patreon

4:09 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

5:02 - Puzzle Board (Amazon link for something similar, the Aldi one does not have an online link)

6:19 - Talking Scared podcast

7:23 - Talking Scared Ep. 176

8:43 - Our Current Reads

8:53 - Love in Color by Bolu Babalola (Kaytee)

10:35 - Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola

12:19 - No Way Out by Cara Hunter (Meredith, DI Adam Foley #3)

13:50 - Close to Home by Cara Hunter (Blackwell’s link)

16:59 - Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (Kaytee)

19:51 - Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

22:00 - A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke (Meredith)

23:51 - The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

23:56 - The Nesting by C.J. Cooke

24:06 - I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

24:08 - Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

27:16 - I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong (Kaytee)

27:26 - An Immense World by Ed Yong

27:55 - Let Kaytee know if you have a copy of It’s Not Exactly Rocket Science by Ed Yong! 

33:28 - The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett (Meredith)

35:08 - The Appeal by Janice Hallett

41:17 - Deep Dive: Kaytee and Meredith’s Bookish Retreat

46:12 - The King’s English Bookshop

48:12 - Brady @booksbybrady on Instagram

49:00 - Currently Reading Patreon

53:08 - Meet Us At The Fountain

53:14 - I wish that we could visit every Indie Press List bookstore in person, or even every potential IPL bookstore. (Kaytee)

54:53 - I co-sign a bookish friend’s wish for a movie theater, but make it silent reading with snacks. (Meredith, thanks Julie Myers for the wish!)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL comes to us from our Anchor store An Unlikely Story!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Roxanna and Mary are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: teaching littles to read and a book press

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: tropes Roxanna and Mary want to see MORE of in their reading

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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2:09 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

2:25 - Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann

4:02 - The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou (Blackwell’s hardcover link, releases in paperback in the US October 8, 2024. If you want to wait for the paperback you can pre-order HERE)

5:51 - Our Current Reads

5:56 - Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Mary)

6:08 - Waterstone’s

10:14 - The Undertaking of Heart and Mercy by Megan Bannen (Roxanna)

11:02 - Under The Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

14:12 - A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter (Mary)

17:46 - Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (Roxanna)

17:54 - Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

21:20 - Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

21:30 - How To Walk Away by Katherine Center

23:16 - The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

24:30 - @katherinecenter on Instagram

24:36 - The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow (Mary, Amazon link)

27:46 - It’s Easier Than You Think by Sylvia Boorstein (Roxanna)

27:57 - Mary and Roxanna’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 episode

33:52 - Deep Dive: Bookish Tropes We Want More Of

36:30 - Small Change by Roan Parrish

36:41 - Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

38:03 - Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh

38:16 - Mary’s Instagram (Holiday Romance is under her “Books Vol. 6” highlight)

39:54 - The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

40:25 - Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

42:58 - Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

43:05 - Hench by Natalize Zina Walschots

43:13 - Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

44:17 - The Change by Kirsten Miller

46:01 - The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

47:01 - The Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White (Sinister Summer #1)

47:07 - The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

49:31 - Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid

50:54 - Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

51:35 - Search by Michelle Huneven

51:43 - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

52:36 - Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

52:38 - Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

54:54 - The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

55:30 - Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

57:07 - Meet Us At The Fountain

57:12 - I wish to motivate listeners to spend time with their physical TBR and plan reads or cull books. (Mary)

59:35 - I wish to press Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. (Roxanna)

59:46 - Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

1:02:18 - Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL comes to us from our Anchor store An Unlikely Story!

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: bookish festival meetups and poop books for potty training

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: answering questions about our thoughts on bookish villains

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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2:56 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

3:13 - The Tucson Festival of Books

Please RSVP to [email protected] if you’re going to come Saturday, March 9! 

5:52 - Everybody Poops by Justine Avery

5:58 - Potty by Leslie Patricelli

6:17 - Poopasaurus by Plum Coconut (Amazon link)

6:18 - Dino Potty by Sara Conway

6:33 - P is for Potty by Naomi Kleinberg

6:35 - The New Potty by Mercer Mayer (Amazon link)

6:58 - It Hurts When I Poop! by Howard J. Bennett

7:05 - Bunny’s Big Problem by Simone Majetich (Amazon link)

7:37 - Poop There It Is by Little Hippo Books (Amazon link)

10:08  - Our Current Reads

10:22 - Something Close to Magic by Emma Mills (Kaytee)

10:29 - The Novel Neighbor

10:42 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

13:18 - The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz (Meredith)

15:25 - The Nowhere Bookshop

17:34 - The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

16:36 - Starter Villain by John Scalzi

19:05 - Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz

20:25 - My Friend the Octopus by Lindsay Galvin (Kaytee, Blackwell’s UK link)

23:23 - The Magic All Around by Jennifer Moorman (Meredith)

29:24 - Libro.fm

30:17 - Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina (Kaytee)

30:24 - Capital Books on K

32:02 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson

32:32 - Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina

33:19 - All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (Meredith)

34:43 - Currently Reading Patreon

34:50 - Fabled Bookshop

36:55 - I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

36:57 - Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

37:23 - All Things Bookish Villains

40:25 - All Her Fault by Andrea Mara

42:02 - East of Eden by John Steinbeck

42:56 - The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

43:42 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

44:31 - Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

45:06 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

45:08 - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

45:24 - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

48:12 - A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

48:58 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

50:21 - Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

51:00 - Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

51:38 - Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

53:11 - Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

54:12 - Meet Us At The Fountain

54:20 - I wish to press How the Word Is Passed by Cint Smith into listeners’ hands. (Kaytee)

54:21 - How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith

56:03 - I wish listeners would stop using the Patreon app to listen to our content and add patreon to wherever they listen to other podcasts. (Meredith)

57:02 - Check our Instagram @currentlyreadingpodcast for the video instructions to add Patreon to your podcast feed.

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. February’s IPL is brought to you by Booktenders in Huntington, West Virginia.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Welcome, readers. We are so excited to continue this new content from the creators of Currently Reading Podcast! This spin-off podcast series will tackle book to screen adaptations in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book and watched the film version before listening to the episode, because we don’t shy away from strong opinions OR from all the spoilers, unlike our regular episodes.

Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will still include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading.

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Content warning for listeners and young listeners for this episode!

1:28 - Here’s the Setup

3:41 - Previews

Book Name and release date. Sales info and awards.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Movie name and release date. Box office and awards.

The Color Purple (1985)

The Color Purple (2023)

7:34 - The Cutting Room

Pivotal Book scenes and how they translated to the screen.

Sisters being separated

Celie first showing up at Mister’s house

Setting up the story

Anything left out that shouldn’t have been.

African continent

Celie and Shug’s relationship

Shug’s life events

Voiceover narration

Setting on the coast of Georgia

Celie’s discovery of herself

Mister’s redemption arc

Casting and mis-casting

Directors

Harpo

Shug

Mister

Problematic elements.

Continuity issues: dock and boat access to juke joint

Sophia having a potential traumatic brain injury?

Mailbox focus

42:52 - Award Season

Worst and best parts of the adaptation.

Mister’s redemption arc

Shug’s redemption arc

Shug singing down the choir

Title line incorporation

Shug singing at the juke joint

The Fancy Pants song (“I’m so Pretty” from West Side Story)

Worst and best actors.

The Mailbox

Squeak/H.E.R.

Adult Nettie/Ciara

Celie/Whoopie

Sophia/Oprah

Mister/Danny Glover

Celie/Fantasia Barrino

Sophia/Danielle Brooks

Young Celie & Young Nettie

Worst and best book characters.

Ol’ Mister

Mister

Shug

The Three Musketeers: Shug/Sophia/Nettie

56:40 - Book/Flick Energy

Book scored on a 5 star scale.

Book on Goodreads

Movie scored on a 10 point scale.

Movie on Rotten Tomatoes - 1985

Movie on Rotten Tomatoes - 2023

1:02:25 - A Leftover Popcorn Kernel

Which of the movies that we’ve already reviewed would you most like to see as a musical?

Jurassic Park by Michael Chricton - Popcorn Episode

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Popcorn Episode

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - Popcorn Episode

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

If you were to cast yourself as one of these characters, which would you be?

If you were sentenced to 12 years in prison, what would it be for?

Murder

Drinking and driving

1:05:46 - End Credits

The Dry by Jane Harper

Available for rent (we’re using the library!)

Connect With Us

Currently Reading | Kaytee | Meredith

Shad is in the Bookish Friends FB Group (for our Patreon supporters)

Our Website | Email Us

Support Us

Become a Bookish Friend | Buy Some Merch

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: bossing our friends' TBRs an exciting look at a book to film preview

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: bossing two listeners’ TBRs

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:35 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

2:07 - The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

5:42  - Our Current Reads

6:01 - The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (Meredith)

10:53 - Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver (Kaytee)

SKIP TO 16:30 IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS SETUP

13:52 - Storygraph

13:54 - Reel by Ezeekat about trigger warnings of Butcher & Blackbird

16:48 - Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death by M.C. Beaton (Meredith)

21:26 - The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

22:25 - Landlines by Raynor Winn (Kaytee, Blackwell’s UK link)

22:30 - A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

23:42 - The Salt Path by Raynor Winn 

27:00 - Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford (Meredith)

28:18 - Fabled Bookshop

28:20 - @wacoreads on Instagram

29:04 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

31:19 - All About Love by Bell Hooks (Kaytee)

33:48 - Deep Dive: Boss My TBR

From Wendy T.

34:25 - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

34:28 - The City We Became by N.K. Jemison

34:31 - The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

34:34 - The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

34:37 - House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

37:10 - @birdbrainbooks on Instagram

37:18 - The Hearts and Daggers Pod on Instagram

From Sarah O.

41:03 - Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

41:06 - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

41:08 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

41:11 - Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert

41:14 - Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

43:31 - Babel by R.F. Kuang

46:47 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman (a follow up from a previous Boss My TBR they loved!)

47:09 - Meet Us At The Fountain

47:26 - Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson

48:26 - I wish to see more blurbs from Netgalley readers on books instead of author blurbs. (Meredith)

50:18 - I wish it were easier to find fandom recommended reading order for authors with series that are within the same universe. (Kaytee)

52:44 - @birdbrainbooks on Instagram

53:08 - The Hearts and Daggers Pod on Instagram

53:27 - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. February’s IPL is brought to you by Booktenders in Huntington, West Virginia.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: even more bookshelves and Meredith potentially meeting authors

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: tropes we are tired of reading

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:32 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

3:46 - Laundry Love by Patrick Richardson

4:11 - Ikea Ivar System (Kaytee mixed and matched as needed/wanted)

5:09 - Hamptons Whodunit

8:25  - Our Current Reads

8:36 - The Kingdom Over the Sea by Zohra Nabi (Kaytee)

8:42 - Foyles UK

10:02 - The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty

10:05 - The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

10:07 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

11:15 - Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

11:46 - The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews (Meredith)

15:59 - The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare

16:37 - The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker (Kaytee)

16:49 - Libro.fm

20:01 - While Idaho Slept by J. Reuben Appelman (Meredith)

26:14 - Soil by Camille T. Dungy (Kaytee)

29:35 - The Cabin in the Woods by Sarah Alderson (Meredith)

33:29 - Deep Dive: Tropes We Are Tired Of Reading

34:23 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

49:14 - Meet Us At The Fountain

49:20 - I wish to give all our listeners a heads up about Booktenders, the indie bookstore. (Kaytee)

49:20 - @Booktenderswv on Instagram

51:26 - I wish we would get more content around books besides JUST a blurb and a tour - for example, a book trailer. (Meredith)

52:31 - @birdbrainbooks on Instagram 

52:38 - @heartsanddaggerspod on Instagram

54:04 - The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. February’s IPL is brought to you by Booktenders in Huntington, West Virginia.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: bookish pre-orders and picking the right books for ourselves

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: Bookish Friends’ best and worst books of 2023, with interesting overlaps!

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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2:19 - Currently Reading Patreon (sign up for a 7 day free trial and check out all the goodness!)

7:42 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

10:57 - The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (pre-order, releases June 11, 2024)

11:01 - Long Bright River by Liz Moore

12:51 - Fabled Bookshop

14:29  - Our Current Reads

14:42 - The Elephants of Thula Thula by Francoise Malby-Anthony (Kaytee)

15:09 - The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence

18:04 - The Serpent & the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent (Meredith)

20:32 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

20:35 - Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

24:12 - Erasure by Percival Everett (Kaytee)

29:48 - The Trees by Percival Everett

30:42 - What the Dead Know by Barbara Butcher (Meredith)

35:28 - The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

36:51 - Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis (Kaytee)

36:56 - The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

40:38 - The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Meredith)

45:31 - This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

46:11 - Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger 

46:20 - Ordinary Grace by Willam Kent Krueger

46:42 - Deep Dive: Bookish Friends’ Best and Worst Reads of 2023

46:51 - Currently Reading Patreon

50:35 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (#1 best AND worst read)

51:25 - Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (#5 favorite)

51:28 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (#4 favorite)

51:32 - Hello Beautiful by Anne Napolitano (#3 favorite)

51:36 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (#2 favorite)

51:49 - The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (#5 least favorite) 

51:54 - Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson (tied #3 least favorite)

51:56 - Happy Place by Emily Henry (tied #3 least favorite)

51:59 - I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai (#2 least favorite)

52:23 - Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

52:46 - Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

53:46 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

53:47 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

54:39 - Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

54:46 - Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

57:58 - The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

59:05 - The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin

59:17 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Interview with Lara Love Hardin

1:01:37 - Meet Us At The Fountain

1:01:45 - I wish for  more duologies in the bookish universe. (Kaytee)

1:02:12 - The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

1:02:45 - I want those who love mysteries, thriller and horror to follow @mother.horror on Instagram (Meredith)

1:03:34 - Mother Horror Patreon

1:03:51 - Near the Bone by Christina Henry

1:04:09 - The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. February’s IPL is brought to you by Booktenders in Huntington, West Virginia.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee may have died and come back to life after recording this week. They are joined by none other than Knox McCoy and Jamie Golden of the Popcast! They are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: reading clickers and reading to our kiddos

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: Knox and Jamie’s top 5 books of 2023, plus each guest brought their favorite reading experience

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:11 - The Popcast

3:21 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

3:39 - Tiktok scrolling ring

4:05 - Kindle remote clicker

7:53 - Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

9:32 - Unhinged by Vera Valentine

10:20 - Fabled Bookshop

10:26 - Cold People by Tom Rob Smith

11:56 - Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

13:35 - Persuasion by Jane Austen

13:44  - Our Current Reads

14:07 - Everyone On This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (Jamie)

14:15 - Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

16:11 - Slow Horses by Mick Herron

16:47 - Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Knox)

19:19 - Warcross by Marie Lu (Kaytee)

19:31 - What Should I Read Next Podcast 

20:13 - Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

20:15 - Slay by Brittney Morris

20:16 - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

21:50 - Wildcard by Marie Lu

22:34 - The Future by Naomi Alderman (Meredith)

23:53 - The Power by Naomi Alderman

27:52 - The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier

28:11 - Deep Dive: Knox and Jamie’s Top 5 Books of 2023

28:42 - Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

28:44 - Congratulations! The Best is Over by R. Eric Thomas

28:49 - The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab

28:56 - The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

29:38 - The Road of Bones by Demi Winters (Jamie #5)

32:23 - Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati (Knox #5)

32:41- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 

34:16 - All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore (Jamie #4)

37:39 - The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen (Knox #4)

39:48 - The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers

40:16 - Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being In Love by isthisselfcare (Jamie #3)

42:14 - Archive of Our Own

42:16 - Fanfiction.net

43:29 - All The Young Dudes by MsKingBean89

44:43 - Traffic by Ben Smith (Knox #3)

46:24 - Drowning by T.J. Newman (Jamie #2)

46:35 - Falling by T.J. Newman

49:04 - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Knox #2)

52:07 - Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (Jamie #1)

56:14 - Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan (Knox #1)

59:16 - Knox and Jamie’s Favorite Reading Experiences of 2023

1:00:43 - Hot and Bothered by Jancee Dunn (Jamie)

1:04:37 - Starter Villain by John Scalzi (Knox)

1:06:00 - The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

1:06:22 - Meet Us At The Fountain

1:07:08 - I wish more of us would print our book covers to keep in a book to reflect on. (Jamie)

1:07:10 - Canon Ivy 2 Mini Photo Printer

1:09:46 - Mother Horror on Instagram

1:10:32 - I want to press two books into the hands of listeners (Knox)

1:11:08 - We Are the Light by Matthew Quick (specifically for dudes, touches on masculinity without being bro-ish)

1:11:32 - Open Throat by Henry Hoke (specifically for writers)

1:13:35 - I would like to read the same book, but with a different take - with more humor and snark (Kaytee)

1:13:38 - Monsters by Claire Dederer

1:16:49 - I wish everyone would listen to the Popcast (Meredith)

1:16:56 - The Popcast

1:17:28 - The Popcast on Instagram

1:18:34 - The Popcast Patreon

1:20:46 - @KnoxMccoy on Instagram

1:20:48 - @Jamiebgolden on Instagram

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. January’s IPL is brought to you by our anchor store, Fabled Bookshop in Waco, TX.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Roxanna are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: reading aloud to our kiddos and bookish Legos

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: How Roxanna has evolved to read more sci-fi, fantasy and romance

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:23 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

1:35 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

1:59 - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo

4:16 - Lego Hotel (Lego Bookshop is sold out on their website)

6:39 - Our Current Reads

6:43 - No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister (Roxanna)

6:51 - House Lessons by Erica Bauermeister

10:32 - Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan

12:07 - The Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella (Kaytee)

12:14 - The Poisoned Pen

12:42 - Alice’s Adventure In Wonderland by Lewis Caroll 

14:10 - The Looking Glass Illusion by Sara Ella

16:36 - Small Change by Roan Parrish (Roxanna, Amazon Link)

17:54 - Happy Place by Emily Henry 

21:53 - The Vacation by John Marrs (Kaytee)

27:20 - The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (Roxanna)

27:26 - CR Season 2, Episode 8

30:38 - One Sunny Afternoon by Rowan Jette Knox (Kaytee)

31:15 - Love Lives Here by Rowan Jette Knox

32:56 - Know My Name by Chanel Miller 

33:09 - Libro.fm

34:06 - Deep Dive: Roxanna’s Evolution As A Reader

34:15 - CR Season 3, Episode 5 (Roxanna’s first episode introduction)

34:54 - Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

37:49 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

38:08 - Get Booked Podcast (no longer running but old episodes are available!)

39:02 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

41:11 - Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

44:44 - A Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark 

43:58 - Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

44:04 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

48:26 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

52:26 - Meet Us At The Fountain

52:45 - I wish people would lean into whatever season they are in with their reading lives .(Roxanna)

52:59 - A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

53:07 - Burnout by Emily Nagoski

53:13 - Wintering by Katherine May

53:21 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

53:23 - Starter Villain by John Scalzi

53:53 - I wish to be read aloud to long after I age out of being read to. (Kaytee)

54:14 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. January’s IPL is brought to you by our anchor store, Fabled Bookshop in Waco, TX.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

We know you’ll be thrilled to hear from Mary and Roxanna again this weekend as you’ve been asking for their top 10 lists, and we’ve got them for you!

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:15 - 2023 Reading Review

3:02 - CR Season 6, Episode 22 (Meredith and Kaytee’s top 10)

5:26 - Currently Reading Patreon

8:30 - Our Top Ten Reads of 2023

8:43 - The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (Roxanna)

10:05 - It’s Easier Than You Think by Sylvia Boorstein (Mary)

12:35 - A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (Roxanna) 14:45 - Happy Place by Emily Henry (Mary)

16:58 - Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather (Roxanna)

20:49 - All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Murderbot #1)

21:22 - The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson (Mary)

21:33 - @Maryreadsandsips on Instagram

23:32 - Small Change by Roan Parrish (Roxanna, Amazon link)

25:48 - Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder (Mary)

26:00 - Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder

27:17 - Malagash by Joey Comeau

28:27 - The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (Roxanna)

30:42 - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (Mary)

31:51 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 

32:34 - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Roxanna)

33:57 - The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson (Mary)

34:03 - Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Junon Dawson

35:52 - CR Season 6, Episode 23

36:39 - Essentialism by Greg Mckeown (Roxanna)

39:03 - Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano (Mary)

40:50 - The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

42:13 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty (Roxanna #3, Daevabad Trilogy #1)

42:15 - Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

42:17 - Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

44:30 - Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston (Mary #3)

47:14 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Roxanna #2)

48:37 - Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (Mary #2)

48:45 - CR Season 6, Episode 19 (Kaytee’s Divine Rivals setup episode)

49:26 - Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

50:49 - Search by Michelle Huneven (Roxanna #1)

53:38 - After This by Claire Bidwell Smith (Mary #1, audiobook is the only way to purchase!)

53:55 - CR Season 5, Episode 36 (Mary’s in depth discussion about After This)

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Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. January’s IPL comes to us from our anchor store, Fabled Bookshop.

• Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Mary are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: gifting books to little ones and accessing our TBR

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately

• Deep Dive: how the endings of books could make or break our feelings about the book as a whole

• The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

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1:22 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week

2:26 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

4:27 - Photo Clip Lights

7:06 - Our Current Reads

7:24 - Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson (Mary)

7:29 - @maryreadsandsips on Instagram

8:33 - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

9:50 - Fabled Bookshop

10:25 - Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsen (Kaytee)

12:42 - Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

12:58 - The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

14:43 - Malagash by Joey Comeau (Mary)

19:28 - In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (Kaytee)

19:47 - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

19:51 - Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

19:59 - The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

22:10 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers

24:05 - Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross (Mary)

24:12 - Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

25:13 - CR Season 6, Episode 19

27:44 - Fairyloot

29:34 - OwlCrate

30:01- PangoBooks

30:30 - Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan (Kaytee, Amazon Link, no longer on Bookshop)

34:44 - Fable app

35:49 - Deep Dive: Endings That Affect How We Feel About A Book

35:53 - Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan

36:30 - The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

36:42 - The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

38:43 - The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

40:58 - Amor Towles The Lincoln Highway Q&A (very spoilery!!)

42:19 - Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

43:48 - Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

43:52 - Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

46:25 - The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

46:26 - Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Junon Dawson

52:05 - Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

52:27 - Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

53:57 - Meet Us At The Fountain

54:10 - I wish I was better at timing my days off for when I’m reading an amazing book. (Mary)

55:54 - I wish for a bookish book nook. (Kaytee)

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon