Currently Reading is a podcast dedicated to the love of books and reading. Two bookish friends discuss what’s on their nightstands, in their earbuds, and on the...
Season 7, Episode 31: New Learning Apps + Prioritizing Our Own TBR
On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: finishing physical books and new learning apps Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately Deep Dive: how we balance our TBRs and new releases 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) . . . . 1:27 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week 3:41 - Vocabulary app 7:54 - @Literallybookshop on Instagram 7:20 - Our Current Reads 7:26 - House of Cotton by Monica Brashears (Kaytee) 8:54 - Exile in Bookville 11:50 - The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha (Meredith) 11:56 - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie 14:44 - Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney 16:40 - The Odyssey by Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (Kaytee) 21:33 - It’s Easier Than You Think by Sylvia Boorstein (Meredith) 25:39 - The Best Way To Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale (Kaytee) 25:48 - Booktenders 27:38 - @alexia.casale on Instagram 28:52 - The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore (Meredith) 30:19 - The Sherlockian by Graham Moore 30:21 - The Holdout by Graham Moore= 34:20 - Prioritizing Your Shelves 34:45 - Fabled Bookshop 45:29 - The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 48:20 - Fabled Storybound Subscription 49:30 - Meet Us At The Fountain 49:35 - I wish to press (again) the book Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts. (Kaytee) 49:41 - Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts 49:48 - Wicked by Gregory Maguire 51:09 - I wish if you have kids and they interrupt your reading, to try reading aloud to them until they get annoyed and leave. (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. March’s IPL comes to you from our tried and true partner, An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA. Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes 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 Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans 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!
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54:57
Season 7, Episode 30: New Indie Bookstores + Our Six Star Reads
On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing: Bookish Moments: Kindle samples and getting new indie bookstores Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately Deep Dive: six star books to which we will take no criticism from anyone 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) . . . . 1:01 - Ad For Ourselves 1:18 - Currently Reading Patreon 1:34 - An Unlikely Story 2:35 - @anunlikelystory on Instagram 3:37 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week 6:48 - Literally, A Bookshop 7:54 - @Literallybookshop on Instagram 8:52 - Our Current Reads 9:23 - The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley (Meredith) 16:32 - All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim (Kaytee) 16:40 - Tucson Festival of Books 2025 19:52 - Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manasala 20:13 - This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (Meredith) 21:47 - A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab 23:20 - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 23:49 - They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh (Kaytee) 24:11 - Southlake Podcast 27:46 - Past Crimes by Jason Pinter (Meredith) 29:44 - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 31:06 - Recursion by Blake Crouch 31:40 - The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues by Beth Lincoln (Kaytee) 31:49 - The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln 35:11 - Our Six Star Reads 36:08 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell 37:29 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 37:33 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 40:17 - Happy Place by Emily Henry 42:32 - The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher 42:37 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 42:38 - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden 42:41 - The Stand by Stephen King 42:43 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 42:44 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer 44:44 - All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle 45:00 - This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel 45:09 - Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge 45:13 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 45:14 - Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson 45:17 - Babel by R.F. Kuang 45:38 - Lobizona by Romina Garber Russell 45:43 - Cazadora by Romina Garber Russell 49:14 - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman 49:49 - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 51:22 - Meet Us At The Fountain 51:43 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Live 51:53 - I want everyone to listen to episode 188 of Sarah’s Bookshelves Live if you enjoy fantasy reading. (Meredith) 51:54 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Live episode 188 53:09 - I wish for a book aggregator that would house all book covers of all books so we could compare easily and find the ones we want to purchase quickly without having to browse multiple sites. (Kaytee) 54:09 - Greenwood by Michael Christie 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 you from our tried and true partner, An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA. Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes 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 Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans 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!
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57:08
Season 7, Episode 29: Series Completist + Non Tragic Bookish Tragedies
On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: book sets and learning new things Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately Deep Dive: things we find tragic in our reading lives that may not actually be tragedies 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) . . . . 1:18 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week 1:33 - Ember in the Ashes complete set (purchase at your own risk!) 5:38 - A Year of Living Curiously by Elizabeth Foley 7:39 - Mug Warmer 7:39 - Our Current Reads 8:28 - Earth by John Boyne (Kaytee, Blackwell’s link) 8:35 - Water by John Boyne (Blackwell’s link) 8:37 - CR Season 7: Episode 2 13:02 - Ask for Andrea by Noelle W. Ihli (Meredith) 15:16 - The Collective by Alison Gaylin 15:22 - The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf 16:45 - Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage (Kaytee) 17:28 - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 21:19 - Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage (pre-order releases April 15) 22:13 - The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory by Tim Alberta (Meredith) 22:56 - The Popcast 26:08 - The Many Assassinations of Samir by Daniel Nayeri (Kaytee) 26:16 - Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri 29:20 - A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos (Meredith) 31:11 - Book, Talk, Etc 35:32 - Non-Tragic Bookish Tragedies 37:10 - A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas 37:47 - Still Life by Louise Penny (special edition w/sprayed edges, releases Sep. 30, 2025) 49:12 - Meet Us At The Fountain 49:22 - I wish to always speak to indie bookstore owners. (Kaytee) 52:08 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Live 52:14 - I wish to know if it seems like we are getting more reissued pretty versions of books from publishers today. (Meredith) 53:07 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 53:35 - The Hunger Games box set by Suzanne Collins (Special edition) 53:37 - 37:47 - Still Life by Louise Penny (special edition w/sprayed edges, releases Sep. 30, 2025) 53:50 - Wicked by Gregory Maguire (special edition) 54:03 - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (special annotated edition) 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 comes to you from Fables and Fairy Tales in Marinsville, Indiana! Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes 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 Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans 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!
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57:18
Popcorn in the Pages - Episode 10: Erasure by Percival Everett
Welcome, readers. We are thrilled 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. Erasure by Percival Everett 1:44 - Setup Erasure by Percival Everett 3:44 - Previews Release date. Sales info and awards. 2025 Audie Awards Movie name and release date. Box office and awards. American Fiction released Dec 2023 Won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2024 7:18 - The Cutting Room Pivotal Book scenes and how they translated to the screen The book within the book Lisa’s death Changes from Book to Movie Name changes Moving the setting from DC to Boston Timeline issues Van Go in the book within a book is arrested but in the movie adaptation he dies Left out of the adaptation Gretchen storyline Woodworking and fishing scenes Game show section My Pafology being explored Added to the movie Sintara added to a book panel at the end The ending Publisher Make Stagg a fugitive so he cannot go on tv Casting and alternates Monk: Jeffrey Wright → Geoffrey Owens, Andre Braugher Lisa: Tracee Ellis Ross → Regina King, Niecy Nash Agnes: Leslie Uggams → Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Cecily Tyson Clifford: Sterling K. Brown → Idris Elba Coraline: Erika Alexander → Kim Fields, Kim Coles Sintara: Issa Rae → Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson Problematic elements Because of all the satire, it may focus too much on the white experience and actually less on the Black 40:11 - Award Season Worst and best parts of the adaptation. Bill vs Cliff “airtime” Less tension around mother going to the assisted living home The moving of books from African American to Mythology Was very funny - zippy dialogue, continuing to move story forward Worst and best actors. Leslie Uggams - Agnes (mother) Erika Alexander - Coraline Adam Brody - Wiley Jeffrey Wright - Monk Worst and best book characters. Linda Mallory Van Go Jenkins Monk Yul 48:35 - Book/Flick Energy Book scored on a 5 star scale. Book on Goodreads Series scored on a 10 point scale. Movie on Rotten Tomatoes Movie on IMDB 53:23 - A Leftover Popcorn Kernel Do you have any irrational fears? If you were on a Jerry Springer type show what is something weird that they may find out about you or your family? 59:30 - End Credits 59:55 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky The Perks of Being A Wallflower is available to stream for free on some sites, but is available with an Amazon Prime membership 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
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1:01:22
A Journey to Three Pines - Episode 8: The Beautiful Mystery
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. 2:00 - Putting the Book Into Context The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny Published Aug 28, 2012 by Minotaur Books 4.2 rating on Goodreads Seasonal setting - Autumn Book Awards: Agatha Award for best novel 2012, The Anthony Award for best novel 2013, The Macavity Award for Best Novel 2013, The Audie Award for Best Mystery Novel 201 Critic Reviews A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book 8:30 - The Setup 9:40 - A Deeper Exploration Setup and first paragraph The pacing of the novel Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny Jean-Guy and Annie Themes: addiction, “descent” evil - through the lens of Francouer The ending The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins Canadian aspects Abbey of Saint Benoit Du Lac 1:10:23 - Superlatives Favorite Scene Character MVP Biggest loser Best food description Is this book skippable? Favorite Quote No spoilers this episode! The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny The next book will be How the Light Gets In 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 comes to you from Fables and Fairy Tales in Martinsville, Indiana! Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes 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 Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans 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!
Currently Reading is a podcast dedicated to the love of books and reading. Two bookish friends discuss what’s on their nightstands, in their earbuds, and on their Kindles right now, in addition to books they’ve loved forever, and a variety of other readerly topics. Looking for your next great book? You'll find tons of book recommendations every week.
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