Welcome to the watch your next podcast. We got a group chat episode. We got Amy, we got Sarah, and we're gonna talk about our reading live. We were chatting about reading apps. I was sharing with them the Page Brown app, which I'll talk more about it later on this season. But we are gonna talk about how our reading has evolved. What do we do? How do we get our recommendations and how do we juggle it all new releases, arcs, back list titles, and all the things in between. So first things first, Amy, tell us where you've been off to, what you've been reading, and then we'll go to Sarah.

I am at that point where I'm scrambling between do I read more 2025 books? Do I stick with my backlist books or do I move on to 2026 books? So instead of reading much, I'm just frozen and not reading much at all. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

function paralysis of too many

Yeah.

It needs to be studied.

Yeah, I know. I think you rubbed off on me

Yeah.

this time. No, I am reading. I'm just not making very much progress, so I decided that until December hits, I'm gonna read 20, 25 books maybe. And then I think in December I'm ready to move on to 2026 books. I still am reading holiday books though somehow a little bit. I'm not burned out yet.

Yeah.

It's coming though. But other than that, yeah, I'm not really, I dunno what I'm doing with myself. I'm just kind of dicking around until January I think, and I don't know, I'll figure it out I guess as I go.

Yeah. And Sarah, what you've been up to.

I've been reading a little bit, mainly audio books, a few romances that I quite enjoyed and then a bit of nonfiction. I've been trying to find a holiday read. just really sounds amazing and I'm just having the worst time trying to find a little cute, cozy holiday romance that's not 400 pages. That doesn't sound like 20 before that I've read, so

I do have a gift for you on audio for you so you have books to read.

amazing.

so we got one night, two Holidays by Ali Brady.

Yeah, I was gonna say it's two hours maybe.

a two hour audiobook. It's a narrator, but Julie Whelan. So we like her. I think

Love it.

It's narrated by Julie Wheland and Teddy Hamilton,

Oh,

Ooh, good combo.

go. So there's that.

That's one to try.

then we have another one gift Rarely given by Amber Cordova, which is three hours long. And then we got the Christmas exchange by Cali Melle by four hours long. So those are audio

thank you. Love it.

Because Megan Quinn, her holiday book is really funny.

Know what the hangup was.

But

I know.

Megan Quinn. The Megan Quinn book is funny. It's long, but it's

But it doesn't feel as long. I don't feel and I, the Lauren Blakely. Me and Laura both liked that too. That was delightful and really well done on audio. Another one that's long, but if those are good, if you're looking for romcom funny, laugh Out Loud, kind of like cutesy. Did you read Megan Quinn's last year? One, the How? The Grump. Okay.

not.

It's the first in the series and you don't have to read 'em both, but they were both really fun.

Okay. Maybe I'll give them a go.

yeah.

Yes.

Hers run a little long for me,

I know you just speed up the narration when you start getting bored. That's what I do. Just bump it up a little bit more,

I will give it a go. Yes, I

give it a go just to see if it's your vibe, because those have been my favorite holiday reads this year so far, I would say for sure.

out loud, funny, I'll definitely give 'em a go.

I love Megan Quinn's humor. She makes me laugh really hard every time I read one of her rom-coms. So she kind of reminds me of Tara Sivec, who I love. I think her humor is great. I like that style of humor. So we'll see. Maybe it'll work for you.

So we got some book quarter national holidays for those who are not, were unsure if they want a little bit of a short, shorter audio. We got three of them, but then we got some longer audios. But they're excellent. They're full cast audio. The Megan Quinn has Shay as the narrator of the story, which Really funny because then he's, narrating the story. And then we have the characters actually talking to the narrator. And be like, what the fuck are you talking about? So it's a fun one. It is

Yes.

I did listen to some spicy sections while I was in the drive-through

You were in the drive through. I was just gonna say you were getting food.

which is the most politically incorrect drive-through. And I was listen to a sex scene at the restaurant that closes on Sunday to go to church. So this is how you do it. If you're gonna go to Poly and correct, get some malign correct chicken. You might as well just sweet the spicy scene.

I love it.

Spicy chicken. So, all right, so let's talk about our reading live. We've been lifelong readers, the three of us, but we have been doing this for almost 10 years. So we've been in the content creation of space for a long time. So talk to us about reading before getting into book program, because the three of us started bookstagram and then have evolved into other areas,

do you wanna start?

Sure. I would say before Instagram and becoming an actual book reviewer or whatever you wanna call it, I have always been a girl that likes series, so that hasn't changed. Like I've always been a series reader. I've always been a library girl. I love going to the library and I remember walking there when I was a kid and like getting books and loving it. And I still was like that before bookstagram for sure. I think I read more thrillers back then than I do now. And romance. I didn't read a lot of straight romance. I read more women's fiction and like British Chiclet, like that early aughts kind of stuff. I was very into that kind of stuff. Yeah, and I have always been a fan of eBooks. I've always been a Kindle girl even before. I loved reading eBooks and I think audio definitely. Came into play more. I don't think I tried an audiobook until I was a reviewer, to be honest with you. I think I knew they existed, but I do remember, this makes me seem really old. When I first started doing audio reviews for Ette, they used to mail me see burn CDs of their books. And this was 2016 you guys, so it wasn't that long ago, but Nita would mail me. The books that I wanted and I would listen to the CDs in my car when I was striping. Isn't that wild? Yeah. But I remember I don't even know how I got started with her, but I remember being like, well, this is a game changer. And then it evolved into oh, there's such a thing called Audible and oh, Libby has audio books I can download. And then that's when my reading like really increased honestly, because I was like, okay, now I can read why I'm folding laundry. This is amazing. So I think that is the biggest thing that has changed for me, honestly.

Yeah. I think I

I love that.

you introduced me to audio, so I was like, 'cause I didn't do audio. I was straight up like just reading the all day in my phone, so

Yeah.

I was

I always forget that. That's crazy.

So How about you, Sarah?

So I'm big library gal too and big series gal

Mm-hmm.

I was big into cozy mysteries before books to Graham and just going straight through a series and at Barnes and Noble or at my bookstore, when they came out or trying to get in the library line. Lots of chi lit, women's fiction, British Chicklet, confessions of a shopaholic.

The best.

my life. I just absolutely adored her.

Mm-hmm.

and

Becky Bloom for life.

Oh my gosh. Just such a moment, such a literary moment.

Yes.

So,

What a time.

What a time tried to kind of, I love thrillers and mysteries, but those were harder for me 'cause I feel like the ones that I were was seeing, they were very male centered a lot. Dan Brown, da Vinci Code,

Yes.

that type of thriller, John Grisham, like all the stuff you see. And I'm like, okay, there's gotta be more. there

Mm-hmm.

suited for me. What's definitely changed since I became a reviewer is really having a community more to talk about books with

Yes.

I felt like I was just kind of reading alone, reading alone and enjoying stuff and not having someone to really talk about it with or to get recommendations. I knew books on CD because my grandma used to check them out.

Love that.

younger and I remember she checked out Silence of the Lambs, and then

Oh my.

and she, this is my petite little grandma was listening to it while walking in the woods and she's this is not the great choice, but it was books on CD or books on tape. so I used to do books on CD in my car. And so I remember like when I started getting, advanced reading copies and I was not an e-reader like you, Amy, I kind of was like, how do I download this to my tablet? I'm reading on my tablet,

Oh, how funny.

this

what is happening? Yeah.

it was totally new. And then when I started reading that, then I got a Kindle, I'm like. It'd be so I could review so many more books if I could listen to them

Yes.

and CDs. And actually when I got my new car, it didn't have a CD player. How am I gonna listen to my books driving around?

Yes.

so the early listener copies were game changer for me, like when those came out. Really having a community and I read Chick Litt women's fiction, but I wasn't super into romance and so Laura

Right.

me to a lot of romance. And then of course, Amy, you and I read our beloved series, Virgin River

Oh my gosh. I know really that, honestly, same thing as you were talking about that with romance. I'm like, you know what? I did read a little bit of romance, but it definitely wasn't a go-to genre for me until talking with you guys and getting recs from you guys and finding and then I remember reading like just tried published romance and then it was like, oh wait, there's this whole world of indie romance. Like what is this about? There was so much to explore, so, and now it's at least half of my reading, if not more.

Yeah.

sure. For sure.

like that sense of community and, I'm not as active, but you know, I, there's people that I've, built relationships with and so I trust their recommendations. I trust

Yes.

reading. But that's really, the big game changer for me. And

Okay.

read thrillers and mysteries that I like. And, knowing that more people enjoy cozies than me when I was sitting, at my apartment, 21 years old, reading, blueberry muffin murder. This is wonderful.

I love it, Sarah. I love it.

Oh my gosh. I love this. Yeah, I love the fact that we connected 'cause I too was a check waiter. And the early aughts. And then I moved to New York and I was like, basically following my recommendations were what I was seeing in the subway. Because at this time there were no candle E readers. This is two thousands. So I

Right.

where people reading on the subway? What's going on? And then I would go to Barns, Nobles and see what was popular.

Mm-hmm.

read and then I'll just read the back list, read everything they have, and then I'll be like, okay, what am I gonna read next? And it wasn't until I had a podcast and someone was like, Hey, there's. Book tube. They talk, people talk about books and I was like, wait, there's community that people talk about it. Because for me, reading has been such a solitary act to do then being like realized. I'm like, no, there's content creator. There's like Instagram, there's places you can talk about this. And so one of the things I realized that for me was because I was not earning a lot of money in New York and New York is expensive I could not afford to buy books because my dearly beloved The Strand who used to sell $1 books checklist, a lot of really great books for $1

Wow.

they turn it into a lot less like a discount store. I'm still sad about that one. And

Yeah.

And so I think it was my coworker told me, he was like, no, there's a library like down the street. I work in city Hall by the Brooklyn Bridge area, and there's actually a library down the street. You can just request books from all room. I'm like, wait, I'm sorry. I can request books from the library and they can give them for free. And that's how I became a library user. And lo and behold,, I didn't wanna be on social media, and so I was in a really boring office job that I had, doing literally nothing. So, I started downloading eBooks on my phone and just reading and pretending that was doing work as one does, and just reading 99 cent Romans until I decided, I was like, oh, maybe I would just do kind limited and then just.

Yes.

And I think we connected in 2020. Because you were both reading Virgin River

We were reading Virgin River and then I think Sarah was like. Oh, she's making a Patreon. And I was like, okay, let's check it out. And that's when we really started talking like

yeah.

all the time and stuff. But yeah, Virgin River definitely. And me and Sarah were always friends before that, but that really was like, oh my God, this is the best thing that we've ever done together. This series. We had so much fun

With the. Audible romance too. I,

that escape. Was it Audible Escape when they had that?

Yes.

Yes.

was a time.

yes. We started listening to it, around holiday ish

We did.

and we were, it was like we'd listen to it and I'm like leaving you I'd pause it and be like, Amy, oh my gosh. Did you get to this part

Yeah. I remember you specifically sending me a voice note and being like, oh my God, you have to start this. You're gonna love Mel. And I believe the reason that they were reaching out to us was because they were starting the show.

Yeah.

And they were doing new covers and things like that, so we were like, okay, we'll check out this series. And I remember being like, oh my God, 18, 19, 20 books, whatever it was. But damn, if I didn't blow through all of 'em,

So good.

that audible escape was just so much fun. I did, I got written through RaeAnne Thayne series. God, I read so many great books through that. I was devastated when that went away.

Oh, that was really a wonderful time. I remember

It was

with you.

yes,

Rayanne was more like rich, cute, funny, millionaire, single mom.

Yes.

It's drugs and crime

Yeah, they're busting a crime ring and all this. Yeah, a little bit grittier. Yeah, it was great. And then I read, I ended up binging most of Robin's books, like I went back to some of her other series. She has one I think called Thunder Point. That I went, that was on Audible, like I ended, oh, and grace Valley, which was loosely connected to Virgin River. I went through that one. That was just, it was so fun. And remember Sarah, we ended up hosting like little chats where we would read a book every month or something like

so

just a fun time to be a little romance reader on Instagram.

yes, we did the countdown to Virgin River or let's go to Virgin

yes.

And we did one at a time, like waiting for the new, we timed it where the new book would come out.

Yes. It was so much fun. I miss that so much. That was just a fun time to be in a community like we were saying, like with other readers because it is such a solitary thing. Like I know when I was in high school or younger, I didn't have friends that I talked to about reading, none of my friends read. Like it wasn't something that I could be like, oh, did you read the New Babysitters Club book? No. Like I would talk to my mom and my mom would humor me, but it's not like she was excited about it,

yeah, like I wanted to talk to friends, but nobody like I, unlike Gen Z, we're elder millennials, so we did

Yes.

have social media. We didn't

No.

other people in other schools

No.

We didn't have text messaging we were just a phone and it was just conversation about your hyper-local thing that was happening.

Yes.

were not talking about your books. If you're on, you're only readers. So I think that was like the big part of the change. What social media did was open opportunity to connect with other readers and connect with other

Definitely.

And we all have been burned by bad reviews and bad bad recommendations and everything. But I think it's been helpful to build connections. So I think as we've talked about it, like we connected because we have some shared interests or we have

Mm-hmm.

do, but how do you think you have been able to foster some of those friendships with, other creators or other people you consider book twins for you who can gifts because you're good with Dennis, actually, it's

Mm-hmm.

Like you, he you have a, relationship where you can pinpoint what he likes, which is

Yeah he's so funny. He posted something the other day about who would you trust with your book recommendations and tag me? And I was like, no. Literally. Because he will text me sometimes and be like, would I like this book or not? I know you gave it four, but would I like this? And it's funny how an online friend like that you learn each other's taste like, I feel like all of us could recommend a book to each other pretty easily. 'cause we know each other's tasteful enough and yeah, there's a few more. Jamie definitely beauty in the book. I could, we could recommend books back and forth for each other. And Dennis for sure. I don't know if there's really anyone else, but then I have a lot of people that I do trust their recommendations to an extent too. I might not talk to them about books every single day, but if they post this thriller was amazing. I'm like, oh, I might actually bump that one up because they liked it more. You know what I mean?

Yeah. I think for me it's basically observing what they like, observing what their taste looks like and being like following up and sometimes, no, I actually, I agree with your take on this or no, I don't agree, but you know what I don't agree with you may mean that's someone that, I may not go for a reading taste, but I can recommend somebody else for that taste

absolutely.

You're one star. It's a five star for me. So if you give one star,

Mm-hmm.

star for me.

Yes.

the one star for you,

Yes.

a place where we gotta dictated, your taste as a whole.

No,

the same homogenous taste.

and Dennis and I rarely agree honestly, like it happens, but it's rare. But I still get tons of wrecks from him because I know, oh, he thought this was a three star, probably gonna be five for me. Cool. So it works both ways. Like his negative review, like you were saying, might push me to read it more. Yeah.

Yeah. So, I think people think about oh, it's a good reads review. It has to be this. So I'm like, sir, do not make that determination.

No.

your own reading, taste your own content warnings, your own areas where it works, and then to be like, okay. Look at those one star reviews and see what is going on and look at those three star reviews. 'cause they might be more critical about it

Mm-hmm.

the five star reviews. The five star reviews are typically are like goshing, like it's the greatest book on ever. Right. Then they're

Yeah.

tell you maybe what you're looking for.

Right.

I remember when I first started really getting back into reading and utilizing good reads. I'd read a book from the library, and again, before I had anyone to talk to really, I'd be like, oh my gosh, this book is amazing about this and that. 'cause I was able to connect to it and then I'd go be like, let me go fill out a little review. And I'm like, 3.2 stars, what's wrong with me? What's wrong with people? But it's, that's such a good point. And a reminder too, Laura. And I'm guilty of that. I'll, go on. Good reason and be like, if I see a book out and about, I'm like, okay, what's the consensus? But then

Yeah.

I need to trust my gut. Is this actually for me?

Yeah,

and give it a go. And if it's not for me, fine. But there's been plenty of books with four plus stores where I'm like, no. And then there's lots of, like Laura and I talked about, we love a three star read.

Yeah,

yes.

definitely.

Most of the books. So what do you do when you try out a new book that new to you? Book new to you author, maybe something test untested. 'cause we do get access to early access to arcs and our AOCs and stuff like that. Do you give books a try? As I sample

Yes. You're so good at that. I wish I was better at that. I think it's amazing that you can do that.

try out a bunch of books. I give them 10 to 20% to see if it fits, and then I continue to them in different formats and try it out. But what's your take on, 'cause I know like you're both are reading at a different

Mm-hmm.

specific things. What do you look for or what makes you keep going? What makes you put it down or what makes you try out new to you? Authors.

I am not really picky about who wrote the book. Honestly. I will give a debut, a chance, or an indie just as much as Emily Henry. You know what I mean? Like I don't, it doesn't need to be in hou a household name for me to try at all, so I don't pay much attention to that. I do fall for buzzy books for sure.

yeah.

even if I just hear reviewers talking about oh, this book, then I'll, download it or whatever. And as far as like deciding to read it or not, I will keep reading a book as long as I'm vibing with it at the time. Like I, there's really no rhyme or reason. I know some people are like, I gave it 50 pages or 25. I don't really have a set rule like that for me. And then as soon as I'm like not into it, I just, I'm done. And I don't DNF. That often, but I'm not afraid to, I just think I've gotten to where I kind of know what I like and it's not even so much that I know what I like. I know what I'm in the mood for at that moment. You know what I'm saying? I'm not gonna pick up a thriller if I'm in the mood for a romance. Like I'm not gonna try to force that to happen. But if I'm in the mood for a romance, that's what I'm gonna go for, so nothing really scientific. Crazy. I just kind of go with it until I'm not feeling it. And every once in a while, if there's a book that I'm like, this is okay, but it'd be better on audio, I'll make that switch sometimes. And that helps and changes things. But most of the time if I'm not liking it in print, I'm not gonna like it in audio or vice versa, unless the narrator's just shit, which doesn't happen very often I don't think. For me, I'm not that picky about my narration.

No, Amy. Yeah, you're, you are really good at yeah. I'll give this a go. Never heard of this author. Never heard of this publisher, but cowboy romance. I'll go for it.

Yeah. If it sounds good and the vibes are there, I definitely don't try to be snobby, like I don't care. Like

No,

care. If you wrote this in your backyard

totally.

it on KU last night, I will try it. Sure.

I remember years ago, like when we first connected, literally like a decade ago, someone was talking about, this is the worst book I've ever read. It had this, it had that, whatever. And you're like, send it to me. I think I know who it is. I'll have to message you,

You'll have to mess with me 'cause I don't remember who it was, but that's funny.

They were just kinda like dogging. They were like, someone else has to read this book so I can talk about, you're like, send it to me. I'll read it. And I'm like, wow. I love her. Like she's really down for, to read anything

Pretty much I am, as long as it's in my, if I'm in the mood for it. If I'm not in the mood, it's just not gonna happen. But yeah, if I'm in the mood, I'll try it.

I have it was like, this sounds wild. I gotta, I need to try it. Like I need to see this for myself type

If someone makes a big deal out of a book too and says it's got a wild plot, or it's the worst thing I've ever written. It was poor. I have to see for myself like I'm so, I think that comes from my nosy nature. Like really? Is it that bad? Like I gotta find out for myself.

Yeah.

Yeah.

types of situations.

I think I just tell it because you kind of reel about series that too. You're thinking you're gonna try and I was like, there's this, the Paisley Hope series. It's the Cowboy Wine.

Yes, we were talking about this earlier.

I think because I'm reading that series I am debating where to pay for the freaking audible credit or wait till I get an offer from Amazon so I can get the audiobook.

Yes.

listening to the series and stuff like that. But I was telling you, I was like, I read the first book and the best way to describe it is everything in the kitchen sink, cookie. It's basically, it has so many tropes that doesn't make sense. And yet I still read it and I was like, it's for suspend disbelief in this one because

Yeah,

Easter, a co cowboy, a bartender. And he owns the CAS skating rink and the

talk about a jack of all trades.

And he's saving the town. And he also it's also orphan too.

Oh, of course.

coming back. He's a retired hockey player, so he is coming back home and doing all those different things. She is like 25, but somehow has an apartment in Seattle. She's moving back home because her fiance kicked her out of the apartment, but they own the apartment again in this reality

Yeah. Who doesn't own an apartment at 25 and at a high rise somewhere fancy.

In Seattle.

Yeah.

to come to her Kentucky house, who actually does Kentucky Derby courses.

okay. Gotcha. I mean, honestly, give me 10 of 'em. It sounds great. See, I'll read that. I'll read the shit outta that. Every trope under the sun,

And

throw in a surprise pregnancy in the end. Sold. I'm the rare person that likes a pregnancy, A surprise pregnancy, though. Most people hate that shit. I love that shit. I eat that up.

I actually don't mind suppress pregnancy. What I'm mad is that there's no more left triangles, like there's

Oh,

of left triangles.

Gotcha.

I need someone to be cheated on. I need someone to have SI need to be like, have multiple things and not everyone gets a choice.

want some messy shit? No happy endings. Okay.

I want some messy angsty shit like, toxic as fuck.

You

All right.

Laura. You love the angst. Yes.

does like the angst and she does like toxic sometimes. Yeah,

the toxic the better because my left is not toxic. It's

right. It's like direct opposite of you.

the rock

Yeah.

you know how to say in Denmark there's no crime, but people

Mm-hmm.

and love Shit.

yes.

I live in Denmark and so my literature needs to be so messy and

So out there. Yeah. Yeah.

just give me the toxic, cheating scandal like

Yeah, Laura's like relatable. Never heard of her. Give me the toxic mess.

no. That's why I love mafia too.

Mm-hmm.

the mafia kidnapping, captive after like

All that dark shit.

still on the side, it's great too.

Yeah.

Right. So let's talk about how we juggle new releases. Arcs, alcs, backlist titles. 'cause you were the queen of backlist. You both had a challenge for many years. This time around I just have

Yeah, I don't do well anymore.

yeah. Cozy mysteries.

I do feel like since we made the shift, I don't remember what year we started fallings my back with Sarah. I don't know, 20 19, 20 20, something like that. Probably around the same time that we met you, Laura. But that was a huge shift for me 'cause I was starting to get burnout as a reviewer

Yeah.

keeping up with all the arcs and just feeling like I had to read everything. And it was like, okay, wait. No, I don't have to do that. And that was a really nice reset for me every year and something I always looked forward to. And even though we haven't been hosting it officially for the past couple years, I still find myself doing that every fall. It's oh, it's backless time. Yay. But I also feel like I've done better at trying to incorporate at least one or two backless titles a month just to kind of keep things fresh and. It's almost to feel like I get to pick what I wanna read. Not just oh, I'm just gonna read an arc and a publisher sent me this. I'm gonna read it. Or I have the A LC or whatever. It's this is what I'm gonna read for myself for sure. And definitely, like you said, Laura, I've been like all about the cozy since for a few months now. For sure.

I hate to bring it back to Virgin River, but I will. 'cause I feel Piece of, that was like, oh my gosh, imagine if we hadn't tried this.

Yes.

imagine if we had, had just been like, oh, we have to read 20 new books versus these 20 backless books.

Absolutely.

Because that series brought us like such joy.

It really did.

We have to do more of that. And I, this year I did really well with backlist titles. I honestly struggled with new because I was going to my library more just seeing like what spoke to me and you guys know what spoke to me this summer, which was wild, was like literary fiction, it was more like Catherine Newman Sandwich. And then Eileen Garvin. What was that one? I read Crow Talk that I

Uhhuh.

was just one where I'm like, I'm just gonna peruse and see what speaks to me.

Yeah.

books were just like, when and out for me this summer. But Yeah, with backlist.

good.

With backlist, I've been trying to same like you Amy, pepper it, and then just,

Mm-hmm.

myself the freedom. This can wait, there's other people reviewing it. I'm gonna read what I want

Definitely. I think I just try to keep a constant rotation and I try to rotate the genres too. I think that really helps it for me too. Like I don't usually get too stuck in I'm only gonna read romance. I'm only gonna read thrillers. And I think the reason I'm having so much fun with Cozy is 'cause it's just another genre for me to go to. Like I'm just expanding a little bit and it feels a little bit different. I mean, it's kind of a mix of both of those that I love so much, that's what keeps things fresh and keeps me from going in a slump or whatever, or being burned out and not wanting to read anything. There's always something new and I keep thinking like, I should really probably do this with like fantasy or some other stuff like that, just to keep it fresh, but I just can't quite get there yet.

Yeah, that's a little too commitment.

Yeah,

is, yeah, fantasy is the one that's

I feel

elude me.

Me too. 'cause I feel like it requires like a lot of brain power and I don't want that when I'm reading and they're like this thick, like they're 5,000 pages long and we know how I feel about that shit. Cozies are short and I'm like, sometimes I find 'em and they're like 160 pages. I'm like, oh my God, this is my favorite. It's 18 books at 160 pages. That's nine books. I got this in a weekend. Let's go

Yes. Well, and

like the best.

They're formulaic,

sure.

is really soothing.

It's.

oh, I'm just slipping on a uncomfortable. Sweatshirt. I'm just slipping into something I already know versus your, and Laura knows, because I tried and I'm tempted to not say this, but I tried to read, A Court of Thorn and Roses I bought it and, I'm like, what is happening? What Laura?

yeah

I was literally like, Laura, what is happening? She's

like what is happening.

She's you gotta get through. Yes. She's you gotta get through book one. And I'm like, no. No, I'm like, I'm not getting through it.

How

Yes.

too.

I'm like, no, I'm not doing that.

I don't like that when someone says that about a series too, like you gotta get through books two, three, and four, and then they're really good.

I just don't

no.

Wait,

I,

have my experience with Zodiac Academy?

I

Yes,

that.

I do.

Then I was, so I still didn't finish because I'm so mad that they put a 1500 page filler book that nothing happened before the end of the book.

That is so long,

the

giving me nothing,

Yes.

in the face to the readers.

Gra. I was

Oh my gosh, that's terrible.

same, goes with thrown a glass. I did not finish because I don't care about the kale novella and how this is gonna set up. I'm sorry. She promised me a hundred page novella and then she gave me like a 500 page book. I was like,

Oh my gosh.

this book. So no,

Don't blame you.

fantasy. So those are my grips. So.

Yeah, it's, and like we were talking about earlier which books do you dnf? And

Mm-hmm.

It's what you're vibing with, like what you're feeling.

Mm-hmm.

I love there just, there has to be something with a character that really piques my interest. And I feel like what piques my interest with characters is. They're going through grief in whatever capacity, loss of a loved one, loss of, just some sort of

something.

or they're regrouping some sort of grief element. And then I, I like here lately, like with my romances, I need them to be like gritty. Like I need someone to be out of prison and trying to like, get their life together.

Gotcha.

to have

want a little dark edge?

Yes.

Yeah.

cows, like that wrecked beginnings.

Yes.

like that series

Yes. You know how I feel about her?

Yes.

Yes.

That is what and again, like even some of the literary fiction I read, like there's just, there's pieces of that where I'm like, okay, that's what brings me. 'cause that's what I've noticed about books that I start and I go, this sounds good. And then I tell you guys I'm liking it. And you're like, how'd you like it? How'd you finish it? And I'm like, I didn't

That one's yesterday's news. That is never happening.

still sitting here 'cause there's nothing. I guess I think for me too, like the fantasy aspect of it the stakes and like all

Mm-hmm.

different than what I experience in my life. It's harder for me to connect to it. I'm thrilled

Yeah,

love it and then it works for them, but. I think that's a big piece of it too. Or

that makes sense.

I'd rather watch someone be like, I'm trying to foster a child and I, or I'm fostering my younger sibling and then managing a relationship

Mm-hmm.

I wanna be riding a dragon.

Yeah. Can't relate to that. Right?

relate to it. But I love that it works for other people.

Absolutely. There's books for everybody, right? Every book has the right reader.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So talk about, how do you pick your next read? Do you have a TBR or do you have a list of books or you have collections? How do you organize in a way that, oh, this would be a fun thing to read and stuff like that. Because we get we consume it from different media. We may consume it audible kindle. Arts maybe like Libra, fem, library and specific. So how do you organize and how do you figure out, like what are you gonna read next?

I have a super official list of my notes app in my phone.

Yeah.

that's it. And I, so I have an arc calendar in there, which is every arc I have, physical net galley, a, LC, whatever it may be, just so I know what's going. And I look at that usually first and see if anything's calling my name. That's usually I try to read a month ahead.

Yeah.

With arcs. And then if I get something that I like really wanna read and it's a year out, six months out, whatever, I'll totally drop and read it.

Yeah.

normally try to just stick to a month out and then I look at that. And then depending on, like you said, if I'm looking for an audio book or a Kindle book or a physical book, which is rare, I usually don't go gravitate toward physical book. And then like in a typical week, I'll try to get through a couple of new releases like that and then try to do at least one pick. That is my pick. Whether it's a backless book or a library book or both, whatever it may be. And yeah that's pretty much it. I just kind of go with that. So I try to mood read, but also try to kind of follow a calendar ish,

Yeah.

sort of, and with a little bit of breathing room. Lately it's been like. One arc, five cozy mysteries, because that's just where, and then maybe, and some of those cozies have been holidays. Like I've been Bingeing the Jack, I think I told you Laura, the Jacqueline Frost Christmas Tree Farm series. Sarah, I told you too because you wrecked it to me. I'm obsessed with it, and it's so cute. And so I've been like trying to read other stuff and be like, no, I wanna go back to that. So I've just been going with it. I'm like, I'm not gonna force myself. It is what it is. It's holiday season, just about if I wanna read Christmas cozy mysteries, that's what I'm gonna read.

Yeah, I requested the Christmas candy one, I requested the second one and the audio.

Did you read the first one?

I

Did you like it? It was cute, huh?

I did. It was good. It was, the book is a Christmas candy Killing

Yes.

It's twins living in some random, I think they're in Montana. I

Montana, I believe they moved to

all,

to open their candy shop.

everyone knows how to juice plants and they're all are elderly living there. I was surprised who was the killer

It had a solid mystery.

I

Yes.

oh, this is an interesting killer.

Yes

but it was delightful.

Fun for first in the series. Definitely wanna continue it too, and I think they're all Christmas themed in that series so far too.

Yeah.

Which hello? That's my favorite. So.

yes. So, how about you, Sarah? How do you pick your next read?

A hundred times more organized than I am. Like by far. I honestly, the hard part for me is if I don't have something lined up afterwards, then I kind of get into a, well, I could start this, I could do this, I could do this. So I like

Yep.

something where I'm like, Ooh, I get to read this next.

Mm-hmm.

that's

That's the only reason I'm organized, by the way, is because if I don't, then I'll go to the library and walk around for three hours and then look at my shelves, like I have nothing to read and there's 5,000 books and look at my Kindle, and then I'll, Laura knows I enjoy nothing more than making a TBR that I don't follow.

Yeah, I

So I'll make a list.

I just babysit 'em. I bring 'em for a field trip to my house,

Yes. I love that.

That's

Didn't crack a page.

or Libby's,

of my favorite things. Yes.

what's going on? I love scrolling through Libby,

Yes.

shopping, looking at Ned Galley. You know how many times I go to Ned Galley and see all these read now and I download them? Do I actually do sometimes I with it? No, because

Right.

the art of just picking book by,

I know.

core and specific.

I know auto approval can be dangerous because it's just ooh, that's cute. And then the next day I'm like, what in the hell was I thinking? I don't wanna read that.

Yes.

that is so true. And that's me with my library books.

Yes.

looks good. Oh my God, I have so much time this week. I'm probably read all four of these and then three weeks later I'm like, you are all going back. I hope you enjoyed sitting here.

Didn't crack a page. It's fine. See you next time.

Yes,

But that's good. We need to do that with our libraries now more than ever.

Yes. I did a service. Okay.

You sure did. You did your community service duty.

And then I go drop 'em off and do the same thing over and over. So if I read one that I check out, then I feel like I'm really doing a great job, but

Heck yeah.

for me to have something

Mm-hmm.

And so when I don't is when I'm, and that's what I like, that's where I'm at right now. I think that's why I was messing you guys, messaging you guys the other day anyone have any Christmas romance? Because

Yes.

Then I spend hours looking for a read,

Mm-hmm.

and then I don't find anything.

Yeah. And then by the time you're done, you're like, I gotta go to bed. I can't even read this. Yeah.

person that makes it hard. So I

Yeah.

you have a continuous lineup to kind of choose from. I should do something similar.

What do you do, Laura?

do that. scroll, scroll

you just sample.

Sample, scroll, dabble. Yep.

travel. I try like phone a few books. And you know what I did? I decided to, my mindset needed to shift of have to finish. And what I realized is I started finishing like books. I read more a lot. I read 14 books this month so far, which is a pretty good number.

Yeah.

I was reading before and it was when I stopped trying to fake like that, I needed to finish the book right away and I need And like I've been just reading a little bit more, like making more time to read.

Yeah.

I scroll more time on Libby and Amazon and Kindle, looking for books and making lists than actually picking what I need to read next.

Rubbed off on me with that Libby making lists when you told me about that. Now I do that shit all the time. It's fun though because like you said, it's like shopping and I organize and I'm like holiday cozy and summer cozy

it

stupid shit.

Cozy, it's been great because then I'm like, oh, I have what am I feeling right now? And then I just scroll and then I'm like,

Exactly,

and then I just

yes.

drop

then you can make a list of Cole really fast because you've got 'em all right there

yes,

This is girl math, but I'm like it saved time.

it

Now when I'm creating content.

It

Even though I spent 16 hours on it.

It really helps you try to figure out okay, what am I gonna read?

Yes.

Some library and some recommendation. You're like, oh my gosh, there's this other one I did not realize it existed. So

Absolutely. And I do that with Amazon too, fall down that rabbit hole of since you read this, check out these, and I'm like, Ooh. And then I'm like, I did, this is what happened with Jacqueline Frost. I talked to you guys about this. I'm like, Bree Baker, Jacqueline Frost. She has pseudonyms. So then I'm like on her website, like it turned into this whole thing where I'm like, how many books does she have? Oh. And now she doesn't write cozies as much anymore. Now she's writing under a different name and she's writing like. Market woman's fiction and like, why did I go down that rabbit hole? Probably 'cause I just wanted to find a dumb book to read.

Yes.

two hours later I knew her whole life story.

Yes. So that's how we read. We'll be back next month with another installment. Well, thank you Amy. Thank you Sarah, for being on the shelf. Once again, this is a group chat. This is as you can see, we're just chit-chatting about books and sharing recommendations as we always do in our actually text exchange group chat. So thank you so much for listening.

Thanks for listening to the What three next. For more book lists, cozy reads and library tips, visit the what three Next block.com. Your next great read might be waiting there.