Bonus Preview: The Books We Missed This Year

Summary

Summary of "Book Riot - The Podcast" Episode: Bonus Preview: The Books We Missed This Year

Release Date: December 18, 2024
Hosts: Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinsky
Description: In this bonus preview, Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinsky delve into the books they intended to read but didn't manage to cover throughout the year. They explore their personal reasons for these missed reads, share their reflections on their reading habits, and discuss specific titles that they regret not engaging with in the past year.

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Introduction and Recording Schedule (00:00 - 03:18)

The episode begins with a brief advertisement for the Google Gemini app, followed by a teaser promoting Book Riot's premium content available on Patreon. Jeff and Rebecca then transition into discussing their busy recording schedule, revealing that they recorded six episodes in a single week to prepare for upcoming holidays and personal time off.

Key Points:

• Recording Marathon: Jeff mentions, "Recorded six episodes in the course of a week" (00:48).
• Upcoming Time Off: Rebecca explains they are front-loading recordings because Jeff will be on PTO from December 23rd to January 6th (01:00).
• Personal Challenges: Both hosts express feelings of fatigue and discuss personal challenges, including Rebecca's concerns about potential perimenopausal symptoms affecting her memory.

Notable Quotes:

• Rebecca Schinsky [01:27]: "I need to sleep for a week over the holidays and then I can get back to you about the state of my brain."
• Jeff O'Neal [02:25]: "I'm noticing that my memory used to be better. Like I was struggling for something yesterday I was like, I had the hardest time coming up with something."

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The Books We Missed This Year (03:19 - 06:05)

Transitioning from personal reflections, Jeff and Rebecca introduce the main topic of the episode: "The Books We Missed This Year." They aim to discuss the titles they had on their reading lists but didn't get around to reading. This segment is structured around their most surprising omissions and the books they were most disappointed to miss.

Missed Books Discussed

1. "All That Glitters" by Orlando Whitfield

   • Rebecca [04:40]: Expresses surprise at not having read this book despite its relevance to her interests. She intended to listen to it as an audiobook but hasn't prioritized it yet.
     • "I kept intending to get to it. I made the critical error of being like, I'll listen to this on audio or save it for a road trip." (04:40)

2. "The Barn" by Wright Thompson

   • Jeff [05:16]: Discusses his hesitation to dive into this true crime book, despite its critical acclaim and historical significance regarding the murder of Emmett Till.
     • "I knew I was going to have trouble because it's true crime. But I knew I was like, am I really gonna do this? Am I gonna do a murder story?" (05:16)

Notable Quotes:

• Jeff O'Neal [03:19]: "We're going to name a bunch of books just in a row. So books that we haven't gotten to maybe won't get to that had we had our druthers."
• Rebecca Schinsky [04:40]: "I kept intending to get to it. I made the critical error of being like, I'll listen to this on audio or save it for a road trip."
• Jeff O'Neal [05:16]: "This is a me problem. Not the barn problem."

Insights:

• Reading Habits: Both hosts reflect on how personal circumstances, such as increased workload and health concerns, impacted their ability to maintain their usual reading pace.
• Genre Preferences: Jeff's reluctance to engage with true crime highlights how genre preferences can influence reading choices, even when a book is highly recommended.

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Conclusion and Patreon Promotion (06:05)

The episode wraps up with Jeff and Rebecca encouraging listeners to support their podcast by joining their Patreon community. They emphasize that Patreon subscribers gain access to the full library of premium content, including the rest of the episode and previous recordings.

Notable Quotes:

• Rebecca Schinsky [06:05]: "Thanks so much for listening. Join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast to hear the rest of this episode and get access to our full back catalog of premium content."

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Final Reflections

Throughout the episode, Jeff and Rebecca offer a candid look into the realities of maintaining a reading habit amidst life's unpredictabilities. Their discussion underscores the common challenges faced by avid readers, such as time constraints, shifting priorities, and personal well-being. By sharing their specific missed reads, they provide listeners with relatable content and perhaps inspire them to reflect on their own reading journeys and the books they cherish but haven't yet explored.

Overall Themes:

• Balancing Commitments: The difficulty of managing personal time off with professional responsibilities.
• Self-Reflection: Recognizing personal limitations and understanding factors that influence reading habits.
• Community Engagement: Strengthening listener relationships through Patreon and exclusive content offerings.

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Timestamp Reference: <a id="timestamp-0048">00:48</a> - Advertisement Continuation
<a id="timestamp-0100">01:00</a> - Discussing PTO and Recording Schedule
<a id="timestamp-0440">04:40</a> - Missed Book: "All That Glitters"
<a id="timestamp-0516">05:16</a> - Missed Book: "The Barn"

Transcript

[Gemini]

This episode is brought to you by Google Gemini. With the Gemini app, you can talk live and have a real time conversation with an AI assistant. It's great for all kinds of things like if you want to practice for an upcoming interview, ask for advice on things to do in a new city, or brainstorm creative ideas. And by the way, this script was actually read by Gemini. Download the Gemini app for iOS and Android today. Must be 18 to use Gemini Live.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You're listening to a teaser for Book Riot Podcast premium content. If you want to hear the rest, join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast for just $10 a month, get access to our full library of premium content. In addition to receiving early ad free access to the regular episodes you hear in the show. Here we go.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Recorded six episodes in the course of.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

A. Yeah, next week.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Six podcast recording over the course of the week.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh my God. Next week is gonna be the same.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Is it the same why I'm hearing this now. So don't.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We are front loading a bunch of recordings during next week because you'll be out from the 23rd through January 6th. So you did this stuff.

[Jeff O'Neal]

PTO goes unpunished.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And it's all like year end and then year prep stuff that we can't really have subs for.

[Jeff O'Neal]

So. Well, we were guesting on someone else's show. We had Gilbert on as a bonus. I had the kids like, everything's we're doing extra and got compressed. But let me tell you, I'm feeling a little bit today.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, me too. And I'm. I was telling Bob this morning, I was like, this is the wrong moment to start analyzing this, but I was like, am I having like perimenopausal brain fog or am I just really tired? Or is it both? And how will I ever suss this out? Like, I need to sleep for a week over the holidays and then I can get back to you about the state of my brain.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Well, it's just all a big slip and slide into the grave, so don't worry about it. Just let it happen.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And like, at risk of being overly, you know, medical, like, they tell you the symptoms can come in any order and I don't have any other like perimenopausal things, so I also don't have anything to hang my. Like, is this in a cluster? Is this the first one? Am I just tired?

[Jeff O'Neal]

I don't know if this is good context. Clearly I'm not suffering from the same issue, but over the last couple weeks I felt More moments where I'm noticing that I'm remembering that my memory used to be better. Like I was struggling for something yesterday I was. Like, I had the hardest time coming.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Up with something that's also in the mix. Is it just age or is it hormonal or both. Right. Or like. Yeah, some of it is just this, like, lingering, like, background hum of vigilance about my phone could explode at any moment with something with Bob's parents. So, like, at some point we'll. At some point we'll suss out what's happening in my brain. But right now it's a mystery.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Yeah. So anyway, so here we're going to talk for a few minutes. I don't know how long we're going to go, actually.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, were we recording all of that?

[Jeff O'Neal]

Oh, yeah, it's all going in. I warned you. You were. You've got it. Even if you can't remember something, you have to at least pay attention to what's happening in the moment.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Fine. Listeners, if you have tips for me about how to suss out whether perimenopause. Let's cut that out. That was for you.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna leave in that. Let's. Let's cut that out. So you can just wonder what all that was.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Fine.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Yeah, fine. I don't know how long we're gonna go right now because we just put a list we're gonna run through. We're gonna name a bunch of books just in a row. So books that we haven't gotten to maybe won't get to that had we had our druthers. We will. I had a list of 30. And I guess I'll say once I had these 30 on the list, like, if I had read this 140 books a year, which is a big lift and there's still lots of novels and stuff, but in terms of. Man, I was looking forward to that. Or boy, that sounds great. Like 150ish titles. I'm kind of guessing at this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, that's good. Kind of related. I meant to ask you, how did you do this year on reading fewer books? Reading less was one of your.

[Jeff O'Neal]

This year?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think so. Wasn't it that the. Like, I'm going to read.

[Jeff O'Neal]

That was two years ago. That was two years ago.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'm doing great.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Yeah. Well, in all fairness to you, I don't know how reasonable is expect you to keep track of my barely held reading conviction predictions.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Well, since we talked about our totals for the year yesterday, I was like, oh, Yeah, I wonder how that's going for Jeff.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Let's do this this way. Let's do the ones we're most surprised we didn't read.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay, maybe.

[Jeff O'Neal]

And then the ones were the most upset we didn't get to. And that three, maybe a few. That if I could just download them today, I would just have.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I just, you know, just have them in your brain.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Knock them out. I get three Neo Matrix plugins, and they're just in there.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I am maybe most surprised that I did not get to all that Glitters by Orlando Whitfield. It is so in the center of my Venn diagram and our shared interests. And it just landed in that zone of. I kept intending to get to it. I made the critical error of being like, I'll listen to this on audio or save it for a road trip. And I mean, I will get to it. It is sitting in my audiobook library, right? But I wish I had read it already.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Similar to me, which. It got a lot of buzz. I've heard it's excellent. And I knew I was going to have trouble because it's true crime. But the Barn by Wright Thompson, which is about the murder of Emmett Till, like a reassessment done with all the New York Times reporter things. Ton of best books of the year list. It came out late in the year once. A lot of my audiobook listening is summertime, driving, walking, just kind of out and about a little bit more. When I'm home, I tend to pick up, you know, the iPad or a physical book, so I have less audio time. But I knew I was like, am I really gonna do this? Am I gonna do a murder story? Even if it's historically important? I've heard it so great. This is a me problem. Not at the barn problem.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Thanks so much for listening. Join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast to hear the rest of this episode and get access to our full back catalog of premium content. That's patreon.com bookriotpodcast.