Summary of Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: The Books We Missed in 2025 [Teaser]
Date: December 19, 2025
Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky

Episode Overview

In this teaser for their premium podcast, Jeff and Rebecca candidly discuss the books they missed reading in 2025 and reflect on the realities of maintaining a robust reading life amid various life demands. With characteristic humor and introspection, they explore the guilt, acceptance, and surprises that come with not reading everything—even as professional book people. The episode also touches on how their reading habits have evolved, setting the stage for the larger conversation available to premium subscribers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Reality (and Liberation) of Missing Books

• Confession as Acceptance
  • The hosts frame their episode as a “confessional” for books they missed or will continue to miss, embracing that this is an inevitable part of life as a reader.
  • Rebecca notes, “I think it's just a moment for reality acceptance.” (00:31)
  • Jeff elaborates on his reading life slowing down, accepting life's finitude: “Time is finite too. ...There’s diminishing returns. Like live a full life is part of being an interesting person.” (00:34, 01:10)

2. Year-to-Year Reading Habits and Quality vs. Quantity

• Both hosts reflect on how the year shaped their reading, including reading fewer books than usual.

  • Jeff: “I missed a lot more than I would in a normal year. On the other hand, we had said that this was a B, B minus year for books for us.” (01:51)
  • Rebecca: “The truth is you always miss almost all of the books. ...Pre-Covid I was reading about a hundred books a year. ...I didn’t feel like my reading life had any lower quality because I had lost that 25% chunk.” (02:02, 02:13)

• Both have shifted focus from numeric reading goals to the quality and substance of what they read.

  • Rebecca: “I am not really invested in the number as so much as in the proportion of them that feel like quality choices that I'm glad I read.” (03:43)

3. How ‘Better’ Reading Changed Other Media Habits

• Rebecca describes how engaging with high-quality books through Book Riot’s “Zero to Well-Read” project made lighter entertainments less appealing:

  • “I have turned off so many like holiday movies and comedy specials and closed so many like lighter kinds of books... I want that substance.” (03:01)

• Jeff reflects on books being the ultimate form of meaningful or transcendent entertainment:

  • “...the words on the page put into a specific combination intersect with my neurons. That's what I'm looking for...just is for me.” (04:45)

4. Confessing the Books They Missed

• The hosts begin to share examples of notable 2025 reads they missed, and why they hope to get to them—or perhaps won’t.

Rebecca’s Missed Book:

• August Lane by Regina Black
  • Noted as “Book Riot’s best books of the year,” also on “the New York Times 100 notables.”
  • “A small town Southern romance about black country singers… I've been intending to read it now for several months and I have not.” (05:08)

Jeff’s Missed Books:

• Guardian of Thief by Megha Majumdar and Heart the Lover by Lily King

  • Acknowledges trusting other Book Riot staff’s feedback as an influence: “There are books...that fall on either side of the meridian of people...I know that loved or didn’t or really didn’t vibe with it.” (05:47)
  • Notes the necessity of a strong recommendation for some titles: “I think I needed to be a Ravi Ravi for me to get into that.” (06:26)

• Rebecca adds that she read both and would pick Lily King’s “Heart the Lover” for Jeff, praising it as “a little more...crackling fresh.” (06:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “To a first approximation, I read 0% of the books.” – Jeff (02:09)
• "Live a full life is part of being an interesting person." – Jeff (01:10)
• “I want that substance.” – Rebecca (03:13)
• “…as much as we like...the prestigious of prestige show, task, or mad men or succession, ain’t none of them Never Let Me Go.” – Jeff (03:53)
• "I am not really invested in the number as so much as in the proportion of them that feel like quality choices." – Rebecca (03:43)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:22 – Introduction to the confessional format and themes for the episode
• 01:10–01:51 – Reflection on reading quantity, quality, and year-in-review mood
• 02:02–03:13 – Conversation on shifting habits, reading during and after Covid, and the value of “quality over quantity”
• 03:50–04:54 – On the comparative depth of books versus TV or movies
• 05:02–06:36 – Confessions: specific books missed and differing degrees of intent to catch up

Tone and Atmosphere

The conversation is warm, confessional, and gently humorous. Both hosts express understanding (and even pride) in the reality that not even full-time book professionals can keep up with it all. There’s honest grappling with the pressures of “having read everything” and an emphasis on intentional, meaningful reading over impressive stats—tempered with the perennial reader’s guilt.

Closing Note

For listeners, this teaser is both a reflection on the annual “missed books” guilt and a gentle reminder that a rich reading life is about quality and joy, not completeness. The full episode (available via Patreon) promises even more candid confessions and recommendations for your TBR pile.

To hear more and get the complete list of missed books and deeper discussion, join Book Riot’s Patreon community.