The Summer 2025 Draft [Teaser]

Summary

Book Riot Podcast - "The Summer 2025 Draft [Teaser]" Summary

Release Date: May 8, 2025
Hosts: Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Shinsky
Episode Title: The Summer 2025 Draft [Teaser]

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Introduction to the Draft Teaser

In this teaser episode of "Book Riot - The Podcast," hosts Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Shinsky introduce listeners to their popular recurring segment, the "Draft." This segment involves a friendly competition where each host selects a basket of ten books aimed at the general reader. The ultimate goal is to curate the most engaging and diverse collection, which is then put to a vote among their Patreon members.

Explaining the Draft Segment

Rebecca opens the discussion by expressing enthusiasm about returning to the Draft after a hiatus. She remarks, "What happened? You know, this year has gone fast, but it's been a long time" ([00:23]). Jeff explains the delay, noting that their January Draft was recorded in mid-December before the holiday season, causing a perceived gap in their regular schedule ([00:30]).

Format and Objectives

The hosts delve into the mechanics of the Draft, emphasizing the absence of strict genre restrictions. Jeff states, "We're trying to create a basket of books that would be the most interesting, exciting for a general reader" ([01:22]). Initially, they experimented with genre-specific requirements, such as mandating a young adult or romance novel, but found it less enjoyable and reverted to a more flexible selection process ([01:28]).

Previous Draft Insights

Reflecting on the last Draft, Jeff shares the results, highlighting a 60-40 split in votes. Noteworthy selections included works by Linda Holmes, a Jose Andres memoir, Karen Russell’s "The Antidote," and Harriet Tubman’s live concert recording ([02:20]-[02:45]). Rebecca mentions her selection, "audition," and Jeff counters with "Onyx Storm," illustrating the friendly rivalry between them ([02:46]-[03:06]).

Rules and Voting Process

Jeff and Rebecca outline the rules for the Draft:

• Each host selects ten books without adhering to strict genre constraints.
• The selections aim to appeal to a broad audience of general readers.
• Patreon members cast their votes through a form provided in the show notes, with the opportunity to explain their choices ([03:14]-[03:52]).

Jeff notes the unpredictability of voting patterns, mentioning how a single title can significantly sway the outcome. They reference past Drafts where certain popular books, like those by Amerigues Towles, played pivotal roles in the voting dynamics ([03:48]-[04:06]).

Exclusions and Considerations

The hosts discuss strategic exclusions from their selections to maintain diversity and freshness in each basket. Titles such as "Underground Railroad", "Colson Whitehead", and "FranZen" were deliberately removed from consideration in previous Drafts to avoid repetition and ensure a varied list ([04:14]-[04:43]).

Personal Preferences and Audience Alignment

Jeff and Rebecca acknowledge that their selections might differ from public consensus. Rebecca humorously notes that their list would diverge significantly if it mirrored a public platform like Goodreads, potentially favoring genres like romantasy and authors like Emily Henry ([04:49]-[05:01]). Jeff concurs, emphasizing their commitment to selecting books they are genuinely interested in reading, with Rebecca adding, "I don't think there's anything on my list that I am not a 6 or higher in. I would read this, you know, like more, more interested than not" ([05:07]-[05:19]).

Anticipation for the Current Draft

As the teaser wraps up, Rebecca hints at presenting her ten-book selection, marking it as "the most anticipated book for the kinds of readers that read Book Riot, frankly" ([05:20]-[05:31]). This builds anticipation for the full episode, encouraging listeners to become Patreon members to access the complete Draft segment.

Conclusion and Patreon Invitation

While the teaser predominantly serves as an invitation to Patreon supporters for exclusive content, it effectively outlines the structure and excitement surrounding the Draft segment. Jeff concludes by reiterating the benefits of joining their Patreon community, including access to premium content and an ad-free listening experience ([05:31]-[05:43]).

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Notable Quotes:

• Rebecca: "I don't think there's anything on my list that I am not a 6 or higher in. I would read this, you know, like more, more interested than not." ([05:07])
• Jeff: "We're trying to create a basket of books that would be the most interesting, exciting for a general reader." ([01:22])
• Rebecca: "This is our draft. So if this is your first time joining us, thank you so much for being a Patreon member and welcome." ([00:37])

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For listeners eager to hear the full "Summer 2025 Draft," including Rebecca's and Jeff's complete book selections and the ensuing discussion, subscribing to Book Riot's Patreon is recommended at patreon.com/bookriotpodcast.

Transcript

[Rebecca]

Foreign.

[Jeff]

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.

[Rebecca]

All right, Rebecca, it feels like it's been a long time since we had a draft. What? What? You know, this year has gone fast, but it's been a long time. What happened?

[Jeff]

It has been. It's because we record January draft back in mid December before the holidays. So on the calendar. It has been a long time.

[Rebecca]

Okay, well, here we are back through our second longest recurring bit. I think mom's dad was earlier, but this was hot upon the heels. Do actually doing them within. Well, we were supposed to be doing them both today, but someone who will remain nameless. He, he, he got his days. He got his days mixed up and wasn't ready to record. So recording that a little bit later. But it'll come out. When you guys are listening. This is our draft. So if this is your first time joining us, thank you so much for being a Patreon member and welcome. Or you're hearing the teaser and come join us. You're gonna hear the whole draft over here. We have a good time where Rebecca and I compete against each other to grovel for votes from our listeners.

[Jeff]

I mean, some of us pander more than others.

[Rebecca]

What is the. So the original language was we're trying to create a basket of books that would be the most interesting. Exciting for a general reader.

[Jeff]

Yes, like a well rounded basket of 10 books. And it's, it has the. Some asterisks next to it because like we don't read a whole bunch of ser. Like genre, heavy genre. So it's not pick and choose. We tried one draft, I think where we gave ourselves requirements of like you have to have a ya, you have to have a romance. And it was not nearly as much fun.

[Rebecca]

No, I'm not even like giving myself rules apparently.

[Jeff]

Right.

[Rebecca]

Not just rules in general. I don't even like that.

[Jeff]

Why are we in charge here if we're gonna have rules we don't even like? So now it is supposed to be the best basket of books for the general reader. Like if you're gonna pick out 10 books for the season, which of us is creating a better basket? And the Patreon members get to vote on which basket they like better. You can even. There will be a Form for voting in the show notes, you can tell us a little bit about your vote. So I know who won the last one. Who did kind of why I did.

[Rebecca]

You know, was there one that did it for you?

[Jeff]

You know, I had several mentions of Linda Holmes and people were more excited about the Jose Andres memoir than I expected.

[Rebecca]

Oh, really? Well, I clearly didn't pick it, but.

[Jeff]

I also had the antidote, the Karen Russell and Harriet Tubman live in concert. So it was. It was like 60, 40, which somehow these almost always seem to be.

[Rebecca]

Did either of us have audition.

[Jeff]

You had audition. You had the Hong Kong and you. You took Onyx Storm and I think you netted neutral on that. There were comments about like, I'm voting for Rebecca because I don't like Jeff's pandering. But then there were. It seemed of the people who commented there were kind of an equal number of comments that were like, you have to acknowledge Onyx Storm. So Jeff gets it.

[Rebecca]

You know what that is? That's a Not the worst outcome.

[Jeff]

It is.

[Rebecca]

Jeff is not the worst outcome.

[Jeff]

And that means you get to go first today.

[Rebecca]

Ah. Okay. We didn't talk. So let's walk through the rules. We each pick 10. We go back and forth. I lost last time. So the number of one draft pick and we pick 10 each. And of course, you can vote for whomever you like for whatever reason you like. But theoretically what we're trying to do is make the best basket.

[Jeff]

Yes, we're trying to make the basket. But sometimes there's one title that like everybody is going to vote for and. Or we have that.

[Rebecca]

Do we have?

[Jeff]

I don't know.

[Rebecca]

Well, I don't think we do, but it's.

[Jeff]

I don't think we do, but sometimes.

[Rebecca]

Because I'm going to take it. But I think I know you number two.

[Jeff]

I know where you're gonna.

[Rebecca]

The second one, I think is a pretty good.

[Jeff]

Yeah.

[Rebecca]

Alternative.

[Jeff]

But sometimes there's one where it just swing where one title will swing the vote one way or the other. And I kind of support like Amer Towles did this for you one time. And that was when I really had to start paying attention. Good old Amer tools.

[Rebecca]

And I'm not sure that what we would. Because we. What have we taken off the board? I think we took Underground Railroad off one year. We took off for sure.

[Jeff]

Yeah, we took off Colson Whitehead.

[Rebecca]

Would those have mattered? That's a high. That's. That's a real high degree of certainty that we took them off the board, that they actually ended up, I think.

[Jeff]

Yeah. I think the anticipation of either of those I think would have. We took the Franzen off the board. I think the year that there was a new friends in, in 2021 or.

[Rebecca]

2022, that's a real US choice to do. If that's in fact something that took.

[Jeff]

It off, I'm not positive.

[Rebecca]

Crossroads. We took Crossroads off.

[Jeff]

Okay.

[Rebecca]

Whatever. Done.

[Jeff]

We read those with that season. We read a bunch of things together.

[Rebecca]

And we like to do a mix. I mean, I think if we were trying to win a Goodreads version of this that was open to the public, our list would look completely different.

[Jeff]

It would be romantasy and Emily Henry.

[Rebecca]

And we to some degree, some of us more than others, want to stand by them. And sometimes that comes and goes depending on the draft and what we're trying to.

[Jeff]

And we are who we are. So I think we, we also generally are drafting books that we are open to reading.

[Rebecca]

Yeah, I don't think there's anything on my list that I am not a 6 or higher in. I would read this, you know, like more, more. More interested than not. Okay. Without further ado, I'm going to go up first.

[Jeff]

Yes, you are.

[Rebecca]

And I do think this book for the whole rest of the year is the most anticipated book for the kinds of readers that read Book riot, frankly.

[Jeff]

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.