← The Currently Reading Podcast
The Currently Reading Podcast
Season 7, Episode 19: New Book Subscriptions + Wishes To The Holiday Book Fairy
00:56:58
On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: new book subscriptions and audiobooks coming in clutch Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately Deep...
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- [00:00]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Foreign. Hey, readers, welcome to the Currently Reading podcast. We are bookish best friends who spend time every week talking about the books that we've read recently. And as you know, we won't shy away from having strong opinions. So get ready.
- [00:25]
Katie Cobb
We are light on chitchat, heavy on the book talk, and our descriptions will always be spoiled. Spoiler free. Today we'll discuss our current reads, a bookish deep dive, and then we'll visit the fountain.
- [00:34]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I'm Meredith Mundy Schwartz, a mom of four and full time CEO living in Austin, Texas. And apparently audiobooks are my best friend too.
- [00:43]
Katie Cobb
I'm Katie Cobb, a homeschooling mom of four living in Arizona, and my current book subscription is really scratching the itch. This is episode number 19 of season seven, and we are so glad you're here.
- [00:54]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Well, that'll be good, Katie, because, you know, this weekend I feel like I've been hearing a lot of grumblings of people saying not as happy with book of the Month as they have been.
- [01:03]
Katie Cobb
Well, I have a lovely alternative.
- [01:06]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I know, I know. I love that. All right, first, we will let you know that we are going to make three bookish wishes of the holiday Book Fairy. All right. We did an episode where we wished different things from the book fairy a while ago, but it wasn't holiday related. This is the holiday Book Fairy and I'm very excited to visit her.
- [01:27]
Katie Cobb
Yes, me too. She grants wishes like Santa.
- [01:30]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Exactly, but in a very bookish way. All right, before we get into that though, let's talk about our bookish moments of the week. Katie, what have you got this week?
- [01:39]
Katie Cobb
Okay, Meredith, I'm going to tell you about a new to me, but not new, and that's key. Book subscription service Aardvark Books is now two years old. And so they have worked out all the kinks and the mistakes that happens in the very first parts of launching a new business. For their second birthday, they offered a fancy iridescent bookmark and your first book for only $4. So that was a deal I couldn't pass up, because who doesn't love a $4 book? I hopped on board. I'm now three months into their book box, which is an alternative to that blue box we were talking about with a few key differences. First of all, the boxes are colorful and they are just like a delight to receive in the mail. They're purple and black and white and gray and like swirls everywhere. It just looks like joy when it shows up on your doorstep. They do ship to the US And Canada because they're based in Canada, it's the same price as the Blue Box subscription service, but the books are actually much higher quality. Because of book swaps plus my many years of subscribing elsewhere, I can actually compare apples to apples and hold books from both companies in my hand at the same time. There's really just no comparison. The dust jackets are sturdier, the hardcover printing is nicer, the adhesive that sticks the pages to the COVID is stronger and the pages are thicker and feel nicer are in my hands. It feels a lot less like a mass market paperback version of a hardback than some other books do. Finally, I love their app integration. It's very easy to filter books by genre and not just the ones you're thinking mystery, romance, literary, etc. They also have tags for award winning debut novel, includes a dog or includes a cat adaptation, coming gothic, etc. They've got a club section for discussion and it's easy to skip a month if needed and then you aren't billed or if you forget to choose, your credit will just roll over. I'm super loving it. I already have five books from the three months that I have been a member and that's because they're making really good choices too. I'm very excited to choose every month. In fact, one that I've got coming for December I think you're going to really love. So I can't wait to read it and talk about it. Meredith, this is aardvark and it is named like that because it's the first word in the English dictionary. That's how they chose their name and because they're cute.
- [03:56]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Is that true? Aardvark's the first word in the English dictionary?
- [03:59]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, because it starts with two A's.
- [04:00]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Oh, that's interesting. Okay, so you can filter books, but how? Like, so it's not like Book of the Month where you're just choosing amongst like five books.
- [04:10]
Katie Cobb
It is. You have the main five or six per month, but then anything they have left over from past months, you can also add those to your box like with Book of the Month. So that's when you would use those filters. Or if you're looking at the at the new picks for this month, you could see where they got tagged with those genre tags as well.
- [04:28]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. And you feel like the picks that they're making are more ones that you're more likely to want.
- [04:35]
Katie Cobb
Yes. Even when I wasn't a regular subscriber, I paid attention to Book of the Month picks because for so long, they were really a good fit for me. And just, I mean, I would say for a year or two now, they have just. I've not been interested in anything. Yeah.
- [04:51]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
So, yeah. Yeah. I was looking back, I haven't made a purchase. I haven't availed myself of my book of the month subscription for many months now.
- [04:58]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Yeah. And that's disappointing to be like, yay, it's the first. Oh, I don't want any of these. Boo.
- [05:05]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yeah. Well, you know, that's why our indie press list came to be, because we were like, what if you had a different option? And I'm glad that Aardvark has entered the arena and gotten the kinks worked out and presents another option too. Good. Excellent. Okay, well, as I said, my bookish moment of the week is really nothing groundbreaking, except for the fact that for me, it kind of is groundbreaking. I think when I look back on things, this is the time of year that for me, audiobooks really come into play. Now for the whole rest of the year, you've heard me say multiple times, audio is not my main way at all of taking my books in. In fact, I think, think that it was only like 10 or 15% of my reading for last year. I have to look and see what it is for this year. But historically, because I don't have a commute, which is where I used to do the majority of my listening, I just don't get enough time to have books in my ears. But at this time of year, with all the things that come into play, holidays, holiday prep, all of those things, all of a sudden I have really good excuses to have long periods of time where the rest of my family's like, oh, mom's taking care of all of Thanksgiving dinner. Let's not bother her with her audiobook. I listened to five straight hours of an audiobook. I was listening to the Great Hunt, which is the second in the Wheel of Time series. It's like 26 hours of audio. So five hours was not, you know, was just 20% a goodly portion of it. But it really, really reminded me that when you get these long periods of time, I was cooking all day, for example, on Wednesday, to. To have a book in your ears nonstop. It's a completely different kind of reading experience. It's that very immersive reading experience. When you get done, it almost feels like you're crawling out of another world and into the real world. It's really enjoyable. And so I am grateful, as I was last week, for my Kindle Accompanying me in the middle of the night when I wasn't feeling good. Now, I'm grateful for the fact that my books are there for me when I need to cook, decorate, wrap, gifts. Any of those things that are fun but potentially tedious parts of our holiday preparation books make it doubly productive. And for that, I am very grateful.
- [07:31]
Katie Cobb
Yes, and busy hands. I mean, this part of the year is very busy hands time. Right? Wrapping, cooking. I am back on my crochet bandwagon. So I'm making some gifts this year. My hands are busy. I can't. I'm trying really hard to figure out how to read a paper book and crochet at the same time, but audio just makes that very easy.
- [07:52]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes, it really does.
- [07:53]
Katie Cobb
Okay, Meredith, I do have one question for you. Do you think this has to do with your new AirPods also? Like, is that making the experience more enjoyable for you as well?
- [08:03]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes, it is absolutely making it more enjoyable. And what I realize about. I'm glad that you brought that up, because what I realized about my audio reading is I go in massive fits and starts. And when I'm. When I have that momentum behind me, it rolls and rolls and rolls like a rock downhill. But more. Much more that so than with my print or e reader reading, if I let my audiobook reading go, it becomes harder for me to grab. And so I think that, yes, my new AirPods just making it easier to keep that momentum going in those pockets of time that I have is a really big factor. I'm glad that you brought that up because that. That is a part of it, too.
- [08:45]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, I can see that. And I feel that same, like, inertia versus momentum situation. Like, I don't even know how long ago it was that I talked about not being able to fit podcast listening in anymore to my days, but it's like I have to get into it somehow, and then I'll stick with it. I just need a kick in the pants to get started.
- [09:04]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes, absolutely. All right, Katie, so now let's talk about the books that maybe are in our ears.
- [09:11]
Katie Cobb
Definitely. I actually was thinking about this, and I think I brought three books that I listened to this week, so I'm making up for any lack.
- [09:17]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That used to be, like, almost all of your reading, but now it's also a bit anomalous for you, too.
- [09:25]
Katie Cobb
It's all over the place. My reading is completely unpredictable this year. I can't wait to see what my spreadsheet says at the end of the year. Like, it's going to Be a surprise to me too.
- [09:33]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. All right. Well, what's your first book?
- [09:35]
Katie Cobb
All right. My first book this week is Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin. This is a story about how wrong assumptions can be good or bad. Because I made some assumptions about this book. In the Cascade Mountain range between Oregon and Washington, Frankie O'Neal and Ann Ryan are neighbors. But not close in distance or in friendship, they seem like they have nothing in common. Frankie is reeling from a death in the family and her dissertation advisor has blackballed her at the school. So she's struggling to finish her work and earn her PhD without his help or guidance. What an ass. Ann is Irish, she's a musician, but her career is on the rocks. And she has a 5 year old son named Aiden who is refusing to speak. Oh, that part of the story just tore my heart out. Her husband brushes off her motherly concerns, throws them under the rug. So she is feeling utterly alone. She has fled to the summer home of her husband's wealthy family. It's lush, it's beautiful, it's mountainous. In hopes of giving Aiden the space he needs to start speaking and interacting with the world in a different way. During a walk one day, Frankie, our PhD student, finds an injured baby crow in the forest during a summer storm. Aiden turns up on her doorstep and she keeps him safe until she can get him home. In the meantime, they find a point of connection in taking care of Charlie Crow together. Anne is thrilled to see her boy taking an interest in something other than replaying the same CD over and over and over again, never even getting to the hook, which is just torture for a musician. She has lost herself in filling out paperwork to get Aiden evaluated professionally. Still was an utter lack of support from her husband. All three of these people are essentially lost inside their own heads. And it might take this little baby crow, Charlie Crow, to get them to reach toward each other instead. Now, when I saw this book cover over and over and over again this summer, I thought it was a romance. There's something about the COVID It's kind of woodcut looking. Plus I had recently read Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dub, so the title seemed to fit. Birds, Nature, Recover. It's probably a romance. I wrote it off in my head. But I'll tell you what, folks, this is a woman alone on a boat on the COVID There's no romance here. Instead, I would say this is contemporary fiction with depth. It's certainly not literary, but it's reflective and medium to slow paced. It's about the internal lives of these two women, Frankie and Anne, as well as Aidan, that five year old nonverbal boy who draws a connection between them. It's got great descriptions of nature in the Cascade Mountains, a strong sense of place. It's got this tiny little lake community where you drive to the general store to pick up your mail and most everyone knows everyone else's at least name, if not business. It's layered with various types of grief, but mostly it's a story about hope. I did have one beef with the way the story wrapped up, especially in regard to Aiden and then the epilogue that kind of ties all the loose ends together. Without those two things, this probably would have been a five star read for me. Instead, I found myself struggling to rate a book that I loved throughout and then disappointed me at the end. I settled on 4.25 and in my head I'm just pretending things went differently. It does have a very strong rating overall though on storygraph, so I'm guessing most readers enjoyed the ending. Overall, I'm really glad I picked it up. Even though it wasn't at all the light hearted romance that I was expecting. This is Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin.
- [13:03]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Now that sounds very, very interesting. That is one that's not on my radar at all, but I'm fascinated.
- [13:10]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, well, honestly, there's something about this like baby bird and I would like to befriend a crow. Maybe in later middle age I would like to make friends with a crow. So I think that really drew me in here. That's like on my bucket list.
- [13:23]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That's interesting. You know, here in Texas we have grackles which are related and I think they're even there. I'm not going to say pretty, I'm not going to make a comparison, but they have made me even more interested in crows and the black birds. Like that. Yeah, thank you. The Corvid family. Exactly. So very interested in that. All right, well that sounds like a very interesting book.
- [13:46]
Katie Cobb
Yes.
- [13:47]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. My first book is called the Echo man by Sam Holland. Here's the setup. No one's going to be surprised when I start out this way. A serial killer is on the loose.
- [13:57]
Katie Cobb
Anything that has man in the title, adjective man. I'm like, I know where this is going.
- [14:01]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Exactly. So a serial killer's on the loose. And this of course is not just any run of the mill murderer. This psycho is playing a game of cop copycat. And he's recreating some of history's most infamous killings. Our lead character is Jess Ambrose and she is Very, very unlucky. She suddenly finds herself in hot water with the police when her house goes up in flames, killing her husband and making her the number one suspect in that crime. She teams up with Nate Griffin, who is a disgraced detective, and she's basically trying to clear her name and figure out who actually did, you know, commit this crime and, and light her house on fire. Meanwhile, we've got DCI Cara Elliott and DS Noah Deacon, who are in charge of the official investigation of this copycat killer. And they are connecting the dots between these seemingly unrelated but really brutal murders. So the body count rises and everyone is scrambling to catch the killer dubbed the Echo Man. So I heard about this book from the inimitable Elizabeth Barnhill on our show All Things Murderful. Y'all know I love a gritty, good old fashioned serial killer novel, and this is definitely that. There's a lot to like here if these kinds of books are your jam. But there are a couple elements that made this book not perfect for everyone. First of all, I love a smart serial killer, and that's what we have here. I also really love when we're going back and forth in points of view between the serial killer and the police. And we also have that here we get all the forensics and the crime scenes and the postmortems and the sitting around going over the case files that I really love. It also bears mentioning that I love to do my crime fiction on audio, and I very much enjoyed the production here with narrator Jody Harris. But there is no question that this is one of the most violent books I've read in a long time. This book includes incredibly visceral descriptions of death and sexual assault. There were a couple of times where I had to skip forward by a minute or two because I just couldn't listen to it. So knowing what you know about me and my reading, you need to take this content warning really seriously. Also, there was a character in this book that I really struggled with. Again, because I felt that this character did not rise to the occasion. So I struggled with the points of view of that character. And I have to say that the number one criticism that you see about this book on Goodreads is that this has a controversial ending. Now, I like a controversial ending. That's something that makes me want to read a book more rather than less. So I wanted to put that in here. But if it's something that you struggle with, know that before you get into it. And I agree. Because of that and several other issues within this book, there is A lot to discuss. The sentence level writing is good and the pacing was fine, with a couple of wobbly moments in the middle, but nothing that put me off. I kept wanting to come back to this on audio, which is saying something. This was actually the book that ignited the momentum that am experiencing now on audio. In fact, I ended up listening to the last two hours in one go, which is unusual for me. I literally did every single chore in my house that I could to keep reading. It's good to know that this is the first in a series, but apparently the second in the series is about the same police squad, but it's a different story. That's something that I like. But be aware if that doesn't work for you. So there's a lot to be aware of here as you go into it. But. But if it sounds like it might be the right fit for you, I think that it might be one to try. This is the Echo man by Sam Holland.
- [17:45]
Katie Cobb
You know, it's gotta be rough if Meredith is skipping scenes, though.
- [17:49]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Exactly. Exactly. I mean, it's. But it was really propulsive.
- [17:53]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [17:53]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Like, I really wanted to keep listening.
- [17:55]
Katie Cobb
Okay, well, between Echo man and Slenderman and Nothing man, and what other movie do we have?
- [18:02]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Right? There's. There's a lot. The Snowman.
- [18:04]
Katie Cobb
Oh, the Snowman.
- [18:06]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yeah.
- [18:06]
Katie Cobb
Have we ever pressed that? I feel like that.
- [18:08]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
The Chestnut. Man.
- [18:09]
Katie Cobb
You pressed that, didn't you? Yes. Okay. I have a scary book for my second one, too. Yay.
- [18:15]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay, good.
- [18:16]
Katie Cobb
My second book. And there's a theme here with endings. So far, you've talked about an ending, I've talked about an ending. I'm going to talk about another ending here. My second book is We Came to welcome youe by Vincent Tirado. This novel has a subtitle which is fun and unique. It's called We Came to Welcome A Novel of Suburban Horror. I like that.
- [18:35]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I like a subtitle.
- [18:37]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, me too. And you don't get them a lot with novels. This is a psychological thriller laced with horror, and it has a great cover, which is what led me to dive into it when I got it as an ALC from Libro fm. At the core of this novel is a couple, Sol and Alice. They are an interracial lesbian couple who just bought a new home in the beautiful Maneless Grove neighborhood. This is a sprawling suburban oasis. It's a gated community where everything is perfect. All the trees match, all the street names are similar, all the houses look exactly the same, which is good because Sol and Alice are not doing so great themselves. Alice's job is going pretty well and she's up for a promotion, which is the only thing they've got in the pro column. She's trying to manage their move, their new home, the increased workload at her job, as well as Sol's drinking, which has moved from an evening glass of wine to an all day event and many bottles in the trash. Alice isn't sure what to do, but Sol is struggling. Her job as a prestigious scientist in the university lab is on the rocks. A series of strange events and mistakes has culminated with her recently being accused of plagiarism by a male colleague. She's put on probation while they investigate his allegations, but Sol is sure that he's just racist or homophobic or both. In the meantime, her family is unsupportive as her father is unwilling to even hear about or acknowledge her relationship with Alice. Mainless Grove is supposed to be their fresh start. As the women move in, they're greeted by a small group of neighbors who have come to welcome the ladies to their new home. They bring along the HOA contract with promises of all the good things that will come of it as long as they agree to the terms and conditions. As the women consider whether to sign or not, strange things start happening around the house and the neighborhood. There's a young girl across the street who is always standing in their driveway and maybe smells a little bit like decaying flesh. There's a tree in the backyard that doesn't match any of the others in the neighborhood. It's dark, knotted, gnarly wood, and there are strange roots appearing in air vents and other places inside their home. Sol isn't sure if she's imagining things see the above mentioned drinking to excess, or if there's really something very wrong with the neighborhood. But will her sanity and mental health survive long enough to find out, or will she just lose it completely? Let's start with the good here. This novel had some really interesting and pointed observations of both racism and homophobia in every character interaction. Sol is black, Alice is Asian, and both of them face up to prejudices and presuppositions about their roles in the world and within their marriage. The neighborhood feels strikingly familiar. I promise if you're from anywhere in the US with sprawling suburbs, you've driven through one of these neighborhoods or maybe even gotten lost in one where you can't tell north from south and do I turn right here or left? Although there's no reason to think that the houses are this big, it gave me a lot of the feels of the Watcher, that series that came out on Netflix two years ago with Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. I love Suburban horror in that format and I joined it again here now for my not so favorite things. My biggest suspension of disbelief in this novel was the fact that you could move into a house and sign the HOA contract after the fact. No, that's not how that works, right? Ever. How is it possible that no one told our author Vincent Tirado there's no hoa that's optional anymore. They control your life as soon as you buy the house. They don't ask you after the fact if you want to be part of a club. This book would have made much more sense and I would have been inclined to like it more if the nefarious neighborhood had some other club or whatnot that you have the option to sign into rather than using the HOA as the way to move the action. I can get behind hallucinations and undead zombies and magical stones, but this is just beyond the pale. And finally, this is the real nail in the coffin. This book had so much great buildup. No mushy middle, propulsive all the way through and then nothing. No payoff. Even when there's a bit of a vengeance situation with the work thing for Soul, it all feels like a non event. Give me some terror, make my heart beat fast. While the end of my first book was too tidy and I could overlook it, the end of this one felt more like and that's what happened. But they all lived happily ever after. The end. I wanted more darkness, not less. As we got to the climax of the book. Instead it was like I took a ride to the top of Roller Coaster, looked down and there was no drop. Unfortunately, I feel like this one had a lot of potential and it just didn't pan out. And also, unfortunately, I did not like the narrator. I don't think that that's the way to take this in. This was just a three star read for me. It's we came to welcome you by Vincent Tirado.
- [23:21]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Oh man, you've just given me a brand new way to look at books that are great all the way till the end. Like you're going up, up, up on a roller coaster and you're looking for and then you just are asked to get off at the top and then walk down laboriously 40 flights of stairs.
- [23:37]
Katie Cobb
Oh my gosh.
- [23:38]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Oh that's. That's terrible, Katie. I'm so sorry.
- [23:41]
Katie Cobb
That's a breakthrough.
- [23:41]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That disappoint yeah. That was disappointing in a lot of really key ways.
- [23:45]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Yeah. But that HOA contract thing.
- [23:48]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Well, I mean, is he not American?
- [23:50]
Katie Cobb
Maybe it's different in his controversy is non binary and maybe I think it said they do live in the US but have a mixed heritage. So I'm not sure, but I think they live in New York. So maybe have not purchased a house.
- [24:04]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Right, exactly.
- [24:05]
Katie Cobb
Or at least not an HOA situation like this because that, like sprawling suburbia.
- [24:10]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
You would think somebody in the editors.
- [24:13]
Katie Cobb
Beta readers or somebody. Yeah. Would have been like, excuse me.
- [24:17]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Right.
- [24:18]
Katie Cobb
Did you know.
- [24:18]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Interesting.
- [24:19]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [24:19]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Oh, man, Katie, I'm sorry about that.
- [24:21]
Katie Cobb
That's a bummer. But I liked it. I really liked it for like 85%.
- [24:26]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I feel like that is the story of my reading. Laughing. Not 100% of the last six months, but a lot of the last six months have been like almost, you know, or just disappointing in some really key way. Oh, it's really. It's bothering me. It's frustrating me. Yes. All right, well, I'm going to talk about my second book, which is Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. This is the second in the All Souls trilogy, of course, which starts with A Discovery of Witches. This is book number two. But remember, this is the year of we do what we want. So I am letting myself read some series. So stick with me here or just zoom right past it if you're. If you. I'm not gonna do any spoilers. Yeah. Okay, here's the setup. So we're diving right back into the world of Diana Bishop. She's that historian turned witch and her we've got also with her, her dashing, centuries old vampire, Matthew Claremont. This time in the second book, they are in 1590, smack in the heart of Elizabethan London. The whole idea of them going here is that Diana needs to find a witch who can help her unlock her mysterious powers. And of course, they are still trying to track down that legendary manuscript, Ashmole 782. This manuscript holds the key to some big juicy stuff, and they are looking for it with great desire. And here's where it gets interesting as we go back to 1590. Matthew, he's got a big bunch of old buddies. They are called the School of Night. And these include historical figures like the playwright Christopher Marlow. These guys are in the mix, and let's just say they are not the friendliest crowd to Diana. Her modern ideas clash with the customs of 1590 and Matthew's complicated past in this era because he lived there he's centuries old. They start to unravel. So the stakes are high. They're in this intricate, dangerous web of history and magic, and you're left wondering a Can Diana truly master her powers? And where, for all that is holy, is ashmill782 hiding okay, as I said, second book in the All Souls trilogy and I did something I can't remember the last time I have done and I jumped right from book one to book two. I am fully into this series this time. I was joined in my reading by Roxanna, who had quickly caught up to my reading of the first book and we knew we wanted to finish the series series together. This series has everything in it that we love in our buddy reads. We've got lots of history, magic, romance, a complicated plot line, and a love story. It's got everything. This particular installment was a favorite for me because we got to spend the majority of the book in Renaissance England, especially, as I said, London in 1591. I love the time travel element of this book in the same way that I love the time travel elements of Outlander. And actually I ended up continuously thinking about Outlander as I read this book. There are a lot of similarities. Now, Shadow of Night is not perfect, but it's very, very good. And it's long at 600 pages, not unlike the first one. This one definitely has a mushy middle. There was a period of time where it seemed like all we were doing was going from place to place and we weren't accomplishing things that felt like we really needed to be accomplishing. But as we got to the last third, plot lines came together and some beloved characters came to the fore in a way that was very satisfying. Also, Deborah Harkness, it seems to me is first and foremost a historian, and you could just feel her delight in writing this story from this particular perspective. It seems to me like Shadow of Night was the book she always really wanted to write. There wasn't as much romance in the story as I wanted, and there wasn't nearly as much magic in there as I wanted there to be. But what Was There was incredibly enjoyable and I absolutely know that I will at least finish the trilogy and probably fairly soon. So if you love the Outlander series, I highly recommend picking up this one. Starting of course with the Discovery of Witches and continuing with this second book. It's the Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. I like this one. Did you like this one?
- [28:55]
Katie Cobb
Yes. I would have to go back and see, but I feel like I gave this Whole original trilogy, five stars. Yeah, all the way through.
- [29:03]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
So, yeah, you're really involved with the characters at this point. It's sort of like one of those situations. Like, yes, there was a mushy middle. And also I would. I would probably read about them just like establishing a homestead or whatever, you know what I mean? Like, I just. I'm very invested in these characters.
- [29:21]
Katie Cobb
Yes. Okay. My third book this week is the Night in Question by Susan Fletcher. This one's so fun and it was the perfect blend of mystery and hope, which is not something you see often. Right, let's meet Flory. She's 87 years old. She's cheerful. She has only one leg. She lives on the ground floor of Babington hall, the senior residence where she resides. It's midsummer. She's relatively sure that life is winding down for her. Right. She's in the twilight years. But then events start taking a turn around the residence. First is the death of Arthur, an elderly man who fell during a walk one day and bashed his head on a rock. Although death is part of life at Babington hall, some of the residents can't seem to move past this one. Maybe if somebody had gone with him or a staff made sure his shoes were tied tightly, we don't know. Flory visits Renata, the facility manager, to commiserate and hopefully lift both their spirits. What she finds, instead of a grief stricken woman, is someone who is in love and dreaming of a trip to Paris. They agree to meet the next day and share stories during a longer chat for tea. But later that night, during a raucous thunderstorm, Flory looks outside and sees and hears Renata falling from the third floor apartment, screaming all the way down. Renata is taken to a nearby hospital. Her accident is written off as an attempted suicide. No one can ask Renata about her motives or mood though, because she is in a persistent coma. So it's up to Flory and another resident, Stanhope Jones, to piece together the mystery. How could a woman that was so happy and in love in the morning be suicidal and throwing herself out the window by the afternoon?
- [31:03]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I'll tell you how it didn't happen that way.
- [31:07]
Katie Cobb
Interesting. Stanhope and Flory may be elderly, but they are on the case. And so begins their investigation into Renata's fall or jump. But in the meantime, Flory also unspools her own life story, thinking of what she would have told Renata about love, over 87 years of life. This book is mostly about the mystery surrounding Renata, but it's also really about Flory's life and the adventures she's been on. It had elements of A Natural History of Dragons, which y'all know I loved. It had elements of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in the way her life is recounted. And it had a fascinating locked room mystery in the present, in that the residents and staff of Babington are the only suspects for this investigation. It's a small hall out in the countryside. There's not other people just coming in and pushing people out of windows. Right. I truly loved it. This was personally and directly pressed into my hands this summer. I met Kristen in Chicago for my 40th birthday trip. And while we shopped at Roscoe's Books, she made sure to remind me that she had already gently messaged me to suggest I read this book. She also recorded a listener press for our episode this summer. If it feels like I'm telling you something a little bit familiar, she'll tell you about it directly there. That's episode 48 of season six. I drank this novel down in a single day. I loved Flory Stanhope and the other residents of the hall. It is a lovely tale woven with adventure and love and mystery, which is pretty cool. I've never read anything like it. This is the Night in Question by Susan Fletcher.
- [32:44]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I'm so glad that you ended that by telling us why that sounds so familiar, because I was feeling like I was going insane.
- [32:52]
Katie Cobb
Losing your mind? Yeah.
- [32:53]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I'm like, I know I haven't read this book, but for all the worlds, it sounds so familiar to me. Yes.
- [32:58]
Katie Cobb
Yes.
- [32:58]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. Thank you.
- [32:59]
Katie Cobb
It's so good.
- [33:00]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes. It sounds really, really, really good. All right, Katie. I'm going to end with a book that I just finished a half hour ago, and I am so excited to.
- [33:11]
Katie Cobb
Bring it, because that's amazing, because we started recording 45 minutes ago.
- [33:16]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. What I should. What I should have said is I finished it a half hour before we started recording. You're right, because I was not reading in the first 15 minutes of this. Right.
- [33:26]
Katie Cobb
Wouldn't that be fun, though?
- [33:27]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yeah.
- [33:28]
Katie Cobb
Katie, I'll be right there. You just start talking about books. I'll be right there.
- [33:31]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I mean, that would be truly talented in a way that I. I am not. Okay. No, the book that I finished a half hour before we started was A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews.
- [33:43]
Katie Cobb
Oh, this sounds great. Already. I'm already reading this.
- [33:46]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. And I wanted. I wanted to read it today for a couple of reasons, which I will tell you. Okay, here's the Setup. So this is a Victorian romance. You know, I'm happy, but it's actually about something real. So our lead character, Sophie Appersett, she is one of those women in, what is it like, 1860s London who needs to marry outside her class. She's of the. Her family's of the gentry, but she needs to marry like someone who has a lot of money to keep her family afloat. So enter our other main character, Edward Sharpe, who, on paper, is exactly what she's looking for, except that this, he's a tradesman merchant. He is about as communicative as a brick wall. He's handsome, he's successful, but he's very, very quiet and expresses no emotion whatsoever. So for two months, Sophie has been trying to make conversation because her parents kind of set. Her parents set all this up as like, this is the marriage that should take place. He's got a lot of money. He needs our title. We have the title, we need his money. But for two months, they've been going courting around London. But Edward just basically doesn't talk at all. She just has to keep this constant, you know, stream of small talk going. And it's been really, really difficult. But here's where it gets interesting. So Sophie decides that she is going to break things off. She decides that no matter how much this is a match that her parents would like, she cannot hitch her cart to this horse because she cannot go through life this way. So her parents are outraged and a bunch of other things happen, which basically lead us to the fact that Sophie decides she needs to give Edward another chance and she invites him to Christmas at their country estate. Okay, so one last chance. She's going to give him one more chance, but this time she tells him we're going to do it without the. All the social pretense. We are just going to be two people. People trying to figure out if we can get along. If there's any. There, there. Okay. God save Mimi Matthews, Katie, because this is the third time that a book by this wonderful author has scooped me up out of the sewer of bookish doldrums and delivered me onto the sidewalk of bookish delight. Yesterday, I DNF'd a really disappointing book. And I finished a book that I had high hopes for, but ended up putting me down into those bookish doldrums. So this morning, as I woke up heading it into a weekend that was going to be full of Christmas joy, this is the weekend that I do all of my Christmas decorating, I decided I was going to dip into this one, which had been recommended to me by no fewer than five different people via DM on Instagram. This is a five star delight and it's a novella, so it was a very quick win at just 174 pages. But more than anything, this book hit all the right notes. Like all of Mimi Matthews works, it is romantic but it is not spicy and that for me is perfect. It had me grinning like a school girl but not going into any open doors. Also, this book features a strong female protagonist who is in touch with herself both in a romantic way. She knows what she wants, but also in a way where she is aware of the kind of partner that she's looking for and her place in the world, and she's simply not willing to accept anything less than a partner that is well matched to her personality. Is this period correct for a woman in Victorian England? Absolutely not. Do I care? Absolutely not. Also, this is one of the rare books that for me really hit on all the holiday levels. Christmas features strongly in this story. It's snowy and joyful and all about kisses under the mistletoe and hot cocoa in front of of the fire. It just felt perfect. If you want to know what the vibes are, look at its gorgeous cover. One of my favorite things I've seen in a long time. There are a couple of interesting things related to 1860s England which made the story a little bit different. The different ways, for example, that manor homes and country homes of that time were in the process of being modernized or not. It was really expensive, for example, to put gaslight or plumbing in. We get into how much these things cost and why people might want to do it. What are the financial things that might keep them from being able to do it even though they are gentry? All of those things. Those side plots were ones that I enjoyed. If I had one complaint about this book, it's that it wasn't long enough. I could have easily relaxed into a full expanded novel. These characters are ones that I wouldn't mind being in the company of for several more hours. But just like a plate of Christmas goodies, a few goodies is probably better than the entire plate and will leave me with sweeter memories. This is a Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews and I had to bring it today because it is just the perfect little Christmas confection.
- [39:02]
Katie Cobb
It's like a holiday cookie swap.
- [39:04]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
It is. It is. It's so good.
- [39:06]
Katie Cobb
Katie, I'm getting that. Did you read this or listen to it?
- [39:09]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I read it on my Kindle and Interestingly, one of the things that I thought for sure that it was, like, newly out. It came out in 2018.
- [39:18]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. I was just seeing that. Hopefully that means I'll have no line at the library. I think I'm going to listen to it because, again, crochet projects, I got to get this done.
- [39:27]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I would imagine that that would be a wonderful way to do it. It just brought me so much joy. You know, I just said a few minutes ago, my reading has been struggling a little bit. It's been very uneven. I need these ones that feel really good on every level, and this one.
- [39:41]
Katie Cobb
Definitely was perfect satisfaction.
- [39:44]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
All right. Okay. So speaking of holiday bookish wonder, let's do our deep dive, which today we are going to each make three wishes of the holiday book fairy. So these will be bookish wishes that have absolutely. I mean, they can be realistic in nature, but when we go to the book fairy, we. We often make very unrealistic wishes. And that's what I love about the book fairy. Unlike the fountain, which a lot of those are possible, the book fairy deals in the impossible. Okay, Katie, what's your first wish?
- [40:19]
Katie Cobb
Okay, my first wish comes in a teeny, tiny little package from the book fairy. She is going to wrap up a pill for me. It's kind of like Viagra, but it gets me ready in a different way. Okay, so this pill is a prescription. You only get to use it once. You take it about an hour before you want to be ready to read, because, again, based on Viagra. Right. They'd sell it at bookstores instead of pharmacies. And what it would do is it would clear your schedule in one hour. It would make sure the temperature in your perfect reading spot is perfect. It would fill your drink for you, and then when you sit down to read, you'll be able to focus on your book with no distractions. This would be ideal for, like, yolo, bokaflod, or whatever the.
- [41:04]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes.
- [41:04]
Katie Cobb
Which I always say wrong. That Icelandic bookish tradition. You would take it, you know, Christmas Eve, and then when you open your gift an hour later, everything's already perfect, and you can sit down and you can read and read and read. That's all I want, actually, for my holiday book fairy.
- [41:18]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Right. To have all those things come together at once.
- [41:20]
Katie Cobb
Yes, yes. And it would be quiet, and there would be, you know, maybe a fire in the fireplace, like, and it would just. You pop the pill, and all those things start to kind of fall into place, and then you're ready one hour later. It could be called Book agra. I don't know.
- [41:33]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I love it. I love it. That's a wonderful wish.
- [41:37]
Katie Cobb
I like that it comes in a tiny package.
- [41:39]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes.
- [41:39]
Katie Cobb
Be hidden in the Christmas tree somewhere.
- [41:41]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I wasn't expecting that. I love it. Okay, so my first wish is that at any point in the month of December I can stop time and visit my magical Christmas cabin which is in the Swiss Alps.
- [41:54]
Katie Cobb
Okay.
- [41:55]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. This cabin is already decorated for Christmas in the most lush and over the top way possible. The way that I just would never actually decorate my home because I would just never invest this much money. Yes. So, but in the Swiss Alps, this cabin is always exactly right for whatever season we're in. And right now it's decorated for Christmas. It's got all the snacks I could possibly want. It's got a floor to ceiling wall of windows that look out on nothing but Alpish Alps. The most Alpa shops.
- [42:32]
Katie Cobb
Okay, we're making up words. The book fairy is out of control today.
- [42:36]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Absolutely. And in the distance in these Alpish Alps, I can see very distant lights from other reading cabins that I know my other bookish friends are popping in and out of at will. Because every time we go, we are stopping time in our real life. So we are not having to take time away or pack or do any of those things. We just click our bookmarks together three times and we are, we can spend as much time as we want to read and to refill our cups in whatever way we want in our magic bookish cabin. So that's my first wish. And I wish it ardently.
- [43:18]
Katie Cobb
Oh, I like that. It's not even like ruby slippers, it's just regular slippers. You just click your slippers together and then you're in the Alps.
- [43:25]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Absolutely right. Or you close your e reader three times.
- [43:29]
Katie Cobb
Oh yeah, that little magnetic catch.
- [43:31]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yeah.
- [43:32]
Katie Cobb
So satisfying. Okay. Yes, I like that a lot. Okay, My next wish is an elf on the bookshelf. Here's what it's going to do for me. Okay. Every night I will go to bed. My little elf on the bookshelf will shuffle my bookshelves. But what it will do is rise five books to a special shelf. And those ones are perfect for me to pick up the next day. So this elf is magic. It's provided by the book fairy. It has magic. It will match that day's reading, mojo and mood. If I need something that's, you know, little snippets, that's what will be in that little stack. If I need something, that's a long story. I can sink into. That's what's going to be in that little stack. My elf on the bookshelf does his magic every single night. And I never have to worry if I'm missing the best book for me in that moment because he has helped me find them.
- [44:24]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That is wonderful. I love the idea of waking up every morning and having five surfaced books that even if they were your own, but like, even if they.
- [44:33]
Katie Cobb
No, that's what I want. Yes.
- [44:34]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yeah. That's so great. That's wonderful. That's very smart. Okay, my second wish is that my. I'm very, very heavy on the teleportation in my wishes because it is the superpower I wish that I had.
- [44:46]
Katie Cobb
Me too.
- [44:46]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. So my second wish is that I would be able to teleport to the cozy reading nooks of three bookish friends of ours, any three who needed me at the moment. We would have a deep bookish conversation where they would tell me about their favorite books of all time, and I would be magically imbued with the ability to recommend and hand to them three books that would be perfect for them. I've realized that for me, bookish community is way more important and satisfying than my introverted self lets me believe. And so this wish would enable me to meet three people I've never met before and really find out what makes their reading life tick and grant some wishes for them. This would be very satisfying for me.
- [45:33]
Katie Cobb
Okay, we're going to build this out more because I'm very excited about this. So when you teleport, you're going to have, like, Mary Poppins bag, right? And as you hear from them, that bag is gonna use what you know in your head to fill up so that you can open it, and then those three books are there for you.
- [45:50]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
It would be just a surprise to both of us. It would be. Wouldn't that be so great?
- [45:55]
Katie Cobb
Oh, my gosh. Yes.
- [45:57]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I love finding out what really makes our bookish friends tick. Reading wise. I think this would be so much fun.
- [46:04]
Katie Cobb
This is delightful. Yes. Everything about this, it's making me happy. Okay, I have a third wish that kind of plays with an element from your first wish, Meredith. The end of the year, we start to get some of us a little bit antsy about our numbers for the year. Like, if you have a reading goal, maybe you're thinking, oh, well, I gotta hurry up. I gotta read some more stuff. Right? So my wish is that I could choose some of my very favorites from years past that I want to reread and be able to choose from two separate experiences. So it's like a little switch that I can flip on and off. Okay. The first one, I read it normally, but I flip the switch at the front and I forget everything about the first time I read it. I get to experience it for the first time.
- [46:48]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That's good.
- [46:49]
Katie Cobb
Or I flip the switch at the front and I get to read it again, knowing everything I already knew, but making new connections and enjoying it in a way. But time is paused. So I can do that without feeling like I wasted a book. Right. Because that's the real kicker for a reread. For me, that is.
- [47:08]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That is.
- [47:09]
Katie Cobb
Oh, I love those stories. But gosh, I could be reading something new. There's a billion books out there. I'll never finish all of them. Right. This is a me problem. But I would like to, each time I'm drawn toward a reread, be able to make one of those two choices. Either experience it for the first time, or time doesn't pass while I'm reading it and I can just keep going with my life.
- [47:29]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That is a very good wish. That really appeals to me. Yes, yes. That appeals to me in a major way. All right. My third wish is possible in real life, just not in my real life right now. So it feels like a book fairy wish. I really, really want one of those darn Narnia closet library setups. Have you seen them? Right. We've all seen them. Right. Grandpa has a Narnia closet. And then you open it looks like a Narnia wardrobe.
- [48:02]
Katie Cobb
Wardrobe, yeah, with clothes.
- [48:03]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
But it has a door in the back that goes into this jaw droppingly huge. It wouldn't have to be huge, but this is a book fairy. Let's wish big.
- [48:13]
Katie Cobb
Like a Beauty and the Beast.
- [48:15]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Beauty and the Beast library. Exactly right. I want that so bad. I can feel my literal heart clenching. I want that so bad. I think, wouldn't that be so cool just like for your grandkids.
- [48:28]
Katie Cobb
Yes.
- [48:29]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
To see that you have that. They would just love that so much. And it would have library ladders that. And you could just swing around and dress like Belle.
- [48:40]
Katie Cobb
Double spiral staircases from one level to the next. And there's probably twinkle lights on the ceiling and on all the handrails, just for sure.
- [48:48]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
And talking furniture.
- [48:49]
Katie Cobb
Probably. I mean, is it even a library without talking furniture?
- [48:53]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Right.
- [48:53]
Katie Cobb
My neighbors across the street have taken out the door to their under stairs space. And the husband is a woodworker. We talk a lot about, you know, woodworking things because I like to do that too. And he is building a bookshelf where the door goes and it will have a magical pole book so that there's still an under the stairs escape, but you have to go through the bookshelf to get into it. So I'm picturing this is basically the opposite of what you wished for. Right. Like the bookshelf is on the outside and the secret is on the inside. But having a secret door right there in their entryway. It used to be a coat closet. They opened up the entire understairs space for a little hideout for their kid and you use the bookshelf to get there.
- [49:32]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I love it so much.
- [49:33]
Katie Cobb
It's so magic.
- [49:35]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes. It's so, so, so wonderful. I love it.
- [49:38]
Katie Cobb
All right. Well, I feel like those were some fantastic book fairy wishes. If magic could get on the stick and start making some of these happen, we would be very grateful.
- [49:47]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Exactly. Exactly. We will definitely do a post this week asking you guys on our Instagram so follow currentlyreading podcast. We will be asking you guys what your book fairy holiday Book fairy wishes are. And dream big. You guys like go nuts.
- [50:05]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. There are no limits here.
- [50:08]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
There are no limits. This is actually one of my favorite ways to fall asleep is to think along these lines. What if I had one wish and then just make it crazy detailed. It works every time to go to sleep.
- [50:21]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. What does it smell like in that room? What does the air feel like on your skin? Yeah, I like that.
- [50:27]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I love it. All right, Katie, let's go to the fountains. We're making more wishes. This is a wish filled episode.
- [50:33]
Katie Cobb
It is. But I went very like level down to earth for my wish.
- [50:37]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Me too. Because I was like, okay, we can accomplish these wishes.
- [50:40]
Katie Cobb
We contain multitudes. Yes. So I'm going to press the book this week. I wish to press the Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defeati into our listeners hands. This is because I just went to see Come from Away again about a week ago and it just brought all those beautiful feels back into my life. But this book is a great gift option for anyone you're shopping for this holiday season. It's great for like hard to buy for people. This was originally pressed into our hands by bookish Fran Jessica Barrick and tells the story of Gander, Newfoundland and the events surrounding September 11th. Gander is a tiny town at the far eastern edge of the North American continent and it used to be where transatlantic flights would refuel because they couldn't make it all the way to New York or Minnesota or wherever they were going to, but as jets were invented and got more efficient, it got left behind. That led to this tiny town that only has about 10,000 people in it, hosting two thirds of its population in refugees. When 38 planes landed at their Wobigan airport on September 11 with no knowledge as to when they would be able to leave, nearly 7,000 additional people are in town. They have to find ways to feed, clothe and house passengers from all over the world who speak hundreds of different languages, all of whom need to get in touch with their family and friends. This book is nonfiction. It details the events of the next few days as the people of Gander rallied around the people who came from away. It's fantastic narrative nonfiction that restores your hope in the goodness of the world. It's a perfect fit for any reader for Christmas. It's backlist, so it's easy to get your hands on in paperback, but also the audio is phenomenal. So grab a copy of that for yourself and a few copies of the paperback for your loved ones as gifts. It will be a hit, I promise you. It's the Day the World Came to Town by Jim defiti.
- [52:32]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Oh, that's a great idea. I love. I haven't read that book, but I love. That's a perfect gift suggestion or a book to have in your ears right now.
- [52:40]
Katie Cobb
Yes, yes.
- [52:41]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Okay. Also very, very doable. I wish that everyone, a lot of us are already doing it, but I just want to remind you, bookish Christmas Ambiance rooms or asmr rooms on YouTube. It's so easy to add this to your but just throw it on your TV. Go to YouTube, create a playlist. I'm going to have Megan put three of my favorite bookish Christmas ambiance rooms into the show notes. I have an old library Christmas which has the funniest, weirdest little gingerbread men in it. But it brings me delight and it delights my grandchildren. I also have Christmas morning with light Christmas music in the background. I normally don't like music in my ambiance rooms. In fact, never any other part of the year except for at Halloween where I have really creepy sounds and Christmas where I have Christmas music. And then I have Christmas in a bookish cabin. It is my Swiss Alps cabin, y'all.
- [53:41]
Katie Cobb
Yes, I was hoping you would say that.
- [53:42]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
That's all fire crackle. So yes. Also, might I remind you, you can search up Christmas from another room Ambiance rooms. This is perfect for me. Who wants to feel like Christmas? I've got Christmas music, but not Surrounding not filling up the entire room. I want Christmas music from a couple rooms away so you can search Christmas in another room. And that just gives you like light, light, light, distant Christmas music and some fire crackle and all of that good stuff. So it's just a way to add ambiance at this time of year. I use these all year long to make my. My reading even better. And at this time of year, I pretty much always have our TV on with a Christmas ambiance room.
- [54:27]
Katie Cobb
I love it. Do you okay, ads on YouTube. Oh, yeah.
- [54:33]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
No.
- [54:33]
Katie Cobb
Are we paying for ads? Are we looking for ad free? What are we doing here?
- [54:36]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
I have a YouTube Premium membership. And I will tell you what, between all the use that I get for this reason and all the use that Jackson gets, like we share an account and so it is more than worth the cost.
- [54:48]
Katie Cobb
Okay.
- [54:48]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
In my opinion, if just for this, it would be worth it for the month of December. Because, yes, you do not want ads in your ambiance room.
- [54:58]
Katie Cobb
It ruins everything.
- [55:00]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yeah. And you got to do Spotify if you're going to listen to Christmas like in December. I think this is, if you, if you can. I think this is a great month to pay a little bit extra to get just the experience.
- [55:12]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Okay. I like that. Good practical solutions for everyone.
- [55:15]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
It's not the book fairy, but it is a little something.
- [55:19]
Katie Cobb
It's a little something to brighten your holiday season.
- [55:21]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Yes. All right, that is it for this week. As a reminder, here's where you can connect with us. You can find me, I'm Meredith, Meredith Monday Schwartz on Instagram and you can.
- [55:31]
Katie Cobb
Find me Katie@notesonbookmarks on Instagram. Our show is produced and edited every week by Megan Putamong Evans. You can find her on Instagram at most of Megan's reads.
- [55:41]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Full show notes. With the title of every book we mentioned in the episode and timestamps, you can zoom right to where we talked about. It can be found in our show notes and on our website@currentlyreading podcast.com.
- [55:53]
Katie Cobb
You can also follow the show, please do @currentlyreading podcast on Instagram. Chime in to the conversation or you can email us@currentlyreading podcastmail.com and if you.
- [56:03]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Want more of this kind of content and you want a fantastic bookish community, join us on Patreon. It's $5 a month. It gets you that content, that community, and keeps our show commercial free. You can also rate and review us on Apple podcasts and shout us out on social media. That's a great Christmas gift to give to us. All of those things help us to build our perfect audience.
- [56:25]
Katie Cobb
Actually, we should have talked about this. Patreon now has gift subscriptions, so you can gift that to somebody for Christmas.
- [56:32]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
How great is that?
- [56:33]
Katie Cobb
I'm so excited they finally heard us. Bookish friends are the best friends. Let your friends become your bookish friend. Thank you for helping us grow and get closer to our goals.
- [56:42]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
All right, until next week, may your.
- [56:44]
Katie Cobb
Holiday beverage be hot and your book be unputdownable.
- [56:48]
Meredith Mundy Schwartz
Happy reading, Katie.
- [56:49]
Katie Cobb
Happy reading, Meredith.