← The Currently Reading Podcast
The Currently Reading Podcast
Season 7, Episode 48: Our 2025 Group Show!
01:05:00
On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are joined by show regulars Roxanna and Mary and they are discussing: Unique or Shared!: We give you a statement that may make us either unique or shared, and discuss! Show notes are...
Loading summary
Transcript314 lines
- [00:00]
Roxanna
Foreign.
- [00:11]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
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 those strong opinions. So get ready.
- [00:25]
Katie Cobb
We are kind of light on the chit chat, heavy on the book talk, and our conversations will always be spoiler free. Today we have a very special episode for you.
- [00:34]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I'm Meredith Monday Schwartz, a mom of four and full time CEO living in Austin, Texas. And if two hosts is great, four hosts is better.
- [00:43]
Katie Cobb
And I'm Katie Cobb, a homeschooling mom of four living in Arizona. And I like to pretend I'm a precious and unique flower. This is episode number 48 of of season seven and we are so glad you're here, Katie.
- [00:54]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
You are a precious and unique flower.
- [00:56]
Katie Cobb
Aren't we all? We are all so precious and unique and adorable. And that is especially true today because we have all four of us here for a group show. We do one at the end of every episode. So let's welcome Mary and Roxanna to currently reading again. Yay.
- [01:11]
Mary
Hi friends.
- [01:12]
Roxanna
So nice to see you all.
- [01:14]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I love it, love it when we're all together.
- [01:17]
Katie Cobb
Yes. This is our second seventh ask us anything end of season group show dynamic. So this year I did play around a little bit on the Internet coming up with some different icebreaker type activities. So rather than asking for group show questions or playing a different type of game, today we're going to play a game that I'm calling unique or shared. So each of us has come up with some things, some statements about ourselves that we think are unique and precious and special, so different from everybody else. And then we're going to see if that's actually true or not. Because that's the thing about humans, right. The fun is actually finding out we have something in common. So even when you think you're super unique and special, maybe you're not. Right?
- [01:58]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Right. We could have called it special flower or basic bee. Like which, which one of those. And I guarantee you I'm such a basic bee. I'm like, not even. These aren't even interesting for me. But. But they will be interesting from you.
- [02:14]
Katie Cobb
Okay, well, we'll see what happens here. I feel like each of you is a unique precious flower to me. So I'm very excited to get into today's episode. We are gonna go around round robin style. I do expect that there's gonna be some back and forth discussion silliness. I will say right now that I'm jealous of Mary. Cause she's in a freezer icebox of a basement, and I'm sweating in Arizona. So we are unique in that way. Very different from each other in that way. But we're going to start with Roxanna because she is clockwise from me on the screen where I'm sitting right now. So, Roxanna, what is the first thing that came to mind for this unique or shared game that we're playing?
- [02:57]
Roxanna
Okay, so this is less precious flower and more deep, dark confession. Okay. I can guarantee that Meredith and Katie know this is not you. 100%, 80%. This is not Mary. But I think some readers deep, dark down, you relate to this. Okay? So be real. Okay, Tell me the truth here. So here's mine. I am the worst, worst library patron ever, and I have no qualms about it. So you all know I love the library. I talk about all the time. Have I also told you that I rack up regularly? Regularly. Like, weekly 20 to $40 fines. Like, regularly. Okay. I take out, like, 20, 30 books. They sit in my house. I don't know where they are, guys. I don't have a nice shelf like Meredith.
- [03:50]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
They're lost.
- [03:51]
Roxanna
They're not in one area. They're, like, all over. Because the kids, books, whatever, they. Look at these faces. This is the truth, guys. This is a hundred percent God's truth. Some are in the craft bin. Some are in Kirin's shelf, some. We found one hidden behind the couch the other day that we'd been charged for. We have them all over, and every time I go, I'm charged. And you know, Meredith knows I hate paying for books. This is another weird thing. But I just have a weird thing. But I'm fine to pay the 20 to $40 library fines all the time because I'm like, well, I'm supporting the library, so whatever. I don't care who's in line next. I don't care about the waiting list. I'm just the worst library patron.
- [04:31]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Now, this doesn't surprise me. Only in that now that I've gotten to spend a week with Kieran, your daughter, your youngest, and I got to experience the fact that she literally has a book in her hands 24 7. I'm not just saying, like, available to her. I'm, like, in her hand. So if we went to the grocery store, she has a book. If we. So I can see now how books can. Could go missing just because she travels with them everywhere.
- [05:07]
Roxanna
So, yeah, and, like, she read a book a day when we were on vacation. Now, I will say more than that. More than that.
- [05:12]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Two novels in a day.
- [05:15]
Roxanna
Yeah. Like 400 pages. She's a reader. So now I will say I don't lose them. So, like, she lost. Remember Meredith? She lost the Wondersmith. Yeah, yeah. And we were like, no. I was like, well, if you lose it, you're going to pay the library double what it's worth. We don't lose books. We deliver them late, but we don't lose them. Okay. And then we found it, and we did a big family cheer, and I got a call and blah, blah, blah, because they had found the book behind the couch. So we don't. We don't. We always find them, but they are regularly late. And I'm not. I. Maybe I. I guess I am a horrible person here, but I'm just like, I have tried to solve this about myself. It's just not solvable. I can't get there on time. It's super close to me. It doesn't matter. So I just. I'm just like, well, this is. This is who I am, people. It's just who I am. Look at Katie's eyes.
- [05:58]
Katie Cobb
Okay, well, there's a lot happening here. A. I, for years now, have not been a part of library systems that have fines. They'll. They'll either tell you they're late, they might send you an nasty gram, they may suspend your borrowing privileges, and if you ruin a book, you have to pay to replace it. But it's been a long time since I was part of one where it was like, it's late. It's 25 cents a day. And then it just keeps like, boop, boop, boop, boop.
- [06:21]
Roxanna
So I will say now, TPL Toronto Public Library has removed fines. So from this year, I have not paid any fines. I just increased my library donation at the end of the year because I feel like I do all this traffic at the budget for it so well. And I don't, like. I just feel like it's. I should do something, right? So I do that. But in Canada, we can't sign up. I don't think maybe Canadians will correct me. We can't sign up for multiple library cards in different areas and stuff. And we can't sign up for US ones. So it was like, this is the library system I have, and, you know, they do fines, so I'm just gonna deal with it.
- [06:51]
Katie Cobb
Mary, do you have fines?
- [06:53]
Mary
We have fines. And I am not an oldest daughter, but I have oldest daughter energy, I think. And I am raising an Oldest daughter, and we don't return library books late. Charlotte's got a box for her library books and meticulously puts them back in. And I'm, like, aware where mine are. We do have, like, it's not like we're perfect. Of course, we have had to pay fines and replace books that got dropped in the bathtub, whatever. But no, I, too, was lovingly horrified.
- [07:27]
Roxanna
Come on, then. Okay, so, listeners, please. I'm not the only one. I share this deep, dark truth, right? I could have shared a nice precious flower, nice thing. I didn't. I shared a deep, dark truth. So I know there's people out there. And let me just tell the people who are horrified, like, honestly, honestly, I don't take any. Like, I'm not being stupidly boastful or rebellious or, like, I'm so cool for the library. Like, that's not it. I. I just. I just accept that this is a real downfall for me. So don't think I'm glorifying it. I don't think this is the right behavior. All of you, like, the three here that are shaming me so deeply, all of you that do deliver you. Maybe it's. Maybe it's projection for me. I don't know. But for all those. I 100% agree with you. I 100% agree it's bad behavior. I'm with you.
- [08:12]
Katie Cobb
Okay?
- [08:12]
Roxanna
I don't mess up the books. But. But this is what it is. So if you are also like that, please, I can't be the only one.
- [08:19]
Mary
And I will say this. I never in my life have had a qualm about paying a late fee for the library. I'm like, yes, there are way worse ways to spend my money. Take it. Library system.
- [08:30]
Roxanna
Yep.
- [08:31]
Mary
So I'm like, whatever, right? Take my money. Here's some more.
- [08:34]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And I will say, well, I always know where all of my books are because I am kind of weird about that element of it. I. One of the things that Johnny will sometimes jokingly chastise me about is how many books I take out at once. He'll be like, you're, you know, you're never going to get to 30 books, but you regularly have 30, 35 or more books out at a time. Like, is that really fair, like, to other people? And so what I say is, look, if it's a new release, I prioritize those and I get them back into the system as quickly as possible. Although I have been known to be like, I will. That is going to go into a book flight. And it's probably not going to be for a few days, and everyone can just hold their collective horses for a minute. But otherwise, I just. Yeah, I'm.
- [09:26]
Roxanna
I.
- [09:26]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
We don't have fees. I probably. I mean, I. I have to think at some point my privileges should have been taken from me. But my library is just peopled with such glorious people that I think they hit whatever button and they're like, oh, she's fine. I don't know. That might not even be true. I'm just. That's a story I'm telling myself in my head because it makes me feel good.
- [09:45]
Katie Cobb
Right. I mean, I. I think that's true of almost all libraries, actually. Exactly.
- [09:50]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
They want us to have these books they want. You know what I mean? And I don't think you're doing anything. I don't think you're doing anything wrong there. I don't think there's anything bad about. About that.
- [10:02]
Katie Cobb
I agree.
- [10:03]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [10:03]
Katie Cobb
Same.
- [10:04]
Roxanna
Well, thank you guys for being my therapy session.
- [10:06]
Katie Cobb
I lay that down, Roxanne. Yes. Yes. And also continue supporting your library. Like, continue checking out books with abandon. Continue paying fines. It helps them, you know, bring some money in. Like, do it. Or continue supporting them. Friends of the library.
- [10:21]
Mary
Way better than the alternative.
- [10:23]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [10:24]
Mary
Of not going at all.
- [10:25]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, right.
- [10:26]
Roxanna
That's what I figure. I'm like, I can't do it properly, but I'm just gonna do it, and I'll just give them some money for my bad behavior and hopefully support the library that way. But I'm putting a lot of books in circulation. You know, Kieran's reading an s ton of books. I'm reading a lot of books, so. And I'm talking about them. So, you know. Right.
- [10:43]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And also ask your librarian if there's a book that they don't have at, like, request the book be added to the library. Because that apparently makes it possible for them to add books to their. You know, to the library if you request. Yeah, like, they will do that. So that's another. My library makes it very simple to do, like, just through their normal catalog system. And you just send it in and they will get it, and they will automatically hold it for you when it comes in. They'll be like, the book that you wanted is here.
- [11:14]
Roxanna
That's so great. I didn't know that, Mare. Okay, I will do that now.
- [11:17]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Give it a shot.
- [11:18]
Katie Cobb
I mean, my version of this, Roxanna, is that I will hold books at the library that I have on my shelves. Don't care. Don't care. And yes, I'M taking that from somebody else who could. Who needs it sooner than I do because it's sitting on my shelf at home. Well, I want it in a different format, so I'm gonna use my library. And then I might put my Kindle in airplane mode to keep it for longer than the checkout period. And then I might, you know, get all seven books in a series for my kids and just return them sporadically throughout. And they're not getting fined. They're not. I mean, they might come back late, but they're not getting damaged. They're not being fined. I'll just keep renewing for many rounds, like so. I mean, what is that is library abuse? I mean, the goal is circulation. The goal is getting more hands into the books of readers. I don't think you're doing anything bad.
- [12:14]
Roxanna
Well, thank you. And readers, I'm sure listeners will pipe up if they feel differently.
- [12:19]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Oh, they're going to pipe up with this.
- [12:20]
Roxanna
I know they will.
- [12:21]
Katie Cobb
There's going to be some words. There's going to be some words for sure. Mary, why don't you shock and appall us or just tell us something special and unique about you?
- [12:28]
Mary
Yeah, I don't know that any of mine are shocking and appalling, but I do know that, Katie, we do not share this one that I'm going to start with, which is that I love a buzzy book moment. I love a shared moment in time with readers. I love reading a book that everyone is talking about online. I love getting to be in the discourse and in the zeitgeist and let's all talk about the book and let's all have the moment. Like I said, feel like that is a really nice way to feel community and like togetherness and it's really fun. I have like a teeny bit of an obsessive personality that I have to keep very much in check. But this is one way that I let it run free, that I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna read this book and I'm gonna share all the memes and I'm gonna talk about it with all the people and then I'm gonna go press it into all my friends hands and I'm gonna make my book club read it, which we'll get to that later. And it just. I love it. And I know that that one's not. Do know, Katie, that you run away from a buzzy book moment like polarized magnets. So I'm really curious to hear about Meredith and Roxanna for this one. I feel Like I should know, but I don't know that I do.
- [13:36]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Oh, let me just toss this one to my good friend Roxanna.
- [13:42]
Katie Cobb
Because she.
- [13:43]
Roxanna
Knows this is where my enneagram for special flower energy really comes out. Like, if there is a book. No, I'm not reading it because everybody else in the world is reading it. And I'm gonna go find the most backlisted, weird, strange book, and I'm gonna read that one because I'm cool and different. I think that's part of it. Is like, not consciously, obviously, but I think that's part of it. And I think that's part of it also, because I'm a complaining to Meredith basically nonstop. Like, I've picked up recent books and my expectations are high and I've just had. I just. I'm going to say it on here because I'm, you know, I just read. Let's say, for example, Atmosphere. Didn't love it. I think a lot of people will. I think a lot of people will. It's got high ratings and I love tjr. Not for me. I read a lot lately that I was like, yeah, you've been reading.
- [14:38]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
You've been. Because she. Because, yes, there she has the special flower element of like, I'm not. If there's so much hype, like a Fourth Wing or Hunger Games kind of hype, then she won't read it. But if there's just like 75% level hype or it's just a lot of places and a lot of people are saying they really love it. No, she will continue to pick up these front list books.
- [15:01]
Roxanna
Yes.
- [15:01]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And I could tell her in advance that it's not going to work for her.
- [15:04]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [15:04]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
But it's a FOMO thing that, you know, and, And. And just like, it. Well, it's working for a lot of people. Maybe this will be the thing.
- [15:13]
Roxanna
And it usually. Usually I'm pretty good, Meredith. Usually I don't pick them up. But if they're at the library, if a lot of people have talked about them, what did I just do? Oh, yeah, that there's another Tender Hearts, which I think, by the way, Katie, you will love. But there's Road to Tender Hearts.
- [15:29]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [15:30]
Roxanna
Right. So anywhere.
- [15:31]
Katie Cobb
What post have I seen about that? It's like. It's like blocked in my. I don't even remember the author right now because it's blocked in my head, honestly.
- [15:37]
Roxanna
Like, I should never pick that book up. Any sort of expectation that I have. It's not that the books are not good. Let me be clear. It's not. The books are not good. I come in with an expectation. I am disappointed if it's some random backlist or somebody's mentioned it on a podcast once. Great, then I just have 20% expectation and then let the book take me where it may. But I'm just. It's just. Mary, I wish I, like, I really do wish I could let myself enjoy it because I love seeing. And everybody's, like, so excited about it. And it's never me. I'm Oscar the Grouch in the corner being like. So I don't say anything because nobody needs that energy. And it's really stupid energy because it's. It's just not stupid. But it's because my own failed expectations has nothing to do with the book. So nobody needs that. But I do wish I could just take that merry Snow White energy and go running with the, you know, butterflies around me and be like, I love this book and. And just be, like, happy about a book for once. I just. I'm very jealous of you for that. I think that's a great. It's so great that you have that now.
- [16:41]
Mary
I will say it's not that my expectations don't get dashed, but I always have the hope that I am going to also be in the moment. Like, also be as wrapped up in the book that I'm like, it would be wonderful if I love this as much as all these people love it. And that looks really fun. So I'm gonna give it a go. It definitely does not always hit. And of course, who doesn't love being the snowflake that found a book that nobody else would find. I love that, too. I'm like, or I read this one first or I found this on Neck Alley before it was popular. I have. Of course, I have that in me, too, for sure. But I. My hopes do get dashed. But I'm always like, I still have them. I'm always still hopeful.
- [17:24]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
You know what's funny? And this is this actually leads into one of mine perfectly. I know, Mary, that everything that you just said is completely true. That, like, there are so many people for whom being the first to find a book, you, you know, in whatever way, that new release that's coming out in six months before you know it's going to hit. So you're the first. Like, that is like the thing, the high, the rush. I have zero of that. I could not care less about that if I tried. What I really care about is finding that old book.
- [17:58]
Roxanna
You Love your library. Gems.
- [18:00]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
That, like, absolutely delights me so much to find that book even just for my own self, even if I didn't have the ability to talk about it with other people. But given that I do, it's magnified, you know, by. By so many times. I love being able to be like, you know, this book that's been languishing on your mom's bookshelf for 110 years.
- [18:21]
Katie Cobb
Your mom.
- [18:22]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [18:22]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Shell Seekers. Although that came to me not via my mom's bookshelf, but Roxanna. But that kind of find where you're like, why are we all reading? Atmosphere. Why are we not reading? You know what I mean? Fill in the blank. So that's kind of where that's the thing that's interesting about my discoverability kind.
- [18:43]
Roxanna
Of Jones that I have, like, your recent lexicon. Like, you were like, this is exactly what people were looking for. And it was published, I remember, like, 10 years ago or something. Like, I know you love bringing books like that. And you never even find them on the, like, Best Bets shelf, which would be called them. You literally go deep into the annals of the library and you pick it out from some shelf.
- [19:02]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Exactly. I just let it come to. I just let it come to my fingers.
- [19:07]
Katie Cobb
It's the Ouija board.
- [19:08]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And I'll actually walk through the. The stacks doing this with my fingers. Like this little crab movement that I'm doing.
- [19:15]
Mary
Like a little book lobster.
- [19:17]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yes.
- [19:17]
Katie Cobb
Maybe.
- [19:17]
Mary
Maybe.
- [19:18]
Roxanna
Witchy, librarian, witchy vibes.
- [19:23]
Katie Cobb
Have you ever actually felt like you've used the force and it pulls itself off the shelf into your little crab hands?
- [19:29]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I have not. But if that happened, that would be it for me. That I could die happy. Well, because you know how much I wish that I was an actual witch. Like, I so wish that I had powers.
- [19:40]
Mary
Yeah.
- [19:40]
Katie Cobb
Yes.
- [19:43]
Roxanna
Any power.
- [19:43]
Katie Cobb
Okay.
- [19:44]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Any power whatsoever.
- [19:45]
Katie Cobb
Meredith, is that your unique.
- [19:47]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yes. That's a weird. That's a unique thing, right, that I'm not obsessed with the notion of finding the newest new release. And thank God there are so many other people that do that so well. I know Elizabeth Barnhill is out there in the advance, so the rest of us don't have to be right.
- [20:03]
Katie Cobb
Those Frontline readers, we love them. I would say I'm a happy medium there. Like, I would much rather a have a book for the show or read a book that has been sitting on my shelf for forever. And I realized then that it was perfect for me. Like, I just talked about Prodigal Summer and how that's gonna lead me to shell Seekers this summer because I want that, like, 20 and 30 and 40 year old experience in my current reading life. And it stood the test of time for a reason. Right. That's why I'm like, I liked the Odyssey, you know, Like, I didn't like Odysseus, but I liked the Odyssey. So I'm definitely more. More on the Meredith end of that number line, whatever number line that is, than the merry end as established. I do dig in my heels in a big way and, like, have to be brought kicking and screaming by the skin of my teeth into whatever popular TikTok darling there is. Which is part of why I don't even have TikTok. I'm that contrary. I won't even get on TikTok.
- [21:00]
Mary
Oh, same. No, I want my Instagram. Like the millennial I am.
- [21:04]
Katie Cobb
Yes, yes. If it's not on Instagram, it doesn't concern me.
- [21:07]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I don't need it.
- [21:08]
Katie Cobb
If it's not Pedro Pascal, I don't need it.
- [21:10]
Mary
Same.
- [21:12]
Katie Cobb
Okay, Mary did briefly allude to something which I wrote down. It's not an interesting thing, but I think it's true that I am the only oldest daughter or Roxanna. Are you an oldest daughter? Yes. You are?
- [21:24]
Roxanna
Yes.
- [21:25]
Katie Cobb
Let me share that.
- [21:26]
Roxanna
I'm a firm oldest daughter.
- [21:27]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I'm an oldest daughter.
- [21:28]
Roxanna
Yeah. Meredith, too.
- [21:29]
Mary
I thought.
- [21:30]
Katie Cobb
I thought Melinda was older than you.
- [21:32]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
No, she's three years younger.
- [21:33]
Katie Cobb
Oh, right. Because you told that story about singing. What? Survivor. What did you have to sing to her? Oh, she brought the 80s song.
- [21:40]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Oh, it's. The search is over.
- [21:44]
Katie Cobb
Okay, so Mary, you're the only young. Not oldest daughter then.
- [21:50]
Mary
Okay, no, I'm.
- [21:51]
Katie Cobb
That actually makes more sense.
- [21:52]
Mary
But my sisters are six and nine years older than I am, so I've always been friends with people who are precious and unique. Flower decade older than me.
- [22:01]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [22:02]
Mary
Well, that's not true. But I bring that oldest daughter energy. And I think because my sisters were old enough when I was born that I had a lot of time to myself. So I think I developed that, like some of that oldest or only child, but people definitely do. I love my middle sister. People absolutely, since the dawn of time have thought that I am older than she is. She is the younger sister.
- [22:24]
Katie Cobb
But, Roxanna, you don't have a sister. You only have a brother. Is that true?
- [22:27]
Roxanna
I have a brother who's six years younger than me. So similar to Mary. Like, we grew up. I know. And Meredith, you have a similar. I know. Gap. But for me, like, we were. We didn't grow up really together because, you know, that. That age gap.
- [22:42]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Different. Yeah.
- [22:43]
Roxanna
Now we're close, but we weren't as much growing up, so. Yeah, I. I have strong gold. This daughter energy for sure.
- [22:49]
Katie Cobb
Okay, okay. Okay. So you're the only one without a sister, though.
- [22:53]
Roxanna
I am. I'm so sad about that. Yes, I am. I really. My whole life, I wanted a sister. Honestly.
- [22:59]
Katie Cobb
There's a. On the new live action Lion King, there's a song. I've always wanted a brother. And Analy sings that all the time, but she changes it. I've always wanted a sister. And I'm like, sorry, baby girl, it's not happening for you. Not in the cards for you, my love. So. Okay, well, those are just some little weird factoids about all of us. But my first unique thing about me, and I spoiled this one a little bit in our chat, but I think I am the only one of the four of us that purposefully and with strong intention seeks out five chili pepper books over pretty much any other number, but definitely over ones and twos. Like those. I would rather just put those on the never read stack, honestly. Is that. Is that true? Does anybody else here.
- [23:46]
Roxanna
Nope.
- [23:47]
Katie Cobb
No. No.
- [23:48]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Ones and twos are good for me.
- [23:49]
Katie Cobb
Sweetness and love for all three of these lovely ladies.
- [23:53]
Mary
I don't mind spice, but I also typically don't. If I see someone says something is five chili Peppers, I'm like, probably, like, gonna put that one. Like, unless I'm super motivated to read it for some other reason. Okay, I. I'm not gonna. That's probably a five. Chili pepper is probably gonna be at the bottom of my stack if we were ranking by how I seek them out. So it's not that I won't read them and I don't mind a spicy book, but I'm definitely not prioritizing a five.
- [24:27]
Katie Cobb
I would say four is my top priority. Five is like, I'll go there. If somebody says five. I'm not scared of it. But one and two are like. I mean, is it even worth it?
- [24:39]
Roxanna
See, I don't know if I think about that, like, because I have a very complicated relationship with romances. Like, I love them one year, and when I'm in a hard place, I read a lot of them. And it's, I think, kind of where Meredith maybe was with thrillers a few years ago. Like, then I read too many, and then they all kind of blend in with me. So even this year, I've had a really hard time. I have to pick up ones that have great character development that have great plot line. They're very different, so that's hard to find. So that's what I prioritize. Like, if I'm going to pick up a romance, because I know from last year for my reading tracker, so many of them didn't hit, so they better have that stuff. And then if there's spice in it, sure, no problem. Like, fine. But it's not what I'm looking for. So, like, a good example of that is like Court of Silver Flames, which is not a romance. But to me, I mean, I don't. Probably not on your scale, Katie, but to me, that was a five star. It was. There's a lot of graphic stuff in there, but the, you know, like, whoa. But the book itself was amazing. And like the, like the graphic stuff, I was like, okay, like, that's part of the book. Sure. But I'm. I'm not seeking that out to the. I can't just read a book for like, the fun of it because it's on Kindle Unlimited and like, whatever. Like, I just. If it's bad writing and the characters aren't there, I can't do it. So I don't. I wish, like, there's other books I can do that with, but romance particularly cannot. So I just search out books that have good plot lines and stuff.
- [25:59]
Mary
Yeah, I agree with you, Roxanna. I think that's where I fall too. I prioritize more. Is this well written? Is there emotional maturity? Is it. Am I connected to the characters? And then the spice maybe comes second, but I'm still not like, oh, five stars. Gimme or five. Five Chili Peppers.
- [26:17]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And I think I have two modes. I think I have. I really want to read something where there's a lot of actual romance, like I. That I really like. So just want the two lead characters to get together because I'm just like, oh, they love each other. And I can really get into that. I get in certain moods where that's exactly what I want, but it's not the sex part of it that I. That I want. But then a hundred percent, I have other moods where I'm like, I. I need the smuttiest smut. And for me, that's always gonna be that. Like, it's always gonna have some fantasy element to it. I just, I don't like real world sex scenes. I want there to be wings or two peens or scales or a door. A plane, a reverse harem forest, something to be involved in.
- [27:13]
Katie Cobb
A plane. Oh, right, right. Like I forest.
- [27:17]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
That's the. You know. And again, I think all of this is really. The thing about this conversation that's most interesting to me is twofold. One, as readers, whether we're talking about this element of things or any other element of things, knowing what really works for you matters. Right. First and foremost.
- [27:35]
Katie Cobb
Yes. Yes.
- [27:36]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
As women, I will forever be on the soapbox to say in as clean.
- [27:42]
Katie Cobb
A way as possible, knowing what works for you matters.
- [27:45]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Exactly. Know what starts your engine.
- [27:49]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [27:49]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It can be a useful tool in your toolbox.
- [27:52]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [27:53]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And I will never for a single moment feel guilty about what it is that starts my engine.
- [27:59]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Agree 100%. Put it on a T shirt.
- [28:02]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [28:02]
Katie Cobb
For sure. Okay. We are ready for round two. It looks to me like we're only gonna have time for two rounds here, folks.
- [28:10]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I'm so glad we had a total of 16 that we could do.
- [28:14]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. We're like. We're prepared. This could be the shortest episode. Oh, we're ready. Okay. Roxanna.
- [28:20]
Roxanna
Okay.
- [28:21]
Katie Cobb
I'm excited.
- [28:21]
Roxanna
Yeah. I'm gonna pick my best one. Okay. So I'm not gonna pick ones people have heard of before. Mary, I'm relying on you to bring the book club discussion. We'll talk about it then. Because you mentioned it, I'm going to say, okay, this is another kind of deep, dark confession and not like a nice, precious thing. And people are going to have really strong feelings about this. And I'm sorry. It's just the truth of my life, my reading life. I will never, ever, ever, ever read a book without checking the Goodreads score first, ever. Ever. So if I get a pile like Meredith does at the library, I literally sit there with my scan function on Goodreads, and I scan all them, and if they're above four, I take them. And if they are not, I do not. Now I get. Goodreads is super controversial. I'm 100% there. Am I missing some gems? 100%. I am. Okay. But I am a very practical person. I don't want to waste time going down. And you, like Mary just said, like, I, you know, I have big expectations. Books don't often deliver, and. And I do find that if the score is higher, it's like the tomato meter on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally, if it's high, there's something there. Now, if there's a book I really love and it's lowly rated or whatever, I'll go into the. I always go into the reviews. If there's something I'm really looking at, I'll go in the reviews. Cause sometimes it's like, it's not what I expected. And I thought this was a cozy and it was a this like that. Those I'm disregarding. Right. If it's like that kind of thing. But usually it's like if I ever pick it up without that, it never really works. I just find I usually rate it, almost always rate it what the rating is. So to me, it's like, it's a great shortcut for me when there's so many books to be like, okay, four star and above. Even when I listen to all the books and podcasts and stuff, four star and above. I'm gonna put it on my list. Less than that. It's not going on my list unless there's a special reason. And for me, I just use it as a filter to cut out all the bookish noise of books I don't want in my life. And I know none of you do this, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts on whether you feel need to cut out bookish noise. Whether you just. I know, Mayor, but I want to ask other people what your philosophy is on this.
- [30:34]
Mary
I do this. I will. I always check Goodreads. I. There's probably books that I've forgotten or if there's one that I'm like, I've been really personally anticipating this because I love this author. I won't go in necessarily and read it. But if I'm at the library or the bookstore, I store and I see something that I am intrigued by, I will check and see. It's not a decider for me. So I won't put a book back if it's under 4, but I will take a look. And if it's like, it's more so just information gathering for me, right? That I'm like, okay, this is a 3.5. Is it a 3.5? Because, you know, real like I'll go into the reviews and see, like, is it. Because the things that I know would bother me are like, other people are really bothered by. And they're talking about that in the reviews and the comments. And that is. That's more of a decider for me. But I'm more so just curious of like, where are we at here? What are my expectations? Like you said, if somebody had super high expectations for a book and they're like, this was a totally different genre or this book went in a completely different direction than I thought it would. I'm like, I'm willing to see, like, where's this Gonna take me and be open. Because there's definitely books that I've loved and have given five stars to that have three and a half stars on Goodreads. So I won't use it as my, like, automatic. No. But I definitely will check the reviews and the ratings before I take it home with me. For better or for worse.
- [32:02]
Katie Cobb
Okay. I am more likely to do that Goodreads check if I am at a bookstore than at a library. And. And that's purely a monetary situation. Right. Am I going to spend $28 on a hardcover that people are not in general loving? Probably not. If it's got especially. I would not say that my Cutoff, though, is 4. I think it's more like 3.8.
- [32:28]
Roxanna
Yeah, I may be the same, actually. I'm like 3.85, 3.9. Also, because it's really hard, I would say, as I said, I'm like, it's really actually hard to find four point, like four and above books. And I'll often pick up a 3.9 or like a 3.85 if I can read the reviews. So you're right, Katie. Like, for me.
- [32:45]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Yeah. So I'll grab those. But at the library, I am more likely to be like, oh, cute cover on the new release shelf. I haven't seen this anywhere. I'll just grab it. I'll see what happens and not look at anything else. I won't try and find it on Bookstagram. I won't look for, like, reviews on Google, nothing. I'll just be like, meh, I'll try it out. And then I might get home and look at the reviews or find some review site and be like, oh, no, that's why this was not checked out. Interesting.
- [33:12]
Roxanna
So can I ask you about that, actually? Because my big hesitation with that is that I might waste time reading a book that's 3.4 that I get. Like. And then maybe I'm like, oh, I don't know, maybe it is good and I'm just not into it and I spend 50 pages or 100 pages and I've wasted my time and I hate that. So how do you manage that? If you pick up a book with no other history to it or you.
- [33:36]
Katie Cobb
Just DNF quickly, I'm more likely to care about it if it's. If I paid for it A and B, I will start reading it. And then if it's feeling like I don't know if this is gonna be a fit for me, I might check ratings at that point. But I'm willing to go in totally blind and not care what anybody else said about it anywhere if it caught my eye for some other reason. And I think that's a little bit that library serendipity thing where it's like, I don't know, this one just looks interesting to me. We're just gonna try it out and if five pages in I set it down, who cares? Because all I have to do is drive back to the library and give it back to them.
- [34:11]
Roxanna
Them.
- [34:11]
Katie Cobb
So what about you, Mary?
- [34:13]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yeah, I'm definitely the same library. I don't care at all because they're. And then I do care when I'm purchasing. But let me tell you that the single biggest thing that has a little bit changed my mind about this is that this year, and I've said this before, Katie put some special functionality in my reading tracker, which I think we're going to make available.
- [34:35]
Katie Cobb
It is going to be available everybody going forward.
- [34:38]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
That allows me to track my rating against the Goodreads rating. And it color codes. It color codes so I can see like how far, like it's extra red. If our. If it's very far away or if.
- [34:51]
Katie Cobb
Your rating is much lower than Goodreads, it's dark red. If your rating is much higher than.
- [34:56]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Goodreads, it's dark and then shades in between. Yeah, it's very, it's very handy. But it has been very interesting to me because I. I really thought that I was more aligned with the Goodreads ratings than it turns out I actually have been. There have been a lot of books, especially the ones that I found via Bookish Serendipity at the library that I read. Loved like four, four and a half, even five stars and was like, there was one of them that was like a 3.6 or something on Goodreads. It was a really big discrepancy and it's happened a lot now. My reading also has been a little bit weird this year, so that could come into play too. But this will be an interesting thing to have other readers begin to track for themselves in the Reading Tracker starting in 2026.
- [35:46]
Roxanna
That's gonna be so cool. Hugely, yeah, like for me. But I also know a lot of people use Goodreads. Maybe not for all the aspects, but people check it. So I do think, because I just assume that all my scores are close, but close. It's like, Well, I was 2.8. I had a 4. But you're right, if you're frequently off by that, it can really make a difference. Cause I wouldn't pick up a 3.8, but I would pick up a 4. Right. So I do think it'll be so good to know that.
- [36:13]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Where I do think that that filter is super useful for my reading is if I start a book and I'm in, whether I've. No matter how it's come to me and I'm X amount through it and I find myself going, I will check Goodreads, I will look at the reviews. Then depending on whatever's kind of the, you know, the. The difficult spot that I'm in, decide if I want to continue. So I will definitely use it for that. But I do think it's a. If someone said to me, meredith, here's five books. You have five minutes to decide what you want to read, that would 100% be the filter that I would use in that scenario.
- [36:52]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, I agree. Also, I think that was a really interesting discussion. And that will lead to, like, other people thinking about how they use review aggregator sites to figure out what they're going to read and what they're not going to read.
- [37:03]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [37:04]
Katie Cobb
Mary, what is your next one?
- [37:06]
Mary
Okay, my next one, I'm actually going to pivot from talking about book clubs. I like my standard book club, blah, blah. I think that's kind of a boring take. I don't think it's that good of a conversation. I think Meredith's spicy take is much more fodder for conversation than this one. So I'm going to pick one of my other ones, which is that my book slump reset. Practice is a total genre pivot. So some people I know are like, to get out of a book slump, I always read mystery. I always read romance. I always read ya. For me, it's like if I just finished an excellent fantasy novel, and I am like, that was so good. I just want to stay in that world. And I just want to read all the fantasy books. And I just never want. I never want to lose this feeling. I am, I can guarantee you, nothing else in the genre, even if it's excellent and would have been a total hit another time, nothing else in the genre is going to work for me. So I make myself go read a nonfiction book or I make myself go read a mystery or something that is so completely on the other end of the spectrum that it couldn't possibly have even. And I'm like, grumpy about it. I'm like, fine, I guess I'll go read. I really want to be reading fantasy instead, but I just know it's straight up not going to work. So I make myself genre pivot to get out of a book slump. And I'm really curious if any of y' all do this too. When I was brainstorming about this, I was like, I don't know what I do. That's interesting, but this is my, like, hard and fast solid slump buster practice that I've fallen into. What about y'?
- [38:37]
Katie Cobb
All? Okay, Meredith, you're nodding.
- [38:39]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yeah, I mean, I, in general, genre pivot after every book.
- [38:44]
Katie Cobb
Me too.
- [38:44]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And. And I would say, like, underscore that 10 times when I'm in a book slump. Right. So, like, I. I think it is a really useful practice when you're like, oh, my reading is just kind of feeling like, meh. Absolutely. For me, that means going away from mysteries and threat. Even though sometimes when I'm in that slumpy feeling, I do kind of feel like, I don't know, maybe I'll just pick up another, you know, Katherine Ryan Howard or whatever it is. And. And, yeah, I want to save that until I kind of have my bookish mojo back. So it makes sense to genre pivot. And oftentimes I'll do that to a gen that I don't feel really high stakes about the books in. So sometimes that'll be the time where I pick up literary fiction, because I don't know what the heck? I'm probably not gonna like it anyway, so. And then it's a wonderful surprise if I do.
- [39:34]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [39:34]
Mary
What have you got to lose, right? I know for a fact that staying in the genre is never going to give me a good outcome.
- [39:41]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Yeah, Roxanne, I agree.
- [39:44]
Roxanna
Yes. But I just had a kind of a build from what Meredith was saying. So, yeah, I always. Whether it's a slump or whether it's, you know, just my reading, I always pivot because I'll never. Because those expectations, those pesky expectations. But I was always thinking, like, what Meredith just said. And Katie, you actually, both of you, had a deep dive about this, where you're like, you know the book hangover one where you're like, I'm not gonna like it anyway. I'm just gonna go in and read what you read. Read what I read. I think that is so liberating. And I cannot get myself to do that. Like, I'm like, just like the Goodreads piece. Like, I need to read another four star or five star. I can't waste time. I have to read a good book. I'm not going to waste time on a crappy book. But what that Means is that I read 100 pages, and I'm like, no, this is not it. Then I pick up another book. I have five books right now where I'm like, no, this is not it. No. And it's. I'm not even. It's not even. They're not good books. I'm not giving them the time. Whereas if I literally said, like, you just said, meredith, I don't care. I'm not gonna like it anyway. I probably would like it more, and at least I would have finished a damn book. Like, I just. I think it's very liberating, and I wish I could get there.
- [40:45]
Katie Cobb
Right.
- [40:45]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
So you will have finished a damn book or what? The attitude I will go into is, like, at the very least, I will have taken a book off of my shelves. It's been sitting there forever that I probably wasn't gonna like, no matter what, no matter when. So I'm making room on my shelves. So it's kind of like, I usually. I mean, we're now kind. We're not behind the paywall right now, so I will. It's like. Like, sometimes with food, I get in this mood that I call feedy, which means effort. I deserve it.
- [41:14]
Katie Cobb
Okay?
- [41:14]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
So, like, I've had a certain kind of day, and. Or I'll sometimes, like, I'll buy a car. That falls into that category.
- [41:20]
Roxanna
Like, effort.
- [41:21]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I deserve it.
- [41:22]
Katie Cobb
Okay?
- [41:23]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
This is that same energy going into picking a book where it's like, screw it. You're probably gonna suck anyway. Convince me otherwise. Like, does that make sense? And then, at the very least, my expectations are so low. And then I just. Off my shelf. Or it, like, all of a sudden, it's like, oh, wait, wait. Maybe I. Maybe I do. Maybe I am interested. Hang on. Let's give it a second. And so then sometimes that ends up being really good.
- [41:53]
Katie Cobb
You say you buy a car like that?
- [41:55]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Oh, I. Sweetie. My cars.
- [41:59]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, I think that's kind of a spicy tip.
- [42:01]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Johnny loves beef.
- [42:01]
Katie Cobb
I will research a car. Car until it is no longer interesting to anyone to hear me talk about it, because I have spent so much time in the underbelly of the car. Internet.
- [42:11]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [42:12]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
No, that is not me. Johnny loves this part of being married to me. Try and stop me, my friend. That's my attitude. I bring to buying cars.
- [42:21]
Katie Cobb
The obstinacy. Okay. I do feel like the rest of us here. So this is a shared right. Where, like, I would rather pivot until I'm dizzy trying different genres than dig my heels in and be like, it has to be this next. And that's true. Even if it's like, okay, it was a fantasy. Now I want a mystery. If that one doesn't work, it's another pivot, right. And I am just like bouncing back and forth like, like a pinball until I get into something where I can hit that flapper and it sends me on an actual trajectory. Like, I don't know where that pinball metaphor came from, but I feel like it's apt.
- [43:02]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And sometimes it you. It's so obnoxious to be pinging back and forth like that because sometimes, right. It doesn't. What we think we can pivot to doesn't work. That's like the worst for all of us. It's the worst spot. Like, that's what the book fairy needs to do is just. I will never ever be in a slumpy reading season again. I think that would be my main wish from a book fairy.
- [43:28]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Or like. Or like the red pill, blue pill of the Matrix. Like just be able to take one and that like breaks your slump. Yeah, Here it is. That's your slump buster pill.
- [43:39]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yeah. It would be so great.
- [43:40]
Roxanna
You know, at the beginning of this year, I was reading literary fiction because I found from my tracker that I loved it and I wasn't reading enough and I was not judging and I was going 100 pages in and I would love the book and I'd read the next one and the next one and guys, I was like, I have cracked the reader Lee conundrum for life. I will never be in a slump again. Here I am reading these a hundred pages in. Let me see how this is now. Let me try another beautiful literary fiction book because that's just who I am now. That's who I am. And then the second I friggin said that. So that was like four or five books. I think I read like that till March. I was very proud of myself or Feb probably. Then things happened in life and like now I'm like, I don't know what I'm reading. I can't read this book. I can't read this book. No, let me read a popular one that everybody loves. Oh, I hate it.
- [44:31]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
This whole season in Roxanna's reading life felt to me, even in the moment, like that meme where Jason Momoa is coming up behind. I can't remember who. Have you seen that meme? I can't remember who the actor is.
- [44:43]
Katie Cobb
And he's got that like demonish creaking grin and.
- [44:46]
Roxanna
Right.
- [44:46]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And so then like the Reading the slumpy reading is Jason Momoa coming up behind Roxanna, getting ready to tackle her.
- [44:53]
Roxanna
As soon as I get even. Just a hint. A 3% of smugness in my life. The universe is like, yeah, you think you can be smugged? Let me get you, baby. You think you've got this all figured out for the reading universe. You're the special flower. Oh, no, my friend.
- [45:10]
Katie Cobb
Nope.
- [45:11]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It comes for us every time. But then. But then also in equal measure. That great reading season comes for us every time, too.
- [45:21]
Roxanna
Yes, well. And I honestly do think what you just. Both of you just said, like, the. It's. It's a stumbling block in my life not to use this as a therapy session, but also in my reading, those high expectations. If I can just say, like, even some of that rebellious spirit, Meredith, that you just said, prove me wrong, I bet you that'll get me out of a slump. So it's just a good thing. Like, I'm gonna have, like, almost like a flash deck of when I'm in a slump. These are five cards of five different things I can do, like change genres, prove. Make something. Prove to me that it's better than. I think, like, a few of those things. I think that's what will get me out of this slump this time.
- [45:53]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It's like kissing that guy that you're like, you're definitely not gonna do it for me. And then all of a sudden, you're like, wait, yeah, hang on a second.
- [46:04]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. This is why Meredith wants updates on what's happening in my personal life regularly.
- [46:09]
Mary
Wait, I want.
- [46:10]
Katie Cobb
Tell me those stories.
- [46:11]
Mary
Yeah, yeah, put that in the group chat, Katie.
- [46:15]
Katie Cobb
Oh, geez. I should. Because there's drama.
- [46:18]
Roxanna
Yes. Yes, please.
- [46:19]
Katie Cobb
Meredith, what is your next. Hi, we're pivoting. Meredith, what is your next unique or shared thing?
- [46:26]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Okay, this is weird. And I'm not sure I've ever talked about it exactly like this on the show, but maybe it's been a lot of bookish discussion. So we talked recently about the. The idea of skimming. Like, you get to a place in the book where you just. There's. There's reasons to skim, and there's several different reasons to skim.
- [46:45]
Roxanna
Okay.
- [46:46]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Sometimes there will be a book that I know for a fact is not a book for me. It was never going to be a book for.
- [46:54]
Katie Cobb
For me.
- [46:54]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
But it's in. It's landed in my hands for some reason. Sometimes I'll pick up the library. I've gotten an arc. There's several different ways that this might happen. This. I only do this in print, by the way. I will say to myself, I'm going to take 20 or 30 minutes and I'm going to experience this book. I'm not going to read it. I'm going to experience it. Now, what does that involve? That involves me reading the first. First, usually kind of like an IPL read, like the first four or five chapters. Then I will begin to skip large chunks and read a chapter here and then a chapter here, going through the book in a linear way until I get to the end. And then sometimes at the end, I will double back to fill in some holes. But all of this will take place in, like, 30 minutes. I just did this, for example, with Eric Puckner's Dream State, which I got a copy of. I don't even remember how, because it's got that, like, a couple and then, like, a third person. And that whole trope that I feel.
- [47:55]
Katie Cobb
Like we're seeing sounds hot.
- [47:57]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It's not. It's not hot in that way, but it's. It's. That's that kind of trope that I don't like the Paper palace kind of thing.
- [48:04]
Roxanna
I.
- [48:04]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It's just not interesting to me. But I've heard a lot of trusted readers talk about the writing, talk about the setting in particular. And so I was like, I have a few minutes. I'm in this very particular mood. I'm going to experience this book. Which means I will never tell anybody that I read that book, because I absolutely did not read that book. But I can be now a more a part of a discussion that that book is included in. And also, I definitely know much more now whose hands I would put it in so I can be a better recommender. So I do this not infrequently.
- [48:41]
Katie Cobb
Like, how often. Like, I would say, like, a couple times a month.
- [48:45]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yeah, I would say a couple times a month, I will experience a book.
- [48:48]
Katie Cobb
I've never done that.
- [48:49]
Roxanna
I actually love that.
- [48:51]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Did I come up with something totally new and different?
- [48:53]
Roxanna
Yeah. Yeah.
- [48:55]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
You guys are all looking at me like I'm effing crazy, so.
- [48:58]
Roxanna
No, I think it's amazing.
- [48:59]
Katie Cobb
I don't think it's crazy.
- [49:00]
Mary
I love this.
- [49:00]
Katie Cobb
I think it's a good idea. Yeah. Because you've got to feel for the writing. You've got to feel for the arc.
- [49:05]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [49:05]
Katie Cobb
Yeah.
- [49:05]
Roxanna
You need, like, you need to be. It's your job, frankly. You need to be on top of what's out there when people are having bookish discussions. So that doesn't mean you want to waste time on every book, but you want to know what it's about. I think that's brilliant.
- [49:17]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [49:19]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And then again, I will never tell anyone that I read it. You'll never hear me talk about it on the show as a current read. None of that. But when somebody brings it up in a boss, my TBR or whatever, I can, you know, put it into context a lot better. Now, I will say that I've been doing this for two decades. This way predates the show.
- [49:39]
Roxanna
So can I ask a question about skimming specifically? Because you both had a great deep dive on it. So first, let me just say I don't skim. And I'd forgotten that you could skim. Literally had forgotten it. Forgotten that it existed. And I was so you're getting to.
- [49:52]
Katie Cobb
100 pages in all these books, and you're reading every word.
- [49:55]
Roxanna
Oh, my God. And I was reading Atmosphere, and I had just read Emily Henry before that, which I also, for the record, did not like. A lot of people will. I did not. And I was like, this is why.
- [50:03]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I wanted to scream at the top of my life.
- [50:05]
Roxanna
These are not books for me. These are not books for me. And, you know, this TJR one is big and thick. And I was like, oh, my God, Meredith. All of this and all of that. And then I heard it, and I was like, oh, I could skim this book. You mean I could skim it. And I liked it so much better. Like, oh, I could have just skimmed it. It just doesn't strike me. And I'll slowly read. I go back and reread sentences. I just do all like a. Reread, like, ad nauseam. Like, I'll reread a sentence 10 times just to really take it in. It's just a habit I formed. Not even a. And I like it usually, but not in books like this. But I don't even think twice about it. So I think it was useful maybe to me. That's maybe another one. Do you skim or do you not? Because I think it might have been useful to other readers. And then I had a specific question to Katie around this. How do you skim audio? Do you skim audio? What does that even mean?
- [50:54]
Katie Cobb
I don't skim audio? I am much more likely to just abandon. I just abandoned an audiobook. Probably one of the longest I've ever lasted. Like 66%, I think. And I was like, I'm not even skipping to the end. If I were super invested and just hating the experience, which is that's a hard, you know, Venn diagram to hit. I probably would skip to the last chapter or skip to an author's note and see if that adds some kind of context, even if it spoils. And so I'll skip to whatever the final chapter is in the audiobook and be like, I think this is worth listening to. And I'll go back. I will. I was going to talk a little bit about audio speeds. It's not interesting, but obviously I'm the one with broken ears. Right. So I'm Normally listening at 2.75, 2.8. Sometimes I'll go up even higher if I'm like, I just want to finish this. I am no longer interested in it. But I only have 20% left. So I'm just going to get it done in an hour instead of two or however long it would have taken me. At normal speed, I'll bump up to like 3.2, where it feels like actual chipmunks again, like. Like people are like, there's no way that you understand that. And it's like, I'm getting enough words that I've got the gist. That's skimming for me on audio.
- [52:05]
Roxanna
Okay.
- [52:06]
Katie Cobb
It's rare and most audio apps don't go above 3 because that's very fast.
- [52:11]
Roxanna
Okay. This is the last question around this, but I just wonder if other readers have this too. So I was you recommended Wild Justice Sleeps lately recently? I'm reading it.
- [52:19]
Katie Cobb
There was an ipl.
- [52:20]
Roxanna
Okay. Okay. So I love it. It's excellent.
- [52:23]
Katie Cobb
Good.
- [52:23]
Roxanna
It is dense. Did you listen to that on audio? How would you. How would you skip. Not even skim it. How would you listen to it on 2.75? It's taking me ages to read that book because there was so much detail in it. So how do you deal with a book like that on audio?
- [52:39]
Katie Cobb
I would do. I mean, that one I just did the IPL pre read, so about 20% of it. And that one, I tandem read it. So I had the text in front of me while I was listening, which makes it easier to comprehend faster because I'm getting the multiple input modes. Got it at the same time. Like I'm very focused on it. So it can go into my brain at double speed or whatever. Very fast speed. So which is not skimming, but it's like extra saturation.
- [53:08]
Roxanna
Yeah. That's the opposite of skimming. Okay. And I'll just put a plug in for that book for the ipl. That's a great backlist. That was really. That's really excellent.
- [53:15]
Katie Cobb
And that was from Schuler in June, right? Mary?
- [53:18]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It's When Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams.
- [53:21]
Katie Cobb
By Stacey Abrams. Yes, definitely. Okay, I. I am going to throw this one back out there because people love hearing about TBRs. So I'm pretty sure that I'm the only unique, special flower here in that I keep my TBR in rainbow order and it is not alphabetical and it makes Meredith's eye twitch to talk about it. But that works for me because of how visual I am as a person. So I can remember what color the spine is for whatever books I put on there. And I love, I love it when I get new books and I have to, like, make room in the red section. So I have to move everything down to fit a book in that red section way at the front. It's like this weird tactile joy thing that I like it when I have a big stack and I have to, like, put them all in and make room everywhere. Or when I've taken a bunch off and I have to, like, compress it back down again. It's so fun for me. So my rainbow order. Tbr, nobody else has a rainbow, right?
- [54:18]
Roxanna
I would love to hear how you all categorize your TBRs. Like, that's a super unique one. Katie. I realize I don't know how Mary or Meredith, how you deal with your tbr, so I'd love to hear just that.
- [54:28]
Katie Cobb
Well, Roxanna, you just don't, like, have one, right?
- [54:30]
Roxanna
I have a. I'll do shortly because mine isn't hugely. I just add it to Goodreads. And then when I need a book, I go into Goodreads and I look at the list because paper TBRs, I don't, I don't take paper books and they don't really work for me. So I just have a, like 2000 books in Goodreads. I categorize them by, like, recommended by Currently Reading. Recommended by Currently Reading, Bookish Friends. Recommended by, blah, blah, blah. So I have a few sections in it so I know where I got it from. And then when I want a book, I look in there.
- [54:57]
Katie Cobb
That's very organized.
- [54:59]
Roxanna
Well, because when I have so many and then, you know, and I don't also have a paper, I have to, I have to have some sort of organization. Otherwise it's like this book from 1998 is on here that I must have, you know, why would I have done this? And you just. Then it's just useless, right? If you're like, who recommended it? Why would I put this on the list, then it's a useless thing. So it has to have some utility for me to be able to do it that way.
- [55:20]
Mary
Well, my Goodreads TBR is a wasteland. It is useless because I literally just want to read. I click, watch, want to read for anything that comes across my eyeballs that seems interesting, and I'll click it. And it's probably 3,000 books long, and I have no idea what's on there. And sometimes when I'm jonesing for, like, what do I want to read? Or there was that one that sounded really interesting. I'll go back and look. But most of the time it's a wasteland. My we recently did within the last year in addition on our house, and we're still. Still in the process of now doing, like, internal things. So our family bookshelf is not up and running yet. And so my actual physical TBR is also a wasteland. Our books are in piles in the basement living room. And I did. Usually what I do is I will look at my shelves. I will gather seasonally, like, quarterly. Like, these books feel summery to me, even if they're not like typical summer books. These books feel autumnal. These books feel like books I want to read in the winter. And I will make a shelf based on what seasonally I am interested in reading and try to get through most of them. And right now, what that looks like, because my physical TBR is such a mess, is I just have a stack of books next to my bed, kind of. I tried to, like, make them look cute, but it's still just a stack of books next to my bed of, like, here's what I might want to read soonish. We are starting to. I should take that back. Our books are not in piles anymore. They're back on the shelves, but not organized yet. So I know a little bit more about what's where. But it's a hot mess right now, y'.
- [57:07]
Roxanna
All.
- [57:07]
Mary
And maybe that's one of the reasons why I'm not having my best reading year is that my TBR is just all over the place. But usually I like to do a seasonal thing. And that makes me really happy to, like, comb through my book shelves because they're all mixed in and to say, like, oh, I'm gonna grab this one, I'm gonna grab that one, and it's chaos. Most of the time. It works for me right now, it's very much not, but it is what it is. That's where I'm at.
- [57:31]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [57:32]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And mine is the way that I Choose. My next book is one of the only chaotic things about my life or my personality at all, really. And I have no desire to fix it because I. I mean, you just never know what I'm going to read next. I certainly don't know what I'm going to read next because I could really think it's going to be X, Y and Z. And then I will get a DM from someone who's like, oh, my God, you've got to read this. This is what it's about. And I will put it on my Kindle and that's what I'm reading next. Or. Or I will be like, let me do a book flight or let me go to the library. Let me pick out a printed book. Let me get something from a publisher. Yeah, I have no idea. And I actually, honestly, really, really like it that way. I like the fact that it is so unknowable. It feels like books come to me when they're supposed to.
- [58:24]
Katie Cobb
So.
- [58:25]
Roxanna
Meredith, do you have a tbr?
- [58:27]
Katie Cobb
Yeah, I want to get into this more.
- [58:28]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I. I feel really weird around this topic because people. I get asked this question all the time, and I'm like, I. I don't know that I have an official. I mean, I have like a.
- [58:39]
Roxanna
You have your book. So you haven't read that you have.
- [58:41]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
But it's like a state of mind. I have, like a historical tbr, right? Like, I do. I have an entire home filled with books that are waiting for me to read them, which feels like potential, not deadline. And I have a Kindle full of thousands of books. And I have an Instagram, you know, message library filled with tons of recommendations from Trust, you know, so, no, there's not one particular place that you could go and be like, oh, this is kind of her pile of TBR.
- [59:16]
Roxanna
I'm 100 with you. I have like a. I have a potential bookshelf in my head. It's like, you know how there's that meme? Like, is it a wine cellar? Is it a. Like a line? I have the wine cellar and it's exactly. It's whatever's at the library. It's what comes up in a podcast and somebody record recommends to me. And then I have my Goodreads, which is just a repository of books. And then when I have to pick up a next book now, I think actually I'll do more of what Mary says, because I do think having maybe a focus, like just five or six books I could choose from will probably help sometimes. I have a note that says, to be read soon. And like, I have five or six titles, but generally it's like the whole world of books, like with the Kindle, it's like the whole world of books is open to me, so. Right, okay.
- [59:58]
Katie Cobb
But Meredith, with regard to the physical books in your house, they are grouped by genre. Is that right?
- [60:06]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Genre.
- [60:07]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [60:07]
Katie Cobb
Right. So then you could, if you were like wandering, I think it's gonna be paper next, you could would. You would kind of like gravitate toward something sort of Section.
- [60:17]
Roxanna
Yeah.
- [60:18]
Katie Cobb
Like. And then are they alphabetical within shama? No, they're just thrown in.
- [60:23]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yeah.
- [60:24]
Katie Cobb
By size.
- [60:25]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
No, there's. It's. It's willy nilly.
- [60:28]
Roxanna
It's.
- [60:29]
Katie Cobb
It.
- [60:30]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Well, I know. So in the same way that you kind of know, generally can visualize it. I know if I go to my fantasy section, I know generally, first of all, all books by one author are together.
- [60:45]
Katie Cobb
Okay.
- [60:45]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
So they. They are all grouped together. And then I have a general sense. I like to. Okay, I don't know that I've ever said this before, because this is embarrassing, but I like to imagine the books and the authors of the books kind of like being on the shelves together.
- [61:02]
Katie Cobb
So, like being friends.
- [61:03]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Yes. So like, I like the idea of like, well, what would a conversation between Tananarib do and Johnny Spike, you know, be like? Or, you know, that. That kind of thing. So I. I kind of like to organize my books like that.
- [61:21]
Katie Cobb
Okay, all right, interesting.
- [61:24]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
But it's definitely by genre. And again, when I have people over sometimes, I'll say, you know, can anyone here figure out how my books are organized? And it's interesting because sometimes some of these people immediately key in, at least on the genre element of things. But very few people would be like, oh, I see a section. Those are IPL books that. I know you've said that you really still wanted to read, like, because there is that section or a section of like my emergency break glass books. When I get in that mood where I just really need like a balm book, I have a section.
- [61:55]
Katie Cobb
Oh, I do keep those separate now.
- [61:57]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
So there's like some kind of touchy feely organization to it too.
- [62:02]
Katie Cobb
Yeah. Okay.
- [62:03]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
I think the important thing is that we know where the books are when we need to get them.
- [62:08]
Roxanna
Right.
- [62:08]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
It doesn't need to be. It doesn't need to make sense to anybody other than to each reader.
- [62:15]
Katie Cobb
Right? Yeah. So my rainbow is my physical tbr. Not every book that I potentially want to read in my life is on that shelf. I've not purchased every book Ever. There are some books on books on that shelf that I'm like, I have no idea where this came from. I don't even know if I want to read this book anymore. It is a graveyard, a wasteland, like Mary said. But it's. It's a pretty graveyard inspiration shelf. It's like a Pinterest board where I can be like, now what? And if I feel like I'm pinballing around, what should I read next? I can be like, you know, purple feels good. I have a lot of white books. I'm gonna go ahead and pick a white book right now. And sometimes that's how I choose.
- [62:56]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
You know, again, I'm just gonna underscore. It doesn't need to make sense to anybody else. It just needs to make sense to you.
- [63:02]
Katie Cobb
Nonsensical. Exactly. All right, well, we've passed the hour with our two unique or shared each, so we're doing great. Meredith, why don't you close us out?
- [63:12]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
All right, I am more than happy to do that. That is it for this week. If you want to connect with us, you can find me. I'm Meredith, Meredith Monday Schwartz on Instagram.
- [63:26]
Katie Cobb
And you can find me Katie at Notes on Bookmarks on Instagram and you.
- [63:31]
Roxanna
Can find me roxannethereader on Instagram and.
- [63:35]
Mary
You can find me mary@maryreadsandmakes on Instagram.
- [63:39]
Katie Cobb
Our show is produced and edited every week by Megan Putamong Evans. You can find her on Instagram at most of megansreads full show notes with.
- [63:46]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
The title of every book we mentioned in the episode and timestamps. So you can zoom right to where we talked about. It can be found in those show notes and on our website@currentlyreading podcast.com youm.
- [63:57]
Katie Cobb
Can also follow the show on Instagram at currentlyreading Podcast or email us@currentlyreading podcastmail.com.
- [64:04]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
And if you loved this conversation, if you want more of this kind of content, as well as our regularly scheduled kind of content, you can join us as a bookish friend for just $5 a month on Patreon. You get a ton, and I mean hundreds and hundreds and thousands of hours of extra content. You can also find a bunch of community and you will keep this show commercial free. You can also rate and review us on Apple podcasts and shout us out on on social media. Every one of those things helps us to find our perfect audience.
- [64:35]
Katie Cobb
Bookish friends are the best friends and these four are the bestest of best friends. Thank you all for helping us grow and get closer to our goals.
- [64:43]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
All right, until next week, may your.
- [64:44]
Katie Cobb
Coffee be hot and your book be unputdownable.
- [64:47]
Meredith Monday Schwartz
Happy reading.
- [64:49]
Katie Cobb
Happy reading, friends.
- [64:50]
Roxanna
Happy reading. Yay.
- [64:51]
Mary
Happy reading.