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- [00:00]
A
Get yourself ready for a trip through McDonaldland. There's thick shaped volcanoes.
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B
You'll even find a french fry thatch.
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A
Now just turn around and see if you won't find a hamburger patch as you're heading for. Order the McDonaldand meal today and get the Mount McDonaldland Shake with your very own character souvenir kit. Support for this podcast and the following.
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C
Message comes from America's Navy.
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A
The Navy offers new graduates hands on.
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C
Training and experience in careers like computer science, aviation and medicine, plus education and sign on bonuses.
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A
Parents help your grads start their career today@navy.com.
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B
Welcome back to I'll read what she's reading. I'm Reggie.
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A
I'm Mikayla. And I'm Kennedy.
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B
And today we have our very special friends Chris and Mads here with us today on the podcast. Hello and welcome.
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C
Hi guys. Thanks for having us.
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B
Oh, thanks so much for being here. We're big fans of you too. And it's just so fun to like meet your book talk friends in real life. So this is so exciting.
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C
Mutual. We love you guys.
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A
Stop. The amount of times we have like sent your guys tiktoks to our group ch is a lot like, we need to read this. We need to read this.
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C
We feel flattered now.
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D
We need to get in your group chat. Like for real, not just like our video.
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C
Be in the group chat.
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A
Yeah, I would love nothing more. Yeah, seriously? Absolutely. Send all the book recommendations in the group chat.
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C
Yes. Okay, buddy, read.
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A
Let's do it.
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B
Yes.
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A
A little book club, if we may. Right? A little book club.
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B
You can never have too many.
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A
You really don't.
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C
We have learned, actually.
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D
Actually, we have learned you can't.
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C
We have learned you can have too many, but you can't too many good ones.
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A
Yeah. Okay, well. And you guys always have the best book recommendations. I swear, every single time you're a video of your guys's pops up on my for you page, I'm like, yeah, I'm adding that. I'm adding that you guys were like my. So I read Red Rising, but then you guys were like my even farther jump into sci fi.
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D
Oh, I love to hear that.
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C
That's what we love to hear.
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A
Yes. Love it.
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B
So you two are sisters.
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C
We are indeed. Which you look like we're lovers, so.
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A
You know what?
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C
Just because we look at each other with such love and affection.
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D
You with such love and affection. I think they think that like, you're the hard to get in the couple and I'm the pining lover. But no, we are from the same womb. So.
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C
Yeah, we're sisters, not lovers, actually.
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A
Okay, but how do people think that? Because you guys really do look alike.
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B
Yeah.
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C
I don't know. Maybe they think you start to resemble your lover. I don't know.
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A
I mean, people do say that you marry people that you look like. Yeah. So.
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C
Oh, wow.
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A
You know.
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D
Yeah, I, for real look like siblings with my husband.
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C
Oh, weird.
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A
No, so do I. So do I.
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B
Okay, so which one of you is older?
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C
I'm the oldest.
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B
Oldest. Okay, so what's it like hosting, like, doing everything together? Your book talk, all the things.
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C
Well, I wouldn't have it any other way at this point. Kristen and I have worked together many, many times through life. I worked for Kristin for a number of years while she built an empire. I was a nanny for her for a couple of years because her kids are a little bit older than mine. And so we've always really worked together. Yeah. But I think this is the best it's ever been. And now it's like, I really don't know if I could have as functioning a relationship with any other co worker.
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A
Stop. That's so cute.
- [03:51]
D
Oh, my gosh. I'm obsessed with. It really is so fun because our kids also, like, are low key, almost like siblings, and everybody just gets along. And Maddie and I have always been close, even when we were young, obviously living in the same house. Like, you think of sisters as, like, butting heads and just, you know, I guess we had maybe a couple small moments like that. But for the most part, Maddie and I are just kind of like ride or die have always been in each other's corners. She's always championed me, I've always championed her. And, you know, Maddie's the one who actually kind of came up with the idea of us starting, like, a channel together. And we started on TikTok, and I just. She was so excited about it, and I couldn't even really wrap my brain around it. But when she's excited, there's, like, nothing I love more than to, like, add fuel to her flame and just cheer her on. And then when we mess up, we literally just laugh about it. Like, we just can take life. So unserious. Yeah, unserious together because, like, we're not each other's boss, but we do work together.
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A
There's something so unique about a sister relationship. So I have a sister. I don't know what your guys's, like, age gap is. Me and my sister are four years apart, and so we just. We never fought either because we were just Far enough in age that, like, we didn't go to high school together. We didn't have the same friends. But you can fight with your sister and, you know, say things, whatever, and then 30 seconds later, you're like, kay, love you. Talk to you in five minutes. There's just something so special about sisters. And I would actually die to do what you guys do with my sister. My sister just doesn't read, so.
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C
Oh, yeah, how could she? How rude is that? Is a herder. Yes.
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B
Me and Michaela are over here. Like, can't relate. Like, wish we could.
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A
We have brothers, so I do have.
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B
Two little girls, though. That is my dream, though, is to, like, when I hear people, because so many people talk about, like, having a sister, like, sisters are the worst. Be so glad you don't have one. So it's refreshing to hear, like, having a sister's the best. And that's so cool.
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C
Having brothers is the best. So we love our brothers, too, very much so. I'm sure you guys have very cool dynamic with your brothers too.
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B
Oh, yeah, they're pretty awesome. But so cool. So you. Okay, I'm trying to remember.
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C
Confused. Everyone on the Internet, I'm older, so people think that I am Kristen. Because Kristen is listed first in Kristen Mads. But no, I. This is Kristen.
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B
Okay. So, Maddie, it was your idea to start the. Were you readers before? Like, how did that. What's your reading journey kind of been like? And then your introduction into the Book Talk world.
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C
It's a really quick story, but we just grew up reading. We were homeschooled, and our parents. Our parents really focused just on. On reading as a major part of our education. And my mom loves classics. My dad loves what is now considered classic, but was like, coming out when he was a kid. He loved sci fi and fantasy, and so he brought that in. And we didn't have a TV like, allow. Like, we. We couldn't watch tv, like, with commercials, like what was on network tv. But we watched movies. And primarily what we were allowed to watch were adaptations of books that we had read and like black and white musicals.
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D
Thank you, Mom.
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C
Yeah, also musicals. A lot of musicals. So we had a. Interesting exposure as kids, but we. We've both read our whole lives because of that, because it was very much nurtured at us. And then because we were motivated to watch the movies, honestly, we had to read, watch.
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B
So.
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C
So that was that. And then in terms of starting Book Talk, it's very simple. I had started picking up, I guess what would be called, like, Soft erotica. Like, I. I had never read Spice in books. Say what it is. I did not know that was a thing. And so over the summer, I think this must have been like, 2022, 2021, 2022. I had had a Book of the Month subscription, so I was kind of reading just, like, popular fiction that was coming out in the Book of the Month box. And I actually Project Hail Mary and Dark Matter had come in Book of the Month boxes. So I. You know, I was still, like, back in my roots, but I was like, basically just picking up Litvik. But then some friend suggested a Tessa Bailey book, and I was like, oh, my God, there's, like, sex in this book. What? And that sort of unlocked. You would never know, given my reading chase now, but, like, discovering something new in fiction unlocked something for me. And then I fell down the Acotar rabbit hole because a best friend of mine recommended that. And then I fell into Throne of Glass, which I loved even more. And then I immediately fell out of Romantasy and just fell into everything else. So. And when that happened. Sorry, the way Booktok happened is that after I finished Throne of Glass, I felt this huge, gaping hole in my life. And so I was like, I need more recommendations. And that's. Instead of going to, like, Goodreads or something, I just went. I found Booktok. And so as I. As we were watching Booktok, I was.
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D
Like, no, Maddie was watching. This is what's clowning. I didn't know that people filmed videos of themselves talking about books on the Internet. Because I was just like, not really on social media except for, like, so healthy decor and dancing.
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A
I don't know.
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D
It was just my vibe. And Maddie was like, kristen, there's people on the Internet and they literally, like, record themselves doing what you and I do every week, talking about what we read. And I was like, f off. People don't do that. What a weird thing to do. And she was like, no, for real. Like, look at these people doing it. And I was like, what? They're not that good. We should do it. Okay, Loki. I'm judgmental. I'm just gonna put it out there. I was like, we could do better. So maybe they weren't bad, but I was like, we could do better. So we just posted a video about the reading order for Throne of Glass because it's confusing. Let's be clear. It can be confusing.
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A
There's a lot of options.
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D
And it went viral. Wait, was it that one that went viral? No, it was our very first video. Went Viral.
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C
Yeah. Our first video was about getting tattoos.
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D
Oh, so silly.
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C
Yeah.
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D
But anyways, what's so funny is if I get some positive reinforcement, I'm like, let's lean in. Yeah, we're in alignment. Let's do it. So that's how it started. Maddie found the Internet parts where people talk about books.
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A
Well, I remember seeing your guys'. I can't remember what first video it was, but as soon as I found out you guys were sisters, I was like, oh, they're gonna go far. Like, this is. This is so special. But also, like, even just talking to you guys for, what, the nine minutes we've been talking to you, you guys have such a cool bond and rapport that it just, like, jumps off the screen and it makes you feel, like, cozy and safe. That sounds so cheesy, but. Oh, seriously, thanks.
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D
I am safe. I love that. I love that we're giving those vibes.
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C
Yay. Thank you for telling us that, Kennedy, the way you were. Like, I'm actually very judgmental, but very safe.
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A
I mean, let's face it. We're all a little bit, like, every. Every one of us is a little bit judgmental. You know, at least you're honest about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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B
But I also love the confidence and being like, yeah, we can do this. I think a lot of people are hesitant, like, get nervous to put themselves out there. And so just the being like, yeah, we can do it. I think that's what gets people far. So I admire that.
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C
Well, I think that, like. Because I don't know why I feel this way, but I. I guess I feel like that camaraderie you got in, like, school or, like, in your workplace, where it's all like, did everybody watch the episode last night? Like, there are those shows that rise to the top or those movies that rise to the top. And so, you know, the next day at the water cooler, everybody's talking about, like, the Game of Thrones episode or whatever. It's like that feeling of bonding. Or I guess people do this around sports, too, like a big game or something. It's like, I think readers have always been longing for a place that we could all do that around books, but it's because books don't hit that height of popularity as often. It's like, sure, maybe we were all at the water cooler or in high school talking about the Hunger Games at one point, but then you could go years before. There's something everyone's talking about again. And I think that Booktok gives us something, And I think BookTube does this as well. Bookstagram. But, like, it gives the readers a place to have that cool moment where you can connect with your peers about something. We're all enjoying together at the same time in a way that I think it hasn't always had that same platform as other media forms.
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A
Oh, for sure. And I. I think it's cool because chances are if you search the. It doesn't even matter how obscure of a book it is that you're reading. If you search it on TikTok, someone out there is talking about it. So it definitely feels way less isolating than just if you're your own self reading a book and you're dying to talk to someone about it and there's nobody that you know that has read it.
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C
Yeah. Yeah, totally.
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A
I think we also are just wanting human connection, and if that's the way you get it is through books. It's like the best thing ever to connect with someone because they read a book, and it's like, the easiest thing to bring up. Do you read books? What book are you reading? Oh, you don't read books? Let me suggest some books for you. Yeah. So I just think that it's just, like, a great way to have human.
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B
Connection and especially with people that, like, you wouldn't normally talk to or, like, I can't. I, I. I feel like I have so many more friends than I ever did in my life just because of books. And sometimes I'm like, would I ever be friends with this person had I not? It's like, you can live two totally different lives and, like, the same books, and that just. It's cool that, you know, the Internet can do that. So.
- [13:25]
C
Yeah, it's amazing.
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A
I love it.
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D
I feel like Maddie's been very social on the Internet. Like, she's like, oh, look at all of our friends. I'm like, they really only DM you, Maddie. I don't know these people, but she has then since introduced me to all of these other influencers that she has created community with. And so Maddie's been the brave big sister and has helped us. Yeah. Meet people literally all over the world. Like, Maddie, buddy reads with someone in Australia every single day.
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C
Yes. We're on opposite time zones.
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A
That's amazing. Yes.
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C
And Canada. Well.
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A
And you guys did that trip with all of those people. Yeah. Where was it that you guys went to?
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B
Scotland.
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A
Ireland.
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C
We went to Ireland in September. We went to Italy in April. We're going to Portugal in this September, and then we're going to Egypt in January.
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B
Okay.
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C
Yeah, that's the same from all over the world.
- [14:10]
A
That is amazing. So do you guys. I'm assuming you guys love to travel, right?
- [14:15]
C
Yeah.
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A
Okay. So it goes hand in hand. That's amazing.
- [14:18]
D
Yeah, it's fun. It's. It's so fun. It feels like the reward after. You know, we work and we do our thing, and we love our job, but then we go on vacation, and it's just, like, so rewarding to be around people who want to be with us. And, like, they just talk about the same things as us. I mean, we're all different, but we just have, like, this strong bond. And then you're like, okay, so I have a friend in every state. I have a friend on every continent. This is.
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C
That's really fantastic. And it's really rewarding to see the people who come on these trips become best friends. Like, there's two girls who. We didn't know this at the time. They didn't know this at the time, but they're both traveling nurses. And so the one just took a contract in Seattle, and so they're gonna live together this summer, but they met literally on one of our trips.
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B
That's so cute.
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A
How cool that you guys are facilitating that connection.
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C
You're like little matchmakers.
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A
No, seriously.
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C
Yeah.
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A
All because of books.
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C
I think it's really fun for us to, like, we're all readers, and we love these big characters who take big risks and do something crazy. And it. It doesn't always feel like, you know, we can go out there and save the world, you know, in our world. But I think there's something about, like, taking an adventure, taking a risk, going to meet a bunch of people that you don't know yet, and going somewhere that you're not, you know, that's out of your comfort zone, that I think it helps us all kind of take on that main character energy and just do something brave together. And it does create a bond. It's not like a trauma bond. It's just like a, like. Like a bravery bond kind of.
- [15:43]
D
Yeah.
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C
Yeah.
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A
That's so cool.
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B
I want to do that.
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A
I know. I don't. I don't think I could do it. I'm too much of an introvert to go by myself. Like, also, I've been.
- [15:54]
C
Some people do get their own rooms.
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A
I've been wondering, do you guys share that bookshelf, or is it one of your guys? Bookshelves. This has just been a burning question in the back of my mind.
- [16:07]
C
Oh, ask away the green bookshelves. But Spot, which some people think are black, but the dark bookshelves are mine, and the pink bookshelves, red bookshelves, are Kristen's. So occasionally we're at Kristen's house, and then a lot of the time we've been at my house. We just finished Kristen's bookshelves in, like, March or something.
- [16:25]
A
Okay.
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D
Best Christmas gift ever.
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A
Okay. I was just curious. This is kind of jumping around a little bit. But you also just started a series on TikTok, like, how to decorate your bookshelves. So you. You were an interior designer. Is that what I'm gathering, or is it just something that you love to do?
- [16:43]
C
I was a stylist, so I don't want any interior. Actual interior designers to get mad at me, as I would not. It takes a lot of schooling, education, and or experience to call yourself an interior designer. And interior designers know about everything from, like, countertops to draperies. I was an interior stylist, which means once all of the bones are in place, you come in and you place everything so you understand, like, I would say, like, spatial analysis and a way to make things have balance and harmony. Knowing when a room is done. That's what I was. That's what I was brought in for. And I worked specifically for a furniture company, so I was doing a lot of their staging for marketing.
- [17:26]
B
Very cool.
- [17:26]
C
And then I just like it. Yes.
- [17:28]
B
I just.
- [17:28]
C
I like it.
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B
I saved your videos because I have some. I have some bookshelves to build in my basement.
- [17:34]
C
It's.
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B
It's. It's in my unfinished basement, but I'm like, I want to make it, you know, this tiny little space. Yeah. I saved them for inspo. Inspo.
- [17:45]
C
It's so funny because as readers, there are people who do, like, all of their reading on audio, and they own no books. They're readers, like, who. This is Kristen, for a really long time, who love to get all of their books from the library and just return them. And then there's, like, readers who are, like. I would say they only read, like, you know, two, three books a month, but they like to buy, like, 10, 12 books a month. And they're more like book collectors. We love this for them. So there's so many different ones. That's been, like, my biggest challenge with this series is trying to help people who are like, everybody's different. Some people's bookshelves are overflowing. Some people's bookshelves feel really empty. Some people are like, do I even need a bookshelf? I don't know.
- [18:19]
B
So cool.
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A
Well, I'm obsessed with both of your guys bookshelves. Mine are just like those. Not janky. Because they're not janky. But I just have the IKEA Billy bookshelves. But I dream of having a built in, just beautiful bookshelf like both of you one day and we'll get there. But.
- [18:35]
D
Yes, you will.
- [18:35]
C
Kristens are IKEA bookshelves that we just trimmed out and made look built in and built.
- [18:41]
D
Like if you build a cabinet on the bottom and put the billies on top and then. Yeah, they just did a face frame and then we put the trim that was already on the top of the room. Like on the top. So they like. I mean, they are built in, but part of their bones are those billies.
- [18:55]
A
The Billy. Okay, I need to enlist my husband to do that.
- [18:58]
D
Yeah.
- [18:58]
A
Yep.
- [18:59]
D
Oh, I was not doing it. Maddie and her husband did so well.
- [19:02]
C
They did so well.
- [19:03]
D
Really?
- [19:03]
C
It was basically Mitch. It was basically.
- [19:05]
D
But we painted and that was also.
- [19:06]
C
We did paint it.
- [19:08]
D
That was my nesta staircase to climb. And I did it. I'm so proud of myself.
- [19:13]
B
Well, they look incredible, so props to them.
- [19:16]
A
Okay. But painting is not for the faint of heart. Know, it's. I painted one wall in my office and I'm like, yeah, I'm done.
- [19:22]
C
Yeah, I'm done with that.
- [19:23]
A
Yes. Okay. So we've kind of been talking about your guys's, you know, TikTok and stuff like that. Would you have any advice for people who follow you or, you know, anyone who's listening on what you would suggest to, like, grow their book talk or like Bookstagram or their booktube, like, what is your number one tip for growing, you know, your book channel?
- [19:50]
D
Do you want me to take this one?
- [19:51]
C
Yeah. I mean, we have the same answer.
- [19:53]
A
Yeah.
- [19:54]
D
Basically, if you really want to do it and if it's in alignment for you, you're going to do it. If it's not meant for you and you're not really in a place or you're not in alignment for it, you'll find excuses to not do it or it just won't feel right in your body. So Maddie and I really go off of like, how do you feel about this when you think about starting a YouTube? Like, what does it feel like? And if me and her are feeling excited, excitement and a list of ideas and like in the research mode, because doing something new does take that work up front. We basically just like wait for the energy to be there and the focus. So, like, when we started our TikTok it was just Maddie's enthusiasm, and I just can, like, get on board with that kind of enthusiasm. I'm like, I'll learn how to edit on it. Like, it's fine. Like, I'm willing to do the work. And then when we started YouTube and doing a podcast and. And also switching over to some Instagram, I feel like we. We always wait for, like, this feeling of, like, we're lined up for this. We've got some. We're willing to give some extra time to learn something new because it's not always easy, and we're willing to be out of our comfort zone a little bit. We're okay with things flopping because at the end of the day, honestly, Maddie and I do believe that we are talented, smart girls that have fun things to say, and we like making content. So we believe that our content should go out in the world. So if you're feeling that kind of a way, then go for it. If you are feeling, you know, insecure and like you just can't hit record and you feel uncomfortable, there are, like, a million ways to feel success and happy and share things that you love in life. You don't have to do it this way. So I would say to take the pressure off if, like, yeah, it's just not for everybody. And that's cool.
- [21:31]
C
Yeah. I just think it's all about alignment. I also think it's all about showing up with something to offer instead of asking what can be given to you. I just feel like if you. If you look at it as a gift, you're sharing with the world, even if it's only for five people. Like, how many in real life, if you take the Internet out of it, like, are you able to give five people a gift every single day? Think about how powerful the Internet is and how much it enables you to be generous and treat it as generosity. If five people see your video, you were able to be generous to five more people than you could have been generous to in your normal life that day.
- [22:04]
A
I love it. I love that perspective. Seriously. Because it just. It just feels so intentional. Because, you know, social media and being a creator can feel like a rat race sometimes. Like you're just trying to push out content 24 7. So to, you know, slow down, be a little bit more intentional, and make sure you feel good about it is a good. I feel like a good reminder for anyone just in anything in life, honestly.
- [22:25]
C
We have to remind each other. Yeah. Stay in our center.
- [22:29]
A
I love it. Do you guys ever. Maybe this is opening A can of worms. But do you guys ever, like, disagree, or do you guys feel like you genuinely, like, agree? Most of the time.
- [22:42]
D
I would say most of the time, we are pretty much in the same place. It's. It's hard. It's hard. We've spent all of our years together, so we just know each other so well that I think we can read when one person is, like, maybe feeling a little off, so we can just gently have a conversation about it. I mean, there's days where we're super productive and we get a lot of, quote, work together done, and then there's days where, like, I'm on the floor and she's in a chair, and, like, we have some tears and we have a couple honest words with each other. And honesty does not always feel great. Okay? Like, honesty, just read a Jane Austen novel and look at her sisters in those books. Like, sisters sometimes have to be the bravest person of all your friends, because we will give it to each other straight. But we always hug, and we always feel growth in ourselves and in our business. I'm like, whenever we're feeling stifled, we should probably just have a good little fight.
- [23:33]
C
Yeah. I think that has been our biggest growth in this business. Together as part, like, as opposed to all the other times we work together in our lives, is that, I think, because we have become so good at operating around the other person. It's like, yeah, if someone's having an off day or if someone's energy feels off, we make space for that. Like, in this kind of a loving relationship, you don't expect the person to come at a 10 every moment of every day. And we know what's going on in each other's lives. So it's like, oh, yeah, she's on her period, or, you know, her kid is sick, or, you know, just shit's happening. It's like you make space for the other person. I think what we're trying to learn right now is when is it the most loving thing to actually say something and be like, is this really where you want to be? Or is it time for you to pull yourself out of this? You know, like, are you focused on the wrong things right now, and that's why you're not winning? And I think so long as we both trust each other and we do, to come at each other in those confrontations from a place of love, like, I really want to see you do your best. That's all I want. And it feels like you're really just. Just stuck in something right now. I think learning to say that to each other are the times that I wouldn't say they're like disagreements. I think it's like, those are times where it's like, it's really hard, I think, for both of us to be critical of the other person, but we're both, like. We're both trying to affirm the other person every time the other person does. Like, thank you for doing that. That was really helpful. It's like, I know it's really hard. It's hardest for Kristen to be like, maddie, stop being a big sister and protecting me. Like, it is burning you out, and I don't even want you to do it. It's actually making me bitter. It's giving me the ick. Yeah, it's giving me the ick. Like, you're trying too hard. You're doing too much. Or when I'm like, I'm trying to think of an example of when I've had to confront you, but it's more like. Or for me to be like, Kristen, when you are like that, that hurts my feelings. It makes me feel like you're not appreciating what I'm bringing. Mostly it's like when my energy is quote unquote lower or more serious. I think Kristin is always toeing that special line of, like, we don't need to take anything too seriously. Like, let's not do that to ourselves, which is such wisdom. But then it's like when I'm like, well, at that particular moment, I did kind of want to take it serious. So is that okay? Like, tell her my feelings. She's like, it's fine if. So long as it's coming from a good and it's not you pushing, you know, like, those are the things. I think in the last six months, especially, we've just both been trying to grow into doing that in a really healthy, loving way and not being scared of doing that because we're also both big producers. So it's like we get together on a day. It's like, we want to get all this stuff done. We don't really want to have a heart to heart right now. We just want to get stuff done.
- [26:16]
A
Yes.
- [26:17]
C
We got nothing done today, and we just talk it out and hug it out. That's huge.
- [26:21]
D
That's still momentum moving forward.
- [26:23]
C
Yeah.
- [26:23]
B
I love it.
- [26:24]
C
Did that answer your question?
- [26:27]
A
That was great. It's like, it's not like a marriage because I hate to go back to the thing where, you know, people think you're lovers, whatever your sisters but it's like a partnership in a business partnership is so similar to a marriage where, like, you have to approach conflict, and you have to be able to level each other out and balance each other out, and you kind of forget that, like, you should treat a business partnership the same way you would treat a marriage with love and, like, intention. So I think it's a cool. I think it's a really cool perspective to have because you kind of. You forget that in the. Once again, in the rat race when you're trying to do all these things and accomplish a ton of things. But to hear that you guys, you know, put your relationship in first is. Is really cool.
- [27:07]
C
Yeah.
- [27:07]
A
Yeah.
- [27:07]
D
I'm not going to lose this relationship. Like, no amount of money, success, popularity, anything would be worth losing my relationship with my sister. So I think it's just good. Like, I'm sure you guys do this, too, but, like, just having little reminders. Maddie, a couple weeks ago was like, hey, I'm. Let's, like, create a mission statement or, like, a mantra. And she, like, created a cute little background for each of our phones that just, like, has, like, a reminder so that every time, like, why are we getting together today to talk about books? Why are we going to make this specific video? What is the meaning behind what we're doing? Is it fulfilling our purpose and what we believe our purpose on this planet is? And if it's not in alignment, then we're like, okay. But it's like, we all need those reminders. Like, I don't. I don't want to be in the rat race. And it's so easy to be, like, taken into that current. Right. And you just feel like it's in charge and you're just going wherever it takes you because it's so powerful. But, like, I want to get in a boat, and I want to decide my direction and remember that I am in control of my life. So I feel like we do that a lot for each other. And it's just. It's just so fun because I feel like Maddie lets me mess up, too. Like, we definitely make videos that we're just like, what the heck was that? Like, you guys probably do it, too.
- [28:19]
A
We're like, that's not us.
- [28:20]
D
That's embarrassing.
- [28:21]
C
Take that down. But we don't ever take it down. We're like, whatever.
- [28:25]
A
I feel like we're having, like, a therapy session slash TED talks. Yeah. All the time. Yeah.
- [28:36]
C
I'm sure with the three of you guys, because you guys have been doing this as long as we have, like, navigating your friendship while also navigating each of your ambitions, each of your schedules, and like, the heart of what you're doing, but also honoring your audience. I mean, there's a lot of different things that play into what you're doing. And sometimes it is easiest to just show up and do a silly dance because it's big. Like, if you. You can't be analyzing it all the time.
- [29:02]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [29:03]
A
But I will say, going to your guys's page, you can tell that you guys are super intentional. Like, I know exactly when your guys's videos pop up. I know exactly what it's going to and I. I love it. But I'm sure your audience feels the same way. Like, truly.
- [29:17]
C
Oh, thank you.
- [29:18]
D
That's sweet. I hope so.
- [29:20]
B
Oh, I was just gonna say. Yeah, Your page is just such a fun place to be. So you. Everything you're saying just like, reflects exactly what you see when you scroll. So if anyone listening hasn't already, like, gone to go give a.
- [29:37]
C
That sound is the leaky showerhead that.
- [29:39]
B
Came with your rental.
- [29:42]
C
The one that has you starting every morning with a low pressure nightmare that's nearly your age. Stop settling for someone else's shower. Consider this your wake up call to swap it for the relaxing feel of a moen showerhead and see how one easy change changes everything. Water designs our life.
- [30:02]
B
Who designs for water?
- [30:04]
A
Moen?
- [30:05]
E
You say you'll never join the Navy, Never climb Mount Fuji on a port visit or break the sound barrier. Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Learn why@navy.com America's Navy forged by the sea.
- [30:20]
B
Hello. Please do.
- [30:22]
A
You're crazy. Run, run.
- [30:24]
B
Sprint. Talking about, like, kind of your relationship, I feel like you guys have a lot in common. But would you say that you're taste in books is pretty similar?
- [30:37]
C
It's funny that you should ask because we just recorded a podcast episode this morning where for the first time ever, we decided to air the laundry on the books that we gave completely opposite ratings. But no, usually we do overlap a lot.
- [30:50]
D
Yeah, well, we like literally spent all weekend compiling like, the books that we feel like we rated differently. And it took us all weekend to come up with eight.
- [30:57]
C
So.
- [30:58]
D
So very rarely. Like, we read hundreds of books a year. So I'm like eight. It's very rare. Like the Venn diagram that is Maddie's taste in Kristen's taste in books. There's so much overlap. Um, but I will say I rated the Grace Year by Kim Leggett like five stars when I read it and Maddie rated it too, which is just a gut punch to me.
- [31:18]
A
I'm so sorry, sis.
- [31:19]
C
I'm so sorry.
- [31:20]
D
It's hurtful. And then Maddie loved normal people and I thought it was a heavy dose of depression.
- [31:24]
A
You're crazy.
- [31:26]
C
Normal people, I think is like, everyone understands that it's perfection. Anyways. Whatever. Yes, there are a couple.
- [31:33]
A
You know what? There's nothing worse than. I mean, there's three of us, so a lot of the times like all three of us will, you know, agree or two of us will agree and one of us won't. And there's nothing worse than feeling like you're on the outskirts of like. Everybody loves this book, but for some reason I don't because I agree with Kristen. I loved the grace here. I don't know what it was about it, but I haven't read Normal People, so I can't.
- [31:54]
B
Oh, see, I didn't like normal people.
- [31:56]
C
Oh, well, you know, more vibing with Kristin's taste then.
- [32:02]
A
Yeah, I love it. So would you guys have. Well, I guess tell us the three books. Three to five books that you feel like you like sums up your guys's Maybe not together. Do it separately. Unless they are both the same.
- [32:19]
C
There will be overlap. There will be overlap.
- [32:23]
D
I feel like I had to write mine down.
- [32:25]
C
I think Kristen's and my. We have different favorites in the series, but our favorite series of all time is Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. So my favorite book in the series is the Two Towers, which is book two. Kristen's favorite is book one.
- [32:38]
D
The Fellowship of the Ring is so good. And then we're both feral for Red Rising. Obviously. It is just like the best sci fi series we have ever consumed. And Pierce Brown can do no wrong.
- [32:51]
C
I mean, he can do wrong if he doesn't finish this series.
- [32:53]
D
Don't talk about it.
- [32:55]
C
If we don't get book seven in the next 18 months, they have a.
- [32:59]
A
Release date on Goodreads.
- [33:00]
B
Yeah.
- [33:01]
C
You what?
- [33:01]
A
There's a release date on Goodreads? Yeah.
- [33:02]
B
Yes.
- [33:03]
C
Oh, thank God.
- [33:03]
A
I think it's like June 20th, something of 2026.
- [33:07]
C
Okay.
- [33:08]
A
But I don't think he's came out and announced it, so that's not set in stone.
- [33:13]
D
Okay. But this is very helpful intel. I also saw that you met Pierce and I am so jealous.
- [33:18]
A
Okay, you guys, I was so awkward. I was so incredibly awkward. It was. It was bad. It was bad. You were either. She like recounted. Oh, it was bad. You guys, interaction.
- [33:27]
C
I feel like social hangover after Something like that is intense. It's just like, wait, what? Why was I not in my body? That's kind of how I felt after I met Olivie Blake. But it was redeemed because then we had her on our podcast, and it was totally fine. But in the moment when I was meeting her, part of it was like she had to wear a face mask. And, like, there were. I was like, I. I thought saw this going differently in my mind. Well, it was fine. And you have the podcast. It's fine.
- [33:53]
A
And you have this pressure because you talk to them for 30 seconds, and you're like, what do I want? What question do I want to ask? What do I want to say? And it's just. Yeah. And I have.
- [34:01]
C
How do I say? Like, your brain on paper changed my entire biochemistry also. Hi, I'm Maddie. Yeah.
- [34:08]
A
No, seriously. But you got. That's perfect. I do think. I do think he will be at Dragon still. I'm. I'm just putting it out there because it's through lit escalates. So I think he'll be there so all five of us can meet him.
- [34:22]
C
We can accost together.
- [34:23]
D
We could probably take him down between the five.
- [34:28]
A
We can get an arc and a release day out of him between all five of us.
- [34:31]
C
I think, for sure.
- [34:32]
A
Yeah.
- [34:33]
C
We just won't release him until he gives it.
- [34:34]
A
Yes. It can be like sisterhood of the traveling book. We each can take a turn with it.
- [34:38]
D
I. I volunteer myself as tribute. I will tickle him until he gives.
- [34:42]
A
Us the answer to whatever it takes.
- [34:47]
C
Wow. I feel like that's such a. Visuals in my brain are so joyful right now.
- [34:53]
B
I'll be mad about it.
- [34:54]
A
I would love to watch. I'll be the one videoing it.
- [34:58]
C
Okay.
- [35:00]
A
Everybody needs one. Oh, man. Background, babe.
- [35:03]
C
Yes. Okay.
- [35:05]
D
Another overlap. Do you guys want us to go.
- [35:07]
A
Back to our bookies? Yeah.
- [35:08]
C
Yeah.
- [35:10]
D
We just got Pierce Brown was right.
- [35:12]
A
Okay.
- [35:13]
D
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Thank you, mother. This is most beautiful sister story ever written. And we just did a reread with our Patreon, and we also, in our Patreon, we always watch film adaptations, and it was just so good. Like, the book and the show. The movie make us cry, and it's just such a beautiful story. And then this is where we go off. So we've got sci Fi together. We've got Lord of the Rings fantasy, and then we have, like, a classic. But then. Maddie, what are your other two books that would describe you?
- [35:40]
C
I think the story for me is Realm of The Elderlings by Robin Hobb. Beautiful. But if anyone wants to know what my, like, romantic lip fic taste is, I always say alone with you in the ether by Olive Blake.
- [35:53]
A
I need to read that one.
- [35:55]
B
Oh, it is so good.
- [35:58]
D
It's so different though. Don't go into it thinking like contemporary romance. Like, it's like she likes.
- [36:03]
C
She will love Alone with you in the egg. Yeah.
- [36:06]
A
I also do love like Masters of Death.
- [36:10]
C
Yeah.
- [36:10]
A
Loved One for my enemy. You know, I feel like I like all of E. Blake's writing. I just haven't done that one because I know it's different.
- [36:16]
C
It might be your fave. Yeah.
- [36:18]
D
Might just be your new personality.
- [36:20]
C
Literally. So good.
- [36:21]
D
Okay, so my last two would be a Throne of Glass. I love a YA series. Like, I eat those up in two seconds. I'm a child for life. Also, first time color by BK Borison.
- [36:32]
A
Oh, okay.
- [36:33]
D
Unlocked something for me.
- [36:36]
A
I haven't read that one yet, but it's like on my list.
- [36:39]
D
It should be at the tippity top.
- [36:40]
A
Okay. Okay. I'm just waiting on Libby for it to be available to me.
- [36:44]
C
I worry that we overhype it, but I feel like I'm not worried. I feel like first time caller is like, you know how like Emily Henry crosses over into like litfic, even though she's a romance author. I feel like BK Borison is a true romance author. Like, she's not veering, but somehow her romances feel adult. They feel grown up, mature. I feel like her character, her female character is actually likable. Like I would actually be friends with her because she's just like, she's not perfect or anything, but she just is like self aware. She has good self esteem. I'm so. I'm so tired of reading about women who have no self esteem but somehow find the love of their lives. I'm like, who's gonna love you if you don't love yourself? Honestly? Um, so I just, I just like that she has good self esteem. And that's great.
- [37:33]
A
I.
- [37:34]
B
That makes me want to move that up my list because you make a good point.
- [37:38]
A
Yeah.
- [37:39]
B
Like, I'm sold. Sold.
- [37:41]
C
I just. I think it's my biggest issue with contemporary romance is I would never be friends with the main chick.
- [37:46]
A
Yeah.
- [37:47]
C
I'm just like, no girl.
- [37:48]
B
Some of them are a little too, like, whiny.
- [37:51]
A
Whiny.
- [37:51]
B
Like a little insufferable. And I'm like, I want to see more real. Yeah.
- [37:58]
C
Yeah. And you know, you forget that they're.
- [38:01]
B
Like 30 years old. Are you 18 or you?
- [38:05]
C
Exactly.
- [38:06]
D
I can't relate to 18 year olds anymore.
- [38:07]
C
But I think this is why sometimes the FMCs in Romantasy. I understand why Romantasy went this direction of this like very competent, capable, a badass fmc because I think we were tired. I think we were tired of these like insufferable, whiny, you know, low self esteem, unconfident women in romance. But I'm like, now I feel like we went too far the other direction where I'm like, it's okay if you're not aggressive and mouthy and stabby like you. You can also just be a confident, self assured woman who just, I don't know, like makes dinner and takes her garbage out and is a good friend and has good communication skills. Also attractive.
- [38:52]
A
Yes.
- [38:53]
C
Also I would be her friend.
- [38:54]
A
The full package. Yeah. Ye. Mm. I completely agree. Oh, I'm so excited for that book now. Oh, I know. Well, I've seen a lot about it on TikTok when it like first came out. Cause it came out not that long ago, right? Just a few months ago. Yeah. Okay. And I added it to my list, but I'm just waiting. I have like a. I think I have a few month waiting.
- [39:14]
B
Yeah, the living holds will get you.
- [39:16]
A
They will get you.
- [39:17]
D
I mean, you could also just go buy the book.
- [39:20]
A
That's true.
- [39:20]
D
And support BK Borison because she is great and she deserves it. And you're gonna wanna buy that book for your shelves immediately after finishing.
- [39:27]
C
But also we love Libby and we love the library.
- [39:28]
D
Oh yeah. But I mean, two months is like literally two months too long, right?
- [39:32]
C
With some books.
- [39:33]
A
That is true.
- [39:33]
B
Okay, well, it's a never ending struggle, but right now. Yeah.
- [39:37]
C
Okay.
- [39:38]
D
And then tag me in your post.
- [39:39]
C
And be like, I did it because I crossed it.
- [39:40]
A
You've got it. You got it. Yes. I love it. Okay, so we kind of already discussed about like books you guys disagree on. Do you want to give maybe just a few more? Maybe do like two more? Two more.
- [39:55]
D
We'll just redo our whole podcast.
- [39:58]
C
I think one of the ones that gutted me is Kristen didn't like the picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
- [40:05]
D
Okay, none of you guys have read a happy hour?
- [40:08]
A
No. Okay. You know what? I need to read classics. I need, I need to dive into the world. I do. It is.
- [40:15]
C
I mean, I wouldn't say that I've read a thousand of them or anything, but I find them so rewarding when I do read them and I just find they are so multi. Layered and there's so much to peel back like an onion and. But I think that Kristen has, has. I think she has decent criticism of that. They're not always, they're not always plot forward and they're not always uppers. They. They can tend to be pretty dark.
- [40:37]
D
Yeah, I just really don't like hanging out in my books if they make me feel sad, depressed, consistently from start to end. So I just, it didn't jive with me personally. But I know that like Maddie would college if it was up to her. Like she loves to analyze, she wants to dive in deep. She's not afraid of like uncomfortable conversations. So for her, those books feel very stimulating for her brain matter. For me, I'm like, get me out of college. Where's the party?
- [41:08]
C
You know what I mean? So it's very different. You didn't like college because you were in the wrong classes. I did like everything except for the classes I literally love. I went to art school and so my classes were phenomenal. All we did was talk about like the human condition and self explanatory expression and messiness and. And we just like built each other. Such a tortured artist. Oh my God. Never mind. Moving on.
- [41:31]
D
I love this about you, but that's why it didn't land for me. So if you are like Maddie, you would probably love. It is a classic for a reason. It is a cautionary tale and there are really great themes throughout. I'm like Maddie, send me the email. That's all I need. Okay.
- [41:45]
C
It's not that long, Kristen. It basically is an email. It's like seven hour email. It's 200 pages.
- [41:50]
D
Okay, well anyways, I also absolutely devoured and ate infinite fates this year.
- [41:57]
A
Okay.
- [41:57]
D
It is insanely amazing. Is it perfect? No, because somebody messed up the landing with that third act plot twist. Whatever. But the rest of it was so good that it like I don't even remember her. I just noticed a five star in my mind and it was so good. And Maddie said that ending ruined it.
- [42:16]
C
Listen, I don't want to take a journey if you can't stick the landing.
- [42:20]
A
True though. True.
- [42:21]
D
But the journey was so enjoyable. Well, so anyways, that's another one.
- [42:25]
B
We're just.
- [42:26]
D
But it's okay.
- [42:27]
C
But those are the very few. Very few.
- [42:29]
A
I love it. But it's like when there is one, you guys are completely polarized. I love that. I love that.
- [42:35]
C
Yes.
- [42:35]
A
That makes it fun. It makes things like a little entertaining. You know, it keeps things a little spicy.
- [42:40]
B
Yeah, well, like we always say like, one of us. When one of us disagrees on something, it's always like, oh, I'm so sorry. And then we're like, okay, but what. Why would anyone listen to our podcast if we were just like, yeah, same. Like, you know, it just. We loved it.
- [42:55]
A
Yeah.
- [42:55]
B
It just gives more. And it just goes to show that, like, you can be so similar. You and have so much in common, but feel completely different about a book. So.
- [43:06]
C
Yep.
- [43:07]
A
Even if you're sisters, even if you grew up in the same house, you.
- [43:11]
D
Can same D today.
- [43:13]
C
Like, really?
- [43:14]
A
Yeah.
- [43:14]
D
DNA.
- [43:14]
A
Yep.
- [43:15]
C
Oh, I got one of you back to the A. Is this a dick joke? I was so confused. Okay.
- [43:19]
A
Anyways, I got what you meant. Yeah.
- [43:22]
C
Wow. This is a little tangential. But on that. On that topic, I think, is there any genres that you guys really differ on? Because I feel like you guys read more thrillers than we do, but maybe only one of you does. I can't remember. Maybe. Is there, like, a genre where, like, one of you is like, I love this genre, but the other one's like, yeah, take it or leave it.
- [43:46]
A
I don't. I don't tend to read a lot of just straight fiction. I will. But it. I usually don't end up reading them, like, super high. I'm more the same as Chris where I like, you know, it needs to be fun. I don't like being in my. Feels too much.
- [44:06]
C
Okay. Okay.
- [44:08]
A
I don't know. I will. I will read any genre. Maybe not horror.
- [44:14]
C
Same.
- [44:15]
A
I don't know if I can, like, go all the way to horror. I mean, I think I've read thriller horror, but it's not. It wasn't that bad. But I will read any genre.
- [44:24]
B
I feel like, yeah, same. There's some books. I don't know. I feel like I can't just read too much of one genre for a while, but I can't think if there's anything. I don't know. Like, I used to love thrillers, and then I became a mom, and I was like, I can't do it anymore. I don't know if.
- [44:41]
C
Oh, interesting.
- [44:42]
B
It was like, I got it. I don't know. I. I like mysteries that aren't, like, too. You know what I mean? But I don't know. Some things in books, I'm like, I will get like, 70% through a thriller book, and then you introduce a child into it, and I'm like, possibly she's gone. I don't know. That's just when I used to be a big thriller reader. I Don't know. I just can't really do it anymore. But I don't know.
- [45:04]
A
I'm like the never say never kind of girl. I say things like, I'll never read this, and then I end up reading it like, two months later. Yeah. So I'm really down to try whatever. Most of the time, I end up being like, why did I read this? I didn't really enjoy this, but I just try everything. Lately I've. You know, the romantasy genre is kind of feeling a little bit copy and paste at the moment. Everything feels very similar. So I'm kind of going in the opposite direction. I've loved literary fiction lately. I've been knee deep in Beartown. Frederick Bachmann. Frederik Bachman is like, I'm obsessed with him right now. Which is weird because three months ago, I didn't love literary fiction, but I'm like Maddie in the sense of I want to cry. I love crying and being a little bit depressed. Just like the fact that an author can take these characters and words on a page and make me sob, hyperventilate, can't breathe. I love that. I don't know why. Maybe it's a little sadistic, but I like it.
- [46:05]
C
Yep, I hear you, girl.
- [46:07]
D
Love this for you guys. Just go hang out in your sad corner.
- [46:11]
C
Kristen DNF'd beartown at like 30 pages in. She was like, I almost did.
- [46:17]
B
I almost did. And then I did a Goodreads Update. I was 50 of the way through the book and I was like, I think I need to DNF this. And the. I don't think I've had this many comments on a Goodreads update ever in my life. Everyone was like, 50% of people were like, oh, yeah, just. Just be done. But then the other 50% were like, I hated, like, the first 50%, but then I love the last 50%. So I kept reading and I love. I did it, ended up loving it. But I also don't have a lot of motivation to read the next book.
- [46:46]
D
So I don't know. Yeah, well, you know what, though? I think that sometimes it's. I'm such a mood reader that, like, if I'm catching that a book is going to take me down maybe a darker, sadder road, I just have to check in with myself and say, okay, am I in a place where I can do that right now or am I not? And at the time that I was trying to read Beartown, I was not in a place like, I was needing to be reading uppers that were either, like, really fun fantasies or, like, super funny romances. Like, I needed an upper, and I think I could just catch what he was throwing down pretty early. And I said, oh, I think there's gonna be some trigger warnings in here that are gonna take me down a dark road. So I just put on the brakes. But I have a friend, a very good friend, who has read a lot of his work, like, almost all of it, and has just been like, kristen, I'll give you some other ones, and I bet you'll come back to Bear Town, but, like, just try some of the other ones. So you're encouraging me even more, Kennedy. Okay, well, okay.
- [47:41]
A
Did Maddie. Did you finish all three?
- [47:44]
C
Did you read all three of them?
- [47:45]
A
Oh, you haven't read them? Oh, okay. Okay.
- [47:47]
C
Yeah, they're on my list, though. I think he's going to be for me. Here's. Here's. It's a really fine line for me because people hear my taste and they're always like, oh, Maddie, you should read Kristin Hannah. Okay. I read three Kristin Hannah books, and she's on my, like, Do Not Buy Anymore by Kristin Hannah list. And I'm worried he might be similar, but we'll see. I think while I do love a book that makes me cry, I do not like to feel emotionally manipulated by the circumstances that feel outlandish. And I think what I like about a classic, for example, which will also make me cry, is when a character goes through really deep transformation, but it's not because they got raped, they got shot, they went to war, their sister wasted away of leukemia in front of them. It's literally just that, like, someone in their life took the time to tell them the truth and they woke up one day, you know, like, sometimes I think that the most profound transformation happens subtly and it happens internally. And so I have to just watch that with books. Sometimes it's like. It's like, I don't.
- [48:55]
D
Kristin Hannah just, like, beats you to a bloody pulp in every book.
- [48:59]
C
And there are people. I would never say she's a bad writer. She's a great writer. I have so many friends who, like, love her books. I really enjoyed the Nightingale by her, but it's just like, I think there are just authors who really, really go deep into traumatic events, whereas I'm like. And I can handle that, you know, like in my fantasy books. War. Yeah, Shit goes down. It's just like, I think I really want to be moved by the characters going through transformation. That so long as the transformation is deep, the circumstances don't have to be that extreme for me. Does that make sense?
- [49:38]
A
Yes.
- [49:39]
C
So I just have to see. We'll just have to see. With Fredrik Backman, I hear nothing but good things. So I absolutely have to try him at some point.
- [49:44]
D
Yes.
- [49:44]
A
I mean, I will say with Beartown, I would say the first book does have a little bit of what you're describing. The other two, not so much. Okay.
- [49:55]
C
But yeah, I love having appropriate expectations.
- [49:58]
A
Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, the first book, just be prepared.
- [50:02]
B
But then I do think I will continue them. I've just read too many sad books recently, unintentionally.
- [50:09]
A
So I'm like, he's an upper.
- [50:11]
B
I need just.
- [50:12]
D
I've got lists and lists for you.
- [50:15]
A
Yeah.
- [50:15]
B
I'm like, I need a not. I'm like waiting to. I need. Yeah. Need to read a book that's not gonna even cause a tiny tear from my eye.
- [50:23]
A
Because first time caller. There you go. First time caller.
- [50:27]
C
Perfect. Yeah, you got it.
- [50:29]
B
Well, we don't want to take up too much of your time, but we would like to play a little game with you too, if just to see, you know, how well you do know each other. Test it a little. Newlywed game, if you will.
- [50:41]
D
Okay.
- [50:42]
A
Sister game.
- [50:44]
B
So we're just gonna kind of rapid fire them and see.
- [50:50]
A
We're seeing if they know each other.
- [50:52]
B
Yes. Okay, so like, Kristin, you're gonna answer for Maddie and everything. Okay. So should we have them say it at the same time?
- [51:02]
A
Maybe.
- [51:02]
B
Maybe? Well, they would.
- [51:05]
A
No, let's just have. We'll have you answer and then the other sister can say whether or not it's right and then give the correct answer.
- [51:11]
B
Yeah. Okay, so starting with no pressure, we can handle favorite trope.
- [51:16]
D
Okay. I think I know yours. Chosen One.
- [51:21]
C
Absolutely. Yes. Good work. I'm torn for you because I don't even know what is my favorite 12. Yours is either fated mates or unpopularly friends to lovers.
- [51:35]
D
Friends to lovers.
- [51:36]
C
It is, isn't it? You're so cute.
- [51:38]
A
Booze.
- [51:38]
C
You just love it.
- [51:39]
A
It's wholesome. That's very wholesome. Okay.
- [51:43]
B
Favorite book boyfriend.
- [51:46]
D
I feel like I haven't even read your favorite book boyfriend yet, but I'm gonna say the guy.
- [51:51]
C
It can be from one that you've read.
- [51:52]
A
Okay.
- [51:52]
D
I was gonna say.
- [51:53]
C
I was like.
- [51:53]
D
Is it the man? Friendship of magic.
- [51:55]
C
Oh, boy.
- [51:57]
D
Okay. Boy that, you know, who does she want to do it with? With?
- [52:01]
C
Wow. I mean, I think that Kristen's has got. Is it Draco?
- [52:06]
D
No, it's not Draco.
- [52:07]
C
He would be in my Top five.
- [52:09]
D
Draco from Manacle Draco. Yes. He'd be in your top five. Okay, that's just gonna be my guess because you've read too many.
- [52:15]
C
I think yours is either Cade or Rowan.
- [52:18]
D
I love them with my little heart.
- [52:20]
C
Okay.
- [52:20]
D
As of right now, because I want a really stable guy. I'm gonna say Cade.
- [52:23]
C
I thought so. I love this. Kristen, just read. What is that one called? Heartless, Reckless. Freakless. What is it?
- [52:33]
A
Somethingless.
- [52:34]
C
It's a LC Silver book.
- [52:36]
A
Write the book. Freakless.
- [52:39]
B
That one would be really interesting. Daddy Cade. 10 out of 10?
- [52:47]
A
Yeah.
- [52:48]
C
Forever.
- [52:49]
A
Okay. Favorite author. Oh, my gosh.
- [52:54]
C
Mine is very easy.
- [52:56]
D
Olivey Blank.
- [52:57]
C
Oh, no. Oh.
- [52:58]
D
Oh, sorry. Robin Hobb.
- [52:59]
C
Thank you. Yes.
- [53:00]
D
I'm so sorry.
- [53:01]
C
Olivey Blake is up there, though. I know.
- [53:02]
D
It's like John Gwynn.
- [53:04]
C
I also love him. Yes. Jeez. That's true. Okay.
- [53:10]
A
Oh, my God.
- [53:10]
D
Could you even guess me? Because I feel like I don't even know who my favorite.
- [53:15]
C
I feel like an auto buy for you. Yeah. You are not very loyal in this way.
- [53:21]
D
I mean, I'm a very loyal person.
- [53:23]
C
Yes. Yes. But I would say even like Sarah J. Maas, like, it's.
- [53:26]
D
You'd be like, I'm gonna auto buy her books. Will I be judgmental?
- [53:30]
C
Af?
- [53:30]
D
Yes. Because we already talked about this at the beginning that I am very judgmental. But I will always read it. And I'm her biggest fan.
- [53:37]
C
I mean, I don't know if I'm gonna read another Crescent City book. I'm just saying I think I'd read.
- [53:42]
D
It just for the vibes. Like, I would read it and then I'd be like, let's talk book.
- [53:47]
C
I think that Rachel Gillig might be your most trusted.
- [53:50]
D
Have you guys read the Night and the Moth yet?
- [53:53]
A
That's on our list. I'm kind of regretting not choosing that for a book. Okay, we chose. Have you guys read Silver Elite?
- [54:01]
C
No.
- [54:02]
D
No. But Maddie got it from Book of the Month, and then I believe she decided not to read it for some reason. Are you guys getting on with it? Well.
- [54:07]
A
Okay. Well, I mean, I'm like 70 pages into it. It's like bingeable, but we'll see. I mean, the other option was Night and Moth. And, yeah, we are feeling you messed that up.
- [54:21]
C
Yeah, everyone picked. I took Silver Elite off because I felt like I knew what the whole book was going to be just from reading the inside jacket. Oh, I was just like, I didn't.
- [54:30]
A
Read the inside jacket. I didn't know.
- [54:32]
C
Okay. Yeah, it Was one of those where I felt like, wow, I know this. I could write this book right now.
- [54:37]
D
All right, Maddie, let's not be too judgmental. Some people like a formula they can trust. It's a safe place.
- [54:41]
C
It is.
- [54:42]
D
But you guys will. I. I think you guys will all like the night in the moth. And it has the perfect balance of, like, it's a very meaningful, great story, but also so much humor. So you guys, like, it's bingeable and it's fun, but you're also like.
- [54:56]
B
That will be my next physical.
- [54:58]
A
Yeah.
- [54:59]
B
Read after Silverly.
- [55:02]
C
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know that she's like your favorite of all time, but I think she's your most trusted, where you will just like, blindly buy anything she writes.
- [55:08]
D
I honestly am just a fan of everybody, so I'm just like, I will.
- [55:11]
C
She's a fan girl.
- [55:12]
D
So sorry for me now.
- [55:14]
A
I feel that so hard.
- [55:16]
B
Okay, favorite series. I think I could even answer this one. I think I could too.
- [55:22]
A
Yeah.
- [55:23]
D
I think you guys just knew. I mean, Lord of the Rings is our favorite of all time, but outside of that, Maddie's would be the Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb.
- [55:31]
C
I think yours might end up being the realm of the elderlings when it's all said and done.
- [55:35]
D
I hope so, but I think so. Fun to know. I haven't read the best one of my life yet.
- [55:38]
C
I think right now you're pretty tied for Throne of Glass and Red Rising as your favorite series of all time. Yeah.
- [55:45]
A
You know, I need to read the Robin Hobb. I'm not gonna lie. I'm a little. A little intimidated because there's so many. Yeah. But I need to.
- [55:52]
C
I think it's very easy to read Robin hobb because her 16 book series is actually five series.
- [55:57]
A
Oh, okay.
- [55:58]
C
You just read them in chunks.
- [56:00]
A
Okay.
- [56:00]
C
Like it's. You know how Red Rising is like era one, era two. It's like.
- [56:03]
D
It's like that.
- [56:04]
A
Okay, that makes me feel a little bit better because I've only seen tiktoks of people holding all the books and I'm like, oh, okay. That's a lot. Yeah. Okay.
- [56:13]
C
Yes.
- [56:13]
A
Okay.
- [56:14]
B
Yes.
- [56:14]
D
But I mean, best of all time, that's quite a.
- [56:16]
C
So also, I unpopularly think that you can start with the second series and go back to the first series because.
- [56:24]
D
They have different characters, different personality.
- [56:26]
C
Especially if you're a woman who wants to see an several interesting female characters. There just are not a lot of female characters in the first trilogy.
- [56:35]
A
Okay, good to know. So that is good to know. Good to know.
- [56:37]
B
Love. Okay, which. Okay, next question. Which fictional world do you think each other would want to live in?
- [56:45]
C
Live in?
- [56:46]
B
Yeah.
- [56:46]
C
So not a favorite. I lit. All my favorites are grim, dark worlds that I don't.
- [56:51]
A
I know.
- [56:51]
D
I was gonna say you don't want to live in these horrible places.
- [56:54]
C
No.
- [56:54]
D
I feel like honestly, you would live in the Shire in a minute. Our hobbits.
- [57:00]
C
Yes.
- [57:00]
D
Oh, like he smokes pipes. They like literally sit together and read in their leather bound chairs eating chocolate. Like they garden together.
- [57:09]
A
It's so cute.
- [57:10]
C
Geez, you're just pumping me up over here.
- [57:12]
D
No, that's what I do. It's my job.
- [57:13]
A
Oh my God.
- [57:15]
C
Oh gosh. Where would you. I mean, I would say second only to the Shire. I would live like in Belladonna. Like I would live and haunted.
- [57:28]
D
Maddie. This does not launch something for me because I would 100. Well, I can't give you my answer.
- [57:33]
C
That's what I was wondering. Like, would you. I feel like you would definitely like Outlander. Like you basically just want to live.
- [57:39]
D
In outlet or they don't. Plumbing.
- [57:41]
A
Yeah.
- [57:42]
B
That would be rough.
- [57:43]
C
Or underwear.
- [57:44]
D
Yeah. And the men probably smell rank. Yeah, no, that's true. But low key. I'm like, I don't know, Pemberley. Like I would live literally, literally in the Bridgerton home in London.
- [57:53]
C
You would absolutely live in Bridgerton.
- [57:54]
D
I still think they don't have plumbing, but whatever.
- [57:56]
C
I think if you could be affluent Regency London. Yes, yes.
- [58:00]
D
I'd have to be stupid wealthy.
- [58:02]
C
Yes. Okay.
- [58:03]
A
I love that.
- [58:04]
C
Servants would be essential for your well being. Okay.
- [58:07]
A
They're paid well, like a living wage.
- [58:09]
C
Okay. I can't unhinged this guy.
- [58:15]
A
That was fun. So quickly. I love it. Okay, last question for you guys. Do you guys have any like current obsessions? Like favorite snacks, favorite TV shows, favorite places to shop right now? Kind of just like rapid fire. Your current obsessions.
- [58:32]
D
We do a favorites video every single month on YouTube because we have so many favorite things that we literally can fill an entire episode every single month. Both of us are hardcore Newly users right now. Sounds like we're drug addicts, but Newly. It's just like a subscription where you rent clothes.
- [58:45]
C
Yes, right.
- [58:45]
A
Yeah.
- [58:46]
C
Super helpful.
- [58:46]
D
We're having so much fun with especially the way our job is. I love taking heels dance classes because it's important to feel sexy in life. I love spin classes, pickleball, basically any form of movement, weightlifting. I also like to puzzle and I like to game.
- [59:00]
A
What's your favorite? Wait what's your favorite game?
- [59:02]
D
Right now it's Animal Crossing. I am an adult. I'm 33 years old. But it is Animal Crossing.
- [59:08]
A
There's what's wrong with Animal Crossing? That's fine. It's cozy.
- [59:12]
C
It's so cozy.
- [59:13]
D
And I can listen to my audiobooks while I play. So when I'm feeling overstimulated in life, I'm like, it is time. And I put my headphones.
- [59:20]
A
Every now and then. Every now and then I'll get on the side of like, cozy gamer. TikTok. I'm not a gamer. I don't know why I get on that side. But then I'm like, wait, do I need to buy a switch? Do I. Well, I have a switch. Do I need to buy all these games? You guys? Okay, this is such a tangent. There's a game coming out where you get to build your own traveling library. It's like a cozy game.
- [59:40]
C
What? Yeah.
- [59:41]
D
Yeah, I would play that game.
- [59:42]
A
Yeah, same 100, same.
- [59:44]
D
Totally get into it.
- [59:45]
A
Yeah. Have you guys seen stuff about like, split fiction?
- [59:48]
C
No.
- [59:49]
A
No. Okay, so it's like a co op game where there are these two authors that have different fantasies and they're. They somehow glitch and they're like, like. So there's sci fi and there's fantasy and like they glitch together. And so like these stories are like combining fantasy and split fiction. So me and my husband just played it and it was so fun. So fun. So you guys could play together or you guys could play with your significant others. Like, it's really fun. And they're actually coming out with a movie about it. Oh, I saw that. I saw that. So it's like, it's for the book girlies because it's not like two authors. It's like their world's coming alive. Especially if you love Red Rising. The sci fi aspect of it is so cool. And then the fantasy aspect of it is very like, cozy, cozy fantasy. It's so fun.
- [60:40]
C
Yes.
- [60:41]
A
So fun.
- [60:42]
D
Okay, we need all the game recs. I'm just gonna need you all in my DMs from now on.
- [60:46]
C
Yeah, don't be in yours.
- [60:48]
A
Yes, I. Well, and then also that co op game, there's another one called It Takes Two by the same company. And that one's really fun too. So if you are obsessed with like co op games, if you guys want to like test your guys's limits together, definitely play those games. They're really fun.
- [61:06]
D
You guys need to be sponsored by Nintendo.
- [61:09]
A
No, seriously, come on.
- [61:11]
D
Come on, Nintendo.
- [61:15]
C
Oh, my. What are my obsessions? At the moment, I am down a Korean skincare rabbit hole. Currently.
- [61:23]
D
Fun. It will.
- [61:24]
C
It may not last, but while it's here, it's fun. I don't know how many more peel pads and sunscreens I can buy, but I am down deep in the weeds. I do love about our newly subscription. I. I don't know. I'm having a kick right now of just, like, doing 10, 000 steps a day in, like, whatever interesting way I can because the kids and I can't. I'm like, not on my normal gym routine. So it's just, like, fun to be like, okay, how am I gonna make this happen? And so that's really fun. And I don't know. It's. It's all. It's seemingly boring things, but they're bringing me joy. Like, meal prepping is really fun for me.
- [62:01]
D
Meal prepping's hot.
- [62:02]
C
I like, I'm having a good time and puzzling list. Yeah, I mulched my garden. It's all silly little things.
- [62:13]
A
Brings you joy. That's what adulting's all about.
- [62:15]
B
Yeah, that's what we want.
- [62:17]
C
Like, it's fun to just, like, play house in my big house. I am watching more shows in 2025 than I probably watched in the last four years combined. But I am reading through the Wheel of Time. So I'm watching the Wheel of Time show, which just got canceled, but I honestly am having the best time with it. And I know so many book readers hated the show, but for some reason, I think I just. I'm looking at the show as, like, a visual aid for the series. And I'm having a great time with it. Like, I'm. I'm actually really enjoying it. So I'm like, I don't know. I think more people should enjoy the Wheel of Time show. Also, I think I just am obsessed with Rosamund pike, so. And she's in that.
- [62:54]
A
Which is she. Is she re narrating all the books?
- [62:59]
C
Yes, she's already done the first four. And I listened to her narration for the first four, and then I switched to Michael Kramer and Kate Redding, who have done all the rest of them, and I infinitely prefer her narration.
- [63:10]
B
Yeah, she was, like, born to be an audiobook narrator.
- [63:12]
C
Literally, her voice.
- [63:13]
B
I saw that, like, little clip that they posted on their account, and I.
- [63:18]
C
Was like, oh, she's phenomenal.
- [63:21]
B
She's incredible.
- [63:22]
C
Yes.
- [63:23]
A
So fun, you guys.
- [63:24]
B
Amazing. Well, it was so fun to sit and chat with you. I wish we could Just, you know, keep going. We'll be starting the group chat. Yeah.
- [63:31]
C
Yes.
- [63:32]
B
Seriously, thank you so much for joining us. Where can everybody find you on all your different things?
- [63:39]
C
I think we're Chris and Matt pretty much everywhere. I think Tick Tock is like Chris, Dot and Dot Mads. But yes, you can find us everywhere. Yeah. Anyone wants to be in our book and screen book club on Patreon? It's linked everywhere. Like anywhere you find us, you'll. It'll be in our link tree. And we love our book club so much. It's like our most favorite community.
- [64:03]
A
So book clubs are the best.
- [64:05]
B
They are. Well, we will be linking all your stuff in our show notes so people can go find you if they haven't already. We'd love nothing more. So thanks so much for just being here and taking the time out of your day. It means the world and we can't wait to chat another time.
- [64:21]
D
Oh, yeah.
- [64:22]
C
Thank you guys so much for having us. This is so much fun.
- [64:38]
E
You say you'll never join the Navy, that you'd never track storms brewing in the Atlantic, and skydiving could never be part of your commute. You'd never climb Mount Fuji on a port visit or fly so fast you.
- [64:56]
A
Break the sound barrier.
- [64:58]
E
Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Start your journey at navy.com, america's Navy, forged by the sea.