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- [00:00]
Anne Bogle
If you could see my notebooks of jotting down like my first draft of the 60 titles that I absolutely loved in 2024 and want to share with you. It's a little ridiculous, but I hope a good kind of ridiculous. Hey readers, I'm Anne Bogle and this is what Should I Read Next? Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader. What should I read next? Friends, we have a special episode today. My husband, Will Bogle is joining me to talk about my best books of the year. Every week we take a personal approach to the reading life, really digging into what readers love, what they don't, and why. And today I get to talk about what I love and why and I'm really excited to dig in. This will be our third year with Will joining me. More about that in a moment, but first we want to tell you about our Spring Book Preview coming up quick later this month on January 16th. Our seasonal previews are our marquee events for our modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club members and our what should I read next? Patreon Community Members Spring Book Preview, which covers January to the middle of April, includes a whole bunch of titles I've read and those I'm most excited about this season. And I've already read so many. They are so good. This is a great season. At this event you'll get a sneak peek at the books everyone will be talking about in the early months of the year, and also those books that might not land on your radar without events like this. Our Spring Book Preview comes with a digital booklet and this year we're doing what we did in the fall. We're bringing back our printed booklet too, which you can order online. That's an additional option that you can choose if you'd like to. We'd love to have you join us for our live event Book party and also if you're on the fence, events like these really helpful us keep the lights on at Modern Mrs. Darcy and what should I read next? HQ so thank you to those who attend, whether that's by joining one of our communities or opting for the a la carte option, which is always very popular. Your support really means that we can do our work and we're so grateful it's happening Thursday, January 16th at 8:30pm Eastern Time. Of course we'll have the replay available if you're unable to join us live, but we'd love for you to join us. Sign up at modernmrsdarcy.com SBP for Spring Book Preview that's modernmrsdarcy.com sbp readers when the temperatures drop and it feels too cold to do anything else, that means it's time for Bombas. Slipping into Bombas socks means you'll stay comfortable all day long. Bombas knows how to keep you cozy no matter what activities you're enjoying. Pull on their merino wool socks on indoor days, or reach for their athletic socks if you're hitting the slopes or, like me just taking the dog for a walk in the rain. Either way, you are sure to keep your feet toasty warm while our family can't get enough of our Bombas socks. That's not all the Bombas makes. Their tagless tees are buttery soft, and their slippers are to die for, featuring warm, fluffy Sherpa lining and cushioning that makes you feel like you're walking on a cloud. If for some reason you don't love your Bombas, there's no need to stress. They make returns and exchanges easy with their 100% happiness guarantee. So try Bombas. Now. Head over to bombas.com readnext and use code readnext for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com readnext code readnext at checkout B O M B-A-S.com readnext code readnext at checkout today's episode is sponsored by Acorns readers. This time of year, many of us are making resolutions or setting new goals. I've always found that I'm more likely to keep on track for my resolutions by automating them, like signing up for a healthy food delivery service or canceling a streaming subscription to save a few extra dollars. If investing is on your 2025 resolution list, take a look at Acorns, an automatic investing app. It only takes five minutes to open your account. Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and investing so your money has a chance to grow for you, your kids, and your retirement. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that fits you and your money goals. You don't need to be rich. Acorns let you invest with the spare money you've got right now. You can start with $5 or even just your spare change. Basically, Acorns does the hard part so you can give your money a chance to grow. Head to acorns.com readnext or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future. Today. Paid non Client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote ACORNS Tier one compensation provided investing involves risk. ACORNS Advisors LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor. View important disclosures at acorns now for today's episode. William, welcome to the show. Thank you for joining me for third, dare we say, annual Best Books.
- [04:58]
Will Bogle
That's right. Thank you for having me back. Yeah, I've been on a number of times, but I think this is the third time that we have done Best Books together. I think it is now an annual tradition. Modern. Ms. Darcy, we have a lot of things that we talk about. If we do it a second time, does it become how quickly are we to use the word annual? Because we don't want to promise that we tried something once. It doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be back the next year. But yeah, this is the third time. So I think this might be a tradition.
- [05:24]
Anne Bogle
Yeah. And it's not something that we did for many years. The podcast started almost exactly nine years ago, which blows my mind. But for many years this isn't the kind of thing I would even have considered doing. I just thought what should I read next is about every individual reader and their individual taste and what does it matter what I love? But I was finally persuaded that as the voice of this podcast and as someone who of course doesn't do this work in a vacuum, like I bring my own reading life to my work every single day and it's probably better when I do, but I want to be real upfront about this is my taste. It's not better or worse, it's just different. So I really want to share what I love and why. I love it because the what is pretty meaningless without the why. But I'm excited to do this. I'm excited that readers really enjoy it. I mean, even though if it does lead to some if you could see my notebooks of jotting down like my first draft of the 60 titles that I absolutely loved in 2024 and want to share with you. It's a little ridiculous, but I hope a good kind of ridiculous.
- [06:37]
Will Bogle
Do you have some issues with superlatives?
- [06:40]
Anne Bogle
I do. I do. Superlatives are hard and something that I tell myself and our what should I read next guests all the time to make us all feel better, hopefully is that if these questions about which books you enjoyed most isn't hard, then maybe this isn't the right podcast for you. And also, well, what I tell everyone on what should I read next? When a reader brings three books they love one book, they don't and what they've been reading lately. It's just three books you love, not your three lifetime ranked favorites in order. You love many books. I'm just asking you to share three. And while on this episode we are talking about best books, I've already shared 12 print favorites, 12 audio favorites. Those are on the blog. I already shared my minimalist summer reading guide, which has definite superlatives that I love and adore and stand by. And this episode we're doing today is a companion to those posts. It's definitely not a replacement and it's an opportunity to talk about with our voices, what we love and why. Something I love about podcasting is the intimacy and the nuance. And we're really taking advantage of that in today's episode, what we love.
- [07:49]
Will Bogle
I thought these were your best podcasts.
- [07:50]
Anne Bogle
Oh, but we're gonna start with your favorites. Come on. I warned you. I asked nicely.
- [07:55]
Will Bogle
You did. You did.
- [07:56]
Anne Bogle
You all need to know that Will is such a good sport when it comes to podcast things. I mean, I did give you the choice. I didn't voluntel you that this was happening. That's a word we use at team meetings a lot.
- [08:06]
Will Bogle
We use that a lot.
- [08:07]
Anne Bogle
But I do appreciate your willingness to share because, William, you have legions of fans in our audience. So many people say, okay, Will Bogle is my book twin. What is he reading? What is he loving? It's going straight on my tbr. So actually, that's the place that we are going to start today.
- [08:23]
Will Bogle
Well, hello to my legions of fans.
- [08:27]
Anne Bogle
We're gonna make you a pin this year. Will has been cranking out our pinback buttons that we're selling in our shop, modernmrsdarcy.com/shop. And we've been having a lot of fun with that. Maybe we need a Will's fan club button.
- [08:40]
Will Bogle
Will's my book twin. We can work on that. So I don't, you know, I, I have opportunities. Not, not as many as you do, but a few opportunities to share what I'm reading. Throughout the year, we do our. In the summer, we usually talk on the podcast with the team about their book best books this summer. And then, you know, right here at the end of the year, we, we get together as a team to do the. The best books of the year. And occasionally I show up on the podcast as well to talk about or a bonus episode to talk about what I'm reading. But I don't read nearly as many books as you do. So my favorites list, even if we're Going superlatives is much shorter than yours. And probably books that people have heard me talk about, including one that I've kind of peeked ahead and I know you're going to talk about today. So I might hold my comments on that one and just say one of my favorite reading experiences for the year was a book I bought. I think I bought this at Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I think.
- [09:35]
Anne Bogle
I think you did, yeah. Wait, not. I think I boldly declare that is the case.
- [09:40]
Will Bogle
I did. Yeah, I did. Okay. I was just confused by my international bookstores. But one of the cardinal rules of buying books while traveling internationally is like, they gotta be really small, right? Like, I just. We have lots of books in our house. Only so many things fit in the suitcase. Like, it's gotta be pretty small. And this is part of the Penguin. I think they call it the Penguin Green series. So they're little, little green covers, but they're all ecology, environmental topics, that sort of thing. And so I picked up a book called the Last Tree on Easter island, which is probably best described as an essay. I don't know that it was more than 60 pages or something like that. And I ended up saving it to like, specifically read, like in a day. And this fall I found a day where I thought that would. Would work. And it was a fascinating both ecological study on trees on Easter island, the tiny little island way off the coast of Chile where they have the. I can't remember the name of the statues, but the big head statues. And he does a lot of history about the peoples, about the, about the building of the statues, all that stuff. And there's plenty of archeology to suggest that they had nice big trees and sort of what happened. And so he takes that as that island nation as like a microcosm of Earth, as our island home. And so, yeah, it was, it was fascinating both to learn more about how they built those just, you know, unbelievable. Huge. They're huge statues. And also just, it is so far from anything. So I don't actually know exactly what the author's name is. Jared Diamond. I don't know. He's a professor. I don't know exactly his specialty because he really covers a lot of ground as far as like the culture and the history and the ecology and fishing and farming and trade. It was really fascinating.
- [11:32]
Anne Bogle
Had you heard of this book before? You saw it at Shakespeare and Company?
- [11:36]
Will Bogle
Nope.
- [11:37]
Anne Bogle
I loved it.
- [11:37]
Will Bogle
I hadn't heard of the series either. I just, you know, it definitely. I don't know the Last Tree. I have A tree thing. I'm probably not ginger. Yeah, I say probably not as much as ginger, but, yes, I got a thing for trees. And so the title really jumped out at me, and I just gave it a quick flip through. And I also didn't realize that it's fairly new. I kind of based on the very spare penguin packaging and the fact that it was such a short book, I assumed this was sort of a reprint from a fairly old book. And it's not. It's fairly recent.
- [12:12]
Anne Bogle
I remember you showing that to me at Shakespeare and Company and just thinking, whoa, like, we're looking around the same bookstore. And that just didn't ping my awareness. So I always love to see what jumps out at you, and I'm so glad you loved it. Wait, should I read it?
- [12:26]
Will Bogle
No.
- [12:28]
Anne Bogle
Have you already told me about the best parts?
- [12:30]
Will Bogle
I can tell you. Yeah, I can tell you the good parts. I mean, like I said, it's only 60 pages. And I can summarize, like, what's fascinating about the. Both the peoples there. And like I said, the statues is one of the big things. We saw one of them at the British Museum Museum in London, and there's a big plaque that says, by the way, they'd like this back. And we're kind of negotiating. So I was pretty fascinated by that, too. When we walked into Shakespeare and Company, I was like, oh, we just sort of learned something about this at the museum. And now here's a book kind of telling me more about those people and their culture.
- [12:59]
Anne Bogle
I remember that. Okay, what else did you bring today?
- [13:02]
Will Bogle
Well, I'm going to save the other one because. No, yeah, I know you're going to mention it, and so I'd like to just jump into your books. Okay, you ready?
- [13:12]
Anne Bogle
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- [15:30]
Will Bogle
So you said that this was a way to expound upon an opportunity to expound upon some of the places you've already put out some of your favorites for the year, both in the blog posts. The Team Best Books Event what did you decide to bring to this arena?
- [15:46]
Anne Bogle
Ooh, that's a good question. Really. I wanted to share the things that were best talked about on the podcast. When I'm sharing the best books on the blog, the way that I've done it for years now, I'm just writing 100 to 150 word blurbs about the book and there's not really room there to share complicated feelings or longer stories. Or if I want to communicate something with my tone of voice instead of just my words, that's really hard to do on the blog. So I really thought about what can we discuss here on the podcast together that would be Better done with our voices than in print. And so I wanted to talk about some of the nuance. I also wanted to talk about the decision making process more than I did on the blog at all. I mean, on the blog I said, hey, these are the kinds of things I tend to like. This is what makes a standout reading experience for me. I'm not looking for technically best or most beautifully crafted. I'm talking about experiences that I enjoyed most or that meant the most to me because sometimes I read sad books and you don't necessarily enjoy them. Even who's the second person you I'm talking to? I might feel weird using the word enjoy, but I did deeply appreciate the reading experience and just feel like I'm so glad I read a book. So I decided to talk about interesting reading experiences. Those kinds of books that I keep thinking about and keep talking about that maybe they weren't my favorite in a vacuum, but I really love what they brought into my life. I wanted to talk about repeated themes that keep cropping up in my favorites. I wanted to talk about those books that I almost included in my favorites. This is definitely my way of wedging in a few more, even though I've already had 24 favorites to share. And then I wanted to finish with just a few superlative titles with my voice not in print, like on the Block.
- [17:33]
Will Bogle
Well, I definitely understand the interesting reading experiences. I think the Last Tree on Easter island was exactly that, right? Like I could do it in one day. It was not like anything else I read. It may not have been the best book I read. Like I said, it was probably a very long journal article in some academic paper, I don't know. But tell me about your interesting reading experiences.
- [17:52]
Anne Bogle
Of the categories we're talking about today, this is actually my longest list of titles. And it really made me realize I love to read widely. I know what I love and often I'll pick up a book. This definitely includes many of my favorites on my favorite print books and favorite audio books list and I'll think, oh, this is exactly what I wanted. But the thing about these interesting reading experiences is that they. We talk a lot about surprise and delight around here and to be surprised, it's gotta be off your beaten path. And I realized that so many of these books that were so interesting to me were noteworthy in part because it's not what I tend to seek out. These are the books that I didn't know I wanted. And I think that's a big reason why I keep thinking about them. And I Keep talking about them.
- [18:39]
Will Bogle
Well, tell me some of these books.
- [18:41]
Anne Bogle
All right, well, I've already told you about the first one, because I finished it, and I was like, whoa, this was a little dark for me, but I think you will love it. And that is the North Line by Matt Riordan. Do you remember talking about this book? This is the deadliest couch one.
- [18:53]
Will Bogle
Talking about it. Yeah, I remember reading it. I took you up on it when you. When you suggested it to me when.
- [18:59]
Anne Bogle
I described it in the summer reading guide. I called it a gritty and immersive thriller with a wholly unique setting. And this is about a college kid who gets kicked off the lacrosse team. So he loses his scholarship at his fancy east coast school, and he's got to come up with something like $26,000 quick or he can't come back to school because now he has to pay cash for his tuition since he got kicked off the team. And there's a extended discourse on how, like, an actual rich kid would not have gotten kicked off the team for the drug charge that he got busted on, but he did, and he's got to make $26,000. So he goes to Alaska because a friend of a friend can hook him up on a commercial fishing boat, which is really scary, really dangerous. And the way they describe life on this boat is terrifying. It's so dangerous. It's totally. Everybody's out to get theirs, and, oh, my gosh, there's so much cocaine. Like, this is not what I usually read, but I really enjoyed it at first. It felt very Sebastian younger, like that kind of outdoorsy, perfect storm kind of book. But then the man versus man plot came into it. I mean, I've read it almost a year ago now, and I still can remember, like, some of the, like, exciting, intense, and kind of disgusting scenes.
- [20:24]
Will Bogle
Yeah, a couple of gross mishaps. Yeah.
- [20:27]
Anne Bogle
Yes. Gross mishaps. That sounds about right. The next is this Is what It Sounds like by Susan Rogers and Ogie Ogis. I just talked about this in December. This is a book that was recommended to me at Writerfest by a publishing professor there. And I don't remember what we were talking about where she said, oh, my gosh, you have to listen to this book. And she did say listen. And she said, you have to do what the book says and listen to every song that they say. Now take a break and go listen to that musical interlude and pay a special attention to how they, you know, handle the drum solo. The thing I didn't like about that is it was really Hard to walk the dog in the cold with my gloves on and juggle all those things. I definitely couldn't drive and do it, but it was worth it. Cause it was so interesting. And the thing I really want to tell what should I read next, listeners, is that this book felt like the musical equivalent to what we're trying to do on this podcast. And I'm just going to read a little quote right from the beginning of this book. The authors say that what they're trying to do, and this is what it sounds like, is by contrasting our divergent responses to music will help you get better acquainted with your own musical identity, especially those hidden aspects of your musical appetites that you may have never recognized before. What they're saying is every listener is different. We all have different taste. And that's not exactly something we can help, but it's something we can definitely lean into. Where I think this book fell short is they talked a lot about how you have to identify your unique musical profile and then you can move forward. And that was really strong on a couple elements of music. But I feel like it kind of fell apart at the 60% mark. But that's okay because it was so interesting and I learned so much and I listened to a lot of music that I wouldn't have otherwise. And I came to appreciate familiar songs that I love in new ways. And I also thought the insight into what it's like to produce some of the musicians I listened to was so interesting. I loved, I love a good behind the scenes take. And this book was really strong in those elements.
- [22:33]
Will Bogle
We've talked about this a couple of times.
- [22:34]
Anne Bogle
Yeah, because I keep bringing it up.
- [22:36]
Will Bogle
I know. Do you think I'd like it or have you told me enough?
- [22:38]
Anne Bogle
Well, I almost got it for you for our holiday book exchange book and then I decided.
- [22:44]
Will Bogle
But then you decided not to.
- [22:45]
Anne Bogle
I decided. Well, see, that's because I already. I bought you a book months ago. I saw something on the shelf someplace.
- [22:51]
Will Bogle
Oh, okay. Okay. So not a slight on this book. Okay.
- [22:54]
Anne Bogle
Not a slight on this book. But I think this is the kind of book that I would want. Want to leave it to you to decide because really what I'm handing you is a big time commitment. Like there's a lot of listening that goes into this book. But I know that we've both been exploring new to us musicians the past few years and I thought that you would really enjoy this for that reason and many more. But also, I didn't want to hand you a 30 hour listening assignment.
- [23:21]
Will Bogle
Wait What? Okay, thank you.
- [23:23]
Anne Bogle
I appreciate details there, but I think it's definitely 20.
- [23:26]
Will Bogle
If you add in the music, it might be okay. All right, thank you for, for that insight. What's next?
- [23:33]
Anne Bogle
A Song to Drown Rivers by Anne Leong. I. I don't read a ton of fantasy, but what I do read I tend to really enjoy. And this is a romantically laced historical fantasy that I talked about in the fall book preview. This was one of our spotlight titles and it's based on an ancient Chinese legend, the Legend of Zixi. She's one of the four beauties of ancient China and she is widely renowned for her beauty. But then the king's military advisor discovers that, like, yes, she's beautiful, but she's also brave and really smart and he wants to use her as a weapon to take down the rival kingdom. And he's gonna send her into that kingdom as a gift. She's going to be the king's concubine. And her job is to make this man who she despises because growing up as a citizen of her nation, she has been raised to just despise these rivals and she does the citizens all the way up to the king. And so she doesn't wanna make this man that she thinks is reprehensible fall in love with her, but that's her job. And then it gets complicated because of course it does, because it's that kind of book. And what I liked about this was that it was very plotty and exciting and I just wanted to keep listening. I listened to this one on audio. It was fantastic in this format, but it was also really interesting. And this is based on an ancient Chinese legend, so I expected an examination of the complexities of womanhood and the horrors of war and how love is tricky. But I didn't expect these meditations on the nature of fame and celebrity and notoriety. And so much of what the book was saying without it all being heavy handed felt so applicable to today's media landscape, political landscape, cultural landscape. I didn't expect that. I found myself thinking about it a lot. I was absolutely here for it. That made it great for me.
- [25:34]
Will Bogle
That's fascinating that a fantasy like that based on an ancient story has all those sort of contemporary elements that are not. Not elements, but like that you really feel like resonate with sort of things you would think about now.
- [25:46]
Anne Bogle
And I like a book that makes me think about it and I like a book that surprises me. Not like, whoa, shock, I didn't know that was coming. But one where the reading Experience is not what I doesn't at all match my preconceived notion of what I'm getting into.
- [26:01]
Will Bogle
Yeah, so you don't read a lot of fantasy, as you mentioned. Also not a big. Well, you're reading more. But I was gonna say you're not a big Stephen King fan.
- [26:10]
Anne Bogle
No, I'm not, but he's on my list.
- [26:12]
Will Bogle
Yeah, I saw his name. So tell us, what Stephen King book did you read that you felt like was worth a mention in your favorite books of the year?
- [26:19]
Anne Bogle
I read Fairy Tale, which I have recommended this year on the podcast. And this goes together in my mind with a book that I found from our modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club, Best Books of Summer Events. One of our book club members shared Lost Man's Lane by Scott Carson. In the way she described it, I thought, well, that's not what I usually read, but I want to read it immediately. So both these books are realistic fantasy where they start in worlds that we recognize and then they go really weird places. The Stephen King especially. It was almost like reading two different novels back to back. The first is very realistic about this good hearted high school kid who helps out an elderly neighbor when he falls off a ladder and ends up journeying into a hidden land. In the whole second half of the book, that's all I'll say about that. And in Lost Man's Lane again, it starts with a hint of the eerie, but then it goes to a completely fantasy land. And I have to say this is me as a reader. I love the first half of these books more than the second half. But I enjoyed the whole reading experience. Like Fairy Tail felt like a romp. It was funny. I mean, there's a great dog named Radar. I just. It wasn't what I expected. Like it was almost wholesome. And Lost Man's Lane was really interesting. It was this fantastical adventure story with great characters. Especially the minor characters were so well drawn. Who's read this and knows what I'm talking about when I say the Weller? I loved the Weller. It was set in Bloomington. You just don't get a lot of novels set in Bloomington, Indiana. And they were both not what I usually pick up. But I was so glad I did. I really enjoyed them. I happened to listen to both on audio. They were great in that format.
- [28:23]
Will Bogle
I have heard you talk about this, probably because I listen to the podcast as I'm editing it, but I think I had assumed that maybe because it was Stephen King, that these were horror. But you're saying both of these have that kind of fantasy second half.
- [28:35]
Anne Bogle
I mean, I think they both have horror elements. Stephen King has some terrifying, fantastical, horrific characters, but I'm not a big horror reader and like these weren't scary to me. And while they were a little gruesome in brief parts, like, I wouldn't go so far as to say they were gory.
- [29:01]
Will Bogle
That's I think, I think for people who know how maybe squeamish you might be, I think that's helpful.
- [29:07]
Anne Bogle
I hope so. All right, change of pace. I also love Sipsworth by Simon Van Bui. I love a short and sweet. This was a five something hour audiobook. It's gentle, it's touching. I love the characters. It's sweet. Again, wholesome. If that word doesn't turn people off. I went to the author talk just like on an impulse. I saw the sign at my local bookstore that said Simon Van Buey's in town. And I thought, I don't have plans on this Tuesday evening, I should go. And when he was describing his story, he said that the theme he keeps coming back to in his work, the story he keeps telling and I talked about this at Writerfest. If you heard this on the audio is a group of disparate characters who are lonely, who feel cut off from life, who find each other, find community, and find a new purpose in living. And that's what happens here. There's an 83 year old woman who comes back to to life because of a little mouse she adopts. And you quickly find that there is more to 83 year old Helen than meets the eye. You know, she's had sadness in her life, but she's also had this huge professional success. And the way that comes into the story and the way that she finds herself again and the way that the reader discovers who she is, it's just so. It's just wonderful. Lots of readers really love this because it explores heavy and difficult topics and also is a story of community and second chances and redemption. Now can we talk about boxing?
- [30:47]
Will Bogle
Boxing?
- [30:49]
Anne Bogle
I happen to read a couple books with boxing connections this year, including the Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors, which I loved and have almost put on my favorites list several times. It was in the fall book preview, not summer reading guide, but it had one of the four sisters in that book was a foxer and I just didn't see that coming. Maybe though, that's the reason I was willing to take a chance on Headshot by Rita Bullwinkle, which is little. I mean definitely a thimble Full of weird was a theme for me this year. But the story takes place at and is structured in the form of a weekend boxing tournament with some of the nation's elite junior female boxers. It's at some rinky dink arena in Reno, and the book opens with the tournament bracket. And each chapter is a literal blow by blow account of every match in the book from that boxer's perspective. It was unlike anything else that I've read in ages, and I loved it for that.
- [31:46]
Will Bogle
I remember you mentioning this, but that structure just. Yeah, that sounds very surprising.
- [31:52]
Anne Bogle
Yeah, it made me think, who, like, how'd you come up with this readable winkle? And I really like it when an author makes me ask that. And finally, I wanted to talk about Colored Television by Danzi Senna. This was interesting in many ways. Oh, it was snarky and wry and funny and darkly comic. And I really liked both. The protagonist, I mean, I really like the author. She seems like a lot of fun and really, really sm. But I wanted to say how I started this book. Something like four times in print and it just didn't take. Initially, the publication date was scheduled to be summer, so it was on my radar for summer reading. But then it got pushed back to September, and so I tried it for summer and then I tried it again for fall. And I was just telling you, like, I'm not even sure why I kept coming back to it. I think because I like the description of what the book was. It's about a novelist in LA who's like, you know what? Writing books is freaking hard and it doesn't pay anything. And I'm living in this really expensive city with a husband who's a painter. He's not exactly raking it in. And we have two kids and they are expensive and we don't wanna move to a different town. We don't wanna move to the Exurbs. Like, we gotta make some money. And she's inspired by her friend Brent, who sold out, that's the phrase used in the book, and became a screenwriter with daytime hours, free coffee and lunches and a much better paycheck. So she aspires to sell out. And it's just a comedy of errors. She lies to a lot of people. She weaves the tangled web for herself and, you know, it's gonna, like, all fall apart for her. You're just not sure how and why. But there are some scenes in this book that were funny and insightful that I still think about all the time, many months later.
- [33:38]
Will Bogle
That sounds delightful. So those were interesting reading experiences. You also mentioned that you had some books that sort of fill into themes for the year. You know, themes besides boxing.
- [33:49]
Anne Bogle
Yes. Okay. They are literary. And I love a book that is a literary family drama, romance, or in this case, a literary family saga mystery like Liz Moore's the God of the woods family saga, missing person's tale, 1970s summer camp stories. You've got that historical element. William, you want to jump in here?
- [34:18]
Will Bogle
Yeah. This actually was the book that I was saying that I'd come back to. This was probably my best book of the year. And I liked the. And also I almost wondered if we would get a series out of the Female Detective. She was so well written and had this great backstory. I also like a family saga that's definitely more your jam than mine, but I enjoyed that part. But the. The mystery totally appealed to me as well.
- [34:47]
Anne Bogle
A character driven mystery, but also compulsively readable literary. I love Liz Moore. I. I would love to read that series you just hinted at. But also I just kind of want to read whatever she decides she wants to write for me.
- [35:00]
Will Bogle
I understand that you. You mentioned after. After I finished this and I was kind of wondering what to read next. You mentioned that she. She's just got a great backlist. And I read the Unseen World, which is a totally different book, but it was a really neat pairing to kind of catch her two in a row there, I think. I read them back to back, I think. And yeah, really different, but also gave me a real good peek into kind of what Liz Moore can do.
- [35:24]
Anne Bogle
It brought me great joy that you enjoyed that so much. Not surprised, but delighted. Also for the literary and so many books coming in 2025, including several I adored and can't wait to tell you about coming spring book preview. I read them in 2024, so they're my best books of the year, but I'm not ready to talk about them yet.
- [35:45]
Will Bogle
You're not gonna just.
- [35:46]
Anne Bogle
That's quite a tease, but historical, literary, mystery, romance, melodrama. Like, I could have put them in any category. In the spring book preview, I'm thinking of one book in particular that's probably my favorite of the bunch, but that's true for maybe four different titles where it. They're hard to categorize, but so easy to read in the sense that, like, I just couldn't wait to find out what happened next. And also thought that they were really well crafted. I love both.
- [36:14]
Will Bogle
Well, I love the literary and so that was great. What was the next Thing you mentioned the heavy and light books that combine.
- [36:23]
Anne Bogle
The heavy and the lights.
- [36:25]
Will Bogle
Yeah, I think I've read some of these, too.
- [36:28]
Anne Bogle
Did you read the Wedding People by Alison Espach?
- [36:31]
Will Bogle
I did.
- [36:32]
Anne Bogle
What did you think?
- [36:33]
Will Bogle
It was heavy. Oh, I loved it.
- [36:34]
Anne Bogle
It was great.
- [36:37]
Will Bogle
It was heavy. I mean, if I can talk about this for you, it was heavy in the. Just the plot, the framing, the entire concept. Right. But it was surprising and delightful and a really fresh. And I think the character just had this sort of fresh and freeing outlook. Do we want to sort of spill the plot device?
- [37:01]
Anne Bogle
No, but we do want to say that the character had reached the point where she's like, I don't care what you think of me. I'm just going to say what I think and feel what I feel and let the chips fall where they may. And that often made me laugh out loud.
- [37:16]
Will Bogle
Yeah. It led to a lot of humor and surprise, but also gave her sort of fresh eyes to. While she's judging other people, think about her own life.
- [37:26]
Anne Bogle
Yeah. And it's really grim in parts. Like, she has been through some hard stuff and she's letting us in on what happened. But also, it's so compassionate and wise and. Okay, fun fact. When I first drafted this for the summer reading guide, I was thinking about how I read in bed every night, usually fiction, before I go to sleep. It's part of my routine. Although lately it's been like 15 minutes. I gotta really up that. That. That number so I can read more books for summer. But my first blurb said I was, like, shaking the bed, reading the book. And you were like, no, don't say that. Maybe. Maybe the couch. You're shaking the couch. Which was also true.
- [38:05]
Will Bogle
This. This is why we do this podcast episode. Right. Because you wouldn't write that in a blurb. And it just goes in the summer reading guide PDF, and people are like, what is she talking?
- [38:14]
Anne Bogle
But you can tell.
- [38:15]
Will Bogle
You can tell a story here on the podcast.
- [38:16]
Anne Bogle
But seriously, it was so funny that I was like, physically. It was like an ab workout.
- [38:21]
Will Bogle
It was really funny. Really funny.
- [38:23]
Anne Bogle
Another book I loved on that line, which was so sad. These characters have been through hard things. They are not in good places. And it had so much grammar. Geek humor is you are Here by David Nichols. This is a quiet love story about two lonely people falling in love as they trek through the English countryside. So great scenery, strong sense of place. He's a geography teacher, she's a copy editor, she's editing erotica, which just leads to so many grammar Jokes and writing jokes.
- [38:56]
Will Bogle
I didn't realize that's what she was editing.
- [38:58]
Anne Bogle
Oh my gosh. It's so. It's so funny. You might like this.
- [39:01]
Will Bogle
Really? I remember you really like this.
- [39:04]
Anne Bogle
It would like scratch your travel itch. It's not long.
- [39:07]
Will Bogle
Yeah. There was a lot when you talked about it that I thought I would like. And then we started watching one day and I'm like, I don't know if I care about David Nichols.
- [39:14]
Anne Bogle
Well, that one is melodrama and this one is much more subdued.
- [39:18]
Will Bogle
And the show was very melodramatic.
- [39:21]
Anne Bogle
Yeah, we didn't finish the show.
- [39:23]
Will Bogle
Yeah. Okay, maybe. Maybe I'll give it a try.
- [39:26]
Anne Bogle
Yeah. And also it's about two people finding their person. And it's sweet like that.
- [39:31]
Will Bogle
And that is sweet. Yeah.
- [39:33]
Anne Bogle
Okay. I also love this sequel by Jean Hampf Corletts, which is it fair to call this heavy and light? Like maybe. Cause they're talking about crimes, murder, plagiarism. Is there poison? There's poison, but it's not real life. This is about watching a Tom Ripley like character behave very, very, very badly. And the question is, is she gonna get what's coming to her? I mean, probably cause you think it's that kind of book. But this was so fun and funny. And that Corlets clearly is just having a ball, like skewering the publishing industry. It's a total send up with fawning fans, just like obsequious publicists. There are these writing seminars that are just expensive tax write offs. There are authors who are so inflated by their own huge egos they can barely function. Lots of Easter eggs for readers. Oh, it's so fun. I'm sorry to say. No, I'm not sorry to say. Read the plot and then read the sequel. Read them back to back. I think the sequel's even better. But the plot's a lot of fun. The point is not to guess what happens. The point is to watch Corlitz unspool her story and show how people behaving badly are totally going to get what's coming to them.
- [40:50]
Will Bogle
Yeah. I was wondering if you were about to say, read the plot first. You didn't actually say that.
- [40:55]
Anne Bogle
You don't have to, but I would. I think you'll enjoy the sequel more if you do. I mean, if you do.
- [41:01]
Will Bogle
Okay.
- [41:01]
Anne Bogle
Corlitz gives you enough information in the text of the sequel to fill in what you need to know to read the sequel as a standalone. But you're going to have a richer experience if you read the plot first so you know, you can decide how you want to spend your reading hours.
- [41:17]
Will Bogle
Those were people behaving badly.
- [41:19]
Anne Bogle
Yeah, funny, funny, funny, funny.
- [41:21]
Will Bogle
Yes, Specifically the last one there with the sequel. But let's move to something you called wistful.
- [41:29]
Anne Bogle
Oh, now we're gonna take a hard turn. So I know everybody listening knows what it's like to read the right book at the right time, whether that is carefully planned or just purely coincidental. But I happened to read these wistful meditations on life and love and change and loss right when my mom was sick and then suddenly died, like right at the turn of the year. And they were the right books for the right time for me. They were so sad, but also wistful and about grief, but also celebrating how life goes on. And I think I'm just gonna rattle them off for you. Loved and Missed by Susie Boyd. This is a slim British novel. Shout out to Andrea at Browser's bookshop who recommended this in her newsletter. I had seen it around, but it was her recommendations that made me think, yes, I'm going to read that now. And it was short and packed such an emotional wallop. I immediately thought, I want to read everything Susie Boit has ever written, and I haven't done that yet. But one of the things I like about these best books, Reflections, is it reminds me of moments like that. So Susie Boit is going on my list. Sandwich by Kathryn Newman is a book that I've talked about a lot in a lot of places, but the protagonist meditation on having college age and young adult children and also aging parents just really spoke to where I was right now. And also it unfolds over the course of one week in a too small Cape Cod vacation home. And I realized that Cape Cod was practically a theme in my reading life. This year I read at least three books set there and I really enjoyed those. I've never been there, only in the pages of fiction and memoir, but I really enjoyed that. And then Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. I have been waiting for this one for a long time because it was announced several years ago under a different title actually. But this was another book that featured a midlife reckoning in which the protagonist, who's in her 50s, she has an adult child, a college age child she bumps into someone she hasn't seen in years at the grocery store and it sends her on this whole really it's a midlife reckoning. And I really enjoyed this. Here's a woman in midlife reflecting on her relationship with her mother, reflecting on her relationship with her kids, reflecting on the state her marriage is in. Reading a bunch of books like that back to back would be bad for my soul, but in small doses, I love an emotionally resonant novel like this. Oh, and I have one more and also maybe a fun announcement for some people. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood was another poignant main novel, which I think she does so well. And speaking of Simon Van Bui, this one also centers three lonely people disconnected from life, disconnected from any sort of community. Two are in their 60s, one is maybe 2021. But though they are connected by a terrible tragedy, the worst reason to bring people together, they end up forming this life giving community. Plus one of the characters who goes by bookie to some characters in the novel. She leads a book club at the local women's prison and her reflections on discussing books with these women will add a ton of titles to your reading list, but is also so wonderful for lovers of books and reading. And I want to say Monica Wood is going to be our very first repeat Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club author. She's going to join us in March. We're going to read this book, how to Read a Book Together. We're going to pair it with the Flight Pick Spoon river anthology which features prominently in this book. It's so good. Redemption, second chances, the power of books. And I love Monica Wood. I can't wait to talk about this book with her.
- [45:23]
Will Bogle
Well, she joined us in book club a very long time ago at this point.
- [45:27]
Anne Bogle
She didn't though. You're right. So we read the One in a Million boy that very first summer of modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club in 2016. I can't believe we're coming up on 10 years.
- [45:36]
Will Bogle
And did you not talk to her?
- [45:38]
Anne Bogle
No. She was unable to join us in person, but was kind enough to do a written Q and A. So we got to share some of her reflections and answers to our specific questions. But I'm so excited that she's going to join us on Zoom. And she's the first author that we will have read two books from. And just like a great one to inaugurate that repeat appearance. Readers, if taking care of your health is on your to do list as we start a new year, Alloy Health is here for you. Millions of women enter menopause each year and Alloy Health believes they have the right to feel fantastic. If you count yourself among this group or you know, you're approaching the age when menopause needs to be on your radar, Alloy has the evidence based holistic solutions and expertise to help Alloy Health's safe, effective FDA approved solutions are prescribed by menopause trained doctors. Whether you're looking for support with uncomfortable symptoms or you're looking for products to take the best care of your skin and your hair as you age or you have other questions and concerns, Alloy Health has answers. When you choose Alloy, you get unlimited ongoing care with your assigned doctor. It's easy to keep in touch, no need to make an appointment or go to a doctor's office. You can do everything right from your phone. Check out Alloy Health's range of solutions and take $20 off your first order at myalloi.com through March 31, 2025 with promo code READNEXT. Go to myalloy.com to start your consult with a menopause trained expert today. Readers if One of your 2025 resolutions is to save more money, a quick and easy shortcut is changing your wireless plan. Switching to Mint Mobile is an easy way to save their premium wireless service. Plans start at just $15 a month when you purchase a three month plan. Mint Mobile is different. They're the first company to sell their wireless service online only, so they're not only saving you money, they're saving you time too. Skip the store visits or long holds on the phone and get signed up right away. All of Mint Mobile's plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Bring your own phone, your phone number and your contacts with you. It's easy to make the switch to get this new customer offer and your new 3 month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month. Go to mintmobile.com readnext that's mintmobile.com readnext Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com readnext $45 upfront payment required, equivalent to $15 a month new customers on first 3 month plan only. Speed slower above 40 gig on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. Can I share some of the books I almost included in my best of list?
- [48:10]
Will Bogle
If you really need to cram in more books, we can do some almost included books.
- [48:14]
Anne Bogle
Yes I do. The Interestings by Meg Wolitz Ginger raved about this so much. It's not that she talked me into it exactly. She just nudged me and nudged me and nudged me and nudged me until I fell over into it headfirst. But this is a summer camp book and our theme for the summer reading guide this year was summer camp, so of course I had to enjoy it. And what I really found was, oh my gosh, this is the kind of reflective story, family saga, friends over decades literary novel that I love. Like, why didn't anybody tell me? And Ginger was like, ann, what do you think I've been saying all these years? But I love the interesting I loved Long island by Colm Toibin, a wistful literary standalone set in the 1970s. I talked about this one with Susan Meissner in our wonderful podcast episode about Quiet books. This is beautifully written. Oh so discussable. The look somebody shoots somebody else across the town square is like high drama in this book. And I think Toybin really makes you feel it. It's got a love triangle. Small Rain by Garth Greenwell was a right book at the right time for me. I flipped back and forth between the audio read by the author, which was wonderful, and the Kindle so I could finish it in one day. And seriously, when I sat down to begin it. This is the story of a man who experiences a sudden medical crisis, and it was inspired by Greenwell's own personal experience. He also experienced a sudden medical crisis in the summer of 2020. And he's not the protagonist in the book. This is fiction. But he really drew on his experience and I happened to read this at the same time. Our friend was dealing with tremendous pain in his illness and had just gotten very bad news from his physicians. And it felt like the right book at the right time. I read it in a day. I loved it. And then I have a romance novel that I loved that was a Spotlight title in the fall book preview and I just, my eyes just skimmed right over this when I was putting together my favorites list. But One on One by Jamie Harrow is a romance debut set in the world of college basketball. This is not the book that I knew to ask for. I'm not even sure how or why. I think it just sounded good because I didn't know anybody who'd read this. She's a debut author. But I love this. This was just pure escapist delight for me. And there are some heavy topics in this book, but it's a workplace rivals to lovers romance, Lots of banter, lots of interesting professional stuff. I used to play basketball. Not in college. I wasn't good enough for that. But like, you don't need to care about sports ball to enjoy this book.
- [50:55]
Will Bogle
I don't think, okay, don't need to care about sports ball.
- [51:00]
Anne Bogle
And then can I share just a few Bests to finish.
- [51:03]
Will Bogle
So those were some. Some additional titles. Do you want to tell us what everybody's really come here for? The best of the best books. Is that was the way to put this?
- [51:13]
Anne Bogle
Is that what I'm supposed to share, the best of the best? No, I absolutely do not. How dare you.
- [51:20]
Will Bogle
Superlatives are hard, okay? So, yes, please, please, we won't call them the best. Some. Some bests to finish us out.
- [51:28]
Anne Bogle
Okay.
- [51:29]
Will Bogle
That you didn't get to put into any of the previous categories. What were some of the best books you read that just didn't align exactly with those other categories?
- [51:39]
Anne Bogle
All right, I'm being a little sneaky. I included Charmaine Wilkerson's Black Cake on my best audiobooks list because I love a family drama, a sibling story, buried secrets from the past. It was calling my name on all those levels. But I also loved Good Dirt, which comes out the end of January 2025. But I get to talk about it now because it's Our February Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club selection. So you're gonna have to hear about it sometime. Why not now?
- [52:09]
Will Bogle
I have heard you talk about both these books. I didn't realize that Good Dirt was. Not yet. Since you've read them both, and I think you read them back to back, right? Pretty close.
- [52:17]
Anne Bogle
I did because I read Good Dirt when I was prepping for spring book preview, and I loved it. And I thought, I've had black cake on my shelf for actual years. What am I waiting for? Except I didn't read the print book. I thought, I bet this is gonna be amazing on audio. So I went that route. And it totally was. I mean, I think it'd be great in print, but I really enjoyed the audiobook experience. But in both books, she's exploring grief and trauma, social justice issues, tragedy through the lens of one family and a precious heirloom. If you can call a traditional black cake recipe an heirloom. In Good Dirt, the tangible object linking the contemporary family to a historical past is a beautiful, heavy, huge, valuable pottery jar made by their relative when that person was an enslaved artisan in South Carolina in the 19th century. So in the opening pages, the 29 year old protagonist, she's the daughter of an affluent black New England family. She suffers a painful and public romantic betrayal just right in the opening pages. And there's something about the way that Charmaine Wilkerson introduced her story and her characters where I was reading the E galley and I picked it up and I got to about page four, and something in me Was like, I found something good. This is going to be good company for the next 400 pages. And I love when that happens.
- [53:49]
Will Bogle
Yeah, that quick.
- [53:51]
Anne Bogle
Yeah. So something terrible happens. And you also know that she suffered a terrible tragedy, witnessed something horrible when she was quite young, when she was 9 or 10. And that was newsworthy, just notorious where she grew up. And she's always been the girl that thing happened to. Like, she's never been able. She doesn't feel like, to live her own life or to be known as herself. She's always known as that girl that endured that thing. And she really loved this guy for seeing her as more than that, except then it seemed like he didn't. So she. She flees to France to heal, but she can't escape this pull she's feeling at this time in her life to untangle past events, both the ones that just happened. And she still has unanswered questions from what happened 20 years ago when that terrible thing happened. So we go back and forth in time, and then we go way back in time, back to the artisan who made the jar. I love this. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Ebby and our ancestors. Great story, great reading experience. And then my next one. This might sound silly because I know that lots of people were looking forward to Ina Garten's memoir. It was definitely a big book of fall, and my attitude toward it was like, maybe I'll read it, maybe I won't. We'll see. But then I downloaded the audiobook on a whim, and I loved it. And specifically, I know that I am well known for loving an interesting peek behind the scenes, and that was just delightful. I was interested in hearing how she obtained and then grew her business. And I'd heard the story like she was, you know, writing budgets at the White House, and she saw an ad in the newspaper. Like, I knew that. But to hear her talk about it through her perspective and share not just the, like, plucky like, oh, I did this on a whim, and it all worked out. But hearing how she thought about that decision and what happened next, and I think as someone who has a business that's not very well understood, I really enjoyed the peek behind the curtain of how she thought about running the store, what she was seeking to do, what challenges she found interesting and which she found just untenable, how she knew it was time to move on. And then, William, I told you that you didn't think you wanted to be in a Garten. But she talks about this one glorious summer where she and Jeffrey got to camp in Europe for four months and live there on $5 a day and experience all these wonderful things. And I really enjoyed these memories from long ago. Now, she shared about that time.
- [56:21]
Will Bogle
Yeah, that was long. That was a long time ago. So $5 a day is a little. Little bit of a stretch now, but.
- [56:25]
Anne Bogle
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, That's. That's never happening for you and me. But vicariously, I got to go along.
- [56:31]
Will Bogle
With Ina because we were traveling, and I was desperate to find something on Kindle that I could take with me pretty easily. I downloaded this in case I finished my. My other very short nolla that I was reading on Kindle. And, yeah, her voice is great. I, like, I've only barely just started it, but her voice is very much the same as it is on the show. You know, very warm, very, like, welcoming, and just real, like, personable. You don't really get the feeling that she's a character on tv, you know?
- [57:00]
Anne Bogle
I didn't know you were reading this.
- [57:02]
Will Bogle
Oh, yeah, just started.
- [57:04]
Anne Bogle
That's fun. Oh, and she talks about behind the scenes of her TV show, and she talks about great working relationships and some that were challenging. I've only watched maybe 20 minutes of one episode ever when we were on vacation someplace with cable.
- [57:18]
Will Bogle
I find this so hard to believe. Really? Yeah, because the kids used to watch it when we. When we go.
- [57:23]
Anne Bogle
Yeah, I was probably reading in the.
- [57:24]
Will Bogle
Balcony, like you were probably reading. Yeah, but they'd be like, yo, Food Network, we're watching tv. And, yeah, we watched all kinds of.
- [57:31]
Anne Bogle
Yeah. So I like Ina. I have some of her cookbooks. I love how her recipes work. But I'm definitely not a super fan, which is why I was on the fence about, like, you know, I could take this or leave it, but from the second I started listening, I was like, oh, this is such a good place to be. And I also loved how she talked about why she was writing the memoir and why she's writing another book next. She talks about what that is in the end of the memoir. I didn't know I would be so interested in hearing her talk through her career. Like, the unexpected path, the milestones, good and bad, and also what she is pursuing now to stay interested and engaged. I just thought it was really interesting in ways I knew to expect in the pages and also so many. I just really didn't.
- [58:20]
Will Bogle
Yeah, that sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to so picking it back up.
- [58:24]
Anne Bogle
And finally, I love this motherless land. Nikki May has been on the podcast. Go listen to that episode. But I'm a sucker for a Jane Austen adaptation and yet I'm so often so disappointed. But this retelling of Mansfield park surpassed all my expectations. It's a story of how important first cousins are in each other's life, and I didn't know that was a story I was longing to read. I really enjoyed that thing about a retelling where I'm constantly tracking the original versus what the author is doing with it. Now that's got like almost a crossword puzzle kind of satisfaction to me. But I just love this coming of age scathing social critique. A love story about a first cousin relationship, some plot twists that made me go, whoa, I can't believe that just happened. And I finished it and then I couldn't wait to dive into Mansfield park, which I read immediately. And it was such an enjoyable twofer. I loved it. Also, I want to be president of the Nikki May Fan Club. I loved her and talking with her as a person. I can't wait to see what she writes next.
- [59:29]
Will Bogle
Wow, that's high. High praise.
- [59:31]
Anne Bogle
High praise. Here's the good and bad of an episode like this. That's a lot of titles.
- [59:37]
Will Bogle
That was a lot of titles, readers.
- [59:39]
Anne Bogle
I just dumped a lot of titles on you. A lot more titles.
- [59:44]
Will Bogle
But thank you and we will put them all on the website. So now you have a third best list. We've got the two blog posts, your best books of 2024 and your best audiobooks of 2024. And then we will have a post up with this with all the titles that we talked about today.
- [60:03]
Anne Bogle
Yes we will.
- [60:04]
Will Bogle
Thanks for sharing those with us.
- [60:05]
Anne Bogle
Yeah, well thank you readers for letting me share all my favorites. And thank you William for talking about best books with me again and for bringing some of yours.
- [60:13]
Will Bogle
Happy to.
- [60:15]
Anne Bogle
Oh this has been a pleasure readers. I hope you enjoyed hearing about some of my favorite reads from the past year. We would love to know the books you loved in 2024. You can always join that conversation at what Should I read next podcast.com Like Will said, we've included the full list of titles titles talked about today on our Show Notes page there for this episode and you can comment there with your favorites. Keep up with our podcast and special events like our coming Spring Book Preview by signing up for our email newsletter. Go to what Should I read next podcast.com newsletter. We keep it short and sweet. We share what's happening and what Should I Read Next hq. We make sure you know about new episodes, sign up there. Another way to keep up with new episodes while supporting our show in a very real but also totally free way is by subscribing on your favorite podcast player and downloading each episode when it comes out. Doing that really shows our podcast network and our advertisers you want more of what we're doing around here, and that helps us keep making our show each week. It's good for morale and it helps us pay our bills. If you're not already, please follow or subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket, Cast, Overcast, wherever you like to get your podcasts.
- [61:29]
Will Bogle
Can I do this part?
- [61:30]
Anne Bogle
Yeah.
- [61:31]
Will Bogle
Thanks to the people who make this show happen. What should I re Next is created each week by me, Will Bogle, Holly Wilkachevsky Studio D Podcast Production and you Ann. Thanks for talking all things books and reading with us for the past eight years.
- [61:44]
Anne Bogle
Oh my gosh, eight years. January 12, 2016 Eight years.
- [61:48]
Will Bogle
Readers, that's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening.
- [61:51]
Anne Bogle
And as Reiner Maria Rilke said, ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading. Happy New Year. Happy reading everyone.