
267 episodes

Currently Reading Meredith Monday Schwartz and Kaytee Cobb
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4.8 • 34 Ratings
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Currently Reading is a podcast dedicated to the love of books and reading. Two bookish friends discuss what’s on their nightstands, in their earbuds, and on their Kindles right now, in addition to books they’ve loved forever, and a variety of other readerly topics. Looking for your next great book? You'll find tons of book recommendations every week.
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Season 5, Episode 43: Way Past a Book Hangover + All Things Fourth Wing
On this week’s episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Roxanna are discussing:
Bookish Moments: even worse than a book hangover, it’s a book coma!, and single-track reading
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately
Deep Dive: It’s possible to love each other and not love the same books! Here’s an example of that!
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives
As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down!
We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans!
*Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you’d prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*
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1:28 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
2:12 - Currently Reading Patreon - Thank you for helping to keep us ad free!
3:04 - Bookish Moment of the Week
3:15 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
3:37 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
9:18 - Current Reads
9:28 - The Thief Knot by Kate Milford (Roxanna)
9:34 - Greenglass House by Kate Milford
13:10 - The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo (Meredith)
20:58 - Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey (Roxanna)
24:46 - My Life in France by Julia Child
24:48 - Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
24:50 - Infused: Adventures in Tea by Henrietta Lovell
25:46 - The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang (Meredith, Amazon link)
26:54 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
27:13 - @bookishbetsie on Instagram
27:50 - The Princess Bride by William Goldman
30:17 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty (Roxanna)
37:47 - The Only One Left by Riley Sager (Meredith)
40:32 - CAWPILE system
41:31 - Survive the Night by Riley Sager
43:21 - The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
44:31 - Deep Dive: All Things Fourth Wing
44:49 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
46:13 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
48:34 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
48:36 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
49:22 - My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
49:32 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
59:36 - Meet Us At The Fountain
59:45 - I wish everyone would read Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center. (Roxanna)
59:45 - Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
1:00:16 - Wild by Cheryl Strayed
1:00:42 - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
1:02:10 - The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
1:02:23 - Read to make you happy, and don’t always follow the hype. (Meredith)
1:02:46 - In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Connect With Us:
Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram
Roxanna is @roxannatheplanner on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast.com
@currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com
Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading -
Season 5, Episode 42: Book Recs from Friends + Gateway Books
On this week’s episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing:
Bookish Moments: behind the scenes content and a literary festival
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately
Deep Dive: the best “gateway” books to get a new or struggling reader addicted
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives
As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down!
We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans!
*Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you’d prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*
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1:37 - Bookish Moment of the Week
1:54 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Summer Reading Guide
Sarah’s Patreon if you want access to Summer Shelves
2:17 - What Should I Read Next Episode 381
4:20 - Pango Books
6:42 - Current Reads
7:11 - What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline (Meredith)
7:23 - Fabled Bookshop
11:30 - Everywhere That Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline
11:52 - We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
12:50 - The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (Kaytee)
13:02 - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
13:06 - How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
13:32 - CR Season 5: Episode 30
14:09 - Fable App
17:20 - The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Meredith)
17:25 - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
20:24 - The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
21:24 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
22:13 - The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements (Kaytee)
22:19 - The Novel Neighbor
24:23 - Sarah’s Bookshelves 2022 Summer Reading Guide
25:41 - Blue Monday by Nicci French (Meredith)
31:42 - My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson (Kaytee)
33:09 - Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
34:44 - Gateway Books
37:04 - What Should I Read Next
37:51 - Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
38:15 - Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
38:18 - Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
38:49 - Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
40:05 - Calypso by David Sedaris
40:13 - The Anthroprocene Reviewed by John Green
41:14 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman
42:19 - Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
42:31 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
44:03 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
44:05 - All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle
44:37 - I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
45:12 - 11/22/63 by Stephen King
45:42 - Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
45:45 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
46:57 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
47:09 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
48:10 - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
48:31 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow
49:08 - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
50:25 - Meet Us At The Fountain
51:39 - The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Whyss
52:46 - I wish someone would write a story about The Forbidden Island of Niihau (Meredith)
54:08 - I wish for a reading cafe. (Kaytee)
Connect With Us:
Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram
Roxanna is @roxannathereader on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast.com
@currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com
Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading -
Popcorn in the Pages - Episode 1: The Hunger Games
Welcome, readers. We are so excited to debut this new content from the creators of Currently Reading Podcast! This limited-edition podcast series will tackle book to screen adaptations in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book and watched the film version before listening to the episode, because we don’t shy away from strong opinions OR from all the spoilers, unlike our regular episodes.
This episode series will introduce you to a new voice on the team, Shad CasConi. Shad is Kaytee’s childhood best friend, and the first show regular we’ve introduced with a Y chromosome. I think you’ll love him like I do!
As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Kaytee and Shad will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We call these the bowling lane bumpers, and they’ll help guide the conversation and keep us from rabbit trails.
Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading.
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3:26 - Previews:
Book Name and release date. Sales info and awards.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Ballad of Songbird and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (prequel)
Buying Your Way onto the NYT Bestseller List
Movie name and release date. Box office and awards.
The Hunger Games (film) - currently on Hulu but this seems to be changing once a month
Credit Song by Taylor Swift, Safe and Sound, with The Civil Wars
7:28 - The Cutting Room:
Pivotal Book scenes and how they translated to the screen.
Katniss’s mockingjay pin
Tesserae, Avox, and Katniss’s anger
Dehydration and the “boring” parts of the arena
Anything left out that shouldn’t have been.
Haymitch’s character development
The finale in the arena
How scary is this for kids? Were there changes made for the rating?
Added to the movie for clarity.
Interviews, the treaty, world-building.
Seneca is pretty.
Film to introduce the games.
Naming and developing additional characters.
Building the arena and behind-the-scenes footage of the capital.
Casting and mis-casting
AI Casting Images
Katniss
Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansen, Twilight, Saoirse Ronan, Haley Steinfeld, Chloe Grace Moretz, Emma Roberts, Shailene Woodley, Divergent, Isabel Ferman
Peeta
Josh Hutcherson, Evan Peters, Hunter Parrish, Alex Pettifer, Alexander Ludvig, Liam Hemsworth
Gale
Liam Hemsworth, Henry Cavill
Cinna
Lenny Kravitz, Billy Porter, Matthew Boehmer, Eric Bana, Jude Law, Cheyanne Jackson, Michale Urie, Shrinking (Apple TV+)
Effie
Elizabeth Banks, Amy Sedaris, Jennifer Coolidge, White Lotus (on HBO), Parker Posey, Judy Greer, Kristen Wiig
Problematic elements.
Hollywood so white.
Kids as expendable.
Dystopia come true
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
37:43 - Award Season:
Worst and best parts of the adaptation.
Anger and arena survival.
Mockingjay pin
Behind the scenes arena building
Capital citizens
World-building
Worst and best actors.
Haymitch/Woody Harrelson
Katniss/Jennifer Lawrence
Peeta/Josh Hutcherson
Caesar Flickerman/Stanley Tucci
Cinna/Lenny Kravitz
Worst and best book characters.
Katniss
Effie
Peeta
Rue
56:10 - Book/Flick Energy:
Book scored on a 5 star scale.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Book on Goodreads
Movie scored on a 10 point scale.
Movie on Rotten Tomatoes
1:01:10 - A Leftover Popcorn Kernel:
Who is your favorite Beatle?
Shining Time Station
What would you eat as your last meal before entering the arena?
1:05:19 - Outro:
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park (1993) film
Connect With Us:
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram
Shad is in the Bookish Friends Facebo -
Season 5, Episode 41: Summer Reading + Book Hangovers
On this week’s episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:
Bookish Moments: summer reading guides and plane reading
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately
Deep Dive: we are chatting about the dreaded book hangover, the ways we deal with it, and what it means about our reading lives.
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives
As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down!
We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans!
*Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you’d prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*
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1:44 - Bookish Moment of the Week
2:01 - MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide
2:15 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Summer Reading Guide
Sarah’s Patreon if you want access to Summer Shelves
2:22 - Modern Mrs. Darcy’s FREE minimalist reading guide
MMD Full Reading Guide
2:34 - Paperback Summer Reading Guide w/FictionMatters
2:40 - Kellyhook.readsbooks on Instagram
5:53 - Current Reads
6:13 - Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas (Kaytee)
6:36 - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
6:54 - Libro.fm
10:17 - Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson (Meredith)
10:37 - Parnassus Books
14:21 - The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
16:15 - If Only You by Chloe Liese (Kaytee)
20:19 - Drowning by TJ Newman (Meredith)
21:53 - Falling by TJ Newman
22:47 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
24:28 - The Marriage Act by John Marrs (Kaytee)
24:38 - The One by John Marrs
28:52 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (Meredith)
31:33 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
33:59 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
34:00 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
35:18 - Furyborn by Claire Legrand
35:20 - City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
37:21 - The Dreaded Book Hangover (or is it dreaded??)
37:41 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
38:10 - Babel by R.F. Kuang
38:31 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
44:08 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
45:59 - The Wager by David Grann
47:37 - Meet Us At The Fountain
47:45 - If you liked my current reads, I wish you’d go back to each other and read their first books. (Kaytee)
48:04 - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
48:14 - Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese
48:25 - The One by John Marrs
49:07 - I wish everyone would try pink or brown noise to help focus their reading. (Meredith)
Connect With Us:
Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram
Roxanna is @roxannathereader on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast.com
@currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com
Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading -
Season 5, Episode 40: ALA President Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada
On this week’s episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee is chatting with a special guest. Lessa Kanani'opua Pelayo-Lozada, the president of the American Library Association is here to talk about:
Bookish Moments: a bookish feature on TV and different readers choosing their TBR
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately
Deep Dive: Lessa is giving us a brief rundown (which I could have easily made 6 hours long) about the American Library Association and the state of libraries in the US.
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives
As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down!
We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans!
*Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you’d prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*
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1:20 - Lessa’s ALA President Page
3:47 - Bookish Moment of the Week
4:13 - Lessa’s Good Morning America article
7:14 - Current Reads
7:30 - Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith (Lessa)
10:31 - Platonic by Marisa G. Franco
10:34 - The Life Council by Laura Tremaine
10:54 - Solomon’s Crown by Natasha Siegel (Kaytee)
14:36 - Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson (Lessa)
19:12 - Sea Change by Gina Chung (Kaytee)
22:45 - Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (Lessa)
27:13 - The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea (Kaytee)
27:20 - Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
27:33 - Santa Fe International Literary Festival
30:02 - Season 5: Episode 23
30:04 - Solito by Javier Zamora
31:46 - All Things American Library Association (ALA)
31:58 - The ALA Homepage
35:49 - Rainbow Round Table
52:11 - uniteagainstbookbans.org
54:19 - Meet Us At The Fountain
54:46 - I'm wishing for everyone to find that one book that changes their life and the way that they see the world. (Lessa)
55:11 - Libby
55:15 - Novelist
55:21 - I wish that publishers would help us get a book with different information on the Library of Congress page. (Kaytee)
55:28 - Library of Congress
57:14 - Lessa’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Website
Connect With Us:
Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram
Roxanna is @roxannathereader on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast.com
@currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com
Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading -
Season 5, Episode 39: Our Favorite Publishers and Imprints
On this week’s episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing:
Bookish Moments: a mom win via a bookish fail, and fielding reader retreat questions
Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately
Deep Dive: we both got a bit of education this week learning about publishers versus imprints and discussing our favorites
The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives
As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down!
We are now including transcripts of the episode (this link only works on the main site). The goal here is to increase accessibility for our fans!
*Please note that all book titles linked below are Bookshop affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. If you’d prefer to shop on Amazon, you can still do so here through our main storefront. Anything you buy there (even your laundry detergent, if you recently got obsessed with switching up your laundry game) kicks a small amount back to us. Thanks for your support!*
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1:36 - Bookish Moment of the Week
6:16 - Current Reads
6:20 - The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas (Kaytee)
6:25 - The Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
8:28 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
8:55 - Jaysen Headley aka EzeeKat on Instagram
10:12 - The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine (Meredith)
12:00 - The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
14:13 - Dele Weds Destiny by Tomi Obaro (Kaytee)
17:27 - The Twist of A Knife by Anthony Horowitz (Meredith)
18:33 - The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
19:24 - Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
21:38 - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (Kaytee)
22:55 - Garcia Street Books
23:15 - The Booker Prize
23:32 - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
24:51 - The Original by Branden Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal (Meredith, audible link)
25:32 - Scribd
29:22 - Publishing Houses and Imprints
30:17 - Flatiron Books
30:18 - Riverhead Books
30:19 - Tor Books
30:20 - Atria Books
30:22 - Balzer + Bray on Instagram
30:44 - Penguin Random House
30:45 - MacMillan
30:46 - Hachette Book Group
32:29 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Live
32:25 - Minotaur Books
35:03 - Blackstone Publishing
35:36 - The Guncle by Steven Rowley
36:16 - Simon & Schuster
36:19 - HarperCollins
37:21 - St. Martin’s Press
37:22 - Berkley Books
37:24 - Harlequin Books
39:18 - Legend and Lattes by Travis Baldree
40:16 - Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
42:27 - Meet Us At The Fountain
42:35 - I wish for everyone to follow Jaysen Headley @ezeekat on socials and reach out to him about coming on the podcast! (Kaytee)
42:37 - Jaysen Headley aka EzeeKat on Instagram
44:10 - I wish everyone would read Bird Box, a great summer read by Josh Malerman (Meredith)
44:10 - Bird Box by Josh Malerman
45:23 - Daphne by Josh Malerman
Connect With Us:
Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Mary is @maryreadsandsips on Instagram
Roxanna is @roxannathereader on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast.com
@currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram
currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com
Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading
Customer Reviews
My favourite bookish podcast
Meredith, Kaytee and Mindy’s obvious delight in a life well read is infectious. Chatty, funny, thoughtful, this podcast is a joy. Subscribe! And be prepared to want to read a lot of books!
Friendship and books worth a listen.
My life is completely different to Kaytee, Meredith and Mindy but they’re podcasts was like a peek into a friendship. Non judgemental book recs with strong opinions is rare to find on the internet. I highly recommend listening to make your tbr explode.
Seriously, highly recommend.
I have never listened to such an amazing podcast. I am a huge bookworm and I am subscribed to around 25 podcast (only book related) and these ladies are the best. 😘