Death by a Thousand Books

Cierra
  • 4.6 (12)
  • Books
  • Weekly

Welcome to Death by a Thousand Books podcast!💘 Every episode starts with a book review and ends with a Taylor Swift song. It’s a podcast for book lovers, Swifties and everyone in between. Together, we deep dive into characters, plots and the best moments from our favorite books. Then I use my swiftie power to breakdown songs & lyrics that I think would fit that book best. For any newbies who are just getting into reading, this podcast might be the perfect place to start your tbr! (and if you don’t know what a tbr is, don’t worry you’ll get there).  Whether you’ve been here from the beginning or just tuning in, I’m happy you’re here!! I started this podcast because I could talk for hours endlessly about two things: books & Taylor Swift. So I found a way to combine my love for both. I have always wanted  to be a part of the book community but had no idea where to start. If even just one person picks up a new book after listening to one of these episodes, I’ll be happy. It’s been such a fun experience reading & recording these episodes, releasing them and finding those people that geek out over this idea as much as I do.🤓 DBATB is available to listen on Spotify, Apple Music & YouTube! Check out any of the streaming platforms to see all of the released episodes and read the descriptions. Hosted by Cierra Smetana🎙️

  1. Oct 23

    A Court of Wings & Ruin (ft. The Archer)

    Who’s ready for combat? 🩷🏹 It’s been a year since our A Court of Mist and Fury episode, and with the release of A Court of Splintered Harmony less than a week away… we’re heading back to Phyrthian to revisit the chaos before the next chapter begins.  I forgot how much of a hold this universe has on my mental state; somehow I’m emotionally attached to a fictional group of people who have absolutely ruined my mundane, human life.  This book is high stakes, ride-or-die friendships, and the kind of loyalty that only a golden retriever has. We’re diving into the characters we love, the moments that had us screaming into our pillows, and the scenes that prove that sometimes family is the people you choose along the way. And obviously, we HAVE to talk about the Night Court because Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel deserve their own segment. Respectfully. I chose to cross this book over with The Archer from Lover because I truly feel like it is an ode to every character in this book and their own personal journey in some way. I think there’s a lyric in this song for every member of the night Court and getting deeper into the  characters that SJM has created feels like an honor. So grab your favorite reading snack, put on your Illyrian leathers (or, you know, your comfiest pajamas), and prepare to spiral with me over all things ACOTAR. Whether you're here for the romance, the found family, the political drama, or the emotional damage, this episode is for all of us bat boy lover girls. Just remember: to the stars who listen—and the dreams that are answered. 🌌 EPISODE BREAKDOWN    1:20 RECAP BEFORE WE YAP      4:01 *creator credit: cari can read     8:19 KEY PLOT POINTS     9:42 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS       11:45 Feyre--13:10 Rhysand--17:27 The Night Court-- 23:30  TOP FIVE DOG-EARED MOMENTS     27:10 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS     36:18 Tamlin--36:40  Lucien --39:37 Elaine--43:46 Nesta--47:54 "THE BRIDGE"     53:15 Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    A Court of Wings & Ruin (ft. The Archer)

  2. Oct 13

    When In Rome (ft. You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home)

    Get in loser, we're going to Rome, KY!!! Starting off a new season of podcasting strong with one of my favorite comfort authors: Sarah Adams and the small town romance of Noah & Amelia. 🎤 🏡 🥧 🚜 🤍 ✨ Amelia is a popstar. Noah is a small town guy that bakes pie for a living. I don't know what Sarah Adams put into her books, but she just just knows how to make me smile like an idiot. In the same way that I LOVED the Los Angeles Sharks universe, I actually felt transformed into the small town world of Rome, Kentucky. It’s giving Hannah Montana Movie and bringing me back to my Disney Channel roots. Which is exactly why we are crossing over this episode with You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home. And before you say “Whoa whoa whoa, I thought this was a Taylor Swift podcast??” I’d tell you that Taylor Swift DID actually write this song for Miley to sing for this movie and I thought it’d be fun to bring in new artists to deep dive into lyrically this season. If you’re a seasonal reader like me, it’s the perfect October read when the leaves are changing and the windows are open with the crisp scent of a pumpkin spice candle. Enjoy the episode & cheers to a new era of DBATB!!! 🧡  SEASON 3 OF DBATB   1:10 RECAP BEFORE WE YAP     7:04 THE SETTING OF ROME, KY     12:24 DOG EARED MOMENTS     17:24 "THE BRIDGE"     27:01 BONUS SEGMENTS     35:42    Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    When In Rome (ft. You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home)

  3. 10/04/2025 ·  Bonus

    The Life of a Showgirl

    HAPPY TS12!!!🧡 I love myself for prewriting this description bc it’s currently 11:58 on October 3rd and I just finished editing 2.5 HOURS of footage for today’s episode. Today we’re celebrating The Life of a Showgirl together, we’re dusting off our eras tour outfits and heading to the movie theatre to celebrate a new album with a room full of screaming swifties. And most importantly, we’re listening to a new episode of DBATB podcast.  For the first time ever, I’m live reacting to a brand new Taylor album, which is completely new for me but here we are and I am PUMPED. Listening to this album for the first time now. I feel like I am not a very good first reaction girly, but here we are. The first time I listen to an album I’m usually pretty conflicted and it takes me a few lessons to really find my favorites and listen to the lyrics deep enough to understand them. With that being said, my expectations for this album are HIGH. I’m expecting an album bigger than 1989 in her prime, bigger than any album we’ve seen so far. (Spoiler alert: it lives up to the hype) 💯 Here is an episode breakdown along with the time stamps for each song so you can pick and choose the clips you want to hear me talk about.  “THE FATE OF OPHELIA”    3:32 “ELIZABETH TAYLOR”    9:07 “OPALITE”    12:29 “FATHER FIGURE”    19:22 “ELDEST DAUGHTER”    23:29 “RUIN THE FRIENDSHIP”    27:42 “ACTUALLY ROMANTIC”    32:40 “WI$H LI$T”    36:56 “WOOD”    40:58 “CANCELLED!”     44:00 “HONEY”     52:14 “THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL” FEAT. SABRINA CARPENTER     56:41 Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    The Life of a Showgirl

  4. 09/26/2025 ·  Bonus

    The Life of a Book Girl

    Welcome back to DBATB podcast, holy crap! Is this real life? 🥹 You’re in for an exciting new season of podcasting and I’m so excited to share the first episode with you. There has never been a better time to be a book girl. We are being gifted with too many screen adaptations to count. The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 is officially OUT and wrapped, but that didn’t stop Jenny Han from announcing a finale MOVIE that’s going to let this era live on as long as possible. My Life with the Walter Boys season two is done and binged. The Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy is just beginning, so is Every Summer After on Prime Video, so is The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, The People We Meet on Vacation. But wait, there’s more… Taylor Swift is ENGAGED!! She’s releasing a new album!! She’s performing at the Super Bowl Halftime show…? Books coming out, books to be talked about. I mean seriously? How is a girl to keep up with all of this? So this is a very laid-back episode. No easter eggs, no deep dives, no book talk. Just us, here yapping, talking, regetting to know each other, since it’s been so long. Here is an episode breakdown along with the time stamps so you can pick at choose the clips you want to hear me talk about. Our countdown to Life of a Showgirl starts NOW! 🔐🧡💚💃🎭🎪💎🎩❤️‍🔥 INTRO & LIFE RECAP   3:54 DBATB SEASON 3 EXPECTATIONS     12:22 LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL PREDICTIONS     16:21 THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY     24:52 UPCOMING BOOK EPISODES     31:03 Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    The Life of a Book Girl

  5. 02/08/2025

    The Deal (ft. King of my Heart)

    ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING: There are mentions and flashbacks throughout of rape and domestic violence, emotional abuse, like some really tough conversations. They are a big part of this book and I will be touching on these topics later in the episode, so please know that before reading this book or listening to this episode. I think as the years pass, I realize how much of Reputation girlie I am🖤 I wasn’t initially until I went into my Reputation era in real life and then as I went through phases of other eras a little piece of Rep always was still a part of me. When you go through this era you stop caring what other people think and start doing things for you and I think that once you realize that and go through it, you never go back from it. I feel like that’s how I explain Rep as an album for Taylor Swift as well, and that’s also how I’m choosing to explain this book. Full episode breakdown ahead: First topic of discussion has to be Garrett Graham bc I love my little world of book boyfriends and Garrett certainly made it onto my list🏒Then we get into Hannah and the trauma of her story and what she’s been through, and then we talk about Garrett AND Hannah and their relationship together and how/why I liked them as a couple. Notice I say “liked” not LOVED (I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars). So we’ll talk about it, what I liked, what I disliked. And I actually asked you guys to throw some of your questions at my on instagram so I incorporated some of them into the episode! And lastly, our song featured in today’s episode is from the Reputation album, it is called King of My Heart so I am really excited to talk about the lyrics and the parallels of it in comparison to the Deal by Elle Kennedy.  Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    The Deal (ft. King of my Heart)

  6. 01/27/2025

    Daydream (ft. You are in Love)

    With this episode, Hannah Grace officially becomes the most talked about author on this podcast and she deserves it! Every time I read one of her books, I’m smiling & blushing the whole time. And I’ve been WAITING for Henry’s book since the day I finished Icebreaker. Henry Turner has a special place in my little heart and this song was made for Henry & Halle💜 Some say boring I say simple; this was my favorite book in the Maple Hills trilogy. We start  this episode with the plotline and a character breakdown of both of our love birds, Halle and Henry, bc I think that they are both very real & relatable characters. I talk a lot about the entire Maple Hills series and the cameos of other character in this book. I wouldn’t even call them cameos tbh, Russ & Aurora from Wildfire are recurring characters in Daydream, and we got such an iconic Stassie moment, it’s like these books are their own little world and I love it so much. And then we  wrap up with the featured song of this romance that I think fits Halle and Henry so perfectly well, which is You are in Love from 1989 (Taylor’s version). So insert spoilers ahead.  💭🫶🏼 Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    Daydream (ft. You are in Love)

  7. 12/09/2024

    How My Neighbor Stole Christmas (ft. I Think He Knows)

    Tis the season for a small town, enemies to lover holiday romance🎄 Despite the mixed reviews that I've seen, this book single-handely put me in the Christmas spirit. It put me in such a perfect mood for this time of year, and yes, it was a 5 star for me. I listened to the official audiobook on Audible, which was so easy to listen to and very entertaining, and the cast really brought the entire book to life so if you're looking for a good audiobook to try, this might just be the one. 🎧 This episode includes a little rating recap on this 5 star Christmas read, and there is  a lot about this book I want to talk about: the Grinch references and the Christmas Kringle contest, Cole and Story’s story - their relationship, their past and the SPICE. Absolutely talking about the spice duh you know me (I may never look at a candy cane the same anymore). The episode will wrap up with lyrical deep dive into the featured song that I chose for this book which is I Think He Knows from the Lover album, which is also a fun sexy song that to me... feels like a sister song to Dress from Reputation. A song about that is about this deep attraction you have for someone and the secrecy of the early feelings of love and what will happen when you finally obtain the object of your desire.  So that’s what to expect from this episode so thank you for listening & I hope you enjoy! ❤️ Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    How My Neighbor Stole Christmas (ft. I Think He Knows)

  8. 11/08/2024

    The Pumpkin Spice Cafe (ft. Everything Has Changed)

    While I support anyone who already has their tree and decorations up, I live in a house where we wait and decorate on Black Friday. So it is not too late for a cutesy fall small town romance!!🧡  It’s still fall in my world, and it’s technically still fall in everyone’s world for a few more weeks. I wanted so badly to throw this episode in here bc the book we are about to talk about is just so cozy and adorable and something I really enjoyed reading for the vibes. Your episode breakdown is pretty straight forward: a mini rant about booktok, a summarized version of my review on this book, the Dream Harbor series and Laurie Gilmore, and ofc the things that I liked and disliked about this book and end the episode with some of my favorite lyrics from Everything has Changed.☕️ Everything Has Changed is about how love can change you in a split second. It’s the miraculous feeling that the world around you has gotten better simply because you’ve gotten better: you’ve found comfort in loving someone. Taylor once explained this song begin about “the moment that both people are having where they see each other and, all of a sudden, the world looks different ‘cause everything changed.” And the insta-love trope in this book is why I chose this song. And if you ask me how I feel about the insta-love trope... I'll tell you to listen to this episode. 😉 Send fan mail! Let me know what episodes you want to hear next. :) Support the show CHECK OUT DBATB PODCAST ON SOCIALS! 🦋Instagram & Tiktok: @dbatbpodcast 🌻Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1663199... 🏰Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Eeb4vl... 🏹Email: dbatbpodcast@gmail.com

    The Pumpkin Spice Cafe (ft. Everything Has Changed)
See All (45)

4.6
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Welcome to Death by a Thousand Books podcast!💘 Every episode starts with a book review and ends with a Taylor Swift song. It’s a podcast for book lovers, Swifties and everyone in between. Together, we deep dive into characters, plots and the best moments from our favorite books. Then I use my swiftie power to breakdown songs & lyrics that I think would fit that book best. For any newbies who are just getting into reading, this podcast might be the perfect place to start your tbr! (and if you don’t know what a tbr is, don’t worry you’ll get there).  Whether you’ve been here from the beginning or just tuning in, I’m happy you’re here!! I started this podcast because I could talk for hours endlessly about two things: books & Taylor Swift. So I found a way to combine my love for both. I have always wanted  to be a part of the book community but had no idea where to start. If even just one person picks up a new book after listening to one of these episodes, I’ll be happy. It’s been such a fun experience reading & recording these episodes, releasing them and finding those people that geek out over this idea as much as I do.🤓 DBATB is available to listen on Spotify, Apple Music & YouTube! Check out any of the streaming platforms to see all of the released episodes and read the descriptions. Hosted by Cierra Smetana🎙️

Information

  • Creator
    Cierra
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    45
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Death by a Thousand Books
  • Show Website
    Death by a Thousand Books