I applaud the honesty and enthusiasm that Traci and Ellie bring to their reading lives. Although producing a polished weekly show is a challenge that necessarily emphasizes quantity of books consumed over quality of analysis, they manage to share exactly the kinds of insights and recommendations that avid readers like me need.
UPDATED REVIEW: I have to update my previous review after they’ve made the decision to start a Patreon. I fully understand and support creators need to monetize their content. However. I feel like it is a little bit of a gimmick to choose the “favorite” episode of the podcast (what they literally read in my opinion is the episode that gives the most recommendations in one place) and make that the draw to get people to begin to pay. I feel like Patreon should be used to add new content to what is already being created, not try to begin to charge for the favorite podcast episodes on the feed. All that said, I appreciate their worldviews and approach in their reviews. I will still listen occasionally, but I anticipate this change will cause me to find other book podcasts rather than pay to hear their favorites. It’s too bad.
OLD REVIEW
I look forward to this podcast every single week! I seem to have overlapping tastes with both hosts and it is so refreshing to have a book podcast that isn’t full of politics and wokeness that need to be filtered through. I love this podcast! Thank you!
I just found these women and I am thoroughly enjoying their content. They are covering a lot of titles I have heard of, but more that I have actually read and loved so I believe they will be a great resource for me! Yay!
These ladies know what they are talking about! It is hard to find readers who recommend things to my taste so I’m so glad I found this podcast 😁
I found these lovely ladies because of Ellie and mines love of Annie B. Jones and The Bookshelf in Thomasville, GA. Quickly I have become hooked to this podcast and you can tell that Traci and Ellie really care about how they speak about books and I love how they don’t hold back. My TBR is bursting because of these wonderful ladies!!
This kept popping up on the “You Might Like” portion of my page and I kept believing I had listened before.
I have. And I turn away each time. This last listen proved too much when one host pronounced the word magnate as “magnet,” in their January 2024 preview episode.
I say this sincerely and with the least amount of malice as I can—they have potential when not talking over each other, but how can a reader trust their judgment when basic vocabulary is a struggle?
I call these ladies my bestfriends😂. I love how lighthearted and fun they are. They made me see how it’s ok to read books that I previously thought would be “embarrassing”. They made me see that we should all read what we enjoy. Sometimes it’s literary. Sometimes it’s a rom com. That’s ok! And they are the ones who got me to try ACOTAR. I never in a million years would have picked one of these up before. I love them!!!
California girls who love books!!! I love these ladies! I look forward to their recommendations weekly. Listeners beware that your tbr list is going to skyrocket 😊
I discovered this podcast a couple of months ago and it has been an absolute joy for me ever since! I pretty much only listen to book podcasts so I was happy to find another one I enjoyed so much. Ellie and Traci are so genuine and down-to-earth. They make me laugh and give so many good book recommendations.
I enjoy this podcast, and they talk about a LOT of books! I feel like it’s primarily new or relatively new titles and very little backlist which I think matters either a little or a lot depending on the listener. I don’t mind it at all. The co-hosts have great rapport and know each other’s tastes well. I like their 4 Rs system, although sometimes I wish they’d talk about books in more depth. Their annual favorites wrap ups are my favorite!
I have a few quibbles that have been mentioned in other reviews (overuse of “like”, interrupting/talking over one another, talking too fast) plus they both say, “you guys” SO often. (One of those things where once I noticed that, I realized they say it a couple dozen times per episode sometimes.) But, given that this is a podcast made for pure fun and I always look forward to it, I give it a solid 4 stars!