What Should I Read Next?

Latest Episodes:

Ep 177: When your reading life is a roller coaster Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

Many listeners and past guests on WSIRN have shared their stories of reading dry spells due to chronic illness, anxiety, and disability. Today’s guest Kate Mitchell has experienced polar opposites in her reading life, going from a period of time when reading was literally her job, to stretches where reading was literally impossible because of chronic illness. Kate is sharing some of the wisdom she’s gained on her roller coaster of a reading life with us all, including practical tips for how to accept reality and adapt your reading life if you’re having a rough go of it yourself.

Anne and Kate also chat about what realism looks like in the fantasy genre, books wayyyy too big to keep in your purse, and Kate gives Anne the student-debt-free cheat sheet to reading like you’ve got a Masters degree in literature.

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/177

Hear more from Kate about her reading life and chronic illness at katethealmostgreat.com.

Get closer to the creative process by joining WSIRN’s behind-the-scenes family on Patreon. Visit https://patreon.com/whatshouldireadnext for bonus episodes, outtakes, exclusive booklists, livestream chats with Anne, and more.

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Ep 176: Books in the freezer, & other horror stories Mar 19, 2019

Show notes

WSIRN often helps readers get out of their comfort zones, but today’s guest Mallory O’Meara is taking Anne out of hers. Her wheelhouse is everything bizarre, paranormal, and downright scary. But digging past the surface differences, Mallory and Anne have a lot in common, especially the desire to understand how an author DID that.

Today they're chatting about the magic of rereading a favorite book, arguing with critics, how comfort-reading looks way different for different readers, Mallory's pro tips for dealing with the post-scary-book jitters, and a lot more.

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/176

Connect with Mallory on Twitter and Instagram @MalloryOMeara, listen to her podcast Reading Glasses, and check out her new book, The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick.

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Ep 175: Your library called and they want their books back Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

Michelle Wilson has noticed a specific character type that is missing from her bookshelves... and she is on the hunt for more. She and Anne chat about characters age 50+ in possession of NO magical powers, yelling at characters who make terrible decisions, reading as broadly as possible, and what it's like to be in not one, not two, but THREE book clubs (mmmmmaybe more.)

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/175

What Should I Read Next is now on Patreon to bring you bonus episodes, outtakes, peeks behind the scenes, printable goodness, livestream chats, and access to the epic master spreadsheet holding the loves, hates, and recommendations from each episode.

Get closer to the creative process by heading over to https://patreon.com/whatshouldireadnext now and joining WSIRN’s behind-the-scenes family.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 174: The heart wants to read what the heart wants to read Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

Guest Kate Daley is a house painter from New South Wales, Australia, who has been living for the past two and a half years... in a camper van! Today she chats with Anne about the genre that sent her into an intense reading rut, a family reading competition, and where she manages to fit a home library in while living in cramped quarters.

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/174

You can connect with Kate on Instagram: @when_kate_reads

What Should I Read Next is now on Patreon to bring you outtakes, peeks behind the scenes, printable goodness, online hangouts, BONUS EPISODES, and... access to our epic spreadsheet that holds the loves, hates, and recommendations from each episode. Backers also will get to participate in certain aspects of the creative process from call-ins, to special episode ideas, in fact our current backers even helped us title this episode.

Get closer to the creative process by heading over to https://patreon.com/whatshouldireadnext now and joining WSIRN’s behind-the-scenes family.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 173: Clocking in at the reading factory Feb 26, 2019

Show notes

After a year of focusing on reading over 100 books while recovering from a running injury, today’s guest Natalie Van Waning is sprinting enthusiastically toward many readers’ worst nightmare: Looooooong books. We're talking doorstop, tweak your wrist getting them off the shelf, 40-hours-on-Audible long books. Natalie asked Anne to help her focus on quality instead of quantity, so get ready for sweeping multi-generational sagas, tour-guide novels, and heart-tugging family stories.

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/173

You can connect with Natalie on her blog: http://imchattynatty.blogspot.com/

Apply to be a guest on WSIRN: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

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Ep 172: How many re-reads is too many re-reads? Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

Sean Larkin is a self-proclaimed “slow reader”, stay-at-home-parent, and freelance photographer. If you don’t relate to 100-book reading goals or refreshing your feed for the latest book news, Sean is the kindred reading spirit you’ve been waiting to hear from!

Anne chats with Sean about the book that made him nostalgic for a time period before he was born, calculating price-per-page at the library book sale, the longstanding bookish obsession he’s passing on to his wife and kids, and much more.

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/172

You can check out Sean's photography work on Instagram and his website.

Apply to be a guest on WSIRN: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 171: A podcaster, a barrister, and a joiner walk into a bookstore Feb 12, 2019

Show notes

Ready for a trip to Scotland? Today Anne sits down in-person with Ruth Andersen, a brand new bookseller in Wigtown, Scotland, to chat about what it's like to live in a "book town", Ruth's return to school after 50 years, and the delicate balance of stocking a used bookstore's shelves. Because this episode was recorded in the shop, during business hours, you’ll get to experience some of the bookshop atmosphere… like the ding of the bell on the door, creaky floorboards, even customers shopping in the background!

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/171

Apply to be a guest on WSIRN: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 170: Fascinating fiction for the relentlessly practical reader Feb 05, 2019

Show notes

This week Anne chats with Anna LeBaron, author of the memoir The Polygamist’s Daughter, about how literacy kept her going through a difficult childhood, and how as an adult she turned being an author’s biggest fan into a full-time career. You’ll hear how nonfiction put her dearest fractured relationships back together again, her tips for being a “patron of the arts” on a budget, and the redemptive nature of memoir-writing. Anna asked Anne to pair her with some novels that would convince her fiction isn’t a waste of her time, and that’s a responsibility WSIRN takes very seriously...

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/170

Apply to be a guest on WSIRN: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

Learn more about Anna's work:

Website: http://www.AnnaLeBaron.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annaklebaron/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaklebaron

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annaklebaron

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 169: Books that mess you up in all the right ways Jan 29, 2019

Show notes

Meet Phimy Truongand Erika Thi Benjamin, best friends who share both a passion for work that creates positive change in the world AND practically identical reading taste (as you’ll hear, one of their favorites is shared). Today Anne, Phimy, and Erika chat about the book that taught them radical self-care, how literature has helped them dive more deeply into understanding of their heritage, fictional characters who move between cultures, and the community building work Phimy and Erika are doing in LA through their democracy-driven book club SisterInsider.

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode, and tell us in the comments if a book has ever changed YOUR self-care routine: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/169

Connect with the SisterInsider book club on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sisterinsiderbookclub

Follow Erika on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northamerika

Follow Phimy on Instagram: instagram.com/elephantwomxn

Apply to be a guest on WSIRN: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep 168: A century of good books (in a single year) Jan 22, 2019

Show notes

Today’s guest Tara Nichols is giving herself an eagle-eye view of the last century’s literary landscape. Her mission is to read one book published each year between 1920 and 2019. The challenge brings with it a lot of important questions… what is worth her time? Is it better to read the big important book from a given year, or the title she thinks she’ll enjoy most ? And the question she’s hoping to answer after the year is over… has literature changed in all this time?

Anne's challenge? Pitching 3 books worthy of adding to her lineup, including a book that is considered by some to be “the best mystery story ever written.”

Are you ready? Let’s get to it!

Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode, and tell us in the comments the books YOU would include in a century-of-books list: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/168

Follow Tara's reading challenge this year:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarajoy90/?hl=en

and Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/276636-tara-nichols

Apply to be a guest on WSIRN: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/guest

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