Bad On Paper

It's been a big year of reading, and today we're talking about our favorite books from 2021! We each picked a top 5 and also had our listeners weigh in on the best books—from thrillers to romance to non-fiction to backlist—they read this year. If you're in search of book recs, look no further, we have the best of the best for you!

Grace's Favorites

- The Push by Ashley Audrain (Mystery/Thriller)

- Good Night Beautiful by Aimee Mollloy (Mystery/Thriller)

-Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Fiction)

-Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Fiction)

-Untamed by Glennon Doyle (Non-Fiction)

-Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee (Non-Fiction)

-The Third Door by Alex Banayan (Non-Fiction)

-Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (Non-Fiction)

-The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Backlist)

Becca's Favorites

-The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Mystery/Thriller)

-People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (Romance)

-Lizzie & Dante by Mary Bly (Romance)

-Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Romance)

-The People We Keep by Allison Larkin (Fiction)

-The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand (Backlist)

Listener Reccomendations!

-The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Mystery/Thriller)

-Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Mystery/Thriller)

-The Wife and The Widow by Christian White (Mystery/Thriller)

-Olympus Texas by Stacey Swann (Fiction)

-Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Fiction)

-Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans (Fiction)

-Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters (Fiction)

-We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride (Fiction)

-Expecting Better by Emily Oster (Non-Fiction)

-Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Non-Fiction)

-Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Non-Fiction)

-Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell (Non-Fiction)

-The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson (Non-Fiction)

-Indistractable by Nir Eyal (Non-Fiction)

-A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper (Non-Fiction)

-A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Backlist)

-Summer of 69 by Elin Hilderbrand (Backlist)

Obsessions

The Morning Show

A Discovery of Witches

What we Read this week!

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Always, in December by Emily Stone

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

November Book Club Pick:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Better Help - Go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Everlywell - Go to everlywell.com/bop for 20% off your at-home lab test

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week we interviewed Grace Bonney, founder of Design Sponge to talk about her new book, Collective Wisdom! We learn how she got to where she is today, what inspired her to write a book about women over 50, how she found the women featured in her book, and the interviews that had the greatest impact on her.

We also talk about Design Sponge, how it felt to close it down on her terms, and her thoughts on going back to school as an adult!

Follow Grace Bonney

Instagram - @grace__bonney & @designsponge

Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women over 50

Instagram Obsessions

Grace - @designsponge

Becca - @nanowrimo

Obsessions

Grace - Nest Pumpkin Chai Candle

Becca - Aerie The Sweat Waffle Crew Neck Sweatshirt

What we've read this week

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Always, in December by Emily Stone

November Book Club Pick:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Night - Use the code NIGHTBOP for 20% off sitewide at discovernight.com

Prose - Go to prose.com/BOP for your free in-depth hair quiz and 15% off your first order

ZocDoc - Zocdoc: go to zocdoc.com/bop to sign up for free and find a top-rated doctor

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It's book club week and this month we're talking about A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin. Capturing start-up culture can be a hit or miss, and we really think Laura Hankin got it right in this book. A Special Place for Women follows a daring reporter who infiltrates an exclusive female-run members club, whose members are far more powerful than she imagined.

We also talk about not knowing what's next, Becca's Sweater status, and Grace's accidental trespassing adventure.

Pick up A Special Place for Women Here

Startup Books we Like:

The Herd by Andrea Bartz

Startup by Doree Shafrir

One by One by Ruth Ware

Ripped from the headlines book

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

Admission by Julie Buxbaum

Our favorite witch books

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The Practical Magic Series by Alice Hoffman

Obsessions

Grace - Stoney Clover Ln X American Girl, You Season 3, Succession

Becca - Succession, The Big Leap

What we've read this week

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

We're Speaking by Hitha Palepu

November Book:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Care Of - Go to takecareof.com and enter code BOP50 for 50% off your first order

Better Help - Go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Since we both celebrated our birthdays recently, we thought it would be fun to spend today's episode reminiscing and looking forward.

We reminisce on our most memorable birthdays as kids, have a very in-depth conversation about ice cream cake, and talk about how 40th birthday parties are the year to go ALL OUT. We also talk about aging and if/how milestone birthdays spark anxiety about getting older.

Also, Grace recaps her Vienna trip, Becca talks about her trip upstate, and we mourn the loss of a champagne-soaked memory card.

Instagram Obsessions

@rianne.meijer

@p_o_p_k_n_i_t

@theknitedit

Obsessions

Becca - Ayr The Pop Jeans

Grace - July Checked Trunk Suitcase

What we've read

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Wild at Heart by K.A. Tucker

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

October Book:

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Sponsors:

Night - use code NIGHTBOP for 20% off everything at discovernight.com

Hello Fresh - go to hellofresh.com/bop14 and use code BOP14 for up to 14 free meals including free shipping!

Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week, we're chatting with our friend and standup comedian, Casey Basham! We talk about how we met, how she got into standup comedy, and how she adjusted to doing comedy in the pandemic! We also dive into her comedy about fertility, how people have received it, how it has become a cathartic outlet for her, and her special INCONCEIVABLE filming on October 26!

We also talk about Grace's Vienna trip, Becca's sweater-knitting project, and everything we've been reading the past week!

Follow Casey

@casefaceb on Instagram

The Shady Shit Podcast

Inconceivable on October 26 at 7 pm at the Triad Theater

Obsessions

Becca - Knitting her Sweater!

Grace - Yacht Rock Revue

What we've read

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

The Perfect Find by Tia Williams

Wild at Heart by K.A. Tucker

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

October Book:

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Sponsors:

Better Help - Go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Olive & June - Go to oliveandjune.com/bop and use code BOP for 20% off your first manicure system

Everlywell - Go to everlywell.com/bop for 20% off your at-home lab test

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

After our episode with Anne Helen Petersen about burnout, we realized that we also have a lot to say on the subject and wanted to do a follow-up episode about our own experiences with burnout.

If you haven't listened to our episode with Anne Helen Petersen, you can listen here.

We talk about our experiences with burnout both professionally and personally, burnout guilt,and some recent realizations about "having it all". We also talk about our personal tips to improve burnout, what we do to check in with ourselves, and how we set boundaries to prevent even more burnout!

Grace also shares details from her 40th birthday bash, Becca talks about getting back into routines, and more!

Our Burnout Resources

There's a Name for the Blah You're Feeling: It's Called Languishing

Practical Frameworks for Beating Burnout

Obsessions

The Americans

Dolce Vita Paily Heels

Only Murders in the Building

Clickbait

What we've read

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

The Perfect Find by Tia Williams

October Book:

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Sponsors:

Night - Use the code NIGHTBOP for 20% off sitewide at discovernight.com

Prose - Go to prose.com/BOP for your free in-depth hair quiz and 15% off your first order

ZocDoc - Zocdoc: go to zocdoc.com/bop to sign up for free and find a top-rated doctor

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It's finally time for The Magic of Found Objects Book Club! This Book felt totally different than others we've read recently and we're so excited to talk about it!

The story follows Phronsie, who was conceived at Woodstock by a free-spirited hippie mother and a practical farmer father. All her life she's been torn between the two. After trying her hand at the NYC dating scene, her childhood best friend proposes that they give up on romance and marry each other. After Phronsie agrees, she meets someone who makes a case for revisiting romance. While her stepmother argues for the safety of the engagement, her birth mother relays messages from the universe to hold out for true love, and Phronsie must look to her own heart to find the answers.

In addition to talking all about the book, we also talk about Becca's trip to Palm Beach, Grace's birthday party prep, and the struggle of being a beginner again at something you used to be great at.

Instagram Obsessions

@margaret.wright

@ashnb1

Obsessions

AFI's 100 List

What we've read

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

The Perfect Find by Tia Williams

White Smoke by Tiffany D Jackson

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarity

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

October Book:

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Sponsors:

Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% your first month!

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week, we got the chance to talk with Anne Helen Petersen, writer of the newsletter Culture Study, and author of Can't Even: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation.

We talk about how she got to where she is today, her personal definition of burnout, why millennials are more afflicted with burnout than other generations, how the pandemic sparked a new form of burnout, how social media impacts burnout, and so much more! She also shares her advice on how to tell if you're burning out and how to avoid falling into it!

In addition, Grace and Becca talk about Grace's epic food weekend, Becca's upcoming trip to Palm Beach, and our computer problems!

Find Anne Helen Petersen

• Instagram: @annehelenpetersen
• Twitter: @annehelen
• Subscribe to her newsletter Culture Study
• Articles she recommends: Is everything an MLM, "In reality TV defined by renovation, the self becomes settled."
• Her favorite fiction of the year: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich
• Her favorite nonfiction of the year: The Season: A Social History of the Debutante by Kristen Richardson

Instagram Obsession

• @british_fluffs

Obsessions

• Grace: LuLaRich
• Becca: Challenges.app

What we've read

• Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
• Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry
• White Smoke by Tiffany D Jackson
• Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
• Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

September Book:

• The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson

Sponsors:

• Night - use code NIGHTBOP for 20% off everything at discovernight.com
• Harper Wilde - Get 20% off at harperwilde.com/BOP

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week we're answering all your questions! We cover some quick things like apartment decor wins (and regrets), what to ask for when you get a facial, dream vacation destinations, and new book releases we're excited about… and also discuss tackle more serious stuff like how we stay sane and happy when times are hard, how to leave a job you hate, financial security, staying organized, our favorite newsletters and more!

We also dive into meatier questions like how to get over imposter syndrome at work, how to turn your side hustle to your main hustle, and how to advocate for yourself and say 'no' at work!

We also talk about our vacation for Becca's birthday and how we are getting back into the swing of things post-trip.

Obsessions

• Becca - Hotel Lobby Miami Candle
• Grace - Only Murders in the Building

What We Read on Vacation

Grace

• In Polite Company by Gervais Hagerty
• Wish you were here by Jodi Picoult
• 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard
• Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
• Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry

Becca

• Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
• The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan

September Book:

• The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson

Sponsors:

• Prose - go to prose.com/BOP for 15% off your first order
• Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper and use the code for 10% off your first month

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week, we chat with Aishwarya Iyer, founder of Brightland. We talk about what motivated her to start an olive oil company, her tips for finding high-quality cooking oils, and a new Brightland launch coming this fall! She also shares her advice for those starting their own brand and her tips on how to overcome imposter syndrome.

We also talk about Becca's need for a beach day, Grace's salad with potatoes, and RomComPods making it to the Sunday Arts section of the New York Times!

Follow Aishwarya

• @wearebrightland
• @helloaishwarya

Aishwarya's fave food startups

• @Seedandmill
• @PeepalPeople

What she's reading

• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reed
• Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

And use the discount code BADONPAPER0921 for a discount on your order until 9/30/2021!

Instagram Obsessions

• @blondebrokeandboughie

Obsessions

• The Other Two
• La Gritona Tequila

What We're Reading:

• The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng
• In Polite Company by Gervais Hagerty
• The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

September Book:

• The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson

Sponsor:

• Night - Go to discovernight.com and get 20% off with code BOPNIGHT at checkout.
• Uncommon Goods - go to uncommmongoods.com/BOP for 15% off your next gift
• Olive and June - go to oliveandjune.com/BOP and use the code BOP for 20% off your first Manicure system

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.