Every year thousands of writers around the world challenge themselves to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. This event, National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo), is a favorite of ours!

Bookstacked writer Chelsea Regan took on the challenge last year, blogging about her experience for Bookstacked. Fellow team members Michael Burns and Saul Marquez have also attempted the challenge.

We hope you don't mind if we turn our focus to writing instead of reading this month, as we discuss some of the challenges and benefits of participating in NaNoWriMo!

This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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We're closing out the year with a final book club pick: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao.

As with all our book club picks, we're focusing on books that highlight underrepresented authors, characters and issues. We've already read two powerful books in 2021: Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.

We're excited to continue with this science-fiction YA novel from a debut author.

About Iron Widow:

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to compete in a reality TV show? Sarah J. Schmitt's new release, Where There's a Whisk, introduces readers to Peyton Sinclaire, a young waitress who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she becomes a competitor of a teen reality TV show. If Peyton wants to win a scholarship to her dream culinary school, she'll need to navigate through harsh judges, aggressive competitors — and even a love triangle.

Sarah J. Schmitt joins Chelsea Regan and takes us behind the scenes of Where There's a Whisk.

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This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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What happens when you fall out of sync with your best friend — the person you've shared everything with? Friendships evolve over time, and Hayley Krischer's latest novel, The Falling Girls, doesn't shy away from this reality. In The Falling Girls, best friends Shade and Jadis drift apart when Shade takes on cheerleading and finds new friendships within the squad. Things only become tenser when one of the cheerleaders dies under mysterious circumstances.

Hayley Krischer joins us to discuss this thriller and her take on writing female friendships.

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This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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We're bringing the great debate to our podcast and asking the question, do audiobooks count as reading? Bookstacked writer Michael Burns dived into the history and culture around audiobooks in a recent article, and we decided to dissect it on the show.

When's the best time to listen to audiobooks? Is the audiobook ever better than the book itself? How much of an impact does a narrator have on an audiobook? What audiobook recommendations do we have? There's plenty to discuss in this episode!

Related: Do audiobooks count as reading? by Michael Burns

This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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Robyn Schneider is best known for her contemporary novels like The Beginning of Everything and Extraordinary Means. Now she's venturing into the realm of young adult fantasy in her latest book, The Other Merlin — a feminist retelling of King Arthur with a couple of twists up its sleeve.

We welcome Robyn to the podcast where she gives us all the details on her newest book and explores what it's like to write in the vein of YA fantasy and King Arthur lore.

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This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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The story of the Baudelaire orphans has been explored in books, a television show and even a movie. While the final pages of A Series of Unfortunate Events were penned years ago, the story of Lemony Snicket continues in his latest book, Poison for Breakfast.

In this episode, Bookstacked writer Chelsea Regan chats with author Daniel Handler—the man behind Lemony Snicket—to dive into his writing approach and the inspiration behind his latest novel.

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This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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Freshly sharped pencils, old and new faces, sweater weather and — of course — lots and lots of books. It's time to jump into fall, and what better way than with some great reads to dive into?

From old and new releases, there are several books on our mind that strike us as perfect for the season, whether you're actually returning to school or not. This year, we're digging strong female friendships, finding love at university and thrilling mysteries.

This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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Bookmarked's YA Book Club is back, and this time we're venturing headfirst into one of last year's biggest fantasy novels: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.

Legendborn has been at the top of numerous best-of lists and we're happy to report that the hype is real. This layered story breathes new air into Arthurian lore. With twists and turns at every corner, it's no wonder the book was a hit among the Bookstacked Team.

This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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Bust out the sunglasses, beach towels and books!

With summer well underway, we sat down to discuss some of our favorite YA book reads for the season. We hit on new and old titles, discussing why each should be on your TBR (we apologize in advance for adding to it).

This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm. Buy audiobooks while supporting your local bookstore. Libro.fm has a special offer for Bookstacked readers. Get TWO audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership when using the code Bookstacked. Click here to get started.

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Let your voice be heard! There are several ways you can get in touch with us and interact with the show. Your messages might be included in the next episode!

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