Coast to Coast Books

Join Kristen and a happily drunk Rosika as we try to figure out what in literature appeals to the only functioning brain cell we could scrape up between two very tired mom brains. Also featuring: making fun of each other in sickness and in health, trying to call the communist party with a bike bell, fair stories, & making tv references from 30 years ago like other people are supposed to understand us. Happy 50th episode y’all! 

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Marcella in the Margins

https://www.youtube.com/@marcellainthemargins

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Books Mentioned

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Zodiac by Ai Weiwei and Elettra Stamboulis

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini

Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto & Illustrated by Ann Xu

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Maison Ikkoku by Rumiko Takahashi

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Help us celebrate May as Asian American & Pacific Islander month as we chat about all the books we are excited to read! Also featuring: buying bike accessories from the USSR, exotic reptile conventions, expanding our owned power tool collection, & using pokémon cards as a millennial retirement strategy. 

Wanna help Rosika name her bicycle? Or just wanna talk about books with us? Leave a comment or email the pod!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Marcella in the Margins

https://www.youtube.com/@marcellainthemargins

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Books Mentioned

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Bathe the Cat by Alice B McGinty

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chang 

Art of War by Sun Tzu

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We birthed the humans and we’re back guys! Join us for a full speed reunion this week as we chat about the 19 books we read since the last time we saw each other! Also featuring: Rosika confesses her shopaholic tendencies, Kristen goes all in on garden prep, and we admit we messed up the finer details of a time space wormhole.  Sing it from the steeple guys, the coast to coast besties are back!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Marcella in the Margins

https://www.youtube.com/@marcellainthemargins

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Jay at my0.25life crisis

https://www.youtube.com/@my0.25lifecrisis/videos

Books Mentioned

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

Flat Broke with Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha

Millionaire Mission by Brian Preston

Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano

Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden by Camille Dungy

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

The Kitchen Front Jennifer Ryan

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan

Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora by Nicole Wong

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

In a tale stranger than fiction Rosika & Kristen are both feeling relatively awake and ready for this week’s episode! Join us this week as we look at the successes & fails of our past selves (complete with stats) and look toward what we want to achieve in 2026!

Also featuring yelling about gift giving, lying to toddlers about the calendar, and celebrating one year of the show!

P.S. We promise to get a swear jar for 2026.

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Marcella in the Margins

https://www.youtube.com/@marcellainthemargins

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Jay at my0.25life crisis

https://www.youtube.com/@my0.25lifecrisis/videos

Books Mentioned

The Skull by Jon Klassen

Salt Sugar MSG by Calvin Eng

Albatross by Terry Fallis

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1 by Martha Wells

Feng Shui Modern by Cliff Tan

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Welcome as we perform a wellness check on Kristen deep in the heart of her maternity leave! Join us for a cohost reunion and talk about our favorite books of 2025! In other news: Rosika overthinks a sports metaphor, Kristen regals us with her birth story, we discuss the finer points of hospital go bags, midlife crisis earring updates, and the joys of hanging out with your best friend after far too long!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Books Mentioned

Heartstopper Books 3, 4, & 5 (Series) by Alice Oseman

Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell

Scythe (series) by Neal Shusterman

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1 by Martha Wells

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

It the episode that explains most of Jay's personality, it's book obsessions time! In other news Jay is mistaken for an actual child, we explore the differences between your twenties and thirties, Rosika complains about nesting instinct bullshit, and we recount the cringey moments of our teenage youth!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Jay at my0.25life crisis

https://www.youtube.com/@my0.25lifecrisis/videos

Books Mentioned

A Series of Unfortunate Events (series) by Lemony Snicket

Empire of AI by Karen Hao

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams

No Exit by Taylor Adams

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

Scythe (series) by Neal Shusterman

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine by Kevin Wilson

Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Join Rosika and special guest host Kelly as we dig deep into hypothetical bookshops and answer burning questions about the business of books! Side quests include Rosika’s jewelry related life crisis, artificial intelligence tries vegan cookery, & endlessly loving petty shots taken at our missing host Kristen!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Books Mentioned

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Anne Price

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

In the FLO by Alisa Vitti

Inciting Joy by Ross Gay

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

Brace yourselves listeners! This very special episode Jay enters the Coast to Coast Books cinematic universe as a guest host! Join us this week as Jay and Rosika get emotionally vulnerable with the nostalgic bands of our youth and mortality. We also share some some extremely hot takes on books vs cinema!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Jay at my0.25life crisis

https://www.youtube.com/@my0.25lifecrisis/videos

Marcella in the Margins

https://www.youtube.com/@marcellainthemargins

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Books Mentioned

Save the Date by Allison Raskin

The Weavers of Alamaxa by Hadeer Elsbai

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Beach Read by Emily Henry

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Seduced by Pamela Britton

A Room with a View by E. M. Forster

The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

The Hobbit by J. R. R.Tolkien

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Kelly crosses through the fourth wall and enters the pod! Join us this week as we reach back through time to find the books that explain our current bookish selves and maybe Kelly’s obsession with North Korea? Also featuring debates over the finer points of personal 5 star scales, strikes in healthcare, and mediocre murder mysteries.

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Creators Mentioned

Kelly @kellyseeksbooks

https://www.youtube.com/@kellyseeksbooks

Kelly's non-sober review of 1Q84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Vt9o1RCr0

Kelly's epic obsession with North Korea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCMsHLyMvzI

Jay at my0.25life crisis

https://www.youtube.com/@my0.25lifecrisis/videos

Marcella in the Margins

https://www.youtube.com/@marcellainthemargins

Books Mentioned

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen by TJ Klune

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle

Forward by Abby Wambach

House of Stairs by William Sleator

Redwall by brian jacques

Mossflower by Brian Jacques

Triss by Brian Jacques

The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques

If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan

Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky

Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. by Kristiana Gregory

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 by Carolyn Meyer

Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 by Patricia McKissack

The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Song of the Lioness Series by Tamora Pierce

The Immortals Book Series by Tamora Pierce

Join us this week as two very pregnant readers (for once not nauseous) Kristen and Rosika wax poetical on food related reads! Also featuring tomato-geddon, maternity leave gift giving, and questionable audiobook accent work!

Wanna write in to the show? email us at:

[email protected]

Books Mentioned

Heartstopper Vol 2 by Alice Oseman

Maame by Jessica George

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

Shin'ya Shokudō (aka Midnight Diner) by Yarō Abe

The Hobbit by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Harry Potter Novel (series) by J.K. Rowling

A Game of Thrones (series) by George R. R. Martin

Redwall (series) by Brian Jacques

The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques

The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C.S. Lewis

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

That Sounds So Good by Carla Lalli Music