In today's spoiler-free mini-episode, you get to hear from author Brigid Kemmerer, who wrote "A Curse So Dark and Lonely", a book that Meredith fell in love with as soon as she read it and raved around in Episode 38.

In this "minisode", Meredith and Brigid talk about the evolution of the idea for this beautiful Beauty and the Beast re-telling, why she decided to have one of her main characters have cerebral palsy and some nuggets of info on the upcoming follow up book.

And, as always, we'll end with a book she wants to press into your hands, readers!

Minisode shownotes are not timestamped, but linked titles are below for you to peruse.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

Brigid's website (with links to all her social media!)

Minisode: An Interview with "A Curse So Dark and Lonely" Author Brigid Kemmerer

Kaytee and Meredith are back in your earbuds this week to bring you Episode 38, including a few literary confessions or demerits.

We have a few important announcements right at the top of the show, one of which requires your help, listeners! Send us your Ask Us Anything questions via email, Direct Message, or as a comment on show notes, and we'll feature them in a future episode! If we use your question, we'll send you a coveted Currently Reading bookmark (and our everlasting thanks, of course).

You'll hear a "bookish moment of the week" from each of us: an indie bookstore day recap and a bookish "retirement" gift.

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. We both read quite a few books that we REALLY loved this week, so don't hesitate to use those show notes below!

For our deep dive this week, we have decided to give ourselves bookish "demerits" a la Gretchen Rubin's Happier podcast. These are places in our reading lives where we think we could improve. Sometimes we commiserate with each other and sometimes we chide each other!

As always, we finish up with A Book (yep, capitalized) that we'd like to press into every reader's hands. This week we are talking about a fantastic mystery/police procedural, and a multi-generational family saga.

As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don't scroll down!

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5:23 - Thriftbooks.com my favorite used book website!

6:02 - A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

9:43 - Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen

11:07 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

11:24 - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

14:18 - Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson

15:22 - Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

15:23 - The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

15:25 - Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

16:49 - My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd

17:15 - The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

21:18 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

21:42 - Beauty by Robin McKinley

25:16 -Uprooted by Naomi Novik

25:17 - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

26:48 - Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

27:05 - Rabbit: The Autobiography of Ms. Pat by Patricia Williams

27:47 - The Elephant in the Room by Tommy Tomlinson

28:38 - The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray

30:45 - Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

30:47 - The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

31:01 - Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

31:02 - Winterhouse by Ben Guterson

32:30 - Robert Galbraith series

32:45 - Three Pines series by Louise Penny

32:47 - HP Series by JK Rowling

33:02 - Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

33:02 - Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer

33:34 - Scythe by Neal Shusterman

42:01 - A Place of Execution by Val McDermid

42:09 - Tana French books

43:25 - Distant Echo by Val McDermid

43:51 - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

*Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

We discuss our current reads for the week. We both read quite a few books that we REALLY loved this week, so don’t hesitate to use those show notes below!

For our deep dive this week, we have decided to give ourselves bookish “demerits” a la Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast. These are places in our reading lives where we think we could improve. Sometimes we commiserate with each other and sometimes we chide each other!

Meredith and Kaytee are happy to be recording again, and can't believe we are already up to Episode 37!

We have a few important announcements right at the top of the show, one of which requires your help, listeners! Send us your Ask Us Anything questions via email, Direct Message, or as a comment on show notes, and we'll feature them in a future episode!

You'll hear a "bookish moment of the week" from each of us: each of them this week centers on reading with the kiddos.

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. We have an eclectic mix of titles from middle grade to adult, fiction and non-, humor and serious. A bit of everything!

For our deep dive this week, we are chatting about the fifth category in our 2019 Reading Challenge: a book pressed into your hands by a librarian, bookseller, or podcaster. And we've got a trove of resources for you if you're stuck on this one!

As always, we finish up with A Book (yep, capitalized) that we'd like to press into every reader's hands. This week has us pressing favorites that we've loved for a long time but were out of sight/out of mind until someone brought them back to our attention.

As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don't scroll down!

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3:18 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

4:20 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

7:00 - A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

7:37 - The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry

9:17 - Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

10:43 - Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View by Ramin Setoodeh

12:55 - Most Talkative by Andy Cohen

13:09 - From Scratch: Inside the Food Network by Allen Salkin

14:20 - First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

16:42 - Scythe by Neal Schusterman

16:43 - Ghost Whisperer (TV series)

17:13 - Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

19:44 - Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty

20:50 - Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

21:41 - Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown

21:42 - Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

23:55 - The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America by Tommy Tomlinson

27:00 - The Currently Reading 2019 Reading Challenge

27:27 - I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

28:30 - libraryreads.org

29:30 - Indie Next List from indiebound.org

30:42 - All the Books podcast

31:08 - Liberty Hardy @franzencomesalive

31:27 - Anne Bogel on What Should I Read Next

31:37 - Anne Bogel on One Great Book (and Patron feed)

31:59 - Annie Jones on From the Front Porch podcast

32:23 - Book Drop subscription box

32:26 - Shelf Subscription from Bookshelf Thomasville

32:31 - Reading Bug Box

33:04 - Sorta Awesome podcast

33:14 - Jamie Golden (and Knox) on The Popcast or at @jamiebgolden

33:08 - Laura Tremaine @laura.tremaine on Instagram

33:45 - Gretchen Rubin on the Happier podcast and her FB page

34:17 - Read Aloud Revival with Sarah McKenzie

34:27 - Sarah's Bookshelves Live podcast

34:38 - The Librarian is In by the NY Public Library

34:56 - Reading Women podcast

35:05 - @parnassusbooks on Instagram

35:06 - @powellsbooks on Instagram

35:56 - @bookshelftville on Instagram

36:20 - Book of the Month subscription

37:05 - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

37:21 - Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

37:31 - Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

37:32 - The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

39:29 - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

40:39 - Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

*Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

You’ll hear a “bookish moment of the week” from each of us: each of them this week centers on reading with the kiddos.

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. We have an eclectic mix of titles from middle grade to adult, fiction and non-, humor and serious.

For our deep dive this week, we are chatting about the fifth category in our 2019 Reading Challenge: a book pressed into your hands by a librarian, bookseller, or podcaster. And we’ve got a trove of resources for you.

We've got another "first" for the podcast this week! We are talking to our first return guest! You met Mary Heim in Episode 24 when she recorded with Meredith. Now, she's back to chat with both of us and we're so excited. Again. ;-)

You'll hear a "bookish moment of the week" from each of us: an upcoming bookish holiday (now just past), finishing the second book in a series, and an audiobook binge.

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. We've got two current reads from each host and Meredith and Mary seem to almost coordinate their picks (we never discuss beforehand, so this is all coincidental), while Kaytee takes each round off to left field.

For our deep dive this week, we surprise Mary with a virtual bookish baby shower. This deep dive focuses in on the board books and other titles for ages 0-2 and is the first in a series. We'll do subsequent chats about favorite books for 2-4 year olds and 5-8 year olds as well. So many great titles in this section!

As always, we finish up with A Book (yep, capitalized) that we'd like to press into every reader's hands. This week Meredith and Kaytee are pressing more picture books, while Mary chooses a lovely essay collection she goes back to again and again.

As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don't scroll down!

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3:17 - Still Life by Louise Penny

4:29 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

9:42 - Great With Child by Beth Ann Fennelly

9:48 - Heating and Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly

13:08 - I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

16:09 - Morgan Tallman on Episode 22 of Currently Reading

16:20 - Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

20:48 - Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (releases June 4th!)

20:58 - The Magicians by Lev Grossman

21:00 - Tana French books

23:37 - Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

24:22 - The Club by Takis Wurger

24:32 - Shelf Subscription from The Bookshelf Thomasville

25:34 - The Secret History by Donna Tartt

28:29 - Swearing is Good For You by Emma Byrne

36:25 - Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle

36:51 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

36:55 - Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

37:00 - Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

37:08 - No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli

37:11 - Big Little by Leslie Patricelli

37:37 - Where Is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz

37:46 - Where's Spot? by Eric Hill

37:57 - Bright Baby books by Priddy Books

38:12 - Colors, ABC, Numbers by Bright Baby

39:06 - First 100 Words by Bright Baby

39:24 - Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

39:43 - Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Suess

39:50 - That's Not My… series by Usborne

39:56 - That's Not My Hat by John Klassen

40:44 - My Backpack by SkipHop

41:16 - Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers

41:49 - Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

42:12 - Lil' Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

42:12 - Lil' Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

42:13 - Li'l' Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

42:16 - Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

42:39 - The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton

42:46 - The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton

42:55 - Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton

43:05 - Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton

43:16 - Tuck Me In by Dean Hacohen

43:51 - A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na

44:10 - Time for Bed by Mem Fox

44:35 - The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood

45:13 - Where Do Diggers Sleep At Night? by Brianna Kaplan Sawyer

45:20 - Where Do Steam Trains Sleep At Night? by Brianna Kaplan Sawyer

45:31 - Dinosaur's Binkit by Sandra Boynton

45:45 - No Matter What by Debi Gliori

45:49 - I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

46:33 - Goodnight, Darth Vader by Jeffrey Brown

46:35 - Vader's Little Princess by Jeffrey Brown

47:02 - Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown

49:42 - BabyLit Series by Jennifer Adams and Allison Oliver

51:21 - Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

51:53 - Wild by Cheryl Strayed

54:49 - A Mouse Told His Mother by Bethany Roberts

56:47 - Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allen Ahlberg

*Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

We discuss our current reads for the week. Meredith and Mary seem to almost coordinate their picks, while Kaytee takes each round off to left field.

For our deep dive this week, we surprise Mary with a virtual bookish baby shower. This deep dive focuses in on the board books and other titles for ages 0-2 and is the first in a series. We’ll do subsequent chats about favorite books for 2-4 year olds and 5-8 year olds as well. So many great titles in this section!

Meredith and Kaytee return to their microphones (albeit, one is in a different location than normal) to talk all things reading and great books.

You'll hear a "bookish moment of the week" from each of us: choosing road trip audiobooks and a new Little Free Library update!

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week: there's no rhyme or reason to our picks this week but almost all of them are wonderful. Which is my favorite thing.

For our deep dive this week, we chat about books we buy and books we borrow and books we keep. How do we decide which books deserve a place on the physical TBR shelf (rather than the library hold list)? How do we decide which ones to let go of (and where to put them) when we've read them?

As always, we finish up with A Book (yep, capitalized) that we'd like to press into every reader's hands. This week's picks are a great beach read option and a lovely autobiography.

As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don't scroll down!

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7:02 - A River In Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa

10:57 - Uprooted by Naomi Novik

12:41 - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

13:12 - A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

17:20 - Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu

21:48 - Mainline Candle Company

22:09 - Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

24:33 - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

25:19 - Tilly and The Book Wanderers (Pages & Co., #1) by Anna James

26:19 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

31:56 - Louise Penny series

31:58 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

32:02 - Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

38:24 - Scribd membership - try it for 60 days for free

38:41 - Thriftbooks website - 15% off your first order

40:30 - Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay

41:49 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

42:24 - Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay

42:26 - The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay

42:27 - The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay

43:11 - Episode 2 of Currently Reading

43:32 - Rabbit: The Autobiography of Ms. Pat by Patricia Williams

*Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

we discuss our current reads for the week: there’s no rhyme or reason to our picks this week but almost all of them are wonderful. Which is my favorite thing.

For our deep dive this week, we chat about books we buy and books we borrow and books we keep. How do we decide which books deserve a place on the physical TBR shelf ? How do we decide which ones to let go of (and where to put them) when we’ve read them?

This week’s best picks are a great beach read option and a lovely autobiography.