pleasure reading: curated book lists + tbrs with friends

Happy Spooky Season, pleasure reading fans!

Today I'm popping in to introduce you to The Witches of Eastwick with my new friends Paul & Erika from That Aged Well podcast.

Tune in for a quick clip, then head to thatagedwell.com for more. And subscribe to their show on Apple, Spotify, or your fave pod player.

 
More from Amelia:
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📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

Summer is for sports romance! And let’s make it sapphic, shall we?

This season, I’m reading queer romances about softball, volleyball, basketball, hockey, tennis, F1, and more.

Tune in as I recommend:

• Running Home to You by Samantha Saldivar
• Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyen
• Rooting Interest by Cat Disabato
• Stick Around by Eliza Lentzski
• Set Point by Meg Jones
• Make Your Move by Melissa Brayden

Find all the books (& more sapphic sports romances) at: https://bookshop.org/lists/sapphic-sports-romance

Also, I'm taking a break from the pod until EOY! So I'll see you in December for my best books of 2026.

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

It’s “swimsuit season,” and I’m popping in as your resident fat-girl-in-a-bikini to share 5 books to help you break up with diet culture.

Tune in as I recommend:

• You Have the Right to Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar
• What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
• The Body is Not an Apology (& accompanying workbook) by Sonya Renee Taylor
• The Body Liberation Project by Chrissy King

 
Find all the books (& more anti-diet-culture recs) at: bookshop.org/lists/books-to-help-you-break-up-with-diet-culture

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

You may not know this about me… but I love tarot. I’ve been working with the cards for a decade, and I have another podcast all about it, called my tiny tarot practice.

I’ve read a ton of tarot books (and bought even more tarot decks), and in this episode I’m sharing my four favorites — the books I return to over and over again as I connect with myself and the cards.

Tune in as I recommend:

• Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack
• Tarot for the Wild Soul by Lindsay Mack (& the Soul Tarot deck)
• Tarot for the Hard Work by Maria Minnis
• Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore

 
Find all these books (and more tarot recs & decks) at: bookshop.org/lists/my-tiny-tarot-practice

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

This spring on my podcast Off the Grid we did a whole series on AI. Part of that series included a reading list... which felt perfect to bring over to Pleasure Reading!

So today I'm sharing the 7 books that shaped my perspective on AI and helped me reclaim my creative attention in the process:

• Supremacy by Parmy Olson
• Unmasking AI by Dr. Joy Buolamwini 
• The Practice of Attention by Cody Cook-Parrott
• Making Time by Maria Bowler
• The Listening Path by Julia Cameron

I also (finally!) tell you about my own book — Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media — which is all about attention, creativity, and technology.

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

Wanna go down a sunken book rabbit hole with me? 🤿

In this episode, I tell you the story of why I spent the past four months reading underwater books... including my fave shipwreck, cave-diving, and sea creature reads that I now highly recommend.

For the first time in pleasure reading history, I also include movie, tv, and podcast recommendations! Because this underwater theme truly took over my entire media landscape. 🪸

Find all the books here: https://bookshop.org/lists/underwater-horror-thriller-sci-fi-recs

Find all the movies here: https://letterboxd.com/ameliaaaaaaaphd/list/underwater-freaks-like-me/

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

Today I welcome a dear friend and fellow podcaster to the show — Caro Griffin!

Caro is the host of Between Drinks podcast and newsletter  — where she shares her international travels and recounts the history of different beverages. You should definitely subscribe to her newsletter and tune in on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen.

In this conversation, Caro shares her five favorite books about alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages. We also explore the story of the woman behind champagne, why coffee was almost illegal, the global impact of Coca-Cola, and the many reasons we love cocktail bars.

Here are the books we discuss:

• Girly Drinks by Mallory O'Meara
• The Widow Cliquot by Tilar Mazzeo
• A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage
• And a Bottle of Rum by Wayne Curtis
• The Way of the Cocktail: Japanese Traditions, Techniques, and Recipes by Julia Momosé

Find all of them here: https://bookshop.org/lists/5-spirited-non-fiction-reads-with-caro-of-between-drinks (affiliate link)

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

Spring has sprung, and I'm getting ready to plant my garden! 🪏

I love growing food in my backyard, but it can be expensive to invest in seeds, beds, dirt and more. So over the past few months, I've been researching low-cost gardening methods.

Here are my four fave books I've found so far (affiliate links):

• Grow Your Groceries by Simon Akeroyd
• Home Sweet Home Grown by Robyn Jasko
• Grow Food for Free by Huw Richards
• The Preserver's Garden by Staci & Jeremi Hill

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

Happy Galentine's Day, pleasure readers!

Today I'm sharing 10 brand new romance releases just in time for your weekend reading.

We've got sports romance, sapphic romance, celebrity romance, enemies-to-lovers, chronic pain cuties, and more — set across the US, Europe and Latin America.

Find all the books here, and have a romantic weekend! xoxo

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist

It's almost Valentine's Day! And my sweetheart reading is in full swing to celebrate.

In this episode, I'm sharing my five fave romance writers — who I think are woefully underrated.

Tune in to hear me rave about Lizzy Dent, TJ Alexander, Talia Hibbert, Naina Kumar, and Falon Ballard. I'll talk about my fave books, upcoming releases, and more.

Find all the books here, and have a romantic week! xoxo

 
More from Amelia:
📖 Follow what I'm reading on Storygraph
📝 Send me a message
📚 Shop my used books on Pango
🎁 Gift me a book from my Bookshop wishlist