RAD Reading

Do you find yourself picking up your phone instead of picking up a book or your e-reader? Yeah, us too. Today we tackle how to tame all that screen time so we can get more reading time, especially during the busy holiday season. We’ll also discuss how the type of book you pick up can make all the difference. And as usual, we’ll have a pile of reading recs for you! 

• This is our reading brains on smartphones
• The power of Do Not Disturb
• How to reclaim reading time in a screen time world
• Roni’s haunted moaning window makes a cameo
• The types of books that are better suited for distracted minds
• Fast-starting book recs
• Recs for short and snappy reads
• Short story/essay collections that you can tackle in bite-sized bits
• Page-turning memoirs
• Some of our favorite binge-worthy book series
• Roni is horrified to realize she’s read books two and three of a series and not book one
• Roni’s favorite doorstop length books
• Our RAD Reading Recs of the week

Click here for full show notes, which include links to every book we talked about and the links to all of Roni's articles on distraction.

RAD Reading Facebook Page

RAD Reading Website

RAD Reading Rec List

Connect with Roni on her website or @roniloren on Instagram

Connect with Dawn on her website or @dawnalexanderbooks on Instagram

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Happy Halloween! This week Roni freaks out Dawn with her scary book and movie picks (and episode title) and Dawn offers recommendations for those who prefer their Halloween on the gentler side. It’s a long one, y’all! We’ve got a pile of recs for you, including suspense, horror, true crime, and paranormal romance. Grab a bag of Halloween candy and join us! 

• The controversial episode title
• Our best suspense recs
• We can’t pronounce author names
• Roni’s crush on a loveable (fictional) serial killer
• Our favorite paranormal recs
• Dawn’s trauma from The Exorcist
• Roni realizes she still has a thing for hot vampires
• Stephen King and peer pressure
• Roni tries to sell us on a lizard hero
• Our true crime recs
• The “Scooby-Doo” recs for those who don’t like horror
• Roni’s scary movie recs
• The Lost Boys and why Dawn would happily get lost with any of them
• The movie Roni won’t watch alone
• Our Halloween TV recs
• Podcast recs for the horror and true crime lover
• Our RAD Reading Recs of the week

We have so many recommendations that we couldn't fit them all here! So we've gathered the full list with all the links for you in one click.

Click here to get the full show notes, including links to all of our recommendations and anything else we mentioned in the show.

• RAD Reading Facebook Page
• RAD Reading Website
• RAD Rec Master List
• Connect with Roni on her website or @roniloren on Instagram
• Connect with Dawn on her website or @dawnalexanderbooks on Instagram

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re giving you all of our favorites of the month! Join us as we share the books, audiobooks, TV shows, and movies that have gotten our highest marks.

Highlights:

• Dawn recs lots of books with shirtless man covers 
• Roni recs a steamy one with a deceiving cover
• Roni’s go to comfort read when she’s buried in revisions
• Dawn tries to get Roni to understand superheroes
• A documentary Roni couldn’t resist
• Roni’s audiobook recs
• Why 70s/80s country songs probably messed us up
• Dawn’s singing debut in a Pizza Hut
• The songs Roni never skips
• Our RAD Reading Recs of the week

*Note: all book links are affiliate links which means the podcast makes a small commission if you make a purchase, but there is no cost to you!

Books recommended by Roni:

• The Roommate by Rosie Danan
• On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn
• When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

Books recommended by Dawn:

• Samson , Zeke , and Troy by Callie Rhodes
• Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score
• Waking the Dragon by Juliette Cross

Watch Recommendations from Roni:

• LuLaRich
• Modern Family
• Milk Street

Watch Recommendations from Dawn:

• Alias
• What If
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 
• Archer

Listen Recommendations from Roni:

• Making Space Clutter Free by Tracy McCubbin
• The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth
• “All My Favorite Songs” by Weezer
• “All I Wanted” by Paramore

• The Martian by Andy Weir (Dawn rec)
• Joyland by Stephen King (Roni Rec)

RAD Reading Facebook Page

RAD Reading Website

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We love upgrading our reading lives, so this week we’re talking about one of our favorite ways to enhance the reading experience--creating our own reading journals! Plus, as always, we’re giving our RAD Reading Recs of the week.

Highlights:

• Why Dawn’s teen journals got her grounded
• The basics of a reading/book journal
• Private journals vs. Goodreads 
• Roni avoiding awkward book signings
• What Dawn said that made Roni clutch her pearls
• Unexpected benefits of a reading journal
• Dawn’s epiphany about stencils
• Putting together your journal
• What Roni wishes she’d put in her journal from the start
• Rating systems
• Finding your style
• Digital options
• Dawn’s signal that she’s been kidnapped
• Journaling tips
• Our favorite supplies
• Our RAD Reading Recs

*Note: all book/product links are affiliate links which means the podcast makes a small commission if you make a purchase, but there is no extra cost to you!

Supplies recommended;

• Leuchtturm1917 Journal 
• Stabilo Fineliner Pens
• Zebra Mildliner highlighters 
• Staedtler Ergosoft colored pencils 
• Staedtler Template, Geometric Shapes & Symbols
• Plum Paper Notebook 
• Frixion pens
• Prisma Color Pencils 

Other resources mentioned:

• Roni’s free Romance Reading Journal
• Rock Your Reading Tracker by Sarah’s Bookshelves
• My Reading Journal by Anne Bogel
• Pensieve app
• Book of the Month club 

RAD Reading Recs of the Week: 

• Dear Writer, Are You In Burnout? by Becca Syme (Dawn’s rec)
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (Roni’s rec)

Find us online:

Facebook

RAD Reading Website

Find Roni on her website or @roniloren on Instagram

Find Dawn on her website or @dawnalexanderbooks on Instagram

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fall is here! This week we’re talking about whether or not we’re seasonal readers and how to enhance those autumnal vibes with your reading choices. We’re also bringing you a big stack of book recommendations! Roni’s got a pile of recs from one of her very favorite micro-genres: dark academia & campus novels. And Dawn is bringing the heat with sexy football-themed romances and some fun seasonal rom-coms. Come feel all the Fall feels with us!

• To Pumpkin Spice Latte or not?
• Which of us is a seasonal reader
• The genres we reach for in Fall
• How to enhance the season with your reading
• The types of books that are particularly suited for Fall
• Halloween getting the short end of the holiday stick
• Roni trying to pronounce “horror” but sounding like she’s saying something offensive
• Roni’s favorite dark academia and campus novels
• Why Dawn almost had to move out of her new house
• Why Roni, the romance author, doesn’t read a ton of romance 
• Roni horrifies Dawn with her stance on mysteries
• Texting whodunnit guesses while reading
• Dawn recs a football-themed romance series and some LOL seasonal rom coms
• The RAD Reading Recs of the week
• How Roni sees book scenes through Instagram filters

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*Note: all book links are affiliate links which means the podcast makes a small commission if you make a purchase, but there is no extra cost to you!

• THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt
• FINDING FELICITY by Stacey Kade
• NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo 
• MISADVENTURES WITH A PROFESSOR by Sierra Simone
• NEVER SAW ME COMING by Vera Kurian
• IN MY DREAMS, I HOLD A KNIFE by Ashley Winstead 
• THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides 
• DINNER: A LOVE STORY by Jenny Rosenstrach

• THE FOURTH TIME CHARM by Maya Hughes
• THE ART OF FALLING FOR YOU by Maya Hughes
• FALLING INTO FOREVER by Delancey Stewart
• SHAKING THE SLEIGH by Delancey Stewart
• PINWHEELS, POTIONS, AND POSSIBILITIES by Fenley Grant

• THE LOST MAN by Jane Harper (Dawn’s rec)
• THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. Schwab (Roni Rec)

• The Babysitter’s Club series
• The Harry Potter series
• Author Grady Hendrix
• Author Riley Sager
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
• Author Kresley Cole
• Harlequin holiday books
• Author Ruth Reichl’s food memoirs
• My Life in France by Julia Child
• Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

• Felicity (TV Show)
• YOU (TV show)

Photo of Roni’s cookbook collection

• RAD Reading Facebook Page
• RAD Reading Website
• Connect with Roni on her website or @roniloren on Instagram
• Connect with Dawn on her website or @dawnalexanderbooks on Instagram

Another note: Because we are both in the publishing industry, sometimes the books we recommend might be by an author we know personally, an author who shares a publisher, editor, or agent with Roni, or an author whom Dawn has edited. Publishing is a small world, so that will happen from time to time. However, we guarantee that we only recommend books we love. We have not been asked to promote any of these books and none are paid ads. However, some books we review may be ARCs (advanced reading copies provided by publishers to reviewers for honest reviews.)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first episode! Join us as we talk about our vision for the podcast, preview our weekly bookish themes, and then jump into our topic of the week--the life-changing magic of not finishing a book you’re not enjoying. And make sure you stay until the end to get our RAD Reading Book Recommendations of the week!

• A sneak peek of our four weekly themes
• The “I used to be a reader” struggle
• Why being a chronic finisher can be roadblock to a happy reading life
• Reasons it’s so hard for some of us to DNF (not finish a book)
• The book trope Roni hates
• How to combat the DNF fears
• Do DNFs count for reading challenges?
• Tips for becoming a DNF master 
• The difference between a DNF and a Not For Now
• How to pick better books
• Our RAD Book Recs of the week

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*Note: book links are affiliate links which means the podcast makes a small commission if you make a purchase, but there is no extra cost to you!

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Dawn rec)
• I’ll Be Gone In the Dark by Michelle McNamara (Roni rec)

• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
• Emma by Jane Austen
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Only Plane In the Sky by Garrett M. Graff 

• 9/11: I Was There (documentary)

• RAD Reading Facebook Page
• RAD Reading Website
• Connect with Roni on her website or @roniloren on Instagram
• Connect with Dawn on her website or @dawnalexanderbooks on Instagram

Another note: Because we are both in the publishing industry, sometimes the books we recommend might be by an author we know personally, an author who shares a publisher, editor, or agent with Roni, or an author whom Dawn has edited. Publishing is a small world, so that will happen from time to time. However, we guarantee that we only recommend books we love. We have not been asked to promote any of these books and none are paid ads. However, some books we review may be ARCs (advanced reading copies provided by publishers to reviewers for honest reviews.)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.