Meredith and Kaytee are recording with a special guest this week, Sara Hildreth of @fictionmatters on Instagram. We’ll chat with her about building a 70K follower account and how that affects her reading life.

You’ll hear a “bookish moment of the week” from each of us: a long-awaited pre-order arrives, a forthcoming release that we’re excited to read, and exploring a new literary scene.

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. We are each sharing two books that we’ve read recently. We’ve got some differing opinions about books we’ve all read, which is my FAVORITE thing.

We’ll move on to a short Slow But Steady update from each of us, with more observations about what Slow But Steady can be and doesn’t have to be.

For our deep dive this week, we are going deep into the backside of #bookstagram, asking Sara about her history on the platform, how she keeps her reading life in balance, and her favorite and least favorite parts of being a BIG bookstagrammer.

Finally, this week, we are Pressing Books Into Your Hands. Each of us is sharing a book that we can’t wait for you to read.

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! *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!*  

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1:13 - @fictionmatters on Instagram

2:12 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling, Illustration Edition

3:35 - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

3:47 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

6:46 - The Familiars by Stacy Halls

7:09 -The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

10:37 - Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

13:15 - I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

16:36 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

16:37 - Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

17:11 - She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

19:25 - Bad Blood by John Kerryrou

21:42 - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

21:57 - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

22:15 - The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

22:19 - Episode 11 of Season 1

25:13 - The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

26:51 - Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

26:57 - Mary Heim in Episode 36 of Season 1

28:15 - Harry Potter by JK Rowling

30:43 - Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

30:57 - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

31:05 - On Writing by Stephen King

31:24 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

31:32 - Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery

32:28 - The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #5)

32:43 - How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

52:52 - Possession by A.S. Byatt

57:22 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

59:33 - I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam

1:01:31 - Connect with Sara: @fictionmatters on Instagram, fictionmattersbooks.com