Houston, we have a podcast! Wrapping up Season 3 with an appetizer on a book that’s sure to take you out of this world. I team up with a fellow reader and podcaster to discuss Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere. Buckle up and let’s blast off!

Recipe: You will need: a 3lb pork shoulder, salt and pepper to taste, a tsp of chili powder, a tsp of garlic powder, a cup of barbeque sauce, a Tbsp of apple cider vinegar, and a ¼ cup of chicken broth or water. If you don’t want the spice you can omit the chili powder. Put the meat and everything except the barbeque sauce in the slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Then shred with forks and add in the barbeque sauce. Enjoy on its own, on burger buns, however you’d like!

Find Andrew’s podcasts, Mugglecast and Millennial, here!

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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What time is it? Summertime! Enjoy days by the pool/lake/ocean, road trips, trips traveled to by plane, barbeques, picnics, all the things. Whatever you do, be sure to bring along some summer reads. What is a summer read? Find out in the July bonus episode.

Recipe: A southwestern inspired mac and cheese. You will need a box of mac and cheese (whatever brand is your favorite, I like Annie’s four-cheese penne), black beans, onion, bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, and salsa. While the pasta is cooking, chop up the onions and peppers. Then, as you’re mixing in the cheese powder and milk, you will also stir in the beans, chopped veggies, and a tablespoon or two of the salsa. So easy, so tasty, and very colorful too!

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

When you’re at the bookstore, library, or browsing your personal collection it can be hard to pick a book. So, why choose? Get as many as you want (or can reasonably afford) and eventually you’ll read them all! Why choose is the type of romance trope featured in this episode’s book, The Never List. Featuring Con and Lauren of the incredible Between Pages and Friends podcast, pull up a chair for summaries, standouts, theories, and lists!

Spoilers from 24:32 - 38:30

Looking to buy The Never List? Order it from Jade Presley’s website, or look for it at your local bookstore or library!

Recipe: We have two this week. Why? Because we couldn’t choose just one.

Rachel’s Mom’s banana muffins: 1 cup of mashed ripe bananas, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup plain yogurt, ¼ cup of melted butter or margarine, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 eggs, 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, and a dash of salt. Preheat the oven to 400º F. Combine the banana, sugar, yogurt, butter, vanilla, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir. Spoon batter evenly into muffin pan. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from the pan immediately and allow for cooling on a wire rack. 

Con’s protein pasta bake: a box of Banza chickpea pasta (or whatever brand you’d like), a pound of ground turkey, a medium onion, clove of garlic, two cups of marinara sauce, a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, oregano, Italian seasoning, and some handfuls of spinach. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. While the oven is heating and pasta is cooking, chop up the onion and garlic. Brown the turkey in a skillet over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and spinach to the skillet and saute for another 2 minutes. Put your turkey and veggies into a baking dish and add in the pasta, sauce, and Italian seasoning. Stir it up and top with the shredded cheese, Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil if you’d like. Enjoy!

Want to hear more from Con and Lauren? The website for Between Pages and Friends has links to all their socials, merch, and Patreon. Find them on Instagram here, or use this link to directly find them on YouTube. Spotify listeners can find them here. 

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Have you ever walked down the street and smelled something absolutely scrumptious cooking? Have you ever walked into a bookstore or library and saw a book that jumped out right away? We get both of those things with Pomegranate Soup! Join me and a guest, Marissa, to discuss this beautiful book about love, acceptance, culture, and food.

Recipe: For the pomegranate soup you’ll need a large chopped onion, olive oil, ½ cup of split peas or lentils, 6 cups of water, 1 tsp of salt, ½ tsp pepper, 1 tsp turmeric, about a cup of chopped parsley, a cup of cilantro, ¼ cup chopped mint, a cup of chopped scallions, 1 lb of ground turkey (original recipe calls for lamb but I am subbing it out), ¾ cup of rice, 2 cups pomegranate juice, Tbsp sugar, and 2 Tbsps lemon juice. Wow that’s a lot of ingredients. The instructions themselves are quite short. In a large pot, saute the onions in the olive oil until golden. Add the split peas, rice, water, and spices and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for half an hour. Add the herbs and scallions and simmer for another 15 minutes. While all this simmering is happening, roll the ground meat into meatballs. Add the meatballs and all other remaining ingredients to the pot and simmer for an additional 40-45 minutes. Enjoy! For the pomegranate smoothie, you will need about a cup of orange juice, strawberries, a banana, ½ cup of greek yogurt, and a handful of pomegranate arils, which are the seed pods. Put everything in a blender and blend until it is smooth. It’ll be a stunning shade of pink and is best when enjoyed immediately after blending.

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Run to the kitchen for a snack and then to the bookstore! Have you ever wondered what is going through someone’s head as they’re running? Maybe you just think they’re insane, or you start thinking about all the things you think about when running. Haruki Murakami decided to write a book about what he talks about when he talks about running and runners everywhere have read it, including yours truly. I am joined by fellow runner and dear friend Hannah to talk about the book, running, and the things we think or talk about.

Recipe: We recommend chicken alfredo, pasta primavera, or something else with lots of carbs to prep yourself for the big run. And a tasty bowl of fruity oatmeal or sweet treat to eat afterwards!

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Flying through 2025! Can you believe the year is halfway over? In this episode I recap some of my 5-Star reads from the first half of 2025, check in on reading goals, and share some titles I’m looking forward to in the coming months.

To hear about Dark Maestro and other books by Brendan Sloccumb, check out this episode.

Another top read from the first half of 2025 was By Any Other Name by Jodi Piccoult and you can hear about it here.

Lastly, I loved Suzanne Collins’ new Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, and talked about it earlier this season.

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Justice is served! Or is it? Serving up a supreme episode on the Supreme Court and the book Lawless by Leah Litman. A law professor and podcaster herself, Litman knows how to dish out the dirt on the Court, and to tell us when it has been spoiled. 

Order Lawless here.

Want to hear more from Leah and her co-hosts? Check out Strict Scrutiny!

Recipe: You will need pasta (thinner pastas like spaghetti, angel hair, linguine, or fettuccine are best, but you can use whatever you like), a pound of shrimp, olive oil, at least 3 cloves of garlic, broccoli, a Tbsp of lemon juice, spinach, sprinkle of Italian seasoning, ½ tsp of red pepper flakes, and 1-2 Tbsps of grated parmesan cheese. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Save some of the pasta water when you drain it, around a cup will do. While the pasta is boiling, saute the broccoli, garlic, spinach, and shrimp in the olive oil over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat, mix in the lemon juice, pasta water, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Add the pasta to the skillet and mix it all up. Top with the parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Thinking critically, reading books, loving magic. I solemnly swear that I am serving up something good! Or at least trying my best. Join me and Professor Julian Wamble to return to Hogwarts for Harry’s third year. We recap the book and deep dive into the magical world. What’s your Patronus? Should Muggle Studies be required? Was the movie good? All this and more!

Recipe: Bake some chocolate chip cookies for yourself or any upcoming summer barbeques. Preheat your oven to 375º F. You will need: 2 ¼ cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 2 sticks of butter, ¾ cup of sugar, ¾ cup of brown sugar, dash of vanilla extract, 2 eggs, and a cup of chocolate chips. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until the texture is creamy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients followed by the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into balls, about 1 Tbsp each, and place on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. Enjoy! *I can’t tell you to eat raw dough since there are uncooked eggs.

Want to be critical and stay magical? Find Julian’s excellent podcast, Critical Magic Theory at the website or wherever you listen to podcasts and follow him on Instagram.

Curious about the fan fiction mentioned? Find “All the Young Dudes” here.

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Reading and writing may be done solo but they give us so many ways to form communities. Bookclubs, podcasts, BookTok, sending memes, poetry readings, the list goes on. Us word nerds have to connect! This month’s bonus episode features Erica, a cultivator of the literary community in a Wisconsin town. 

Check out Lake Literary Center and all the great things they are doing!

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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

Twice the tributes, just as much dystopia. Happy Hunger Games! 24 years before our beloved Katniss and Peeta enter the arena, District 12 had another victor: Haymitch. We finally get the story of Haymitch’s games and it did not disappoint! Such an amazing prequel, the perfect first course to the original series. 

Recipe: Mushroom goat cheese tarts! Here is what you’ll need: half a sheet of puff pastry, 3 tablespoons of butter, half a pound of mushrooms, a clove of crushed garlic, half a cup of goat cheese, and some parsley. Don’t worry too much about the type of mushroom. White, baby bella, cremini, whatever you prefer. Preheat the oven to 400º F and lightly grease a baking tray. Lay the puff pastry out and cut it into 8 squares. Poke each square a couple times with a fork and bake for 7 minutes. Take the squares out and flatten them a bit with a spatula. Put the puff pastry back in the oven for about 5 minutes. While the squares are baking, saute the mushrooms and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once the squares are done, evenly divide the cooked mushrooms onto the pastry. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and parsley on top.

Follow me on Instagram here to keep up with all the latest updates and reviews of what I am reading, and the mouth-watering meals I make to accompany them!

Artwork by @stephanieilana

Music: Clementi Sonatina No. 1 in G Major III

Editor: Alex Schmitz

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