The Readirect Podcast

For today's episode, we're joined by screenwriter, old-timey novel lover and Abigail's fiance, Zach Freshley! We're discussing all things book-to-screen adaptations, ones we've loved, ones we've hated, and ones we're dying to see come to fruition. 

Today we're just catching up on all the book-related topics we've been dying to discuss! First, we talk about our recent read, The Song of Achilles. Then, we're recapping a few recent favorites. Finally, we're asking ourselves, why do so many book synopses have the word, "penetrating" in them?

All of this and more is in today's Book Talk episode!

Here's all the books we discussed: 

• Bridgerton Series, Julia Quinn 
• Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
• Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series, Rick Riordan 
• Dark Places, Gillian Flynn 
• One True Loves, Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Get a Life Chloe Brown, Talia Hibbert
• The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin
• Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson
• The Tourist Attraction, Sarah Morgenthaler
• Hello Stranger, Katherine Center
• Love Theoretically, Ali Hazelwood
• Zero Days, Ruth Ware 
• Yellowface, R. F. Kuang 
• The Ferryman, Justin Cronin

Love her or hate her, most people have an opinion on one of the most prolific authors of our time. (And fair warning, we lean more towards hating her on that spectrum on this podcast, so be warned!)

Today we're deep diving Colleen Hoover. Where did she come from? What has made her so popular? And why...? Just why.

Here's her addressing one of the scandals we'll talk about in this episode.

Books we've read recently:
Abigail: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert and Honey, Baby, Mine by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd
Emily: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Today we're drafting some books for you to read on the beach this summer. What makes a good beach read, and what would we never read on the beach? Listen to find out!

Beach Reads

• Chloe Cates is Missing, Mandy Mchugh
• Winter in Paradise series, Elin Hilderbrand 
• The Unhoneymooners, Christina lauren
• The Woman in the Window, AJ Finn
• Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruby Dixon
• Dial A For Aunties, Jessie Q Sutano 
• Malibu Rising, TJR
• Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
• Reckless Girls, Rachel Hawkins

Books We've Read Recently 

• Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
• The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

Today we're talking all things memoirs! 

First, hear our checklist of what gives you the right to write a memoir in the first place (looking at you Bachelor Nation). Then we're discussing who hasn't written a memoir yet that we absolutely need to spill all their dirty secrets in the pages of a best-seller. Somehow we get on a tangent about Bobby Flay that we promise is relevant.

Finally, we're sharing our favorite memoirs including the one that inspired this podcast.

Memoirs we love:

• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Educated by Tara Westover
• Maid by Stephanie Land 
• The Foundling by Paul Joseph Fronczak
• Spare by Prince Harry 
• Living Brave by Shannon Dingle

Books we've read recently: 

Abigail: The Wellness trap by Christy Harrison

Emily: 11/22/63 by Stephen King 

Today we're diving deep into the newest Emily Henry release, Happy Place! 

Tune in to hear us recap the book, read some of our favorite quotes, and fancast the movie we're already dreaming of (ahem, Miles Teller as Wyn). 

Books we've read recently: 
Emily: The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand 
Abigail: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

As always, be sure to follow us on Instagram @readirectpodcast for more fun. 

In honor of this beloved book hitting the big screen this week, we're dropping our first ever BONUS episode to discuss Judy Blume's classic novel, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 

Neither of us actually read this book as children, so we're coming to it for the first time as seasoned adults. 

Books We've Read Recently:
Abigail - Carrie Soto is Back and Malibu Rising by TJR
Emily - Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke 

Today we're sharing our deepest, darkest unpopular book opinions! We've also solicited listener comments on Instagram and dived into the comments section on Reddit to gather even more unpopular opinions.

To watch a semi-cringey video of Rupi Kaur's poetry, click here.

Books We've Read Lately:
Abigail: A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Emily: The Circle and The Every by Dave Eggers

For our next episode, we'll be doing a full recap of Happy Place by Emily Henry, so be sure to pre-order if you want to read along with us! 

Today's episode is our first ever "Book Talk" episode, where we're just catching up on all book-related topics we've been wanting to talk about.

First, we're sharing how our reading journeys have been going so far this year. Here is a list of books mentioned: 

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
• The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
• Peeta's Games by igysgrace 
• Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
• The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
• The Circle by Dave Eggers
• Anon Pls by Deuxmoi
• My Life in France by Julia Child

Then, we're looking forward to books being released in April/books that were recently released: 

• The Wellness Trap by Christy Harrison
• The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
• The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White
• Happy Place by Emily Henry

(29:45) We then go into a deep discussion about the Daisy Jones and the Six TV adaptation. After finishing the full series, what were our thoughts?

(45:37) Finally, we wrap up the episode by talking about the recent review controversy where author Lucy Bloom went onto a bookstagrammer's account (@booksthroughmyveins_) to angrily reply to a thoughtful review. What is an author's place on bookstagram/booktok? How should they respond to readers' reviews? We're discussing all of that and more! 

Today we're talking all about fan fiction - the good, the bad and the ugly. We're sharing the fics we read, and Emily's even reading an excerpt from a fic she wrote back in the day.

You can read Peeta's Games by igsygrace at this link. And listen to the episode of Normal Gossip about fan fiction at this link.

What We've Been Reading Lately:
Abigail - Comedy Sex God by Pete Holmes
Emily - Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Be sure to follow us on Instagram at @readirectpodcast!