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! 

If you loved Little House on the Prairie as a kid, you might be wondering, "Was there anything problematic about those books?" We're here to breakdown the entire book - the good, the bad and the (very) ugly.

What happened to Jack the dog? Does Pa have an undiagnosed mental illness? And does bread & molasses actually taste good (yes, we're doing a good old fashioned taste test)?

Click here to read Reading Racism: Or, How I'm Learning to Wrestle with "Little House on the Prairie"

Emily also references the book, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

Books We've Read Recently -
Abigail - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Emily - Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

Be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and follow us on Instagram @readirectpodcast. 

Today we're discussing two books - one fiction and one non-fiction - with our very special guest, Emma Wright!

We're talking all about Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Making Rumours by Ken Callait. That means we're covering rock and roll, drug use, rumors, scandals, affairs, love, longing and more.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave us a 5-star review and follow along on Instagram @readirectpodcast.

Read: How Fleetwood Mac Influenced Daisy Jones & The Six

Books We've Read Lately:
Emily - Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Abigail - The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
Emma - Love in Color by Bolu Babalola 

Today we're doing a deep dive Book Club episode on Spare by Prince Harry!

We have been DYING to talk about this book, so excuse the lengthy run time on this one, but we had THOUGHTS. Many, many thoughts.

Avoid this episode if you're a Harry and Meghan hater (we are emphatically not) or if you are such a fanatic over the royal family that you will not forgive some biographical/historical errors (there are a few). Also, a disclaimer that we're taking Prince Harry at his word for this episode, and while of course there are many sides to every story, we're focusing on his side.

With all of that being said, we hope you'll enjoy this episode. If you didn't read the book, this is a great, chaotic summary of the best parts (in our humble opinions). If you read the book, and were dying to talk about it as much as we were, consider us your internet BFFs and just talk back to us in your car or on our Instagram @readirectpodcast.

Abigail mentioned the Tik Tok account, @matta_of_fact, so there's the link to that.

Books we've read recently:
Peeta's Games by igsygrace
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

If you have thoughts, head over to our Instagram to let us know! And if you liked the show, be sure to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. We love you! 

Today we're talking all things dystopian books! From The Handmaids Tale to The Hunger Games, Station 11 to Delirium, dystopian books have certainly captured our attention over the years. We're doing a deep dive into dystopian books - where they originated, why they became so popular in YA fiction in the early 2000s, and their lasting legacy. 

Books Mentioned:

• We by Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin
• 1984 by George Orwell
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Matched by Ally Condie
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
• The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Truesight by David Stahler 
• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Read more about dystopian books: 

• Why is dystopia so appealing to young adults?
• Why Teens Find the End of the World So Appealing
•  Why the YA dystopian craze finally burned out

Books we've been reading lately

• Abigail: Anon Pls by Deuxmoi
• Emily: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

We all make New Year's Resolutions, but we don't always stick to them! Did you make reading more a goal for 2023? Are you looking for our tips, tricks and suggestions to stay on track?

Whether you want to read more books, diversify your reading, join a book club or start a book podcast this year, we've got the episode for you. Maybe you're a numbers girl (like Emily) or you prefer qualitative goals (that would be Abigail), but either way we have some advice for you.

Mentioned this episode:
Online Reading Tools:
https://www.thestorygraph.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/

Libby (online library tool):
https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby

If We Were Villians by M.L. Rio:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/if-we-were-villains-m-l-rio/8476867?ean=9781250095299

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/hester-laurie-lico-albanese/17856048?ean=9781250278555

If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave a review for us on Apple Podcasts! You can also follow us on Instagram @readirectpodcast.