Today we're covering the memoir we've been dying to read ever since it was first announced... Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar Dillard! Join us as we go chapter by chapter and deep dive all the secrets revealed inside this book. 

Tune in next week as we'll be doing our annual Spooky Season book draft!

We're back with another book talk episode, the time for us to catch up on all things book-related! Today we're recapping books we've read recently, discussing our progress on our goals, and previewing upcoming new releases.

Our next episode, we'll be doing a book club on Jill Duggar Dillard's upcoming memoir, Counting the Cost. Be sure to tune in for that in two weeks!

Today we're recapping and deep-diving into the wildly popular Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston!

From the flirty emails to the political implications to the biggest reaches, we're covering it all. Also, we both watched the Amazon Prime original movie, and we're discussing the casting, the changes, and the love story.

Here's the article Emily referenced that refers to the movie as part of the Netflix Christmas Universe. 

Books We've Read Lately: 

• The Only One Left by Riley Sager
• The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

Follow us on Instagram @readirectpodcast!

Today we’re talking about the books that built us, or books we read at a young age that helped shape us into who we are today.

Here’s that first kiss video Emily referenced. 

Thanks for listening! 

We're going back to elementary/middle school for today's episode and re-reading The Giver by Lois Lowry!

We loved this book as kids, but as we learned from Little House on the Prairie, not every book holds up to adult scrutiny. Listen to this episode to find out what we thought on the re-read. Plus find out what we've been reading lately (big updates ahead).

What we've read recently:

• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Heart's Invisible Furies
• Project Hail Mary

Follow us on instagram at @readirectpodcast! 

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