It has been a wild, amazing ride and I couldn't be more grateful for all of your support over the years. Please enjoy this reflective last episode, which includes some of my thoughts on podcasting more broadly, a bit of housekeeping, and a whole lot of Q&A.

Thank you for every little thing.

Love,

Alli

KEEP IN TOUCH!

Follow me on Instagram @allihoffkosik.

Check out (and subscribe to!) my Substack: Getting It Alli Together

Remember: All 318 episodes of SSR will still be available wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Please continue to recommend the show to your loved ones... and never stop listening to the conversations from the archives that make you feel warm and fuzzy :)

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For the last-ever guest episode of SSR, Alli is thrilled to revisit a book by one of her personal favorites, Sharon Creech. The book is Absolutely Normal Chaos, a diary-style read from the '90s that serves as a fascinating entry point to grief and loss for young readers. Tune in for a discussion about the emotional roller coaster of the book, but also for some comparing and contrasting with Creech's other work, reflections on friendship and early relationships, and more.

Rebecca Fishbein is the author of Good Things Happen to People You Hate and Floral Estrangements. Follow her on Instagram @bfishbfish.

CHECK OUT REBECCA'S PREVIOUS APPEARANCE ON SSR HERE!

CHECK OUT REBECCA'S BOOKS:

Floral Estrangements

Good Things Happen to People You Hate

CHECK OUT REBECCA'S BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Good Material by Dolly Alderton

MORE READING:

"Absolutely Normal Chaos" (Kirkus, 1995)

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Add this to the list of Alli's favorite SSR reads of all-time—and just in time for the show to say goodbye in a couple of weeks! Nearly 20 years after it was published and won a Newbery Honor, Shannon Hale's Princess Academy was a delight to read and discuss. The book inspires conversations on Episode 316 about everything from hometown pride and tropes about female bodies to the value of education and lame princes. Alli's guest also blows her mind with some facts about 2025 slang.

London Sperry's debut novel Passion Project hits shelves on 4/8/25. Follow her on Instagram @londonsperrywrites.

CHECK OUT LONDON'S BOOK HERE!

CHECK OUT LONDON'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

Wedding Dashers by Heather McBreen

Let's Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan

Unromance by Erin Connor

You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon

But How Are You, Really by Ella Dawson

MORE READING:

"Book Review: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale" (Books: A True Story, 2013)

"Review: Princess Academy" (The Princess Blog, 2018)

"Book Review: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale" (Turn the Page, 2012)

"Shannon Hale Says Her Novels Are Not 'Girl Books'" (Bustle, 2015)

"Q&A with Shannon Hale" (Publishers Weekly, 2015)

"One Things Leads to Another: An Interview with Shannon Hale" (The Hub, 2014)

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On this last installment of our monthly SSR: WTF (WriTing Friends) series, Alli and Abby look to the future!

In anticipation of the 2026 publication of Alli's debut novel, they discuss all things book promotion: book events, PR boxes, social media icks, supporting authors online and IRL, newsletters, pre-orders, and more. They also chat more about the decision to end SSR and give you a preview of their future (potential) collaborations!

CHECK OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO ABBY'S SUBSTACK NEWSLETTER HERE!

BOOK SHOUTOUTS:

Written: How to Keep Writing and Build a Habit That Lasts by Bec Evans and Chris Smith

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Bad news: this is the last Baby-Sitters Club-centric episode of SSR.

Good news: this is an amazing Baby-Sitters Club-centric episode of SSR!

This week, former BSC superfan Saumya Dave joins Alli for one final trip to Stoneybrook to hang with everyone's favorite young entrepreneurs. They discuss the sixty-fifth book in the series, Stacey's Big Crush, along with hot teachers, women in STEM, all-consuming crushes, long school days, portrayals of divorce in books, goat sitting, and how the baby-sitters have helped us understand ourselves over the years.

Saumya Dave is the author of Well-Behaved Indian Women, What a Happy Family, and—most recently—The Guilt Pill, which was inspired by her work as a pyschiatrist. Follow her on Instagram @saumyajdave.

CHECK OUT SAUMYA'S BOOKS:

Well-Behaved Indian Women

What a Happy Family

The Guilt Pill

CHECK OUT ASHA'S BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

The Push by Ashley Audrain

The Other Lata by Kirthana Ramisetti

MORE READING:

"Stacey's Big Crush" (The Baby-Sitters Club Wiki)

"#65: Stacey's Big Crush" (Live the Movies)

"Stacey's Big Crush" (Baby-Sitters Club Snark-fest!)

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Beyond the ivy-covered walls of the Constance Billard School and the moneyed Upper East Side is upstate New York and the equally moneyed Waverly Academy—and Jenny Humphrey is bound for them as we meet her at the start of Gossip Girl spin-off, The It Girl! Episode 313 is a juicy deep dive into all things Boarding School Jenny: rich kids, nuanced mean girls, problematic love affairs, hedonism, and the deliciously nostalgic aesthetic of the Gossip Girl extended universe.

Asha Elias is the author of Pink Glass Houses and the forthcoming The Namaste Club. Follow her on Instagram @asha.sue.elias.

CHECK OUT ASHA'S BOOKS:

Pink Glass Houses

The Namaste Club

CHECK OUT ASHA'S BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Don't Be a Stranger by Susan Minot

MORE READING:

"The It Girl (Novel Series)" (Gossip Girl Wiki)

"The It Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar Review" (Courtney Shek, 2024)

"Review: It Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar" (Grown Up Book Reports, 2017)

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This week, Alli and her guest revisit some required reading from their school days in Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Picking up this 1966 novel was just as emotional and thought-provoking as picking up the 1959 short story was years ago, and this time around, they unpack the experience together on the podcast. Tune in for conversations about their fuzzy memories of reading Flowers for Algernon as kids, the book's classification in the science fiction genre, the differences between intelligence and life experience and kindness, icky depictions of women, animal testing, the linguistic challenges of dissecting a book like this, and so much more.

TW: sexual shame

Emma R. Alban is a screenwriter and a USA Today bestselling queer historical romance author. Her books include Don't Want You Like a Best Friend and You're the Problem, It's You. Follow her on Instagram @eraofemma.

CHECK OUT EMMA'S BOOKS:

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

You're the Problem, It's You

CHECK OUT EMMA'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

A Rival Most Vile by R.K. Ashwick

A Captured Cauldron by R.K. Ashwick

MORE READING:

"Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes—review" (The Guardian, 2016)

"Book Review: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes" (David Bruns, 2014)

"Book Review: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes" (Frappes and Fiction, 2020)

"Flowers for Algernon: Book Review" (Threefold Advocate, 2023)

"Flowers for Algernon" (Kirkus, 1966)

"Review of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes" (Rhapsody in Books, 2018)

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Grab your denim bucket hats, butterfly hair clips, and overalls, listeners, because we're going to the land of the Olsen twins! Episode 311 unpacks all things Mary-Kate and Ashley, with a special emphasis on their multiple book series and one of their mystery novels, The Case of the 202 Clues. After reading this book, Alli and her guest have lots of thoughts about basset hounds, kid-friendly stakes, and what makes the perfect entry point for the mystery genre. They also take a bigger picture walk down millennial memory lane, comparing notes on their favorite MKA core memories and reflecting on the twins' many contributions to pop culture.

Jamie Harrow is the author of One on One and Fun at Parties. Follow her on Instagram @jamieharrowbooks.

CHECK OUT JAMIE'S BOOKS:

One on One

Fun at Parties

CHECK OUT JAMIE'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

Zoe Brennan, First Crush by Laura Piper Lee

No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel

MORE READING:

"Growing Up Olsen: What Mary-Kate and Ashley Meant to Millennials" (E News, 2016)

"Dissecting Gen Z's Obsession with the Olsen Twins" (British Vogue, 2024)

"The Lasting Impact of the Mary-Kate and Ashley Content Empire" (Chatterblast, 2021)

"The Series We Loved: Mary-Kate and Ashley" (Book Riot, 2020)

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It's the first SSR: WTF (WriTing Friends) episode of 2025, and it's only fitting that Alli and Abby kick off the new year with a discussion about routines, processes, practices, and how they're rethinking all of those things at the moment. They discuss their creative mindsets in the new year and compare notes about specific elements of their creative lives: planned breaks, problematic mindsets, time management, organizational tools, inbox zero, cheap notebooks, writing in longhand, and romanticizing the process.

CHECK OUT AND SUBSCRIBE TO ABBY'S SUBSTACK NEWSLETTER HERE!

LISTEN TO OUR PLOTTING VS. PANTSING EPISODE HERE!

BOOK SHOUTOUTS:

Written: How to Keep Writing and Build a Habit That Lasts by Bec Evans and Chris Smith

Motherhood by Sheila Heti

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

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At last, the Hardy Boys get an episode all their own! Episode 309 takes a deep dive into the first book in the series—The Tower Treasure—as well as the bestselling franchise as a whole... and the conversation is juicy! Launched in the 1920s, the Hardy Boys prompts discussion about gendered book marketing, racism, white saviorism, letting boys be boys, virtuous poverty, Nancy Drew, the interchangeability of the Hardy brothers, nepotism, obstruction of justice, portrayals of law enforcement, and depictions of women.

Christina Cooke is the author of Broughtupsy. Follow her on Instagram @christina.j.cooke.

CHECK OUT CHRISTINA'S BOOK HERE!

CHECK OUT CHRISTINA'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julia Otsuka

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkle

MORE READING:

"Book Review: The Tower Treasure (1927) and The Tower Treasure (1959) by Franklin W. Dixon" (Read-At-Home Mom, 2017)

"I read all 190 Hardy Boys books" (Reddit, 2023)

"In Which I Read My First Hardy Boys Mystery" (Pages Unbound, 2022)

"Reading Through the Hardy Boys Mysteries (Books 1-10)" (Pages Unbound, 2023)

"1: The Tower Treasure" (Hardy Boys Book Reviews, 2013)

"The Hardy Boys have not aged well" (Reddit, 2024)

"The Hardy Boys: Comparing Hulu's Show to the Classic Book Series" (Den of Geek, 2020)

"The Knotty Nostalgia of the Hardy Boys Series" (The Atlantic, 2019)

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