What Should I Read Next?

Today’s guests take getting lost in a good book to a TOTALLY different level. Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg host By The Book podcast, a bookish comedy show where they live by the rules of different self-help bestseller, for two weeks at a time. Kristen and Jolenta have lived to the letter of books like The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, The Secret, The Miracle Morning, and more.

Anne's high-stakes job this week is recommending 3 titles for them to live through NEXT. (No pressure.)

Today’s episode includes a very brief discussion of disordered eating. If this is a topic you need to skip for your safety, the discussion starts when the book French Women Don’t Get Fat is mentioned around halfway through the show. Fast-forward three minutes to miss it.

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think Liz should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

Check out By The Book podcast: Website | Apple Podcasts | Twitter

Connect with Kristen and Jolenta on Twitter. 

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Today's guest Elizabeth Smith is an English Major lives a life that will inspire envy in a a lot of WSIRN listeners. She and her family homeschool, run a theatre company, tend a hobby farm, and herd sheep. No more juicy details here though - it’s better when Liz tells it.

Anne and Liz also chat about the BEST way to experience Shakespeare, books for people who thrive on melancholy, and how to get more out of your local independent bookstores.

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think Liz should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

Connect with Elizabeth: Blog | Instagram | Theatre Website | Theatre Facebook

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Today's guest Carly Friedman is a working mom, an advisor at her local university, and has a totally unique goal for her 2018 reading life. We'll give you one hint: backlist.

Today Anne and Carly chat about nonfiction titles for people who love to learn, Carly's budding romance with audiobooks, novels with a strong sense of place and time, what moves a book from your bookshelf to your bedside table, and so much more!

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think Carly should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

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Anne and today's guest Dena Abramson Babb have a lot in common. Both were the girl in class who loved to choose the heftiest books possible from school reading lists, and now as adults they've infused their family cultures with reading. There's a little something special about today's episode, too - you'll get to snoop behind the scenes of the launch of Anne's book Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything, because Dena played a special part in the process. 

Discussed in today's episode: nonfiction that transports who into a whole new world, making reading accessible for a dyslexic child, books for self-aware readers, the rhythms of a reading family, and more! 

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think Dena should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

Connect with Dena: Website | Facebook

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Today’s guest Rachael Robinson lives in Southern California, but Anne met her for the very first time in her own kitchen. (They'll get to that in the episode). Rachael describes herself as an “extreme” book lover who discovered her reading obsession when her son was born and Netflix just wasn’t cutting it for entertainment. Today Anne and Rachael chat about Rachael's best reading year ever, #BookClubProblems, last-minute cross-country bookish adventures, and so much more.

But make sure to stick around for the end of the show, because as a special treat, Anne got the chance to have a second conversation Rachael and see what she ACTUALLY thought of one of the books Anne recommended to her.

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think Rachael should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

Connect with Rachael: Blog | Instagram | Goodreads 

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Readers, if you're intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of the publishing industry, this one's for you. In today's new episode I chat with John August, a screenwriter, devoted reader, and author of a brand-new (or soon-to-be) middle grade novel.

As of this morning, John also has a brand new podcast out in the world: it’s called LAUNCH, and as someone who loves all the details about how books are born, I can’t wait to listen. This six-episode podcast tracks the launch of John’s novel, Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire, John covers it all, from conceiving the idea to landing an agent to the editorial process to printing and pub date to book tour and beyond. We chat a little about the process today, as well as the difference between writing movies and writing books, stories that bridge two worlds, and John's unusual method of working, which is unlike any method I've previously heard of. 

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think John should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

Connect with John: Website | Twitter | Instagram | LAUNCH podcast | Scriptnotes podcast

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Time FLIES when you're reading a good book... and, turns out, when you're podcasting. 

Today marks WSIRN's second anniversary! We thought it would be fun to rewind allllll the way back to our VERY FIRST GUEST, ever-colorful personality and the co-host of The Popcast: Jamie Golden.

Today you’ll get to hear some secrets about what Anne originally had planned for the show (and which of these plans we threw out the window) a totally true bookshop story about Tom Hanks, a literary pop culture lightning round, and Jamie’s pitch for WSIRN: After Dark. Plus, of course, some fresh recommendations to perk up Jamie’s reading life - and maybe yours - in 2018.

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what YOU think Jamie should read next!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram

Connect with Jamie: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Check out The Popcast: Website | Twitter | Facebook

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We asked 14 different podcast listeners how they organize their bookshelves … and we're sharing their ideas with you. (Some readers even provided photos of their methods— link below!)

Ever-popular genre and color organization came up of course, but we also get to hear about the uniquely-displayed special interest book collections some of you have, including a bookshelf entirely dedicated to one specific period of history, and another home library entirely organized with book-lending in mind. And yes, of course, at the end of today’s episode Anne shares some stories about her own shelves.

Click over to the podcast website to see pictures of some of the shelves we peeked into this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know how you organize your own shelves!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram   

Thanks to today's sponsors:

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"I want to read more" is a common refrain in January, so here's some good news: today's episode is full of tips and tricks to help you maximize your time and strategize your next best read!

If you've been listening to WSIRN for a while, you've heard Anne talk more than once about supply-side vs demand-side readers. The brilliant mind behind that concept is author and podcaster Laura Vanderkam, who you may know from her books 168 Hours, I Know How She Does It, and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, or her new podcast Best of Both Worlds. 

On today's WSIRN episode Laura shares the strategies she uses to improve her own reading life (one of which includes reading War And Peace in the grocery store), a new perspective on free time, her bucket list books, and LOTS more.

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what you think!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram   

Connect with Laura: Twitter | Website | Ted Talk

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Today's episode is a cozy family affair! Anne chats with Emily and Daniela Loose, a mother-daughter duo from New Hampshire who have been reading together for Emily’s entire life. Emily went off to college this fall, and they're learning to navigate the pain of waiting way too long to talk to your book buddy about what you’re reading (texting in all caps about a book you just read is TOTALLY acceptable.)

Topics this week: books for book people, Swedish children’s books, the pleasures of re-reading, and reading Dr Seuss for the first time—as an adult.

Click over to the podcast website for the full list of titles discussed in this episode, and leave us a comment to let us know what you think!

Connect with Anne: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | WSIRN Instagram   

2018 Reading Challenge

Readers, get more out of your reading life this year with the 2018 Modern Mrs Darcy reading challenge. The goal of the 2018 Reading Challenge is to read amazing books in 2018. To do that, you need amazing books and time to read them. We can help.

We’ve created 12 categories this year designed to give you the best possible reading experience, and we’ve created free, downloadable tools for you that are pretty, practical, and all kinds of motivating.

Click here to get started and to get your free reading challenge kit. We can't wait to read with you in 2018!

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