An em dash. A punctuation mark.

So I guess Agatha Christie has some explaining to do, which might be difficult considering she died in 1976.

I’m joking, obviously. But only kind of.

There is a growing obsession online with trying to figure out whether authors are using AI, and I understand where it came from. There are legitimate concerns about AI-generated books, undisclosed AI use, copyright, originality, and people pumping out low-effort books as quickly as possible.

I’m not here to defend any of that.

We’ve all seen examples floating around online of published books containing passages that look suspiciously like raw chatbot output. If Chapter 12 of your novel suddenly says something along the lines of, “Certainly! Here is the revised chapter in a more emotional tone,” then yes, we have a problem.

If you’re going to outsource your novel to a robot, apparently proofreading is still part of the job description.

But there is a huge difference between finding actual evidence of AI use and deciding someone must have used AI because their writing sounds like ChatGPT.

And that’s where I think we’ve gone too far.

Apparently AI Owns the Em Dash Now

There are entire conversations online devoted to identifying supposed “AI tells.”

• Em dashes.

• Certain metaphors.

• Words like “delve.”

Even sentence structures like: It wasn’t anger. It was fear.

Apparently, the machines own all of those now too.

People have even pointed to passages from Agatha Christie as a pretty funny counterexample because her writing contains some of the same stylistic choices people now confidently identify as signs of AI. Again, she died in the 1970s.

Here’s the obvious problem: AI learned from human language.

Of course AI writing contains patterns that human beings also use.

The machine did not invent em dashes. It did not invent metaphors, dramatic sentence structures, clichés, parallel phrasing, or any of the thousands of other things writers have been doing for centuries.

We wrote like this first.

So if your logic is, “ChatGPT does this, therefore any writer who does this must be using ChatGPT,” you have the whole thing backwards.

AI Detectors Aren’t Magic Truth Machines

Then we get to AI detectors, where suddenly everyone on the internet becomes a forensic scientist.

Someone copies a paragraph into a detector. The detector says it is “82% likely AI.” Case closed. The author is guilty.

Except these detectors are not magic truth machines. Even companies that make them acknowledge that they can produce false positives.

Turnitin, for example, has acknowledged that its AI writing model can misidentify human-written text and says the score should not be used as the sole basis for taking action against someone. It also stopped displaying exact AI scores below 20% because false positives were more likely in that range.

OpenAI itself released an AI text classifier in 2023 and later discontinued it because of its low accuracy.

Yes, the company behind ChatGPT tried to create a tool that could reliably determine whether something was written by AI and decided the tool wasn’t reliable enough.

There is something inherently funny about using AI to determine whether AI wrote something. We ask the robot if the robot did it.

But that isn’t even the biggest problem.

These systems are making judgments based on patterns. They are not uncovering some secret digital fingerprint that reveals exactly how a manuscript was created.

Language is messy. Human beings repeat themselves. We write predictably, use clichés, and use weird metaphors.

Sometimes a human being will naturally write something that sounds like what we have collectively decided AI sounds like. That does not automatically make it AI.

Then There’s the Jerry Falade Story

This is where the issue stops being a funny argument about punctuation and starts having real consequences.

Jerry Falade is a graduate student at Southern Methodist University and the author of the crime novel Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body, which, side note, is a fantastic title.

The manuscript generated enormous interest in publishing. It reportedly went through a 14-way auction in the United States and sold for around $2.4 million.

That is huge for any author.

Then concerns surfaced about possible AI use. According to reports about the controversy, an editor raised questions during the submission process about possible AI involvement in the manuscript.

Falade’s agent said Falade initially provided an explanation the agent considered clear and credible. After another conversation, however, the agent said aspects of the explanation had changed, and the agent ultimately ended their relationship.

Falade has denied using AI to write the novel and has said his AI use was limited to research.

There is another important detail here. According to reporting about the situation, the editor’s concerns were not based on AI detection software.

So I do not want to turn this into, “An AI detector cost an author $2 million,” because that isn’t what happened.

But the story does illustrate the larger problem perfectly.

I don’t know whether Jerry Falade used AI to write his book. You don’t know either.

What we publicly have are allegations, questions about how the manuscript was created, an agent who said his confidence in the author’s explanation changed, and an author who denies using AI to write the novel.

Which means the responsible answer right now is: We don’t know.

For some reason, that has become an incredibly difficult sentence to say online.

We Have Gotten Very Bad at Saying “I Don’t Know”

People who strongly oppose AI may want suspicious writing to prove somebody cheated. Meanwhile, people defending an accused author may be equally tempted to assume the accusation must be completely false.

Neither response is particularly useful. Sometimes somebody probably did use AI. Sometimes somebody didn’t. And sometimes we may never know.

If we want to understand how a manuscript was created, there are much better things to examine than an AI detector score.

• Draft history

• Version history

• Track changes

• Research notes

• Editorial correspondence

• Previous versions of the manuscript

Those things can tell us something about the actual writing process.

An AI detector looks at the finished product and attempts to reverse engineer how it was made.

That is a very different thing.

Are Writers Supposed to Change Their Writing So They Don’t “Sound Like AI”?

This is the part I find especially troubling.

• Are authors now supposed to change their natural voices because they are afraid of sounding like ChatGPT?

• Stop using em dashes?

• Avoid particular words?

• Rewrite certain sentence structures?

• Make their prose deliberately less polished so an AI detector believes a human wrote it?

AI is designed to imitate human writing. Humans should not have to stop writing like humans because AI learned how to write like us.

And none of this means readers have to be okay with AI-generated fiction.

You are absolutely allowed to say, “I don’t want to buy a novel generated by AI.” You can want disclosure while wishing publishers establish standards around AI use. It’s normal to be angry if someone represents machine-generated work as their own creative writing.

Those are completely reasonable positions. But we should be able to oppose undisclosed AI-generated fiction and oppose baseless accusations against authors.

In fact, false accusations make it harder to address legitimate AI abuse. If every em dash becomes an AI scandal, eventually nobody is going to take the scandals seriously.

We Need Better Standards for Accusing Writers of Using AI

I think we need a few basic rules.

• Stop treating detector percentages as verdicts.

• Separate suspicion from accusation.

• Look for actual corroborating evidence.

• And get comfortable with uncertainty.

There is a massive difference between saying:

“This passage makes me wonder whether AI was involved.”

and:

“This author used AI, and here is the proof.”

If you are going to publicly accuse someone of lying about how they created their work, the evidence should be much stronger than a percentage generated by a website.

AI-generated content has created a real trust problem. Readers don’t want to feel fooled. Authors don’t want to compete against mass-produced junk. Publishers certainly don’t want to spend millions of dollars on books and later discover serious questions about how those books were created.

Those concerns are real.

But the answer to a trust problem cannot be more irresponsible accusations. We can’t complain that AI makes things up and then turn around and make things up about authors.

Sometimes a Writer Just Wrote It

So yes, call out AI slop when there is actual evidence.

If somebody accidentally leaves “Here’s your rewritten chapter with improved emotional depth” in Chapter 12, by all means, tell me immediately because that is wild.

But stop treating writing quirks, punctuation choices, sentence structures, and AI detector scores like you just ran DNA evidence.

And in the Jerry Falade case, I don’t think the responsible answer right now is either “He definitely used AI” or “He definitely didn’t.”

There is not enough publicly established evidence to confidently make either declaration.

Not every suspicion needs to become an accusation. Not every controversy needs an instant verdict. And not every sentence that sounds vaguely like ChatGPT was written by ChatGPT.

Sometimes, and I know this is going to be a shocker, a writer wrote it.

So I’m curious: What level of evidence would you need before you felt comfortable publicly accusing an author of using AI to write a book?

For me, accidentally leaving the chatbot instructions in the published chapter would certainly do it.

Are we all reading the same books?

Goodreads has revealed the books that Reading Challenge participants have marked as read the most this year, and the list is… interesting.

Some are brand-new releases. Some have been hanging around for years. One was published in 1847, because apparently Emily Brontë refuses to let the new releases have their moment.

And, naturally, a few movie and TV adaptations have sent readers sprinting back to the source material.

These rankings aren’t based on ratings, reviews, or books published specifically in 2026. They’re simply the books that the most Goodreads Reading Challenge participants have marked as finished so far this year.

I’ve read some. I want to read some. And at least one bored me so badly I did not finish it.

Let’s count down from No. 12 to the most-read book of 2026 so far.

12. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

I’ve actually read this one, and it’s very different from the books I normally reach for.

The story follows Theo, a mysterious older man who arrives in the small Southern town of Golden. He discovers a collection of portraits hanging in a coffee shop and starts buying them so he can return each painting to the person pictured.

Through this little project, Theo becomes connected to people throughout town and starts changing their lives through small acts of generosity and kindness.

Basically, it’s a warm hug in book form.

I liked it, although I wasn’t completely obsessed with it. What I found even more interesting was Allen Levi’s story of self-publishing the book and watching it slowly pick up enough steam to become this successful. If you’re curious about that side of the story, definitely check out his conversation on Oprah’s podcast.

11. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Yes. A book first published in 1847 is one of the most-read books on Goodreads in 2026.

While the rest of us are out here chasing every shiny new release, Emily Brontë has casually wandered back onto the bestseller pile almost 180 years later.

Wuthering Heights is the Gothic classic about Heathcliff and Catherine, two people connected by an extremely complicated relationship involving obsession, revenge, misery, and a spectacular lack of healthy communication.

Basically, it has all the ingredients of a modern romance, except everyone is colder and lives on the moors.

I haven’t read this one yet, but its renewed popularity appears to have gotten a major boost from the recent screen adaptation.

You’ll notice adaptations becoming a bit of a theme on this list.

10. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Goodreads, I tried.

I really did.

But I did not finish this one because I was so damn bored.

The premise should have been perfect for me: A father and his three children are the final caretakers of a remote island near Antarctica that houses a massive seed bank. Then a mysterious woman washes ashore during a storm.

She may be hiding the real reason she came to the island.

She discovers sabotaged radios.

There’s a freshly dug grave.

Clearly, this is not going to be a relaxing little island vacation.

We have isolation, family secrets, climate themes, survival, mystery, and a massive storm closing in. All things I should have loved.

And yet? Nope.

Obviously plenty of readers disagree with me because it still landed at No. 10.

I may be the problem here. I’m willing to accept that.

9. The Wedding People by Alison Espach

This is another one I’ve read, and the setup manages to be incredibly dark and strangely funny at the same time.

Phoebe arrives alone at a fancy hotel in Rhode Island planning to spend her final night there.

Unfortunately for her plans, she has also arrived smack in the middle of an elaborate week-long wedding celebration.

The bride initially sees Phoebe as a potential disaster who could ruin everything. Instead, the two women form an unexpected connection.

From there, the book becomes a story about loneliness, friendship, starting over, and what can happen when your life collides with someone else’s at exactly the right moment.

This one has stayed popular through book clubs and word of mouth, and I completely understand why. There’s a lot to talk about beyond simply, “Did you like it?”

For the record: I really liked it.

8. Heart the Lover by Lily King

Heart the Lover follows an unnamed narrator who becomes close with two young men, Sam and Yash, during her senior year of college.

Their relationship begins with books, intellectual conversations, inside jokes, and a complicated romantic dynamic. But those connections continue shaping her life long after college ends.

The story moves from the intensity of young love into middle age and explores how some of our earliest relationships stay with us even when our lives move in completely different directions.

It’s also connected to Lily King’s earlier novel Writers & Lovers.

I haven’t read this one yet, but I am intrigued.

7. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

An older Emily Henry book showing up this high in 2026?

Hello, movie adaptation.

People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy and Alex, two best friends who could not be more different.

Poppy loves adventure and travel.

Alex likes routines, books, and staying home.

So naturally, I am Alex.

For years, they take one summer vacation together—until something happens during one of those trips and they stop speaking entirely.

Two years later, Poppy convinces Alex to take one more vacation with her in hopes of repairing their friendship.

And because this is Emily Henry, naturally there are feelings.

We’ve got friends-to-lovers, forced proximity, travel disasters, years of romantic tension, and two people who could probably save themselves quite a bit of trouble by communicating.

I read this one a while ago and liked it, although it’s not my favorite Emily Henry.

The movie, however? Very cute.

6. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Now we’re heading to NASA.

Atmosphere takes place during the space shuttle program of the 1980s and follows Joan Goodwin, an astrophysics professor selected to train as an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

She joins a group of new candidates and finds friendship, ambition, and a love she never expected.

Then a 1984 space mission changes everything.

We’re dealing with historical fiction, romance, science, ambition, and—because this is Taylor Jenkins Reid—what I can only assume is emotional devastation.

Everyone says they cried.

Taylor Jenkins Reid does not invite us into one of her books so everybody can simply have a pleasant afternoon.

I’ve read several of her books but haven’t gotten to this one yet. It’s also, at this point in the year, the most-read historical fiction book in the Goodreads Challenge.

5. My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

This one grabbed me immediately.

And I’m already a big Alice Feeney fan, so listen to this setup.

Eden Fox goes for a run on the morning of her first major art exhibition. When she gets home, her key no longer works.

Then another woman answers the door.

And Eden’s husband claims that woman is his wife.

Excuse me?

One house. One husband. Two women.

Somebody is obviously lying.

The story also jumps back six months to Birdie, a reclusive woman who inherits the same house and discovers a mysterious clinic claiming it can predict the exact date someone will die.

I realize that last part makes the book sound like it takes a very weird turn, but somehow it works.

I really liked this one.

4. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

My boys!

Heated Rivalry is the second book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, although at this point, even if you don’t know the books, you probably know about the show.

The story follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two elite professional hockey players who are huge rivals in public and have a very different relationship behind closed doors.

What starts as a secret physical relationship develops over several years as they compete against each other professionally while trying to figure out what exactly they mean to each other personally.

The book originally came out in 2019, but the TV adaptation obviously sent readers racing back to the source material.

And apparently people didn’t just add it to their TBR.

They actually read it.

Imagine that.

Before watching the show, I tried listening to the first book in the series. The story was great, but I could not get past the audiobook narration.

So I said screw it and watched the show instead.

No regrets.

3. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

I listened to this one, and thankfully, the narrator did a great job.

The Correspondent gave me similar vibes to Theo of Golden: quiet, character-driven, thoughtful, emotional.

The entire book is told through letters and emails written by Sybil Van Antwerp.

She writes to family members, friends, authors, and people she’s met throughout her life. Through that correspondence, we slowly learn more about her relationships, regrets, and a painful part of her past that she has never fully confronted.

It’s a story about literature, forgiveness, and the ways we connect with people through writing.

The letter format did get a little boring for me at times, but I absolutely understand why this book has connected with so many readers.

2. Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

I liked this book so much that I bedazzled it.

Naturally, a brand-new Freida McFadden thriller was going to end up somewhere near the top of this list.

And let me say it now:

Debbie is my girl.

Behind The Housemaid, this might be my favorite Freida book.

Debbie Mullen has spent years giving practical advice to women through her newspaper column, Dear Debbie.

Meanwhile, Debbie’s own life is falling apart.

She loses her job.

Something strange is going on with her teenage daughters.

Her husband appears to be keeping secrets.

And after years of being the reasonable one, Debbie finally decides she is done.

She starts taking some of her own advice—and getting payback against the people she thinks deserve it.

This one is also available through Kindle Unlimited, which probably helped even more readers pick it up quickly.

At this point, Freida McFadden clearly knows what her readers want: short chapters, questionable people, escalating chaos, and at least one moment where you stop reading and think:

What the hell did I just read?

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

And the most-read book in the 2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge so far is…

Project Hail Mary.

Originally published in 2021, Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel has shot right back to the top as excitement around the Ryan Gosling movie adaptation brought a whole new wave of readers to the book.

The story follows Ryland Grace, who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of who he is, why he’s there, or what exactly he’s supposed to be doing.

He eventually realizes that he is the only surviving member of a desperate mission to save Earth from an extinction-level threat.

Small problem: He needs to recover his memories and figure out how to complete a mission he doesn’t remember agreeing to in the first place.

I haven’t read this one yet, and people will not stop telling me to listen to the audiobook.

Even readers who normally avoid science fiction—which is usually me—recommend it.

So apparently I need to give it a chance.

Andy Weir also wrote The Martian, so clearly the man enjoys abandoning people in space and watching them solve extremely stressful problems.

Respect.

What This List Says About What We’re Reading in 2026

The biggest surprise for me is how many of these books weren’t actually published this year.

A buzzy new release can obviously dominate our TBRs, but this list is a good reminder that books can come roaring back years—or apparently centuries—after publication.

And adaptations are doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

People We Meet on Vacation. Heated Rivalry. Project Hail Mary. Wuthering Heights.

Put a beloved book on a screen and suddenly everybody remembers they meant to read it.

As we move into the second half of the year, I’m already making predictions about what could show up on the final 2026 list. I’m calling some Off-Campus books, and I would not be surprised to see The Calamity Club make an appearance either.

But now I want to know:

How many of these 12 have you read?

Which book absolutely deserves its spot?

Which one would you kick off the list immediately?

And what book are you shocked didn’t make it?

Most importantly: What do you think will be one of the most-read books by the end of 2026?

I wasn’t planning to write a whole post about this one. Then Hayden died.

And after having just listened to this woman tell me her entire life story in her own voice, I couldn’t stop thinking about the book.

Then I found out Brian Hickerson was reportedly with her in South Carolina when she died... and that made me really angry.

Now, before I get into that, I want to say this because I’ve already seen conspiracy theories floating around online. I do not think somebody in Hollywood killed Hayden Panettiere to stop her from talking. I also am not saying Brian Hickerson killed her.

What I am saying is that after hearing Hayden talk about this relationship in her own words, I believe Brian was an incredibly destructive person in her life. And finding out he was apparently back in that life at the end made the entire book hit differently for me.

The Brian Hickerson part is hard to listen to now

Hayden talks about Brian a lot in the memoir, and what she describes is horrible.

There were arrests for domestic violence cases, and he went to jail. She talks about getting to the point where she was willing to cooperate with authorities and feeling like there finally needed to be consequences for what had happened.

So imagine listening to all of that, finishing the book, and then finding out they had apparently reconnected.

My immediate reaction was basically: NO.

Like, of all the people who could have been around this woman, why was this man back?

And yes, I know abusive relationships are complicated. People leave and go back. Trauma gets mixed up with love. Addiction, loneliness, familiarity, and all kinds of other things can make these relationships incredibly difficult to escape. I understand that.

But as someone who had just listened to Hayden describe what this relationship had done to her, it was still awful to hear. And knowing he was reportedly with her when she died makes those chapters really difficult to think about now.

Again, I’m not saying his presence proves he caused her death. It doesn’t. I’m talking about what Hayden herself says this relationship did to her over the years.

And Brian isn’t even the only person in this book who made me mad. Just wait until we get to her mother.

Addiction is a big part of this book

This memoir is really dark. Probably the biggest thread running through the whole thing is Hayden’s struggle with addiction.

She talks very openly about what happened after she had her daughter, Kaya.

She almost died giving birth. The birth itself was traumatic. Then she developed severe postpartum depression. And she talks about that feeling of looking at your life and thinking, “I have everything I’m supposed to want. Why am I not happy?”

She started drinking to cope, and then the addiction got worse. There was treatment, then relapse. Prescription drugs became part of the problem too.

She also talks about being given what she describes as a “happy pill” when she was a teenager because she needed to perk up for red-carpet interviews.

And when you hear all of this, the conspiracy theories around her death make even less sense to me. Hayden wasn’t hiding the fact that she had been struggling. She tells you, in detail. This battle had been going on for years.

Then I heard the Neutrogena story and got mad all over again

This story wasn’t one I remembered from the memoir itself. Hayden talked about it while promoting the book on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast.

She had been associated with Neutrogena for years. And millennials, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Those commercials were everywhere.

Then Hayden publicly talked about having postpartum depression. According to Hayden, the company moved toward ending the relationship, and a morality clause became part of the issue.

Excuse me?

A woman says she has postpartum depression and somehow that becomes the morality issue?

We constantly tell women to talk about this stuff. Speak up. Ask for help. Normalize postpartum depression. Make other women feel less alone. Then someone does exactly that, and there are professional consequences?

That really bothered me. She needed support. She didn’t need another reason to feel ashamed about what she was going through.

Her brother’s death clearly broke something in her

Hayden was incredibly close with her younger brother, Jansen. She talks about his struggles with drugs in the memoir and how worried she was about him.

I do want to make an important distinction here. His official cause of death was related to an enlarged heart and heart complications. He did not officially die from an overdose. But Hayden had been worried about his drug use before he died.

And losing him devastated her. You can feel that in the book. She talks about him almost like losing him meant losing part of herself.

Think about what was already going on in her life at that point. She was already dealing with addiction and trying to stay sober. Then she lost one of the people she loved most. She also carried a lot of guilt because she couldn’t save him.

That grief hangs over the later part of the memoir.

And then we need to talk about her childhood

Hayden started working when she was basically a baby. Her mom wasn’t just her mom. She was also heavily involved in managing Hayden’s career, and that boundary got really messy.

At one point, Hayden basically wanted her mother to just be her mother, which seems like a pretty normal thing for a kid to want.

But here is the story that made me stop and go, “Wait. WHAT?”

The baby teeth.

According to Hayden, her mother worked with a dentist to create a retainer with Hayden’s baby teeth so that losing her teeth wouldn’t interfere with her ability to keep working as a child actress.

I’m sorry. What?

I’m judging Mom. I’m also judging the dentist. Because who hears that idea and says, “Yep, sounds good. Let’s do it.”

There is this feeling throughout the book that Hayden’s ability to keep working was incredibly important from a very young age. And when you know everything that happened later, it’s hard not to look back at that childhood and wonder what growing up like that did to her.

Her “friend” who put her in some really disturbing situations

This was another part of the book where I kept thinking, “Where were the adults protecting her?”

Hayden describes trusting a woman whom she thought was a friend and protector. That woman would bring her into situations involving powerful or famous men without Hayden fully understanding what had been arranged or what was expected of her.

Basically, Hayden would figure out what was happening after she was already there.

One of those situations involved being put into bed with a famous singer-songwriter, who was British... and naked. Hayden realized what was going on and got herself out of there. She also talks about inappropriate behavior from other powerful men in Hollywood, although she chooses not to name everyone.

And this is another reason I don’t walk away from the book thinking there was some giant Hollywood conspiracy surrounding her death. My takeaway is much simpler.

Hayden was put into dangerous situations. People she trusted did not always protect her. Predatory behavior was normalized around her. And this pattern of having unhealthy people around her continued for years.

She doesn’t trash Wladimir Klitschko

This stood out to me.

Wladimir Klitschko is the father of Hayden’s daughter. Obviously, their relationship didn’t work out, and their daughter eventually lived primarily with him.

But Hayden does not spend this memoir tearing him apart. I didn’t finish those chapters thinking she hated him. The way she talks about him is very different from the way she talks about Brian.

It felt more like their circumstances were incredibly difficult. Hayden was struggling. He had his life in Europe and Ukraine. There was a lot going on.

But I didn’t walk away thinking, “Okay, he’s the villain.” And that contrast makes the Brian chapters stand out even more.

If you watched Nashville, you need to hear this part

I LOVED Nashville. Loved it.

Hayden played Juliette Barnes, and one of the wildest things in this memoir is hearing just how much Juliette’s storyline sometimes started to parallel Hayden’s actual life.

There were moments where the fictional character was struggling with something while Hayden herself was dealing with similar problems.

If you haven’t watched Nashville, I highly recommend it. And if you have watched it, the memoir adds a whole other layer to Hayden’s performance.

I never watched Heroes, so I can’t pretend I have some big personal connection to that show. But my kids had watched Remember the Titans the day before Hayden died.

That movie is a classic. And seeing her as this little girl in that movie, then knowing everything she would go through later, is incredibly sad.

So what did I think of the actual book?

I thought it was really good. But it is heavy.

Hayden is incredibly candid. She doesn’t make herself look perfect. She doesn’t clean up the addiction story and turn it into this neat inspirational ending.

She admits when she made bad decisions. She talks about shame, abuse, motherhood, Hollywood, her family, her relationships, and her addiction. And you really do feel like you are hearing Hayden’s version of Hayden instead of some tabloid version of her.

The difficult part now is that the whole book feels different because of what happened afterward.

Listen to the audiobook

If you’re going to read this book, I really recommend listening to it instead.

Hayden narrates it herself, and I already thought that was the best way to experience it before she died. Now I feel that even more strongly.

You hear where she laughs. You hear when she gets angry. You can hear when certain things are harder for her to talk about.

I finished this book before Hayden died. And what keeps sticking with me is how many times throughout her life she needed help.

• As a child.

• As a new mother dealing with postpartum depression.

• During addiction.

• During an abusive relationship.

• After losing her brother.

And she did ask for help. She went to treatment. She spoke publicly. She told people what she was dealing with. She wrote an entire memoir about it.

And somehow, she still ended up back around people and situations that, in my opinion, were terrible for her.

That is what I find so sad about this story.

I wish I were talking about this book 20 years from now. I wish Hayden were still here and this memoir was simply the story of everything she had survived. I wish she had another 40 or 50 years ahead of her.

But I am glad she got to tell her story herself. And if you’re going to experience it, listen to Hayden tell it in her own voice.

If you’ve read or listened to This Is Me: A Reckoning, what part of Hayden’s story surprised you the most? And what do you know her from most: Nashville, Heroes, Remember the Titans, or something else?

Hockey players. College athletes. Emotionally unavailable men with extremely complicated childhoods.

And we have BookTok to thank.

A few years ago, Hollywood probably would not have rushed to adapt a sports romance series. Now, the second a romance novel gets enough fan casts, dramatic reaction videos, and “this book ruined my life” reviews, there is likely an executive somewhere wondering how quickly they can turn it into a streaming series.

BookTok has accidentally become Hollywood’s favorite scouting department.

Why streaming services want romance readers

Studios are desperate for built-in audiences.

Superhero movies are not dominating quite like they once did. Original shows are regularly canceled after one season. Streaming services need viewers who are already invested enough to watch, post, rewatch, and argue passionately online.

Romance readers are perfect for that.

We reread books. We make playlists. We buy special editions. We create fan casts. We convince our friends to read entire series so we have someone to discuss them with.

By the time an adaptation gets announced, readers have already created half the marketing campaign.

The audience knows the characters. They have favorite scenes. They have very firm opinions about who should play the love interest. Some of them are prepared to riot over a casting decision involving a fictional hockey player.

That level of emotional investment is exactly what streaming services want.

The announcement that made it feel real for me

The moment this trend became especially exciting was when my favorite romance series, Liz Tomforde’s Windy City series, was officially announced for a television adaptation.

That feels huge.

A few years ago, I’m not sure Hollywood would have known what to do with a sports romance series like this. Now, sports romance is one of the hottest categories in publishing, and streaming platforms clearly want in.

We are getting hockey romance, college romance, queer romance, and enough emotionally damaged book boyfriends to keep television therapists employed indefinitely.

BookTok proves the audience is already waiting

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid is a perfect example of the kind of fandom Hollywood wants.

It developed a massive online following before an adaptation ever arrived. Readers were already creating videos, recommending the series, discussing the characters, and pulling new people into the fandom.

Then there is Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series.

It has everything a streaming service could want:

A huge existing audience. Recognizable characters. College drama. Sports romance. Built-in relationship storylines. And book-boyfriend energy that markets itself.

Garrett Graham has basically been internet famous for years without ever appearing on a screen.

That is the power of BookTok. The fandom exists before filming even begins.

Women-driven fandoms were never actually niche

The most interesting part of this trend is not simply that romance books are becoming more popular.

It is that Hollywood is finally recognizing how profitable women-driven fandoms can be.

Romance readers were treated like a niche audience for years, even though romance publishing has always been enormously successful.

Then BookTok made the fandom impossible to ignore.

Suddenly, studios could see the millions of views, viral recommendation videos, sold-out books, special editions, and entire bookstore displays dedicated to BookTok favorites.

The readers were always there. Social media simply made their influence visible.

At that point, the adaptations became inevitable.

Which adaptations are actually worth watching?

Of course, popularity does not guarantee that an adaptation will live up to the book.

Bridgerton helped prove that viewers would enthusiastically binge romance-focused television, although it is definitely one for adult audiences.

For something more teen-friendly, The Summer I Turned Pretty is one of the easiest places to start.

Red, White & Royal Blue became a comfort watch for plenty of romance readers.

And then there is It Ends With Us, which became one of the most discussed book adaptations online, for both good and bad reasons. It may have received a PG-13 rating, but I personally think its subject matter deserved a more cautious rating.

As for an adaptation that truly impressed me, The Housemaid absolutely delivered. I did not expect to enjoy the movie as much as I did, but it felt like an excellent book-to-screen adaptation.

The romance adaptation boom is just beginning

I think we are about to see a lot more romance adaptations, especially sports romance.

I am already ridiculously excited for Windy City and Lights Out, and I would be shocked if more hockey romance series were not announced soon.

The only remaining question is whether Hollywood can satisfy readers who have already spent years imagining exactly how these characters should look, sound, and kiss in the rain.

No pressure.

Watch the video to hear which adaptations I think are worth watching, which ones are appropriate for younger viewers, and why BookTok has become one of the most powerful forces in entertainment.

Then tell me: Which BookTok romance should be adapted next, and which adaptation actually lived up to the book?

And before you ask: Yes, I have a job. Yes, I have kids. And no, I’m not sacrificing sleep to dramatically turn pages under the covers until 3 a.m.

The secret is that I’m almost never reading just one book.

Right now, for example, I’m reading book five in Elsie Silver’s Chestnut Springs series while also reading a thriller called This Story Might Save Your Life.

Here’s exactly how my system works.

The physical book is for bedtime

Every night before bed, I read a physical book.

It’s my wind-down routine, my little ritual, and one of the few habits I’m genuinely consistent about. Right now, my physical book is the thriller.

But the second I’m doing something that requires my hands and not my full brain, an audiobook goes into my ears.

That includes:

Cooking. Driving. Doing my hair. Working out. Folding laundry. Shopping. Getting my nails done. Staring at a pile of clothes and wondering why five people live in my house.

Right now, my audiobook is the romance series.

The genres have to be completely different

This is the most important part of the entire system.

The physical book and audiobook cannot be the same genre.

I’ll pair a thriller with a romance, nonfiction with fantasy, or something dark and twisty with something funny and light.

Your brain needs to be able to instantly separate the two stories.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I tried listening to a psychological thriller while physically reading another psychological thriller.

Both had unreliable narrators. Both had twists. Both had suspicious people with secrets.

Four days later, I could no longer tell you which character belonged to which book. It was chaos.

Trust me. The different-genres rule is not optional.

And yes, audiobooks count

I know someone is already preparing to tell me that audiobooks aren’t “real reading.”

Audiobooks absolutely count. Full stop.

The story enters your brain. The emotions hit. The plot twists still destroy your afternoon. The only difference is the format.

I’ve gasped out loud in grocery stores. I’ve sat in my driveway for 10 extra minutes because I couldn’t stop listening. I’ve gotten questionable looks at the nail salon because Meghan Quinn’s narrators had me laughing to myself like a maniac.

That counts.

Once you start treating every commute, workout, grocery run, and load of laundry as a reading session, the books start stacking up surprisingly fast.

Audiobooks have even become one of my biggest workout motivators. I may not be excited to exercise, but I am very excited to find out what happens in the next chapter.

That’s how I went from reading around 20 books a year to 109.

A physical book before bed. An audiobook for everything else. And never the same genre at the same time.

It’s simple, but it works.

And if you’re trying to get into audiobooks, choosing the right one matters. Some books are fine in audio. Others have narrators who turn the entire experience into a full production.

I definitely have favorites.

Watch the full video to see what I’m currently reading and hear more about the audiobook rule that saved my sanity.

Before we get into everything that went wrong, consider this your official warning: Spoilers ahead for both the book and the television series.

Don’t wanna read? Click here and watch.

Why Did They Change the Title?

First, can somebody explain why the title changed from Every Summer After to Every Year After?

The original title was perfectly fine. Nobody was confused. Nothing needed fixing. Why are we changing things that are not broken?

The book already had a recognizable title, an established fan base, and plenty of attention online. Renaming the adaptation felt unnecessary before the show had even started.

Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of the changes.

The Casting Wasn’t Terrible

I will give the show credit where it is due because some of the casting was excellent.

Young Percy and present-day Percy look like the same person at different ages. The resemblance is almost creepy.

The casting of young Delilah and adult Delilah was equally convincing.

Then Elisha Cuthbert appeared as Sam’s mom. I’m sorry, what year is it? Seeing her was such a fun surprise for millennials, and I loved that a Canadian actress was appearing in a show set in Canada. That part felt right.

Now we need to discuss the crime committed against young Sam. Who approved that haircut? Young Sam deserved better.

Some of the Book Moments Worked

A few of the scenes pulled directly from the book were handled really well.

The horror movie scenes were perfect.

The anatomy book scene was perfect.

The ice cream cone scene was memorable, too, although it felt much more awkward and overdone on screen. I remembered the moment from the book, but the television version crossed the line into full-body cringe.

The setting also worked. The lakeside town looked almost exactly as I pictured it while reading. Full disclosure: Lakes gross me out. I do not know what is lurking underneath that water, and I do not wish to find out. Visually, though, it was lovely.

The tavern was great, and the scenery was beautiful.

The soundtrack may have been the strongest part of the entire series. The music choices were fantastic.

The Book Changes Started Losing Me

This is where the series began to fall apart for me.

It has been a few years since I read Every Summer After, so there may be details I am forgetting. However, I generally hate when adaptations make a long list of unnecessary changes.

The book became popular for a reason.

When a television adaptation starts rewriting characters, adding side plots, and changing major scenes, I always wonder why the creators did not simply make an entirely new show.

These were some of the changes I noticed within the first four episodes:

• Did Sam’s motel-owner best friend have a significant storyline?

• I do not remember Percy’s lawyer friend having this much going on.

• Charlie and Delilah hooking up... Was that a thing?

• I do not remember the girls breaking into Percy’s old house and getting caught.

• Did Percy get the Tavern in the book?

Even some of the major moments seemed different.

As I remembered it, Sam discovered Percy was back in town when he saw her at the restaurant. In the show, somebody runs over and spills the news beforehand.

That may sound like a small change, but these changes kept piling up until the story no longer felt like the book I remembered loving.

Then there is Delilah. Look, Delilah sucks in the book, and she sucks in the show.

At least they remained faithful to the source material there. Consistency matters.

Present-Day Charlie Was Not Working for Me

Let’s talk about present-day Charlie. He looks like somebody combined James Marsden and Scott Wolf, which is obviously great news for him.

I know people love Charlie. I have read One Golden Summer. I know his full story, and I loved his character in that book.

I understand that we are supposed to love him eventually. But in this show? He annoyed me.

Please do not come for me, but the whole arrogant act was not working. He came across as irritating rather than charming, and knowing that I was supposed to eventually root for him did not make the experience any easier.

The Acting Sometimes Felt Like a Soap Opera

I had also recently watched Off Campus, which may have contributed to my disappointment.

Perhaps I watched the two adaptations too close together.

Off Campus raised the bar for the acting, pacing, and chemistry. By comparison, parts of Every Year After felt like a soap opera.

Percy was the exception. I liked her performance. She gave me major Rachel McAdams in The Notebook vibes, which made sense for this kind of nostalgic, emotional summer romance.

She was one of the few reasons I made it as far as I did.

The Three Timelines Were Confusing

Another issue was the timeline.

The show moves between three different periods, and two of those timelines use the same actors.

Normally, that would not be a major problem. However, when the show constantly jumps through time, the visual differences need to be extremely clear.

There were moments when I could not tell whether we were in the past or the present.

Give me a different color palette.

Give me a dramatically different hairstyle.

Give me a giant flashing sign.

The series occasionally included labels, but the transitions were not consistently obvious enough for me.

To be fair, I was also bored, so perhaps I was not paying as close attention as I should have been.

Still, when viewers need to work that hard to figure out which year they are watching, something is not clicking.

Sam’s Behavior Still Makes No Sense

Finally, we need to revisit something that annoyed me in the book and somehow annoyed me even more in the show.

Sam, buddy. Make it make sense. You do not want Percy to be your girlfriend, but you also do not want her to date anybody else.

What exactly is your plan here? That is not how relationships work. That is not how any of this works.

Watching this dynamic play out on screen made it even more frustrating because the indecision and jealousy felt more obvious and more irritating.

Why I Stopped Watching Every Year After

Initially, I thought I would finish the season because I had already made it halfway through.

Then I realized continuing would require approximately four more hours of my life.

That is four hours of precious reading time. That is four hours I could spend watching a new series I actually enjoy. So I gave up.

I know what happens, or at least I think I know what happens based on the book. I have also heard that the series makes even more changes later.

Maybe I will eventually finish it. Maybe.

For now, I am going back to books.

Have you watched Every Year After on Amazon Prime? Did you love the adaptation, or were you disappointed by the changes? Tell me in the comments because I need to know whether I am alone on this.

You were right.

I did not want to read this book. It was not because I thought it sounded bad. I just had a couple of concerns.

First, The Calamity Club is the kind of giant general-fiction book that BookTok and Bookstagram tend to lose their minds over. Historically, when everyone online tells me a general-fiction book is going to change my life, I read it and think, “Eh.”

I am primarily a thriller and romance reader. I like murder, obsession, kissing, and betrayal, preferably with several of those things happening at the same time.

So, when a massive historical-fiction novel starts getting hyped everywhere, I become suspicious.

My second concern was the size. This book is ginormous. Then I looked at the audiobook length.

Twenty-eight hours.

I posted about it on Instagram, and my comments became one long intervention. Everyone told me the same thing:

“You have to read it, and you need to listen to it on audio.”

Eventually, I gave in.

Now I understand.

I gave The Calamity Club five stars, and I loved it so much more than I expected to.

What Is The Calamity Club About?

The Calamity Club is written by Kathryn Stockett, the author of The Help. It is set in Oxford, Mississippi, during the Great Depression.

The story follows several women whose connections are not immediately clear.

Meg Lefleur is an 11-year-old girl living in an orphanage after being abandoned by her mother.

Birdie Calhoun arrives in Oxford hoping her wealthy sister can help the struggling family Birdie left behind.

We later meet Charlie, another woman who is running out of options and has very little left to lose.

At the beginning, we do not know how these characters connect.

The book opens with a glimpse of Birdie in the future, but we have no idea what happened to get her there. Then we meet Meg. Charlie enters the story later, leaving us to wonder how she fits into everything.

That mystery was one of the first things that hooked me.

The moment Birdie and Charlie crossed paths, and I began to understand how these separate stories might come together, I was fully invested.

I needed to know how Meg fit into the plan, what would happen to Birdie, how Charlie would change things, and how this growing group of hilarious but troubled women would become involved in the same wild scheme.

Does The Calamity Club Feel as Long as It Looks?

Yes, this is a long book. There is no pretending otherwise.

However, it never felt slow to me, which is surprising because I often struggle with the pacing of historical fiction and general fiction.

Once the characters began coming together, the story felt like a page-turner.

Even though I listened to the audiobook, I was constantly looking for excuses to return to it. I wanted to know what these women were going to do next.

After a while, I stopped thinking about the 28-hour runtime entirely.

Why The Calamity Club Audiobook Is So Good

The audiobook narration is a huge reason this reading experience worked so well for me.

It is narrated by Jenna Lamia and January LaVoy. Lamia performs Meg’s chapters, while LaVoy voices Birdie and much of the supporting cast.

Both narrators do an excellent job, but January LaVoy’s performance is incredible. There are a lot of characters in this story, yet they never become difficult to distinguish. Each woman has her own personality, voice, timing, and energy.

And Flossy on audio? Flossy may be my favorite character entirely because of the way LaVoy performs her.

She is blunt, rough around the edges, and completely uninterested in appearing polished or proper. Every time she opened her mouth, I cracked up.

The narration got into my head so much that I started speaking with a Southern accent and pulling a Mrs. Tartt by saying, “I declare,” whenever something surprised me.

The Characters Are the Best Part

The characters are easily the biggest strength of The Calamity Club.

It is difficult to choose a favorite because so many of them are memorable.

There are characters you will immediately love and characters you will absolutely hate. Two in particular are especially unpleasant, and there is one woman you may actively wish a tortured death upon.

I will not tell you who because this is a spoiler-free review. Trust me, though. You will know. The second she appears, you will know.

Most of the women, however, are incredibly easy to root for.

Birdie and Charlie are complete badasses. They are living in 1930s Mississippi, where the laws and social rules are especially restrictive for women.

When they begin pushing back against those rules, you are completely on their side. You do not care whether their actions are technically legal. You are sitting there thinking, “Actually, break more laws.”

Then there is Mrs. Tartt. When you first meet this wealthy, sophisticated woman, you may immediately assume you will dislike her. She feels like the type of character who should be irritating.

By the end, though? That is your girl. You will be defending Mrs. Tartt.

The Women Who Make the Story So Funny

We also need to discuss the sex workers.

I love these women more than I loved Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Once this group of women begins living together and constantly interacting, the book becomes incredibly funny.

They are messy, honest, unpredictable, and willing to say the things women were absolutely not supposed to say in 1930s Mississippi. Because they all have such different personalities, every conversation feels unexpected.

I laughed out loud multiple times, which surprised me because the book is also dealing with poverty, abandonment, exploitation, sexism, corruption, and the harsh realities of the Depression.

That is a difficult balance to pull off. The humor never makes the serious parts feel unimportant. At the same time, the darker parts never completely smother the humor.

The book remains entertaining while still having something meaningful to say.

The Book’s Themes Still Feel Relevant

The balance of humor and heavier subject matter is where I see the biggest similarity between The Calamity Club and The Help.

Both stories examine unfair systems and uncomfortable realities through characters who are funny, complicated, and memorable. The interactions between the characters provide moments of relief, even when the larger situation is infuriating.

There are definitely parts of The Calamity Club that will make you angry.

Although the story is set in the 1930s, many of its themes do not feel disconnected from the present.

Men and women can make the same choice or participate in the same situation, yet the woman is still more likely to be shamed, blamed, or punished.

Another frustrating part of the story is watching women fight against their own rights. Some women actively defend rules and systems that hurt them, which is something we continue to see in real life.

Kathryn Stockett shows how harmful systems survive because people are taught to defend them, including the people who are being harmed.

The social commentary is clear, but the book never begins to feel like a lecture.

You are still following the women’s chaotic plan. You are still laughing at Flossy, rooting for Birdie and Charlie, and waiting to learn how Meg’s story connects with everyone else.

The Depression-Era Mississippi Setting

Kathryn Stockett paints such a detailed picture of Depression-era Mississippi that I could visualize everything.

The houses, streets, clothing, social expectations, and enormous divide between wealthy residents and struggling families all felt vivid.

After learning that Stockett is from Jackson, Mississippi, the specificity of the setting made even more sense.

This praise is coming from someone who is rarely drawn to historical fiction. I do not usually see a book set in the 1930s and start sprinting toward it. However, the setting, characters, pacing, and narration completely pulled me in.

What I Disliked About The Calamity Club

Honestly, I cannot give you a list. Everything worked for me.

The length stopped bothering me once I became invested. The large cast never felt confusing because the audiobook narrators made the characters so distinct.

This was one of those rare reading experiences where I finished the book and thought:

“No notes.”

If I had to force myself to give one, I wish it would’ve ended with a big bow. We’re left to assume that it was a happily ever after for everyone.

Who Should Read The Calamity Club?

Anyone.

I am a thriller and romance lover, and I gave this book five stars.

You do not need to be a dedicated historical-fiction reader. You do not need to be someone who normally reads giant literary novels.

You simply need to enjoy:

• Strong, complicated female characters

• Found family

• Humor mixed with serious subject matter

• Social commentary

• Historical settings

• Stories about underestimated people who have finally had enough

Most importantly, I am going to repeat the same advice everyone gave me:

Listen to the audiobook.

The accents, comedic timing, different voices, and especially January LaVoy’s performance add so much personality to the experience.

Twenty-eight hours sounds intimidating. I know because I had the same reaction.

Once these characters began coming together, though, I stopped thinking about the length.

Please read it, or better yet, listen to it, because I need more people to talk to about Flossy, Birdie, Charlie, Mrs. Tartt, and this entire group of chaotic women.

When you finish, tell me which character was your favorite... and why was it Flossie, Birdie, Charlie, or Mrs. Tartt?

And I have to say something that may get me yelled at online:

This book is weird.

It is also kind of boring.

Let’s discuss.

What is Yesteryear about?

The book follows Natalie, a tradwife influencer who has built an audience around her perfectly aesthetic, God-honoring domestic fantasy.

She bakes sourdough.

She submits to her husband.

She makes traditional womanhood look soft, beautiful, and sponsored by natural lighting.

You will probably hate her immediately. I did. (Until she started calling other women cunts, apologizing to God for it, then doubling down on name-calling. Those parts were pretty funny.)

Then Natalie wakes up in 1855.

There is no electricity, no running water, and, most devastatingly for her, no Instagram.

There is only brutal manual labor and the actual reality of the premodern life she had been pretending to live for her followers.

On paper, this premise is fantastic.

The book explores performative faith, femininity, influencer culture, authenticity, and the difference between faking a lifestyle for cameras and actually living it.

And to be fair, parts of it really work.

The satire can be hilarious

Like I said, some of my favorite moments happen when Natalie has a judgmental or selfish thought, then immediately apologizes to God inside her head, but wait — she really meant it, though.

Those parts made me laugh out loud.

They also expose how much of her online identity is a performance. She knows exactly what to say, how to behave, and what version of herself will receive the most praise.

We have all seen people do this online. (You’re not fooling anyone.)

The call is coming from inside the perfectly decorated farmhouse.

But the story started to drift

The book jumps between Natalie’s present-day influencer life, her past, and the time she spends trapped in 1855.

Instead of building tension, those timelines began to feel like they were floating alongside one another.

The 1855 sections became repetitive. I understood the point fairly early, but the book kept making it.

Yes, Natalie has romanticized a life that was actually difficult, dangerous, and exhausting.

Yes, her online persona was largely a spectacle.

Yes, living without indoor plumbing is less charming when you are the one carrying the water.

I got it.

And then we kept going.

We also need to discuss the husband

Actually, no. Let’s not.

He is clearly supposed to represent the idealized traditional husband Natalie promotes online.

Unfortunately, he also completely sucks.

You will not like him either.

By a certain point, I could no longer decide which one of them was more unhinged.

Everybody needed therapy, Wi-Fi, and perhaps a group chat with some brutally honest friends.

The author’s TikTok history makes it even more interesting

While I was posting about the book on Instagram, someone told me the author previously made TikToks about tradwife influencers.

Naturally, I immediately went looking.

Apparently, many of those videos have since been deleted.

Only three videos were still there, and I would have loved to see the older ones. That context makes the book even more interesting because the satire feels connected to a much larger cultural conversation.

Tradwife aesthetics, curated faith, online femininity, and influencer authenticity are all hot-button topics right now.

That timing is almost certainly part of why the book has become such an obsession.

I have even seen Christian creators complain about how the book portrays Christianity.

And I am sitting there thinking: Girl, you are so close to getting it.

I was bored, but I also had a book hangover

Here is the confusing part.

I was not especially entertained while reading this book. (I listened, actually.)

By the end, I barely cared about the time travel or its explanation.

But I could not stop thinking about it afterward.

That counts for something.

The concept is strong. The cultural commentary is timely. The satire occasionally has flashes of brilliance. It gave me plenty to think about, even when the actual reading experience dragged. (But the narrator was fabulous.)

So, was it bad?

No.

Did I love it?

Also no.

The concept did a lot of the heavy lifting.

My rating:

The concept: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The execution: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Did you love it? Hate it? Spend the entire book wondering how Natalie would survive without a ring light?

And if you were deeply offended by the religious commentary while having a Bible verse in your bio, you may want to move along.

Or perhaps this book is exactly what you need to read.

I kept saying I wanted to read more, but I also kept telling myself I didn’t have enough time.

Then I would pick up my phone “for one second,” open Instagram or TikTok out of habit, and suddenly 30 minutes were gone.

Sometimes more.

The worst part? I wasn’t even having fun the entire time. I wasn’t watching something I had been excited to see. I wasn’t learning anything especially useful. Half the time, I wasn’t even choosing what I was looking at.

The algorithm was choosing for me, and I was just… scrolling.

Then I’d look up and wonder how I had ended up watching a stranger explain a topic I didn’t care about on an app I had opened for absolutely no reason.

So I decided to test something simple:

What would happen if I swapped some of my screen time for reading time?

Nothing extreme. I’m not deleting every app, throwing my phone into the ocean, or becoming one of those people who wakes up at 5 a.m. to read classic literature by candlelight.

That is not my journey.

I just wanted to make reading easier to choose than scrolling.

Because I don’t think the problem is that I don’t want to read. I always want to read.

The problem is that my phone is right there, and my book usually isn’t.

My Ridiculously Simple Reading Experiment

The first thing I did was make my current book impossible to ignore.

I stopped leaving it tucked away on a shelf, buried in a tote bag I forgot existed, or sitting on my nightstand where I only see it right before bed.

Now, my book travels around the house with me.

Apparently, I need to be reminded that reading is an option throughout the day. I can somehow remember to check the same app 27 times, but I will genuinely forget that I’m halfway through a book I’m enjoying.

So here’s the swap:

Whenever I catch myself reaching for my phone out of habit, I pause and ask:

Do I actually want to be on my phone right now, or am I just bored?

If I’m just bored, I read one page.

Only one.

“Read for an hour” feels like a commitment. “Read one page” feels almost too easy to refuse.

And, of course, once I read one page, I usually read another.

That’s the trick.

Scrolling Steals Time Quietly

I never pick up my phone and consciously think:

I would now like to donate the next 42 minutes of my life to random content I will not remember.

It just happens.

I check one thing, then another, and suddenly I’m deep into a video from someone I don’t follow about a topic I don’t care about.

Reading feels different.

Time slows down in a good way. I’m aware of what I’m doing. My attention settles. My mood changes.

Scrolling often leaves me feeling restless, followed by the annoying realization that I just wasted a chunk of time.

Reading feels productive, even when I’m reading something completely ridiculous, dramatic, spicy, or filled with fictional people making terrible decisions.

Especially then, honestly.

The Book Version of Carrying a Stanley

This reminded me of drinking water.

If my Stanley is next to me all day, I’ll drink two of those babies without thinking about it.

If my water is nowhere nearby, I will apparently decide hydration is tomorrow’s problem.

The same thing is happening with my book.

When I can see it, I remember to pick it up.

That visible reminder interrupts the habit before I automatically unlock my phone. I see the book and think:

Oh yeah. I’m reading that.

That tiny interruption is doing more for me than repeatedly telling myself to have better discipline.

Discipline is unreliable.

Making the better option easier actually works.

By the end of this little experiment, I did not magically become a person who never scrolls. I still like my phone. I still like social media. Hello, that’s probably how we found each other.

But my screen time went down, and I read more than I usually would have.

Not because I forced myself into an intense reading challenge.

Because I made reading visible.

It’s the same rule closet organizers use: If you can’t see it, you forget you own it.

Apparently, that also applies to books.

So my current read is now traveling around the house with me. And the next time I reach for my phone because I’m bored, distracted, or following a habit I barely notice anymore, I’m going to read one page first.

One page is small.

But it’s still more reading than I would have done while scrolling.

Are you trying this with me? Hit reply and tell me where you’re going to keep your current read so you actually remember it exists. And send me any reading habits I should stack onto this one, because reading habits are basically my love language.

This is it. The last podcast of season one.

When will season two be back?

I don’t know, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m obsessed with the people I chatted with these past few months.

So… here we go!

How do two besties go from reading thrillers to running a viral romance book club?

This week on Shelf Made Stories, I chat with the hilarious duo behind Two Bookends, the creators of that viral football-smut-announcer video (yes, that one with over 9M views on TikTok).

But there’s so much more to their story, from book recs and bloopers to building an authentic, monetized community around their love of reading.

We dive into:

📈 How they went viral more than once

📚 Why they started their romance book club and how it makes money

💡 The slow, intentional way they’ve monetized without selling out

🛑 The boundaries they’ve set around brand deals & family life

🎥 Behind the scenes of content creation, bloopers, and mom rants

❤️ Their favorite reads (hello, Jennifer Hartman & TL Swan)

Plus, what it’s really like filming with your best friend, how they schedule content as full-time working moms, and their top advice for starting a Bookstagram or BookTok that actually grows.

We also talk tons of romance book recommendations!

Click here to find the podcast in your podcast app.

You can also watch on YouTube here.

I have a bit of a book hangover… and it’s Karin Slaughter’s fault. We Are All Guilty Here is heavy. It’s so much more than a thriller, and I’m disturbed.

Click here to watch my daughter walk in on my book review post chapter eight.

Since last week, I have also finished listening to The Nanny. It’s a cute theme about an OF “cam girl” and single dad whose paths cross after they “meet” on the app. The smut is smutting in this one.

Now, I’m listening to Flock, recommended by Jenn and Kristi from Two Bookends mentioned above. The Goodreads description doesn’t tell me shit, so I’m going into this one blind.

I’m also starting The Locked Ward, per The Creepy Book Club. I’ve liked everything by this author, Sarah Pekkanen, so I’m sure this will be a great thriller. And, she’ll be at the retreat in February!

I think I’ve written myself out of the corner I wrote myself into recently.

So much for outlining the second half of the book! Looks like I need to come up with some more ideas.

I’m also kinda over this book… and I’m not even done writing it. I wonder if that’s normal — to be ready to be done with it after working on it for six months.

Speaking of six months, that makes me feel like I should be further along, but I am not on any schedule. I just write when I want.

But remember how I told you I wanted to finish by the time I go to Shine Away in October? Yeah… good luck with that one, Christina.

So, who knows if I’ll have a newsletter for you next week, or the week after.

The podcast is on pause since season one is wrapped.

I can post my reading and writing updates as notes and on social media.

So… goodbye (for now). I think?

After seeing fellow book lovers frolicking at book retreats on Instagram for years, I’ve decided I’m going to make it to one.

The first one I bought a ticket to is The Creepy Book Retreat in February, so it’s only natural that I brought the founders on my podcast.

What started as a casual Facebook group during the pandemic has grown into a thriving online community, complete with sold-out retreats, book boxes, author chats, and even a true crime podcast.

Ashley and Emily, co-founders of The Creepy Book Club, share how a single thriller reignited their love of reading and sparked the idea for the club.

We talk about building a business from scratch, staying connected to the fun, and the behind-the-scenes work it takes to grow a bookish brand that truly puts community first.

You’ll hear:

• How they went from five people on Zoom to 250+ retreat attendees

• What it’s really like planning and running events for book lovers

• Why true crime became part of the mix (even when it’s a little scary)

• How their friendship fuels the business and keeps things fun

• Tips for anyone dreaming of starting a book-related business

This is for you if you’re a fan of thrillers, a book club regular, curious how a hobby turns into a heartfelt business, or just want some creepy book recommendations.

To listen to the podcast, find Shelf Made Stories in your podcast app or click here to watch it on YouTube.

📚 I just finished Great Big Beautiful Life by .

It gave me Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes in the best possible way.

If you liked that one, you’ll love this book.

The way the two stories came together? Masterful. Seriously.

You can watch my review here.

🎧 I also just finished listening to Count My Lies by and loved it.

What an ending!

Here’s my review for that one.

If I didn’t tell you my thoughts on Jill Is Not Happy, here they are.

🎧 I’m currently listening to a smutty one called The Nanny by and it’s a fun one so far!

📚 Next up, I’m reading We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter for a book club I’m in called Brady and Rosie's Book Talk.

Oh jeez. Have the wheels fallen off?

So, I just decided to switch something up halfway through my novel… and now I’m stuck.

I want readers to believe one thing, while another thing is going on, but what those two things are — I have no idea right now 🤦🏻‍♀️

My creativity is lacking here when it comes to making a thriller, a psychological thriller, so I’m going to need to figure out how to think up some ideas.

If you want to get some free books, here are some tips that took me way too long too learn about.

And if you need another book recommendation, Everyone Is Lying To You is so fun!

If you’re a book lover, chances are you’ve heard Julia Whelan’s voice… and probably more than once.

She’s narrated over 700 audiobooks, from Gone Girl to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and has been dubbed everything from “the Meryl Streep of audiobooks” to “the Adele of audiobooks.”

Julia is the founder of Audiobrary, a new audio publishing platform reinventing how creatives are compensated.

Her debut novel, My Oxford Year, has been adapted into a Netflix film, and her latest, Thank You For Listening, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, Audible, and NPR.

In this podcast episode of Shelf Made Stories, Julia talks about:

• How she went from child actor to one of the most beloved narrators in publishing

• Why recording steamy romance scenes isn’t as awkward as you think

• The surprising freedom narrators get compared to on-camera acting
  Founding Audiobrary, her publishing company designed to give narrators royalties and authors a bigger cut

• Writing her own novels

• Her best advice for aspiring narrators and anyone trying to break into the book world

Julia is not only a voice we know and love, but also a fierce advocate for creatives getting the recognition and compensation they deserve.

Find Shelf Made Stories on your podcast app or by tapping here.

Because I’m going to the Creepy Book Club retreat in February, I’m catching up on some authors that will be there, so I just finished Jill Is Not Happy by Kaira Rouda.

This was my first one by her… and I love a crazy woman in a thriller, but the ending wasn’t it for me.

Everyone Is Lying To You was so fun. Murder and influencers?! Um, yes !

Tap here to see my review.

Now, I’m finally getting to Great Big Beautiful Life by .

At the start, I’m getting The Seven Lives of Evelyn Hugo vibes, and I’m loving it so far.

I’m also really into Count My Lies by Sophie Stava and am excited to see where this is going.

Did I tell you I’m about halfway done?

Well, I haven’t done much in the past week, so I guess I’m telling you again.

But look… proof!

My goal is to be done by the time I go to Shine Away in Los Angeles on October 9th… so in a month.

Let’s do the math…

Writing five days a week, that’s about 1,700 words a day.

Ummm, maybe I shouldn’t have been slacking these past few months.

I was a little reading machine in August.

Tap here to see me review 13 books in less than 90 seconds.

And if you want to see how I read so many books, I spill the beans here.

What happens when a book-loving mom of two runs out of reading material on vacation? If you’re Kelly Vann, you open a bookstore.

I chatted with Kelly, founder of Lit Actually, a romance and fantasy bookshop tucked inside Olive’s Eatery in Baldwinsville, NY.

She walks me through her journey from idea to grand opening in just six months… while working full-time in marketing, raising two kids, and figuring it out as she goes.

From pop-ups and cheeky bookmarks to navigating diversity and community, Kelly spills it all in this episode, including:

• How Kelly took Lit Actually from idea to reality in half a year

• Why she chose a romance/fantasy niche (and why it’s working)

• Tips for planning pop-ups and choosing profitable merch

• The surprising bestseller flying off the shelves (spoiler: it’s NSFW)

• How she's balancing full-time work, family, and small business life

• Her current and all-time fave book recs (dark romance fans, tune in)

Find this interview with Kelly from Lit Actually on your favorite podcast app at ShelfMadeStories.com.

This week, I finished Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, She Didn’t See it Coming by Shari Lapena, and The Incredible Kindness of Paper by .

Watch my review of Behind Closed Doors here.

Watch my review of She Didn’t See it Coming here.

The Incredible Kindness of Paper was nothing like the two above. I would describe it as adorable… and those two thrillers would be described as disturbing.

I just started listening to It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (because I see this book everywhere and had FOMO), and I started reading Everyone is Lying to You by , because again, it’s everywhere, I’m a sucker for the cover (because I’m so shallow I judge books by their covers), and the description sounds fire.

I have finally gone back to the first half of my book to not give something away in chapter one, and instead let the reader find out right before the end point.

This also changes the trajectory of the book because a character finds this thing out at the same time as the reader. (Shout out to Megan Collins, my writing mentor, for this suggested edit.)

So, now I’m at the midpoint, which by Save the Cat! standards means I can’t sleep on this. It’s gotta be good. (No pressure.)

Oh, and I’m finishing up my first audiobook narration this week!

Okay, you know I post bookish stuff on social media at @christinaallday… but sometimes I also torture my husband.

Here’s some fun that’ll give you a laugh today.

Can we take a moment to thank the powers that be who give us audiobooks?

The amount of reading I’m doing because of audio is wild.

It’s motivating me to lift weights more. Let me explain.

I have a Tonal, and instead of listening to the coach on the screen, I’m watching the training and listening to my audiobook.

So, thanks for making me strong audiobooks!

Did you want more smut… or just a reminder that your wildest bookish dreams could actually be a business?

In this episode, I’m joined by Alexa Sierra — co-founder of Nashville Smut, the spicy book club turned viral brand that’s rewriting the rules of community, merch, and female friendship.

What started as a Facebook group between two childhood besties has exploded into:
🔥 Packed in-person meetups
🔥 A sold-out indie book festival
🔥 And merch that keeps breaking the internet

We get into:
✔️ The messy, magical origin story of Nashville Smut
✔️ Growing a brand with $0 and zero social media experience
✔️ Event chaos, merch that sells, and what actually goes viral
✔️ All the smutty book recs you could ever want

Whether you're a romance reader, community builder, or side hustle dreamer, this episode is your permission slip to go big, get weird, and make something unforgettable.

🎧 Press play on Shelf Made Stories in your podcast app, or if you like to watch podcasts, it’s on YouTube too.

You’ll leave inspired (and maybe a little turned on 😉).

I had an amazing call with my writing mentor last week, Megan Collins.

So many changes are coming to my book… and that means even more work.

This book-writing thing isn’t as easy as I thought.

I need to move a reveal I was quick to share at the beginning to later, so there’s a lot of editing there.

I’m learning that I’m about to lose a lot of words making this change.

I’m also trying to plan more twists and more misdirections.

Ya know — stuff I like to see when I’m reading a thriller.

Oh, and this is writing, but I’m over halfway done recording my first audiobook.

Again, it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Let me know if you want to hear more about this process, too!

Why is it so hard for me to get on the B.A. Paris train with y’all?

First, The Guest was boring for me.

So, everyone said to read Behind Closed Doors. That’s the one that’ll turn me around.

Well, I’m halfway through… and I’m not turned around. Here’s why.

I read The Last Mrs. Parrish (and I loved it).

Then I read The Housemaid (and I liked it).

Again, I’m only halfway through… but is this not the same book — again?!

Now, some books I liked…

Lights Out and Caught Up is a series I just finished.

I posted my review on social media, but the TL;DR (or watch) is that this is the perfect gateway drug into dark romance.

I’m a fan. (And the audio is 🔥)

Nicely done, Navessa Allen.

My thoughts on the latest non-fiction I read, The Many Lives of Mama Love, are here.

I normally do NOT read books like this because they piss me off.

Watch the video to see why.

Oh, and before I go… one more thing.

The TikTok shop made me buy this. (I know, it’s a problem.)

The brand gave me a code for YOU to get 15% off.

It’s the best and last travel outfit you’ll ever need to buy… and I can’t wait until my next flight to go into my little cocoon.

Breaking News: I have died dead.

Cause: Taylor Swift + hot boyfriend podcast + surprise album announcement. Bury me in orange sequins and a cardigan ☠️

Okay, I had to give Mother some acknowledgement.

Now, moving on to more bookish things…

A whole weekend with nothing on your plate except reading, relaxing, and connecting with fellow book lovers. No chores. No to-do lists. No interruptions.

That’s the vision Mallory Anderko brought to life when she created Bookcation. It’s part cozy getaway, part book club, part soul recharge.

In this week’s episode, Mallory and I talk about:

• The Emily Henry novel that ended her decade-long fiction drought

• The Instagram meme that planted the seed for Bookcation

• Her first small retreat in an Airbnb (and what she learned)

• The leap to a public event at the Grand Geneva Resort

• The unexpected hiccups... and the hilarious moments along the way

• How she’s taking Bookcation national in 2026

• Her best advice for starting your own “bookish” business

Whether you’re a lifelong reader or just dusting off your TBR, Mallory’s story is proof that it’s never too late to bring your passion to life and invite others along for the ride.

Click here to find Shelf Made Stories in your podcast app.

Holy smokes, I’m halfway done. This has re-energized me a bit.

I already went back to my early chapters and highlighted some things that I want to reveal later, and not let the reader in on too soon.

Remember, this is a mystery and I gotta make ya think!

I just finished a thriller, and I was so blown away by the genius in the mystery, reveals, tells, and twists — which leads me to…

In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead has me wanting to step up my game.

The way she developed so many characters with backstories that she slowly let us in on as the book went on is a masterclass in writing a whodunit.

I DM’d her on Instagram to ask “how in the world did you do that,” and she said she used a “murder board.” I need a picture of this murder board.

I’m going to chat with her at the Creepy Book Club retreat because it’s impressive!

I also finished Sponsor Magnet by Justin Moore. Reading a non-fiction book has been long overdue.

I just started The Many Lives of Mama Love by (I’m already hooked on this memoir) and The Guest by BA Paris. It’s starting off a tad slow, but I’ve heard great things about this author, and this is my first one by her.

She’s also going to be at the retreat, so I’m catching up on all the authors!

It’s only fitting that we end with TS12, don’t you think?

Check out my The Life of a Showgirl bookstack here.

Well... I went and added audiobook narrator to my resume.

After having on my podcast (shoutout to the power of good conversations), I basically just did exactly what she said to do.

Step by step. No overthinking. No "who am I to try this?"

I made a demo. Someone listened.

And then... they hired me.

Moral of the story? Try the thing.

Even if it feels random or new or out of left field. You never know who’s listening.

​Here’s a link to the episode on Apple Podcasts.

​She’s Selling Books in Someone Else’s Store

What if you could run a bookstore without actually owning a storefront?

In this episode, we chat with Alicia Boemi, the founder of Lakeside Books in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

It’s a charming indie bookstore that lives inside another store and rolls around town in a tricked-out trailer.

Yep, she’s running two bookstores in one… without the overhead of a full brick-and-mortar.

We talk about:

• How Alicia landed a “shop within a shop” and why she doesn’t even have to staff it

• Why she launched her business with a bookmobile first and how it totally paid off

• The reality of inventory headaches, damaged books, and sticker bestsellers

• What it’s like hauling a mobile bookstore around town with your husband and a Jeep

• Her tips for book-loving entrepreneurs who want to test the waters without diving all the way in

This episode will leave you inspired and maybe even Googling “cute trailers for sale.”

Click here to find the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Click here to watch it on YouTube.

I’m about halfway done with my book.

Something big needs to happen at the midpoint, and I’m still playing with some ideas in my head.

Hitting the middle has given me a burst of energy to finish the damn thing.

Now, here’s a question for my writers and authors on Substack… should I start querying now or wait until I’m done?

Note: I don’t write messy. I like my first draft to be in tip-top shape.

Oh, friends… I have entered my dark romance era, and I am here for it.

Here are my thoughts on Lights Out by Navessa Allen.

I’m also currently reading We Were Never Here by . I know, I know. I’m way behind on this pick.

It is sooooo good. I love a book with a crazy lady. (It reminds me of someone I went to high school with. She was pathological!)

Next on my list: The Incredible Kindness of Paper by .

If you missed my unboxing of her gorgeous book box, click here.

I jumped on this one-foot-squat trend thing, but I missed the memo where it's way easier in heels. Oops! ​

Click here to see the bookish version.

If you missed it in my other newsletter, I gotta tell ya here…

The trickiest thing in marketing is figuring out why someone actually buys something.

Sure, you can dive into your Google Analytics dashboard, click through some UTM links, and feel very data-driven and powerful.

Maybe you even track conversions with military precision. Love that for you.

But, not everything can be tracked.

For example, my pink-powered book purchase 🎀

I thought I was over the fake dating trope in my romance novels (even though, let’s be real, they’re always amazing). So I skimmed the description of Summer in the City and went, “meh.”

But then I kept seeing the author, Alex Aster, pop up on social media. Doing the cutest stuff. Wearing adorable outfits. Giving off full-on Elle Woods energy in the best way.

At one point, I’m pretty sure I saw her outside a hot pink food truck.

The next thing I knew? I bought the book.

Not because of the plot. Not because of a retargeting ad. But because the PR was vibes.

Unless I told her, the author would never know. Her publisher will definitely never know.

I literally bought a book because the author was wearing the perfect pink outfits on her book tour!

And then, to really commit, I bedazzled the book. (It’s giving ✨brand loyalty✨.)

In this episode, we’re diving into the heart of Bookstagram with Kristen Cioffi—aka Kray’s Book Club.

If you've ever wondered how to grow an authentic, engaged community online without selling your soul to the algorithm, this is your episode.

Kristen keeps it real about how she started posting about books during a tough time, and how that turned into an incredible, joy-filled space filled with new friendships, wild opportunities (hello, Oprah and Reese!), and honest-to-goodness bookish fun.

We talk about everything from monetizing your content to what it actually takes to build relationships online, and why Kristen has no plans to start dancing on BookTok anytime soon.

We also cover:

• Why being brutally honest about books (even the “dumpster fire” ones) builds trust

• How she’s landed brand partnerships, exclusive invites, and monetized organically

• Why engagement matters more than follower count

• The importance of knowing your worth and not being afraid to ask for it

• Why this should always be fun

Click here to find the episode in your podcast app.

Click here to watch Shelf Made Stories on YouTube.

I’m slacking again.

I’m about 1/3 of the way through my suspense novel and believe I’m at the point where I need to break out the different colored Post-its and map the story out on my wall.

So, no real update here. Uh.

I just wrapped up my July books on social media, and let me tell you… It was a good month!

(Minus the Onyx Storm disappointment. Sorry Fourth Wing stans. I still love Xadan. He’s still my Xaddy!)

Now, I’m reading The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh. (She is one of my book writing mentors.)

I’m also listening to Lights Out by Navessa Allen. This is my first trip down the dark romance hole.

The trigger warnings were… something. But the way the narrators read them and then checked on my well-being after cracked me up.

Don’t miss my social media post coming up about the BEST book box I’ve ever received.

Hint: It’s from Substack extrodiannaire, 💛

I’ve been doing pretty good with my consistent writing, but it’s only been a week.

Even then, I feel like I’ve hit a wall.

More on that in a bit. But first,

What happens when you mix romance novels, DIY spirit, and a full bar?

You get The Plot Twist, Denton's most Instagrammable bookstore, and a total book lover's dream.

In this episode, Darci Middleton shares how she went from being a middle school science teacher to opening a one-of-a-kind bookstore with her mom. We talk about:

• The viral book wall (and how she made it herself)

• Why she focused on romance books and indie authors

• How they made a bar part of the business (and what it cost)

• Their brilliant book-inspired cocktail menu

• Turning TikTok into a marketing machine

• Creating a space that feels safe, inclusive, and FUN

• Her advice for anyone dreaming of a bookstore life

Click here to listen to the episode in your favorite podcast app.

Click here to watch the episode on YouTube.

Putting an hour every weekday that says “write” in my Google Calendar really makes a world of difference.

I’ve been doing this for about a week now, but got a little frustrated last night.

I think it’s because I’m in what some writers call “the messy middle”.

I’m also aiming for a certain word count, and I think my hurry up and tell this story in one minute and 15 seconds from my news days has ruined long-form writing for me.

I’m on the struggle bus.

Okay, . I’m a fan.

If you missed my review (and recommended reading order) of Every Summer After and One Golden Summer, check this out.

I highly recommend both.

I’m also halfway through Onyx Storm.

This is where bookstagram says it starts to get more exciting. (Let’s hope because I’m bored, but it’s book #3, so I’m committed.)

I’m also dying of laughter at Meghan Quinn’s Bridesmaid Undercover, the second in the Bridesmaid series.

She is an auto-read author for me.

I love her stories, the bantar, the smut… all of it.

I was literally laughing out loud in the nail salon with my AirPods in because this woman can write some knee slappers!

Anyone going to hang out with other lovers at ShineAway in LA in October?

I’m going with my 13-year-old daughter… and we’re pumped!

I’ll also be attending the Creepy Book Club Retreat next year.

It’ll be my first time there… also excited for that too!

If you've ever thought, “Hey, I could totally read audiobooks for a living,” you’re not alone.

But there’s a lot more to it than just having a nice voice and a quiet room.

Meet , an audiobook narrator with over 350 titles under her belt (plus a spicy secret pseudonym).

got her into it… accidentally.

In this episode, Marni shares how she went from performing Shakespeare on stage to narrating Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, and Crescent City... all from her basement studio.

She also shares:

🎙️ What it really takes to be an audiobook narrator (hint: AI could never)
🎭 How she keeps hundreds of character voices straight
🔥 Why she uses a fake name for romance novels
🏠 How she built a six-figure narration career without leaving her house
🤯 That time Whoopi Goldberg fangirled over her
📚 Where to start if you’ve ever thought, “Hey, I could do that…”

This conversation is packed with insider stories, pro tips, and behind-the-scenes gems that’ll make you appreciate your audiobooks in a whole new way.

Click here to find Shelf Made Stories in your podcast app.

You can also watch the episode and see the person behind the voice here.

Last week, I told you I was listening to Sally Strange Diamond.

Well, I stopped halfway through. I was a mixture of bored and disturbed.

So, I Googled the spoilers and got even more disturbed.

I’m also having a hard time getting into Onyx Storm, but I’m already committed to the series, so I need to finish it.

I also just finished Every Summer After to read One Golden Summer — both by.

I loved Every Summer After so much, so I can’t wait to keep reading One Golden Summer because people are obsessed with it!

Oh, and I bedazzled Summer in the City.

Click here for all the sparkle and my review.

I’m doing so much better with my novel writing.

I’ve made so many changes in what I’ve already written to not give so much away so quickly.

(Can you tell I’m an impatient person?)

It’s also super helpful to block out time to work on my novel every day.

Some days, my other duties don’t allow for time to write about murder and whatnot, but it’s in the calendar, so it’s always top of mind.

Also, I’m headed to ShineAway in the fall and bought the coveted book pass, so being around some thriller novel writing greats like (who was there last year) will definitely light a fire under my ass.

I’m also bringing my 13-year-old daughter. Her best friend and mom (also a book lover) and tagging along with us.

Are you a Reese stan like me?

Anyone totally skipping Amazon Prime Day to take a stand… even though the books are dirt cheap?

Part of me wants to buy books on Amazon since they lose money on them, but Jeff didn’t invite me to his wedding after years of supporting his business, so it’s a no for me.

If you're into food, books, or doing good... you’re going to love this one.

Kimberly Behzadi is the founder of Read It & Eat Bookshop, Buffalo’s first culinary bookstore that mixes reading, eating, and giving back in the tastiest way possible.

On the latest episode of Shelf Made Stories, we talk about:

• How she turned her book subscription box into a brick-and-mortar store

• The magic of cookbooks, chef memoirs, and food writing that makes you hungry

• Her Books & Cooks series (yes, you can actually take cooking classes!)

• The mission behind their Food First weekends and why giving back is baked into everything they do

• The delicious extras you'll find in-store, like baking kits, cocktail mixers, and global spices
  
  👀 Click here to watch the episode.

  🎧 Click here to listen to the episode.

I’m trying to focus an hour a day on my book… and I’m going backwards.

So, I have a lot of thoughts in my head, I outlined some thoughts, and I’m a few chapters in.

When I sit at my computer, I just write. I don’t look at what I wrote before… and it’s creating some confusion.

So now, I’m going back a chapter or two to read things, and then I’ll write.

My mentor, Megan Collins, is helping me with my chapters and is finding some inconsistencies and plot holes because I’m like…

• Did I write that or just think it?

• Does the reader know this?

• Has this already happened?

So yeah, even though it feels like this will make things move along slower, it’ll be so much better.

If you’re writing a book too, you’ll want to check this out… I mean, it is $100,000.

I just finished Every Summer After because I want to read One Golden Summer very soon, and I loved it. Excited to be riding the Carley Fortune train.

Everyone is Watching is a thriller I picked up because the author is going to be at the Creepy Book Retreat, so I have to make sure I read some books by all those authors. Lots of creepy ones to come!

I’m currently listening to Strange Sally Diamond because I’ve heard such good things, but it’s not as fast-paced as I would like it to be.

I also just started Poloma Afton Can So Solve a Murder. I literally picked that one on title alone. It’s also giving me Paris Hilton vibes, and after listening to her memoir, I’m obsessed.

If we’re not talking books online, are we even friends?!