A midyear reading check-in

[00:00:00] SHANNAN MALONE: Okay, Anne, we have 10 questions. I'm going to ask them to you.

ANNE BOGEL: Is this the part where I promise real short answers and then talk for 45 minutes?

Hey readers, I'm Anne Bogel and this is What Should I Read Next?. Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader, what should I read next? We don't get bossy on this show. What we will do here is give you the information you need to choose your next read. Every week we'll talk all things books and reading and today we have a really fun one for you. I might say that every week.

But I'm in conversation with one of our What Should I Read Next? team members. Hi Shannan.

SHANNAN: Hi.

[00:00:51] ANNE: For a fun and informal mid-year reading check-in. But first, we want to tell you... I mean, we are here mid-year, mid-summer. So many of you have told us in comments on the blog and in our membership communities that you have been loving your selections from the Summer Reading Guide.

Also, I mean, Shannan, you know, my favorite thing to hear is, "Oh my gosh, I thought I knew what new books were coming out, but there were so many new ones here. I'm so glad to find them." That is music to our ears. So thank you. We love to hear those things.

And we are continuing to fill orders for the printed magazine version of this year's guide. This is new for 2025. Will ordered a couple of hundred extras for those who didn't pre-order. So he's still got some. We've got you covered.

If you haven't yet ordered your Summer Reading Guide, that print version or the digital version, plus that comes with the replay of our unboxing party, or you can get both, there is still plenty of summer reading season ahead. Plus, when the season is over, the library holds for these... well, the library holds are going to get shorter later, but there's still plenty of time. There's always time for good books.

[00:01:56] So this time of year is perfect for reflection on your reading life and a resource like our annual Summer Reading Guide helps you discover more new books that may be perfect for you that aren't yet on your radar, more about your own tastes and what's working for you right now. So if you're curious, head on over to modernmrsdarcy.com.srg, that's for Summer Reading Guide, and snag your copy. Modernmrsdarcy.com/srg.

Now for today. Readers, we are bringing back a format that we used in one of last year's popular episodes as I welcome team member Shannan Malone back to the podcast. Now you all hear her all the time in our Patreon community, but not as often on the main feed. So, Shannan, it's always a treat to have you here. Thanks for joining me.

SHANNAN: Thank you for having me again.

ANNE: Shannan is our What Should I Read Next Patreon community manager and also one of our Modern Mrs. Darcy book club co-hosts. And today we're doing a mid-year reading check-in.

[00:02:59] You'll hear more about the history, the very short history of this practice as we talk today. Shannan and I are going to explore how this year has been going so far for each of us, what we're excited about, what we initially said we wanted and how we have or haven't stuck to that and what's working and maybe not working in each of our reading lives.

We both had a lot of books to choose from and so much going on in all our busy lives where we have to do things other than read sometimes. So a mid-year check-in is a useful tool to make any adjustments or recalibrations. I mean, sometimes I need a moment to say like, what am I doing and how did I get here? Is this what I want? Because reading is personal. We just want you to be happy in your reading life, whatever that looks like.

So a check-in can help you ensure you're getting exactly what you want from your reading life. Whether that looks like escape or education, just pure, frothy enjoyment, all of the above, that's up to you. But today we're going to explore some options and I can't wait to dive in. Let's get to it.

[00:04:03] Okay, Shannan. Hello. Welcome.

SHANNAN: Hi.

ANNE: I'm so excited to do this. I love talking books with you. We get to talk about books a lot, usually off the audio feed here, but I'm happy to do it in any format. Thanks for joining me.

SHANNAN: Thank you again for having me.

ANNE: You know, reading is... gosh, listen to me want to get all philosophical as we frame things up for everyone. But you know, I think that reading is personal. Reading is done in context. Reading is about finding... I mean, a satisfying reading life is about finding the right books, but also the right books for right now and managing the tension between stretching yourselves in ways that feel really good in the end and sinking into something that you know you're gonna love.

So all that being said, what kind of energy were you bringing in to 2025?

[00:05:06] SHANNAN: A narrowing of focus. Can I say that?

ANNE: Yeah, love it.

SHANNAN: Liv in one of our bonus episodes used this phrase "turning down the volume," and I have borrowed it because there's been so much that has been going on, and I just wanted to turn down the volume of all the stuff. So last year I concentrated on having more four and five-star reads. This year I only wanted to read 25 five-star reads in 2025. And I'm borrowing that from Gretchen Rubin's "25 for '25".

This is my only book goal. I don't have any others, you know, oh, I can read this amount a number of years I am because that used to be a goal, or I'm going to clear my TBR shelf. Yeah, that's not happening right now. Very narrowing of focus 25 five-star reads in 2025.

[00:06:14] Plus, I really do enjoy movies and television shows a lot. I knew that I was going to do that so I baked that in to my reading life this year, that I am going to watch things and I need time to do both.

ANNE: I love it. Well, first let me say that you and I did a Patreon bonus about our 2025 intentions and our plan so you really get into detail about how you came up with this plan and what it was going to look like for you in that episode back in January. Y'all, if you're a patron or if you want to become one you can listen at any time, it's there ready and waiting for you.

Shannan, you are much more of a planner than I am when it comes to the year. I'm the one who makes all these methodical lists for things like the Summer Reading Guide and Fall Book Preview and kind of enjoy filling in the gaps. But I'm not methodical about those gaps. I just kind of go with my gut and see what surfaces for me. That's not your approach. I like that about us together.

[00:07:16] SHANNAN: Yeah. I do make a lot of plans. And I think for me half the fun is making the plans, honestly because sometimes the carrying it out doesn't happen as often as you think it would. But I do enjoy the planning process very much.

ANNE: A reader lives a thousand lives. And I love how in the planning process you can envision what the year could be like, how it might feel, what you might explore and learn and find out.

SHANNAN: It's like that shoot for the moon, if you miss you'll land upon the stars, type of vibe.

ANNE: Wow, we have a bevy of inspirational quotes this morning. Kind of silly but like there's truth underneath all that. For me, first can I say the beginning of 2025 feels like such a long time ago?

SHANNAN: Say.

ANNE: I also know that when I entered 2025 I was tired and had a lot of personal obligations. And some were fun and some are really not. I'm executor of both my parents' estates right now. Y'all, that's not my preferred way of spending my time, even if it needs to be done.

[00:08:20] So I think what I said I wanted was books that feel right for me right now. I know I really thrive on both deep dives. Like it brings me great satisfaction to find a new-to-me author and read their entire catalog, but also I love variety in genre and feel. And even to like alternate an 80-page book with an 800-page book, I love that.

I wanted books that helped me and that also felt in the works grounded that they had depth that they were absorbing. I don't mind works that are demanding. And I know, the whole team has heard me say this repeatedly, I did not want to feel like I was on the new book treadmill where I had to read new, new, new, new, new like to keep up with the demands of like what we do for Spring Book Preview and Summer Reading Guide and Fall Book preview.

Like I didn't want to be on any kind of treadmill at all. Like the new release treadmill or anything, like feeling like I had to keep up because it was important for work. Like that's what we want to do around here. So if we're not loving our reading as team members, there's a problem.

[00:09:25] So that's what I said I wanted at the beginning of the year, which is kind of squishy.

SHANNAN: Yeah.

ANNE: Like the only way to really find out "is this working" is I guess to review my reading journal, am I reading that variety but also is it feeling good.

SHANNAN: Right.

ANNE: And I think it kinda is. Okay, let's go back to you.

SHANNAN: Uh-huh.

ANNE: How's it going?

SHANNAN: It's going well for me. Like that turning down the volume, I believe you had said this in the bonus episode that you talked about previously, to trust your gut and read great books. That was a phrase you used.

ANNE: Let's put that on a sticker.

SHANNAN: Well, there's a merch idea. I would buy that sticker. It's going well. I have read 15 books so far this year which is not as many as I normally would have done by now. By now I would probably be close to 30. So I've cut that in half.

[00:10:28] But 11 out of those 15 books I've read so far have been four and five-star reads for me, and seven of them were actually five stars. Y'all, I am so thrilled about this. I love looking over at what I read, and I'm going, "Yep, that was great. Yep, love that. Yep, love that." So far have no like, "Mm, why did I read that", which is great. So, yeah, it's going well.

ANNE: That's a good feeling. Okay, I'm personally curious and also have reader comments ringing in my ears. I'd love to hear more about you reading less. Y'all, we tend to hear in your voices when we see you in person and in comments a lot of apologies about not reading that much or reading slowly. That's another thing that we hear you all be very apologetic about. And that's not necessary. Reading more is only a problem if you really want to do it and you're struggling, and then we can help you with that.

[00:11:34] But, Shannan, I'd love to hear if that's about being very deliberate with your choices, if that's about the good TV you're watching, if that's about the rhythms of your life. Could you say more about reading less?

SHANNAN: Yes. It's probably all of those things. Some people in MMD Book Club, especially, already know this. We recently have a puppy. He is 10 weeks old, and, oh my gosh, I'm having all the flashbacks to the buddy man's infancy where, you know, "Oh, the puppy needs to do this, and the puppy needs to do that, and, oh, it's time to do this with the puppy. Oh, the puppy's crying. Let's see what's wrong with the puppy." So that's been my life for the past three weeks.

ANNE: Oh, y'all, the puppy's so cute. This puppy does not need anything from me, but I need pictures of this puppy. And every time I see them, it's just, "Oh, he's so cute." He's so cute.

SHANNAN: Yeah. He is a little handful. But we love him, and he is part of our family, and he fits right in in his own little special way.

[00:12:39] But, as far as the year was concerned, I mentioned turning down the volume, there has been a lot going on. We don't need to go into the state of the world. That in and of itself will send you running for the covers in a good book. But just all the things that were happening in my life, it was a lot. So I said, "You know what? I'm just going to get really focused on trying to do the good stuff."

One thing I learned in spring of this year, I try to write down my lessons learned every season, and I learned that I didn't realize how much everything needs to be personalized and individualized for optimum growth and optimum clarity and opt... just to make everything great.

And that's the case with physical education. And read a physical education from your Summer Reading Guide.

ANNE: You read Casey Johnston?

SHANNAN: I did. And I learned that while I was reading that. I was like, "Wow. That's fan..." Well, I relearned it or it was reemphasized.

[00:13:46] So this year, I've really been focused on what is optimum for me, like what do I need and when do I need it? So that can be massages, that can be watching a television show that stretches my imagination, or that could also be rewatching White Collar that was on the USA Network long, long time ago.

ANNE: Oh my gosh, Lucy loves White Collar.

SHANNAN: You know? So knowing that I needed all of those other things in my life made me realize I probably won't have as much time to read. I like to sleep. I need to get my sleep. And I usually read at night. But I was like, "No, you need to probably be in bed and laying down and, you know, nodding off around 09:30, 09:45." That only allows me about well, not with the puppy, it only allows me about 15 minutes. And that's all I have.

[00:14:42] So, yeah, my goal for lowering those expectations was due to all of those things together and saying, "Look, I just wanna focus on reading 25 great books this year.

ANNE: Well, I hear you're really honoring how your reading life is a part, an important part, I think, if you're listening to this podcast, but it can't be separated from the rest of your life.

SHANNAN: No. Not at all.

ANNE: Nor should it be.

SHANNAN: It's interesting that I really haven't read a lot of the books from my physical TBR shelf. Oh, that's something that leaves me shaking my head like, huh, that's interesting. I've been picking up the new stuff that's coming my way, and I've been enjoying that. And that has been good, but my physical shelf still has the same amount of books on it. So I'm kinda like, Mm, that's interesting. I wanna kinda delve into that a little bit and figure that out.

[00:15:46] And I also learned that I have missed reading memoirs so much. I've read so many this year, and I've loved almost all of them. So, yeah, I'm like, okay, you need to add more of those for the second half of your reading year.

ANNE: You know, that's something that's come up again and again. Like, in our conversations and in team meetings, we're gonna cook up a fun memoir plan for Fall or Beyond because we gotta get into this more.

SHANNAN: Yeah. I've really enjoyed them.

ANNE: I'm glad to hear it.

SHANNAN: What about you? What do you want?

ANNE: Oh, my gosh.

SHANNAN: Or how's it going? That's what I should have said.

ANNE: It's going great. And you know, some of these mid-year freak-out lightning round questions we're gonna get to have really made me realize how well it's going. Because one of the questions we're gonna talk about is "what's your biggest disappointment?" And I was thinking about all the books that I was really pretty excited about, especially for Summer Reading Guide.

[00:16:43] And I've joked about this on the podcast, how I'll hear about a book, I'll think, "Oh my gosh, that's perfect for x category." And I'll finally get a copy, and I'll sit down to read it, and I'll be so excited, and I'll get to page six, and I'll be like, "This is not what I wanted or thought it was gonna be." I mean, that's not a big disappointment. That's just, I don't know, how it goes. That's the reading life a lot of the time. And that's not so bad.

But I have been reading so much good stuff. And not everything has been amazing. I've read plenty of books that have just been serviceable. But I've also read so much that has been so good. And even the serviceable stuff is, you know, satisfying my curiosity about a book I was anticipating.

SHANNAN: Cleansing the palate.

ANNE: Yes. Something that sounded good. Everything has something interesting to offer, to think about, to notice about about me or what works for me in a book, or what are trends right now, and how is this... is this working? I think books are really interesting.

[00:17:42] There are a couple threads I've really enjoyed following, like you're gonna hear about, at least one new-to-me author I've discovered that I enjoyed going through the backlist. I'm finally reading a 1,300-page book I've been meaning to read for twenty years. There's a lot of different things I'm able to learn and experience, and, you know, interesting stuff is interesting to me.

I'm also learning a lot about our work and what I and Modern Mrs Darcy and our team do a little differently than what else is out there. And I'm really enjoying learning about that and then leaning into that a little more to put it into practice in what we're making.

I've talked about morning reading and how I think it's actually been a couple of years ago at this point I started reading personal growth books, the kind of books you and I have discussed on the podcast as therapy books, contemplative nonfiction. I've been reading that in the morning. It's still going great for me. We discussed that in our What's Saving Our Reading Life episode.

[00:18:43] I've had a couple of weird periods where I've barely read anything for a whole week. And that has not happened to me in years. And my version of "barely read anything", I'll own, that's probably different than most readers' versions.

I mean, for me, that's probably a 100 pages over the course of the week is what I'm gonna call barely anything between what's in my ears and on the page. But that's been, you know, not even disorienting. That's been like, "Huh, that's different. What's going on here?" And that's been fine.

SHANNAN: I've had that same thing too like in the month of May. Yeah. In the month of May, I did not finish a book. And the only reason I know that is because I participate with Brigid and Donna in this reading check-in every month and see how we're going with the goals that we set in. And I was like, "Oh, I didn't finish a book. But because of my goal of "25 5-star" reads, it doesn't matter. Like it's fine to have those couple of weird periods where you're barely reading.

[00:19:46] ANNE: I'm also enjoying seeing... you know, this may be more true for TV. We're rewatching some stuff in my house, and it's been interesting to me to see how things have aged. And so I'm thinking, like, what's changed? When like an old favorite show is just not hitting like it used to. Like, what's different? Is it the times? Is it me?

But I've revisited some books as well. Or I picked up some books that's the kind of thing I would have loved in the past, but I'm not finding it as satisfying now. So I'm having to ask myself like, does this feel tired? Has this run its course? Is that true generally or just with me? I don't know. I just really love getting into... I mean, y'all, maybe all this is no surprise because the whole premise of our podcast is, why do people enjoy what they enjoy? And what are we gonna do about it? What does it mean? I really enjoy answering those questions about myself as well. I think it's fascinating why we love what we love, why some books work and others don't and is that about right now or is that about in general?

[00:20:51] SHANNAN: I'm learning that a lot of it is about right now. Because I always kind of feel bad when I start thinking about a book that I did not like or wasn't for me. And I'm like, you know, it may just not be for me. Or it could be the season I was in, and I'm not ready for that. And maybe if I circle back around to it, you know, I will be ready for it. I've had a couple books like that.

ANNE: I mean, my kids tease me about how much I say "there's only one way to find out. There's only one way to find out. You know how you can find out." I mean, Shannan, you know how to find out. You stick a bookmark in that baby, and you come back to it in three months, six months, six years.

SHANNAN: Yeah. That has happened before, and sometimes I've been pleasantly surprised. And sometimes I'm like, "No, that still doesn't work," and I release it back into the world for someone else who it is perfect for to find it.

[00:21:44] ANNE: Oh, gosh. You know what some of my favorite literary conversations in 2025 have been?

SHANNAN: Mh.

ANNE: The ones that go, "Okay, I just finished this book. I thought I was going to love, and I did not." So there's kind of puzzlement or even a little bit of a disappointment maybe, embodied in this question. And then I want to go find a reader who I suspect has read it as well and be like, "Tell me everything. Is it me? Is it the book? Is it the timing?"

And the book may not have been everything I'd hoped and dreamed of, but I love those conversations so much. I tried to have one of them with you, but you haven't read that book yet.

SHANNAN: No. I have not.

ANNE: I think you're going to, though, and then we're gonna talk about it.

SHANNAN: We'll get around to it eventually, I'm sure, because it is from an author I like. So yeah. But I don't know when because, you know, once again, I'm not reading 40-something books this year. So some stuff has to go. And that's perfectly fine too.

[00:22:45] Anne, in our episode about our goals for the new year, you said you might consider selecting a monthly favorite this year. How's that going for you?

ANNE: Oh, well, Shannan, that's not going. But I remember that conversation. And what I had in mind was how at the beginning of the year, the turmoil of sitting down, reviewing the high two hundreds number of books I've read and going, Okay, let's narrow this down to superlatives. I mean, in my first pass, I usually have 40, and that's too many to count as favorites or to talk about as favorites in a podcast episode or a blog post.

So I thought maybe if I shared my impressions with myself along the way, that would be easier. So I'm still putting little stars in my reading journal next to titles that I especially loved, but I haven't chosen superlatives.

[00:23:45] I wonder if I could make myself do it, if I could, you know, hang up with you and go back to my journal and even to do a top three. And I know we've talked to readers on our team and then readers who've been guests on this podcast who create a top 10 for the year as they read those first 10 books of the year. And then, you know, if they read something amazing, then it knocks something out of the top 10. And they go through the year like that. Oh gosh, that makes me anxious thinking about doing that.

SHANNAN: Well, that's the way I do it. I got it from Ginger. I have a note on my phone, and when I finish a book, I slot it right in. Now, I think Ginger restricts it to a 10 and knocks it, you know, you know if something gets knocked out. I don't. It's just I order them as I read them. So I'm like, oh, that one wasn't quite as, you know, great to me as this one, so I slot and I slide it in.

[00:24:42] So I have 15 books, and they've been ranked on my note. But I do separate fiction from nonfiction because I just don't think it's right to treat the two as the same. They're totally different.

ANNE: How do you rank them? Is your criteria your general feeling about the book, or is it something like, I can see that this is completely, brilliantly done?

SHANNAN: Both. So a combination of that makes up my ranking. So how I feel about it is always gonna be something that's very prevalent in my mind. But if something is brilliantly done, in my opinion, it will get a higher slot. And if the two of them are together, then to me, that's five stars. Like, that's, oh yeah, that was awesome, that was amazing, I can't stop thinking about it. Which is also another criteria of a book.

Even if I thought the writing was eh, or you know, whatever, if I can't stop thinking about it, then that might mean I need to reevaluate that ranking. Because something's happening there that I didn't see initially.

[00:25:50] ANNE: When I write things, that's how I do it, too. I'm thinking about like craft plus my reading experience.

SHANNAN: Yeah. I mean, again, readers, all of this is highly subjective.

ANNE: Highly subjective.

SHANNAN: But, you know, it's fun to me. I always mess myself up because my first book that I read every year is from the Monk & Robot series with Becky Chambers, either A Psalm for the Wild-Built, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. And they're always going to be, like, number one. So now I'm looking at two or three in the fiction category. Nothing has knocked that off yet in three or four years, so.

ANNE: You are the boss of your reading life.

SHANNAN: Exactly.

ANNE: Yeah, you're provocative. All right. I think it'd be fun to do our mid-year freakout answers.

SHANNAN: Yes.

ANNE: Because we're going to cover a lot of ground there.

SHANNAN: We had investigated where the mid-year freakout came, and it came from a couple of people, Ellie and Kami, I believe, in 2012, as early as 2012.

[00:26:51] We just started doing this for the past... I think I've started doing it for the past three or four years, and it is so much fun. I love these questions because, Anne, as you kind of stated earlier, when you're answering these questions, readers, it gives you a different way to think about your reading life in a way you may not have noticed before. So I faithfully do these every year, and I'm glad that I get to hear what your answers are, Anne. So there are 10 questions.

ANNE: Yes. And we've been talking about them since our podcast guest Courtney Wallace brought them to us in 2020.

SHANNAN: Yeah, that is true. That is true. That might have been where I officially heard about them. But the hashtag or whatever has been in effect, I believe, since 2012.

Okay, Anne, we have 10 questions. I'm going to ask them to you.

ANNE: Is this the part where I promise real short answers and then talk for 45 minutes? No, I'm not going to. It's going to be quick. Quick, quick, quick.

[00:27:50] SHANNAN: You take as long as you need, Anne. All right, question number one. Best book you've read so far. Anne, you pointed out that this question can point you in the direction of what really interests you and what you're liking right now. And I find it really helpful to look at the top five selections to get that direction. But what's the best book you've read so far?

ANNE: Well, to make it easy on myself and maybe to give a little variety, I completely disregarded Summer Reading Guide and Spring Book Preview titles to answer this question. And so I chose The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck for fiction, which I loved because... I mean, you've heard me talk about surprise and delight. I think our superlative reading experiences often have this element of like, ooh, I didn't know you could do that. I didn't know I'd enjoy that. I didn't know I was looking for that. That's not what I expected.

[00:28:45] These are interlinked short stories all set on the island of Nantucket that I listened to on audio. And it was surprising and delightful and smart and evocative. I just really enjoyed it.

Nonfiction, a book I've been meaning to read for a few years that I revisited after the Summer Reading Guide when I want to go back to the old stuff, the stuff I've been meaning to read. Sarah Polly's memoir essays, Run Towards the Danger, on audio, knocked my socks off. Right book, right time.

SHANNAN: You told me about that. And I have that on my TBR to check out.

ANNE: It sounds like it would nestle up real well with a bunch of other books you've thoroughly enjoyed.

SHANNAN: Yeah.

ANNE: Okay. What about you? Best book you've read so far?

SHANNAN: I'm going to give a fiction and nonfiction selection.

ANNE: Squeeze them in, Shannan.

SHANNAN: Yes. The first is The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar.

ANNE: Spring Book Preview.

[00:29:44] SHANNAN: Yes. It's currently still sitting at the top of my Apple Note. I read it after the Spring Book Preview, Anne, like you mentioned, and I discussed it in the Reading Intention Bonus on Patreon. She talks about using grammar as almost like a character in the book. I find that so fascinating.

It's a novella. Very quick read, but great. It's still the best thing I've read in fiction so far. And in nonfiction, I had the honor of getting an ARC for All the Way to the River, which is the memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame. And that's the best thing I've read in nonfiction.

ANNE: How many times have you read that one, Shannan?

SHANNAN: Sections of it. Two or three times. Yeah, maybe four.

ANNE: It's possible we've talked about this before, y'all.

SHANNAN: All right, Anne. Question number two. Best sequel you've read so far.

[00:30:46] ANNE: Ooh, is one I didn't know I wanted. The new coming this fall, Lily King called Heart the Lover. It's a follow-up to Writers & Lovers.

SHANNAN: Okay, readers, you are just hearing me discover that there's a book coming out in real time that I did not know about. I am literally writing it down right now.

ANNE: Fall Book Preview. We're going to talk about it.

SHANNAN: I loved Writers & Lovers so much. So, yes! So excited to hear about this.

ANNE: Shannan, best sequel you've read so far.

SHANNAN: Can I say All the Way to the River?

ANNE: Yeah, make your case. I mean, this isn't debate class. Yes, tell us more.

SHANNAN: I really, really feel that it is a great follow-up for Eat, Pray, Love. I mean—

ANNE: Can I say it? I've never read that one.

SHANNAN: Oh, well, you know it was on my original selections of books I really liked in my original What Should I Read Next? inaugural episode. I read All the Way to the River, and now I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love again, and, oh. I know they're not meant to be sequels or anything like that, but I really feel like they're speaking to each other in some really meaningful ways. And I'm excited to, you know, continue to read and explore that.

[00:32:10] ANNE: That's fascinating.

SHANNAN: I will say, in the fiction realm, Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz, which is the third book in the Susan Ryeland series. I really did enjoy that as well, because I love Susan Ryeland and I love Anthony Horowitz. So, yay!

ANNE: I'm really looking forward to reading that one.

SHANNAN: All right, question number three. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

ANNE: Ooh, okay, not a recommendation because I can't even tell you what it's about, but These Days by Lucy Caldwell, because I get Andrea Griffith's newsletter. She was a What Should I Read Next? podcast guest. She's the owner of Browser's Bookshop, and she mentioned in her newsletter, Mostly Books, that she was reading it. And I thought, "Hmm, this sounds good for me." And I said, "Andrea, do you think I'd like this?" And she said, "Yes, Anne, I think you would." So, therefore, I'm looking forward to reading this.

It wasn't on my radar for spring-summer reading, Summer Reading Guide, none of that. So, new-to-me and almost cued up on my Libby.

[00:33:07] SHANNAN: Awesome. I'm going to have to say mine Is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Again, my 25th book is constricting me in that way. I'm not just jumping at everything, but I am excited to read that one. I love Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing style. I feel like I can just watch her make sentences, and I would be happy. So, I am looking forward to reading it.

I'm disappointed a little bit that it's not set in the world of Evelyn Hugo and all of the last four or five books, but I kind of don't like change in general.

ANNE: Funny story. It's not a story. Will just finished Malibu Rising and enjoyed it very much.

SHANNAN: I love that one. So, this one is not set in that world, in that universe, a little disappointed, but it's Taylor Jenkins Reid, I'm going to read it. That's just how it goes.

ANNE: I look forward to hearing what you think.

[00:34:05] SHANNAN: All right. Question number four. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

ANNE: Oh, gosh. I do not even know how to answer this. So, every year I track potential Summer Reading Guide and Fall Book Preview titles a little bit differently. I seriously have like 140 fall releases listed in my journal.

And then what I do is I put a little asterisk beside the ones I especially want to read, and there are too many of those now. So, then I make a little post-it note, and I list 15 titles on it, and I cross them off as I read it, but then I keep adding to it. And then sometimes I start my most anticipated titles. I'm like, no, this isn't actually what I was looking for. And then I, yeah... I don't even know, but there's lots of good stuff.

SHANNAN: So much good stuff. I love that.

ANNE: What about you? Most anticipated for second half 2025.

[00:34:51] SHANNAN: I have to say is Katabasis by R.F. Kuang. And confession, I got it as an ARC, and I started reading this. But y'all, I am not as brilliant, I don't know how many of us are as brilliant as R.F. Kuang is in general. And my ARC did not have footnotes. And I'm sorry, I need footnotes for this read. And I'm hoping, praying, hoping, praying that the publication version of it will have footnotes. Because if not, I need a professor to sit next to me as I'm reading Katabasis.

So, I decided to wait until it's published to read it. So, I'm going to say my other one that I'm also looking forward to is The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Again, she's a must-read author for me. Her short story novella, which was an Amazon original that came out, I think, this year or late last year, The Knight and the Butcher Bird, was amazing.

ANNE: Ooh, I haven't read that one.

[00:35:53] SHANNAN: I love Alix's Harrow's short stories. They are wonderful. Five stars. I hear that that was kind of like a foray into this world with knights. I'm so excited.

ANNE: Well, I'm excited to hear what you think. Do I always say that? I'm always excited to hear what you think about what you read.

SHANNAN: All right. Question number five. Biggest disappointment. Now, Anne, you said or you have said, that evaluating what doesn't work is often more informative than looking at what worked. And I have found that that is true in my experience. So, do you have one for us?

ANNE: Oh, yeah. That's true. But my disappointment is not insightful in that way. It's a real heartbreaker, though. I have a certain number of authors that I just kind of poke around on the internet and see what they're up to every so often. Like, "Hmm, I feel like it's about time for a new book from that favorite author of mine."

[00:36:56] I want them to live their best life and make their best work, and I'm not like antsy, exactly, but I love their stuff. And I want to know when more of it is going to come my way. So, when I got an email that said, "There's a new book on the way for Maggie O'Farrell."

SHANNAN: Oh.

ANNE: She is one of my very favorites. Top five, top three. Maybe the top.

SHANNAN: It is, definitely.

ANNE: And I was like, "Finally." And look, this is good news for a lot of people, but it was an itty-bitty children's book. I think it might even have been a picture book. It was not what I had hoped and dreamed of, and my heart just kind of sank. You know, I was okay. I was okay. But for a brief moment, I was... you know, there were angels singing. The clouds were parting. The new Maggie O'Farrell was descending and like, no, whisked away.

SHANNAN: So sorry that happened to you.

ANNE: Yeah, I know. So, Maggie, we're waiting. We are waiting for you. I am waiting.

[00:37:57] SHANNAN: I feel that way about Becky Chambers. Waiting, waiting, waiting, you know?

ANNE: All right. I think you might have taken a more straightforward approach to this question, Shannan.

SHANNAN: I did.

ANNE: What was your biggest disappointment?

SHANNAN: Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lipman. Now, Laura Lipman is a... I have only read a couple of her books, and they were very noir feeling to me.

Very atmospheric. Like, wow. I believe both of them that I read were kind of set in like L.A. or New Mexico. And I felt like I was there. And I could feel the heat and the grime off the L.A. streets. You know, it was all that.

Murder Takes a Vacation is not that and I was a little disappointed. Not to say that it was not great. I will say I did that thing where I skipped to the end to find out what happened. And I'm like, "Okay, great. Finished." But it wasn't what I was expecting. And that's on me. That's on me. I'm not familiar enough with her work to say that all of her stuff is this way. It's just the two I read were that way. So I was hoping this one was.

[00:39:11] The cover probably should have told me that it wasn't going to be if I had been paying attention. Just a little bit disappointed. But very nice. There's a murder. People have to solve it.

ANNE: But it wasn't like sepia-toned vibes.

SHANNAN: Yeah. No, no. It wasn't that way. And that's what I thought I was getting into. And I wasn't. Again, that was on me because the cover didn't give me that. You know, marketing did a good job, you know, with the cover. You know, what the cover looks like is what you're going to get.

ANNE: Well, Shannan.

SHANNAN: Mm-hmm.

ANNE: I'm sorry it wasn't what you expected.

SHANNAN: It's fine. I mean, I do recommend it for anyone who's looking for a very interesting thriller, mystery-ish thriller with an older character, which sometimes we don't have a lot of. So, yeah.

All right. Question number six. What is the biggest surprise this year? Ooh.

[00:40:07] ANNE: Okay. I'm going to go from the gut. Endling by Maria Reva, which was in the Summer Reading Guide. Just really fun, experimental. What in the world is happening in this book? She starts telling this rather straightforward, a little bit silly, story about a research scientist studying the dying out species of snails in the Ukraine.

Endling is the last known organism of a species just before it dies out. Because it's much easier to get money volunteering as a potential bride in the Ukrainian mail-order bride industry... I mean, she does a series of bridal parties. She gets paid to dress up and attend and go on dates with men who come from all over the world to participate in this.

She's like, "Have you ever done the paperwork to get an NGO grant? This is easier. Believe me." Then things start going badly. And Russia invades Ukraine. She's driving her research van through everywhere. And then all of a sudden, Maria Reva enters the novel and is having a conversation with her editor. He's like, "You know, the story is not going real well." And she's like, "Hmm, let me tell you some things."

[00:41:21] And then from there, it goes in a complete... like I was flipping pages like, what is happening? So it was weird and bold and experimental, but not so far out there that I wasn't like throwing my hands up going, I just don't understand. I didn't quite understand, but I wanted to.

And Maria Reva was giving me enough to like stay with it and figure out what was going on and what is she actually saying. This was so much fun to talk about with other readers. And now I want to read everything she's ever written. It was a delight.

Another kind of surprise was after discussing Sarah Waters, particularly Fingersmith with Elise Brancheau on the podcast, I thought, "Gosh, I love that book. It's been a long time. I want to read it again." Because I talked about it with her on the podcast. I remembered reading it. And I got into the book, and I was like, "This isn't as familiar as I thought it would be. It's going to come back to me."

[00:42:18] But long story short, I had not read that book. I enjoyed it so much. Meanwhile, like the second track running in my brain was, "I thought I'd read this. Why is this not coming back?" Like I was constantly surprised by some substantial twists in this Dickensian, Victorian heist novel. It was just a lot of fun.

And not only was it unexpected to me. It was especially unexpected because I thought I knew what was going to happen. And so my own assumptions just allowed me to be blindsided in a way that was really fun.

SHANNAN: Nice.

ANNE: Okay. What about you? What was your biggest surprise? What has been your biggest surprise so far?

SHANNAN: I should not have been surprised because you told us all of this during the Summer Reading Guide unboxing. But the physical education was really good.

ANNE: I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

SHANNAN: Yeah.

ANNE: And it does sound like you.

SHANNAN: But it also sounds like that will be boring. But it wasn't. I enjoyed it. I flew through it. It was so great. And yeah, I was quite pleased with it.

[00:43:24] All right. Question number seven. Favorite new author, which can be because they debuted something new, or it was new to you?

ANNE: New to me is Joan Silber. I have almost read her for years. I haven't yet. But often the way I find a favorite new author is I read something new and then go through their backlist. And that happens to me every year when I'm reading titles for our previews and guides. But this year I happened to read Improvement, which is, I don't know, seven years old, give or take a couple, give myself some margin for error, and I really enjoyed her style and read her new one coming out this fall. We'll be talking about that later. And several more of her older ones. I've really enjoyed the experience.

She writes family and relational dramas that are very compact, that rotate points of view, that all feel similarly structured. At least these ones I've already read. And yet every story just feels extremely unique in setting and perspective. It's been fun. I mean, it's been like a sometimes devastating kind of enjoyment.

SHANNAN: Okay.

[00:44:38] ANNE: Your turn. Favorite new author, debut or new to you?

SHANNAN: Amal El-Mohtar. I really love The River Has Roots, which released on March 4. Everyone is telling me I need to read her backlist selection. This is how we lose the time war. And I'm going to do that. Have you read this one, Anne?

ANNE: Yes. And we've talked about it on the podcast, both as a recommendation and it's been a guest favorite. Well, that one's co-written, and the vibes are different. So I'm really curious to hear, as we know, I always say, because it's true. I'm really curious to hear how they contrast for you or don't.

SHANNAN: They might contrast. I did hear that from one of my co-workers. And they were like, "Yeah, but you should read it." So very, very much looking forward to it. All right. Newest fictional crush and or favorite character? And this is just a fun question, y'all. We're not taking this seriously by any stretch of the imagination. But it is kind of fun.

[00:45:39] ANNE: Oh, my brain is breaking. It's trying to identify a superlative from here. What about you? Do you have one?

SHANNAN: Well, it's kind of hilarious because I had Armand Gamache from Louise Penny one year, and then I had another detective. Something's up with the detectives. But this time, my newest fictional crush and/or favorite character is not fictional or a character. It's an actual person. And that's probably a problem.

But, you know, we kind of have these ideas of what we think we know people because we've read their stuff or, you know, interacted with them on social media to some way. But we don't really know them. So it is a real person.

I think I might have said this before, but I love Kristen Kish from Top Shelf. She was a contestant. Now she's the host. I'm reading her memoir that came out recently. So, yeah, I think I might have a little girl crush.

[00:46:43] ANNE: Love it. All right. Shannan, what's a book that made you... Ooh, I must skip the hard stuff. What's a book that made you cry?

SHANNAN: Okay. Anne, this is your fault. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood.

ANNE: I'm sorry.

SHANNAN: You mentioned How to Read a Book by Monica Wood at last year's Mid-Year Check-In and then it was selected for the book club. I did not think I would like it, but I started it. You said it was gorgeous. And it was. I read it and I cried. I blame you for this.

ANNE: There's a review. I read it and I cried. I blame you.

SHANNAN: I also like the forthcoming memoir, it's not out yet, by Jen Hatmaker, Awake: A memoir. There is some correlation to her experience. So as she's describing some things, not all of them, but some things, they really hit me. I was crying as I was reading that. But another ex-lit memoir that's forthcoming.

[00:47:52] ANNE: What about you? I have no idea. I was reading through my reading journal and I don't know. But I'm positive because I often read in bed every night or on the couch that there have been moments where Will's been like, "Are you okay?" I'm like, "This book is really sad." But going through my journal, I have absolutely no idea which ones those are.

I want to pull out some ones from last year that I know made me cry. Like Same As It Ever Was or Loved and Missed. But those were from 2024.

SHANNAN: All right. And the final question, book that made you happy.

ANNE: Oh, These Heathens by Mia Maya McKenzie from the Summer Reading Guide. It's actually in the Minimalist Guide, so you can look it up on Modern Mrs. Darcy. The protagonist, 17-year-old small-town Doris who goes to big city Atlanta and meets famous people and encounters new things and has a boy who's after her and just like, ooh.

[00:48:46] Her world gets blown open in one weekend. And the way she recounted her own experience just like had me grinning.

SHANNAN: Awesome.

ANNE: And like some stuff in that book is not easy, but my memory of reading it is just sitting on the couch with Doris, just me grinning at her like turns a phrase and how she's like, Woo, but I just didn't... all these things I didn't know. What would mama think?

SHANNAN: Yeah.

ANNE: Shannan, what book made you happy?

SHANNAN: The River Has Roots. The ending, y'all. The ending was so satisfying. I loved the ending. I was like, that is the perfect way to wrap this up.

ANNE: I love it. Yeah. If you had not cited that as your favorite fiction, we'd be revisiting that right now. Like, "Shannan, are you sure? Are you sure?" Because I'm sensing a pattern.

All right. If y'all enjoy those questions, Shannan, tell us about the bonus episode. Wow. Bossy much, Anne? We don't get bossy on this podcast.

[00:49:49] SHANNAN: It's fine. You're the boss.

ANNE: Except for so often.

SHANNAN: It's fine. You're the boss. We have a bonus episode on Patreon coming out this Friday where I ask these 10 questions to some of the members of our team. Y'all, it's so fun. We laugh. We've already recorded it. So I know what happens. We laughed our heads off. You will get some great recommendations and get to know our team a little bit better. So check it out over there.

ANNE: All right. Thank you. Thank you. Shannan, to close, I have two big or maybe small questions for you.

SHANNAN: Okay.

ANNE: Do you have any big intentions or hopes and dreams for the second half of the year?

SHANNAN: No.

ANNE: I don't think I do either.

SHANNAN: No.

ANNE: I mean, what did I say? We're going to make a sticker. Trust your gut and read great books. I want books that feel grounded and well-written with depth that are really absorbing, that feel right for right now. I don't want to feel like I'm on the treadmill, like same old, same old, but in the best, most satisfying way. That's what I want.

[00:51:01] SHANNAN: Yes.

ANNE: Those are my small hopes and dreams.

SHANNAN: Yes. And that was your second question about small hopes, dreams, and intentions.

ANNE: If you don't have any big ones, what are your small ones?

SHANNAN: The small ones is to let's just keep going.

I may not make it to 25 four, and five-star reads, but so far, this might be one of the happiest years I've had about my reading life and what I'm reading, and I just want that to keep going.

ANNE: I'm just sitting here smiling. I love that for you.

SHANNAN: Yeah. Yeah.

ANNE: I look forward to talking more about books real soon in this space. We have a couple episodes with, as our listeners call them, regular readers coming up, and we're talking about books all the time in Patreon and Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club. Shannan, thank you so much for joining us today.

SHANNAN: Thank you again for having me.

[00:51:58] ANNE: Readers, thank you for listening in. I hope you enjoyed our conversation.

And if you are inspired or have already done your own mid-year reading check-in, we would love to hear what you discovered, what stood out, what your superlatives are. We know that not everyone has as hard a time with superlatives as some people do. So you can always leave a comment on our show notes page. That's at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com. Tell us what you think, what you're interested in, what you're reading, what you're planning. If you have big or small hopes, dreams, and or intentions, we would love to hear.

SHANNAN: I'd actually also like to hear if anyone has a new crush, fictional, or favorite character. That's my favorite question to get everyone to answer.

ANNE: Yeah. I'm like, I have no idea. But some of you are yelling the answer at your phone. And if that's you, we want to hear.

That's also where we always list every single book we talk about. So if you're driving, we got you covered. That's all at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com.

[00:53:03] And if you're not on our email list, sign up so you know the important things when we make that button. I'm totally kidding. We don't really plan to unless you want us to. Tell us that in comments as well.

But we are doing a little bit of new merch for fall. So these questions will be on the table at team meetings. But to get all the news from What Should I Read Next HQ, sign up at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/newsletter. And you will find out about our important announcements and timely book news, and new episodes of this show.

Follow along or subscribe on your favorite podcast player, whether that's Overcast, that's mine. Shannan, what's yours?

SHANNAN: Apple.

ANNE: Apple Podcast, that's the biggest. Spotify, Pocket Cast, wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe and especially download each new episode, that matters so much to us.

I know a lot of you tell us, we don't know how podcasting works. Our network is paying attention to how many people subscribe, how many people download, how many people actually listen to the episodes. And that's a quick, easy, and free way to show your support for our show. It truly makes a difference.

[00:54:07] We're on Instagram @whatshouldireadnext. Please tag us in your mid-year check-in posts and stories. We would love to hear. If you love the show, tell your friends on social media. That would mean the world to us.

Thanks to the people who make the show happen. Thank you to my guest book recommender and talker, Shannan Malone, today. Every week What Should I Read Next? is created each week by Will Bogel, Holly Wielkoszewski, and Studio D Podcast Production. Readers, that is it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening. And as Rainer Maria Rilke said, "Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading." Happy reading, everyone.