Is reading a niche hobby?

Send us a textWe were planning to talk about our reading habits and rituals in this episode...but then Elizabeth heard an NPR podcast about how no one reads anymore, at the same time as Martha read multiple articles about how more people bought Rebecca Yarros' latest book than any adult book since records began and that thanks to TikTok, Barnes & Noble is opening more stores this year. We had to ask ourselves: how could both of these things be true?Join as we try to sort fact from moral panic, discuss the gendered media narratives around book releases by women authors and the loss of literary men, debunk an oft-repeated (even by us) statistic about reading, and ponder whether reading has indeed become a niche hobby. We do also, eventually, talk about the struggles we both face with reading and the habits and rituals we've developed to help fit reading into our lives.-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:   All Fours by Miranda July A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie IrwinThe Women by Kristin HannahI Ran Away to Evil 2 by Mystic NeptuneOnyx Storm by Rebecca YarrosThis is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone----------------------- Sources listed in the order they appear in the episode :https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1263527033Irwin, William. "Reading Audio Books." Philosophy and Literature 33, no. 2 (2009): 358-368. doi:10.1353/phl.0.0057.https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/03/romantasy-and-booktok-driving-a-huge-rise-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy-saleshttps://www.newsnationnow.com/business/booktok-barnes-and-noble-60-stores/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/books/rebecca-yarros-onyx-storm.html https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/06/three-in-ten-americans-now-read-e-books/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/books/sally-rooney-intermezzo.html https://www.vox.com/culture/392971/men-reading-fiction-statistics-fact-checkedhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/opinion/men-fiction-novels.html ----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textHave you ever wondered what it takes to be an audiobook narrator? Or is it perhaps your dream job like it is for Martha? In this episode, we interview audiobook narrator extraordinaire Laura Horowitz.Laura tells us how she got into the business, what a day in the life for an audiobook narrator looks like, how she connects with authors and fans, and what the rise of AI might mean for audiobook narrators like her. This interview was so fun and informative! It’s one you won’t want to miss.  -----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:  The Plated Prisoner series by Raven KennedyWings So Wicked by Emily Blackwood (Golden City #1)Blood So Brutal by Emily Blackwood (Golden City #2)Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van PeltThe House Witch 2 by DelemhachWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonI Ran Away to Evil by Mystic Neptune ----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a text[Apologies, listeners! We're re-releasing this one because there was an audio glitch in the original episode. If you've already downloaded the episode from Wednesday, try this one instead!] Happy New Year! There are some beliefs, truisms, urban legends, myths, whatever you want to call them, about books and reading that seem like they just won't die. Do audiobooks really count as reading? Are all readers introverts? Has reading education in schools really gone downhill? Is learning to read a natural process that will just happen organically if we let it? We talk about all these questions and more. Join us for some bookish mythbusting to start the new year!-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:   The Paris Novel by Ruth ReichlThe House Witch by DelemhachThis is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max GladstoneLe Fay (Morgan Le Fay #2) by Sophie Keetch----------------------- Sources:  https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-biggest-myths-about-reading-booksFive Myths About Reading & How to Put Them to Death (goinswriter.com): https://goinswriter.com/reading-myths/Ten Myths About Learning to Read | Reading Rockets: https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/about-reading/articles/ten-myths-about-learning-readThe Myths About Reading We Need to Bust | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/myths-reading-we-need-bust-bitelyai----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textHappy Holidays! We're bringing back our year-end reading round up. Join us as we talk about our year in reading, our favorite books of 2024, and what we're looking forward to reading in 2025. We also talk about how our conversation about goal-setting in January of this year impacted our years in reading (spoiler: profoundly and in a good way!) -----------------------Books we talk about in this episode:Books we're reading now:The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie LeongTower of Dawn by Sarah J MaasHeartburn by Nora Ephron2024 reads we haven't talked about on the podcast:The Familiar by Leah BardugoMorbidly Yours by Ivy FairbanksWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonDracula by Bram StokerConfessions of a Forty-Something Fuck Up by Alexandra PotterCurse of Penryth Hall by Jess ArmstrongThe Day of the Triffids by John WyndhamThe Hapless Milliner (Miss Austen Investigates #1) by Jessica BullKitchen by Banana YoshimotoOur favorite books of 2024:Elizabeth: Tie between Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van PeltMartha: Tie between A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross and Nora Goes Off Script. Honorable mention to The House Witch series.Books on our TBRs for 2025:History Lessons by Zoe Wallbrook (July)The Lioness (Dec 2024) And The Trees Stare Back (YA) by Gigi Griffis (May)Heavy Hitter by Katie CotugnoAll Fours by Miranda JulyGreat Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (April)Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett (March)The Women by Kristin Hannah?Onyx Storm (The Empyrean #3) by Rebecca Yarros (Jan)Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (April)Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey (Feb)Ordinary Monsters by J.M. MiroWhen the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textRomantic fantasies have taken the book world by storm in recent years, but fantasy stories that allow us to break free of the rules and limitations of our own world and reality are as old as human history. We wanted to learn more about the genre's history and its variations and sub-genres. What's the difference between fantasy and science fiction? Between high fantasy and low fantasy? What about all the sub-genres? Are Romantasy really something new or are they just a marketing ploy? How about cozy fantasy? Join us as we take a deep dive into fantasy and add lots of books to our TBR that will help us escape the current reality!-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusJust for the Summer by Abby JiménezAdelaide by Genevieve WheelerThe House Witch by Delemhach----------------------- Sources:https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-the-fantasy-genre-history-of-fantasy-and-subgenres-and-types-of-fantasy-in-literaturehttps://litjoycrate.com/a/blog/fantasy-book-tropes?srsltid=AfmBOoqZ5EBUD7-q8IYgOI0pTKRcyZmSfBLyexpqCVQrgkF8Mybxz7DQhttps://www.britannica.com/art/fantasy-narrative-genrehttps://bookriot.com/fantasy-sub-genre-primer/ Dassler, J. (2021). Women in Literature: The Impact of Feminism on Fantasy Literature, 1950-1990. International Social Science Review, 97(4), 1–20.Schlobin, R. C. (2011). Mendlesohn, Farah, and Edward James. A Short History of Fantasy. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 22(2), 292+https://zipdo.co/book-sales-by-genre-statistics/https://www.tonerbuzz.com/blog/book-and-reading-statistics/https://fantasy-faction.com/2015/classic-female-fantasy-writershttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abusehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_fantasy https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/style/shadow-daddies-romantasy-novels.html ----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textWhether or not you'll enjoy a book club depends a lot on your reading style, habits, and preferences. But if you're interested in joining a book club, there is truly one out there for everyone - different types, communities, themes, modalities, and more.Join us as we talk about our own experiences with book clubs (as both participants and moderators), the history of book clubs (which includes a lot more social activism than we expected!), celebrity book clubs, and how to find a book club that's right for you.-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:A Date with Death by Julia Chapman (Dales Detective #1)A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie IrwinA Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen (Saga of the Unfated #1)The House Witch by Delemhach----------------------- Sources:Book Riot: https://bookriot.com/a-history-of-book-clubs/Medium: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-best-book-clubs-throughout-history-d45537334de0Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/03/27/womens-book-clubs-history-oprah-reese/Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ladies-who-book-club-have-always-been-the-glue-of-resistance_n_595db02de4b02e9bdb0a3454NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/18/books/reese-witherspoon-book-club.html https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/book-clubs-and-book-commerce/3C50183E95136DAD1FC7FB51FD6E6A1E https://testprepinsight.com/resources/us-book-reading-statistics/https://thgmwriters.com/blog/global-book-reading-statistics-2022-2023-complete-survey-data/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/09/why-do-so-few-men-read-books-by-women----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textSeason 2 is here and our first episode is a big one! In some ways, we have been building up to this moment since the podcast began: we finally chat with Elizabeth's librarian inspiration and the All Books Aloud unofficial mascot, Nancy Pearl. Nancy has had a storied life and a career about as influential as a librarian could hope for, and she shares so much of it with us during this hour. We talk about how her difficult childhood led her to the library, how the librarians in that first public library inspired her love of reading and her desire to be a librarian herself, and how that career led to some of her noteworthy epiphanies about books and reading. How did she come up with reading doorways? How did she realize that no two readers read the same book? What does she think about book bans and the state of libraries today? And what did she once say about finishing books to Elizabeth's grad school class that made them all gasp? Listen and find out!-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:    The Underpainter by Jane UrquhartTress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon SandersonCrown of Midnight by Sarah J. MaasThe League of Gentlewomen Witches by India HoltonThe House Witch #2 by Delemhach----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textIn our season finale we talk with author Sarah T. Dubb about her debut novel, Birding With Benefits. It's a fun, flirty, sexy, and touching fake-dating romance novel featuring two protagonists in their 40s who fall in love while - you guessed it - bird-watching together. But Sarah hasn't always been a romance reader (or writer). In fact, her reading journey started solidly in literary fiction, but she fell in love with romance during the pandemic (like someone else we know...ahem...:)Join us for this super fun conversation as we talk about one writer's journey from a kid who loved to read--but never thought of writing novels--to a published author. Sarah also has lots of tips and insider information for writers hoping to get published. You won't want to miss it!Reminder that this is the last episode of Season 1. See you in the fall for Season 2! ----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textIs the book always better than the movie? If you had asked either of us before this episode, we both would have said unequivocally 'yes!' But our discussion showed us that this topic might actually be more nuanced than we realized. Join as we talk about nearly every Jane Austen adaptation ever made (don't worry, we also talk about other adaptations...a little), ponder whether we enjoy watching screen adaptations of our favorite books even if they're not perfect, daydream about books we wish would be made into screen adaptations, and more.----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textTwo very special guests joined us for this episode - the other half of our sibling quartet, Bekka and Mike. Listen in as we talk about our early experiences with reading, the similarities in how our reading journeys started, where our tastes differ, and how we took different paths based on our personality traits.We really enjoyed reminiscing with our siblings and reflecting on some childhood nostalgia, and we hope you'll enjoy it, too!-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:  The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (The Cazalet Chronicles #1)Nettle and Bone by T. KingfisherA Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. MaasWhy Women Grow by Alice VincentNeuromancer by William Gibson (Sprawl #1)----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!