I Reckon I’ll Read It

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. In this episode, Beccah makes a questionable number of (even more questionable) horse noises, we confess just how long we've held on to some "borrowed" books, and Summer updates us on her Throne of Glass tandem read! Then, we wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment that puts our reading memories to the test. Just how much do we actually remember about the books we've read? Books We Mentioned:  3:15- Spur of the Moment Question: What is the longest you have borrowed a book and then returned? A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro   Reading Round Up: 10:45- Throne of Glass tandem read   29:00- Big Bad Wolf, Laurie Gilmore    39:00- Mad Mabel, Sally Hepworth   39:50- Strange Sally Diamond, Liz Nugent   40:15- The Soulmate, Sally Hepworth 46:18- Daggerbound, T. Kingfisher  52:50- Assistant to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer 59:00- Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, Ben Reeves   1:02:00- I See You’ve Called in Dead, John Kenney 1:04:30- The Lost Story, Meg Shaffer 1:11:22- Spotlight Segment- Previously Read, Currently Forgotten   Faking Christmas, Cindy Steel   A Psalm for the Wild Built, Becky Chambers   Uncharmed, Lucy Jane Wood    The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow   The Body in the Library, Agatha Christie   Witch Please, Ann Aguirre

Books We Mentioned:  2:20- A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas Crescent City, Sarah J. Maas Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas 3:38- Spur of the Moment Question: What do you think of Goodreads’ recent updates? 11:40- Reading Round Up: 11:50- Spookily Yours, Jennifer Chipman 20:50- My Roommate is a Vampire, Jenna Levine 21:18- Fall I Want, Lyra Parrish 23:10- Love You to Death, Jenna Levine 30:00- The Farewitch of Foxe Holler, Ellen Pauley Goff 39:10- Our Sister’s Keeper, Jasmine Holmes 46:50- Lone Women, Victor LaValle 47:00- Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston 50:55- How to Kidnap a Fake Date, Effie Campbell 53:30- Tourist Season, Brynne Weaver 58:38- You’re the One that I Haunt, Katie Jung 1:06:00- Spotlight Segment- Vampires in Literature The Vampyre, John Polidori Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu Dracula, Bram Stoker Interview with a Vampire, Anne Rice The Vampire Diaries, L.J. Smith The Sookie Stackhouse Series, Charlaine Harris/The Southern Vampire Mysteries  Twilight, Stephanie Meyer Salem’s Lot, Stephen King Fledgling, Octavia Butler A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness Zodiac Academy, Caroline Susanne Carissa Broadbent  Jennifer L. Armentrout  Bride, Ali Hazelwood My Vampire series, Jenna Levine Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, VE Schwab Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Canas Quicksilver, Callie Hart

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. We talk about book covers so embarrassing we had to hide them in public, Beccah finally reads a book Summer has been begging her to pick up for two years, and we bring a few spooky reads to the table just in time for October. Then, we wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month – highlighting its significance, notable authors, and, of course, a few book recommendations. Books We Mentioned:  1:37- Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruby Dixon 1:58- Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer 2:20- Spur of the Moment Question: Have you ever read a book with a cover so embarrassing or scandalous that you had to hide it in public? 4:00- When He Was Wicked, Julia Quinn 5:00- Bodice Ripper, Danica Nava 8:00- Reading Round Up: 8:40- The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar Rebecca Ross books 15:30- This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 16:40- Babel, R.F. Kuang 17:00- Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley Warrior Girl Unearthed, Angeline Boulley Sisters in the Wind, Angeline Boulley 29:39- The Library of Borrowed Hearts, Lucy Gilmore 36:30- Grim Tidings, B.K. Borison Good Spirits, B.K. Borison  41:45- Muñeca, Cynthia Gomez 42:00- The House of Gardenias, Isabel Cañas 44:20- The Possession of Alba Diaz, Isabel Cañas 48:15- Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Cañas 49:50- First Degree Magic, J.M. Linkhart 51:30- Phryne Fisher Series, Kerry Greenwood 54:25- Spotlight Segment- Hispanic Heritage Month Gods of Jade and Shadow, Mexican Gothic, The Seventh Veil of Salome, The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno Garcia The Hacienda, Vampires of El Norte, The Possession of Alba Diaz, Isabel Cañas Muñeca, Cynthia Gomez The Luna Sisters series (Ana Maria and the Fox,) Liana de la Rosa Las Leonas series (A Caribbean Heiress in Paris) Adriana Herrera You Had Me at Hola, Alexis Daria The Spanish Love Deception, The American Roommate Experiment,Elena Armas The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina, Zoraida Cordova Olga Dies Dreaming, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, Xochitl Gomez  Esperanza Rising, Becoming Naomi Leon, Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros Only Mostly Devastated, Sophia Gonzales  Bright Dead Things, The Carrying, Ada Limon The Essential Neruda, Pablo Neruda,  Woman Without Shame, Sandra Cisneros The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Next Year in Havana, The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes, The House on Biscayne Bay, Chanel Cleeton Solito, Javier Zamora Immortal Consequences, I.V. Marie  Family Lore , Clap When you Land, Elizabeth Acevedo When Javi Dumped Mari, Mia Sosa  Isabel Allende One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez  Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Canas Woman Hollering Creek, Sandra Cisneros    The Luna Sisters series, Liana de la Rosa

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. We bring several short reads to the table, a paleontologist romance that feels a little like chasing Indiana Jones, plus creepy dolls, old lady murderers, and plenty of other questionable reading choices. Then, we wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment on Banned Books Week: what it is, why books get challenged, and some of the titles that keep finding themselves on the list. Books We Mentioned:  1:15- Wrangled by the Alien Rancher, Ursa Dax 4:45 - Spur of the Moment Question: Do You Count Re-Reads Towards Your Year End Total? 10:30 - Reading Round Up: 10:45- Fossil Feud, Maggie North 11:50- Loathe to Love You, Ali Hazelwood  18:23- Excavations, Kate Myers 19:55- Muneca, Cynthia Gomez 27:00- The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno Garcia Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Canas 28:00- The Awakening, Kate Chopin 41:00- An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, Helene Tursten 43:30- The Keeper of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler Olsen 48:40- Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo  Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo 50:00- Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling  The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown Babel, R.F. Kuang  53:15- If Not You, Ellen O’Clover The Heartbreak Hotel, Ellen O’Clover 58:00 - Spotlight Segment- Banned Book Week https://bannedbooksweek.org/american-library-association-releases-2025-most-challenged-books-list/  Sold, Patricia McCormick The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe Empire of Storms, Sarah J. Maas Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo Tricks, Ellen Hopkins A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess Identical, Ellen Hopkins Looking for Alaska, John Green Storm and Fury, Jennifer L. Armentrout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger The Color Purple, Alice Walker The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison Twilight, Stephenie Meyer The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. From there, we determine which authors Summer would invite to her birthday party, somehow break our own Reading Roundup rules with a few bonus recommendations, and watch Beccah once again campaign against book blurbs that make thoughtful romance novels sound like cheesy Hallmark movies (which we’re also 100% here for). We wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment celebrating one full year of I Reckon I'll Read It – looking back at our favorite moments, biggest surprises, and how far we've come. Books We Mentioned:  2:30 - Spur of the Moment Question: What three authors living or dead would you invite to your birthday party? 10:00 - Reading Round Up: 10:30- The Return of Ellie Black, Emiko Jean Before You Were Anne, Emiko Jean 18:20- Persuasion, Jane Austen 30:40- The Framed Women of Ardemore House, Brandy Shillace 32:00- The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman The Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz 37:20- Wine and Punishment, Sarah Fox 38:30- Honey Bee Mine, Sarah T. Dubb Birding with Benefits, Sarah T. Dubb 49:30- The Children, Melissa Albert 57:40- To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf 1:05:00 - Spotlight Segment- Looking back on one year of I Reckon I’ll Read It! Married to the Alien Cowboy, Ursa Dax Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy The Enchanted Greenhouse, Sarah Beth Durst Wives Like Us, Plum Sykes Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer The Correspondent, Virginia Evans Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry Babel, R.F. Kuang Three Pines series, Louise Penny Twilight, Stephanie Meyer By the Fire We Carry, Rebecca Nagle Quicksilver, Callie Hart To the Moon and Back, Eliana Ramage Violet Thistlewaite is Not A Villain Anymore, Emily Krempholtz Three Bags Full, Leonie Swann Into the Drowning Deep, Mira Grant The Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. From there, we tackle the very important question of when it's socially acceptable to start reading fall books, wander into the strange world of paranormal fiction (where the phrase “sexy reanimated corpses” somehow becomes a normal part of the conversation), and somehow find ourselves back in cowboy romance territory once again. We wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment breaking down how we actually rate books: the metrics, moments, and gut feelings that help us decide where a book lands on our five-star scale. Books We Mentioned:  6:10 - Spur of the Moment Question: When does fall reading start for you? 7:20- If It Makes You Happy, Julie Olivia Love Felt Like This, Julie Olivia- out Sept. 8th 8:05- Moby Dick, Herman Melville 12:05- The September House, Carissa Orlando 13:00- Reading Round Up: 13:20- Bound, Ali Hazelwood Mate, Ali Hazelwood Two Can Play, Ali Hazelwood 27:00- The Reimagining of Thornwood House, Jaliegh Johnson Thistlefoot, GennaRose Nethercott  34:00- Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore, Emily Krempholtz 34:48- Flawless, Elsie Silver Gold Rush Ranch series (first book Off to the Races) Rose Hill series (first book Wild Love) Emerald Lake series (first book Fever Dream) 47:30- Rebel Blue Ranch services, Lyla Sage (first book Done and Dusted) 48:00- The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood 52:40- Beach Read, Emily Henry 53:00- The Hating Game, Sally Thorne 54:15- Vera Stein is Fine, Julie Murphy Dumplin’, Julie Murphy A Merry Little Meet Cute, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone 1:01:20- Leave and Come Back, Lavanya Lakshmi 1:02:00- Dolly All the Time, Annabel Monaghan Nora Goes Off Script, Annabel Monaghan  1:08:30 - Spotlight Segment- How We Decide on Book Ratings 1:11:45- Assistant to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer 1:15:00- Fall I Want, Lyra Parish 1:18:30- Dearly Departed, Chip Pons 1:19:45- Wells Ranch series, Bailey Hannah 1:20:45- Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko 1:21:30- The Correspondent, Virginia Evans 1:21:40- Where’d You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple 1:22:15- Helm, Sarah Hall 1:23:00- Listen for the Lie, Amy Tintera 1:23:45- Excavations, Kate Myers 1:23:55- The Hounding, Xenobe Purvis 1:24:15- Unlikely Animals, Annie Hartnett 1:25:23- books by Janice Hallett 1:28:20- The Selection series, Kiera Cass

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. From there, we tackle the very important issue of which books feel like August before Beccah experiences the literary equivalent of an identity crisis after enjoying several of her least favorite tropes. Summer continues her deep dive into the world of Sarah J. Maas to prepare for the upcoming book release in October. To wrap things up, we end with a Spotlight Segment exploring high school reading lists, while we, the obvious experts, decide what we think should stay, what should go, and what we'd assign instead. Books We Mentioned:  2:40- Spur of the Moment Question: If the month of August was a book genre, what would it be? S.A. Cosby novels The Dry, Jane Harper 7:25- Reading Round Up: 7:40- Finlay Donovan is Killing It, Elle Cosimano  14:30- Wells Ranch series by Bailey Hannah, specifically: Love Wells Kept 16:50- Rebel Blue Ranch series, Lyla Sage 17:05- Chestnut Springs series, Elsie Silver 18:40- Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks 23:45- Resisting the Alien Rider, Ursa Da 26:00- The Vow, Movie (incorrectly cited as a Nicholas Sparks novel, whoops!) 32:30- Crescent City Series, Sarah J. Maas A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas Throne of Glass Series, Sarah J. Maas 42:00- Adversary to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer 47:43- Excavations, Kate Myers 51:28- Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan 51:55: Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez Spotlight Segment- High School Reading Lists Revisited The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald  The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett  The House on Mango St., Sandra Cisneros  To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston The Color Purple, Alice Walker Monster, Walter Dean Myers  The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne  Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne  1984, George Orwell Hunger Games, Susanne Collins The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood The Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway  Life of Pi, Yann Martel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer The Things They Carried, Tim O’brien  The Martian, Andy Weir  The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho  Lord of the Flies, William Golding Stanford Prison Experiment, Documentary or Podcast The Lottery - Shirley Jackson  Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare Julius Caesar, Shakespeare Macbeth, Shakespeare Hamlet, Shakespeare  The Odyssey, Homer Circe, Madeline Miller The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien  American Born Chinese - Gene Juen Yang The Crucible, Arthur Miller Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury Night, Elie Wiesel The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka  Firekeepers Daughter, Angeline Boulley The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon  Out of My mind, Sharon M. Draper

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. From there, we discuss what things are needed for a successful ‘reading experience,’ and for the first time in a long time (maybe ever?) Beccah says she reckons she would read all three of Summer’s books. We wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment on one of our favorite tropes: You’ve Got Mail retellings. Books We Mentioned:  1:20- Spur of the Moment Question: What do you need around you to have a successful reading experience? Giant reading pillow Space heater  4:30- Reading Round Up: 5:25- Bromantasy, Maire Roche 11:18- The Mead Mishaps series by Kimberly Lemming:  That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (book 1) 12:48- Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore, Emily Krempholtz 14:00- The Ending Writes Itself, Evelyn Clarke And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie 15:20- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab  Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, V.E. Schwab 21:50- The Diary of Anais Nin, Anais Nin 22:47- Recluse Books, Ft. Worth Texas 25:53- Delta of Venus, Anais Nin 27:50- On Booze, F. Scott Fitzgerald  29:08- I See You’ve Called in Dead, John Kenney 29:57- Straight Man, Richard Russo A Man Called Ove, Frederik Backman Less, Andrew Sean Greer 39:40- The Unicorn Hunters, Katherine Arden 43:47- My Lady Jane, Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows 45:28- Mother Tongue, Sara Novic True Biz, Sara Novic 51:00- Spotlight Segment- You’ve Got Mail Retellings  Well Played, Jen DeLuca Battle of the Bookstores, Ali Brady The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, Megan Bannen Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross Attachments, Rainbow Rowell To Sir With Love, Lauren Layne Thank You For Listening, Julia Whelan Yours Truly, Abby Jimenez Spoiler Alert, Olivia Dade Tweet Cute, Emma Lord Mr. Wrong Number, Lynn Painter

Hey y’all! Welcome to our first Side Saddle episode, where we take the time to dive deep into topics that might not fully make it to the big show. Today, we are joined by a VERY special guest to discuss one of our favorite book (and movie) series of all time, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. We talk all things original trilogy, prequels, movie adaptations, hot takes, and more! And y’all, it really is THAT deep for us. Saddle up and ride along as we go!   Books We Talked About:    1:20- Introducing our guest- THE BULLY! (AKA our dear friend, Sandiey)   5:10-Hunger Games discussion   7:45- Rapid Fire Discussion Questions   Buzzfeed quiz, Which Hunger Games District    20:00- The Original Trilogy Discussion   23:00- Divergent, Veronica Roth   25:28- The Lottery, Shirley Jackson   31:38- Battle Royale, Koushun Takami   37:00- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes   1:04:30- Sunrise on the Reaping   1:21:00- Hot takes and thoughts on the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping movie adaptation

This week, we kick things off with another Reading Roundup: two books we’ve finished, two we’re currently reading, and two that are up next. From there, we discuss our favorite fictional friendships, which quickly becomes an excuse for Beccah to spend an unreasonable amount of time fangirling over Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. Summer, unsurprisingly, brings even more horror novels to the table, while Beccah once again shares her (admittedly unpopular) opinions about the so-called “greatest assassin in the world.” We wrap things up with a Spotlight Segment on the books that have pushed us out of our comfort zones.  Books We Mentioned:  The Okie Bookcast BOB Podcast 7:45- Spur of the Moment Question: What are some of your favorite fictional friendships? Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery  My Friends, Fredrik Backman The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien  Clare Pooley novels A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas 13:58- Reading Round Up: 14:23- A Box Full of Darkness, Simone St. James The Sun Down Motel, Simone St. James Broken Girls, Simone St. James Murder Road, Simone St. James The Book of Cold Cases, Simone St. James 21:00- The Haunting of Hill House TV adaptation, based on the story by Shirley Jackson 25:35- Just for the Season, Rachel Griffiths 27:00- Bridgerton series, Julia Quinn 35:45- Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas A Court of Thorns and Roses series, Sarah J. Maas Crescent City series, Sarah J. Maas 50:00-The Shippers, Katherine Center The Bodyguard, Katherine Center Hello Stranger, Katherine Center The RomCommers, Katherine Center The Love Haters, Katherine Center  57:00- Our Perfect Storm, Carley Fortune 1:00:55- Forever Your Rogue, Erin Langston 1:08:50 - Alive and Wells, Bailey Hannah 1:25:30- Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks 1:16:00- The Edens series, Devney Perry 1:17:00- Spotlight Segment- Books that have pushed us out of our comfort zones Books by Silvia Moreno Garcia: -Gods of Jade and Shadow -Mexican Gothic -The Seventh Veil of Salome   Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Canas Tin Man, Sarah Winman The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer Married to the Alien Cowboy, Ursa Dax  The Traveling Cat Chronicles, Hiro Arikawa