Currently Reading

Season 8, Episode 16: Losing Track of Time + Our Book Club Recs

November 17, 2025

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  • Meredith experienced the rare bookish moment of completely losing track of time while reading, causing her to be late for an engagement, while Kaytee celebrated acquiring a personalized license plate reading "READING". 
  • Meredith has started a new, small, dark-book-focused book club called the "666 book club" (six members, six books, discussed every six weeks), using Chuck Wendig's *The Staircase in the Woods* as their first selection. 
  • The hosts provided several backlist book recommendations suitable for general book clubs, emphasizing titles that spark discussion, such as *Curfew* by Jayne Cowie and *The Push* by Ashley Audrain, while noting that near-future sci-fi like *Chain Gang All-Stars* is also excellent for generating debate. 

Segments

Bookish Moments Shared
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(00:01:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith’s bookish moment was losing 35 minutes of scheduled time while engrossed in Snap by Belinda Bauer, highlighting the rare experience of being completely absorbed in a book.
  • Summary: Meredith described the unusual feeling of losing track of time while reading, resulting in being 15 minutes late to an appointment. Kaytee’s bookish moment involved successfully obtaining a personalized vanity license plate reading “READING” with a ‘1’ replacing the ‘I’ in Arizona. Both hosts noted that achieving a true ‘flow state’ while reading is uncommon for their highly scheduled lives.
Current Reads: Meredith’s Picks
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(00:06:35)
  • Key Takeaway: The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig is a dark, gory horror novel that uses supernatural elements to explore themes of friendship, trauma, and lingering teenage selves, resonating strongly with Gen X experiences.
  • Summary: Meredith highly recommended The Staircase in the Woods, noting its masterful weaving between past and present timelines to examine damaging friendships. The book is dark and disturbing but uses horror effectively to serve the character-driven story about trauma. She also mentioned that the book lands its complex ending well and is not a ‘chonk’ like Wendig’s Wanderers.
Current Reads: Kaytee’s Picks
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(00:11:56)
  • Key Takeaway: The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko features a complex heroine, Small Shade, who is a curse-eater, set in a richly imagined, magic-filled West African fantasy city called Oluwan.
  • Summary: Kaytee loved The Maid and the Crocodile, praising the sparkling world-building of Oluwan and the complex, root-forable heroine, Small Shade. The book explores a magic system that exacts a cost and features a dynamic relationship with an ambitious crocodile god, drawing comparisons to Howl’s Moving Castle. Although set in the Raybearer world, it is a standalone story.
Current Reads: Nonfiction Deep Dives
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(00:15:47)
  • Key Takeaway: How to Be a Saint by Kate Sidley is a laugh-out-loud, irreverent, yet well-researched guide to Catholic canonization, best experienced in print due to its visual elements.
  • Summary: Meredith lauded How to Be a Saint for its Mary Roach-esque blend of weird history and comedy, detailing the bureaucratic process of sainthood, including posthumous miracles and beheadings. The book is structured as a guide, offering hilarious captions for historical artwork, and is recommended in print format for the best experience. Kaytee reviewed Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery, which explores turtle rescue and the creatures’ slow perception of time, noting it is emotionally charged but ultimately hopeful.
Current Reads: Louise Penny & Lev Grossman
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(00:26:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith found The Black Wolf by Louise Penny, the 20th book in the Three Pines series, to be a convoluted continuation of the global terrorism plot from The Grey Wolf, preferring Penny’s traditional murder mysteries.
  • Summary: Meredith felt that the high-stakes global terrorism plot felt like a ‘square peg round hole’ when shoehorned into the Three Pines setting and Gamash’s role. She noted that the book is intended to be read alongside The Grey Wolf as ‘sibling books’ and that she hopes the series returns to its core mystery style after these two installments. Kaytee praised The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman as perfect fall reading, appreciating its light-hearted, humorous retelling of Arthurian legend featuring unlikely heroes.
Book Club Recommendations Deep Dive
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(00:38:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective book club picks should be readable, offer diverse topics, and guarantee discussion points, which is why near-future sci-fi and books with divisive endings are often strong choices.
  • Summary: Meredith clarified her aversion to book clubs stems from not wanting books chosen for her, but she enjoys structured reading communities like her new ‘666 book club.’ Recommendations included Curfew (safety vs. freedom debate), Castle of Water (divisive ending), and One of the Boys (genetic testing ethics). Chain Gang All-Stars was also suggested as a propulsive book that sparks discussion even if members disagree on its quality.
Fountain Wishes
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(00:52:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith wished for listeners to follow the show’s Instagram account (@currentlyreadingpodcast) to help grow their platform, while Kaytee wished for the ability to metaphorically ‘reformat her hard drive’ (brain) to easily clear out unliked reads and streamline her TBR.
  • Summary: Meredith’s wish was a direct appeal for social media engagement, noting that their social media manager, Betsy Eikenberry, is emphasizing Instagram growth. Kaytee’s wish was inspired by cleaning her son’s computer, hoping for a mental ‘clear cache’ button for her reading life. This would allow for easier TBR management and removal of books that didn’t resonate.