Currently Reading

Season 8, Episode 20: Finding Bookish Twins + Organizing Our Recommendation Sources

December 15, 2025

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  • Some readers experience an overwhelming feeling when reading a beloved book so intensely that they need to set it down, a phenomenon that host Kaytee Cobb does not personally experience. 
  • Meredith Monday Schwartz found a potential 'book twin' on TikTok/Instagram named Caitlin M. Lilly, whose opinions on books largely align with her own, despite a slight divergence on *God of the Woods*. 
  • The deep dive addressed the challenge of tracking numerous book recommendation sources, with hosts suggesting methods like immediate screenshot captioning or using specific tags in reading trackers like The StoryGraph to maintain data integrity. 
  • Listeners should give themselves grace to start small when trying to optimize their reading lives, such as only culling five TBR books or identifying three new recommendation sources. 
  • Meredith shared a highly valued tip for Apple Podcasts users: changing the play order setting to "oldest to newest" allows listeners to easily start from the beginning of a long-running podcast series. 
  • The hosts encourage listeners to support the show by becoming a Bookish Friend for $5 a month to receive bonus content and keep the show commercial-free. 

Segments

Bookish Moments Overwhelm
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(00:02:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Some readers feel overwhelmed by a book’s intensity, leading them to pause reading, contrasting with others who push through strong emotional resonance.
  • Summary: Two local bookish friends described feeling an overwhelming physical sensation, like an itch in the chest or mouth, when reading a book they loved too much or one that was emotionally heavy. Meredith related this feeling to books that evoke strong, potentially sad or melancholy emotions, causing her to step away temporarily. Kaytee, conversely, stated that strong resonance makes her want to lean into the story harder, pushing past real-life distractions.
Finding Bookish Twins Online
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(00:08:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith found a potential ‘book twin’ on BookTok/Bookstagram, Caitlin M. Lilly, whose opinions align closely, highlighting the value of finding shared taste via social media.
  • Summary: Meredith discovered Caitlin M. Lilly (@kaitlynmlilly) on social media and found their book opinions highly aligned, suggesting she might be a book twin. The alignment was tested by their differing views on God of the Woods, which serves as a ‘mat miss test’ for determining true compatibility. Finding a book twin brings a positive feeling about the world and reinforces the importance of good recommendation sources.
Current Read: The Left Hand of Darkness
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(00:10:45)
  • Key Takeaway: The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) is a groundbreaking feminist science fiction classic exploring a planet where inhabitants have a fluid understanding of gender.
  • Summary: Kaytee read Ursula K. Le Guin’s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel, which centers on an ambassador visiting the planet Winter to invite its people into a confederation. The book masterfully blends philosophy with science fiction, observing other worlds to comment on our own, though Kaytee found the political maneuvering slow. She noted Le Guin’s prescience in suggesting that even with advanced space travel, societal issues like the patriarchy would persist.
Current Read: Life, Death, and Giants
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(00:15:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Life, and Death, and Giants is a character-driven novel narrated by four distinct voices surrounding the life of Gabriel Fisher, an extraordinarily large boy in an Amish/English community.
  • Summary: Meredith read this novel, which provided a perfect emotional contrast to a previous character-devoid book, immediately drawing her to the characters. The story is told through the perspectives of the delivering veterinarian, the Amish grandmother (Hannah), a bar owner, and a football coach, but notably excludes Gabriel’s direct POV. While Meredith loved the exploration of faith and tradition within the Amish community, one late-book scene felt overly histrionic, causing her to downgrade her initial high rating.
Current Read: Of Boys and Men
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(00:20:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Richard Reeves’ Of Boys and Men argues that the modern male struggle stems from deep structural challenges in education and the labor market, requiring structural solutions like ‘redshirting’ boys in school.
  • Summary: Kaytee read this nonfiction work despite initial apprehension about its subtitle, finding its analysis of structural challenges facing boys compelling. Reeves proposes solutions such as delaying boys’ entry into kindergarten by a year (‘redshirting’) to allow for better mental and social development. The book advocates for a positive vision of masculinity compatible with gender equality, addressing issues like boys falling behind in school and the changing role of fatherhood.
Current Read: Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime
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(00:26:29)
  • Key Takeaway: Val McDermid’s Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime blends real-world forensic science history with modern applications, making complex science genuinely page-turning.
  • Summary: Meredith highly recommends this nonfiction book where McDermid details various forensic disciplines, from entomology to DNA analysis, using historical cases to illustrate techniques. A major takeaway is that crime is significantly harder to commit now due to forensic advances, and the field is on the cusp of on-site DNA testing that could revolutionize catching criminals. The book also balances the science by showing its limitations and potential for wrongful convictions, particularly in forensic psychology.
Current Read: I, Medusa
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(00:32:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Ayana Gray’s I, Medusa is a propulsive YA/New Adult retelling of the Medusa myth that approaches themes of sexual assault with sensitivity suitable for sparking conversations with teens.
  • Summary: Kaytee adored this retelling, which focuses on Medusa coming into adulthood and her subsequent fall from grace after an encounter with Poseidon. Unlike some other retellings, Gray handles the realities of sexual assault by showing Medusa’s initial ignorance of such dangers, making it a potential conversation starter for young adults. The book successfully blends rage, feminism, and a reworking of the myth while being highly evocative and propulsive from start to finish.
Current Read: The Creeping Hand Murder
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(00:36:40)
  • Key Takeaway: The interactive mystery The Creeping Hand Murder requires the reader to act as the detective, examining evidence like photos and witness statements to solve an impossible crime set in 1933 London.
  • Summary: Meredith enjoyed this physical, interactive mystery from Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper, comparing it to a hybrid of a novel and a ‘hunt-a-killer’ box. The reader is tasked with solving a murder where the victim was stabbed in front of seven witnesses, none of whom saw the act, leading to the theory of a disembodied hand. While highly enjoyable and quick to complete, the physical copy’s solution envelope was abruptly placed, requiring careful attention to transition from solving to checking the answer.
Deep Dive: Organizing Recommendation Sources
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(00:42:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective tracking of recommendation sources requires linking the source immediately upon discovery to the book, as memory fades quickly, and the goal should be data collection for taste calibration.
  • Summary: The hosts agreed that tracking where recommendations originate is difficult across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and The StoryGraph, often leading to lost data points. Meredith’s current successful method involves immediately screenshotting a desired book and captioning the photo with the source’s name, which she later transfers to a spreadsheet for data analysis. Kaytee noted that using specific tags on The StoryGraph (like a joint tag for books read with a specific friend) allows for robust data analysis on taste alignment.
Fountain Wishes: Grace and Simplicity
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(00:57:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Readers should grant themselves grace to start small when implementing reading life improvements, focusing on one minor change rather than attempting immediate, perfect systemization.
  • Summary: Kaytee wished for listeners to start small with reading goals, suggesting trying just one small change like culling five books or identifying three trusted recommendation sources for the next year. Meredith shared a solution to a decade-long podcast listening problem: she learned that Apple Podcasts allows users to sort episodes from oldest to newest, which solved her organizational issue.
Starting Reading Goals Small
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(00:58:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Reading life changes should begin with small, manageable steps rather than overwhelming systemic overhauls.
  • Summary: Optimization in reading habits should focus on small actions, such as tracking only a few items or culling just five books from the TBR list. Not every reading adjustment needs to be a permanent, massive change. Giving oneself grace to try one new small thing is encouraged.
Apple Podcasts Sorting Fix
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(00:59:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Apple Podcasts users can resolve the difficulty of finding the oldest episodes of a show by changing the play order setting to “oldest to newest.”
  • Summary: The fix involves navigating to the show’s settings via the three dots in the top right corner. Within settings, selecting the “play order” option allows the user to choose “oldest to newest.” This setting also allows selection to only show unplayed episodes, ensuring sequential listening from the beginning.
Crime Time FM Mention
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(01:01:22)
  • Key Takeaway: The British podcast Crime Time FM was the specific show Meredith used to test and confirm the utility of the Apple Podcasts sorting feature.
  • Summary: Meredith found the sorting feature particularly helpful for catching up on the hundreds of episodes of the Crime Time FM podcast. She expressed significant relief upon solving the decade-long problem of accessing older episodes sequentially. This show will be remembered as the catalyst for discovering the sorting solution.
Closing Remarks and Support
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(01:02:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Listeners can support the show by becoming a Bookish Friend for $5 monthly to receive bonus content and keep the podcast commercial-free.
  • Summary: Hosts Meredith and Kaytee provided their respective Instagram handles for connection. Full show notes, including book titles and timestamps, are available on their website. Support options include rating/reviewing, social media shout-outs, and joining the Patreon for exclusive content.