Currently Reading

Season 8, Episode 29: A Website Refresh + Curating A Bookstagram

February 23, 2026

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The hosts are actively refreshing the Currently Reading website, including updating and linking five years' worth of 'Books We Want To Press Into Your Hands' recommendations and a list of favorite books for babies and kids. 
  • Meredith is experiencing a reading slump driven by work focus, leading her to consume plot-heavy TV like 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,' while Kaytee notes that reading habits naturally ebb and flow with life seasons. 
  • The deep dive segment offers actionable advice on curating an Instagram feed to find a 'book twin' by intentionally interacting with bookish content to train the algorithm and using litmus test books to vet potential follows. 
  • Kaytee officially declared *The Complete Stories* by Flannery O'Connor a DNF due to the frequent and difficult use of racial slurs, emphasizing that readers must prioritize their own comfort when engaging with classics. 
  • The hosts provided comprehensive contact and support information, directing listeners to their website (currentlyreadingpodcast.com), newsletter sign-up on Substack, and Patreon for Bookish Friends benefits. 
  • Meredith and Kaytee concluded the episode by sharing their respective Instagram handles and thanking their producer, Megan Phouthavong Evans. 

Segments

Podcast Introduction and Website Updates
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(00:00:11)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘Currently Reading’ website is undergoing a refresh, including updating five years of ‘Books We Want To Press Into Your Hands’ recommendations.
  • Summary: The hosts introduce themselves and the episode’s structure, which includes current reads, a deep dive, and a ‘Before We Go’ segment. Kaytee spent significant time updating the website’s back catalog of recommended books, which spans five years of episodes. These updated lists, including favorite books for babies and kids, will be linked in the show notes.
Bookish Moments and Reading Slumps
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(01:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith is experiencing a work-driven reading slump, favoring plot-heavy TV like ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ over reading literary fiction.
  • Summary: Kaytee’s bookish moment involved reviewing old ‘Books We Want To Press Into Your Hands’ recommendations, which reignited her TBR pile. Meredith shared that her current slump is due to focusing on work, leading her to watch TV, specifically the well-written ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ spin-off of ‘Game of Thrones.’ The hosts normalize these ebbs and flows in reading habits.
Current Reads: Middle Grade & Sci-Fi/Fantasy
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(08:33)
  • Key Takeaway: ‘The Secret Library’ by Kekla Magoon is a captivating middle-grade novel exploring family history through a secret library, while ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ is a surprisingly tender, gory, action-forward sci-fi/fantasy series compared to ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’
  • Summary: Kaytee reviewed ‘The Secret Library,’ a middle-grade novel about Dally discovering a secret library that reveals family secrets, comparing its themes to ‘The Book Wanderers’ and ‘The Midnight Library.’ Meredith loved ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl,’ noting its high ratings and its blend of gory action with emotional resonance between the main character and his talking cat, Princess Donut.
Current Reads: Non-Fiction & Classic Mystery
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(24:10)
  • Key Takeaway: ‘Six Feet Over’ by Mary Roach was disappointingly dry and meandering compared to her other works, while ‘The Murder at the Vicarage’ introduces Miss Marple as an underestimated detective whose superpower is leveraging societal underestimation.
  • Summary: Kaytee found Mary Roach’s ‘Six Feet Over,’ which investigates scientific inquiries into the afterlife, to be dry and lacking the usual humor found in the author’s work. Meredith enjoyed Agatha Christie’s debut Miss Marple novel, ‘The Murder at the Vicarage,’ noting the dated language but appreciating how Miss Marple’s quiet observation contrasts with the more famous Hercule Poirot.
Current Reads: Literary Fiction & Gothic Novella
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(34:18)
  • Key Takeaway: ‘The Safe Keep’ by Yael Van der Wouden is a taught, character-driven literary novel whose abrasive start pays off with a fantastic ending, and ‘Carmilla’ by Joseph Sheridan La Fanu is the foundational, highly readable, and intensely charged gothic vampire novella published 25 years before ‘Dracula.’
  • Summary: Kaytee highly recommends ‘The Safe Keep,’ a short novel about two women whose cohabitation breeds paranoia and lust, noting that the initial difficulty in liking the characters resolves by the satisfying conclusion. Meredith was drawn to ‘Carmilla’ via multiple sources, praising the Carmen Maria Machado edition for its context and noting that it establishes many vampire tropes, including intense sapphic romance, in a very accessible classic prose style.
Deep Dive: Turning Instagram into Bookstagram
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(45:21)
  • Key Takeaway: To effectively find a ‘book twin’ on Instagram, readers must first intentionally engage with bookish content to train the algorithm and then use specific book titles or known reader preferences as litmus tests.
  • Summary: The hosts advise that turning Instagram into Bookstagram requires actively interacting with book content so the algorithm serves more relevant posts. Once the feed is book-focused, listeners should search for their favorite titles or follow broad accounts like Book Riot or @NYTBooks to gauge general trends before honing in on specific tastes. Furthermore, identifying ‘anti-book twins’—those whose opinions consistently oppose yours—is equally valuable for curating a personalized TBR list.
Before We Go: Listener Posts
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(58:44)
  • Key Takeaway: A listener shared a touching tribute to her late grandmother, Fritzie, highlighting how shared reading experiences, like reading ‘The Bean Trees,’ create a lasting connection that transcends time.
  • Summary: Meredith shared a moving post from a Bookish Friend about her grandmother, Fritzie, who instilled a love of reading through constant access to books and newspapers. Fritzie’s final unfinished book, ‘The Correspondent’ by Virginia Evans, became a poignant symbol of their connection. The listener finds comfort in rereading books they shared, emphasizing the enduring bond created through literature.
Before We Go: DNF Confirmation
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(1:01:22)
  • Key Takeaway: Kaytee officially DNF’d ‘The Complete Stories’ by Flannery O’Connor due to the high frequency of the N-word in the early stories, despite participating in a ‘Conquer a Classic’ reading challenge.
  • Summary: Kaytee committed to reading Flannery O’Connor’s complete stories for a challenge but stopped after the second story. The primary reason for the DNF was the high incidence of the N-word, which appeared frequently even in the first few stories written in the 1920s. She placed the collection on her outgoing shelf, counting it as a DNF for the year.
Flannery O’Connor DNF Rationale
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(01:01:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Kaytee decided to DNF The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor due to the high frequency of racial slurs encountered early in the text, despite participating in Bookshelf Thomasville’s reading challenge.
  • Summary: Kaytee committed to reading The Complete Stories as part of a challenge but stopped after encountering approximately 40 instances of the N-word in the first two stories. She made a deal to continue but stopped again upon finding another instance in the second sentence of the next story. She counted it as a DNF because the content was genuinely not working for her, affirming that classics must sometimes be viewed through a different lens based on personal reading needs.
Support and Host Connection Details
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(01:03:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Listeners can connect with Meredith on Instagram as @MeredithMondaySchwartz and Kaytee as @NotesOnBookmarks, while show production is handled by Megan Phouthavong Evans (@mostofMegansReads).
  • Summary: The hosts reminded listeners that full show notes, including book titles and timestamps, are available on their website, currentlyreadingpodcast.com. They encouraged following the show on Instagram (@CurrentlyReadingPodcast) or emailing [email protected]. Support options include becoming a Bookish Friend on Patreon to receive exclusive content like the Indie Press List.
Closing Remarks and Sign-off
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(01:04:43)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode concluded with the traditional sign-off wishing listeners hot coffee and unput-downable books.
  • Summary: The hosts thanked listeners for helping the show grow by rating, reviewing on Apple Podcasts, and shouting them out on social media. They emphasized that Bookish Friends on Patreon help keep the show commercial-free. The final farewell wished Kaytee and Meredith happy reading until the next episode.