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Season 8, Episode 32: Exciting Adaptations + How To Audiobook

March 16, 2026

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The hosts celebrated the joy of successful book recommendations and discussed major book world news, specifically the announcement of three more *A Court of Thorns and Roses* books by Sarah J. Maas. 
  • The deep dive provided actionable advice for struggling audiobook listeners, emphasizing using earbuds, adjusting playback speed based on the book, utilizing the rewind function, and finding dedicated listening times outside of distracting activities like driving. 
  • Meredith is struggling to continue reading *Wolf Hall* despite a slow-read schedule, while Kaytee strongly recommended Simone St. James's *A Box Full of Darkness* as a five-star horror read that expertly blends ghost story elements with emotional family drama. 
  • Meredith is struggling significantly with Hilary Mantel's *Wolf Hall*, finding the writing style disjointed and lacking in narrative momentum despite having supplemental material like *Footnotes and Tangents*. 
  • Meredith plans to consult her bookish friends who have read *Wolf Hall* to determine if her current struggles (difficulty with flow and identifying speakers) are likely to resolve later in the book. 
  • The hosts differentiate between asking general reading advice and seeking specific feedback from knowledgeable readers about whether a known difficult book's structure will eventually 'hang together' to justify continuing the read. 

Segments

Podcast Introduction and Hosts
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(00:00:10)
  • Key Takeaway: Hosts Kaytee and Meredith established the show’s focus on strong opinions, spoiler-free book talk, and the episode structure including Current Reads and a Deep Dive on audiobooks.
  • Summary: Meredith Schwartz enjoys big, audacious book adaptations, while Kaytee Cobb loves the high of a book recommendation being immediately taken. This episode, number 32 of season eight, promises discussions on current reads, a deep dive into audiobooks, and a ‘Before We Go’ segment.
Bookish Moments: Adaptations and SJM News
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(00:01:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith is enjoying the new The Count of Monte Cristo adaptation on the PBS app, and Sarah J. Maas announced three more A Court of Thorns and Roses books following a Call Her Daddy interview.
  • Summary: The Count of Monte Cristo adaptation is an eight-episode production that Meredith is enjoying, despite initial mixed feelings about the lead actor’s appearance before his beard grows. Kaytee noted that Sarah J. Maas’s interview revealed personal context for A Court of Silver Flames and confirmed upcoming ACOTAR releases, sparking excitement and concern about needing a reread.
Bookish Moments: Recommendations and Joy
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(00:07:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Kaytee experienced the joy of a successful book recommendation when her church rector immediately loved and binged the first two fiction suggestions, All the Lonely People and The Day the World Came to Town.
  • Summary: Kaytee felt immense satisfaction when her rector, seeking joy through fiction, quickly consumed the first two recommended books. The recommendations included Mike Gayle’s All the Lonely People and Jim DeFede’s The Day the World Came to Town, prompting plans to see the Come From Away musical.
Current Reads: Crime and Cozy Mysteries
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(00:10:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith highly recommends Dorothy Simpson’s The Night She Died as a classic, methodical police procedural, comparing its lead detective, Luke Thanet, favorably to Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache.
  • Summary: Meredith revisited The Night She Died by Dorothy Simpson, praising its blend of methodical investigation and grounded family life, noting that the series is available on Kindle Unlimited. She considers the Luke Thanet series the prototype for the Three Pines books, offering a safe and decent main character experience.
Current Reads: Romance and Disappointment
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(00:16:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Kaytee enjoyed the forced proximity and romance in Courtroom Drama by Neely Tubati Alexander, despite acknowledging the plot relied heavily on jury misconduct and lying, which she found required significant suspension of disbelief.
  • Summary: Courtroom Drama features a second-chance romance between two childhood friends who are unexpectedly seated on the same sequestered jury for a high-profile reality TV star’s murder trial. Kaytee appreciated the pressure-cooker dynamics of sequestration but noted that an actual lawyer reviewer found the jury conduct highly objectionable.
Current Reads: Horror Disappointment
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(00:21:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith was severely disappointed by Marcus Cleaver’s The Caretaker, finding it simultaneously boring and confusing with unexplained plot holes, especially compared to his excellent debut, We Used to Live Here.
  • Summary: Meredith felt The Caretaker failed to capitalize on its premise, which could have been a thoughtful exploration of OCD, instead delivering a confusing narrative where character motivations were unclear. She advised listeners who loved Cleaver’s debut to temper expectations for this sophomore effort.
Current Reads: Nonfiction and Found Family
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(00:26:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Kaytee praised Barbara Kingsolver’s essay collection Small Wonder for its timely reflection on community, fear, and division in the wake of 9/11, noting its continued relevance today.
  • Summary: Kaytee and her co-host are slowly working through Barbara Kingsolver’s essay collections, finding Small Wonder particularly resonant due to its focus on post-9/11 societal cleaving. The collection’s themes of community tension feel applicable to current events, and fans anticipate Kingsolver’s new novel, Partita.
Current Reads: Five-Star Ghost Story
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(00:29:43)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith awarded five stars to Simone St. James’s A Box Full of Darkness, highlighting the author’s superior handling of genuinely terrifying ghosts intertwined with a deeply emotional exploration of sibling trauma.
  • Summary: The novel centers on three estranged siblings returning to their haunted hometown of Fell, NY, after their long-lost brother’s ghost requests they come home. Meredith asserts St. James excels at explaining the human reasons behind the supernatural occurrences, making the book a compelling mix of horror and family drama reminiscent of her debut, The Haunting of Maddy Clare.
Current Reads: Peer Pressure Reading
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(00:35:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Kaytee finally succumbed to peer pressure and devoured the first eight volumes of Beth Brower’s The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lyon, describing the series as lovely, calm, and community-oriented.
  • Summary: The series follows Emma M. Lyon in 1883 London as she documents her life in St. Crispians, building a personal library over the planned 24 volumes. The audiobooks are easily accessible, and the series is characterized by its found family dynamics and comforting, slow-burn narrative structure.
Deep Dive: Audiobook Listening Tips
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(00:43:10)
  • Key Takeaway: To improve focus while listening, use earbuds instead of car speakers, experiment with increasing speed slightly (starting at 1.25x), and utilize the 15 or 30-second rewind button instead of white-knuckling through distractions.
  • Summary: Meredith noted that listening via earbuds seems to aid concentration better than through car speakers, and speeding up the narration can combat drifting attention by matching the pace of silent reading. Listeners should treat each book individually regarding speed and use app features like rewind to revisit missed sections without guilt.
Deep Dive: Choosing Format and Apps
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(00:52:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Format choice is crucial; listeners should experiment with genre (e.g., propulsive mysteries on audio) and narrator quality, and try different apps like Audible (for tandem reading) or Spotify (for PageMatch) to find the best features.
  • Summary: Listeners should test different genres and narrators via samples to determine what works best for audio consumption, as some prefer nonfiction while others need fast-moving fiction. Utilizing features like Audible’s Kindle integration or Spotify’s PageMatch can enhance the reading experience, and Libro FM supports local indie bookstores.
Before We Go: Friend Posts and Curiosity
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(00:55:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Bookish Friend Kelly requested Alaska/Vancouver-set audiobook recommendations for a cruise where a seasickness patch prevents her from reading print, receiving suggestions like Greenwood and The Great Alone.
  • Summary: Kelly needs audiobooks for a 14-day Alaska cruise because her medication prevents her from focusing on print. The community provided recommendations for books set in Alaska/Vancouver or on cruise ships, including Michael Christie’s Greenwood and Kristen Hannah’s The Great Alone.
Before We Go: Reading Struggles
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(00:57:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith is struggling to maintain interest in Wolf Hall at the 50% mark, finding the writing style disjointed and the narrative dragging despite reading it as a slow, footnote-heavy companion piece.
  • Summary: Meredith is considering abandoning Wolf Hall because she cannot get into the flow of the narrative, even when reading slowly. She noted that previous attempts to read the book also stalled, suggesting the difficulty lies in the writing style rather than the commitment level.
Struggling with Wolf Hall
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(00:57:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith cannot get into Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall due to disjointed flow and difficulty discerning who is speaking paragraph-to-paragraph.
  • Summary: Meredith finds Wolf Hall feels disjointed, comparing the experience to repeatedly failing to board a boat. She is struggling to maintain interest in the events unfolding, even after utilizing supplemental context from Footnotes and Tangents. The difficulty lies in the writing style itself, which is not compelling enough to warrant continued effort.
Seeking Reading Advice
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(01:00:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Meredith plans to ask trusted bookish friends if the specific struggles she has at the 50% mark of Wolf Hall are known to resolve later in the narrative.
  • Summary: The strategy involves soliciting targeted feedback from readers familiar with the book regarding whether the narrative structure or writing style improves significantly later on. This approach is distinct from general ‘should I keep reading’ questions, focusing instead on whether specific known issues will change. This context will inform the decision to continue reading or succumb to the sunk cost fallacy.
Concluding Show Information
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(01:01:56)
  • Key Takeaway: Hosts provide contact information, production credits, and promotion for supporting the commercial-free show via Patreon.
  • Summary: Listeners can find Meredith on Instagram at Meredith Monday Schwartz and Kaytee at Notes on Bookmarks. The show is produced and edited by Megan Phouthavong Evans, who is found at mostofmegansreads on Instagram. Supporting the show as a Bookish Friend on Patreon for $5 monthly keeps the podcast commercial-free and provides extra content.
Closing Remarks
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(01:03:07)
  • Key Takeaway: The hosts offer a standard closing wish for listeners to have hot coffee and unput-downable books.
  • Summary: The episode concludes with the hosts exchanging well wishes for the upcoming week. The final sign-off encourages listeners to enjoy their reading.