Season 8, Episode 30: Weekly Buddy Reading + Organizing Our Bookshelves

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Mary are discussing:

• Bookish Moments: A new bookish metaphor and book moms in the wild

• Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately

• Deep Dive: Organizing Our Bookshelves

• Before We Go: our new segment featuring bookish friend posts and a sleeper hit you should read.

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site).

.

.

.

1:18 - Ad For Ourselves

2:03 - Currently Reading Patreon

2:55 - Bookish Moments of the Week

3:19 - A Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

7:44 - @meg.al.reads on Instagram

9:19 - Current Reads

9:26 - Agnes Aubert's Magical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett (Mary)

9:54 - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

13:34 - Mate by Ali Hazelwood (Kaytee)

13:38 - Bride by Ali Hazelwood

MARYS NEXT BOOK BEGINS AT 17:43 IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR MATE'S SETUP

16:31 - romance.io

17:48 - Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen (Mary)

19:50 - The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen

19:52 - CR Season 4: Episode 38 w/Mary's setup of The Arc

21:07 - One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Kaytee)

23:39 - American War by Omar El Akkad

26:02 - The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Mary)

28:19 - This Is How You Win the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

29:57 - Honey by Imani Thompson (pre-order, releases May 5, 2026) (Kaytee)

32:10 - They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

34:36 - Organizing Our Bookshelves

36:51 - Ikea Kallax Bookshelf

37:47 - Ikea Billy Bookcase

42:40 - Cinder by Marissa Meyer

48:50 - The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

49:47 - Currently Reading Substack

53:51 - Before We Go

Kaytee highlights a bookish friend post

54:38 - Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

54:40 - The Wife, The Mistress and the Maid by Ariel Lawhon

54:42 - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

54:44 - The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

54:47 - The Antidote by Karen Russell

54:52 - The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kawali

Mary brings a sleeper hit, with a twist:

57:02 - Looking At Picture Books w/Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

58:51 - Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Support Us:

Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch

Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon

Bookish Friends Receive:

• The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March's IPL is brought by our lovely friends at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA.

• Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business

• All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller

• From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

• The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

Connect With Us:

The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads | Substack | Youtube

The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna

Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!