Shelf Absorbed Podcast

This week, we’re diving into  The Authenticity Project , a story about what happens when people finally start telling the truth about their lives. Cecylia is joined by two friends, Kat and Jasmine, who’ve shared a 15-year friendship that’s seen it all: growth, distance, joy, hard conversations, and the kind of support that only comes when someone has known you for that long and still shows up. We...

In this episode, Cecylia sits down with Cheyanne Neuenschwander to process potentially the most devastating read of 2025 so far??? Cheyanne brings forward themes surrounding sense of self, romantic love, humanity, morality, and connection in relation to Jacqueline Harpman's novel I Who Have Never Known Men". Together, we unravel the quiet intensity of this dystopian novel, which follows t...

In this season three premiere, Cecylia sits down with Holly, the first guest of this season, to discuss the harder parts of becoming a mom, how to find your way back to yourself, and validate that if every moment isn't soft lullabies and organic fabric onesies it doesn't mean you're a bad mom. In the second half of this episode, we sink our teeth into Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. This f...

Calling all dragon riders! Are you ready for Onyx Storm?! In this episode, we provided a general, overall summary of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and chit chat about underlying themes of grief and friendship, potential theories, why Cecylia loves Jack Barlowe, the quadrant Alexandra would be in, and what is next for the Empyrean Series. Unlike our traditional episode format, this episode is FULL of...

Fear—what draws us to it, and how do we face it? In this episode, we dive into the theme of fear through the lens of Kaylie Smith's  Phantasma . The first half is spoiler-free and focuses on the universal experience of fear, the importance of therapy in overcoming it, and society's enduring love affair with the horror genre. Why are we so fascinated by what scares us? Our first guest of season 2,...

Today, we take you to New Orleans, Louisiana for a story told in our Open Book format.  Say hello to our second Open Book guest, Emily Madeira! Emily is a movement artist, a licensed master social worker, a dancer, and a clown. Her work and art challenge the societal norms oppressing the human body and its natural impulses to play, to touch, to move, and to feel. Emily identifies as queer and poly...

This week, we introduce you to our next Open Book guest, Danielle Wadding. Danielle is a phenomenal mother, friend, career-woman, and finds her center in the middle of a Brazilian jujitzu mat. We are honored to share her story with you today as she provides a message anyone can carry with them long after this episode ends. In today's episode, Danielle walks us through a difficult year of life...

You just need your headphones and your heart this week as there is no reading prep to fully immerse yourself in the story, start to finish. Welcome to the format that will air the second episode of each month titled Open Book. With each Open Book episode, a book will never be associated as we hear a true story from the individual that wrote it with their experience. We believe you don’t have to be...

In this episode of Her Best Interest, we are honored to welcome our very first guest. Today's guest, Paige Galloway, shares her journey which embodies resilience and profound insight. She embarks on a deeply personal reflection of loss as she discusses the profound impact of losing her mom last year. Through candid conversations and heartfelt reflections, Cecylia and Alexandra offer support as...

Your hosts decided to time travel to series they loved in their younger years. Looking back as adults, they pulled some emotional themes from the literature that they can reflect on from a different place. This episode discusses codependency, confronting fears, trying to control outcomes, and how all of these themes show up in their own lives.  With this topic, Cecylia and Alexandra delve into the...

Announcing the FIRST episode created with Her Best Interest at heart! This kickoff episode will center around female friendships, the support system found there, and what a force we are when we let each other in.  With this topic, Cecylia and Alexandra delve into growing up in friendships, lessons learned, vulnerable moments, navigating friend heartbreak, and what accountability has looked like in...