Bad On Paper

New year, new additions to our TBR! We spoke with some of our bookish pals about the 2026 releases they're most excited about. Great recommendations ahead!   Olivia's Picks Missing Me by Ayana Lage (Out March 17) Whidbey by T Kira Madden (Out March 10)   Grant Ginder's Picks George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett (Out January 20) Big Nobody by Alex Kadis (Out March 10)   Brady Lockerby's Picks...

New year, new things! We're so excited to dive into what's been exciting us this month, like romance adaptations, medium joys, events, moving quandaries, and our 2026 mood boards!    Becca's Things Heated Rivalry People We Meet on Vacation When you move, do you bring your condiments with you?   Olivia's Things Dolphins/Medium Joys Book Events (check out Olivia's dates here !) 2026 Moodboards   Obs...

We are so BACK!!! Soak in the new year energy and listen to us break down our 2026 goals. But first, we reflect on what we accomplished in 2025 and share how we're feeling at the start of the new year.    Olivia's Personal Goals Continue strength routine and scale to heavier weights Start a young writers program in the community (or volunteer for one that already exists)  Home projects! Kitchen re...

It's time for us to share our favorite books of 2025! Get your notebooks ready because WE! HAVE! RECS! 📚   Becca's Fave Books The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland Heart the Lover by Lily King One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley Loved One by Aisha Muharrar Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy  The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden The Road to Tender Hearts by An...

The holidays are (almost) here! We're talking about all the things we're excited about this season, from most anticipated events, white elephant gifts, holiday movie rankings, festive FMK's, and more!   Olivia's Things Most anticipated holiday events Admin Advent calendar Holiday Movie Battle   Becca's Things White elephant gift ideas Festive FMK's Reflecting on the year   Sign up for Olivia's vir...

The year is coming to a close, and you know what that means! It's time to look back at our highs of 2025. We reminisce on work wins, new hobbies, mantras, and more!    Best New Artist Discovery of The Year (Author, Artist, Filmmaker, Dancer, etc.)  Olivia - Allegra Goodman , Joshua Burnside Becca - Francis Featherstone , Anna Kwan , Sarah Martinez , Barbara Bourland   Best Song of The Year  Olivia...

It's time for our final book club episode of 2025! We're discussing a book we've been seeing everywhere, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans . We talk about why we think this book has become so popular, if we've read epistolary novels before, our thoughts on the novelty of the mother/daughter relationship, how it brought up feelings about retirement for us both, and more!   Also, the Wall Street J...

It's time for this year's Bad on Paper Gift Guide! We're so excited to dive into our picks that are very us-coded.    Becca-Coded Picks Gifts for People Who Love NYC  Katie Kime NYC Toile Tea Towels ($58) Chefanie - I Love NY cocktail napkins ($48) All the restaurants prints (5x7 $55) - John Donahue - also Paris, London, DC, Philly, Chicago, Napa W/ Hudson & Mark acrylic frame (A5 size) - Reg $44,...

This week, we're talking all about portfolio careers! We discuss the current iteration of our own careers and then chat with Leigh Stein and Ali LaBelle —two other professionals with portfolio careers—to break down the work they do, time management, and advice for people interested in transitioning to a portfolio career.    Obsessions Becca - West End Girl Olivia - Beth's Dead   What we read this...

November Things are coming in HOT! Keep listening for podcast recs, supernatural talk, guessing games, and more!   Also, donate to your local foodbank! Find one local to you here .   Olivia's Things Emma Straub's newsletter about David Harbor's pseudonym Do you believe in ghosts? 1 new habit we like, 1 that we want to kick to the curb   Becca's Things Current Podcast Listening Lineup (Olivia's is...

We can't wait to discuss our October Book Club Pick, Heart The Lover by Lily King ! We're talking about Lily King's favorite shape (the triangle!), the surprising crossover with Writers & Lovers, crying on airplanes, male friendship, and so much more.   Obsessions Becca - The Diplomat Season Three Olivia - Twinless   What we read this week Olivia - Heart The Lover by Lily King , The Correspondent...

This week, we're chatting with 4 debut authors about their experience bringing a book into the world in 2025! They share the pitch for their book and what surprised them about their debut experience.   Our debut authors & their books!  Katie Yee - Maggie; Or A Man and A Woman Walk Into A Bar Natalie Guerrero - My Train Leaves at Three Laura Leffler   - Tell Them You Lied Aisha Muharrar - Loved One...

We're so excited for you to hear our conversation with Nic Stone ! We chat with Nic about her author origin story, why she made the jump from YA to adult with her (very!) adult debut Boom Town, writing off her strip club visits for research, and more!    Obsessions Becca - Shonda Rhimes on Call Her Daddy Olivia - Floor lamp from Wayfair   What we read this week Becca - The Idiot by Elif Batuman ,...

This week, we're sharing an inside look at our reading habits! We dive into how we choose what to read, our favorite times to read, who we talk about books with IRL, our rules of thumb for DNF-ing, and more!    Becca's TBR - The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers , Daddy Issues by Kate Goldbeck , Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston    What we read this week Becca - Boom Town by Nic Stone (Out October...

Time for another round of three things! And this one's very bookish: we're talking about 2025 books that flew under the radar, plot twists, mood writing, what we want to learn about this fall, and more!   Becca's Things Underrated Books of 2025 Becca's - Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine , Loved One by Aisha Muharrar | Olivia's - Tilt by Emma Pattee , Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild . How m...

September is coming to a close, and you know what that means! Time to talk about this month's book club pick, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach . We discuss our expectations going into this book based on the cover, how it balanced its dark themes with humor, what we thought of the relationships, and more!     Obsessions Olivia - One Trick Pony Peanut Butter Becca - Westman Atelie...

We are SO excited to chat with Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham , about their new book, The Academy ! We ask how their collaborative writing process worked, about Shelby's boarding school experience that inspired the book, and Elin's feelings on venturing into a new world outside Nantucket. We also have adaptation updates and some exclusive behind the scenes gossip!   These day...

What do we want? Things! When do we want them? Now! It's time to talk about big pop culture moments, focus tools, and what we're excited about for fall.    Olivia's Things Taylor Swift getting engaged What's on our Q4 Radar Our Fall TBR (Olivia's are The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia , Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild , What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang , Becca's are The Wilderness by...

People who judge books by their covers, this ep is for you! This week, we brought on Art Director and Book Cover Designer Molly von Borstel to talk about how book covers come to life. She shares how she got into book design, the surprising parts of the job, how she deals with feedback, cover trends, and more!    Obsessions Olivia - Sorel Roam'n Clogs Becca - Travel mahjong set from Oh My Mahjong  ...

It's Book Club day! We're excited to chat about The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig . We discuss the book's setting and world-building, the main characters (and their romance), how this fits into the romantacy genre overall, and more!     Obsessions Olivia - Night Moves by Bob Seger Becca - J.Crew yellow suede bucket bag   This Month's Book Club Pick - STAY TUNED! (have thoughts about this bo...

We are SO excited for this week's conversation with journalist E. Jean Carroll! We chat with her about why she decided to write her book about her experience in court against Donald Trump, her 30-year tenure as an advice columnist, and more!     E. Jean Carroll is the author of five books, including a biography of Hunter S. Thompson , and the New York Times bestselling book NOT MY TYPE: One Woman...

It's time for the most August 2025 Three Things to Ever Three Things. From AI to face shapewear to Labubus, and more, there's so much to discuss! Let's get into it.   Olivia's Things DNF-ing Skims Face Shapewear Labubus   Becca's Things The articles " I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students " by Meghan O'Rourke [gift link] and "The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Publi...

As a bonus to our episode discussing comparison and competition, we invited Chelsea Bieker to continue the conversation, and how comparison and competition manifest for her, specifically within her publishing career and the strategies she's learned to quiet these emotions.   Read more from Chelsea in her newsletter Make Up Your Life , fountainpractice.com , and her latest book Madwoman is out now!...

We've been trying to make an episode about comparison and competition (an Olivia Muenter favorite topic!) happen for a while, and it's finally here! We're discussing our personal histories with comparison and competition and how it manifests in our personal and professional lives. We're even diving into whether we ever compare ourselves to each other.   We're talking about if we define ourselves a...

It's book club day! We're so excited to talk about our listener-selected book club pick, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid . There's a lot to cover in this story set during the 1980s space race. We discuss our feelings about the main characters, the aspects of the book we gravitated towards, our favorite space songs, and more!    Obsessions: Becca - Ruby lobster roll off watercolor painting Olivia...