Badly Annotated Readers Society

Happy Pride Month everyone!! This month we bring you an episode entirely dedicated to highlighting LGBTQIA+ stories, authors, and representation as we discuss some of our favorite and/or recent queer reads! Hannah did a book binge this year to celebrate, so snuggle up with a snack and join us as we go over the most bingeable options! (This episode has been delayed by a week due to technical diffic...

Hear ye, hear ye! The newest Badly Annotated requested read has arrived! One of our lovely listeners absolutely knocked it out of the park suggesting Graceling by Kristin Cashore. This book pulled us into a vivid world of lush landscapes, political intrigue, mysterious adventure, and a little bit of a romance. We loved every minute of it! Trust us, you're going to want to read along on this o...

Greetings and salutations, dear friends! This episode is specially dedicated to Jess' beloved nephew Joe, who just turned 1 this week! In honor of such a momentous occasion, we bring you our recommendations for children's books! From picture books to middle grade novels, we go through all of our childhood favorites so join us as we take a wander down nostalgia lane.  Leave us a review if...

Hello faithful listeners! Quick question for you: Have you ever looked at someone else's favorite genre and thought "Hmm.. I wonder what's going on over there," but had no idea where to start? If so, fear not! For this week we bring you a conveniently compiled list of books that we think make for great starting points in some of our favorite genres from fantasy to romance to th...

Would you rather be gifted a lifetime's worth of books or a lifetime just to read books? Would you rather give up rereads or only be able to reread for the rest of your life? Join us in pondering these questions and more this week during our game of Bookish Would You Rather! Leave us a review if you enjoyed hanging out with us! Socials & Such: Instagram: @badlyannotatedpod Hannah: @thefri...

Greetings fair listeners! We've got another requested read for you. This time we delve into the realm of music, art, fame, and turbulent romance with The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom. This book speaks to everything from found family and true love to greatness and unimaginable grief to music history and humanity, all narrated by Music personified. We're very excited to d...

Dearest listeners, in lieu of a requested reads episode this past month please accept this bonus episode! This evening is simple: a nice chat over tea between friends about our most recent reads (sorry about the raptors). Bring your hot beverage of choice and come join in! Leave us a review if you enjoyed hanging out with us! Socials & Such: Instagram: @badlyannotatedpod Hannah: @thefriendlyli...

Happy (belated) Galentine's Day everyone! We are very excited to bring you this episode with something of an announcement: WE HAVE FRIENDS!! That's right, this week we are joined by the lovely ladies from the Smuts After Dark podcast, Chey and Jill, to discuss our most fun and unhinged romance book recommendations! It's going to be a longer one, so grab your snacks and buckle up as...

Come one, come all! It's another genre swap! This time we both jumped headfirst into science fiction, except we went in ~very~ different directions with our picks. Hannah followed two rather arrogant and powerful "heroes" in their philosophical battle between good and evil. Meanwhile, Jess spent some time on a faraway ice planet with 7 foot tall blue alien men who have some interest...

Hello and welcome to the first ~official~ Badly Annotated Requested Reads bonus episode! This month we take a close look at The Yellow Wallpaper, a short story originally published in 1892. This harrowing tale has a multitude of layers that definitely left us guessing. Who is the woman in the wall? Is she a ghost? Is she merely a figment of our narrator's frustrated and trapped imagination? O...

Hello and welcome back to the Badly Annotated Readers Society! We've looked at classics. We've looked at gothic literature. We've analyzed poetry through the ages, and now we present to you our list of books that we think will become the next classics!! From contemporary slice of life to nostalgic children's horror to lyrical climate fiction, these are the books we think we&apo...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to the first episode of 2025 here at the Badly Annotated Readers Society! We're so happy you're joining us as we look back at 2024, and forward to 2025. First, we reflect on our reading from stats to ratings to our winners of the BARS Awards of 2024. Then, we share our reading goals and book-et lists for 2025!! As usual, grab your hot beverage of choice and sett...

Calling all last minute holiday shoppers! This week we bring you a list of easy to find, mostly affordable, and absolutely wonderful bookish gift ideas for the reader in your life. Are these just our Christmas wish lists? Maybe. But we are readers, so we would know what readers like! If you're organized and all of your shopping is already done, then this is just going to be another hang out w...

What is this? A ~bonus~ episode? That's right. Here is the first of what will hopefully become a series in the new year where we read and review books requested by you, our lovely listeners! This episode is all about A Man Called Ove. We laughed, we cried, and we absolutely fell in love with this story of grief, community, and healing. Come join us, and we'll tell you all about it! A Man...

Happy Holidays!! This episode is all about sharing our love for the bookish community online as we go over some of our most beloved bookish creators! From bookstagramers to podcasts to book shops, we're here to highlight the best and brightest, and maybe even introduce you to some new favorite book besties. Grab a snack and buckle in, this is a longer episode but definitely a joyful one. Leav...

Hello hello! This week we're back with another genre swap! This time, Hannah dove into the realm of weird magical realism with a sorority cult, while Jess got her first taste of monster romance with a side of political intrigue. We laughed, we cringed, we swooned, and we're here to tell you all about it. Have a seat, join us! Books Discussed: Bunny by Mona Awad Bride by Ali Hazelwood Lea...

Hey, it's you again! Welcome back, dear listener. This week, we bring you a series of handpicked artisan one star reviews of some of our favorite reads! While we disagree wholeheartedly with these reviews, we can appreciate the wit and the gall of these reviewers. Come along with us! Just remember that this is all in good fun, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions... even if we think...

Welcome back to the Badly Annotated Readers Society! This week we're looking at a different medium... MUSIC! We chose six books and we have specially curated playlists for each that we think match the book in some way. Whether it be lyrics that feel like our favorite characters, melodies that suit the mood of the story, or just an alignment of general vibes, these are some of our favorite rea...

Hello hello! We've got something a little different for you this week. We're looking at poetry! This episode covers everything from 17th century satire to 21st century sonnets and we're thrilled to share it with you all, our dear listeners. These poems span different genres, themes, historical periods, and more, so grab a snack and a cozy blanket, and let's get into it! Poems D...

Hear ye, hear ye! The final installment of the Badly Annotated Spooky Season Extravaganza is here! To end off the month of October, we bring you a Halloween special. This week's episode contains all of our thoughts, feelings, musings, and more (shoutout Michelle, iykyk) about our picks for this month's spooky readathon! We both got out of our comfort zone this season as Hannah had the fr...

This week, in the third installment of the widely beloved Badly Annotated Spooky Season Extravaganza, we bring you a visit from the ghosts of spooky past. From the works of Edgar Allan Poe to Oscar Wilde, from slightly sapphic vampires to capitalist goblin curses, join us as we discuss our favorite gothic classics!  Books: The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe  The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wild...

Look! It's the second installment of the Badly Annotated Spooky Season Extravaganza! Join us in our continued celebration of spooky season as we walk you through all of our favorite fall reads, as well as some new ones we're hoping to get through this year. Grab a latte, get cozy, and let us know if any of our recommendations catch your interest! Leave us a review if you enjoyed hanging...

Now presenting... *drum roll* ... the Badly Annotated Spooky Season Extravaganza! Come one, come all to the first official episode of spooky season here at the Badly Annotated Readers Society. This week, we bring to you a fun twist on the "If you liked this, then try that" trend in the online book community. Unsure of what to read this spooky season? Well we're here to recommend spo...

Dearest listeners, today we at the Badly Annotated Readers Society bring you a crossover episode for the ages. We have swapped genres! Jess strong-armed Hannah into one of her favorite wonderfully strange sci-fi books, while Hannah made Jess read a young adult romantasy (romance/fantasy). We were both definitely out of our comfort zones and in for some wild surprises, which we discuss at length th...

Welcome back to the Badly Annotated Readers Society for episode 7! You've all seen the tiktoks, the reels, the YouTube videos convincing you to read bookworm's favorites via out-of-context quotes, and so we are here to provide the full hour version of your top bookish trend to add oh so many more to your TBR! Come laugh, get confused, and most importantly yap about books! Leave us a revi...