The Readerly Report

Gayle and Nicole discuss all the paperbacks that have come out over the last four months and talk about.. .not beach reads, but books actually set in summer . What We're Reading Confessions On The 7:45 | Lisa Unger | Amazon | Bookshop Her Dark Lies | J. T. Ellison | Amazon | Bookshop The Return | Rachel Harrison | Amazon | Bookshop Too Good To Be True | Carola Lovering | Amazon | Bookshop Who Gets...

In this episode, Gayle and Nicole talk about memorable books they’ve read with plots that center around infidelity . We also do Round 2 of March Madness, bringing the Sweet Sixteen down to the Elite Eight. Books discussed: Luster | Raven Leilani | Amazon | Bookshop Between Two Kingdoms | Suleika Jaouad | Amazon | Bookshop 28 Summers | Elin Hildebrand | Amazon | Bookshop The Margot Affair | Sanae L...

Gayle and Nicole kick off Round 1 of the 2021 March Madness tournament , where we narrow down the best book that we’ve both read in the last two years . (We had some input from our Facebook fans as well.) Tune in to find out which books will move on to the next round! Books mentioned: In The Dream House | Carmen Maria Machado | Amazon | Bookshop There There | Tommy Orange | Amazon | Bookshop The V...

Has spring ever felt as welcome – and needed – as it does this year? In addition to warmer temps, longer days, and the hope of ample vaccines, there are also a lot of promising books coming out this spring . Here are some of the ones that caught our eye . Links mentioned: The Time Traveler’s Wife  article in LitHub Books discussed: The Push | Ashley Audrain (Gayle’s review) | Amazon | Bookshop My...

This week, in keeping with the Valentine’s Day theme, Gayle and Nicole share their favorite love stories. They cover: Books they’ve been reading Literary News - List of literary works of fiction that are now in the public domain Favorite couple/love stories Book club: His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie  Books discussed in this podcast: The Girls From Corona Del Mar | Rufi Thorpe | Amazon | Bookshop...

Narrative fiction can be very powerful in instilling empathy and helping readers understand other people's lives. In this episode, we share a list of narrative fiction/memoirs that can serve to make the Black experience more accessible to any reader and bring about perspective and understanding . The Boys Club | Erica Katz | Amazon | Bookshop The Last Story of Mina Lee | Nancy Jooyun Kim | Amazon...

We hope that your 2021 is off to a good start. We are back from our hiatus and kicking off 2021 for The Readerly Report. In this episode, we talk about our 2021 reading resolutions , our plans for the show this year, and, of course, what we’ve been reading. We are also doing a fantastic giveaway with Libro.fm – 3 months of free audiobooks! To enter our giveaway, leave us a comment at the Readerly...

It's our last show of the year! We're talking superlatives from 2020 - the books we couldn't put down, the ones that disappointed us, the weirdest ones, our overall favorites... and more. For a complete list of the books discussed in the episode (including links to all of Gayle's reviews) please read our show notes . Happy reading! Happy New Year! This is a public episode. If you would like to dis...

We hope you've read all the 2020 books... because it's time to make room for 2021. In this episode, Gayle and Nicole preview the 2021 books that have gotten their attention. For a full list of books discussed in this episode (including links to Gayle's book reviews) please visit our post Winter 2021 Book Preview at The Readerly Report. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this wi...

It looks like we’re all going to be spending a lot of time indoors over the next few months, so we thought it was a good time to round up some recent book-to-movie or -TV adaptations that you can stream at home. Plus, we included some classic adaptations that you might have missed the first time around. Happy reading watching! For a full list of books and movies discussed on this podcast visit our...

This week, Gayle and Nicole share their favorite books about female friendships. We mention books that explore various themes, including: dealing with the death of a best friend,  competitive female friendships, the impact of toxic childhood friendships, and even a book about a girl’s friendship with a slave she was gifted on her 11th birthday. Links and information on the books mentioned can be f...

We talk to Katie Bassel, Senior Publicity Manager at St. Martin's Press , about how marketing books has changed in the last few months. We cover book tours, galleys, reader preferences, #BlackLivesMatter and what's selling these days. The Hot Zone : The Terrifying True Story Of The Origins Of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton All Girls by Emily Layden Tea By The...

Paperbacks! Get yer paperbacks! Gayle and Nicole share winter titles coming out in paperback that you should check out if you missed them the first time around. We also have our book club discussion about Kiley Reid’s Such A Fun Age . What we’re reading and industry news: The Cactus League by Emily Nemens Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke Something In The Water by Ca...

Gayle and Nicole are back with the second half of our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide. ( Here is Part I of the Holiday Gift Guide .) We offer suggestions for a wide variety of readers on your list – mostly books but some “book-adjacent” items as well. We also look at the December Book of the Month picks and catch up on where we are with our 2019 reading challenges. DECEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH PICKS Dear Ed...

Gayle and Nicole are here with the first half of our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide. We offer suggestions for a wide variety of readers on your list – mostly books but some “book-adjacent” items as well. This discussion took longer than we thought, so we split it in half! Tune in next week for the second half of the list. WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson The Dutch House by An...

Gayle and Nicole welcome Gayle’s literary hero J. Ryan Stradal to the show to talk about childhood reading influences. We also talk about the authors J. Ryan turns to to help make him feel empathetic toward his characters, why he doesn’t give up on authors, and whether it’s OK to dogear pages and mark up books. Books mentioned: Kitchens Of The Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal The Lager Queen of Mi...

This is the 100th episode of the Readerly Report! To commemorate this milestone, we’re taking a look at 100 of our collective favorite 100 books we’ve read since launching the show. We also go behind the scenes and talk about who we are, how we record the show and how we’ve changed as readers since we started. Links mentioned: The Readerly Report 100 Favorite Books GMA Cover To Cover Book Club You...

Gayle and Nicole are sooo close to episode 100, but they needed one more week to prepare. So they recorded Episode 99.5, in which they share a list of backlist books that they have been meaning to read and that are lingering on their shelves, but that keep getting passed over for no good reason. They commit to reading them sometime in the next 100 episodes! If you’ve read them, let them know wheth...

Gayle and Nicole discuss new October releases they are looking forward to reading, and – surprise! – a lot of them are nonfiction! (And not all of the nonfiction ones are Nicole’s picks.) We also discuss where the expression “the old college try” came from, announce a fun giveaway for our podcast listeners (calling all Jojo Moyes fans!) and check in on our (non)progress on our 2019 reading challen...

Last week we talked about the hot books of summer 2019, but which were *our* personal summer faves (and lows)? We also have our book club discussion about Bryan Reardon’s The Real Michael Swann . Books mentioned in this episode: Three Women by Lisa Taddeo The New Me by Halle Butler The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead In The Pleasure Groove by John Taylor The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin The Othe...

Summer is over, but we’re not done talking about the hot books of summer 2019. Which did we read? Did they live up to the hype? And what’s still on our summer TBR? Also, as Gayle and Nicole approach the 100th episode of The Readerly Report, they want to do something big. Books mentioned in this show: City Of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner ( Gayle’s revi...

This week, Gayle and Nicole continue their discussion about fall books they’re looking forward to, with a focus on debut authors. These books are all over the map, in terms of genre, format and subject matter!  Books discussed during this episode: Polite Society by Mahesh Rao Machine by Susan Steinberg The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates Diamond Doris by Doris Payne The World According to Fannie...

It’s fall, also known as Oscar season for books. In this episode, Gayle and Nicole talk about the fall books they are excited to read, with a focus on authors who have published before. (In future episodes, we’ll talk about debut authors and paperbacks.) Get your TBR lists ready! Books mentioned during this episode: Summerlings by Lisa Howorth In The Pleasure Groove by John Taylor Wild Game by Adr...

Gayle is back from vacation, so she and Nicole catch up on what they read- and didn’t read – while she was gone. They also talk about the passing of Toni Morrison ( read an old post of Nicole’s celebrating Toni Morrison ) and the Obamas’ role as literary tastemakers, and have a long book club discussion about The Travelers by Regina Porter. (If you haven’t read it, turn the show off around minute...

Gayle and Nicole talk about their favorite thrillers – the ones that can serve as popcorn for dinner. Did their lists overlap? Shockingly, no. Also, what is Gayle bringing to read on vacation? Books mentioned in this episode: Bad Blood by John Carreyrou The Body Lies by Jo Baker And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin Red White And Royal Blue by Casey McQuist...