Season 7, Episode 30: New Indie Bookstores + Our Six Star Reads

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing: Bookish Moments: Kindle samples and getting new indie bookstores Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we’ve been reading lately Deep Dive: six star books to which we will take no criticism from anyone The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site) .  .  .  .  1:01 - Ad For Ourselves 1:18 - Currently Reading Patreon 1:34 - An Unlikely Story 2:35 - @anunlikelystory on Instagram 3:37 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week 6:48 - Literally, A Bookshop 7:54 - @Literallybookshop on Instagram 8:52 - Our Current Reads 9:23 - The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley (Meredith) 16:32 - All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim (Kaytee) 16:40 - Tucson Festival of Books 2025 19:52 - Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manasala 20:13 - This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (Meredith) 21:47 - A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab 23:20 - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 23:49 - They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh (Kaytee) 24:11 - Southlake Podcast 27:46 - Past Crimes by Jason Pinter (Meredith) 29:44 - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 31:06 - Recursion by Blake Crouch 31:40 - The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues by Beth Lincoln (Kaytee) 31:49 - The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln 35:11 - Our Six Star Reads 36:08 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell 37:29 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 37:33 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 40:17 - Happy Place by Emily Henry 42:32 - The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher 42:37 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 42:38 - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden 42:41 - The Stand by Stephen King 42:43 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 42:44 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer 44:44 - All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle 45:00 - This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel 45:09 - Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge 45:13 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 45:14 - Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson 45:17 - Babel by R.F. Kuang 45:38 - Lobizona by Romina Garber Russell 45:43 - Cazadora by Romina Garber Russell 49:14 - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman 49:49 - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 51:22 - Meet Us At The Fountain 51:43 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Live 51:53 - I want everyone to listen to episode 188 of Sarah’s Bookshelves Live if you enjoy fantasy reading. (Meredith) 51:54 - Sarah’s Bookshelves Live episode 188 53:09 - I wish for a book aggregator that would house all book covers of all books so we could compare easily and find the ones we want to purchase quickly without having to browse multiple sites. (Kaytee) 54:09 - Greenwood by Michael Christie 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 comes to you from our tried and true partner, 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 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!