This week we’re discussing our October Book Club Pick: When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff . We talk about the theories we had while reading this book, what we did and didn’t like, our thoughts on the ending, and play two calls from listeners sharing their thoughts. Content Warning: In this episode, we discuss the book's plotlines surrounding sexual assault & pedophilia, so if these themes may be upsetting to you, please take care and skip this episode and join us next week. Nati...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 243
This week we’re talking about the books we loved when we were growing up! We highlight our favorite books from Elementary, Middle, and High School, and hear from listeners about their favorites! Elementary School Olivia: Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt , Nancy Drew , The Dear America Series , Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery Becca: Bridge to Terabithia , Island of the Blue Dolphins , Walk Two Moons , Babysitters Club Little Sisters Books , American Girl Doll books , and Choose Your Own Adventur...
Oct 19, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 242
It’s time for Three Things: our new series where we each bring three miscellaneous topics that we want to talk about, but don’t need a full podcast episode to break down. This month’s things include fall clothes shopping, walking desks, celebrity heights, and more! Becca’s Three Things: Fall Clothes Shopping - @anindigoday on IG is great for how to apply new trends to your wardrobe, and Hillary Kerr’s Newsletter provides some great inspiration too. Standing & Walking Desks - for some inspo about...
Oct 12, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 241
It's time for an advice episode! We’re excited to answer your questions about staying motivated while writing a book, maintaining long-distance friendships, learning how to stop holding yourself back from dating, making big career changes, and more! Obsessions Becca: Custom legal pad Olivia: We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman (out Nov. 8) What we read this week ! Becca: In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead , and It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover Olivia: Every Summer Afte...
Oct 05, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 240
We’re so excited to finally discuss our delightful and surprising September Book Club Pick: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn ! We share what we loved about this book, our thoughts on the rotating POV, which character we identified with the most, and our love for how the book addressed ageism. We also discuss our mixed feelings about the ending and if we could become CIA operatives. To learn more about the origins of this book, check out The Shit No One Told You About Writing Interview...
Sep 28, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 239
This week we’re releasing our inner foliage sluts and soup fiends to talk about all things FALL! We discuss our favorite things about fall, and our favorite fall activities from weekends away to cozying up at home. We also had to share a robust list of candle recommendations. Olivia recommends Bath & Body Works candles in the scents Hometown Sugar Cookies Autumn Chai , White Pumpkin , Flannel , Lakeside Morning , and Leaves . Becca recommends Brooklyn Candle Studio’s Apple Cider and Montana Fore...
Sep 21, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 238
This week we’re excited to interview two English teachers about what books are taught in High School English classes right now. We chat about what books are in their current curriculum, how books get chosen, what books students get excited about, and what books outside the curriculum are popular with high school students right now. Mary’s Books: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver , Frankenstein by Mary Shelley , Jane Austen, Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman, Importance of Being Earnest by O...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 237
We’re preparing for indoor time this fall and talking TV and Movie recommendations! Becca and Olivia share their recommendations, and our listeners call in to share their favorite shows and hidden gems! Olivia’s TV Recs: Scripted: Yellowjackets , Severance , Under the Banner of Heaven , Starstruck , and Fleabag . Becca’s TV Recs: Partner Track , Loot , Never Have I Ever , Tell Me Lies , Hacks , Ten Percent , and The Bear . Listener TV Recs: Trying , Minx , Crash Landing on You , Call your Agent!...
Sep 07, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 236
So excited to discuss our August book club pick: You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi . This lush romantic drama sparked a lot of conversation in our Facebook Group, and we share our differing feelings about the book as well! We also discuss why we think this book was so divisive, our thoughts on the characters' chemistry, how the theme of grief is explored, and what we thought about the ending. In this conversation we bring up author Akwaeke Emezi’s interview with Elle , a...
Aug 31, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 235
This week we’re talking about all things freelancing. We share when, why & how we made the decision to go freelance, what our work entails, and if we ever see ourselves going back to a full-time job. We also answer YOUR questions about freelance life including how much experience you need, how to find clients, and how we structure our schedules and stay motivated. We also get into all the money stuff: from how to set and negotiate your rates, the good, the bad, and the ugly of payment timing, ho...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 234
We’re taking body diversity in books with Jennifer Weiner , the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen books, including That Summer , Big Summer , Mrs. Everything , Good in Bed , and an essay collection, Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing . Jennifer talks about her journey to becoming a best-selling author, what motivated her to feature women with different body types in her books, and the process of getting a visibly plus-size woman on book covers. We also ask Jennife...
Aug 17, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 233
It's finally time for another Q&A! We answer some quick questions about how we found our voices as writers, advice for balancing creative projects and a day job, how we answer the question “so what do you do for work?” We also dive into lengthier questions about our favorite books of the year, the backlist books we love, the best & worst parts of hosting a podcast, and more! Our favorite books of the year Becca: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune , This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub , and Tomor...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 232
For the final episode of our series about how a book gets made, we’re talking all things marketing and publicity with Cristina Arreola, the senior marketing manager at Sourcebooks Landmark, and Ashley Winstead, the author of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife , Fool Me Once , and the forthcoming The Last Housewife . Cristina and Ashley answer our questions about at what point marketing gets involved in the publishing process, how publishers decide how much marketing support a book gets, what the author...
Aug 03, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 232
It’s finally time to discuss our listener-picked Book Club selection: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus ! We talk about our general feelings about the book, how we reacted to the moments of sexism in the 1960s setting, our thoughts on the main character, and the differing perspectives of the three key women in the book. We also discuss how we felt about the ending and since this book already has a TV adaptation in the works, we talk about our casting thoughts and hear from listeners about th...
Jul 27, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 230
We’re BACK and continuing our series about how a book gets made! This week we’re chatting with Amanda Bergeron, an executive editor at Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and Carley Fortune, the author of Every Summer After . Amanda breaks down the acquisition & publication process from the editor's end, how many submissions she receives, and what leads her to choose a book to work on. Carley shares her writing process from conception to submission, how she felt when she got her initial...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 229
We’re so excited to start our summer series about how a book gets made! This week we’re talking all about book agents, from what they do to how authors find an agent in the first place. We brought on Taylor Haggerty, an agent at Root Literary representing commercial fiction for teens and adults, and Iman Hariri-Kia, writer and editor born and based in New York City whose debut novel A Hundred Others Girls will be published July 26th by Sourcebooks. We chat with Iman about her writing process for...
Jul 06, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 228
It’s FINALLY time to talk about Cover Story by Susan Rigetti! Also, we recommend reading this book spoiler-free, so if you haven’t read it yet, read it then listen to this ep! This book was fun, juicy, and compulsively readable. We discuss our overall thoughts on the book, what we thought of the format, and of course, we have a much-needed discussion about the ending! Obsessions Becca: Fresh flowers - Peony season Olivia: The Deep End on Hulu My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams Imposter S...
Jun 29, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 227
We’re already halfway through the year and it’s time for a 2022 goals check-in! Both Olivia and Becca share the personal and professional goals they set for this year, give an update on their progress, and discuss what they’ve learned along the way! Related to our convo: Check out the journal Olivia has been using here! Check out Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman Listen to Grace and Becca’s previous Goals episode here ! Obsessions Olivia: Supergoop Glowstick SPF...
Jun 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 226
This week we’re discussing a topic we always get requests to cover, imposter syndrome! To help break things down, we brought on Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin, a licensed psychologist, executive coach, organizational consultant, and speaker. She recently gave a Ted X Talk about The Imposter Syndrome Parado , and is the co-author of Own Your Greatness: Overcome Impostor Syndrome, Beat Self-Doubt, and Succeed in Life and the upcoming book, Your Unstoppable Greatness: Break Free From Imposter Syndrome, Culti...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 225
This week we’re (figuratively) ripping our skin off and talking about the books we’re writing! This is an appetizer to a series we’re planning to do this summer all about how a book gets made. We give a mini preview about what our books are about, and break down what our book writing process was like, from what made us finally start writing to what we wish we knew before we wrote our books. We also share the resources that helped us along our process and talk about what’s coming next for our boo...
Jun 08, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 224
This week we’re helping you build your summer reading list with recommendations from some of our favorite bookstagrammers! They each share two books they recommend we read this summer and answer a pressing question: If you could have a meal with any book character at any chain restaurant, which character and restaurant would you choose? Sarah’s Picks: Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (esp for fans of Nothing To See Here) The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger (Out July 5) Find Sarah at @sarahsbo...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 223
It's finally time to talk about Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman ! We loved this book and we’re so excited to talk about it. We share our feelings and respond to listener calls about the book, its characters, its two timelines, and if we think the book accurately reflects how Hollywood operates today. We also talk about the celebs we pictured as Gabe Parker, Olivia shares her celebrity interview stories, and we defend our celebrity crushes. Obsessions Becca: Pineapple Spindrift Olivia: Bir...
May 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 222
This week we’re chatting with New York Times bestselling author and owner of Books are Magic , Emma Straub! She’s the author of five novels, including This Time Tomorrow , which came out on May 17. We ask her about her path to becoming an author, and chat about the process of writing This Time Tomorrow. And as the first bookseller on the podcast, we ask Emma about how Books are Magic came into her life and she shares the surprises that come with owning a bookstore! Find Emma at @emmastraub on IG...
May 18, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 221
This week, we’re together in person to talk about TRAVEL! Specifically, travel planning. We have travel on the brain, and thought you might, too. We discuss how we choose our destinations, how far in advance we plan our trips, if we like to plan ourselves or let someone else take over, the trips we have coming up, and MORE! Our Travel Must-Haves Olivia - AQUIS Rapid Dry Lisse Hair Wrap Towel Becca - Sleeping Eye Mask, Megababe Thigh Rescue Our Obsessions Becca - Hotel Lobby Spa Candle Olivia - S...
May 11, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 120
This week we welcome Phylicia Jones, Senior Director of Global People Development at PagerDuty, to answer all your work questions. She shares an overview of her career, what drew her to working in HR, and answers listener questions about cover letters, learning to be a great manager, navigating ambiguity at work, quitting when you feel a personal obligation to your boss, and more. Connect with Phylicia on Linkedin! Phylicia’s book recommendations Daring Greatly by Brene Brown Start with Why by S...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 219
Hi space nuts! It's time to discuss our April book club pick: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. This book is Olivia’s most-recommended read, and Becca (to her surprise) loved the book, too! In this week’s ep we discuss how we picture Rocky, if we’d ever go to space, and listen to your voicemails about your thoughts on the book. We also have a space food taste test live on the pod to fully get ourselves into the theme! Obsessions Olivia: Athleta Cabo Linen Wide Leg Pant Becca: Athleta Salutation St...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 218
Today, we’re continuing to get to know Olivia as she’s answering your questions! She answers questions including how she met her husband (and dog!), what she was like as a kid, her typical workday, her go-to airport snacks, her niche interests, her childhood celeb crush, and her favorite way to eat a potato. She also shares her book hot takes, her favorite past BOP book club pick, and a book from childhood that made her a lifelong reader. If you’re looking to get to know Becca a little more, che...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 217
This week we’re re-visiting a highly requested topic: our morning routines! We discuss the goals behind our morning routine, when we wake up (and when we have to be asleep to make that happen) what we do first thing in the morning, our at-home coffee order, breakfast, exercise, getting into work mode, and how our weekends look different. Obsessions Becca - Balance Bound Undated Daily Notepad Olivia - Song - My Ego Dies at The End by Jensen McRae and her album Are You Happy Now? (and you can find...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 216
Reporting live from our first one-on-one hangout ever, Olivia and Becca are together in person to kick off this new era of Bad On Paper! To start off this month of getting to know Olivia, we’ll be answering some of The 36 Questions that Lead to Love from the New York Times Modern Love column, in hopes that we fall a little in love and so does our audience! These questions have us discussing our dream dinner guests, if we’d want to be famous, our ‘perfect day’, health anxiety, what we have in com...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 215
It’s time to talk about our March book club pick: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerso n. We absolutely LOVED this book. We discuss what grabbed us about this book, the themes of not understanding your parents as individuals vs. parents and identity, all the food in this book (including black cake!), our feelings on the ending, and more! We also say our podcast goodbyes to Grace! (IRL, we’re planning our Charleston reunion as we speak) Books this reminded us of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett The...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 214
