We're always hearing from listeners about connections made either on the show or in the blog or instagram comment sections. Today’s guest Elizabeth Barnhill had one of these delightful stories to share. She popped into Anne's DMs recently to say “Anne, I wanted to let you know that you are a bookstore matchmaker. I was listening to your show 2 years ago when you interviewed Alison Frenzel about opening up Fabled bookshop in my hometown…” We'll can let Elizabeth and Alison share the rest of that ...
Mar 03, 2020•44 min•Ep 225•Transcript available on Metacast Like many readers, today’s guest Lacey Yong is creative. But her writing hobby is beginning to clash with her book selections, so she came to WSIRN with the question “how do I pick books that inspire me to write, without being too influenced by authors who write in my genre?” It’s a tricky problem, but one we can work through. Lacey is also ready to tackle the titles on what her husband jokingly calls her “bookshelf of shame.” Longtime listeners, you know Anne has thoughts about that phrasing......
Feb 25, 2020•52 min•Ep 224•Transcript available on Metacast Anne has recommended books in translation to many guests in the past, but this week we’re venturing away from reading in English, with Parisian reader Florence Breuvart. Because she reads in both French and English, Florence often gets to choose between reading a work in translation, or reading an author’s words in their original language. Today, Anne's challenge is recommending Florence’s next reads in both languages. Anne and Florence also discuss a very precious personal book collection, what...
Feb 18, 2020•44 min•Ep 223•Transcript available on Metacast Today we listen in on Anne's recent event in Huntsville, Alabama in collaboration with Snail On the Wall and the Rocket City Moms Book Club. Shannan Malone hosts a conversation about Anne's new book, Don’t Overthink It, and Anne holds a LIVE literary matchmaking session with Erin, a reader from the event audience who loves books about the simple life. We hope you enjoy hearing what WSIRN is like — live and off the cuff. Click over to the podcast website for the transcript and full list of books ...
Feb 11, 2020•48 min•Ep 222•Transcript available on Metacast Amy Rohn joins Anne to talk about literal literary matchmaking, the ups and downs of her life as a reader in search of real-life romance. We’re exploring what she looks for in a partner, whether they’re a reader or not, and truly baffling stories from her attempts at talking to men on dating apps about books. Plus, discussing Amy's newfound love affair with nonfiction after a lifetime of sticking to fantastical fiction, bookstore architecture, stylish prose, the book she had a huge grudge agains...
Feb 04, 2020•48 min•Ep 221•Transcript available on Metacast Every week, we promise to give you the information you need to choose your next read. Sometimes, that means information about a specific title (like the premise, interesting backstory, or a sense of the atmosphere.) But other times, the information you need is only discovered through thoughtful reflection on your reading patterns, and developing personalized adjustments. Today’s guest Erin Schlesener spent a looooong time experimenting before she found a reading routine that fit her needs. Once ...
Jan 28, 2020•43 min•Ep 220•Transcript available on Metacast You might remember way back in Ep 60, guest Mel Joulwan and I talked about her love for books with a "strong sense of place". Mel realized she loves to travel in her literary life, and in the years since we chatted on WSIRN she’s made that the priority in big, delightful ways, along with her husband Dave Humphries. Mel and Dave are joining us today to chat about their reading journey together, fulfilling their long-time dream to move across the Atlantic, and their new destination-reading podcast...
Jan 21, 2020•52 min•Ep 219•Transcript available on Metacast It’s always fun to read through your guest applications. You fill our inbox with stories, goals, hilarity, and so much heart. One particularly memorable application didn’t come from today’s guest Anna Mittler — it came from one of her best friends, Charlotta, asking if we could make WSIRN a part of Anna’s upcoming bachelorette party. It took a full year to stitch the pieces together and get this episode to your ears, and we hope you love Anna’s story as much as we loved making it happen. Click o...
Jan 14, 2020•57 min•Ep 218•Transcript available on Metacast Around here we believe that when you improve your reading life, it does good things for the rest of your life. Today’s guest Pamela Hernandez has found creative ways to pull together reading goals and fitness goals in her personal training business. Pamela loves to read about women who mirror herself and her clients–seasoned female characters who live life on their terms, work to make the best of their life circumstances, and thrive. Today Anne recommending 3 books that fit the bill, plus a self...
Jan 07, 2020•56 min•Ep 217•Transcript available on Metacast The new year is here and that means another milestone is just around the corner. Anne's newest book Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy Into Your Life comes out on March 3rd. In celebration and anticipation on today's episode Anne is sharing chapter 13 Small Shifts Toward Simple Abundance. Anne chose this chapter because there's a funny story in here that inspired the beautiful cover design AND because while most people are familiar with the negati...
Dec 31, 2019•25 min•Ep 216•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re revisiting a topic near and dear to our hearts here at WSIRN HQ, and a PERFECT conversation for this time of the year, when the best-of lists start rolling out and everyone is gearing up for a new calendar year of reading. Anne chatted with 14 different readers about how they track their books, and we hope their perspectives will give you some new ideas to start your 2020 reading year strong! Click over to the podcast website for the transcript and photos of some tracking methods men...
Dec 24, 2019•45 min•Ep 215•Transcript available on Metacast Today you get to hear from a guest who is very near and dear to the show, Anne's husband Will. Will has been involved with What Should I Read Next since BEFORE the beginning of the show. First he was the sounding board, then he was the trial guest, then he dropped into your feed for the first time in episode 61—and if you haven’t listened to that yet, start downloading it while you listen to this. But none of that is why we had him back on the show. Will engineered his best reading year to date ...
Dec 17, 2019•53 min•Ep 214•Transcript available on Metacast Anne chats with reader and children’s book writer Kate DiCamillo about the books that inspired her to dream up stories, the hopeful work of writing for children, and what she learns from readers about her own books. She has so much to share about the value of friendship with other people who work differently than you do, and her advice is applicable whether you’re an aspiring author or simply a reader looking to build a bookish community in your own personal life. Click over to the podcast websi...
Dec 10, 2019•55 min•Ep 213•Transcript available on Metacast Hopefully you haven’t put that wrapping paper away yet… because today we’re bringing you even MORE bookish gift-giving ideas! This episode is specially geared toward the people many WSIRN listeners consider the hardest to buy for — your nonfiction readers, true crime lovers, political thriller fanatics, and doorstop history book deep-divers. Sometimes these are called “dad books” or “dude books”, and our inbox was definitely FULL of people desperate for recommendations for their dads, brothers, ...
Dec 03, 2019•55 min•Ep 212•Transcript available on Metacast Anne has a delightful & deep conversation with guest Sarah Bessey about writing personal nonfiction, and what might spur an author to write a book unlike anything they’ve written in the past. Last week, Anne talked about books can expand hearts and minds, and Sarah has so much to share with about what books have shifted her perspectives for the better. CanLit lovers rejoice — they're also touching on the books everyone is talking about in Canada! Click over to the podcast website for a list of b...
Nov 26, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep 211•Transcript available on Metacast Break out the wrapping paper, because our yearly WSIRN holiday recommendation episode is here! Listeners wrote and called in to let us know who they wanted to give the gift of reading to this Winter, and today, Anne is joined by Holland Saltsman of The Novel Neighbor in St Louis to recommend the perfect titles for your distractable teens and tweens, reluctant-reader spouses, impossible-to-buy-for parents, and that friend who seems to have already read everything. Click over to the podcast websit...
Nov 19, 2019•57 min•Ep 210•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s guest is Jamie Freeman, a reader who was led to audiobooks by her favorite true crime podcasts… and has since made serious space in her life to read with her earbuds in. Anne and Jamie chat about spine-tingly crime nonfiction, historical romance, their favorite audiobook narrators, and tackle a frequently asked question: how to get into an audiobook when you’re finding it hard to focus. Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldirea...
Nov 12, 2019•48 min•Ep 209•Transcript available on Metacast Charlie Lovett joins Anne to discuss the enduring power of not only stories but the books themselves, how books connect people of all ages, and of all times, how we can preserve literature for future generations, the joy of a book as a physical object, the art of literary forgery, marginalia, symbolism, and much much more. Anne met Charlie along with 150 other readers at the ever-charming bookstore Bookmarks NC in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as part of an event for the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Cl...
Nov 05, 2019•50 min•Ep 208•Transcript available on Metacast This week's guest is Jennifer Pai, a reader with a particular soft spot for anything that could might be called spooky. Whether it’s thrilling suspense, witchy fantasy, or outright horror, she’s here for it. Anne and Jennifer chat about atmospheric reads, sleeper hits, gleefully enjoying books other people hate, and the perfect October reads to pair with a comfy blanket and mug of hot cider. Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadne...
Oct 29, 2019•46 min•Ep 207•Transcript available on Metacast Jerrell Everett is serious about creating her ideal reading life. When Jerrell had kids and found herself picking up books less and less, she took action to maintain her reading life by enforcing a routine. And when she decided it was time to branch out from her comfort zone of nonfiction and introduce more novels into her rotation, she took action again… by reaching out to WSIRN for help. Today, Jerrell and Anne chat about parenthood, complex family stories, the tricky task of avoiding book han...
Oct 22, 2019•44 min•Ep 206•Transcript available on Metacast Readers, sometimes podcasting doesn’t go as planned. Schedules conflict, last-minute emergencies strike, the flu sneaks up on us, Anne loses her voice during pollen season… and any of those situations can end with a guest cancelling their recording at the last-minute. That happened recently here at What Should I Read Next HQ, and we needed someone to record on short notice, RIGHT AWAY, to avoid a hole in our release schedule. Luckily there was an obvious answer — tapping into our Patreon communi...
Oct 15, 2019•36 min•Ep 205•Transcript available on Metacast Today Anne talks books with David Krohse, an Iowa reader who’s woven a love of literature into all aspects of his life — the waiting room of his chiropractic practice, the bar with a group friends, and quality time spent with his wife. David loves larger than life nonfiction, especially if it reads like an intense thriller, so Anne is hooking him up with exactly that. Click over to the podcast website for a list of books mentioned in this episode: http://whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/204 You ca...
Oct 08, 2019•42 min•Ep 204•Transcript available on Metacast In today’s episode, Anne talks with Emily Carter about a genre they both used to think they were too smart to be reading. When Emily entered a season when she was busy and stressed, and she discovered that the genre she’d once categorically dismissed was full of books that were exactly what her lackluster reading life needed. Fellow repentant "book snobs" will relate to this conversation about what we miss out on as readers when we seal ourselves off from whole sections of the bookstore, how our...
Oct 01, 2019•44 min•Ep 203•Transcript available on Metacast In today's double-feature, Anne chats books with sisters Mia & Micah. But unlike most of our episodes with multiple guests, they aren’t looking to find titles they’ll enjoy together. Mia & Micah already read the same books frequently, so we’re looking to individualize their reading lives with totally separate recommendations. Mia is looking to introduce a little romance to her bookshelves… without leaving her comfort zone of action and adventure behind. Meanwhile Micah battles a classic middle-s...
Sep 24, 2019•56 min•Ep 202•Transcript available on Metacast Today, Brian Eichenberger dives straight into a hotly debated issue, discussing horrible books that taught him and Anne lessons they still think about allllll the time. Brian is the kind of reader who wants to chew on big ideas, follow characters from childhood to old age to see what makes people tick, and who loves big juicy family sagas. But he also has a taste for the unusual, so Anne recommends 3 titles that hopefully hit more than one target. Click over to the podcast website for a list of ...
Sep 17, 2019•46 min•Ep 201•Transcript available on Metacast In today's milestone 200th episode, Anne and her producer Brenna catch up with the guests of 8 fan-favorite episodes to see what recommendations were hits, which flopped, and what changed in their reading lives after the show. Some guests approached their bookshelves with fresh eyes, some overcame their genre fears, and some realized that stepping out of their comfort zone just wasn’t what they were interested in — and finally felt at peace with the decision. Thanks for 200 fantastic episodes, w...
Sep 10, 2019•59 min•Ep 200•Transcript available on Metacast The WSIRN intro sounds straightforward enough - Anne chats with a reader about books they love, books they hate, and books they could pick up next. Simple. But long-time listeners know this show was originally supposed to be a tight 20 minutes… and today, each episode is easily twice that long. It turns out, a person’s reading taste reveals a lot about who they are as individuals, and digging into those discussions is worth much more to the WSIRN team than hitting a timestamp. Today’s guest is n...
Sep 03, 2019•52 min•Ep 199•Transcript available on Metacast Ever since Anne visited today’s guest, Annie F. Downs, on her podcast That Sounds Fun a little while ago to talk about Summer Reading, she's been wanting to talk all things books and reading with Annie on What Should I Read Next. It's finally happening - and the conversation is going unexpected places. Anne and Annie are chatting about the author who made Annie a better storyteller, her surprising love for reading what she calls “Dead Men’s writing”, totally fangirling about all the literary goo...
Aug 27, 2019•48 min•Ep 198•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s guest, Amelia Mattingly, went through a gut-wrenching experience that ripped her book collection away from her – shelves and all – along with countless other precious signifiers of home. As a result of this experience, the books she craves are different now, and every book purchase feels weighty. Anne is connecting Amelia with three books that will hopefully take some of that heaviness off her shoulders and let her choose a different world to escape into, just for a few hours. CONTENT WA...
Aug 20, 2019•48 min•Ep 197•Transcript available on Metacast Today you’ll get to know Anudeep Reddy, a reader who grew up in a competitive school environment where engaging books were in short supply, so he had to get creative with his reading from a young age. He’s an imaginative reader who appreciates the escapist quality of a good novel, but has struggled lately to find books that call out for him to live between their pages. Fantastic escapist reading can be found in any genre, so today Anne recommends three books to Anudeep that you’d find on complet...
Aug 13, 2019•49 min•Ep 196•Transcript available on Metacast 
