All Books Aloud

Send us a textHappy Holidays! We're bringing back our year-end reading round up. Join us as we talk about our year in reading, our favorite books of 2024, and what we're looking forward to reading in 2025. We also talk about how our conversation about goal-setting in January of this year impacted our years in reading (spoiler: profoundly and in a good way!) -----------------------Books we talk about in this episode:Books we're reading now:The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie LeongTower of Dawn by Sarah J MaasHeartburn by Nora Ephron2024 reads we haven't talked about on the podcast:The Familiar by Leah BardugoMorbidly Yours by Ivy FairbanksWe Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley JacksonDracula by Bram StokerConfessions of a Forty-Something Fuck Up by Alexandra PotterCurse of Penryth Hall by Jess ArmstrongThe Day of the Triffids by John WyndhamThe Hapless Milliner (Miss Austen Investigates #1) by Jessica BullKitchen by Banana YoshimotoOur favorite books of 2024:Elizabeth: Tie between Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van PeltMartha: Tie between A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross and Nora Goes Off Script. Honorable mention to The House Witch series.Books on our TBRs for 2025:History Lessons by Zoe Wallbrook (July)The Lioness (Dec 2024) And The Trees Stare Back (YA) by Gigi Griffis (May)Heavy Hitter by Katie CotugnoAll Fours by Miranda JulyGreat Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (April)Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett (March)The Women by Kristin Hannah?Onyx Storm (The Empyrean #3) by Rebecca Yarros (Jan)Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (April)Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey (Feb)Ordinary Monsters by J.M. MiroWhen the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textRomantic fantasies have taken the book world by storm in recent years, but fantasy stories that allow us to break free of the rules and limitations of our own world and reality are as old as human history. We wanted to learn more about the genre's history and its variations and sub-genres. What's the difference between fantasy and science fiction? Between high fantasy and low fantasy? What about all the sub-genres? Are Romantasy really something new or are they just a marketing ploy? How about cozy fantasy? Join us as we take a deep dive into fantasy and add lots of books to our TBR that will help us escape the current reality!-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusJust for the Summer by Abby JiménezAdelaide by Genevieve WheelerThe House Witch by Delemhach----------------------- Sources:https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-the-fantasy-genre-history-of-fantasy-and-subgenres-and-types-of-fantasy-in-literaturehttps://litjoycrate.com/a/blog/fantasy-book-tropes?srsltid=AfmBOoqZ5EBUD7-q8IYgOI0pTKRcyZmSfBLyexpqCVQrgkF8Mybxz7DQhttps://www.britannica.com/art/fantasy-narrative-genrehttps://bookriot.com/fantasy-sub-genre-primer/ Dassler, J. (2021). Women in Literature: The Impact of Feminism on Fantasy Literature, 1950-1990. International Social Science Review, 97(4), 1–20.Schlobin, R. C. (2011). Mendlesohn, Farah, and Edward James. A Short History of Fantasy. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 22(2), 292+https://zipdo.co/book-sales-by-genre-statistics/https://www.tonerbuzz.com/blog/book-and-reading-statistics/https://fantasy-faction.com/2015/classic-female-fantasy-writershttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abusehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_fantasy https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/style/shadow-daddies-romantasy-novels.html ----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textWhether or not you'll enjoy a book club depends a lot on your reading style, habits, and preferences. But if you're interested in joining a book club, there is truly one out there for everyone - different types, communities, themes, modalities, and more.Join us as we talk about our own experiences with book clubs (as both participants and moderators), the history of book clubs (which includes a lot more social activism than we expected!), celebrity book clubs, and how to find a book club that's right for you.-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:A Date with Death by Julia Chapman (Dales Detective #1)A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie IrwinA Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen (Saga of the Unfated #1)The House Witch by Delemhach----------------------- Sources:Book Riot: https://bookriot.com/a-history-of-book-clubs/Medium: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-best-book-clubs-throughout-history-d45537334de0Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/03/27/womens-book-clubs-history-oprah-reese/Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ladies-who-book-club-have-always-been-the-glue-of-resistance_n_595db02de4b02e9bdb0a3454NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/18/books/reese-witherspoon-book-club.html https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/book-clubs-and-book-commerce/3C50183E95136DAD1FC7FB51FD6E6A1E https://testprepinsight.com/resources/us-book-reading-statistics/https://thgmwriters.com/blog/global-book-reading-statistics-2022-2023-complete-survey-data/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/09/why-do-so-few-men-read-books-by-women----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!

Send us a textSeason 2 is here and our first episode is a big one! In some ways, we have been building up to this moment since the podcast began: we finally chat with Elizabeth's librarian inspiration and the All Books Aloud unofficial mascot, Nancy Pearl. Nancy has had a storied life and a career about as influential as a librarian could hope for, and she shares so much of it with us during this hour. We talk about how her difficult childhood led her to the library, how the librarians in that first public library inspired her love of reading and her desire to be a librarian herself, and how that career led to some of her noteworthy epiphanies about books and reading. How did she come up with reading doorways? How did she realize that no two readers read the same book? What does she think about book bans and the state of libraries today? And what did she once say about finishing books to Elizabeth's grad school class that made them all gasp? Listen and find out!-----------------------Books we're reading in this episode:    The Underpainter by Jane UrquhartTress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon SandersonCrown of Midnight by Sarah J. MaasThe League of Gentlewomen Witches by India HoltonThe House Witch #2 by Delemhach----------------------- Intro and outro music: "The Chase," by Aves. Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas for future episodes? Email us at [email protected]. And if you want to learn more about the podcast, visit our website at allbooksaloudpod.com.If you liked this episode, please consider leaving us a review to help us reach more listeners.And if you'd like to see more bookish content from Martha & Elizabeth, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @allbooksaloudpod.Read on!