4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2024
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are sharing their favorite reads of 2023. This year, we have two lists: favorite reading experiences and favorite books. With so many great reading experiences of… not so great books, we had to differentiate. We also had a few overlaps, and some reads that really surprised the other!
Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)
.
.
.
.
.
1:46 - Our Yearly Reading Overview
5:41 - The Novel Neighbor
6:52 - Currently Reading Patreon
8:08 - Minotaur Books
8:09 - Tor.com
8:10 - Berkeley
8:25 - William Morrow
9:32 - Flatiron Books
16:04 - @megan.is.reading on Instagram (this link goes directly to the monthly goals post!)
17:02 - Our Favorite Reading Experiences of 2023
18:47 - A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (Meredith #5)
19:46 - Unhinged by Vera Valentine (Kaytee #4)
21:16 - The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf (Meredith #4)
22:08 - Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulson (Kaytee #4)
22:10 - Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulson
22:53 - Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann
23:33 - Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (Meredith #3)
24:45 - My Storied Year by Katie Proctor (Kaytee #3)
25:41 - The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (Meredith #2)
26:17 - Starter Villain by John Scalzi
27:06 - Waypoints by Sam Heughan (Kaytee #2)
28:10 - Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (Meredith #1)
29:05 - The Introduction of Popcorn in the Pages (Kaytee #1)
29:45 - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
29:46 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
29:47 - Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
29:48 - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
31:00 - Our Top Ten Books of 2023
31:40 - Slewfoot by Brom (Meredith #10)
CR Season 6, Episode 16 for Slewfoot setup
32:56 - The Life Council by Laura Tremaine (Kaytee #10)
CR Season 5, Episode 47 for The Life Council setup
34:03 - The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (Meredith #9)
CR Season 6, Episode 11 for The Covenant of Water setup
34:27 - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
35:39 - To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Kaytee #9)
CR Season 6, Episode 8 for To Shape a Dragon’s Breath setup
36:21 - Elliot Bay Book Company
36:32 - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (Merdith #8)
CR Season 6, Episode 13 for Starling House setup
36:37 - The Novel Neighbor
36:45 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
37:47 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Kaytee #8)
CR Season 6, Episode 17 for Tom Lake setup
38:39 - In Light of All Darkness by Kim Cross (Meredith #7)
CR Season 6, Episode 8 for In Light of All Darkness setup
40:14 - Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (Kaytee #7)
CR Season 6, Episode 19 for Divine Rivals setup
40:43 - Fairyloot
41:09 - Search by Michelle Huneven (Meredith #6)
CR Season 5, Episode 32 for Search setup
42:39 - The Swifts by Beth Lincoln (Kaytee #6)
CR Season 6, Episode 6 for The Swifts setup
42:46 - Capital Book on K
43:47 - North Woods by Daniel Mason (Meredith #5) (This has never been brought as a current read)
46:03 - Congratulations, The Best is Over! By R. Eric Thomas (Kaytee #5)
CR Season 6, Episode 12 for Congratulations, The Best is Over! Setup
47:08 - Strange Sally Diamond Liz Nugent (Meredith #4)
CR Season 6, Episode 5 for Strange Sally Diamond setup
48:22 - Happy Place by Emily Henry (Kaytee #4)
CR Season 5, Episode 44 for Happy Place setup
50:07 - Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes (Meredith #3)
CR Season 5, Episode 31 for Stone Blind setup
51:49 - The Adventures of Almina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Kaytee #3)
CR Season 6, Episode 1 for The Adventures of Almina Al-Sirafi setup
53:08 - Cold People by Tom Rob Smith (Meredith #2)
CR Season 6, Episode 20 for Cold People setup
54:50 - Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Kaytee #2)
CR Season 5: Episode 47 for Chain Gang All Stars setup
57:31 - Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati (Meredith #1)
CR Season 5, Episode 45 for Clytemnestra setup
1:00:41 - Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (Kaytee #1)
CR Season 5, Episode 31 for Black Cake setup
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. January’s IPL is brought to you by our anchor store, Fabled Bookshop in Waco, TX.
Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry
All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller
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
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!
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey readers, welcome to the currently reading podcast. We are bookish best friends who spend time every week talking about the books that we've read recently, and as you know, we won't shy away from having strong opinions, so get ready. |
| 0:24.5 | We are light on the chit-chat, heavy on the book talk, and our descriptions will always be |
| 0:27.9 | spoiler free. |
| 0:28.9 | Today, we have a very special episode for you. |
| 0:32.0 | I'm Meredith Monday Schwartz, a mom of four and |
| 0:34.3 | full-time CEO living in Austin, Texas, and I love a best-off list. And I'm Katie |
| 0:40.9 | Com. A homeschooling mama-4 living Arizona, and I'm ready for a whole new year of stories and learning. |
| 0:47.0 | This is episode number 22 of season 6, and we are so glad you're here. |
| 0:51.0 | Meredith, we are always one of the last people to produce our top ten lists for the year. |
| 0:56.9 | We are. Yes, ours comes in really, really late, but we made a decision year one that we just felt like we absolutely had to wait till the end, end of the year. |
| 1:08.2 | And I mean, this year was an example. |
| 1:10.1 | I had one five, six days before the end of the actual year of 2023 that slipped into my top |
| 1:16.3 | ten. |
| 1:17.3 | That's so awesome. |
| 1:18.5 | That has definitely happened to me in the past. |
| 1:21.2 | It didn't happen this year, but I have had some really great reading experiences this past week, so it could have been there. It could have been waiting for me and you just don't know. |
| 1:29.3 | Exactly, exactly. Okay, so today we're talking already, you already know, about our top 10 books for each of us of 2023, |
| 1:37.6 | and that means we read them in 2023, not necessarily that they were released in 2023. |
| 1:42.8 | But before we get started with that, instead of bookish moments, |
| 1:45.4 | we're going to have a little bit of an overview of our reading years. |
| 1:49.2 | So, Meredith, we both use a pretty fancy spreadsheet to get some stats about our reading. |
| 1:55.0 | What stood out to you about your reading year in 2023? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Meredith Schwartz, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Meredith Schwartz and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.