meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Currently Reading Podcast

Season 8, Episode 26: The End Of An Era + Why We Re-Read

The Currently Reading Podcast

Meredith Schwartz

Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.61.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Roxanna are discussing:

  • Bookish Moments: stickers on books and book metaphors

  • Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately

  • Deep Dive: if we re-read and why

  • 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).

3:06 - Ad For Ourselves

3:49 - NYT Article about book podcasts "Seven Podcasts for Bookworms"

6:16 - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

6:22 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 

7:32 - Our Bookish Moments Of The Week

14:14 - Our Current Reads

14:25 - The Q by Beth Brower (Roxanna)

14:30 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

18:22 - For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn

20:18 - Lock In by John Scalzi (Meredith)

23:30 - Starter Villain by John Scalzi

26:41 - The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine (Roxanna)

29:53 - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

32:46 - The Governess and the Rogue by Mimi Matthews (Meredith)

35:26 - The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews

35:28 - Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews

38:25 - A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (Roxanna)

43:00 - The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Meredith)

47:44 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

52:34 - Deep Dive: Why We Re-Read

56:59 - I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

57:42 - The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower 

1:00:02 - Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood

1:01:11 - Getting Things Done by David Allen

1:01:15 - Essentialism by Greg McKeown

1:01:21 - Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

1:01:36 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

1:02:09 - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

1:02:22 - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

1:02:38 - Meet Us At The Fountain

1:04:18 - I wish to bring back the Currently Reading literary society. (Roxanna)

1:05:03 - @roxannathereader on Instagram

1:06:00 - I want to highlight the show Bookish on PBS. (Meredith)

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. February's list is a special romance curated list from Open Door Romance, The Novel Neighbor's Romance adjacent bookstore in Webster Groves, MO.

  • 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!

Transcript

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

0:22.4

having strong opinions so get ready we're light on the chit-chat heavy on the book talk and our

0:28.4

descriptions will always be spoiler-free today we'll discuss our current reads a bookish deep dive

0:34.3

and then we'll visit the fountain i'm mer Meredith Monday Schwartz. I'm a mom and a

0:39.1

Mimi and a full-time CEO living in Austin, Texas, and I love a bookish metaphor. And I'm Roxanna

0:46.1

Kasimkara, a mom, a marketer, and a mood reader living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. And this week,

0:52.9

I am leaning into the deep freeze, Meredith.

0:55.5

This is episode 26 of season eight, and we're so glad you're here. Oh, it is a deep freeze. And you have

1:02.1

had the deepest of the deep freeze. I've been seen some of your pictures. I don't know how you

1:06.8

Canadians do it. Well, remember, we're set up for this just like you guys in Austin are set up for

1:12.0

the heat, right? So I think when people are like, oh my God, in Canada, that would be nothing.

1:17.1

That's very unfair. We have the infrastructure here because for hundreds of years, we have dealt with

1:21.9

this. So, you know, we have 24-hour plows. The salters come out in the middle of the storm. We all know how to drive in

1:29.4

winter conditions. So you get your tires changed up. We get our tires changed right away. October.

1:36.1

We get our tires change out because we know everybody. Everybody. If you don't, it seems,

1:42.2

it's an idiotic thing to do. So nobody does that because everybody's stuck

1:45.8

behind the one guy who didn't change his tires in the middle of the snow. Well, I mean, for us,

1:50.9

it's this darn ice. I mean, snow would be one thing. It's this, we get this freezing rain. And then

1:57.6

everything is just in a layer of ice, which just makes it impossible to go anywhere

2:03.3

or do anything because it's just so dangerous to do it, right?

2:06.8

Like you can't drive anywhere on ice.

2:08.9

You can't walk anywhere on ice.

...

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 2026.