This is an IHeart podcast. You guys ever lied and said you read a book that you never read?

You just described high school for me.

Did you ever go back and read the ones that you were supposed to have read?

Yeah, I did.

Yeah, that's what happens, right?

You feel so guilty.

Yeah.

The only time I ever did this, the reason I was thinking about this is because I did a book event with my friend Ivy Pagoda.

And before I was hosting an event and her book, you know, I got an advanced copy and I was like crammy to read it so I could talk to her.

But then she did another event with my other friend, Todd Goldberg, who I did literary

disco with. And he hosted her and hadn't finished her book. But he was so good at it. And nobody

cared. And he reads everything. He reads so much. She understood. And it was fine. But it reminded

me, like, this is my biggest fear.

And it goes back to, like, the one time in college when I had to give a presentation on Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.

And we were working on the show at the time.

I don't know what happened.

I didn't finish it.

And I had to get up and give, like, you know, five to ten minute, you know, lecture on this book.

And it was like the only time I bought Cliff Notes and Crammed. And I think I felt so bad.

And it turned out it made me the biggest Faulkner fan because then I was like, I have to read this book. And now I've read everything the guy's ever written because it was like, the guilt was just, so now I just make it a rule. I never lie. I just admit. Like I am, you know, because there's so many books that people or, you know, movies that people have seen that you're supposed to know or see. Now I'm just like, Nope, nope. To the extent that I've even found myself admitting I haven't seen something in the conversation, then I realize, oh, I have seen that. But I'm like, you know what? It's not even worth it. I'll just let them tell me about it. And I'll just keep pretending. I haven't read it because that's easier for this conversation. God. Now you lie in the reverse. I've never read anything.

You just tell me your thoughts.

Well, you know, I actually find that's more helpful sometimes because if I didn't like it and they're telling me how great it was, I'm like, oh, I'll just let you sell me on this thing that I would rather hear your thoughts on anyway and have your conversation than tell you why you're terrible. Other than, so my parents and I used to go to the movies all the time.

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