Ep 179: Best Books of 2023 (So Far) with Yasmin Dunn and Stephanie Newman-Smith

Instead of waiting for the end of the year to talk about our favorite books, my real life book club members Yasmin Dunn and Stephanie Newman-Smith and I decided we should have a mid-year meeting to discuss some of the great things we've read in this first half of 2023. 

We talk about the best novels, memoirs, personal growth, and general nonfiction books that stand out, and even share some of the personal things going on in our lives that have affected our reading habits lately. 

We also unintentionally talk a lot about Hollywood in this episode - where the three of us all live and work - discussing the writer's strike and multiple celebrity memoirs. 

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Of course, we talked for hours. And there was still more we had to say. Check out the Secret Stuff bonus episode for even more book talk, including the books that haven't worked for us this year. 

 

FULL SHOW NOTES ARE HERE

 

LAURA’S FAVORITES:

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

The Perfectionist’s Guide To Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler

Spare by Prince Harry

Beloved by Toni Morrison

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai 

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

 

STEPHANIE’S FAVORITES:

Maame by Jessica George

Burn It Down by Maureen Ryan

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

 

YASMIN’S FAVORITES:

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis 

Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

 

OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED in this episode:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer (Prince Harry’s ghost writer)

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Educated by Tara Westover

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 

Tales from the Boom Boom Room by Susan Antilla 

Glamarama by Bret Easton Ellis

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer 

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 

 

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