Readers Digress

Buckle up, everyone, for a shocking tale about one of the worst families in American history! Kate tells Mollie about the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, a riveting exploration of the Sackler family's ascent to power and their role in the opioid crisis. This impeccably researched book is an intersection of wealth, morality, and accountability. It leaves no doubt that the Sackler family was aware of and indifferent to the suffering their greed caused and were, in fact, huge sacks of shit.

Contribute to Kate's read-a-thon fundraiser, benefiting Open Books!

$25 can provide one child with a year of new books through our Imagination Library program

$50 can support a month of upkeep of our Little Free Library network

$100 can provide 30 new, high-interest book titles for our youth book granting efforts

$250 can fund supplies for one of our eight-week-long Early Childhood Literacy Residencies in at-home daycares

Wow, that woman's teeth are white.. what was I doing? Oh, right! Welcome to our first episode of 2024, where we tackle Sara Petersen's Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture. Join us for a discussion of parenthood in the age of Instagram, influencers, and cruel optimism.

It was nice knowing ya, 2023! Pop some champagne and start 2024 off right with Mollie and Kate as they share recommendations for enchanting and compelling winter reads.

Recommendations in order:

Mollie: The Heatwave by Kate Riordan

Kate: Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

Kate: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sarafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Mollie: Tamora Pierce's books

Mollie: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Kate: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

Mollie: Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

Kate: Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland

Kate: Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens

Mollie & Kate: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Halloween may be over but we're still in spooky season mode, which gives us free reign to talk about monsters (albeit the less fun kind, because these are real). This episode, Kate recounts Claire Dederer's Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma, which wrestles with the question: What do we do with the art of monstrous artists? You won't want to miss this conversation about fandom, celebrities, notes-app apologies, and more.

Pop Culture Pairings: Wannabe by Aisha Harris (Nonfiction), The Stacks (podcast)

Autumn is here, and what better way to celebrate than by curling up with a good book about how to write a good book? Join us this week as Mollie tells Kate all about Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. They talk about the creative process, how hard it is to start from a blank page, and how to cope with jealousy in creative fields.

It only seems right to end the summer with a blockbuster—and what's a more perfect blockbuster than a memoir by one of the most famous people on Earth? Join us this month as Kate tells Mollie about former First Lady Michelle Obama's bestselling book Becoming.

Pop Culture Pairing: The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

A penny for our thoughts? We'll give them to you for free! (We're just that generous.) And this month we're thinking about Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy's Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love. Listen in as Mollie tells us all about personal finances, from emergency funds to investing to 401ks and salary negotiations. This episode will make you feel like a million bucks!

Pop culture pairing: Barbie (movie playing in theaters near you!)

What do women WANT? Wait, don't leave! This isn't a set up for a 1990's male stand-up comedy routine—the answer is NOT shopping. Well, sometimes it's shopping. But no, it's the prompt for Margot Kahn and Kelly McMasters' anthology Wanting: Women Writing About Desire. Join us as Kate tells Mollie all about the WANTING and DESIRE that came up in this book.

Pop culture pairings: Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermansky (Fiction, Thriller-ish?); You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (Fiction, Romance); Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (Fiction, Satire); and Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (Fiction, Romance / SciFi)

April showers bring May (dating) story hours! This month, Mollie shares an essay from Samantha Irby's essay collection We Are Never Meeting In Real Life. We get into the hardest ages for dating (all of them?), romantic connections, and how to collect signs about someone you're dating to determine if they're cool or seriously not.

Pop culture pairings: Why Won't You Date Me (podcast), Twitter thread