Lauren and Garri wrap up summer reading for The Everygirl Book Club, share their favorite books, and talk about fall vibes, reading slumps, and why they increasingly prefer Kindles over physical books. They discuss book pop culture, including ACOTAR’s influence on romantasy, evolving genre labels and sexism in categorization, and how fandom theory culture can diminish simple enjoyment. They answer a reader “slump-ender” prompt with fall recommendations spanning cozy rom-coms, witchy/cozy fantasy, and dark academia, then announce upcoming book club picks—It’s Different This Time (Sept), And He Shall Appear (Oct), Conform (Nov), and Understory (Dec).

02:21 Favorite Summer Reads

07:21 Kindle Versus Physical Books

12:04 ACOTAR Chat

22:35 Summer Hits And Misses

29:45 Fall Releases To Watch

31:59 More ACOTAR Release Buzz

40:27 Parasocial Fandoms

48:00 Cozy Fall Romcoms

50:07 Fantasy Girl Fall Picks

52:28 Dark Academia Thrillers

56:46 Book Club Lineup

01:02:15 Wrap Up And Goodbye

Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein

The Good Parts by Evann Normandin

Girls’ Girl by Sonja Feldman

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie

The Second Death of Locke by V. L. Bovalino

The Thief and the Traitor Bride by V. L. Bovalino

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe

Land by Maggie O'Farrell

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Understory by Chloe Benjamin

The Gnave and the Moon by Rachel Gillig

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

The Likeness by Tana French

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Babel by R.F. Kuang

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

It's Different This Time by Joss Richard — September pick

And He Shall Appear — October pick

Conform by Ariel Sullivan — November pick

September 24: It’s Different This Time

• RSVP here
• Use code ‘EGSept26’ for 15% off on Bookshop.org
• Use code ‘TEGBookClub’ for 30% off on Libro.fm

Enjoy the episode? Like and follow The Everygirl Book Club Podcast, leave a rating and review, and share the episode with a fellow reader. Then, join the conversation on Instagram @theeverygirlbookclub for monthly book picks, book recommendations, reading challenges, and more. Fill out this form to submit your own reader prescriptions or request specific discussion topics.

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The Everygirl Book Club interviews Kirsten King, author of the summer bonus pick A Good Person, about Lillian’s provocative downward spiral after the death of her situationship, Henry. King discusses embracing polarized reactions to an intentionally unlikable protagonist, her current reads and recommendations for “messy women” books, and how her background in journalism and screenwriting (including using Save the Cat) shaped her debut novel while feeling more creatively exposed than in collaborative film work. She explains writing the book during the 2023 WGA strike, building side characters to reveal Lillian’s flawed POV, and choosing not to give Lillian redemption. The conversation covers modern dating, virtue signaling, therapy-speak, female friendship breakups, LA spirituality, and the Daisy Edgar-Jones/Working Title adaptation. King also previews a 2027 dark-comedy novel about a breakup, AI chatbot companionship, and a self-help podcaster chatbot.

01:26 Unlikable Heroine Talk

03:04 Read Receipts

07:10 BuzzFeed Millennial Era

09:02 From Screen To Novel

12:12 Handling Criticism

16:56 Creating Lillian

28:49 Morally Gray Influences

36:44 Reader Prescriptions

46:35 Building Side Characters

48:47 Etsy Witch Culture

52:11 Modern Dating Morality

55:05 Adaptation Update

56:38 Kirsten's Next Book

59:50 Ranking Morally Grey Characters

01:01:51 LITigation

A Good Person by Kirsten King

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

200 Monas by Jan Saenz

She's a Lamb by Meredith Hambrook

Salomé by Leslie Baird

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

Famesick by Lena Dunham

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky

The Guest by Emma Cline

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

Empire of AI by Karen Hao

September 24: It’s Different This Time

• RSVP here
• Use code ‘EGSept26’ for 15% off on Bookshop.org
• Use code ‘TEGBookClub’ for 30% off on Libro.fm

Enjoy the episode? Like and follow The Everygirl Book Club Podcast, leave a rating and review, and share the episode with a fellow reader. Then, join the conversation on Instagram @theeverygirlbookclub for monthly book picks, book recommendations, reading challenges, and more. Fill out this form to submit your own reader prescriptions or request specific discussion topics.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.