Meredith and Kaytee are joined by a special guest co-host this week, Mindy Brouse, a Currently Reading listener and super-fan of the show. This one was fun, you guys!

You’ll hear a “bookish moment of the week” from each of us: a funny bookish conversation, a sweet picture book that made me feel ~seen~, and a spoiler-ific discussion of a previous book.

Next, we discuss our current reads. Since there are three of us, we kept it to two titles each, but there’s no shortage of great stories and big opinions.

For our deep dive, we’re talking to Mindy about reading aloud to kids of multiple ages, since she has been homeschooling for 20 years and has 7 kids with a large span. Our listeners asked for something exactly like this, and Mindy delivers! We also get to hear from her about something we’ve heard from a lot of you: how Currently Reading changed her reading life. It’s a sweet conversation.

As always, we finish up with A Book (yep, capitalized) that we’d like to press into every reader’s hands. This week’s picks include a favorite read-aloud title, a YA sci-fi (Y-fi?) series, and a fairy tale retelling that has been a favorite for DECADES.

As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down!

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3:49 - Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

3:53 - Calico Bush by Rachel Field

3:57 - The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

4:02 - On The Edge of the Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

5:31 - Bunny’s Book Club by Annie Silvestro

6:43 - Lil’ Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

6:59 - Lil’ Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

7:06 -Lil’ Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

7:48 - The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

9:51 - The Gown by Jennifer Robson

13:07 - The Editor by Steven Rowley

13:14 - Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

18:09 - The Lost Man by Jane Harper

18:39 - Force of Nature by Jane Harper

19:38 - Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

21:39 - Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

23:40 - The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

26:49 - Sweep by Jonathan Auxier

26:54 - Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

30:30 - Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin

33:27 - Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

33:28 - The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin

33:43 - The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Mindy and her family in front of The Juan de Pareja painting at the Met.

44:15 - I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

46:57 - Honey for A Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt

51:36 - The Firm by John Grisham

55:44 - The Chosen by Chaim Potok

57:22 - Cinder by Marissa Meyer

1:00:11 - Beauty by Robin McKinley

Deep dive. Here’s the photo and corresponding list of books that Mindy’s family has chosen as their very favorites over the past two decades.

I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Nory Ryan’s Song by Patricia Reilly Giff

The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

By The Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert Dejong

The Broken Blade by William Durbin

The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E.L. Konigsburg

Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark

The Eagle of the Ninth by Sutcliff

On The Edge of the Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Geroge Speare

Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

*Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!* 

Episode 32: Family Read Alouds + Special Guest Co-Host Mindy Brouse