Bad On Paper

This week, we’re sharing an inside look at our reading habits! We dive into how we choose what to read, our favorite times to read, who we talk about books with IRL, our rules of thumb for DNF-ing, and more! 

Becca’s TBR - The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers, Daddy Issues by Kate Goldbeck, Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston 

What we read this week

Becca - Boom To...

Time for another round of three things! And this one’s very bookish: we’re talking about 2025 books that flew under the radar, plot twists, mood writing, what we want to learn about this fall, and more!

Becca’s Things

Underrated Books of 2025 Becca’s - Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine, Loved One by Aisha Muharrar | Olivia’s - Tilt by Emma Pattee, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild.

September is coming to a close, and you know what that means! Time to talk about this month’s book club pick, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach. We discuss our expectations going into this book based on the cover, how it balanced its dark themes with humor, what we thought of the relationships, and more!  

Obsessions

Olivia - One Trick Pony Peanut Butter

Becca...

We are SO excited to chat with Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, about their new book, The Academy! We ask how their collaborative writing process worked, about Shelby’s boarding school experience that inspired the book, and Elin’s feelings on venturing into a new world outside Nantucket. We also have adaptation updates and some exclusive behind the scenes gossip!

These days, Shelby i...

What do we want? Things! When do we want them? Now! It’s time to talk about big pop culture moments, focus tools, and what we’re excited about for fall. 

Olivia’s Things

Taylor Swift getting engaged

What’s on our Q4 Radar

Our Fall TBR (Olivia’s are The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild, What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang, Bec...

People who judge books by their covers, this ep is for you! This week, we brought on Art Director and Book Cover Designer Molly von Borstel to talk about how book covers come to life. She shares how she got into book design, the surprising parts of the job, how she deals with feedback, cover trends, and more! 

Obsessions

Olivia - Sorel Roam’n Clogs

Becca - Travel mahjong set fro...

It’s Book Club day! We’re excited to chat about The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig. We discuss the book’s setting and world-building, the main characters (and their romance), how this fits into the romantacy genre overall, and more!  

Obsessions

Olivia - Night Moves by Bob Seger

Becca - J.Crew yellow suede bucket bag

This Month’s Book Club Pick ...

We are SO excited for this week’s conversation with journalist E. Jean Carroll! We chat with her about why she decided to write her book about her experience in court against Donald Trump, her 30-year tenure as an advice columnist, and more!  

E. Jean Carroll is the author of five books, including a biography of Hunter S. Thompson, and the New York Times bestselling book NOT MY TYPE: One Woman vs. a Pres...

It’s time for the most August 2025 Three Things to Ever Three Things. From AI to face shapewear to Labubus, and more, there’s so much to discuss! Let’s get into it.

Olivia’s Things

DNF-ing

Skims Face Shapewear

Labubus

Becca’s Things

The articles “I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students” by Meghan O’Rourke [gift l...

As a bonus to our episode discussing comparison and competition, we invited Chelsea Bieker to continue the conversation, and how comparison and competition manifest for her, specifically within her publishing career and the strategies she’s learned to quiet these emotions.

Read more from Chelsea in her newsletter Make Up Your Life, fountainpractice.com, and her latest book Madwoman is out no...

We’ve been trying to make an episode about comparison and competition (an Olivia Muenter favorite topic!) happen for a while, and it’s finally here! We’re discussing our personal histories with comparison and competition and how it manifests in our personal and professional lives. We’re even diving into whether we ever compare ourselves to each other.

We’re talking about if we define ourselves as competi...

It’s book club day! We’re so excited to talk about our listener-selected book club pick, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. There’s a lot to cover in this story set during the 1980s space race. We discuss our feelings about the main characters, the aspects of the book we gravitated towards, our favorite space songs, and more! 

Obsessions:

Becca - Ruby lobster roll off watercolor painting

Oli...

Our last desert island episode was so popular, we hopped a quick trip back to the island for part 2. This time we’re talking all things clothing and travel.

Jeans 

Becca - Frame Le Slim Palazzo

Olivia - Gap Ultra Soft Barrel Leg Jeans 

Bra

Becca & Olivia - Skims T-Shirt Bra

Underwear

Becca - Skims fits everybody thong

We are so excited to have Navessa Allen on the pod to talk about all things spicy romance! 

We hear about how she got started writing romance, how she handles taboo topics, what it’s like having viral success, and her experience as self-published author who began working for a traditional publishing house.

Her books Lights Out and Caught Up are out now. 

Obsessions

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