{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6a2c4836252d86e84648db56/6a3d9ce926d5a6687a576467?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"#1: Hot Takes, Top Reads of 2026, and the MMCs We Actually Hate","description":"<h1>Hot Takes, Top Reads of 2026, and the MMCs We Actually Hate</h1><p><br></p><p>#001: In this episode of The Everygirl Book Club podcast, Lauren and Garri share the books that made them lifelong readers, their evolving reading phases, and how BookTok shaped (and later sharpened) their tastes. They discuss mood reading, cringe in romance, DNFing, and their auto-buy authors. They share their all-time favorite reads as well as their 2026 highs and lows (so far). They swap current reads and audiobook habits, deliver hot takes (including loving <em>Silver Elite</em> despite the hate, disliking <em>Crescent City</em>, and Garri’s case against <em>Fourth Wing</em>’s Xaden), and answer member-submitted recommendation requests. Finally, they reveal and contextualize The Everygirl Book Club's summer picks—<em>Let’s Not Go Overboard Here</em>, <em>Love By the Book</em>, and <em>Both Can Be True</em>—plus a bonus read, <em>A Good Person</em>, and close with the LITigation segment, defending unlikable main characters and pushing back on the idea that “all romantasy is the same.”</p><p><br></p><h2>Chapters</h2><ul><li><strong>00:46</strong> Read Receipts</li><li><strong>06:24</strong> Book Taste Explained</li><li><strong>10:58</strong> Auto Buy Authors</li><li><strong>15:31</strong> All Time Favorites</li><li><strong>21:28</strong> 2026 Highs and Lows</li><li><strong>25:41</strong> Current Reads</li><li><strong>27:29</strong> Hear Me Out</li><li><strong>36:41</strong> Listener Prescriptions</li><li><strong>42:41</strong> Summer Book Club Picks</li><li><strong>53:21</strong> LITigation</li></ul><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><h2>Books Mentioned</h2><ol><li><em>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</em> by Rick Riordan</li><li><em>The Phantom Tollbooth</em> by Norton Juster</li><li><em>The Hunger Games</em> by Suzanne Collins</li><li><em>Twilight</em> by Stephenie Meyer</li><li><em>A Court of Thorns and Roses</em> by Sarah J. Maas</li><li><em>The Princess Bride</em> by William Goldman</li><li><em>Normal People</em> by Sally Rooney</li><li><em>The Secret History</em> by Donna Tartt</li><li><em>Blood Over Bright Haven</em> by M.L. Wang</li><li><em>The Unmaking of June Farrow</em> by Adrienne Young</li><li><em>My Brilliant Friend</em> by Elena Ferrante</li><li><em>The Love Hypothesis</em> by Ali Hazelwood</li><li><em>Problematic Summer Romance</em> by Ali Hazelwood</li><li><em>One Dark Window</em> by Rachel Gillig</li><li><em>The Bone Season</em> by Samantha Shannon</li><li><em>The Priory of the Orange Tree</em> by Samantha Shannon</li><li><em>Heart of the Lover</em> by Lily King</li><li><em>Into the Blue</em> by Emma Brodie</li><li><em>Retro</em> by Jessica M. Goldstein</li><li><em>The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion</em> by Beth Brower</li><li><em>Habits of the Sea</em> by Shea Ernshaw</li><li><em>Death of the Author</em> by Nnedi Okorafor</li><li><em>Blood Bound</em> by Ellis Hunter</li><li><em>Songbird of the Sorrows</em> by Braidee Otto</li><li><em>Crescent City</em> by Sarah J. Maas</li><li><em>Fourth Wing</em> by Rebecca Yarros</li><li><em>Throne of Glass</em> by Sarah J. Maas</li><li><em>Silver Elite</em> by Dani Francis</li><li><em>Yellowface</em> by R.F. Kuang</li><li><em>Yesteryear</em> by Caro Claire Burke</li><li><em>Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil</em> by V.E. Schwab</li><li><em>With All My Haunted Heart</em> by Isabel Stirling</li><li><em>Happily Ever Afterlife</em> by Emma R. Alban</li><li><em>Wayward</em> by Blake Crouch</li><li><em>Happy Place</em> by Emily Henry</li><li><em>June Baby</em> by Shannon Garvey</li><li><em>Let's Not Go Overboard Here</em> by Erica Hendry</li><li><em>Love by the Book</em> by Jessica George</li><li><em>Both Can Be True </em>by Jessica Guerriri</li><li><em>A Good Person</em> by Kirsten King</li></ol><p><br></p><p>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 <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theeverygirlbookclub/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">@theeverygirlbookclub</a> for monthly book picks, book recommendations, reading challenges, and more.</p>","author_name":"The Everygirl Book Club"}