The Best Thriller Books You Might Have Missed with Mary Kubica

Episode 2: Reading Rituals and Comforting Reads: Today, I am inviting you to peek into my reading rituals and how I set the reading mood at the beginning and end of my day. With a commitment to read 100 books each year, these practices help me prioritize my reading time and have taught me to treat this as a sacred ritual for keeping my reading goals. Discover this and four enjoyable reads to add to your stack this month. by Book Gang

17 min listen

Episode 5: The Best of 2021 TV Meets Its Book Match: Television shows that are as plot-filled as your favorite books? Sign me up! From The Couch podcast, Mary Carver joins my show to share what television series made her list for must-see tv in 2021. Then, I will play her book matchmaker and give her a stack that's just as satisfying as the shows she loved this year. by Book Gang

56 min listen

Episode 9: The Book Shortage Dilemma: Supply chain disruption has impacted many industries, including our beloved booksellers. So who better to guide us through what this book shortage looks like than an independent bookstore owner. Kristin from Fables Books shares how these shortages impact booksellers and what we need to know for this holiday season. by Book Gang

26 min listen

Sad Books to Read When You Want to Ugly Cry: This podcast is for you if you love sad books and a good cry. Today we discuss our top book recommendations for heart-wrenching stories for those days you just need a good cry. My guest, @passions_and_prologues joins us with his top recommendations for thought-provoking and beautifully written stories that allow us to fully immerse ourselves in our seasonal depression and embrace those sad endings. by Book Gang

53 min listen

Episode 25: How The StoryGraph Can Enhance Your Reading Life: Who better to lead us on using The StoryGraph app than Nadia Odunayo- the CEO and Founder of The StoryGraph app. Nadia shares how the design’s simple tracking and insightful stats tool can enrich your reading life. These personalized recommendations are based on your mood and can curate the perfect read for any mood occasion. Today we discussed who were the users for The Storygraph's features. We also discuss the critical differences between GoodReads and The Storygraph, like buddy reads, book club challenges, and content warnings. Learn why I’m making the switch away from GoodReads after our discussion. I can’t wait to discover books this year through these curated lists and reading challenges. Today’s episode includes a readable guide on How to Use the Storygraph (linked in show notes) as we take you on a screen-by-screen capture of described features in our interview. by Book Gang

57 min listen

Episode 10: A Reader's Backlist Book Challenge: New releases are fun, but what if you dedicated a reading year to backlist books? From Our Bookshelf blogger, Lynn, shares her favorite backlist challenge discoveries. Today's episode defines what it means to be backlist, how our pandemic shopping changed the backlist marketing budget, and some surprising publishing house acquisitions because of single backlist books. by Book Gang

43 min listen

Episode 1: Spooky Season Books: Today I'm talking about one of my favorite seasons...SPOOKY BOOK SEASON! For some, that might look like October, but for me, spooky book season lasts all Fall. Of course, my favorite movies are horror films, and many of my most beloved books are also filled with creepy themes, especially as I head into the Halloween season. I want to arm you with three books that make my all-time list of riveting, scary reads. You can also hear interview excerpts from some of today's blockbuster spooky book writers about what inspired their themes and stories. by Book Gang

16 min listen

Episode 4: What Makes a Great Book Club Book?: Today's episode is a peek behind the scenes at how I select our book club books each year. Whether you are running a book club of your own and looking for suggestions or if you join in monthly to read with me, I want to share with you what I've learned over the years about book selection and building meaningful conversations around books. by Book Gang

18 min listen

Episode 8: The Great Book Escape: Are you looking for an escape from reality? We have you covered! In today's episode, Kristina Reid, shares a few of her favorite books that allowed her to escape real life and travel somewhere else through her book stack. You won't want to miss this fun break from IRL. by Book Gang

49 min listen

Episode 26: Readable Award-Winning Books: Award-winners don’t always yield a can’t-put-down book pace even if they make the critic’s best books of the year list. This episode is here to deliver on fast-paced reads with big themes. Discover what makes a book qualify for these award categories (like the Alex Awards, Hugo Award, or Edgar Award) and get the book reviews you need to make the most notable award-winning choices for your reading life. Today’s stack offers the best in thrillers, science fiction, contemporary literature, and even suggestions you can enjoy with your young adult. So whether you are looking for fiction or nonfiction, we have you covered. Fables Books brings their favorite award-winners as we continue to work our way through their Storygraph reading challenge. by Book Gang

37 min listen

Episode 7: An Unforgettable Meet-the-Author Road Trip: When a reader entered a local library contest to meet Emily St. John Mandel, she sent me a message to ask if I would come to Ohio and share the experience with her. This correspondence led to an unforgettable road trip and an experience that I won't ever forget. Carie's also sharing the joy she has found in running a middle-grade book club for her daughter. So be sure to tune in for all of her excellent book recommendations. by Book Gang

32 min listen

Episode 32: Improve Your Reading Focus and Memory: Do you struggle with reading focus and retention? Paula Engebretson is a Certified Life Coach that specializes in helping adults with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) live their best life. Who better to lead us on reading strategies and reading comprehension than her? At 31 years old, Paula was diagnosed with ADHD and had to learn how to create systems and routines that made sense with how her brain works. We discuss the symptoms of adult ADHD and how to begin the process of diagnosis and treatment. Today’s goal is to give you real strategies for reading more and how you can begin working with your learning disability instead of against it. You don’t need ADHD to benefit from today’s episode. In these distracted times, all of us could benefit from this life coach’s advice! by Book Gang

43 min listen

Episode 11: What It Takes To Be A Top Goodreads Reviewer: Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers and many of us rely on it every day to make our own book choices. Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a top GoodReads reviewer on a platform with millions of members? Larry ranks 28th in the world on this platform and is giving us a peek into his daily reading life and how he shares books. Learn his preferred format to read a book, the process to rate and review books, how the GoodReads reviewer ranking works, his experience with review copies, and how he gained his loyal following. He offers 5 great books we should add to our stack immediately and I couldn't check them out fast enough. These fiction book recommendations include a couple that hit all the right notes for both of us. by Book Gang

55 min listen

Episode 14: Falling For (Holiday) Romance: It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Are you ready to fall in love with holiday romance books? Spend the holidays with these feel-good Christmas romance books that celebrate the holiday season by finding love in all of those magical places. Whether you are looking for a home for Christmas theme or embrace a small-town love story, we have you covered. Find your one true love book with my special guest Bree from @falling4romance and co-host of The Categorically Romance Podcast. by Book Gang

48 min listen

Episode 18: The Best in Steam and Scream: Chip runs the Steam & Scream Book Club and brings his favorite book club romance and thrillers to our show today. His eye for steam, in particular, landed him a book cover deal with a romance writer that's just the kind of story you need to to hear today. Chip also brings his professional photography background to our show to discuss simple ways to document your reading year that will fit any budget and how to streamline your photo editing process. What I love the most about today's episode is that two of our selections today are self-published, a notable detail that I think is worth celebrating. Regarding sound: this concludes the "Amy was hooked up to her web cam and not her microphone" show series. Thank you for bearing with me as I learn and grow. The sound greatly improves next week, I promise. Oh, how I have been humbled! by Book Gang

52 min listen

Episode 12: The Best Thriller Books You Might Have Missed with Mary Kubica: Mary Kubica joins the podcast to talk about her writing process and her latest domestic thriller, Local Woman Missing. Her journey from writing in secret to a successful award-winning suspense writer is the story you need to hear if you have been entertaining a writing dream of your own. We have a shared love for true crime and talk about if real-life cases have influenced her work. I may be one of Mary’s biggest fans, and her newest edge-of-your-seat page-turner is just what you need to get you out of a reading slump. Mary is bringing 3 of her favorite under-the-radar thrillers to today’s episode, and I think they will surprise you as much as me. I’m also sharing a few of my favorite psychological thrillers that deliver on those unreliable narrators and murder mystery plots that kept me up until the wee hours of the night. So, if thriller writing is something you have been entertaining, I hope today’s episod by Book Gang

49 min listen

Episode 17: Best Books of 2021 (Part 2): Looking for the second half of our Best Books of 2021? We are here for you! It’s time for the best books of 2021, and who better to lead us through this year than MomAdvice Book Gang superstar Larry. Larry ranks 28th as a top reviewer for GoodReads and has read over 360 books (so far) this year. I have read a modest 109 to our stack. We were each challenged to bring our top twenty best books of the year to the show today and this is the second half of our discussion. by Book Gang

76 min listen

Episode 15: Cozy Up With These Winter Reads: In search of cozy winter reads? It’s the perfect time of year for log fires, snow fall, and cold winter stories. Mary from Currently Reading joins the show to share her top 5 recommendations for our best winter book stack with winter book settings that will transport you into different worlds and times. We don’t just want to give you a list of good books though. Learn how to get that ski resort setting right in the comfort of your very own home with Mary’s tricks for your home. Discover the best ASMR room, the perfect cup of tea, the candle you didn’t know you needed, and the best budget-friendly blanket found at your local wholesale club. Prep for this season with these book suggestions and set the winter mood with our ideas for your coziest, comfiest reading night at home. These under-the-radar books are sure to hit all the right winter notes! by Book Gang

42 min listen

Episode 13: 2022 MomAdvice Book Club Selections: Today is the launch day of the MomAdvice 2022 Book Club year. Do you want to have the best reading year ever? I'm going to give you that with these twelve book club selections for our year. This episode will tell you everything you need to know about how to join the online club, what special bonus features we are offering our members, and the inside scoop on this year's books. by Book Gang

82 min listen

Episode 6: A Friendly Goodreads Challenge: My secret weapon to reading more books is a friendly annual Goodreads competition with my childhood friend Todd Greer. Todd is joining the podcast today to share about motivating each other to read more books. We have discovered how we read is very different from one another, but we usually end up almost at the same amount of books every year. We will dive into that more and learn about a few books I haven't gotten to read yet this year. by Book Gang

56 min listen

Episode 37: Fool Me Once (Interview With Ashley Winstead): Not everyone can say they published two books during the pandemic, but Ashley Winstead can. Today we discuss her romance debut Fool Me Once and how Winstead hopes to break the mold with her romance characters. by Book Gang

56 min listen

Episode 3: Bring on the Romance: My guest today, Angela Pingel, has been a romance book reader for many years. She has discovered her love for series reading through the Kindle Unlimited format and shares her picks for the best books to pick up. Her most-loved romance genre was new to me and incredibly intriguing for a newbie to the romance world. by Book Gang

34 min listen

Episode 22: Books About Books: This month, Kristin from Fables Books joins us to explore books about books through the brand new Fables Books Reading Challenge! We discuss our favorite books that embrace fictional bookstore settings and libraries. This episode has you covered whether you are looking for a love story or that perfect true crime nonfiction book escape with. This is the stack you need for your next book club night and can be a great bonding tool for ANYONE who simply loves books. If you love reading, these backlist forgotten books are perfect for fans of comforting reading escape. I don’t know a book lover that wouldn't want to read a book about books and reading. There is nothing better than celebrating the power of books and everyone who loves them. Along with today’s discussion, we are also talking about The Storygraph tool and how you can join the bookstore’s challenge or any other challenge to expand your reading life this year. Learn how this tool can be used in c by Book Gang

37 min listen

Episode 20: Hopes & Heartbreaks of Pandemic Publishing: This week's podcast is another "Bookishly Curious" episode that explores the hopes and heartbreaks of pandemic publishing. Gae Polisner joins me, a YA author that's 2020 book launch was rocked by changes in the publishing industry, bringing repeated challenges to the sales of her book. I believe that it is impossible to listen to this episode and not learn something new because Gae shows up in the only one that she knows how- authentically and vulnerably. Book printing wasn't the only challenge with this book. It is much more profound than that, and we are uncovering those layers with the challenges of being a midlist author, how author earnings work, and how this may affect future sales. There isn't just heartbreak here, though, because Gae brings hope too. We learn what she is working on next and what best practices to help authors succeed. If you want to better understand the book shortage before listening, Episode 9 (The B by Book Gang

47 min listen

Episode 19: Sneak Peek FULLY BOOKED: The new FULLY BOOKED show is just what your reading life needs. We are giving you a sneak peek into our new Patreon show with a brand new co-host! Get the scoop on all the latest releases, discover the latest in bookish entertainment news, and find out what books to anticipate in the weeks ahead. This episode will get you all caught up on all those new and shiny releases. Listen to this before your next library day! by Book Gang

68 min listen

Episode 21: Must-Read True Crime Books (with Laura Tremaine): Debut novelist, Laura Tremaine, wrote a gorgeous little book called Share Your Stuff I'll Go First and might be a familiar voice to you because of her podcast 10 Things to Tell You. Not only will we be talking about Laura's experience writing her first book, but we will also be discussing the must-read true crime books you need to add to your stack. I knew we would have a lot of fun discussing these books and we are going to be sharing about that in the second half of the hour in our show. Laura comes with strong opinions including how you can't call yourself a true crime enthusiast if you haven't read THESE classics. by Book Gang

58 min listen

Episode 28: Use These Cleaning Hacks For A Better Reading Life: Dana K. White is a bestselling author who shares reality-based cleaning and organizing tips on her podcast, A Slob Comes Clean. This discussion embraces the best time-saving cleaning tricks so you can read more and focus less on cleaning. Get her advice on the best decluttering projects to pair with audiobooks and a few of her favorite audiobooks this year. Don’t miss the “container concept” that will help reduce the clutter quickly so you can do the things you love…like READING. by Book Gang

58 min listen

Episode 23: Lessons For Writing Your First Book (With Ethan Joella): A Little Hope was selected as a Read With Jenna & Book of the Month Selection, but Ethan Joella is here to tell you that writing your first book can be quite the journey. Ethan knows all about good writing, in fact, he instructs his students on this topic. Today we are talking about the structure of this beautifully interconnected story in a sleepy seaside town and why good stories are often made up of those little-noticed details. Landing the traditional publishing deal for his debut fiction book took a lot of writing time and patience, but this novel ended up landing in just the right hands at the perfect time. It’s a magical story that I think you will really appreciate. Today we are discussing this journey from book idea to bestselling author. Ethan candidly shares about his writing process and how social media has been a proven connection tool for published authors to get the word out about their beautiful bo by Book Gang

43 min listen

Episode 31: Must-Read Books from Asian American and Pacific Islander Authors: May is AAPI Heritage Month, and we want to celebrate these voices with a well-curated book stack. Kristin from Fables Books joins the show to talk about this month’s StoryGraph reading challenge and share some of their best picks for a memorable reading month. I also bring a great book club selection, an under-the-radar book gem that swept me away, and debuts that pulled me out of reading slumps. This episode has you covered whether you are looking for your next fantasy adventure, YA romance, or historical fiction escape. We want to remind our listeners that Fables is our partnered bookshop, and all of the links do go directly to their store. Remember, this shop also offers a used book collection. Please support our indie book shop. by Book Gang

40 min listen

Episode 27: A Day In The Life Of A Book Publicist: Kathleen Carter has worked with bestselling authors for years and has launched publicity campaigns for many of our most treasured books. It takes a lot of know-how to work in the publishing industry and her book promotions have garnered the attention of many bestselling authors and literary agents. Today we discuss how she landed this dream job, what goes into book publicity, and what really helps drive book sales for authors. She also shares the social media scoop on how to land those advanced readers, how to write and tag your book reviews, and what helps book marketing the most. Bookstagrammers will love this thoughtful feedback and a glimpse at Kathleen’s reading routines. We end our time with some of Kathleen’s favorite backlist and under-the-radar book gems that I can’t wait to check out. by Book Gang

50 min listen

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The Best Thriller Books You Might Have Missed with Mary Kubica

The Best Thriller Books You Might Have Missed with Mary Kubica

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