Welcome to the Bookfluencer Pod! This month, to celebrate our heritage, each episode will feature a book written by an Irish author. Today we're talking about Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney and The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods.

A few takeaways from Conversations with Friends that Shan shares include:

• All of Rooney’s characters are deeply flawed in some way.
• The story is a snapshot of two couples’ lives, their relationships (and affairs), and how those relationships are impacted by internal struggles.

A few takeaways from The Lost Bookshop that Tiff shares include:

• Multiple perspectives and stories intersect across time, which makes for a captivating read as you slowly begin to see how the characters’ lives are intertwined.
• The story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at times.
• It’s a reminder of the magic of books!

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome to the Bookfluencer Pod! This month, in honor of Valentine’s Day, our episodes will feature romance reads. (Tiffany didn’t follow the assignment for this second book because there’s only so much romance she can handle in her literature.) <3 Today we're talking about Emma by Jane Austen and The Maid by Nita Prose.

A few takeaways from Emma that Shan shares include:

• The likable characters and their old-English quips make for an entertaining read.
• Austen’s slow-burn romance keeps you turning pages… will they, won’t they?
• Emma’s disinterest in marriage (or, her resistance to other people’s expectations of when she should marry, and whom), makes her a rebellious woman in the age during which this book takes place.

A few takeaways from The Maid that Tiff shares include:

• Although it falls outside the “romance” theme for this month, an unexpected relationship blooms toward the end!
• The main character, who’s also the narrator, offers a unique perspective. Based on other characters’ interactions with her, her internal dialogue, and descriptions of how she interprets social interactions, Tiff interpreted her to be a person with autism.
• Tiff suspected multiple characters throughout the story, which kept her turning pages to solve the mystery. Spoiler alert: she pegged the wrong person as the killer!

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome to the Bookfluencer Pod! This month, in honor of Valentine’s Day, our episodes will feature romance reads. <3 Today we're talking about The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer and Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison.

A few takeaways from The Collected Regrets of Clover that Shan shares include:

• The main characters’ choice of profession served as a means of penance.
• Our perception of reality influences our choices and actions.
• Sometimes, we imprison ourselves with our own judgment. Self-forgiveness is freeing.

A few takeaways from Lovelight Farms that Tiff shares include:

• Our pasts tend to dictate how we perceive the present and what we fear about the future, but it's unfair to assess our experiences through that tainted lens.
• We all need community – people we can trust, people who believe in us, people who willingly walk with us through the muck. And people who tell us the truth, even when it's hard to hear.
• Setting and character can make or break a story!

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome to the Bookfluencer Pod! This month, our episodes will feature books related to goals and personal growth. Today we're talking about Wintering by Katherine May and Atomic Habits by James Clear.

A couple takeaways from Wintering that Shan shares include:

• Wintering happens throughout different times in our lives, and it’s intended to be restorative.
• Part of emerging from a season of winter is finding new ways to engage; you scale back to rebuild in a new and better way, as Shan put it.

A few takeaways from Atomic Habits that Tiff shares include:

• Habits only work if they work for you.
• Clears’ framework for developing sustainable habits really works! Make it obvious, make it easy, make it attractive, and make it satisfying.
• When you want to break a bad habit, implement the opposite framework you would for building a sustainable habit: make it invisible, make it difficult, make it unattractive, and make it unsatisfying.

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome to the Bookfluencer Pod! This month, our episodes will feature books related to goals and personal growth. Today we're talking about You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero.

A few takeaways from YAABAMM that Shan & Tiff discuss include:

• Re-reading a personal development book like this is a good way to measure progress we’ve already made, and identify areas we can continue to grow. There’s always more to discover about ourselves!
• There’s freedom in making financial decisions that work for you. Going into debt to move forward (“you gotta spend money to make money”) isn’t the right move for everyone, and that’s OK.
• Letting go of habits or relationships that no longer serve us to make space for future opportunity is an act of trust and abundance.
• We’re the only people standing in our way of experiencing abundance and realizing our desires.
• The company you keep is as important as the thoughts you keep. If you want to run a marathon, you’re going to train with other runners, right?

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Today on the shelf: Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Counting the Costs by Jill Duggar Dillard.

Book talk:

• Think And Grow Rich is a nonfiction book outlining 13 principles for generating wealth. It was written in 1937, but contains familiar concepts about mindset and manifestation, along with real-life stories of individuals who've applied the principles to achieve their financial desires.
• Counting the Costs is a memoir written by a daughter of the Duggar family, famously portrayed on TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" TV show. Jill shares her experiences behind the scenes, how the show affected her life, and her search for answers about contract obligations and compensation.

We'll be back with Season 2 of Bookfluencer on January 10, 2024! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Today on the shelf, Shannon and Tiffany share a few different titles they're each reading, including The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman (Shan stans her) and The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. It's a short and sweet update for ya today! #ReadMoreBooks

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Today on the shelf: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

Book talk:

• The Midnight Library is a semi-fantasy fiction novel about a woman who gets a second (and third, and fourth, and fifth...) chance at life after attempting suicide. By visiting alternate universes, Nora learns what life could have been like had she not made the choices she regrets most.
• The First Ladies is a historical fiction novel that tracks the friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, who became one of the most important Black educators, civil and women’s rights leaders and government officials of the twentieth century.

Intro & Outro music credit:

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/