Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl: Booktok, Princess Donut, and the End of the World

Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear: BookCon 2026, Tradwives, and Female Rage

IT'S SEASON FINALE TIME, BABYYYY! (Don't worry we will be back June 15, 2026). In our last episode of Season 1, we are tackling the new bestseller YESTERYEAR by Caro Claire Burke. Is it historical fiction? Is it sci-fi? Is it fantasy? Jenny says it's just all about female rage! After a few misses, both Jenny and Dani are on board with this debut novel that encompasses so many different issues regarding womanhood, parenthood, the patriarchy, religion, politics, and the tradwife movement. Are the "good old days" really better? For whom? And why do entertain this type of escapism? Lastly, if you have BookCon 2026 Fomo, listen as Jenny and Dani dissect an event they only know things about based on TikTok videos and news articles. As ever, their professionalism is what others aspire to! Shout out to our new listeners and old. This first season was a blast, and we are excited to produce/host/edit many more episodes for you! -------- Show notes: Find all our information on linktr.ee/wereadthat! Follow us on the socials (literally all of them), and check out our bookshop.org front if you want to read along!

Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl: Booktok, Princess Donut, and the End of the World

NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Dani finally did it. She managed to get Jenny to read Dungeon Crawler Carl. Listen how much Jenny internalized the apocalypse, and how Dani makes DCC her almost entire personality. We also talk all things BookTok, Hilary Duff, and Pop Culture Around. Follow us on the socials: @WeReadThatPod

Nicola Yoon's One Of Our Kind: Book Slumps, Racism, and Black Utopia

This week we are discussing Nicola Yoon's One of Our Kind, a fascinating book about a black family that moves to the fictional town of Liberty, CA - a town built specifically for black families to live in and enjoy their lives. Shops are owned by black people, school classes are taught by black teachers, and all cops are black as well. Jazmin and her family move there after a traumatic experience with a white police officer. While King enjoys the vibrant and affluent life style, including the weird spa at the top of the hill, Jazmin can't shake the feeling that something is way off. The book gave us horror/thriller/Get Out vibes. We dig into a conversation on race, racism, and this idea of "escaping white influence". We also give helpful tips (or less helpful) on how to get yourself out of a reading slump. Follow us on the socials: @WeReadThatPod Links from the Episode: https://www.npr.org/2024/06/09/nx-s1-83383/nicola-yoon-on-her-novel-one-of-our-kind-and-trauma-in-black-american-life https://amyletter.substack.com/p/one-of-our-kind-by-nicola-yoon-will https://www.npr.org/2024/12/11/1218506698/code-switch-black-utopians

Craig Thomas' That's Not How It Happened: Family, Parenting, Adulting, and Hollywood

We are reading Craig Thomas' That's Not How it Happened (2025), a fantastic novel about a chaotic family dynamic and a memoir that is being optioned for Hollywood. The book touches upon themes of parenting kids with special needs, what happens when your kids grow up, how Hollywood thinks of family's with special needs, and the joy and frustrations that parenting and adulting bring. Also, we realize that Jenny has never read a duology after Dani explains what it is. We get in the weeds with casting choices, and Jenny has a thing about odd numbers. As always listen along as we dissect yet another book! ------- Follow us on all socials @WeReadThatPod Find us on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/wereadthat

Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary: Space Sci-Fi, Competent Men, Bad Ass Science Women, and Rocky

Jenny and Dani did a thing! They read AND watched Project Hail Mary; the latter even in the same zip code! This special and timely episode covers the book (highs and lows) and the movie (how pretty is Ryan Gosling?). Dani talks all things science (no you do not get a degree in "science") and music in the movie. Jenny nerds out about pop culture, sci-fi, and political science. So yeah, classic episode as per usual. Join them in discussing the important themes of PHM, including collectivism vs. individualism, morality, climate science, friendship, science, and belonging.