Episode 35: We're Back With Our 2025 Reading Goals!

02/04/25 • 43 min

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 35, “We’re Back with Our 2025 Reading Goals.”

Welcome back to Medium Lady Reads! Erin and Jillian are excited to be back on mic to talk books and the library. They’re returning “rested and refreshed” after their January hiatus and can’t wait to share some of their latest reads.

In This Episode:

The ladies welcome you back and share a check-in on how their life and reading has been going.
Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 32 for The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Erin jumps into her reviews first, followed by Jillian with hers.
Jillian and Erin share their 2025 reading goals, tune in to find out what they’ll be working towards.
It’s time to share the holds list and what’s up next, listen in to find out what the ladies have on hold from the library.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Onxy Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
You are a Badass by Jen Sincero
Drive Your Own Darn Bus by Julia Kristina
The 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins
The High 5 Habit by Mel Robbins
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
James by Percival Everett
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen
The Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu
Unapologetically Ambitious by Shellye Archambeau
Women Who Work Too Much by Tamu Thomas
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 35, “We’re Back with Our 2025 Reading Goals.”

In This Episode:

The ladies welcome you back and share a check-in on how their life and reading has been going.
Mentioned in this Episode: Episode 32 for The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Erin jumps into her reviews first, followed by Jillian with hers.
Jillian and Erin share their 2025 reading goals, tune in to find out what they’ll be working towards.
It’s time to share the holds list and what’s up next, listen in to find out what the ladies have on hold from the library.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Onxy Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
You are a Badass by Jen Sincero
Drive Your Own Darn Bus by Julia Kristina
The 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins
The High 5 Habit by Mel Robbins
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
James by Percival Everett
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen
The Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu
Unapologetically Ambitious by Shellye Archambeau
Women Who Work Too Much by Tamu Thomas
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Previous Episode

Episode 34: The End of Another Year of Reading

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 34, “The end of another year of reading.”

It’s the end of another year of reading and we’re excited to celebrate all those books that we loved this year. This episode wraps up 2024 with reviews of our favourites from the second half of the year. Plus, we’ll give our final reflections on our 2024 reading goals that we set way back in January! Feels like ages ago!

In This Episode:

As per usual, the ladies begin with a check-in.
Mentioned in this episode: Reading Goals Episode 14 and Episode 19 plus the first half of 2024 favourites Episode 23.
Which three books will the hosts share as rising to the top of the pile when it comes to the books they enjoyed in 2024?
Instead of Hot Takes Erin and Jillian review their reading goals for 2024 and comment on how these goals enriched life over the past year.
See what goals will roll over into 2025,m and what goals were forgotten about!
There’s no doubt that our side-hustle as book podcasters also drives what we read and we’re so grateful for this community to add another precious dimension of joy and community to our reading lives.
MLR will be on hiatus for the month of January, and the second half of season two will launch in February 2025!

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

The Wedding People by Alison Esbach
Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rupi Thorpe
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshanathan
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
An Ember In the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir
Heir by Sabaa Tahir
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
The Millicent Quibb School of Ettiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
NeverMoor by Jessica Townsend
The Many Assassinations of Samir the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Mutual Friend by Carter Bays
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
Lovelight Farms by BK Borrison
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Sandwich by Catharine Newman
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
A Love Song for Ricky WIlde by Tia Williams
Family Family by Laurie Frankel
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland
The Sun and All Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
The Library At Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Entitlement by Rumaan Alam
All Fours by Miranda July
The Plan: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
The Blue Sisters by Coco Mellores

Next Episode

Episode 36: Beware the Spoiler Police

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 36, “Beware the Spoiler Police.”

Welcome back to Medium Lady Reads! Make sure you have your holds list ready because if one thing is certain, Erin and Jillian are bringing you loads more book recommendations in this episode.

In This Episode:

Erin and Jillian start the episode like they usually do by sharing how they’re reading and life is going.
The ladies share their reviews of 5 books. Jillian brings 2 and Erin has 3.
The Hot Take is up next and the ladies have a great one, this week. You’ll just need to tune in to find out what it is.
Finally, the ladies wrap up with their Hold’s Lists and what they’re reading next.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

Private Rites by Julia Armfield
For She is Wrath by Emily Varga
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
A Torch in the Night by Sabaa Tahir
Women Who Work Too Much by Tamu Thomas
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette Mccurdy
Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen
The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
John Dies At the End by Jason Pargin
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers
Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett
The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang

Medium Lady Reads - Episode 35: We're Back With Our 2025 Reading Goals!

Transcript

[Music] Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads.
This is Episode 35.
We've made it to February 2025, and yet it's hard to believe we're not already one year older.
One thing that remains so far are the books.
Hi everyone, I'm Jillian and Instagram content strategist for Bookest People, a mom of two based in Buffalo, New York.
And I'm Erin, a mom of three, a hospital administrator in Ontario, Canada, and the host and founder of the Medium Lady Community and Medium Lady Talks