The Best & Worst Book Club Reads of 2024 | What We Loved, Hated, & Wish We Hadn’t Read

[@naseemgolabi1254]

Deeply appreciate the candid conversation about life and death. Everything you said was so profound and so thought provoking! Would seriously love to listen to you both talk about these topics for an entire podcast episode!

[@Krisandmads]

So happy this conversation touched you! We feel really lucky to have this space to share with you all ❤️

[@amiyahgreen-n7y]

Second this!

[@abbeymaerie]

I know it wasn't the purpose of this video, but I absolutely loved y'all sharing your thoughts on death and life and what that means to you💜 I love talking about stuff like that (not in a morbid way lol) and hearing other people's perspectives, so I enjoyed hearing yours. I have been meaning to read Tuesdays with Morrie forever, immediately ordered a copy while watching

[@Krisandmads]

Oh yes. Enjoy Tuesdays With Morrie. It definitely got us all thinking and talking about the imminence of death and the finiteness of life, and those kinds of universal experiences can't help but connect people.

[@hadleysheffer1866]

"too reminiscent of other things that we've read that are better" A BAR lol, and the "earn your pages" YES, always enjoy your content thank you for being my comfort KZbin channel :)

[@Krisandmads]

Glad to hear it's a comfort space for you! :)

[@baileytaylor6454]

The conversation around Tuesdays With Morrie single-handedly convinced me to buy it. ❤

[@Krisandmads]

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

[@sarahyarbrough8603]

THANK YOU for validating my thoughts on Butcher and Blackbird!! I thought I was going crazy with all the people who love it so much.

[@Krisandmads]

It's such a hit for who it's for. We just are NOT the target audience. lol.

[@emilylamb4877]

The Cardi B break makes me love y'all even more ❤. I love my ratchet music too ❤❤.

[@Krisandmads]

You get us!

[@danamackenzie_]

Just wanted to say how much I have been loving listening to new and old episodes of your podcast lately. The perfect thing to have on while I'm working, you both are great at creating a space that is so chill and comforting but can also challenge my thoughts on what I read! Loved hearing your thoughts on all of these books, really eyeing the Silo series to add to my tbr now 👀

[@Krisandmads]

Thank you so much! So glad we can be a chill place for you to hang while you're being productive! You'll have to let us know how you like Silo!

[@library_of_a_silversaint]

I am SO glad you guys felt exactly the same way as I did about Powerless! I was so disappointed! Also, being an only child, I'm so glad to have this sisterhood 🥹🖤

[@Krisandmads]

Happy to have you adopted into our sisterhood!

[@TheHappyHomeschooler]

Giiiirrrrrlll you just now got into Agatha Christie?? I’ve been on her train (specifically the orient express) for years now and I love her! 🤩📚📚

[@Krisandmads]

The orient express hahaha! She's gonna be a comfort author for us for sure.

[@alexandraschlichting2579]

10/10 breakdowns and conversations from both of you! ❤️

[@Krisandmads]

Oh yay! Thanks! We had a lot to get through! Everything from Butcher and Blackbird to Man's Search for Meaning. What a whirlwind lol.

[@emilyeholbrook]

Thank you for the multiple posts this week! im crocheting up a storm and in a book hangover after Onyx Storm

[@Krisandmads]

How did you like Onyx Storm?! Crocheting is so fun. We are trying to post two videos to KZbin every week: one podcast episode, and one shorter video.

[@amandalewis3847]

⁠I personally loved that Onyx Storm had more world building and side character development ❤

[@Krisandmads]

So excited to hear this!

[@Christeenuh07]

My book club did not like Powerless and Reckless as well! We felt so bad about feeling that way, but I’m glad we’re not alone!

[@Krisandmads]

I guess it’s just not for everyone 😅

[@Mimlou]

Lemme grab my coffee!!! Love your videos so much!!❤❤

[@Krisandmads]

Hope you had a nice long chill time with your coffee while you watched. 🙂

[@Alicia-606]

We need to see some sister Grace on this channel 👀

[@Krisandmads]

Already in the works!

[@tabbathalux3806]

Maddie & the death convo ❤🥹 Even though we have different worldviews, I definitely felt that.

[@Krisandmads]

It is such a personal thing, ones views and feelings on mortality. It's present in basically every book, so we have to figure out how to talk about it and connect with each other over it. Thanks so much for listening!

[@maddiebartley9994]

Ahhh thank you for the warning about All About Love!! It’s been on my list because my brother in law recommended it, but I guess I will be …prioritizing other reads… hahaha

[@Krisandmads]

It is so popular and beloved! We are DEFINITELY in the minority on this one. I think there were just a couple of things that turned us off right away. Could be us, could be the wrong time. Who knows? lol

[@samrisna5890]

It’s definitely a book with some strong assertions; I think it works better if you read it as a philosophy book, rather than as prescriptive or as a direct call to action.

[@pattycalvey]

Wow what a great video! I’m just writing down the suggestions! Can’t wait for feb book club. I read Wool over 10 years ago and thought it was great but I didn’t for a guy I liked so I didnt really get so into it when we broke up. Will have to revisit!

[@Krisandmads]

Oh yes! Definitely check out Wool again if you're interested, or at least try the show on Apple TV. We both are loving it.

[@kristinaduque5483]

Wait a second! I was going to read the faithful and the fallen series first, but now I’m second guessing myself and I might take your advice Maddie! I trust anything and everything you say and recommend😂

[@Krisandmads]

So The Faithful and the Fallen is my FAVORITE, but The Bloodsworn Saga is more accessible, and ultimately I recommend both! You can't go wrong whichever one you choose to start with, but I just wanted to make it clear that The Faithful and the Fallen is my TOP TIER!

[@unchartedwithtorrie]

Ouch!!!! ALL ABOUT LOVE review hurts ladies. 😩 Bell Hooks is an African-American legacy. 😭 I’m listening…. Not judging. 🤣🥴

[@geevesluvsokgo]

Yeah they made it sound like it’s some ladies opinion, she’s an academic. She’s an expert.

[@Krisandmads]

So sorry our taste didn't align with yours for this one 😭

[@unchartedwithtorrie]

@@Krisandmads I still love ya’ll!! lol

[@unchartedwithtorrie]

@@geevesluvsokgo right. Bell Hooks work is amazing. I think if they started with that knowledge and knowing more about her and what she stood for, they would have received the book differently.

[@Krisandmads]

To be fair, we are not experts on Bell Hooks, and so these opinions on the book are totally on us, our experience at the point in time when we were reading, going in totally blind. We know we are TOTALLY in the minority on this one and believe whole-heartedly that the book is beloved for a reason. We're so glad it has resonated with so many readers.

[@lakshmik1087]

I am so glad you guys read Magnolia parks .When I have started reading the book i felt same as Kristen but at the same time writing is so good and addictive.Please continue reading you will not regret it and excited to know your reviews. You shoud also read Boys of tommen ,they are so good.

[@Krisandmads]

Boys of Tommen has been recommended to us a few times now! Maybe we need to make this happen!

[@brynlieann7925]

I will say that, everyone says there are no happy endings in magnolia parks but there is SO much growth and there are happy endings and it’s just so real. It gets better and better and better with each book.

[@Krisandmads]

This is exactly how our sister Grace feels!

[@esliet]

Love these conversations with you two

[@Krisandmads]

It is always fun for us to film them too! Thank you for watching!

[@hollykeen-oleary2895]

THE GIRLIESSS POSTEDDDDD 🎉

[@Krisandmads]

Doing our best to post one long episode and one shorter video for you guys every week!

[@hollykeen-oleary2895]

@ pls keep doing gods work 🫶🏻

[@GottaLoveYou2]

I loved this video so much! Love hearing you girlies talk books. My only ask would be, could we add the books covers or title to the video while you’re talking about it? I’m usually doing 100 other things while watching and then get lost about which book we are chatting about haha.

[@Krisandmads]

This is a popular request, and we would like to do this for you guys in the future! At the moment, we are maxed out on editing time, and juggling multiple priorities, so it may be a while before we can do this regularly (and may involve us hiring an editor) but we hear you! And we definitely want to prioritize this when we can. We do type all of the books in the description with timestamps to show when in the video those titles are being talked about. Hopefully, this helps you guys out in the meantime.

[@deannarobertson873]

Always love your videos!! You two are so similar to me and my sister and your content is so comforting ❤

[@Krisandmads]

Oh yay! Love that we get to create together. There's defintiely a sister vibe that sisters recognize. IYKYK lol

[@TattedHatGirlReads]

I loved Discovery of Witches show and books. ❤ Great choice!!

[@Krisandmads]

It's so fun when the club can read and watch the same story and enjoy it in different mediums. The show is like a beautiful visual aid!

[@TattedHatGirlReads]

@@Krisandmads It's been great following along!!

[@lfmp2013]

The character arcs in Magnolia Parks are SO good and worthwhile - I’m not justifying the toxic behavior but I loved the growth.

[@Krisandmads]

This is what we hear, and our sister Grace loved it so much so we are both interested to continue.

[@samrisna5890]

It’s so fascinating to learn more about you as you discuss these books! You mentioned you liked dystopias; do you have any particular favorite novels or settings? I’m partial to a soft apocalypse myself. I also find the Lachish letters beautifully haunting, but maybe because they’re from an actual apocalypse, ha ha!

[@Krisandmads]

Soft apocalypse! Need to look into this!

[@nathaliavinasco6438]

I loooove how Maddie's library looks so full of amazing books now. I feel like I'm watching a little baby grow up.

[@Krisandmads]

Awwww...It makes us so happy too! Full of all the stories we love.

[@xtine618]

The Faithful and the Fallen series is excellent. It does have that old school chosen one vibe. I was so emotionally invested in many of the characters and yes there’s lots of POVs but I think it just adds that much more depth to the story. Honestly I was sad that there weren’t more books. Also, Kristen have you read any of the Lady Sherlock books by Sherry Thomas? It’s a fun take on the Sherlock Holmes genre. It’s got a strong FMC and a little bit of romance. Definitely perfect to listen to on a cold day while you puzzle.

[@Krisandmads]

I haven't heard of Lady Sherlock! Sounds right up my alley though! Thank you for the rec!

[@LaurenMilla]

I'm so glad to hear this about Discovery of Witches, kept going back and forth on reading it because the show kind of pissed me off after season 1. Felt very misogynistic and a lot of goodreads reviews confirmed that but a friend was angry at me defending the books and told me I didn't know what I was talking about 😅

[@Krisandmads]

Kristen read the original trilogy and had a great time. It just wasn't keeping Maddie's interest and when the romance started really getting cringe for her in book 2 it was time to DNF. But we definitely see why people love it so much, and our club had a good time with it and the show for book 1.

[@bri5362]

I had not heard of purple prose before. So glad I know that term now

[@Krisandmads]

Now we both know lol -Kristen

[@chelseahepburn5164]

I loved the All Souls Trilogy so, so much!! I'm not a big romance girly so I can understand why Maddie didn't love it. I majored in history and religion in college so I loved that there was so much of that in the books and that Harkness is a history professor.

[@Krisandmads]

You can definitely tell that Deborah Harkness knows her stuff and the history is such a fascinating element of the story! Kristen LOVED that aspect!

[@ashleymichellechristian]

And Then There Were None is a literal MASTERPIECE

[@Krisandmads]

Agreed!!!

[@elizabethjacobsen2318]

Tuning in to hopefully find a book to spend my last Audible credit on. Its just so hard to decide!!!

[@Krisandmads]

You are in the right place then! Hope this helps.

[@elizabethjacobsen2318]

@@Krisandmads you guys have been so very helpful in growing my TBR! I'm halfway through The Realm of the Elderlings and loving it. Bonus was that the first 6 books were included with my Audible subscription. Making the best of my free trial and then some!

[@MamaPhoenix86]

This may not be something you would want to read but I liked The In- Between by Hadley Vlahos. She’s a hospice nurse writing about some of her patients and lessons from her time with them. I helped me a ton after my grandmother passed.

[@Krisandmads]

This sounds really beautiful actually! Thank you putting it on our radar!

[@NovelsWithNicole]

Intermezzo is my favorite Sally Rooney book so far. I hope you enjoy it Maddie✨ - Kristen, I think you’d love Babel by R.F. kuang. It transcended expectations in my in person book club. Everyone from the romance to lit fic readers ATE IT UP. - It’s a phenomenal standalone fantasy + academic setting & super accessible to a broad audience.

[@Krisandmads]

I do love an academic setting! I should give this one a try!

[@ShanrellsStash]

Maddie's comments about people who know they are dying, and how it's an interesting topic to write/read about - try The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. It's not too serious; the writing is lovely; it's a classic book that I somehow missed and I think you both would like it!

[@Krisandmads]

Thank you for the rec!

[@shelbyyyy7551]

A few book club favs that we all loved: Piranessi, North Woods (HIGHLY recommend this one if you guys haven't read it), Blue Sisters and God of the Woods!

[@Krisandmads]

Love this comment as we go into a new year picking out books each month! Thank you!

[@howlite3719]

Kristen I feel you on Magnolia Parks. I just finished it recently and I was so frustrated with how terrible everyone was to each other 😅 definitely a super toxic relationship

[@brynlieann7925]

I felt the same way but after you read on, you understand why they are the way they are and your whole opinion changes. It’s so good. I didn’t expect it to love it so much because the first book was more tough for me but there’s a reason why they are the way they are.

[@howlite3719]

@ ok I might have to try to continue at some point :)

[@Krisandmads]

I will finish it because it isn't painful to read, but mostly because our sister loved it so much and she reads so many books that we recommend to her I owe her finishing her favorite series for sure!

[@jenniferbramer9807]

Ahhh you have to read the rest of the All Souls series (A Discovery of Witches). Deb Harkness just announced book 6 yesterday! I love Matthew and Diana.

[@Krisandmads]

Love that there are more books for me to enjoy!

[@ChristinaSamper]

Honestly I wish we could be friends irl! Yall are the best!

[@Krisandmads]

This is such a high compliment!

[@rachelmanthey9452]

Your talk about death reminded me a little bit of The Measure

[@Krisandmads]

Oh! We'll have to check it out!

[@sagecarson3459]

magnolia parks is so good because they really work on themselves and grow as people and I literally sobbed during the third magnolia parks. I didn’t love the daisy haites ones quite as much.

[@Krisandmads]

This is a raving review! We will keep you posted when we finish!

[@GwendolynKensinger]

Powerless by Lauren Roberts is my book club pick for March 🫣

[@Krisandmads]

You'll have to let us know how your club likes it! So many of our friends and fellow creators are HUGE fans! Hope it's the best time.

[@emilyeholbrook]

Currently reading Malice by John Gwynne with my dad and my brother. We call ourselves the "Old Man Fantasy book club" :)

[@Krisandmads]

That sounds like the best book club ever!

[@Beattgirrl]

@kristen now i need all your thoughts on outlander lol

[@Krisandmads]

Oh! Maybe we should do an episode about Outlander!

[@daniela14_]

Finally, someone who wasn't a huge fan of powerless, I pushed through it and kept my copy because it was a gift but I really did not like it, i still tried to read the other ones in the series and i dnf them.

[@Krisandmads]

Oh no! haha Oh well not all books can be great right

[@JasonBuffington-q3u]

If you guys love puzzles and murder mysteries try the Murdle puzzle books for when you need to unwind. Recommend!

[@Krisandmads]

Running to look at these now!

[@macgal74]

All yall going to do one for the fable bookclub? 😍

[@Krisandmads]

Since the fable book club read the books with us in real time, saw all our thoughts and feelings chapter by chapter, and saw our reviews, we thought it might be a little redundant, but if ya'll want this episode we'd be happy to do it.

[@Chronicallyreading18]

I felt the same about Jessa Hastings writing, it was addicting and beautiful. I also had a bit of a hard time with how awful they were to each other, but it felt realistic when talking about toxic relationships I also rated normal people 2 stars… i could not do her writing.

[@Krisandmads]

Sounds like we see eye to eye on a lot of these books!

[@GwendolynKensinger]

Yeah I loved Butcher and Blackbird

[@Krisandmads]

So glad it worked for you! It is definitely such an easy read.

[@livechangechallenge]

Did you know there’s a new book out in the Discovery of Witches series 😮

[@Krisandmads]

Yes! Kristen is excited to get back to it!

[@AllieBurch1]

Now I really want to know what the short book Maddie read was that is now top 5 of all time...

[@Krisandmads]

This Is How You Lose the Time Way by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar 🎉🎉🎉

[@dallanacarreno1326]

You two should read Night by Elie Wiesel.

[@Krisandmads]

Oh! We'll have to check it out. Thanks for the rec!

[@morgynvg]

Maddieeee! Where’s the journal from?? 👀

[@nadupont]

I think she mentioned it a few videos back and if I remembered it correctly it is one from paper republic :)

[@Krisandmads]

yes! Paper republic!

[@swyall2012]

Even I DNF’d All About Love lol not at all what I expected it to be 🤣

[@Krisandmads]

If only every book met our expectations haha

[@AshleySharum]

omg the beginning

[@Krisandmads]

Just a little jingle for you guys haha

[@Ja0215ka]

I just finished magnolia parks and I was so frustrated with it the whole time but didn’t hate it. I couldn’t stand her stream of consciousness way or writing either. My issue was it was pitched like gossip girl and other than the characters being mega rich, it was not at all like gossip girl. It was drama for dramas sake imo. I gave it 2.5 stars. I will continue if I want some drama in my life but as a 30 year old woman I couldn’t relate to the decisions a lot of the characters made repeatedly. They do grow but barely. So def not the target audience for that book

[@Krisandmads]

This was so real and I feel very seen! haha -Kris

[@IzzyRain]

❤❤❤

[@Krisandmads]

Thank you for watching!

[@aamb15]

I haven’t read magnolia parks yet but everybody who loves it says you have to go in for the drama not the “romance” lol Kinda like Gossip Girl

[@Krisandmads]

That makes sense

[@ChristinaSamper]

Wait, what is this top 5 books of all time under 200 pages?!?

[@Krisandmads]

How to Loose a Timewar!

[@katiecooper7534]

I want to be besties with you guys 😭🫶🏼

[@Krisandmads]

This is so sweet 🩷 Thanks for the love!

[@jasmineshier7254]

Some of the smut in butcher was just cringe…the weird piercing scene? Blegh

[@Krisandmads]

I mean we don't want to yuck anyone else's yum but it wasn't a yum for us haha