Season 7, Episode 9: Bookish Crafts + Why Reading Makes Us Better

On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are discussing: Bookish Moments: bookish crafting and annotation gift sets Current Reads: all the great, interesting, and/or terrible stuff we've been reading lately Deep Dive: diving into research about why reading makes us better humans The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site) . . . . 1:24 - Our Bookish Moments of the Week 2:11 - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 5:47 - The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown 5:51 - I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist 5:55 - Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist 6:28 - Annotation gift set by Mr. Pen and Selah 8:43 - Annotation Set option 2 9:38 - Our Current Reads 9:48 - Between Flowers and Bones by Carolyn Leiloglou (Kaytee) 9:53 - CR Season 6: Episode 4 10:41 - Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou 14:09 - Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman (Meredith) 15:06 - Bird Box by Josh Malerman 15:10 - Daphne by Josh Malerman 15:34 - Coraline by Neil Gaiman 20:59 - Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak 21:01 - Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage 21:05 - We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer 21:54 - Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (Kaytee) 26:45 - The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni (Meredith) 28:05 - The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni 29:54 - The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni 29:56 - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni 32:47 - Search by Michelle Huneven 34:13 - Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein (Kaytee) 37:38 - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (Meredith) 40:16 - Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 41:15 - Blackwell's UK 43:09 - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 46:02 - CR Season 1: Episode 37 47:33 - How Reading Changes Us For The Better Some Stats: 49:26 - The average reading American reads 12 books per year. 49:50 - The average American spends just $35 on books per year. 50:17 - Reading can reduce our stress levels by 68% in just six minutes. 51:04 - Reading can reduce memory decline by 30% because it activates neural pathways and can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 52:18 - Transportative fiction helps produce the most empathy in readers, but that empathy boost only lasts around 48 hours, so keep reading! 53:10 - Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes 54:31 - Audiobooks are reading! Studies have shown that audiobooks activate the same neural pathways and cognitive benefits as print reading. 54:50 - Research shows we are less impatient with audiobooks than print. 56:02 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 57:13 - Meet Us At The Fountain 57:19 - I wish people would celebrate their reading in new ways. (Kaytee) 57:36 - Canon Ivy 2 Mini Photo Printer 57:44 - Storygraph 58:01 - Favorite Books of the Year print - Etsy Shop 58:31 - I wish you would give annotating books a try. (Meredith) Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. September's IPL comes to us from Bright Side Bookshop in Flagstaff, Arizona! Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!