Bad On Paper

Get a sneak peek of Becca's new podcast project, which debuts TODAY! If you love it (and I really hope you do!), you can listen to the first episode and subscribe here.

This week we are using our platform to spotlight the incredible Black authors that we love. We have gathered some of our favorite books and also invited our past podcast guests ‘drop by’ to give their recs, too! We know that many people (including us!) are looking for ways to learn more about anti-racism, things that we can do, and ways to support the Black community in an active way. So we encourage you to pick up a book, share with your friends, buy from Black-owned bookstores, and continue to learn and grow.   We look forward to discussing these books with you in the facebook group!   Here is a link to a google doc with anti-racism resources that we mentioned. This was created by Tatum Dorrell, Matthew Herndon, and Jourdan Dorrell.   Here is a link to Black-Owned Bookstores too!   Books (all links are through The Lit Bar via bookshop.org):   An American Marriage by Tayari Jones American Spy by Lauren Wilkerson Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi The The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett The Idea of You by Robinne Lee Anything by Jasmine Guillory Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert Wow No Thank You by Samantha Irby What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey Such  a Fun Age by Kiley Read Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie From the Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley Becoming by Michelle Obama Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes Nikki Giovanni - Poet Langston Hughes - Poet On The Come Up by Angie Thomas   What we’re reading this week: Reputation by Sarah Shepard Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein Rodham by Curtis Sinfeld The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller   Buying from Black-owned bookstores (can buy through Bookshop.org digitally): The Lit bar in The Bronx Sisters Uptown in Manhattan Semicolon in Chicago Afri Ware in Chicago Mahogany Books in DC Harriet’s bookshop in Philly Uncle Bobbies in Philly Hakim’s Bookstore in Philly For Keeps Books in Atlanta Marcus Books in Oakland The Dock Bookshop in Fort Worth ESO Won in LA   June Book Club Pick: Clap While You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo   Sponsors: Night: Go to discovernight.com and get 20% off with code BOP20 at checkout. Book of the Month: Go to bookofthemonth.com and sign up using code BOP10 and get any book for $10 Care of: 50% your first order at takecareof.com/bop50 with offer code BOP50 at checkout.     Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.  

For this month’s book club we’re discussing The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendricks. This book came highly recommended by Grace’s mom and it definitely sparked some fun conversation. While this is not the type of book either of us typically pick up, we wanted something more fun to take some pressure off during quarantine.    The story follows Patricia Campbell, a southern housewife, who joins a true crime book club where she forms a tight knit group of female friends. When they discover that their neighbor, James Harris, is actually a vampire who is terrorizing the town and feeding on children, the women of the book club stand up to take matters into their own hands. Who ever thought a book club would end in cold-blooded murder?!   As always, we can’t wait to hear what you think in the Facebook group - let us know!   Instagram: @karensgoingwild @sophiafranklin @alexandracooper   Obsessions: Homemade Popcorn Asics Gel Nimbus Sneakers Worthy Threads Tie Dye Sweatsuits   Books: Happy and You Know it by Laura Hankin Writers and Lovers by Lily King The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendricks A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1) by Deborah Harkness The Betrothed by Kiera Cass A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Perfectly Famous By Emily Liebert The Lies We Told by Camilla Way The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochan The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller   June Club: Coming Soon! Check instagram.   Podcast to Check Out! Skimm This: A weekly podcast unpacking the most complex news stories of the week. Tune in every Friday at 7a ET.   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.

We loved all of your listener questions! We had so many that we split them into two episodes and today we are back with a part 2! We saved the most fun ones for this episode. We’re covering everything from AIM screennames and celebrity crushes (Grace and Paul Rudd are going backpacking together? Becca stalks Scott Foley’s wife for updates?) to home decor inspo, how we found (and decorated our apartments), our favorite artists, and go-to gifts to give. And it wouldn’t be an episode of Bad on Paper if we didn’t share our best beauty and book recs!   Small Businesses Mentioned: Books are Magic MegaBabe Small Packages Nicely Noted Henning Holt + Lee Candy Shop Vintage Hart Hagerty St. Frank Rebecca Atwood Cece Dupraz Kondi Hampden Clothing     Products mentioned: Bala bangles Augustus Bader The Rich Cream Acwell toner Farmacy cleansing balm Olay retinol Eye cream Tarte Sea Curl Mascara Weleda Skin Food Vintner's Daughter Serum Bioderma Micellar water Bite agave lip mask Olaplex no. 3 Goop night cream   Instagram: @emmaberyl @marc.ange @caracara_nyc   Obsessions: Codenames   Books: Happy and You Know it by Laura Hankin The Idea of You by Robinne Lee On the Island by Tracy Garvis Graves Writers and Lovers by Lily King The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd   May Book Club: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendricks   Sponsors: Night: Go to discovernight.com and get 20% off with code BOP20 at checkout.   Podcast to Check Out! Natch Beaut Podcast hosted by Jackie Johnson   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.

After a highly requested (micro) deep-dive into Normal People (we loved the show maybe even more than the book!), we chat with Jules Von Hep! Jules is a celebrity tanning expert and the founder of the (clean! vegan!) line Isle of Paradise. We chat with him about how quarantine is going in the UK and then move along to his career and how he founded Isle of Paradise.  He walks us through his career path and how he got to where he is today (he’s tanned everyone from Kate Moss to Kendall Jenner!),how + why he started Isle of Paradise, and of course all his best self-tanning advice - answering all of your self tanning questions and providing helpful tips for first timers. But the best part of the interview was all of the incredible life advice. Jules talks about saying no (his advice here is so good), navigating negativity, and how to be more body confident!   More Jules! @julesvonhep @theisleofparadise E-book: Get Body Posi by Jules Von Hep Podcast: Jules and Sarah Products mentioned: Isle of Paradise line at Sephora and Sephora.com   Link to the LA times article about Normal People   Instagram: @thebirdspapaya @meganroselane @tess.daily @heartsandbonesrescue @hannahcandleny   Obsessions: Lazy Susan for fridge Bissell Steam Mop Sleep Cycle App   Books: Untamed by Glennon Doyle The Last Flight by Julie Clark Happy and You Know it by Laura Hankin Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes   May Book Club: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendricks   Sponsors: Book of the Month: Go to bookofthemonth.com and sign up using code BOP10 and get any book for $10   Podcast to Check Out! Gee Thanks Just Bought it Podcast   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.

In today’s episode, we polled you to come up with a big grab bag of questions. We cover a wide range of topics from college life to cooking (Becca’s carbonara!). We also talk about how we maintain our privacy (spoiler alert: we’re in charge!) and all sorts of other things. Will Becca ever get a dog? Has Grace always been a cat person? Does she walk Tyrion? How did we meet? We got a ton of podcast related questions so we also give a behind the scenes look at the process of creating Bad on Paper. This is a fun episode - pour a glass of wine and come hang out with us! Products mentioned: Plush Knit Joggers Old Navy   Obsessions: Outerbanks TV series Daily Harvest Never Have I Ever on Netflix   Books: Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan Untamed by Glennon Doyle The Guest List by Lucy Foley Don’t You Forget About Me by  Mhairi McFarlane If I Never Met You by  Mhairi McFarlane Who’s That Girl? by  Mhairi McFarlane You Had Me at Hello by Mhairi McFarlane   May Book Club: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendricks   Sponsors: Night: Go to discovernight.com and get 20% off with code BOP20 at checkout. Book of the Month: Go to bookofthemonth.com and sign up using code BOP10 and get any book for $10   Podcast to Check Out! Skimm This Podcast   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Yesterday we talked about In Five Years by Rebecca Serle and today she is joining us to give a behind the scenes look at how she wrote the book! Rebecca is an author and television writer in NYC and LA, she has written 6 novels and co-developed the hit television adaptation of her YA series, Famous in Love. We talk about the differences between screenwriting and writing a novel (and why her heart stays with books!) - and the process of adapting a book into a TV show. We talk about the overarching role of fate and free will as themes in all of her books, and where she draws inspiration. Rebecca also answers our questions about hair routine, who would be on her Dinner List, favorite books, favorite authors, and what she has been reading.    More Rebecca: rebeccaserle.com @rebecca_serle on instagram @rebecca_serle on twitter     Rebecca’s Books: When You Were Mine The Edge of Falling Famous in Love Truly Madly Famously The Dinner List In Five Years   Favorite Authors: Sally Rooney Curtis Enfeld Emma Straub   Favorite YA Authors: Jen Smith Jennie Han Lauren Oliver Lila Sales Alexa Hillier   Book Recs: Evie Drake Starts Over Glennon Doyle Untamed Normal People by Sally Rooney Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney Three Women by Lisa Taddeo The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adel Waldman Infinity Son by Adam Silvera   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This month, we read In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. We both absolutely loved this book and read it in under 24 hours. Before diving into the book, we do our usual quarantine catch up. We are both healthy, staying busy, and Tyrion (Grace’s cat) seems to have developed a newfound love for Zoom calls.   This book is about best friends, Dannie and Bella. Dannie is a little bit uptight and is one of those women who always has a plan and knows exactly what she wants. Meanwhile, Bella is a bit more flighty and romantic. On the night that Dannie gets engaged to her long-time boyfriend, David, she has an extremely vivid dream of where her life will be in 5 years. She’s in a different apartment, with a different (and sexy) man. We then see how the next five years play out and what happens. Dannie is jilted when she meets Bella’s new boyfriend Greg - it’s the man from her dream! Bella falls ill and a series of other events happen to turn Dannie’s life upside down. She ends up exactly where the dream predicted - discovering that fate is most certainly real.  This book will make you cry - but the good kind! This is our favorite book from 2020 - we hope you love it as much as we did!   Cathartic Cry Reading Recs: Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith   Obsessions: Equilibria Extra Strength CBD Drops Airfryer   Instagram: @stanleytucci   Books: Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan   May Book Club: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendricks   Sponsors: The Last Guest House by Megan Miranda:  Purchase the paperback from independent bookstores through bookshop.org or any ebook retailer.   Podcast to Check Out! Get Thanks Just Bought it Podcast   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Is it just us, or is quarantine making home chefs of us all?! In this episode we share our favorite recipes, favorite food inspiration accounts to follow, and our personal pantry and grocery shopping staples. We have some strong opinions on condiments, our panic buys,and quarantine cooking fails. We also talk about our cooking bucket list, the best things we’ve made during isolation, and where we want to go the moment the ban is lifted.   Favorite Food Instagram Accounts: @lizadams @definedish @alisoneroman @brunchboys @dennistheprescott @howsweeteats @grossypelosi @mollybaz @whatsgabycooking @meghandono   Food Blogs: What’s Gaby Cooking New York Times Cooking (and Sam Sifton’s weekly newsletter) Bon appétit Smitten Kitchen   Cookbooks: Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman Dining in by Alison Roman It’s all Good by Gwyneth Paltrow (& Julia Turshen) It’s all Easy by Gwyneth Paltrow Salt Fat Acid Heat By Samin Nosrat Cravings by Chrissy Tiegan Oh She Glows Cookbook Salad for President Cook Beautiful By Athena Calderone The Food Lab y By J Kenji Alt Half Baked Harvest Cookbook   Our go-to recipes: Goop Broccoli and Arugula Soup Oh She Glows Tomato Soup (from cookbook) Alison Roman’s Salmon with Citrusy Shallots (from cookbook) Grace’s Grandmother’s Meatballs Chrissy Tiegan’s Vegetable lasagna (from cookbook) Julia Turshen Turkey Ricotta meatballs How Sweet eats sheet pan gnocchi NYT salmon fried rice Chicken thighs and dirty rice Chicken Tortilla Soup Alison Roman Tiny Salty Chocolate cookies (from cookbook)   Williamsburg Take out Recs: 12 Chairs Mediterranean Butchers Daughter Bozu Dunkin delivered Spice for thai Motorino or two boots for Pizza   Food Delivery Services: Foodkick Instacart Norwich Farms for CSA stuff   Obsessions: The Baker and The Beauty: Israeli version on Amazon Prime; US version on Hulu White Collar NuFace   Instagram: @Caralynmirand @melissawoodhealth   Books we are starting: No Filter By Sarah Frier The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan   April Book Club: In Five Years by Rebecca Searle   Sponsors: The Last Guest House by Megan Miranda: Purchase the paperback from independent bookstores through bookshop.org or any ebook retailer. For a limited time the ebook is only $1.99 (through 4/26) Hot and Bothered: Check out their Twilight in quarantine series wherever you listen to podcasts   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.    

Today, we poured ourselves a glass of wine and play a remote game of FMK (Fuck, Marry, Kill) with YOUR prompts! But first, we catch up on how we are holding up in quarantine. We are definitely a mix of adjusting and feeling trapped, but over all we are doing alright.   This episode is a weird one and we are into it. We go through all the important categories… books, meals, celebs, TV characters. Becca kills breakfast (and short men?) and Grace makes a surprising choice when it comes to the Younger cast. Also: who knew the hardest questions would be about food?? We hope you enjoy and are inspired to prompt your friends… we highly recommend setting up a FMK Zoom with your own friends!   Podcasts Mentioned: Gee Thanks Just Bought It   Obsessions: Amazon Lazy Susan OXO Good Grips Containers Cecedupraz face mask   Instagram: @ryan.heffington @pippyeats   Books we are starting: The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin (out june 2) No Filter By Sarah Frier The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell   April Book Club: In Five Years by Rebecca Searle   Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and her blog TheStripe.com and Becca @beccamfreeman.