Plans Are Booked

This week we're riled up about romance. We're hot off attending the "Happily Ever After" event at WBUR City Space where we had the extreme pleasure of hearing from romance authors Beverly Jenkins, Jasmine Guillory and Ali Hazelwood. We share the most memorable moments from the panel discussion, the ways they made us feel seen, and advice they offered to aspiring writers. We also sing the praises of the amazingly talented moderator, Kalyani Saxena. In our catch up session, Kaitlin brings us on her house hunting journey, Stephanie fills us in on the latest at her renovation project, and Molly admits that she actually cooked on her recent weekend trip to Maine. We close by shouting out the current books we're reading, which are an extra eclectic mix this week. Listen carefully for a heads up on the subject of next week's episode (hint: we're transporting ourselves to Michigan). We love chatting with all of you, so please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or send a us note to plansarebooked@gmail.com.

It's our 17th episode, Kaitlin's lucky number, and we have a big one for you this week. We're going deep on an author who has written children's books, YA and adult fiction - Lauren Oliver. Stephanie and Kaitlin share how they bonded over Oliver's books early on in their friendship, and we all agree that YA has dramatically risen in popularity and visibility since Oliver's books began hitting shelves in 2010. We also share what we're reading this week, including three books we're racing through and can't wait to pass on to each other. In our catch up, we gush about some food favorites - a new ramen spot for Kaitlin, a surprising presentation of tiramisu for Molly, and the secret to Steph's addictive brown butter chocolate chip cookies. We love hearing from you, so please reach out to us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or send us a note to plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

Welcome to our Sweet Sixteen! This week we're gushing about actress Minka Kelly's memoir. You may know her from Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, but we're certain you don't know about her wild childhood and the intense journey she experienced on the road to Hollywood. In our catch up, Kaitlin shares that she's interviewing for a new teaching position, Stephanie updates us on her current flip house project, and Molly rates Amazon Prime's latest rom-com. We wrap by sharing what we're reading this week, including a graphic novel, Tia Williams' new romance, and a book with a superb acknowledgements section. We love hearing from you and knowing what you're reading, so please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or reach out to plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

This week we begin by exchanging Galentine's Day gifts and reviewing the movie All of Us Strangers, co-starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. Then, we deep dive on what may be our most polarizing book choice yet - Glossy by Marisa Meltzer. We talk about startup culture, the power of Boy Brow, and how an intern at Teen Vogue became a beauty mogul. We close by sharing what books we're reading currently - three extremely different genres this week. We love hearing from you, so please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or send us a note to plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

It's a big week for the Plans are Booked gals! Molly shares her brush with fame, putting her two degrees of separation from Taylor Swift. We rave about Stephanie's latest book draft and the epic brunch she hosted to collect feedback from reader friends. She goes deep on whether she wants this new book to be classified as literary fiction or romance. Next, we work up an appetite sharing our favorite cookbooks. Stephanie praises Chrissy Teigen and her corn pudding, Kaitlin confesses she can't stop making Stanley Tucci's eggs and tomato, and Molly admits she's still turning to the chocolate chip cookie recipe she learned in elementary school. We close out the conversation with what we're reading this week and a few of the books we'll be discussing throughout February. As always, we love hearing from you. Please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or send us a note to plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

This week we deep dive on an author whose books we've been binge reading the last few months, Lynn Painter. We talk about our favorite characters, her incredible gift for banter, and the way she deeply understands the teenage mind. Kaitlin catches us up on her trip to Washington D.C. including a tour of the White House (and its library), two museums, and of course, Kramer Books. Molly and Steph recount meeting romance author Jenny Howe at Belmont Books. Listen to the full episode for an exciting update on a giveaway we're running this week of Jenny's newest book! We round things out with the titles we're currently reading, including a moment where Molly and Steph give completely opposite reviews of the same romance novel. To stay up to date on everything we're reading, follow along on Instagram, @plansarebooked. We loved hearing from you, so please write to us at plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

This week, punch drunk on ice cream frappes, we have a lively conversation full of hot topics. We dig into Wattpad - What is it? Who uses it? Do you call your account a pad? We chat about Ali Novak's My Life with the Walter Boys, both the book and the recent adaptation for Netflix. We have a heated discussion about books vs. audiobooks and what the correct verb to use is when describing enjoying a story through your eyes vs. your ears. Then we share, with great pride, our favorite coffee table books. We explain how we found them or received them, why they're special, and where we display them in our homes. We close with what we're currently reading, including a dissection of the cover art for Katherine Center's Things You Save in a Fire. We love hearing your thoughts and knowing what books you're reading, so please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or send us an email to plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

This week we're transporting ourselves to Sweden to gush about Fredrik Backman's Beartown. In our most passionate conversation yet, we rave about his stunning writing, the strong characters, the deep sense of place, and the parallels to Friday Night Lights. We also catch up on our recent outings, including to see the movie Anyone But You, which leads to a lovely tangent about our go-to rewatch rom-coms. Kaitlin asks a burning question (which we need your input on!), to Kindle or not to Kindle? We end by sharing what we're currently reading and a few books we can't wait to get our hands on, including the upcoming So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We're Still So Obsessed with It). We love hearing from you, so please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or write to us at plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

Happy new year! In our first episode of 2024 we're talking about books that gave us all the feels. We also catch up about our holiday breaks. Kaitlin headed to Cape Cod, Molly drove up to Vermont, and Stephanie made great progress at her flip house project. Listen carefully for a few Easter eggs about the book we're deep diving on next episode (hint: it's about hockey). We love hearing from you, so please connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or write to us at plansarebooked@gmail.com. 

In our version of Spotify Wrapped, we're ending the year by sharing our favorite books of 2023. Though we compiled our lists separately, we were surprised and delighted to discover some overlap in our top picks. During this conversation, Stephanie shares about the book manuscript she's writing and her upcoming flip house project, Kaitlin reveals the meaning behind her annual Goodreads reading goal, and we resolve as a group to read more non-fiction books in 2024. We'd love to hear which titles made your top list for 2023. Connect with us on Instagram, @plansarebooked, or send us a note to plansarebooked@gmail.com. Happy New Year, readers!