Can I Bring My Book

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: An In-Depth Chat with Your Book Besties

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and sometimes get emotionally wrecked by slow-burn space heartbreak.
This week, Amanda and Kat deep-dive into their July buddy read: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
(⚠️ Heads up—this episode contains spoilers from start to finish! Plus there's mention of suicide.)
Set during NASA’s 1980s shuttle era, Atmosphere follows aspiring astronaut Joan Goodwin through training, trauma, queerness, and quiet acts of resistance. As she builds her future among the stars, she also wrestles with heartbreak, sisterhood, and a slow-burn romance that left both of us sobbing.
In this episode, we unpack:
That moment with Griff (yes, that moment—we are not okay)
The opposites-attract magic of Joan and Vanessa
The pressure of ambition vs. personal loss
Barbara. Just… Barbara.
Favorite quotes, least favorite characters, and the ending that broke us (in a good way)
If you love space, sapphic stories, and soft, slow emotional unraveling—you’ll want to read Atmosphere. Just maybe not in public.
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Books That Made Us Cry and We Loved Every Moment

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and ugly cry over them.
This week, Amanda and Kat tackle the ultimate emotional damage: books that made them cry. Amanda brings the heartbreak with Sandwich and A Little Life, while Kat breaks down the emotional gut punch of At First Spite and the historical devastation of Salt to the Sea. It’s fine. We’re fine. (We are not fine.)
Also in this episode:
The books that broke us (and the ones we’re still recovering from)
Bathtub rescues, emotionally supportive book boyfriends, and third-story windows
Wartime tragedy, fake boyfriends, and devastating plot twists
Tropes of the week: Damsel in Distress (Bella Swan, we’re looking at you) and Meet-Cringe (yes, that means Fifty Shades)
Books mentioned: At First Spite, Sandwich, Salt to the Sea, A Little Life, Twilight, Cinder, Assistant to the Villain, and Fifty Shades of Grey
Come for the chaos, stay for the tears—and maybe bring tissues.
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Never Have I Ever (But Maybe I Have)

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and reveal way too much during bookish party games.
This week, Amanda and Kat play a bookish round of Never Have I Ever — and things get personal. From dog-earing pages to borrowing books indefinitely, they confess it all (including some spicy inspiration). Then, they take a BuzzFeed quiz to find out their romance novel archetypes — turns out, they might both be the thoughtful observer type.
Also in this episode:
Their favorite book tropes of the week: Single Parent and Age Gap romances
Cowboy romance recommendations (hello, Lost and Lassoed)
Books mentioned: The Idea of You, Birthday Girl, Done and Dusted, Training the Heart, and several by TJ Klune
Oh — and Kat may or may not have blocked a teenager for lurking on her Bookstagram. You’ll just have to listen.
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Can I Bring My Book Social Links:Instagram: @canibringmybook_clubTikTok: @canibringmybook_clubFacebook: www.facebook.com/canibringmybook

My Type? Morally Gray With a Mask

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and confess our book crushes.
This week, Amanda and Kat get personal about their literary love lives—aka, book boyfriends (and the occasional book breakup). Amanda swoons over her masked man Josh from Lights Out, while Kat... is book-boyfriend single. For now.
In this episode, we dive into:
Their favorite book boyfriends (and why morally gray is irresistible)
The “I hurt you to protect you” breakup trope
A breakdown of the masked man trope (yes, it’s a real thing and Amanda has research)
A semi-rant about slow burn romances that take too long to spice up
Whether hockey romance is worth the hype
And the charm of fluffy beach reads like Better Than the Movies
Books mentioned:
Lights Out by Jodie Slaughter
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Signs of Cupidity by Raven Kennedy
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
Corrupt by Penelope Douglas
God of Malice by Rina Kent
Scream for Us by Molly Doyle
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Whether you're in a committed relationship with Rhysand or currently between fictional partners, this one's for you.
 
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This Is Not the Book Haul You Planned For

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and bring zero plans.
This week’s episode starts with birthday vibes and somehow unravels into hot takes, book haul logistics, and an existential debate about whether the "mentor dies" trope is a literary rite of passage. Amanda wants a birthday book spree. Kat wants rules. And neither of them agrees on how many books one person should be allowed to carry.
They dive into:
The chaos of viral book buying sprees (and whether they’re sustainable)
Barnes & Noble vs. used bookshops (and Amanda’s inner struggle)
Tropes of the week: The Mentor Dies and The Backstabbing Mentor
Plot twists, overconsumption, and the unread blind dates with books sitting on Amanda’s shelf
Also mentioned: The Poppy War, Circe, Water Moon, Pumpkin Spice Café, Ender’s Game, Shadow and Bone, and, of course, Harry Potter.
Moral of the story? We should have had an agenda. But chaos is our brand.
 
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We Really Should Have Had an Agenda

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and occasionally forget to plan ahead.
This week’s episode is a full-on hot take tornado. Amanda and Kat may not have had an agenda, but they definitely had opinions. From mood reading denialists and Goodreads ethics to reading as “overconsumption,” nothing is safe.
Along the way, they discuss:
📚 Why mood reading is real (and personal)
🎧 Accidentally re-reading the wrong story
🔥 Grady Hendrix’s unhinged author reviews of his own books
💬 The debate over reading 20+ books a month—and whether that’s somehow… bad?
☕️ Tropes of the week: Training sequences and The Instant Expert
Also mentioned: Circe by Madeline Miller, Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King, Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore, and Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.
So, yeah… we really should’ve had an agenda. But where’s the fun in that?
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Can I Bring My Book Social Links:Instagram: @canibringmybook_clubTikTok: @canibringmybook_clubFacebook: www.facebook.com/canibringmybook

Found Family, Fake Dating, and Fabio Moms

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and sometimes black coffee reveals your reader soul.
This week, Amanda and Kat spiral through chaotic quizzes, coffee orders, and the wild world of interspecies romance. (Yes, really.) First up? A deep dive into Novelist, a new tool offered by their local library that serves up book recs based on shows you love (like The Bear) or tropes you're obsessed with (like "found family" and "whimsy"). Then, things take a turn…
What starts as a “What your coffee order says about you as a reader” quiz quickly devolves into debates about whether a deviled egg counts as a species, Amanda’s mom’s smutty reading preferences, and why Kat might need to switch siblings.
They also share this week’s tropes:
🐾 Interspecies romance (we're looking at you, Signs of Cupidity)
🏡 Boy/girl next door
❤️ Enemies to lovers (with bonus fake dating)
Books and shows mentioned:
The Bear (TV)
Signs of Cupidity by Raven Kennedy
Creature Cafe series by Cleo Evans
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
A Court of Thorns and Roses and Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Come for the bookish banter, stay for the chaos.
 
Want to join our book club? Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop. You can singup here
 
Can I Bring My Book Social Links:Instagram: @canibringmybook_clubTikTok: @canibringmybook_clubFacebook: www.facebook.com/canibringmybook

Pick a Mushroom, Pack a Goat: Quizzes, Chaos & Favorite Tropes

Can I Bring My Book: The podcast where besties meet books… and sometimes unhinged fantasy quizzes.
This week, Amanda and Kat dive into a chaotic “Pack Your Bag” fantasy quiz—and discover that Amanda is a panicky pixie packing an anxious teddy bear and a goat named Bitey. Naturally.
The episode spirals delightfully from there with a round of bookish “Would You Rather” (dog-eared pages or spoilers, anyone?) and a debate over naming pets—or children—after fictional characters.
They also reveal their trope obsessions of the week:
Dystopian societies (The Last Bookstore on Earth, 1984)
Amateur sleuths (Nancy Drew, Thursday Murder Club, and more)
And Amanda’s hot take? Everyone should read Finnegans Wake—but Kat’s firmly in the “absolutely not” camp.
Mentioned in the episode:
The Last Bookstore on Earth by Andrew T. Stone
1984 by George Orwell
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
Tune in for the absurd, the cozy, and the unfiltered chaos that is Can I Bring My Book.
 
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Can I Bring My Book Social Links:Instagram: @canibringmybook_clubTikTok: @canibringmybook_clubFacebook: www.facebook.com/canibringmybook

Judging Books by Their Covers (And We Regret Nothing)

You know what they say—don’t judge a book by its cover. But honestly? Sometimes we do. In this episode of Can I Bring My Book, Kat and Amanda explore the irresistible world of cover buys: books they picked up purely because of how pretty, striking, or downright soft-to-the-touch they were. From bold color palettes and intriguing titles to irresistible textures and filigree chapter pages, we’re sharing the cover art that convinced us to give a book a shot (even if we’ve already DNF’d it once before).
We also reveal our latest finds from the Friends of the Library sales and dig into the emotional drama of rain-damaged deliveries. Plus, in this week’s Trope Talk, it’s a cozy small-town vibe vs. a fated-to-be-together monster romance—complete with fiery beards, puns, and espresso art.
Books we talk about this episode:
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
Belittled Women by Amanda Sellet
Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen
On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation by Alexandra Horowitz
You Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
A Little Slice of Hell by Clio Evans
 
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TBR Confessions and Bookish Crimes

TBR Confessions and Bookish Crimes
This week on Can I Bring My Book, Kat and Amanda get real about the chaos of their TBRs, the bookish habits they’re slightly ashamed to admit, and the hot takes that might get them banned from the bookish internet. From using dust jackets as bookmarks (we’re sorry) to confessing our dependence on airplane mode for Kindle hoarding, we’re laying it all out.
Plus, we dive into a very specific (and very forbidden) trope: the off-limits crush. You know the one—your brother’s best friend, your professor, your ex’s dad. And of course, we couldn’t wrap things up without one of our favorite games: Build-A-Book with tropes, microtropes, and book boyfriends based on our birthdays and phone battery percentages. (Turns out, we’re both into mafia dons this week. Who knew?)
📚 Mentioned in this episode:
Cream for Breakfast by Benny Cocker
The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black
Twisted Love by Ana Huang
Credence by Penelope Douglas
Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
The Other March Sisters by Gillian Joelle Neimark
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Tampa Heat by Thad Diaz
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
 
📣 Want to join our book club? Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop. You can singup here
Can I Bring My Book Social Links:Instagram: @canibringmybook_clubTikTok: @canibringmybook_clubFacebook: www.facebook.com/canibringmybook