Reading makes you better (in bed)
Books & Literature
Amy and Laura from Secret Book Stuff tell you what to read, what to watch, and stuff about their queer relationship you didn’t know you wanted to know.
Reading makes you better (in bed) is a podcast about books, popular culture, sexuality and relationships, and our life together as a same-sex couple.
Secret Book Stuff is an online bookshop specialising in book subscriptions and gifts for book-lovers. For every book sold, we plant a tree. Find us at www.secretbookstuff.com
Location:
United States
Description:
Amy and Laura from Secret Book Stuff tell you what to read, what to watch, and stuff about their queer relationship you didn’t know you wanted to know. Reading makes you better (in bed) is a podcast about books, popular culture, sexuality and relationships, and our life together as a same-sex couple. Secret Book Stuff is an online bookshop specialising in book subscriptions and gifts for book-lovers. For every book sold, we plant a tree. Find us at www.secretbookstuff.com
Language:
English
Website:
https://www.secretbookstuff.com/
Episodes
Well well what a year - A very late 2022 wrap up and our favourite books of the year
1/23/2023
Season finale: Our favourite books of 2022
In our final episode of season 1, we tell you Our favourite books of 2022, recap the year that was, share our visions for 2023 and decide on our WORD OF THE YEAR!
Season 2 of Reading Makes You Better (In Bed) will be back with a bang very soon.
In the meantime, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and sign up for our Secret Book Club to read excellent books alongside us this year.
Books mentioned in the show:
Wild Abandon - Emily Bitto
Notes on Heartbreak - Annie Lord
Salt and Skin - Eliza Henry-Jones
You can also check out Amy's top 9 books of the year here
Also special mention to:
Come From Away (which is incredible)
Thanks for listening to Reading Makes You Better (In Bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram. This podcast is recorded on unceded Awabakal and Gadigal land. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:27:44
How to get out of a never-ending reading slump
8/19/2022
In this episode we introduce a brand new segment called 'The quick and dirty' with the latest fun book news you need to know! We also share our top tips on how to get out of a reading slump, our thoughts on the recent Cruel Intentions Musical that came to Sydney, AND we reveal our August book club choice: Salt & Skin by Eliza Henry Jones, which is set in Scotland, and we'll be in Scotland for the virtual book club next month, with Eliza Henry Jones as our guest! Sign up here: https://www.secretbookstuff.com/amy-laura-book-club
Books mentioned in the show:
The New Yorker magazine
Cat Person by Kirsten Roupenian
The Twenty-seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race by Morris Lurie
The Twits by Roald Dahl
George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
The Babysitter's Club
Ally's World by Karen McCombie
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman
The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton
You by Caroline Kepnes
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor
Tonight I'm Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Audiobooks mentioned in the show:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Back, After the Break by Osher Gunsberg
This May Hurt a Little by Busy Phillips
TV Shows mentioned in the show:
You (Netflix)
Movies mentioned in the show:
Cruel Intentions
Thanks for listening to Reading Makes You Better (In Bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram. This podcast is recorded on unceded Awabakal and Gadigal land. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:34:59
Short stories, movies, and weird feet
8/10/2022
In this episode we talk about the short stories that Laura is loving at the moment, analyse each other based on the movies that made us, and reveal where we are going on a writing/hiking/working holiday very soon!
Books mentioned in the show:
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
So Late in The Day, a short story in the New Yorker by Claire Keegan
Trucks by Stephen King, a short story in Night Shift
Movies mentioned in the show:
Centre Stage (2000)
Coyote Ugly (2000)
Bring It On (2000)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
You've Got Mail (1998)
Thanks for listening to Reading Makes You Better (In Bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram. This podcast is recorded on unceded Awabakal and Gadigal land. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:51:57
Episode 7: Amy's big news
6/14/2022
In this episode (recorded via Zoom with Laura in the middle of NT!)... we talk about the books Laura took away with her, what we're reading at the moment, the fun movie challenge we set each other to stay connected during our months apart, and AMY'S BIG NEWS that we've been teasing for the past month.
Books mentioned in the show:
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Felicity by Mary Oliver
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby (our latest book club choice for Amy + Laura's Book Club)
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
Movies mentioned in the show:
Centre Stage (2000)
Coyote Ugly (2000)
Bring It On (2000)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
You've Got Mail (1998)
Podcasts mentioned in the show:
We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle -- the Liz Gilbert episodes
Thanks for listening to Reading Makes You Better (In Bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram. This podcast is recorded on unceded Awabakal and Pintubi land. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:39:18
How many books do we own?
5/22/2022
In this episode... we talk about what we've been reading lately and how we decide what to read next when we have teetering piles all over the house. And we reveal how many books we own after creating a Google spreadsheet inventory. Then we contemplate why we're all so obsessed with con artists and scammers right now, and share some life updates, like the fact that we just moved house again for the fifth time in two years. Listen to find out why!
Books mentioned in the show:
Promising Young Women by Caroline O'Donoghue
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
TV Shows mentioned in the show:
WeCrashed on AppleTV+
The Dropout on Disney
Inventing Anna on Netflix
Podcasts mentioned in the show:
Who The Hell is Hamish?
Scamfluencers
Queen of the Con
Thanks for listening to Reading makes you better (in bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram. This podcast is recorded on unceded Gadigal land. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:43:08
Oh look it's raining again (and we can't stop buying books)
4/13/2022
In this episode... we talk about what we've been reading lately. Amy has been churning through great reads (but also starting way more books than she's finishing) and Laura is (surprise, surprise) reading a whole bunch of camping and hiking books in preparation for her Larapinta Trail hike in the NT in June.
Plus, we talk about two reality TV shows we've been kind of obsessed with lately, and that we don't agree on, and share an update on our new small-town country life. Spoiler alert: there isn't much of an update, we've been so ridiculously busy with work and travel commitments. Oh and... the rain. The relentless rain, gah! It starts raining again in the episode. What a surprise. Also, remember that time Amy auditioned for Home & Away? Cringe.
Books mentioned in the show: Love & Virtue by Diana Reid Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto Echolalia by Briohny Doyle Adult Fantasy by Briohny Doyle 10 Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby Wild by Cheryl Strayed Bewildered by Laura Waters Bliss(ters) by Gail M Francis Journeys North by Barney Scout Mann Heartsick by Jessie Stephens Deadlines Don't Care if Janet Doesn't Like Her Photos by David Thorne Theroux the Keyhole by Louis Theroux
Podcasts mentioned in the show: Shameless Sentimental in the City with Dolly Alderton and Caroline O'Donoghue And Just Like That... The Writers Room
TV shows mentioned in the show: Byron Baes (Netflix) Love is Blind (Netflix) And Just Like That (Binge) Please donate books to flood-affected communities!
We've donated to @blackfullabookclub (look them up on Instagram) and then Lismore Public Library. Find more details on our Instagram and on the @newcastlewritersfestival Instagram.
Thanks for listening to Reading makes you better (in bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram.
This podcast is recorded on unceded Gundungurra Country. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:49:13
I'm sorry, I can't, don't hate me
3/2/2022
In this episode... we have officially decided on our 2022 reading goals, and we revisit our 2021 goals (did we keep them? Do we feel shitty about it?). Plus, we give some hot notes to the writers of And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot, and debunk the myths and common assumptions people have about our same-sex relationship.
Other fun links: That's bullsh*t Carrie and you know it!
Thanks for listening to Reading makes you better (in bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram.
This podcast is recorded on unceded Gundungurra Country. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:50:02
We're the youngest gays in the village
2/16/2022
In this episode... our summer reading list, our attempted rewrite of the Jagged Little Pill musical, and our big news! We moved from Newcastle to the Southern Highlands, and we've been dubbed the youngest gays in the village.
Books mentioned in the show:
Acknowledgements by Becky Lucas
488 Rules for Life by Kitty Flanagan
Turns Out I'm Fine by Judith Lucy
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
You and Me On Vacation by Emily Henry
Lucky by Marissa Stapley
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley-Heller
Other fun links:
Jagged Little Pill, the musical - write up by Time Out Dec 2021
How to spice up your sex life with Harry Potter by Becky Lucas on At Home Alone Together, ABC
Maggie McKenna is Gina Riley's offspring and Amy's mind is blown!
Thanks for listening to Reading makes you better (in bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram.
This podcast is recorded on unceded Gundungurra Country. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:41:57
Top 5 desert island books of all time + in defence of hate-watching Twilight
12/22/2021
In this episode... in defence of the beauty of hate-watching Twilight (don't hate us coz you ain't us), secret questions to test the strength of our relationship, and we share our top 5 desert island favourite books of all time, as inspired by High Fidelity (the novel by Nick Hornby and subsequent movie starring John Cusack and Hulu show with the babetown Zoe Kravitz).
Books mentioned in the show:
Thanks for listening to Reading makes you better (in bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram.
This podcast is recorded on unceded Awabakal and Gadigal Country. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:32:04
Best books of 2021, breakup albums 101 + our epic love story
12/22/2021
On our very first episode of the season, we introduce our movie-like love story (yes, it's gross and wholesome and epic), the best books we read in 2021 and how to enjoy break-up albums when you're hot heartbroken.
Books mentioned in the show:
Music mentioned in the show:
Thanks for listening to Reading makes you better (in bed) by Amy + Laura from Secret Book Stuff. You can find us at www.secretbookstuff.com or @secretbookstuff on Instagram.
This podcast is recorded on unceded Awabakal and Gadigal Country. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:00:35:41