{"podcast":{"title":"What to Read Next — Book Recommendations for Romance, Thrillers & Escape Reads","slug":"what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873","podcast_index_feed_id":9873,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/whattoreadnext/","website_url":"http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/f7acd6df-7bd5-4b9f-bdcd-cc1c6c790629/4osSDj37v6rAcBIBBysi07ET.png","author":"Laura R Yamin","episode_count":928,"summary":"You know you want to read. You just don't know what. What to Read Next is the podcast for readers who love romance, thrillers, and women's fiction — and spend more time staring at their TBR than actually reading it. I'm Laura, and twice a week I bring you book recommendations built around one thing: how you actually feel right now. Not what's new. Not what's trending. The right book for this exact mood, this exact moment, this exact week of your life. Some weeks that means asking an author what they read for joy — not what they wrote, but what they reach for when they need to escape. Their answer is always your next discovery. Some weeks it means me telling you exactly what I read, what stayed with me, what I DNF'd at 40% and why, and which one I'd press into your hands right now if we were having coffee. Romance across every subgenre. Psychological thrillers. Beach reads with actual substance. Women's fiction that makes you feel seen. The books that give you the escape you came for — and a few that'll quietly change how you see things too. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. The Reading Receipt — my weekly reading log — drops every Thursday on Substack. Start anywhere. The r…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T20:17:08.396085+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873"},"episode":{"title":"Femme Feral: When Midlife Rage Turns You Into a Werewolf with Sam Beckbessinger","slug":"femme-feral-when-midlife-rage-turns-you-into-a-werewolf-with-sam-beckbessinger","published_at":"2026-05-11T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/femme-feral-when-midlife-rage-turns-you-into-a-werewolf-with-sam-beckbessinger","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873","url":"http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/14a50c27-6285-452d-8d93-831a3db244e0.mp3","summary":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. What if your perimenopause symptoms weren't just symptoms — what if you were turning into a werewolf? Author Sam Beckbessinger joins us to talk about her debut adult novel Femme Feral , and it might be the most cathartic book you read this year. Sam and I dive deep into why the medical industry has failed women at midlife, the reality of millennial burnout, and why female rage horror is having such a deserved moment. If you're a woman in your 30s, 40s, or beyond who has ever been dismissed by a doctor, told to \"just lose some weight,\" or felt the crushing weight of doing 200% while getting zero credit — this episode is going to feel like a long exhale. We also get into Sam's reading life: from the buzzy Dungeon Crawler Carl series to feminist short story collections you need to know about. 📚 BOOKS MENTIONED Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger — Buy on Amazon | Horror / Women's Fiction | Audio ✅ Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman — Buy on Amazon | Sci-Fi / LitRPG / Adventure | KU ✅ | Audio ✅ She's Always Hungry by Eliza Clark — Buy on Amazon | Dark Fiction / Short Stories / Horror Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado — Buy on Amazon | Literary Horror / Short Stories | KU ✅ | Audio ✅ Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction / Short Stories / Queer Fiction Stag Dance by Torrey Peters — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction / Historical / Queer Fiction | Audio ✅ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Welcome & introduction — Sam Beckbessinger joins the show [00:45] Why female rage and perimenopause inspired Femme Feral [02:00] How the medical industry gasligths women at midlife [03:00] The history of women being excluded from medical trials [04:3…","meta_description":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. What if your perimenopause symptoms weren't just sy…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1501,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/episodes/femme-feral-when-midlife-rage-turns-you-into-a-werewolf-with-sam-beckbessinger/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/femme-feral-when-midlife-rage-turns-you-into-a-werewolf-with-sam-beckbessinger.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}