{"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":"Megachurch Drama Meets MomTok Energy | Too Blessed to Stress by Alli Hoff Kosik","slug":"megachurch-drama-meets-momtok-energy-too-blessed-to-stress-by-alli-hoff-kosik","published_at":"2026-03-02T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/megachurch-drama-meets-momtok-energy-too-blessed-to-stress-by-alli-hoff-kosik","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/ec89de9b-c7e0-4052-aa69-12f1303eeb0f.mp3","summary":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. What happens when influencer culture, megachurch ambition, and algorithm-driven community collide? This week, I’m joined by longtime friend and fellow early-podcaster Alli Hoff Kosik to talk about her debut novel, Too Blessed to Stress — a sharp, nuanced story about faith, friendship, ambition, and the very online world we’re all living in. We talk about how her MFA journey led her here, why religion in fiction felt like a “risky” topic just a few years ago, and how influencer culture (hello Mormon wives and MomTok 👀) makes this story more relevant than ever. If you love messy friend groups, big institutions, powerful men, and complicated women trying to build something meaningful — this one is for you. 🕒 Timestamps [00:00] Early podcast days & friendship origin story [02:00] Alli’s MFA journey and first abandoned manuscript [05:00] The Christian influencer rabbit hole [07:30] Influencer monetization & megachurch power [10:00] Religion, algorithms & modern politics [14:00] Community after the pandemic [21:30] Behind the Scenes podcast (BTS-TBTS) [24:00] Book recommendations: cults, ambition & satire [37:00] Where to find Alli & audiobook details 📚 Books Mentioned Too Blessed to Stress by Alli Hoff Kosik — Book Club Fiction | Influencer Culture | Literary Fiction Little One by Olivia Muenter — Cult Fiction | Dual Timeline | Psychological Drama Paper Cut by Rachel Taff — Literary Fiction | Power & Family Dynamics Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour — Satire | Reality TV Culture | Pandemic Fiction Glossy by Marisa Meltzer — Nonfiction | Business Biography | Millennial CEO Workhorse by Caroline Palmer — Literary Fiction | Publishing Industry | Ambit…","meta_description":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. What happens when influencer culture, megachurch am…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2356,"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/megachurch-drama-meets-momtok-energy-too-blessed-to-stress-by-alli-hoff-kosik/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/megachurch-drama-meets-momtok-energy-too-blessed-to-stress-by-alli-hoff-kosik.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}