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PODCAST

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast

Ren Reads Too Much

A podcast for readers who feel a little too much about books…and don"t ever want that problem to ever go away. I’m Ren, and I talk about the stories that stick with us, the characters we can’t move on from, and why the books we love are usually telling us something about ourselves. Expect short, honest episodes about reading, identity, comfort re-reads, emotional damage, and the occasional spiral over fictional characters. If you’ve ever reread a book instead of moving on, you’re in the right

fiction hobbies

All Episodes

19:01

Building a Joyful Home: My Go-To Books for Parenting...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/09/17

This week, I took a detour from my usual “what I’m reading” updates to talk about homeschooling: the messy, creative, deeply imperfect way we’ve done it for thirteen years now.I’ve been getting a lot of questions from others who are homeschooling, or thinking about it, and it felt like the right time to share what’s worked for us and talk realistically about finding your own rhythm when the traditional school system doesn’t fit your kid’s needs. We come to this as secular homeschoolers, meaning we

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19:04

Why Nothing Works, Drama of the Gifted Child, and...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/09/03

August is traditionally a challenging month around my house, and this year was a double dose whammy…It’s been a couple of weeks since my last podcast update. But I should be back to my regularly scheduled weekly updates going forward.This episode pairs two books that seem like they wouldn’t go together, but they help explain the current state of the US right now in a way I’ve not seen addressed together: Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back by Marc J. Dunkelman and The

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22:08

Heated Rivalry, Divorcing While Going Viral, and the...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/08/20

The past few weeks, things got a little bit spicy off the podcast too. One of my videos went pretty freaking viral (it’s now at over a million views, which is banana pants). And boy, did the questions and comments roll in!Some of them were gentle curiosity about why I love certain stories so much, and others…well, the internet can be a wild and miserable place.I went partial turtle-mode the past few weeks while dealing with the aftermath of the dysregulating nature of virality and being so very,

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51:36

Fifty Books Later: My Ultimate Book Nerd Challenge...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/07/30

I did something a little wild this episode: instead of breaking down a couple of books I’m currently reading, I walked you through all 50 books I finished for my local library’s ultimate book nerd competition.Putting the list together was both a celebration and a chance to look back at what made the cut (because honestly, if I finished it, it was at least worth the time).As I went through the different categories, from “book with a purple cover” to “magical realism” to “written by an author from

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25:11

Joyful Resistance and Spicy Reads: Embracing the...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/07/23

This week, my reading life has been all over the place! From comfort to transformation, and sometimes right back to comfort.I bounced around between a few physical books, but let’s be honest: it’s been a big fanfic and smut week for me. If you’ve ever needed a permission slip to lean all the way into what actually feels good to read, this is it.There was a time when I didn’t even want to touch books with “spicy” content. But life changes, and Gentle Reader, I am not the same person I used to be

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15:25

Reading as Joyful Resistance (And a Coping Mechanism)

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/07/16

This week, I’m leaning all the way into what reading looks like when your brain and your body aren’t always on your side.After a June full of burnout and chronic pain days, it feels especially honest to talk about how books slide into those little gaps where the world feels like too much, or your body just won’t cooperate.Reading has always felt like the most accessible kind of comfort…a way to cope, to rest, and to keep a little piece of magic in my pocket when everything else gets loud.Living with

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16:13

Why You Should Make Art, Read More, and Share It With...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/07/09

This week I’m living for the way reading has completely cracked open my creativity, especially the kind that’s shown up in fandom spaces lately.My reading life is spinning out all this energy, and it’s turning into real-world projects, joy, and small acts of rebellion. Books aren’t just for reading…they’re fuel for investing back into my own creative work, whether that means making cross-stitches, designing weird t-shirts, or putting together this very podcast.I’ve been thinking a lot about how

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19:29

Burnout Survival Mode: Reading What Brings Joy When...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/07/02

This month was a crash course in burnout, resilience, and remembering how important it is to let books and small routines take care of you when real life feels a little too real.I’m not going to sugarcoat it: between family changes, tough conversations, and the general chaos that seems to come with June, my energy for showing up in any “official” capacity bottomed out. But you know what? That’s okay.Old Ren would have called it failing; this Ren can actually see the growth in knowing when to rest

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18:28

The Magic of Parallel Perspectives in Series Like...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/06/18

This week, my brain latched onto something it really loves: books that happen on the same timeline and let you see a story from multiple angles.There’s something so deeply satisfying about seeing a favorite story or scene play out in a different character’s head. It scratches an itch for context, for nuance, for that little thrill of knowing more than you did the first time.I talked about this in the context of Rachel Reid’s books, how reading Role Model and The Long Game back to back (a second

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13:12

From the Pivot Year to Game Changers: Why Some Books...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/06/11

This week was a strange one for my reading life…total hodgepodge energy, hopping genres and moods by the day. I tried (and gave up on) a Booker Prize winner, finally admitted defeat on The Hobbit for now, and dipped in and out of a handful of books that felt exactly right for this moment, even if I’ve picked them up before.Sometimes when I reread something I thought I knew, it just hits totally different because, shocker, I’m not the same person I was the last time.Old favorites like Common Goal

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23:09

Dopamine, Smut, and Self-Help: Curating a Reading...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/06/04

This week, I leaned in hard to that belief that the book you need always finds you, right when you need it. My reading life has been shifting alongside everything else.Does anyone else feel like 2026 is just this nonstop transformation party that they never even RSVP’d to, but find themselves stuck in?The books on my shelf are suddenly fitting perfectly into what I’m working through in real time. It’s funny how that works, right? Something you’ve ignored for ages suddenly cracks you wide open

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13:44

Rereads, Revelations, and Reading Joy

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/05/28

I'm changing my mind on Tough Guy and switching podcast day to Thursday because Tuesday is just not the day I can make this happen anymore!Some weeks, it feels like my whole reading life stretches and shifts right along with my real life. I found myself in the middle of a massive pile of books, some familiar rereads, some totally new, and realized just how much my experience of a book is shaped by whatever point I’m at in my own life.It’s wild how a story that didn’t really stick the first time can

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14:03

Legends, Librarians, and Sir Reginald: Finding Joyful...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/05/19

Okay, sometimes you go on a tangent about your all-time favorite books, but this week felt like a return to the usual rhythm. I’m deep in my Heated Rivalry spiral (again?? still??). But now, I’m reading just a chapter or two a day, because I know myself…full-on hyperfixation feels amazing until it doesn’t, and pacing it out keeps things fresh.At the same time, I’m stretching beyond my comfort zone with books I wouldn’t choose on my own.Is it always joyful?No, but there’s some actual magic in letting

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13:12

Creating Joyful Reading Rituals and Crafty Comforts:...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/05/12

This week, I had to pivot a little: less reading, a lot more creating. Getting my pop-up merch shop together turned out to be a much bigger project than I expected, which meant trading some of my regular reading time for crafty energy and behind-the-scenes hustle.You can check out the merch shop, here! I’d love any feedback you have on the designs or what you’d like to see in the shop. Hoping to get my “official” Etsy shop up and running by the end of the month…fingers crossed.This week, I’ve been

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13:45

From Big Magic to Badass Habits: Life-Changing...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/05/06

This week, I’m channeling all my energy into the books that have changed my reading life, not the ones that kept me up crying at 2 a.m. (though shoutout to those).These are the nonfiction books that have shifted the way I think, write, and just generally exist in the world. There’s something about picking up the right nonfiction book at the right time that helps me see things a little differently. Sometimes it’s about creativity; sometimes it’s about habits; sometimes it’s about figuring out what

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15:00

Crappy Podcast, Great Books: Joyful Reading and...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/04/29

This week was…a lot, and honestly, I don’t have the energy to pretend everything is polished or perfect, or worse, try to actually make it be like that. So I figured, why not lean right into the mess and talk about why this podcast exists, why it sounds the way it does, and why I don’t care about editing or fancy extras?Done is better than perfect, and sometimes the magic is in just showing up: imperfectly, joyfully, talking about books because I want to, not because anyone expects perfection.This

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13:48

Stay Feral for Fiction, Not Real People

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/04/22

Some weeks, my brain is like…yeah, we’re not doing anything new right now.I reread Role Model this week, and knowing what’s happening in The Long Game at the same time?? Completely different experience. There’s so much happening in the background that you don’t fully catch it the first time, and going back to it felt like I was reading it fully for the first time.And at the same time, I picked up Lobizona, which is doing something totally different but still kind of the same. Identity, belonging,

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12:59

Some Weeks, You Don’t Need a New Book

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/04/15

Some weeks are not “try something new” weeks. And I feel like we don’t talk about that enough.This has been a low-capacity week for me. The kind where everything feels a little too loud, a little too heavy, and I do not have the energy to invest in figuring out if a new book is going to give me the dopamine.So I didn’t. I went straight back to The Long Game because I knew exactly what I was going to get from it. No ramp-up. No risk. Just feelings on demand. And honestly? That was the only thing that

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16:01

You’re Not Stuck. You’re Returning to Something That...

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/04/07

There’s a difference between being unable to move on and choosing to stay somewhere that feels good.There’s this boring narrative floating around that rereading the same book means you’re stuck. That you should be moving on, finding something new, expanding your horizons like a “good reader.” But that’s not actually what’s happening.When you go back to the same story again and again, it’s usually because your brain already knows it’s safe there.You know how it ends. You know how it feels. There’s no

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14:28

You Don’t Have to Outgrow the Books You Love

Ren Reads Too Much Podcast ·

2026/03/30

This week felt a little off.Not in a bad way, just one of those weeks where I really wanted to curl up with a book and disappear for a bit. And instead, I was doing mom stuff, cleaning, organizing, trying to settle into a new rhythm around the house.And when I did get time to read, I noticed something interesting.I wanted something new. It finally felt like I could move on from Heated Rivalry (if I was properly motivated).I ended up picking up Cursed King, book 1 of 4 in a series that isn’t

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23 results

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