Bring Your Own: A Bookish Podcast for Romance Readers

In this week's episode Kayla, Kendra, and Brandi take a nostalgic dive back into the books that shaped us during our tween years, and the stories we once obsessed over.

Now that we’re older (and allegedly wiser), we’re revisiting these favorites with fresh eyes. Do they still hold up? Were they as deep as we remembered, or just dramatic in that perfectly middle-school way? We found a mix of heartfelt reflection, some light roasting, and even some “wait… why did no one question this??”

Let us know, what book defined your tween years, and are you brave enough to reread it now?

Join the BYO book club ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Our April 2026 pick is The Name Game by Beth O'Leary!

Follow us on Instagram @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BringYourOwnPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Brandi @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brandos.Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kendra @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kendra.Readz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kayla @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylas.Bookshelf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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This week, we’re launching the first edition of Reader Rot, and things got interesting fast.

We got into the weeds with the NYT and Amazon Kindle best seller's lists and dissected them down to the smallest of details like subgenre, publishing houses, and page counts. The results weren’t what we expected.

Join Kendra, Kayla, and Brandi as we dig into what’s actually dominating the charts right now, where trad and indie are showing up, and what these lists might say about reading trends overall. Plus a few moments where we couldn’t help but laugh.

If you’re curious about what’s really selling (and why), this one’s worth a listen.

Check out Lady Jane’s (Romancing the Data) Substack HERE.

Join the BYO book club ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Our April 2026 pick is The Name Game by Beth O'Leary!

Follow us on Instagram @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BringYourOwnPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Brandi @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brandos.Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kendra @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kendra.Readz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kayla @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylas.Bookshelf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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We decided to hurt our own feelings this week.

We went straight to the Goodreads 1-star reviews on our favorite books (AKA Hell on Earth) and pulled the meanest, funniest, most ridiculous takes we could find, then tried to guess the book based only on those (very incorrect, in our humble opinion) reviews.

See if you can guess them before we do. Play along while you listen!

Join the BYO book club ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Our April 2026 pick is The Name Game by Beth O'Leary!

Follow us on Instagram @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BringYourOwnPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Brandi @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brandos.Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kendra @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kendra.Readz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kayla @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylas.Bookshelf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Three hosts, one book, and very different opinions.

In this week’s episode of Bring Your Own, we break down The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez. What worked, what didn’t, and why we couldn’t agree - and don’t worry, we start spoiler free before we jump into the details! The conversation goes deeper than we expected, and the disagreements lead to great conversations. Whether you hate this book with a passion, feel meh, or liked The Night We Met, you’ll find an ally here!

Join the BYO book club ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Our April 2026 pick is The Name Game by Beth O'Leary!

Follow us on Instagram @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BringYourOwnPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Brandi @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brandos.Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kendra @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kendra.Readz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kayla @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylas.Bookshelf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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This week we got REAL about our favorite romance authors.

In this week’s episode, listeners called in to share their “roses and thorns,” the best and worst parts of authors they love. Some of these hot takes had us nodding our heads, others had us busting out laughing.

Kendra, Kayla, and Brandi react LIVE to your submissions, share their own opinions, and dive into the highs, lows, and spicy debates happening in the romance book community right now. If you’ve ever loved an author but still had thoughts… this episode is for you.

Join the BYO book club ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Our April 2026 pick is The Name Game by Beth O'Leary!

Follow us on Instagram @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BringYourOwnPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Brandi @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brandos.Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kendra @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kendra.Readz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Follow Kayla @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kaylas.Bookshelf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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