Ep 535: Branching out thanks to a book bingo challenge

From What Should I Read Next? by Anne Bogel

July 28, 2026 · 1h 12m · Episode 535

About this episode

Emily Holladay discusses her reading challenges and experiences with book bingo and finding diverse reading material.

Today's guest is a Kentucky neighbor who has both a specific reading project and a dilemma we know is shared by many readers. Emily Holladay is a pastor in Frankfort, Kentucky, where she lives with her family. As a newish mom, Emily is still finding her outside-of-parenthood hobbies, but reading has been a constant throughout her life. Emily's a member of a book club at Carmichael's Bookstore, which happens to be Anne's local bookstore. When Emily completed her guest submission form and told us about her struggles with completing her Carmichael's bingo card, Anne couldn't wait to talk about this reading challenge with Emily. Emily also often finds herself browsing Libby for her next read. She often feels like every book that's top of mind for her is also on everyone else's mind, and suspects she would be happier if she had an assortment of backlist books on her radar that might be available on Libby right when she wants them. Anne has ideas for Emily, and we'd love to hear your suggestions too: please share the titles and tips you'd like to share with Emily by leaving a comment on our show notes page, where you'll also find the list of titles discussed today. Every week here on…

People in this episode

Host: Anne Bogel

Guest: Emily Holladay

Topics covered

reading challenges
book recommendations
parenthood
book clubs
backlist books

Keywords

book bingo
reading project
Carmichael's Bookstore
Libby
backlist books
book club
reading recommendations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Carmichael's Bookstore, Libby

Places: Kentucky