The Worst Bestsellers

Writer Kait and librarian Renata read bestselling books in an attempt to understand their appeal and, barring that, to become the Crow and Servo of the book world. New episodes every other Monday. Visit WorstBestsellers.com for our readers advisory booklists and other fun stuff.


All Episodes

Episode 257 – Bests of 2024

(Shania Twain voice): Looks like we made it! As 2024–our tenth year of podcasting–draws to a close, we are once again taking a moment to discuss some good books!...

Episode 256 – Dune

Oh, how the worm turns! We read Dune by Frank Herbert, mostly as a Christmas present to returning guest Anna (@lcarslibrarian) but perhaps also a gift to you, the...

Episode 255 – The Merriest Misters

Your faithful podcasters decided that they’ve been nice all year, so they get to read a fun holiday romance novel as a treat! Returning guest Helena Greer, author of...

Episode 254 – Uglies

On occasion, listeners have suggested Uglies by Scott Westerfeld as a Flashback Summer title, but since we’re all Crumblies here, we were full adults when this contemporary classic YA...

Episode 253 – Lessons in Chemistry

Our Beloved Patrons voted for us to read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. We invited a woman in STEM, returning guest Sarah, to join us for this episode. Pour...

Episode 252 – Carrie

Hold onto your tampons: we read Carrie by Stephen King. Our friend Nicole returned to the podcast to read this classic horror novel that’s even bloodier than Gerald’s Game....

Episode 251 – Bride

It’s spooky season, and what could be scarier than heterosexual werewolf knotting erotica? The fact that we both might have…liked it? Eek! We read Bride by Ali Hazelwood and...

Episode 250 – House of Earth and Blood

Thanks to Porter Square Books for hosting our 250th Anniversary live show! And thanks to everyone who turned out in person or for the livestream! If you missed it,...

Episode 249 – Crush

We’ve come so far from our first episode, and yet we’re still talking about teen vampires with Carrie. Unfortunately, we’re still out of Stephenie Meyer content so we had...

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