What Should I Read Next?

Anne Bogel, the blogger behind Modern Mrs Darcy, has built something genuinely clever here. Each week, a reader comes on the show and tells Anne about three books they loved, one book they hated, and what they're reading right now. Then Anne -- who seems to have read roughly everything published in English -- makes three personalized recommendations on the spot. The format sounds simple, but it works because Anne is remarkably good at reading between the lines. A guest might say they loved a cozy mystery, and Anne picks up on the fact that what they actually liked was the sense of place, not the genre. Her recommendations land with surprising accuracy, and you can hear the genuine excitement when a guest says, "Oh, I've never heard of that one!" That reaction happens a lot. The episodes run about 50 to 60 minutes each, and there are over 510 of them since the show launched in 2016. It holds a 4.8-star rating from more than 5,100 reviews, making it one of the highest-rated book podcasts out there. Anne's tone is warm without being saccharine -- she'll gently push back on a guest's reading habits or admit when a popular book didn't work for her either. The Patreon community adds video episodes and spreadsheets tracking every recommendation ever made on the show, which is the kind of obsessive bookkeeping that readers genuinely appreciate. If you've ever finished a book and stared at your shelf feeling stuck, this podcast was made for you.