It’s a new year… which means new intentions, fresh planners, and at least three versions of ourselves living rent-free in our brains.

In this episode, we talk about:

• why resolutions feel overwhelming and how to make them realistic
• big goals vs tiny dopamine-hit goals
• whether rereads “count” towards your goal
• attention spans, burnout, and Romantasy overload
• choosing a word of the year (Youthful? Whimsy? Immersive?)
• motivating reads, comfort reads, and perspective-shifting picks
• building a real, inclusive book community in 2026

We’re starting the year with optimism, intention, and a TBR that may or may not destroy us...and we want to hear your goals too.

Tell us your word for 2026, your first read of the year, or a resolution you want help breaking down into something doable. We’ll cheer you on.

Next week: new releases we’re obsessing over and whether the sequels are actually worth it.

Same time, same place. Bring your blanket. Bring your book boyfriend. See you there.

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

In this episode, we’re wrapping up the ACOTAR series with a full recap of A Court of Silver Flames.

We break down Nesta Archeron’s journey from rage to healing, her relationship with Cassian, the rise of the Valkyries, the Blood Rite, the Dead Trove, and the events that reshape Prythian by the end of the book. We also share our honest reactions, what worked for us on reread, and where Silver Flames fits within the series overall.

To close out our final ACOTAR episode, we dive into ACOTAR 6 theories and predictions, including:

• Who we think the next book will follow
• The future of Elain, Azriel, Gwyn, and Lucien
• Whether the story is headed toward court politics, war, or something bigger

⚠️ Full spoilers for A Court of Silver Flames and the entire ACOTAR series.

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

There is something about the holidays that makes us crave familiarity. The stories we return to, the movies we rewatch, and the books that feel more like comfort than content.

In this Christmas episode of Book Bits & Chill, you can expect:

✨ Spoiler-light Good Spirits review
👻 Hot ghosts and holiday romance expectations
🎄 What makes a Christmas classic
🎬 Favorite holiday movies and comfort watches

To finish things off, we play a Naughty or Nice game featuring bookish hot takes, DNFing, enemies to lovers crimes, holiday smut opinions, and extremely specific reader behavior that might land you on Santa’s watch list.

This episode is cozy, opinionated, slightly unhinged, and best enjoyed while wrapping gifts or pretending you like eggnog.

🎧 Next episode: A Court of Silver Flames. Final ACOTAR reread thoughts, predictions for ACOTAR 6, and very strong feelings.

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

Why do smutty books have such a chokehold on women? And why do we keep choosing fictional men over real ones?

In this episode of Book Bits & Chill, Cassie and Emily dive deep (pun fully intended) into the world of smut, erotica, and spicy romance — and why women can’t get enough of it. We talk about why women are turned on by words more than visuals, and how romance novels act as emotional foreplay and low-stakes escapism.

We unpack the difference between slow burn yearning and instant gratification, debate when smut enhances a story versus when it completely derails the plot, and explain why “men written by women” feel so unrealistic… and yet so necessary.

Emily steps into her role as the Smutty Professor to recommend the best smutty books for beginners, while Cassie argues that men desperately need a masterclass in yearning. Plus, we end with chaos: Two Truths and a Lie: Erotica Edition, where we test whether these unhinged plots are real books or pure fever dreams.

If you’ve ever wondered why smut improves your mood, your stress levels, and maybe even your sex life — this episode is for you.

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

Today we’re handing out our 2025 Reader Superlatives and Best Books of the Year — and yes, it’s as chaotic as it sounds. If your reading year was fueled by BookTok recommendations, romantasy spirals, emotional damage, and wildly inappropriate book boyfriends, welcome home. In this awards-show-style book podcast episode, we crown the best books of 2025 across romance, fantasy, sci-fi, literary fiction, and thrillers.

We give out awards for Best Book Boyfriend, Most Likely to Keep You Up Until 3AM, Most Emotionally Devastating Read, Funniest Book of the Year, Biggest Mind-Bender, Emotional Support Book, Most Confusing Fantasy World-Building, Genre-Bending Wild Card, and our official Top Book of 2025.

We deep dive into Project Hail Mary, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Ascended, The Favorites, Zodiac Academy, Emily Henry books, The Nightingale, Onyx Storm, and more. We break down what makes these the most talked-about BookTok books of 2025, which romances rewired our brains, which reads wrecked our emotions, and which stories we could not stop recommending to literally everyone.

If you’re looking for best books of 2025 and BookTok book recommendations to stock up your 2026 TBR, you are in the right place!

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

Today we’re diving into Brimstone by Callie Hart — and wow, do we have thoughts. If you’ve finished this book and thought “what did I just read?”, welcome home. In this chaotic, spoiler-packed book club episode, we break down everything from the world-building, the nonstop venom dosing, the missing characters, the plot threads going nowhere, and Kingfisher’s surprising new name reveal.

We talk about whether Brimstone works as a sequel to Quicksilver, why the pacing felt unhinged, which characters actually carried the book, and how this series might wrap up from here. And of course, we end with our final ratings: who should read this, who shouldn’t, and whether this romantasy sequel is worth continuing.

Plus, we play a round of Fantasy Therapists, diagnosing the characters with the unserious, delusional “conditions” they absolutely deserve.

If you love book club chaos, spicy romantasy discourse, and brutally honest reviews, you’re in the right place!

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

We need to talk about A Court of Frost and Starlight. Because after rereading it for this episode… we are begging you not to waste your time. This novella is a winter solstice fever dream filled with a nauseating amount of POVs, zero plot movement, and Feyre giving everyone paintings of their trauma.

So we made the episode that will save you the read.

Inside this recap we cover:
• the entire plot in under 30 minutes
• whether ANY of this matters for A Court of Silver Flames
• final review, spice rating, hangover level & book club recommendability
• our official verdict on what this book could have been

If you’re wondering “Do I need to read ACOFAS?” the answer is in this episode.

📚 Get your books here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/bookbitsclub/list/35VAKXI0EXW4D?ref_=aipsflist

💬 Let’s hear from you:
Did you think this book was worth the read?

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.

Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid has taken TikTok, BookTok, and every library hold list by storm, but does this psychological thriller actually live up to the hype? In this episode, we dive into the wild plot twists, questionable character logic, audiobook chaos, and why this book feels like the literary equivalent of junk food… in the best (and worst) way.

From Millie’s “fresh out of prison but still somehow naïve?” behavior to Enzo absolutely stealing the show, we get into everything that worked, everything that absolutely didn’t, and whether The Housemaid deserves its bestseller status. We also talk reading slumps, social book club picks, and the upcoming movie adaptation starring Amanda Seyfried, Sydney Sweeney, and Michelle Morrone.

✨ In this episode:

• Spoiler-free recap of The Housemaid
• Audiobook thoughts (including that Brooklyn accent)
• Why this book is so bingeable — and so frustrating
• Plot holes, cliffhangers & popcorn-read energy
• Character deep dive: Millie, Nina, Enzo + the rest
• Who should read this book (and who absolutely shouldn’t)
• Movie adaptation casting hot takes
• Our final ratings & book club potential

If you loved Verity, The Last Mrs. Parrish, or fast, twisty psychological thrillers, this episode is for you.

✨ Follow @bookbitsclub on Instagram & TikTok for more book club chaos, recaps, recs, and reviews.