You two girls are amazing. You are both so individual and so much fun. You make this 60 year old book loving girl very happy. Keep up the good work. ❤

Ariel: DID YOU KNOW that the percentage you see for precipitation on a weather forecast is NOT the CHANCE of rain, but the percentage of the area experiencing rain in the forecasted region?

I love how Ariel looks a bit nautical in this episode and then is doing a pirate event 😂

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 Ariel, you might consider investing in biodegradable wet wipes for the mini truck. Kids + snow cones and other food at events = sticky hands touching your books.🍭

I can't wait to hear how industrious Ariel has been this year so far (I already know it's VERY industrious)

I'll give my mid year update, too because WHY NOT! Goal #1: Visit 5 new-to-me local bookstores: Completed! (6/5) Goal #2: Read 30 books of my physical TBR as it was when I started the year: Nearly there! (27/30) Goal #3: The Storygraph's Read the World Challenge: I keep forgetting! (4/10)

i swear you guys make mondays special :D

Hi Raeleen! I started reading Anna Karenina at the beginning of May and I am at 63%. Now I am obsessed with Russian literature and want to read all the classics!! What helped me out was listening to the audio book, because it's easier and more enjoyable to get through slower parts. I feel like Anna Karenina is an emotional drama series sometimes, and the narration gets you sucked in for chapters on end. Besides, with an audiobook you can crochet the shorts too! Hope that helps 😊

Listening to this podcast is the best way to start the week! Thanks for the serotonin boost of book updates ❤

so far this year I've read 90 books! My wild goal is 200 this year, I've gotten close (190 and 188 in 2022 and 2023 respectively) but I want to hit that milestone and I think I can do it. I also set a goal to read books written by authors from 24 different non-US countries (translated or not) and so far I'm at 16! I already have several more lined up on my TBR that I either own or could get at the library, and I think it'll be exciting to expand my reading horizons further this year. Favorites of the year so far: How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair (memoir of a woman who grew up in Rastafarianism), Youthjuice by EK Sathue (horror set at a skincare company), Coraline by Neil Gaiman (mashed potato book), Little Blue Encyclopedia by Hazel Jane Plante (woman writes an encyclopedia about a fictional TV show in honor of her dead friend, really beautiful writing), and Victim by Andrew Boryga (guy stretches the truth to get into college, ends up getting caught in his own lies). Right now I'm reading The Getaway by Lamar Giles, which is a horror/apocalyptic story set in the near future at a theme park, and so far it might be another favorite because it's perfectly unsettling and has very strong Jordan Peele movie vibes.

I have some queer jazz book recs (my history degree capstone was on this topic)! 'Queer Blues: Hidden figures of early Blues Music' by Darryl W. Bullock. 'Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940' by George Chauncey. And this one is definitely academic but 'Imperial Blues: Geographies of Race and Sex in Jazz Age New York' by Fiona I. B. Ngô

I need an update on the pirate bounding outfit next episode lol

listening to Ariel talk about the 100 book goal just makes me want to do an informal reading rush every quarter...

I love using these quarterly check ins as an opportunity to check in on my own goals!

Will there be a truck tour video on your channel soon?? Or this channel? I really wanna see all the books!!

The book truck events will be so fun to see from afar! Exciting. I love Raeleen's gatherings with her friends. These just seem so lovely and symbolic. Still loving the hair. I enjoy watching/ listening to your podcast so much!

I just noticed that they stopped featuring the bookmarks in the podcast! Im not a subscriber to the bookmarks, but i like to see them when they drop 🥺

Wow. I forgot about the Studious Potatoes! I can't wait to see how this comes out. These goals episodes are my favorite. I always wish I had a bowl of popcorn, when I watch/listen to them!

Ariel- if you want a studious potato book about weather, I recommend Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larsen about the 1900 Galveston hurricane. It is written in the style of a novel but it details how weather used to be predicted and some of the lessons learned since the hurricane. It also follows Isaac, who was an early weatherman and his family. Edit: I recommended this book without reading it and fair warning that the end is a tearjerker

Ariel, I would totally buy "lean IN" merch! 🤣

So excited to hear that you got to visit Novel Tea! ❤It's one of my favorite spots and the cafe items/treats are also delicious!

I've read 5 of the 24 I picked out in January to read in 2024 🙈 the remaining 19 give bombastic side-eye to all books I've purchased and added to my collection this year 🤣

yaaaaayyyy goal updaaates!

Will you have a pamphlet/card/QR code on the truck about the bookshops in NS to share the info with the book people?

When you got your custom license plate made did you ever contemplate being Bissett Boooks? hehe 😝 I love decals they're so cute, I recently saw a little vintage birdhouse cross stitching kit and one of them look similar colours to your logo! I also checked in with my goals and it's shocking how far behind I am haha, you ladies are holding me accountable too!

I love these update episodes! Last week I finished Anne of Green Gables which was my 14th book of this year, and I enjoyed it a lot. My favorite books of this year so far are Albatross by Terry Fallis, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto and 84 Charing Crossroad by Helene Hanff..all books mentioned and recommended by this podcast. I wish Realeen good luck with a Dance with Dragons. I gifted my sister the first 5 Game of Thrones books (second hand) for her birthday. My back still hurts from carrying them all home.

I know it's too late, but Ariel Disney bounding as Disney's Renegade Nell for the privateer event would have been so cool! Loved this episode. Love the organization. You two are really rocking your goals. So inspiring!

If you're interested in a fun jazz-themed children's book, Jazz Baby is awesome! Super musical and sweet with great illustrations.

You guys always look great but Raeleen looks extra pretty this episode. I think it's something to do with the red hair and the red eyeliner and the glasses are a little red looking too in the light--it's all very coordinated 🥰

Anna Karenina advice for Raeleen: I definitely recommend listening to the audiobook version here! It's obviously super long, but I found it easier to keep up with the characters (all those long russian names…) and storylines over audio. Not to mention the fact that whenever I picked up the physical book, I literally couldn't keep myself from falling asleep lol. Definitely worth the read, I hope you get to it and enjoy it this year!!

Love you both so much and always love these episodes ❤

For the sportsbooks: you should pick up beartown by Fredrik Backman!! It is about a town and a small hockey team. But it's about so much more. It's one of my favorite books of all time, i'm reading the second one right now and it's also so good!!

I’m surprised that you’re able to order niche books for these events with such short turnaround times, how far ahead do you have to order these books?

Hi Raeleen, my favorite cat book is The King’s Captive by KM Shea. This author just has such a cozy/funny writing style and I absolutely love it. I just recently got into listening to this podcast (already have listened to all of 2024’s episodes) and it’s always great to hear you bring up the cat books. No clue if you would like it as a fantasy/romance book but I had to mention it

YES Beau is afraid was the worst and found it really problematic

Tip about places to take your book truck: Touch a Truck events for kids are always so fun! I'm a librarian who takes the library's bookmobile to them sometimes. Maybe there are some in your area? Quick Google showed me one from Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Shore in NS but idk if that's too soon, close to you, or even something you'd be interested in

I dnfed Ariel Levy’s memoir, I also felt like I couldn’t connect with her, but my main problem with it was the jumping of stories. It felt like she never finished a story before starting to tell me something new and apparently unrelated, and (as far as I read) she hadn’t really gone in depth into anything she was telling. For example: I wanted to know more about how she felt about her queerness and coming out, but all she told me was yeah she married a woman but liked referring to her as her husband. Cool. That’s interesting. Tell me more, analyze it, does culture influence that? Is that just because she is butch and it feels right? Is it your internal homophobia? I wanted more depth, but kinda felt like she met me at a party and started telling about her life: interesting, but kinda rambling and surface level.

Have read 83 books this year. 22 of those were 5 stars. 11 of those were rereads. 4 are new favorites. So do hope to find some more new favorites. Other goals are going pretty well with rereading, reading series and trying more books from authors I have loved before

There is a new book called Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water by Vicki Valosik that sounds perfect for you two! ❤

ariel !! in honour of becoming a canadian citizen this summer, i want to actually explore canada because despite living here for almost 7 years i've only been to two cities (montreal, where i live, and vancouver for like 4 days total) and i've decided i would like to visit halifax ! i would be there the last week of august and i was wondering if you would be taking the mini truck into halifax then bc i would book my flights to make sure i don't just miss you. as a bonus i got my ma into the podcast and she asked for some bissett books merch for her 65th bday next month, so i figured it would be extra cool if i could get her gift from the truck. if not, as a citizen i plan to be here for a while and know that i'll want to visit halifax again 🥰

Hi Raeleen and Ariel!!! Book recommendation time: Yesterday I finished Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck, and I think both of you would really enjoy it. Thoughtful meditations on nature, the author's life, Henry David Thoreau's life, a bit of the author's family history, all interspersed with hikes and walks through New England. Just a short, quiet, lovely book that I think would appeal to you both!

Ariel, don't memoirs count as part of your biographies goal? Either way, thank you, I always look forward to Monday with you Books Unbound.❤

I rrally think taking a weekend away to read and just getting trough 10 short books would be a lot of fun. And you would almost be caught up!

I also just finished Ariel Levy’s book/audiobook and failed to feel a connection. When you talked about memoirs that give a “little more” than simply testament, it brought to mind one of my favorites, a Puerto Rican memoir called “Almost a Woman” by Esmeralda Santiago, about her experience moving to NYC from rural Puerto Rico in the 1960s. She also narrated the audiobook in English and Spanish. Highly recommend!

Anna karenina is a good book to listen to crocheting/knitting as it’s getting colder as that is how I consumed it ;)

moday is not complete without you two

hahaha ariels spiral into weather trustability is hilarious

I loved the episode! The stats immediately made me want to pick up a book. I'd be interested to know how you quit or cut back on social media, if you want to talk about it. Was it easy for you? Do you miss anything? I really like Instagram specifically, I get inspired by some content and I feel like it keeps me up to date with things. Still, I spent too much time there for my liking...

My goal this year is also to read fewer books (from 110 last year to 52 this year) so that I will read the big ones!! So far, I am 11 books ahead according to the StoryGraph 😅 (obs). BUT! I have finally read The Priory of the Orange Tree so my main goal is achieved ❤ A huge mashed potatoe that I absolutely adored!

My goal of reading 50 books this year is going great, I'm already at 33 🎉 My 24 in 24 plan not so well, I'm only at 9...I just think for the amount of books I read its just too constricting and it feels like I can barely decide on a whim on what to read. I'm also doing a book club so technically I have 34 of 50 books already set 😮 I will only read a couple more of the 24 and that's about it.

I read The Art of Gathering during the pandemic when I was hosting Zoom groups and found it revelatory and helpful. I would not recommend the audiobook, however. The author had a monotone voice and a flat delivery, imho.

Would ‘It’s a good life if you don’t weaken’ count as a biography? It’s memoir 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm so confused. All the books pictured are actually bound.

Discord individual ID has an emoji of a book roof on a birdhouse. Just sayin’ in case Ariel wants to change it up in Discord ☀️

I can not relate to any of these reading goals - ya'll putting this much pressure on yourselves is WILD 🤣