I was contemplating making a “best reads of 2020 so far” post, since I’m ahead of schedule on my Goodreads Challenge. However, I looked back through my ratings and found most of them are 4 or 5 stars, so “best reads of” would basically be “almost everything I’ve read in.”

I had a long dry spell last year where I couldn’t get invested in anything—books, TV shows, games, podcasts that were not just My Favorite Murder all day every day.

Now, I feel like I can’t read fast enough. There are so many books to tear through and only so many hours in the day and days in the week…and only so much emotional bandwidth to contribute. Books, good books, can be exhausting, in the best way.

Books in the Freezer

Image belongs to Books in the Freezer

I fully blame this recent shift on the podcast Books in the Freezer. I binge-listened and ended up adding so many books to my TBR, I had to make another, smaller TBR to prioritize them.

Yes, I mentioned this podcast before, but I’m doing it again. It’s important.

Books in the Freezer bills themselves as “A bi-weekly book podcast dedicated to the deliciously disturbing world of horror fiction.” The podcast title is a funny reference to a Friends episode, one that I’ll let the hosts explain for themselves (go listen to their first episode to get the story).

You could Google it, but come on, just go listen.

Not only did this podcast introduce me to books to read, and remind me of books I’ve meant to read, it rekindled my love of reading. I was feeling burned out as both a writer and a reader, and to be excited about horror again? That’s a gift worth more than…what’s a big number? Worth more than my student loans.

So if you need a little bit of inspiration, this is where I’ll point you. Make sure there’s plenty of room in your freezer.