Kris and Mads – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, we’re sharing our mindful reading goals for 2025 and why we’re embracing a slower, more intentional approach to our TBRs. Maddie is setting a 100-book reading limit to focus on quality over quantity, while Kristen is incorporating cozy fantasy, nostalgic rereads, and expanding her home library. From rating systems to physical TBRs, we’re breaking down how we plan to read more thoughtfully, track our progress, and enjoy the journey. Plus, we’re diving into the impact of audiobooks vs. physical books, finding our own influences, and prioritizing movies and TV. Tune in for all the details and get inspired to set your own 2025 reading goals! Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro: Kicking Off Our 2025 Reading Goals 06:23 - Kristen’s Plan: Reading Fewer Series & Focusing on Standalones 10:02 - Maddie’s Rating System Overhaul 15:01 - Why Maddie Is Setting a 100-Book Limit for 2025 16:54 - Kristen’s Cozy Fantasy Picks and Slow Reading Rituals 17:35 - Tracking Our Reading in 2025: Reviews, Journals, etc 19:39 - Kristen’s Reading Journal: Keeping Track of Progress 22:08 - Nostalgia Reads & Rereads: Kristen’s 2025 Priority 22:55 - Maddie’s Focus on Classics: A New Direction for 2025 25:00 - The Four Series Maddie Plans to Tackle in 2025 27:03 - Maddie’s Physical TBR Goal: Under 10 Books 28:20 - Kristen’s Shift to Standalones & Building a Home Library 30:55 - Prioritizing Romance: Kristen’s 2025 Genre Spotlight 34:18 - Diversifying Recommendations: Plan for Variety 38:20 - Being Your Own Tastemaker: Avoiding Reading FOMO 39:25 - Our New Twist: Giving Each Other 3 Passes for the Year 42:27 - Choosing Physical Books Over Audiobooks in 2025 45:47 - Audiobooks vs. Physical Books: Balancing Time & Value 48:13 - Making Time for More Movies & TV in 2025 Join our Patreon: patreon.com/KrisandMadsSisterhood Find us everywhere: https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads Biz inquiries: contact.kris.and.mads@gmail.com

What do you get when you mix a shocking (and oddly funny) kidnapping story with insights on becoming a full-time content creator? This episode with Michael Kist! 🎉 Join us as Michael hilariously recounts being literally kidnapped at 11 years old (yes, really) and how his love for books, history, and fantasy shaped his path to success. Whether you’re a fan of epic reads, deep dives into creative careers, or just love hearing creators overshare, this episode has it all! 🎙️ What We Cover: Timestamps 00:00 Intro 15:19 📚 How Childhood Stories Inspire Reading & Content Creation 21:07 ⚠️ The Weird, Wild Risks of Being a Creator 24:53 🔥 Juggling Passion, Burnout, and Everything in Between 27:51 🎯 Why Success Isn’t Just About the Views 32:44 📏 From Short-Form to Long-Form Content: The Big Transition 37:39 💬 Handling Critics & Keeping Fans Happy (or Not) 42:06 🤝 Engaging with Communities Like a Pro 49:12 💡 Negotiation 101: Knowing Your Worth as a Creator 56:00 🌟 What’s Next? Michael’s Personal & Professional Aspirations If you’re into books, reading, history, or fantasy—or want to master the art of content creation—this episode is a must-listen. 📖 Love storytelling? Michael drops gems on how his love for epic tales influences his creative process. 🎥 Thinking of going full-time? Hear tips on navigating audience expectations, burnout, and the ever-evolving creator economy. 🛠️ Bonus laughs included. Tune in for inspiration, laughs, and the most unexpected kidnapping story ever.

You can find Michael's content here:  @KistReadsBooks  and around the web: https://linktr.ee/michaelkist biz inquiries: contact.kris.and.mads@gmail.com Patreon, Tiktok, Instagram, merch, and more here: https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 98k+ following.

In this interview, we're interviewing our fellow content creators Will and Ed Gwynne, sons of author John Gwynne, and best known around the internet as the Brothers Gwynne.

We discuss their approach to content creation as siblings, their book taste, aspirations, and some of our favorite stories. And of course, we discuss John Gwynne (aka Papa Gwynne) and his amazing series.

You can find Will and Ed on YouTube and around the web.

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@thebrothersgwynne⁠ You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads⁠⁠⁠

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 98k+ following.

In this interview, we're interviewing author Ryan Cahill. Ryan's independently published series, The Bound and the Broken has sold over 400,000 copies worldwide, and the fourth installment in the series is coming out in 2025. We are huge fans of the series, and so honored to sit down and chat with Ryan about his work.

We discuss Ryan's approach to writing, his choice to be independently published, his largest influences, and some of the story-telling choices he makes as he develops especially male characters with emotional depth and female characters with range and complexity. While we asked for no spoilers, we did check in about whether or not we will be satisfied with a few plot points along the way, as the series concludes with the fourth and fifth books. You can find Ryan at his website, and order his books from there or your favorite bookseller.

⁠https://ryancahillauthor.com/⁠ You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads⁠⁠

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 95k+ following.

In this interview, we're interviewing fellow content creator Lino, regarding his reading tastes, approach to content creation, and the characters that inspire him in stories. As Lino continues to grow his following, we also discussed growth strategies for social media, and our approaches to monetization, integrity, and authenticity. We so enjoyed hanging out with Lino, and hope you enjoy the episode as much as we did! You can find Lino on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join his book clubs on Fable, and even purchase his poetry books. Everything is linked here:

https://linktr.ee/linothereader You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads⁠

This is a show about stories—for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 95k+ following.

In this episode, we share how our sister relationship has evolved through our childhood, young adult, new adult, and adult phases. We are often mistaken for twins or confused for one another, and in this episode, we debunk the myth that we are alike. We are very different! You'll see as we share about being homeschooled, stalking boyfriends, teen pregnancy, divorce, infertility, miscarriage, careers, and what changed during the pandemic—we hope we give you insight into our relationship and why we feel so passionate about stories. This isn't everything, but we shared some juicy bits. Hope you all enjoy the show!

P.S. We are actively problem-solving our sound issues, and will hopefully have superior volume and sound mixing on future episodes. Thank you so much for your patience, as we level up to bring you guys the best quality we can.

You can connect with us on social platforms, email us, and find all our other resources here:

⁠https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads⁠

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 95k+ following.

In this interview, Thomas Weaver introduces his Amazon bestseller debut novel Artificial Wisdom, and we discuss a tech-optimist approach to the near future. We also chatted about the themes present in the novel, namely climate change, political polarization, and the disinformation era. Thomas also shared his inspiration and writing process and divulged a little about his work in progress Futility Town. We opened the interview up to audience questions at the end.

You can order Artificial Wisdom on Amazon:

⁠https://a.co/d/2F0Yh3Z⁠

You can find Tom on TikTok and Instagram:

⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@thomasr.weaver⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/tom_weaver/⁠

You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here:

⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads⁠

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 95k+ following.

In this interview with Margaret, fellow bookish content creator, we talk about Margaret's love for Realm of the Elderlings, some of her favorite authors and stories, her approach to content-creating and her audience, the permission she gives herself and others to have unpopular opinions about books, and she gives us her honest opinion on some of our top tier books. We also opened the floor to the LIVE audience for questions in the second half.

You can find Margaret on TikTok and Instagram:

https://www.tiktok.com/@mm.stormblessed

https://www.instagram.com/literallyliterary1

You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here:

https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 95k+ following.

In this interview with Allie, a fellow bookish content creator, we talk about Allie's start on Booktok, her hilarious theory on her parents' occupations, her top romance authors and book recommendations, her advice for anyone starting on Booktok, and the ins and outs of being content creators. We also opened the floor to the LIVE audience for a few questions at the end.

You can find Allie on TikTok and GoodReads:

https://www.tiktok.com/@allisonsaplusreads?lang=en

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/139256742-allison-e

You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here:

https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads

This is a show about stories for storytellers and story lovers, hosted by sisters Kristen and Maddie, lifelong readers and recent booktokers with a 95k+ following.

In this interview with Lyn Moore, fellow bookish content creator, we talk about Lyn's start on Booktok, his up-front no-bullshit approach, some of his favorite authors and stories, the vampire books he picked up this year, his own imprint Lyn Moore house, his upcoming debut fantasy novel, and the ins and outs of being content creators. We also opened the floor to the LIVE audience for a few questions at the end.

You can find Lyn on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram:

https://www.tiktok.com/@lynmoore_books

https://www.youtube.com/@lynmoore_

https://www.instagram.com/lynmoor_/

You can find Kristen and Maddie on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Join their book club on Fable, and keep up with what they're reading on Goodreads. Everything is linked here:

https://linktr.ee/kris.and.mads