Photo by Juja Han on Unsplash

Through this winter and spring as I trained for my first half marathon with Team World Vision, I kept myself engaged by listening to A LOT of podcasts. And the one I came to love most during my long runs was Anne Bogel’s “What Should I Read Next?”

In every episode, Anne Bogel — a.k.a. The Modern Mrs. Darcy — interviews one book-loving guest, asking her (or occasionally him) these questions: 1) What are 3 books you love, 2) 1 book you hate, 3) books you’re reading now, and 4) what you’d like to be different about your reading life.

She then follows up with a little literary match-making, recommending three books she thinks her guest should read next.

Pretty fun, right? And pretty obvious on content alone why I became hooked, but Anne also possesses a velvety-smooth voice made for podcasting, plus a completely winsome broadcast persona. Altogether a combination that, in my book, could not be beaten.

No wonder, then, that I began to daydream about how I would answer if I found myself on the podcast. Were I answering today, here’s what I would say:

First, a bit about myself.

I grew up in cities on every U.S. coast and overseas as my family moved with my father’s Navy career. My growing-up years nurtured my love for books as they became my constant amidst an ever-changing environment. I graduated with a communications degree from Whitworth University, where one of my favorite classes was a month-long Murder Mysteries course requiring us to read a mystery novel a day for the duration—a book-lover’s dream. Since then, my love for reading has continued unabated. In the last five years, I’ve been a She Reads reviewer, a book blogger of nearly 400 titles at katherinescottjones.com, and the editor of the contributor blog for the Open Door Sisterhood  I am also the author of two novels, Her Memory of Music, (2017) and Shadow Sister (August 2018)—inspirational women’s fiction with a global accent.

In addition to reading, I love to travel. My husband and I make world travel a family value. To date, we have traveled with our two kiddos to 15 countries on 4 continents. I’ve twice been a guest on the Mom Inspired Show with Amber Sandberg swapping tips and tricks for traveling the world with kids on a middle-class budget.

My husband and I have been married for 28 years. We live near Seattle with our two teenagers, Jackson and Madeline.

3 books I love

(Note: as Anne often clarifies, these needn’t be the only books I love; they are merely 3 out of many) Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk. The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell. Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon.

1 book I hate

(Hate is a strong word; let’s say, dislike strongly) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

Books I’m reading now

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist. The House Girl by Tara Conklin.

What I’d like to be different about my reading life

More histfic with the same kind of nuance and gravitas as women’s fiction, set in corners of the world I’ve visited or would like to visit.

So…if you were in Anne Bogel’s shoes, what would you recommend I read next? I’d love to see your answers in the comments section below.

After words:

How would you answer Anne’s 4 questions?