Speaker:
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Hello, Friday Night
readers and Happy New Year.
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It's been a while since we talked and
I have a lot to share with you today.
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I hope you're easing right into January.
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It is a month that I like
to take just for what it is.
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After two weeks of all the Fs,
food, family, festivity, and fun,
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I actually felt good about getting
back into my routine this week.
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This means workouts for me.
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So far I've been doing 20 minutes
of walking in the morning and a
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little bit of weightlifting or
running at night healthy food.
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I do my Greek yogurt in the morning
salad for lunch, and I'm doing soups
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for dinner and my structured workday.
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I thought it would be hard to get back
into the nine to five, but I'm actually
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really enjoying it and I hope you are too.
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As I said, January just is what?
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It's, it's cold and it's dark
and it's bland, but so what?
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I still have a fireplace and a book
by my side, and I hope you do too.
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So I was stuck home sick for the actual
Christmas holiday, but I did have
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some highlights in my holiday break.
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The best one of all was that I got to
read an advanced copy of Anne Patchett,
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who is my favorite author, her new book,
Whistler, which I believe is out in
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June, 2026, and I read it on Christmas
Eve since I was stuck home alone.
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I thought, what better way to indulge?
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I had a glass of champagne with it,
and it was five stars and undoubtedly
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will be one of my top reads of 2026.
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It was not my favorite book of hers.
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That one is the Dutch House, and I
also really, really liked Tom Lake,
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but I think if you like both of
those books, especially Tom Lake,
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you will definitely like Whistler.
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It's about a stepdaughter and
her long lost stepfather, who she
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reconnects with and there are a
lot of stories within the story,
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just like Tom Lake that said, it's a
little bit more sweet than Tom Lake,
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which had some darkness
and complexity to it.
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At the same time, though, it's
not saccharine, I absolutely loved
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every minute I spent with it.
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I also got to FaceTime with my
nieces, so I did get to see them
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open presents, and that actually
made me feel like I was there.
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They're 10-year-old identical twins
and I always love seeing them open
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things and get so excited, even
when it's the smallest little thing.
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They're just in that stage where
everything makes 'em happy.
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And we had a pizza party
for my mom's birthday.
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This was great because I did
not get to see my family for
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Christmas because of my sickness.
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So a few days later, once I felt
better, we did go to visit and had a
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post Christmas birthday celebration.
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I also got to meet my sister's
new cat, Darcy for the first time.
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And we actually booked visiting
Longwood Gardens, which is a botanical
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garden in the Philadelphia suburbs
and is one of the best in the country.
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I'm telling you.
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It is so good that Martha
Stewart regularly visits there.
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Anyway, we ended up going after
Christmas because my husband was
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so busy with work during the month
of December before Christmas.
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And it was still just as delightful
to see it all lit up for Christmas.
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I did post some photos in
the show notes for you,
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and we had our traditional New
Year's Eve dinner out with our
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friends at an Italian BYOB.
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This is the same couple we go out
with every year, and it is the same
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restaurant we go to every year, and we
like it because it's just really low key.
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There's no set menu and you
just bring your own wine.
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Super easy, delicious, comforting,
and we're always home by like 8 39.
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Next, we had our traditional red beans
and rice on New Year's Day, so my husband
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lived in New Orleans for college, and
I've come up with my own version of
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red beans and rice that I make for
him, particularly on New Year's Day
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because it's a really comforting dish.
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And it's also sort of indulgent, so it's
kind of like the last day he can indulge.
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And lastly, we also went to one
Eagles game at a bar with a group
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of friends, which was a ton of fun.
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The bar was super crowded.
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I'm telling you, there had to
be like 50 TVs in this place.
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So it was a lot of fun.
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And then we actually got to
go to another one in person.
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I had not gone to an Eagles game
in something like 10 years in
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person, but we got tickets to a box
at the last minute offered to us.
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So.
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We scooped them up and had an
amazing time, even though the Eagles
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lost go birds in the playoffs.
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, So otherwise, I stepped back from Friday
night readers at the end of December,
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and I really wanted to reflect and
plan for:
2026
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changes to improve our community that
I'm going to describe in this episode.
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But first, I think we have to take
a quick recap of:
2025
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where we are and where we're headed.
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You may or may not know that I
ran a book blog called Literary
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Lifestyle since 2019, and I also ran
a Warrior Gilmore Reading Challenge
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called the Warrior Gilmore Book Club
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since late 2020, early 2021.
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But in mid 2025, I've decided to shift
my focus entirely to our Gilmore Girls
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Book Club, and I rebranded it as Friday
Night Readers moved all of my work
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here to Substack and added the podcast.
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This shift to Substack was designed
to foster a more interactive
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community reading experience.
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It offers so much more
on a single platform.
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This is email, blog posts, a
social media feed, podcasts, chats,
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polls, images, collaborations with
other creators, videos and more.
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Did I mention that there are no
display ads, no rage bait, no focus
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stealing, or doom scrolling here.
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So this is a really good time for me to
recommend that you use the substack app
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to enjoy mine and other creator's content.
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And yes, it is worth it for all
the reasons mentioned, and I
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have linked it in the show notes.
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I had spent the entire summer focused
on implementing Substack as best
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as possible, and by December 25, I
actually became a Substack bestseller.
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These six months of experience on
the platform have allowed me to
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reflect on what's working and what
improve for our community in:
2026
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Here's what I came up with first.
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Substack is now our main hub.
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It used to be Instagram, but Instagram
has really shifted from a community
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platform to an entertainment platform.
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I'm still posting regularly for our
thriving Instagram community, but I
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now consider Substack to be our home,
and I hope you're into this shift.
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It's just a much better experience overall
for a virtual book club, whether you're a
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free or a paid member, and it's growing.
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So I want to lean into it from
a business perspective too.
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Okay, now let's talk about
our posting schedule.
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I generally post it on substack two to
three times per week in:
2025
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aiming for the same cadence in 2026.
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I'm currently planning on
posting on Sunday morning.
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This is to banish your Sunday scaries.
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Wednesday mid-morning and Friday morning.
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Sunday morning will be a new format
for a column that I tested early on.
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Called the Gazette.
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This is based on the Stars Hollow Gazette.
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Before it felt more like a monthly
lifestyle magazine, but now it
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will be a recap of the week.
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Here is my thinking.
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I post so much in so many places over
the course of the week that it can feel
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like it gets lost in the weeds sometimes.
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So I'm going to recap the best of the week
in one place to make it easy for you to
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enjoy the best of the best of my content.
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Think a short video, an engaging chat
thread, a popular note, and or a relevant
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post from the archives all in one place.
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I'll will add anything else
that's of the moment, like a sale.
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I'm shopping when I'm
watching a good recipe.
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I just tried, et cetera.
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On these posts, paid subscribers
will also receive my high and low of
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the week reviews of what I read and
did not finish that week, and any
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book releases I'm anticipating for
the coming Tuesday, which is always
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publication day in the book world.
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This replaces the monthly
column called the book report.
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It is not going away.
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It is just coming to you
weekly versus monthly.
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Wednesdays are somewhat open-ended
and they will generally include our
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regular columns, bookmarks, and book
tease for anyone new around here.
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Bookmarks is a curated selection of
things that I found around the web
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that I think are interesting for you.
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And the premise is that I do all the
scrolling throughout the month so that
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you can stay informed and inspired while
having more time to read and book teases.
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These are our interviews with people like
authors who tell us all their favorite
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books on Gilmore Girls and the like.
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Or they may consist of something else
I wanna post, such as seasonal reading,
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which is always popular around here.
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We're gilmore's after all, and
I'll add audio if that makes
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sense, like I'm doing right now.
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These posts may be free or paid
just depending on what they are
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and whether something seems like
it should be behind the paywall.
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Fridays are still official podcast
days, but the podcast is changing.
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Looking back on the year, it became
clear to me that my Gilmore Girls Pop
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Culture rewatch episode by episode
wasn't the best fit for my growing
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Substack audience, which is far more
literary than the general population.
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That said, I still love
connecting with you by audio.
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It's actually one of the main
reasons I chose Substack as
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a platform, as a user myself.
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I found that I really enjoyed Article
Overviews when I didn't have time to
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read Substack articles, and I wanted
to bring that experience to you.
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So I'm going to be podcasting
more like that in:
2026
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Most podcast episodes will now
be drawn directly from our Rory
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Gilmore Reading Challenge, not on a
specific episode of Gilmore Girls.
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I'm planning on this monthly cadence.
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First, we'll always be breaking
down our monthly reading prompts.
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Here, I'll tell you what the prompt
is, the list of books on it, and the
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ones that I think are worth reading,
worth skipping, that kind of thing.
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Next, we'll explore the
featured book of the month.
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You may or may not already know
that I pick a featured book for
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you to consider reading that month.
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I try to pick popular ones
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like Huck Finn or The Diary of Anne
Frank, and then I do a deep dive.
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I'm bringing these to
audio to you now as well.
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Third, I will review what I read for our
challenge this month in a similar fashion.
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Where I tell you what episode of
Gilmore Girls, it was featured
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in and curate things like movie
trailers and interesting articles
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about the book for you to look at.
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Last will be something else related to
Gilmore Girls and or the books on it.
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This will be something like a
character deep dive, a review of
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a book's adaptation, et cetera.
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These posts will mostly be free paid
subscribers can also listen to the podcast
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ad free on Substack, as well as access
are Principal Gilmore Girls Inspired
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Reading Journal and episode guides.
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That's part of what you get when you
upgrade to a paid subscriber on Substack.
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Okay?
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So if you're going to miss the
episode by episode rewatch me too.
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I'm toying with ideas on
how to bring this back.
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After all, I need a good reason
to rewatch the show again.
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So just stick around and see if I
come up with another way to do this.
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I'm thinking I may put it on the Friday
Night Reader's official website or maybe
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do it as a book or something like that.
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Next, let's talk about the Principal
Gilmore Girls episode guide.
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So for about a year now, I've been sharing
one principal Gilmore Girls episode
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guide per week with paid subscribers.
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These include a summary of the episode
and a list of books, authors adaptations,
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et cetera, that are referenced
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it is by far the most accurate and
comprehensive Gilmore Girl's book
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list that I am aware of, especially
since it's categorized by episode.
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I have been known to study books
in the background and catch really
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obscure references in their fast talk.
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These are not going away.
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In fact, I'll be able to share the
full episode guide, which is about
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150 to 175 pages with paid subscribers
within the next week or two.
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I am almost done with the last rewatch
I wanted to do before I shared it all.
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So no more waiting week by week.
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The entire catalog will be
in your hands very soon.
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This is another great reason
to upgrade to become a paid
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subscriber if you aren't already.
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Next, let's talk about important
updates for founding members.
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This is really big.
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Previously founding members received
occasional behind the scenes insights,
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such as the ones I recently shared
about my reading and business goals.
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I will link that post in the show
notes for you in case you missed it.
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So you will still get this
in the Gazette every week.
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I'm also pleased to add a benefit
to this highest tier of membership,
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which encourages us not just to
read better ourselves, but also
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to become literacy advocates.
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This is inspired by the stats I posted in
my article about why you should take the
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Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge with us.
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I'm looking all of this in the show notes.
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According to several high profile
articles this year, classic reading
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is down substantially in high schools.
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From the advent of AI to schools being
required to teach for standardized
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tests, it's widely reported that
even many Ivy League students
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haven't read a full classic book.
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My high school read five to 10 per year,
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and I do credit this with why I
became an English minor and why
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I'm doing what I'm doing right now.
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Literacy is also down from the
National Literacy Institute.
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21% of adults in the United
States were illiterate in:
2024
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That is one fifth.
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54% of adults have literacy
levels below a sixth grade level.
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Over half of adults and 20%
are below a fifth grade level.
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Lastly, the United States
ranks 36th in literacy.
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So here is my plan for 2026.
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For each founding member, I will
gift a book and a one year paid
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subscription to Friday night readers
to a high school English literature
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or reading teacher in need.
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I plan to use the Wishlist Finder, which
was compiled by a teacher called Mr.
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Aire to accomplish this.
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I've been following her for a few
years on Instagram and she is amazing.
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More details soon and I'll keep
you updated in the Gazette on what
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we're accomplishing as a community.
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I'm pretty sure I know how I want to do
this, but I need to hammer out the details
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so that's why I wanna get
back to you in a little bit.
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This year, please consider upgrading.
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For our initial run of this initiative,
you can set your own price to
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become a founding member as well.
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Again, the place you join is at
Friday night readers.substack.com,
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and this is for founding members.
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In closing, I just want you to know
that I am so grateful for your support
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over the years, and I sincerely hope
you like these changes to our book club.
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and during our sixth annual Rory
Gilmore Reading Challenge, I can
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honestly say that this has been the
most impactful work I've done both for
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myself and for our book club members.
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This year, my goal is to focus on
enhancing the experience for book club
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members to make it more immersive,
engaging, interactive, and yes, analog,
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that very trendy word right now.
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And to take things a step further and
become stewards of literacy, I think
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it's what Rory Gilmore would do, and
I just got chills when I typed that.
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Life short.
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Remember to read fast jewels.
