The Cure for Book Amnesia: Why We Forget What We Read with Lisa Zawrotny

Have you ever opened a book only for your tracking app to tell you that you’ve already read it? This week on We Read Smut, Alesia is joined by productivity coach and host of the Positively Living podcast, Lisa Zawrotny, to discuss book amnesia. We dive into the science of why our brains filter out repetitive plot patterns, how to use "active recall" to remember your favorite stories, and why rereading a book is actually a productive form of self-care.

Lisa Zawrotny is the founder of Positively Productive Systems and the host of the Positively Living Podcast. As a productivity coach, she specializes in shame-free systems for multi-passionate creatives, caregivers, and individuals navigating life transitions or ADHD. Lisa believes that doing fun things—like reading romance—is a vital part of a productive, joy-filled life.

In this episode, we're discussing:

• The Filtering Brain: Why the "Reticular Activating System" helps us avoid sensory overload by filtering out repeat patterns in the tropes we binge-read.
• The 4 D’s of Reading: Lisa’s framework for managing your TBR: Delete what doesn't belong, Delay/Defer (the soft DNF), Delegate (audiobooks), and Do (the actual reading).
• Active Recall Strategies: Tips for remembering standout moments, from specific tagging in Story Graph to picking out "key plot points" that differentiate similar stories.
• The Power of the Reread: Why returning to a "comfort book" provides reassurance and allows distracted readers to catch details they missed the first time.
• Palate Cleansers: How switching sub-genres, spice levels, or formats can break a reading fog and make your next book more memorable.

CONNECT WITH Lisa:

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BOOKS/AUTHORS MENTIONED:

• Debt by Nina G. Jones (Dark Romance/High Heat)
• All Superheroes Need PR by Elizabeth Stephens | Episode (Superhero/Monster Romance)
• Huntsman by Naima Simone | Episode (Diverse Snow White Retelling)
• Far From Neverland by River Hale (Dark Peter Pan Retelling)
• Sunny Disposition by Deanna Grey | Episode (Amnesia/Hockey Romance)

Running list of books mentioned (Doc)

Transcript

Alesia Galati 0:00

I was recently talking on my Instagram stories about how I kept forgetting these books and I was frustrated, feeling a bit down and out about myself and the fact that I wasn't remembering these books. Well, today I'm having my friend Lisa back on the podcast. We're gonna be talking all about what she affectionately calls book amnesia, why it's probably happening, how we can mitigate it if that's something we want to do, as well as some book recommendations for if we want to switch things up or give ourselves a palette cleanser. Let's go ahead and welcome Lisa back to the podcast. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hi, Lisa. I'm so excited to have you back on the podcast. Today you're coming on as my friend, and I'm very excited to talk about this topic because lately I've been feeling like my brain is forgetting a lot of the books that I have read previously. Even sometimes a little recently, which is feels scary, right? But before we get into all of that, if you could tell everyone who you are and a bit about your idea, you have a business, so let's talk about that real quick.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Thank you. So hi, in addition to being Alicia's friend, which is a very important role in my life, I am also a wife and a mom to two teens and a couple of cats and a business owner, as you said, a productivity coach, to be precise, and the host of the Positively Living Podcast, which you have been helping me with since day one. So that's very exciting. But I'm the founder of Positively Productive Systems, and I did that because I understand overwhelm in life, and I wanted to help people do productivity differently, to do it with compassion and to do it with real life in mind and with ourselves in mind. And that's why I'm such a huge fan of your podcast here, because we need to read for fun. And I'm I'm on that. Like this is my soapbox, and I've got the signs up, and I'm so excited for us to be talking about this because it's part of living life to the fullest, right? Productivity is supposed to help you have a more satisfying, joy-filled life. That's what I'm about. And doing fun things is productive. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Alesia Galati 2:33

One thing I love about what you do is that you work really well with people who are caregivers, whether that's for their own parents or for their children, people who are navigating life changes, things are up in the air, you're not really sure what you're working on or what's important, how to prioritize things. And so you approach it with so much love and compassion and very shame-free productivity. We're not like merie condoing everything to which that's great for some people. But most of us, especially when you have kids or you're trying to navigate caring for a parent, can be a lot to try to marie condo and get everybody on the same page.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

For sure. And I think one of the common things of all my people, and my people do involve the caregivers, the creatives, the multi-passionate creatives, the people who are maybe dealing with chronic illnesses, the people who have ADHD. I I live in a sea of ADHD in my life. And it's a very real thing to have this fluctuating energy and to not be able to show up in the same traditional way that most productivity systems expect you to. But you feel shame about it because you're like, what's wrong with me? And I'm here to say nothing. There's everything right about you, and then it's about finding that right system. So yeah, and you're right, and it's all with love, which is so important.

Alesia Galati 3:59

Everyone go back and check out the first episode where I had Lisa on. We talk more about finding time to read, especially when you're navigating lots of responsibilities and how to navigate that, create priorities for yourself, create habits around reading, and so much more. But today we're gonna talk about what you so affectionately call book amnesia, which one of my least favorite tropes. We're not gonna get into that too much. But book amnesia, or why do I keep forgetting what I'm reading? And this is something that I struggled with recently, and I was gonna do a whole solo episode, and I was like, Lisa, I need a friend on here because I feel like I need to talk this out with someone because I don't have any like, and here's the next thing to do approach to this. Like, I feel like a lot of us, and at least from what I experienced when I shared this on my Instagram, is that many of us, especially when we're reading such an exorbitant amount of books, that we are forgetting quite a bit of it. And I think part of my thought process was like, I should, and there we go, shoulding, I should have remembered that I read this book, or I should have been able to keep track of these things when Story Graph is like, you already read it, and I'm like, ooh, I did. Whoops. I guess let's get into what is your experience with book amnesia, since you also were like, Yes, me too.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

The fact that I gave you the term for it. So let's just put it out there. We are not alone, right? This is a thing. This is a big thing. And my experience with it has been, first of all, that it just keeps happening. So it's gonna be a thing. It's also, we talked about this before, but it's not a bad thing for me because I'm a rereader. I don't mind like revisiting a book, like revisiting an old friend. You know what I mean? So I enjoy that. And I'm like, well, it's no wonder that appealed to me. That story makes total sense because I really enjoyed it the first time. And maybe I'll enjoy it again. And some of them are good enough where I'm like, I just might put that on my current TBR and we're gonna do that, and it still counts as a book for this year. So there, because I forgot enough of it. And it counts. So, yes, it's happened to me repeatedly, and I've been trying to roll with it, but when you were talking about it and saying, let's talk about why, I was like, oh yeah, because I probably have some theories that sort of are adjacent to what I do as a coach, and also just wondering for my own purpose what's going on here and what can we do with it if we even want to.

Alesia Galati 6:49

And I think that's the important part, is if we even want to, right? You could go down a rabbit hole of all right, I'm gonna start annotating all of my books. I'm going to write a thorough review after I read everyone. I'm only gonna read one book at a time as someone who reads like four books at a time. It's not gonna happen for me. I need that switching between things. So it's like, you gotta decide. And by the end of this, hopefully you have an idea of what's gonna work best for you. But it really, when I was thinking about this, I thought about I'm so judgy. Toward my husband who has show and movie amnesia, right? And like that's his I was gonna say poison, but poison isn't the right word. That's his vice of relaxation, where mine is books, his is TV shows or movies, and he'll be like, I know we watched that movie, but I couldn't tell you what happens, like even major plot points. He's like, I feel like I'm watching it for the first time. And I'm like, that is weird, but then also I see myself with the books, and I'm like, oh yeah, it's just how the brain works, I guess. Maybe I don't know. So, what are your theories? What do you think is happening?

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Okay, the biggest thing, and this is probably the place where I play the most, is the idea of how we filter information, what we do, what seems familiar. I was thinking a little bit about, I always love mentioning the reticular activating system, which is what we use for when we do vision boards and we see something out there, like you buy a car and then you see the cars, and so you have this awareness. That's a good thing because that makes something familiar. But I think the side that sabotages us in amnesia time here is that our brains are really doing everything they can for us to not experience sensory overload. And so they're filtering out repeat patterns all the time. That's the very basis for why we develop habits and then we can use them for the powers of good. We're automating. And so the brain's gonna take information. So that looks the same as what I saw before. And at the very least, even if it doesn't filter it out, it's not gonna give the same energy to like taking it in.

Alesia Galati 9:08

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

So I think that there's a real connection to the fact that the more uh voracious readers among us, hello, hi, who love a certain plot, a certain trope, right, where there's a lot of repeat patterns are bound to fall into this rabbit hole of I don't know if I can tell one from the other. And it delights me because I'm a binge reader and I like certain types of tropes and I like the repeat patterns, but also I guess the double-edged sword of it is I'm going to forget the details because they're gonna mix together.

Alesia Galati 9:47

Yeah, I could definitely understand that. And I think it's interesting too because I am not a binge reader in that sense. So, like, I then that's why I thought this conversation would be so fun because you're a rereader and I'm not. You're like, I'm going down a rabbit hole of all of this type of trope or this hockey romance where I'm like, I did one hockey, I don't need another one for another two, three months. Let's go on some variety. So, even where the books that I am reading at the same time to keep them separate in my brain, I do categorize them differently, right? So, like recently I was reading three books at a time.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

One was a this book was so good.

Alesia Galati 10:30

It was a grumpy boss alien romance, so good, like hilarious. It's called The Bossy Quarry Master or something like that. It was a time, definitely a time.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

You couldn't find something more specific exactly.

Alesia Galati 10:50

I probably think I could. So that was one that I was reading on my Kindle. On my phone Kindle app, I was reading an ARC for a new adult college frenemies-ish. Like they grew up together and they're always daring each other to do stuff, romance, which was a good time as well.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

It sounds a little rivals-ish, which I know is a big thing for you.

Alesia Galati 11:14

Yes, I love good rivals to lovers. And then in the audiobook I was listening to, it was a single point of view, which a lot, I feel like a lot of the romances that I read tend to be dual, so that made it a little different. But it was a pop star Native American romance, and she's got to go to this small town to get away from the press because things are going down to like reconnect with her heritage, which I thought was really fascinating and interesting. And then, and then paperback, I'm reading an F1 romance of four. Four at a time, but all as you can tell, very different plot point. There might be a little bit of overlap with some of the tropes, but it's not glaringly obvious where my brain can categorize them. Now, once I'm done and I'm on to the next four, other than the books that I'm like, oh, I told somebody about it, or I actually wrote a review for it. I don't spend a lot of time rethinking about those books. Exactly. So I think that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

So you've jumped ahead to the what can you do? You've hinted at that, which is like the active recall idea where you engage with it somehow. And sometimes you and I have done that with each other, where now I remember like debt, right? Remember that.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

That's one of the books I have today to talk about. Of course, of course.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

So we'll get to that. Hold tight. Yes, you want to stay tuned for that. You really do. But the point is you and I have engaged and we've discussed it. So yeah, if you're writing a review or you're telling a friend or whatever, and that's a great tip, like for memory for recall. But yeah, if you don't do that, I think that leads into another side of it that I think that's happening is, and it sounds funny, but it's true that our brains want to prioritize what feels significant or important. Now, sometimes that can be the novelty of it, like the unique plot. But for the most part, we're reading for enjoyment and we're promoting reading for enjoyment. So that's a good thing. But our brains are also gonna be like, is that going to help you survive in the woods? Is that going to save your marriage? Is that going to save you tons of money on your car insurance? I don't know. I don't think so. So if it if it doesn't, then it's gonna be like, I do not need to deal with that right now because I have so much that our mental load is so for real, right? And so we're gonna, I used to joke back in the day, the show Married with Children, which is like problematic on like bajillion levels. But Kelly Bundy, she had, they called it the Kelly Bundy syndrome, where she had a finite amount of space in her brain. And so she was doing this like really great work in trivia, but then she was forgetting her own name kind of thing. And I just always remember that. It was like the snippet in my brain, because it was so funny. But I have often joked about that. I'm like, I have a finite amount to deal with right now. So do not ask me about the last book that I read or what the name of it was that involved a nerdy girl tutoring some kind of sportsy guy. And I even say sportsy guys go sports because I did go down like the hockey rabbit hole for a while, but then I was like, bring on the football too. That's just fine. Years ago, I was like covered all the baseball. Like, so yeah, there's a generic repeat pattern in there. We have so much we're dealing with. We have to deem what's important to remember. So it's either going to be something I think extremely novel where we're like, ooh, that stuck with us. It hit a nerve in a good way, or maybe it was good information to keep with us. But if it's not, it's gone.

Alesia Galati 14:56

Yeah, which I think part of it is like that's okay. Of course it is, yeah. That was a lot of the feedback that I got when I shared this on my Instagram stories, was like, are you still enjoying what you're reading?

unknown 15:10

Yeah.

Alesia Galati 15:11

Was one of the questions that someone reflected back to me. And I was like, I am. I love reading. I'm loving the story. Like, currently, the stories I'm reading are fantastic. Yeah. And I still am like, feel like I'm beating myself up about it. And she was like, then it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Yeah. What was the purpose of it? And are you enjoying it in the moment? And some things are for the moment. I used to joke about this a little bit, but it really helps you to release and declutter. And this was like traditional decluttering where you're going through the closet, right? And you're like, you pick up something and you're like, this still has the tags on it. I never wore it. And I remember going shopping with my mom and like making the Elvis face when she would show me something really ugly. No, I'm not gonna buy that. And but we had fun together. It was a form of entertainment, it was a form of bonding, it was something she enjoyed doing, and I did it with her. And that was years ago, and that was when she was still with me. And so if I got something and then I didn't end up wearing it because it was one of those that seemed like a good idea at the time, yeah, then I declutter it and I say, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and also it was fun at the time. Maybe the purpose of that was not to keep it in the closet, but the purpose was to have this bonding moment, this great kind of being present and in the moment experience, and then it's fleeting. And I think the same thing can be said for the information that we take in and what we engage in and what we do. It can be fleeting, and that's okay.

Alesia Galati 16:43

Oh, that brings me to this idea of I don't know that there's like a there's probably a psychological word for it, but when you tie your memory to an experience rather than the actual thing. A song came on my music player the other day, and it was a song from a kids' movie. The kids' movie is called Wonder Wonder Park, I believe is what it's called. And it's about this little girl, her mom is sick. You don't really know if her mom's still alive or what. Her and her mom had created these incredible worlds together, and her mom is not with her and her dad at the kind of main area of this of this story. And she is on her way with a bus to go to this like math camp that she really wanted to go to, but she's like, I gotta take care of my dad, I gotta do all this stuff. And her dad's like, You need to go. I'm gonna be fine, you go. And so she goes, but then she ends up getting off the bus to try to get back home to her dad, wanders through Wonder Park, which is like a remaking of her imaginary world that she created with her mom. And there's this song in the movie where like she's feeling the grief of her mom, whatever's happening with her mom. Her mom, you find up her mom actually is not dead. She's at a facility because she has cancer or something like that. So she's away from them, and so she's having all this grief and all these feelings and all this stuff. And there's nothing like, yeah, it's a kid's movie, but it's sad and it's it touches on the heart. But that movie came out soon after my mom passed away. And so it felt doubly intense. And so anytime I hear that song, yes, the song is beautiful and it evokes emotion because of the tones that they use and the musical elements that they use to do that, but it ties back to the memory of first watching that movie also being tied to around the time that my mom passed away. And so I feel like with books, to bring this full circle, with books, sometimes our memories aren't necessarily around the books, but the way that we experience them. Maybe it is with friends, right? I have Debt here as an example of a book that could help you shake things up and spice things up. But so much of this book is tied in me talking about it with you.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Like so much of the memory, and I didn't even think about that when I picked it, which is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

And how many times was like, what was the name of that book again? And then no, I have it now. I just locked in. But that's active engagement. And I love that you talk about like the experience of the reading, which is what we're talking about, like being present, and it's okay if you release it, but if it's linked to something, a time, an experience, then it's probably gonna stay with you. And I think the best example is how you described the story and connected to it. And whereas you can be like, yeah, there was a book I read a week ago, and I couldn't tell you about it, but I can tell you about this story of a daughter and her grief. And yeah, I think when it triggers something in our own experience, or it's so unique that it like it brands us like we're different because of the experience, or because we read it in a certain place. Like I can remember I might as well just admit this. This is a confessional, it's a safe space, right? I have read the Fifty Shades series, right? I had to. And at the very least, for pop culture purposes, I know what the deal is. And part of my memory of it, or how like I still connect to it, and I haven't just forgotten it because I'd be delighted to just forget it. But the reason I don't is because I can remember it being in the beginning of me getting back to reading for pleasure. We were on vacation with a family, and so I'm sitting pool side and reading the smutton, like, well, this is different. Like it was impactful, and so therefore, it stays with me. So it just happens.

Alesia Galati 21:01

Yeah, tying it to like an experience rather than, yeah, I could tell you exactly what happens at all of the plot points and the plot holes and all of those things. Like that, I don't think that the majority of us, unless you're a die hard reviewer or a book critic, are going to be analyzing the books this way. And of course, you get to decide if that's something that you want to do, right? If you want to go in and annotate everything or write notes on all the different things, and you have that ability, there's tons of resources to do that. But I think that it's important to decide is this something that I want to actually be doing. You mentioned ADHD at the beginning, and the way that our brains work can have an impact also on that and how much of the information we're remembering. So, can you go into that a little bit as well?

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Sure. Okay, so on the side of ADHD, flat out, it's the fact that we struggle with working memory. And so that means the retrieval and The retention to begin with. It's all part of our executive function, right? Is what's usually hanging in the balance with ADHD, and it varies from person to person. So there has to be, I think, with ADHD, a lot more novelty and a lot more specific engagement in order to keep it with. But the brain, when you have ADHD, is constantly seeking out novelty, but not necessarily being willing to hang on to it. And then also, so that's specific to ADHD, but for all of us, okay, like you said, our brains will retain differently due to different reasons. Memory can be weakened by chronic stress, lack of sleep, poor diet. Check, check, check, right?

Alesia Galati 22:48

Hormones have a like, especially if you're going through perimetopause, menopause as a weapon.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Brain fog is real, y'all. Okay. Real. Yeah, different kinds of substances, yeah, the medical conditions, all of it. And then if you have combinations of that, you're probably like, ooh, interesting idea, grasping. You may even get to a point where you are reading something and then you're like, wait, when did they mention that? And then you're like flipping back and being like, let me reread this. Or if you did that thing because you like to like alternate, if you set something down for too long.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

And I just lean into it. I'm like, you know what? We're just gonna start a couple chapters back. We just don't even just let it go. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. But yeah, there's so many things that can impact our brains like right from the get-go, based on how they're developed, and then also our environment and our lifestyle and habits and and what can be done.

Alesia Galati 23:48

So what are some ways that you would if that this is something that we want to maybe work on a little bit? Some of the feedback that I got was if you're not feeling it in 50 pages or 10% into the book, DNF it, which I struggle with the DNF. Yes, so hard. It's so bad. I recently DNF'd a book that I had been holding on to since October. It's February, and I has been sitting there on pause, and I was not feeling the characters. It was an author I absolutely love, and I almost felt bad DNFing it. And I was like, life's too short. Okay, like ah, I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Okay, I don't know if this reframe will help, but I'm gonna toss it out just in case. So when I'm talking about creating our to-do lists, and I have a guest on many podcasts talking about how they sabotage us and getting to the right one and going through this system called the four Ds. And the first one is deleting whatever doesn't belong, right? So make sure to check your TBR, especially if that's hitting at you and you're like, what do I even have this on for? I don't even like that trope anymore. Let go of stuff that doesn't belong. And then the other one was delegate. We're not, that doesn't count for this. We're not delegating out our reading. Oh, the audio book is the same. So there's that. And I have my own way that I like to work with the audiobooks. I have it on delay where I'll read something and then I'll do the audiobook next so I get to revisit the story in a different way. Interesting. And then the third D in this 4D system is actually delay, a different kind of delay, or defer, if you will. And maybe if you think of the DNFs as deferring until it's a someday point in time where you're like, this is a not now. I don't ever have to get rid of it. It's not that I'll never go back, but it's a not now. And then two weeks from now, it might be still a not now. And two months and two years, it still might be a not now. Maybe if you think of it that way, you're like, I put that on pause on hiatus on sabbatical because it's not working for me. And I'll go back when I'm ready. And that could also be never. And that's okay. Yeah.

Alesia Galati 25:55

Oh, that's such a good idea, too, because thinking about story graph and the back end of how that works with tracking your reads, they do have a pause, which I love. But then I could say, all right, I'm gonna pause this. And then every quarter I go through and I review my paused books. And if I'm not feeling them, they go to the DNF pile, right? So it's like a regular check-in, gut check-in of is this gonna work for me or not? But that pause also keeps it there on the currently reading so you can still see it, and I'll see it enough times to be like, no, I'm good. So then like, you know.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Yeah, exactly. It it is a form of decluttering, right? So in traditional decluttering, I would often encourage clients to do something called a maybe box, right? A maybe someday, where it's like they're not getting rid of it. Decluttering isn't about getting rid of, but it is about taking it out of your current space so that you can focus better and work better in the space that you're in and with what you have. And so this idea is maybe it's something where you're like, I'm just not using this anymore, or I'm not reading this anymore. So you set it aside, essentially, but you go back and you revisit it. And if it's six months or if it's a year, or whatever amount of time, or however many times you review and you're like, still not, still not, that gives you, I guess, the encouragement and the clarity to say, no, that really needs to go. And it's okay. I'm okay with it now.

Alesia Galati 27:22

Right. Oh, that's good. You said the three D's. What's the last D?

SPEAKER_02 27:27

I need the last D. Come find me, I'll tell you. No. I would not do that to you. I hate cliffhangers. I do not like cliffhangers. So the fourth D is the do, and that's the in the to-do list realm, that's the actual to-do list. That's where you start taking action. So in this case, if we were matching that up, it would be the actual reading. And that's where the TBR does, the true TBR exists, where now you're prioritizing from that point. You were asking about different ways we can deal with this. So I think some of it we just talked about has to do more with permission and being open. If you want to remember more, I think novelty does help, or keeping things different. If you're doing audiobooks versus Kindle versus hard copy and having like different plots, if you're gonna do that, that can help, at least temporarily. But again, it depends on how important this is to you. I think that engaging, taking notes, you could annotate if you want, but I don't want this to be homework for me, so that's not really my thing. But if it is, that's fine. But I will say this maybe one of the almost like a, I hate using the word hack, but something to that effect, like a quicker kind of way to get where you need to go without being too homeworky, is maybe if you are, let's say, reading a bunch of books within a trope, picking out just a couple of points, whether you make a note of them or you tell someone or whatever, where you're like, ah, this is similar to this other book, but with this kind of twist. But they're professionals instead of in college, but there's no third act breakup. Yay! Or there's or there's just something going on where it's like, I could really resonate with this character because she's really flighty and actually loves to read smut or whatever. It's like whatever it is, picking out what I would call key plot or character points that are like standouts to you. Because there's bound to be, even in repetitive books, there's bound to be those standout things. If you just grab a few of those and you connect that to the title somehow, you might be at least able to know, oh yeah, I did read that. Even if you couldn't say the whole plot, it might be more recognizable. I think that would be like a quick way.

Alesia Galati 29:51

That is a really good idea. I notice going back to story graph, when I put tags, when I really tag a book as I'm reading it, and when I say tag, I personally use my tags as any types of tropes or representation or kind of major plot points that tend to be reflected in multiple books. So if a guy comes early in his pants, that is a tag. And I have a tag and I have several books tagged with that. Or like you'll see there's some bookstogrammers who will be like, when he talks her through it, or when she talks him through it, here are some books with that tag, right? So like it's a very specific subtrope rather than oh, it's enemies to lovers. That's hundreds of other books, right? No, let's go deeper. Okay, they're coworkers and they're rivals to lovers. Oh, and then it is a black romance, one of them is a single parent. So you're going deeper with those tags rather than just enemies to lovers, representation, good. Like you have more information there.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

Absolutely. When I'm talking with people, working with clients, discussing the idea of organizing things, I tend to be careful about organizing too deeply at first. But I think in this case, we're talking about memory and like memory retrieval. And so I think with that, the tags that you're talking about being more specific will help. So it's not that you have to tag every single one, but if it's and maybe that's part of it too. It just occurred to me as we're talking about this that I know that there are some books that are standouts to me, and maybe I want to remember that I read those. And then others, it's like, it's okay if I forget. So I think that's a big part of it. And so then with the ones that you want to remember, that's where you look at the tags, you get specific, you maybe make a note of the key plot points and just have something that kind of jumps out at you and triggers that memory.

Alesia Galati 31:58

How does reread feeling? Because I honestly have never I don't I cannot remember a time where I have reread a book. And so I'm curious, does that help or how it feels if it's a book that you maybe don't remember all of the points to then reread it again?

SPEAKER_02 32:15

So I think in part, and I wonder if there's a correlation with people who like to re-watch shows and like what they call comfort shows. And I seek out a lot of comfort and a lot of calm. I think rereading is also like, oh, I liked it once. I will probably like it again. So it feels like a little bit more of a guarantee for me. It feels familiar and I like the familiar. Sometimes I like the familiar because I don't want the jump scare. I don't want to be like, oh my God, what's gonna happen now? Or do I have to worry? Because I have enough to worry about in my life. I need calm here. I need reassurance. Nope. Once you know something's happening, then you can be like flip the page a little slower, or maybe are we skipping this part?

SPEAKER_03 32:58

Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

I don't know. It's a reread. You can do anything you want. You make the rules.

SPEAKER_03 33:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

There's a familiarity, there's a comfort. Sometimes, because I don't remember. Okay, I'll tell you a funny little side note. Actually, speaking of amnesia, in high school, I played soccer and I got a hit to the head. Like I was a goalie, and somebody kneed me in the head while I was diving for the ball to keep them from scoring. By the way, I kept them from scoring. So that's a really important thing. Worth it. But I did have a concussion and I actually was walking around with very short-term amnesia of a sore, like walking without memory. Like I I knew who I was and like where I was, but there were aspects of my life that couldn't come to me that I couldn't retrieve. And my mom was checking on me through the night, and finally I got up, and I remember getting up out of her bed and walking into the hallway, which I knew, but not really being sure what was next. Like it felt familiar, but I wasn't sure. But then once I walked into my bedroom, oh yeah, this is familiar. And it was the weirdest thing. It was kind of like you've seen like animations, probably, where they're like drawing something as a character walks, and it's like it's being created as you go, or like a dream sequence or something like that. That kind of happened to me in real life. It was the wildest thing. And that's the best description I can use for what rereading that I don't necessarily remember feels as I go into a room or a chapter and I'm like, what's gonna oh yeah. And then it comes back to me. And then sometimes, and this is probably my favorite part and what I appreciate. I'm a quick reader, I'm probably a distracted reader a lot of times. And for me, rereading lets me catch things that I didn't before.

Alesia Galati 34:49

Yeah. Oh, that's so good. I'm excited because I have a reread that I have to do in the next like month to prepare because I which is so hilarious. I have to share my favorite sci-fi book on a sci-fi podcast. And I'm like, this is hands down my favorite book. I could not tell you a lot of what happens in the book, but I know in my heart and soul that it is my favorite one. So I'm planning on rereading it. And I'm thinking either I'm gonna do the audiobook, I'm gonna try to do the paperback, we'll see how that goes. But I'm thinking the audiobook to give myself a different experience. And I'm excited for those moments. Like I remember what happens in the beginning, I remember what happens a little bit in the middle, I remember what happens in the end. But anything else in between, couldn't even tell you.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Yeah. So I love that idea of using the audiobook so it's a little something different, and then also revisiting it in a way where you're like paying attention to some of those other little details that you have forgotten. So now you're looking for them again. I think that's fun.

Alesia Galati 35:47

Yes. Oh, so fun. I think too that books like written really well or spinning tropes on their head or just doing things differently can also be a really great way to like shake it up when we are maybe in our binge reading fest, like you do, where you're like, all right, I'm doing all of the hockey romances this month. But sometimes adding in something that's a little different can help. So I've have some recommendations. I have five books here. Debt is the first one. Woohoo! Of course. Debt by Nina G. Jones. I was gonna read the back because that tells you everything.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

Buckle up, get a drink if you it is good.

Alesia Galati 36:32

Okay. I don't know what I was thinking when I hired someone to attack me. The end. That's it. And there you have it. There you have it. Maybe I was bored or lonely, or there was a void so deep inside of me that I needed something explosive to fill it. It was supposed to be safe, a thrill, a way to break through the monotony of everyday life. It was an illusion of danger that I could walk away from as soon as it was over. Except it wasn't, because I had been in danger long before I ever invited it into my life. And then you've got the guy's point of view, but we're not gonna read that. Y'all know this is so good.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

Yeah.

Alesia Galati 37:12

It is dark. It is. There is dubious consent, some consent, non-consent, all of that stuff. I'm pretty sure he's got some piercings on his bits as well. So if you're into that, there you go. So that is one that will shake things up. It's different than a lot of the maybe books that you've probably read, but again, go into it understanding that there are triggers. Check your triggers, please. And thank you.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

This is why I live for your recommendations, just so we just so we're clear. Okay.

unknown 37:44

Yeah.

Alesia Galati 37:44

As you want. The next one is All Superheroes Need PR by Elizabeth Stevens. Elizabeth Stevens is one of my favorite all-time authors. You can, if you guys look at my collection behind me, I have all of her books. But what I love about this one is it takes that idea of aliens, superheroes, we have to work together. I'm this dude's PR team. Mixing it with monsters in like a modern day superhero movie. So definitely spins things on its head that you don't see in typical romances or contemporary romances, which I really like. And I'm pretty sure there's a knot in this one. See, everything has to do with the equipment. There's a knot in this one and a tale, I'm pretty sure as well. Next, Huntsman by Naima Simone. We had Naima on the podcast, so go check out her episode. What I love about Huntsman is that it takes a story that we know, Snow White and the Huntsman, but spins it in a diverse way, in a badass female main character way, that is like, I don't need anyone to save me. You can come along if you want to, and I've got my girls behind me. Here for it. All of it. It's so good. Again, check your triggers though. Because it is dark.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Okay. So this is I love a retelling of the fairy tales. And one of my favorite movies is Ever After. Nice. But this sounds like okay, well, if you if you like that, but you want to go dark. So yeah. Okay.

Alesia Galati 39:22

Yes. So good. And Ember will be out soon. That's the second book in this series. They are not interconnected, which is nice, so they're standalones, but they're all based off of a fairy tale and then taking it and remaking it and reshaping it. They sell this as Neon Gods. So if you've read Neon Gods by Katie Roberts, Meets the Godfather in this sexy Snow White reimagining. So good. Next is another retelling. It is a gay romance by this says Riley Hale, because I got this before the author changed their name to River Hale, I believe is what they go by now. But this is Far From Neverland. Peter Pan leaves Neverland, grows up, so it's not weird, grows up, and Captain Hook is like, You're coming back, and I'm sick of being alone and not having anyone to torment. So I'm on my way to come torment you. Again, dark. Check your triggers. This one is dark. There's some definitely dubious consent, but he's definitely into it. So this is a good one. And then this one is more, this one's not trigger happy, like a lot of the other ones, but Sunny Disposition by Deanna Gray. And we had Deanna on last week. So definitely go check out her episode. What I love about this one, and I said this in the previous episode, is that she takes a trope that we typically see, the amnesia trope, which is my least favorite trope, which we see in like the middle of a storyline and spins it, and the amnesia happens at the beginning. And so you see these characters rebuild from there instead of me being mad that they forgot the whole first half of the book that we experienced together. Like I hate it. It makes me very upset.

SPEAKER_02 41:17

And now they're forgetting, like, this is not okay.

unknown 41:20

Exactly.

Alesia Galati 41:22

So this one is fantastic for that. Very low angst, grumpy sunshine, hockey. If you're into that, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

I noticed where picked up on that.

Alesia Galati 41:32

They're in college, she's a gamer, and yeah, it is, it's very good. And so those are my recommendations for if you're looking for something that kind of can shake things up for you a little bit. Of course, some of these are again, please check your triggers. What do you find, Lisa, are good kind of palate cleansers for you when you're maybe in a binge read?

SPEAKER_02 41:59

What I tend to do sometimes is I will binge until I'm done, and then I will just change. Like I'll be like, so I will go dark for a while and then I'll be like, I can't do dark anymore. I gotta lighten this baby up. So I think the way that I cleanse the palette is simply by change. So it's not the same change every time. It's more of the, it's a lot of times it could be the spice level, it could be just allowing myself to be influenced. One of my best recommendations is ask Alicia. Like I will come to you and I'll be like, I'm a mood reader and I'm not in the mood. Why am I not in the mood? And kind of being okay with it. But I do agree that finding something unique that's standout or something that like that feels like what you need at the moment. And that's my general advice as a coach. I do this all the time, where I'm like, don't read things that you need to, you think you need to learn about. If you're going to read for learning or educational purposes, go for something that's really going to help you right now in this moment. It's going to help you in your life, going to make things feel easier, going to clarify something, going to inspire that sort of thing. And so I think in the same way, when you need a palate cleanser, that means you've maxed out on what you're doing. Think about what you need right now. And a lot of times in my mood reading, I'll be like, I need something light and fluffy and delightful. And so that's a small town romance, and I'll go for that kind of trope or something. And then sometimes I'm like, the darker the better, baby. You know, like and then finding authors that will speak to different aspects of the world. So I so appreciate how much you bring the diversity because I think that's so incredibly important. And I love diversity not only in who we are as people, but the experiences. Right. So looking for something unique where you're like, oh, I haven't heard that one, and that's a spin on the trope that I think is really interesting. I think we talked earlier, you're not so much into the second chance. And I wish I could remember the book, and this is a great example. I can't remember the specific book, but the concept stuck with me where it was second chance because they were really attracted to each other. They had this amazing kiss one night, and then the next night her dad dies and she leaves school. And then they find each other again. And it's like such an incredible way to spin the second chance where you're not like, oh, people screwed up and stuff happened and they're so much older and where's the plot? And I don't know if you want something a little fresher. Yeah, taking that spin.

Alesia Galati 44:35

So good. All right. So for people who are like, actually, yes, this conversation was fun and all, but I actually need help with my to-do list. I need help with the things that Lisa was talking about. I need help with my four D's, please, and thank you. How can people get to know you, connect with you? I know you also have experience in voice work. So if there are authors listening who are interested in having their book narrated, all the things.

SPEAKER_02 45:05

Thank you so much for asking. Yeah, because at some point you might be like, I need to get my life in order so I can make space for reading. It's because that's the whole point, is making space for what you love. And we can talk about that in so many ways and so many places. You can start at positivelyproductive.com, and that's where you can find all the ways to connect with me and the podcast and the blog and how I coach and all that. You are listening to an awesome sauce kind of podcast right here. And it would be easy to just hop on over to Positively Living, Shamefree Productivity Conversations, and I'd love to have you join me there. If you want to have some fun and just laugh and watch me be ridiculous, Instagram positively underscore Lisa. And yes, part of what I'm doing is trying to put my voice out into the world. So podcasting is one way to do that. But I have been in the past a voice artist, and I'm continuing to move forward with that because it's part of what inspires me. So yeah, if you're an author and you're like, I would like to get my book out there so people have a way to reread, I'd love to chat with you.

Alesia Galati 46:16

Awesome. And we'll make sure we have links for all that stuff in the show notes and the YouTube description for anyone doing other things while they're listening to us. Lisa, thank you so much for being on and having this chat with me. It was 10 times better because you were here.

SPEAKER_02 46:29

It's always a yes from me, and I'm delighted. Thank you so much for welcoming me back.