If you haven’t heard of it yet, the Professional Book Nerds is a podcast for book lovers, by book lovers. With a 4.5 star rating and over 600 episodes of book-talking goodness, it’s the best place to go for weekly expert book recommendations, author interviews and all things books.

You can expect 2 episodes per week: Mondays are author interviews with everyone from debut novelists to Pulitizer Prize winners; and Thursdays are book chats where the Nerds discuss recent reads or a genre focus like monarchy-inspired reads, comics, books on TikTok and a whole lot more. If you’re the kind of person who likes to know what’s coming, there’s also a books preview episode once a month with upcoming titles they’re most looking forward to reading.

Meet the hosts

Emma Dwyer

Emma helps to train libraries on how to use the Libby app. Prior to joining Training at OverDrive, she was a staff librarian and brings a great deal of book knowledge to her current team. She enjoys reading British fiction, mystery, thriller, romance and young adult. Her favorite book is House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. When Emma isn’t working, she enjoys reading, Love Island (UK), travel (to warmer climates like her home state of California), coffee and hanging out with her family and dog.

Jill Grunenwald

Jill is the creator of the Professional Book Nerds podcast and works in Marketing at OverDrive. When she isn’t working, Jill enjoys writing romance novels, reading books across all genres, binge-watching Mad Men for the millionth time, and hanging out with her husband and their four cats.

Joe Skelley

Joe manages OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile, a traveling semi-truck that visits communities across the U.S. to teach readers how to enjoy digital books on Libby. He enjoys reading African American literature, mystery & thriller, true crime, magical realism, a touch of fantasy, dystopian reads, and the broad genre of young adult fiction. Joe’s favorite book is Beloved by Toni Morrison. When he isn’t working, Joe loves to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, watch YouTube, get too involved in a DIY project and play with his Boston Terrier, Roscoe.

Best episodes of the year (so far)

If you’re just starting out and need some episode recommendations, check out these listener favorites:

• Stream-Alikes: Whether it’s a show that you’re watching because it’s trending on Twitter, or a fav that you love to return to, this episode has books (and shows) just for you!
• The Twilight Saga Retrospective: The Professional Book Nerds wax poetic on Team Edward vs. Team Jacob marketing, give some stream of consciousness thoughts and descriptions and try to figure out where loca has been.
• Interview with Simone St. James, author of The Book of Cold Cases: Joe and Simone discuss her book, what started her writing journey, how she creates stories and characters and what she’s likely to order at the sushi restaurant.
• Life’s a drag—but this episode isn’t!: Joe and Jill share nonfiction and fiction books with drag queens. They also discuss their recent opportunity to see Alyssa Edwards (S5, All Stars 2) live, favorite Drag Race seasons and Queens, and who they are rooting for to take the crown in All Stars 7!
• Interview with Jennifer Weiner, author of The Summer Place: Emma and Jennifer discuss her book, the conclusion of her summer book series, lobster cobb salad, how the pandemic changed everything, motherhood and Sutton Foster!

Join the 2022 Reading Challenge

This year, the Professional Book Nerds are challenging you to read books outside of your usual fare. Fill out the 2022 Reading Challenge (also available here) and complete prompts like “Read a classic you weren’t assigned in high school” or “Read a book that deals with mental health issues.” Snap a picture of your completed challenge and email it to the book nerds or send it over on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok at @ProBookNerds. Winners will be entered into a device giveaway. But really, you’re always a winner when you read more books!