Once Upon a Time Zone: A Bookish Podcast
Episodes
ALL the Book News We Need to Talk About 👀📚 + Our Lives Beyond Books [EP#42]
01 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We've had SO MANY book announcements lately, we just need to debrief. We also spend the last bit of this episode chatting about what we do outside...
Our Spring vs Fall TBRs 📚 (Same Time... Different Seasons?!) 🌸🍂 [EP#41]
24 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Because we live on opposite sides of the world... here are our Spring and Fall TBRs as we head into the new seasons!Books Discussed:The Jasad Heir - S...
Which Fictional Character Is MOST Likely To...? (with @lottiesmalley) 📚👀 [EP#40]
17 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We have the beautiful Lottie Smalley with us today! Had so much chatting about books & fictional characters we've loved. Hope you enjoy this o...
This Fantasy World is Based on ACTING?! 🎭 (with Shannon J. Spann) 📚 [EP#39]
10 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We have the AMAZING debut author Shannon J Spann on the pod today! We chat about her process writing the incredibly unique fantasy standalone A Stage ...
March Reading Recap, April TBR & New Book Releases! 📚 [EP#38]
03 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let's wrap up our March reading month & talk about what we're looking forward to in April!Books Discussed:Just Friends - Haley PhamRhythm ...
The Ultimate Guide to Reading Fantasy (Best Books for Every Reader!) 📚 [EP#37]
27 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Looking for a fantasy book to read? Look no further! We go through every fantasy subgenre in this episode, with recs for beginner to advanced readers!...
The Books That Made Us Fall in Love With Reading 📚 [EP#36]
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Diving into NOSTALGIA today! Let's talk about the books that made us fall in love as young teenage readers.Books Discussed:A Stage Set for Villain...
Exposing Our Bookish HOT TAKES with Ellen Catherine! 👀 (@ellencatherinebooks) 📚 [EP#35]
13 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we chat with the beautiful Ellen Catherine and share some of our bookish unpopular opinions!Ellen's socials:https://www.youtube.c...
February Reading Recap, March TBR & New Book Releases! 📚 [EP#34]
06 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let's wrap up our February reading month & talk about what we're looking forward to in March!Books Discussed:My Husband's Wife - Alice...
Spicy Books That Are ACTUALLY Good... (As Spice Haters) 🌶️📚 [EP#33]
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about SPICE today! We are both self-proclaimed spicy book haters, but for some reason... these ones worked for us. Let's dive into ...
We Need to Talk About BookTok, BookTube & Bookstagram (Let's Do Better) 📚 [EP#32]
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Books & social media bring us both SO much happiness... but we need to just take a second to talk about the current state of BookTok, the anti-intelle...
The Ultimate Viral ROMANTASY Book Bracket with Emmy Rosam (@whatemmyreads)! 📚 [EP#31]
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we chat with the beautiful Emmy Rosam and battle it out to find the ultimate popular romantasy read!Emmy's socials:https://www.yo...
January Reading Recap, February TBR & New Book Releases! 📚 [EP#30]
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let's wrap up our January reading month & talk about what we're looking forward to in February!Books Discussed:The Fellowship of the Ring ...
Our FAVOURITE Book Characters of All Time 📚 [EP#29]
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We love fictional characters, let's talk about some of our favourite book characters we've ever read! Books Discussed:The Lord of the Rings (T...
Bookish Habits, Our Favs & If We Would Ever Write a Book... (Ask Us Anything!) 📚 [EP#28]
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
You asked, we answered... hope you enjoy this chatty episode as we discuss our habits as readers, what we do outside of reading & more!Books Discu...
Book to Screen Adaptations We NEED to Watch! (And Want Next) 📚 [EP#27]
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about books being adapted to screen, whether to TV series or movie! Books Discussed:Midnight on the Celestial - Julia AlexandraA Reaper at ...
Overrated or Iconic? What We Thought About These VIRAL Booktok Books! 📚 [EP#26]
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Are these popular booktok books overhyped... or actually worth it? Let's find out!Books Discussed:The Love Hypothesis - Ali HazelwoodThe Song of A...
December Reading Recap & Our 2026 Reading Goals & TBR! 📚 [EP#25]
02 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Let's wrap up our December reading month & talk about our 2026 reading goals! Books Discussed:The Strength of the Few - James IslingtonHouse o...
The BEST and WORST Books We Read This Year | 2025 Reading Wrap Up 📚 [EP#24]
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
2025 wrapped! Let's talk about the best and worst books we read this year, going month to month. THANK YOU for listening this year, and can't ...
The Goodreads Choice Awards 2025… What Is Going On? 📚 [EP#23]
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's go over the Goodreads Choice Awards nominees and winners of 2025! Why is the romantasy category so confusing...?Books Discussed:Just Friends...
Reacting to Your TOP 10 Books of 2025! 📚 [EP#22]
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Time to talk about the BEST reads of 2025! In this episode, we go over YOUR top 10 books that you read this year. Thank you everyone for submitting yo...
The Realities of Publishing a Debut Fantasy with Sarah Mughal Rana | Dawn of the Firebird 📚 [EP#21]
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about the hard truth of publishing with Sarah Mughal Rana, author of debut fantasy Dawn of the Firebird. From her experience with writi...
Bookish Things We Are LEAVING in 2025 📚 [EP#20]
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about some bookish habits and trends that we just want to leave behind in 2025... and forget about as we move into 2026!Books Discussed...
Books you FORGOT About... But Should Still Read 📚 [EP#19]
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about some of those hidden gem books that we all forgot about... but we would still highly recommend!APOLOGIES for some of the audio qu...
Book Series We DNF'd... vs Series We Can't Wait to Start! 📚 [EP#18]
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about the books (series) that we gave up on and DNF'd... but also chat about some series we are SO excited to start!Books Discussed...
Creating Our PERFECT Fantasy Books 📚 | Choose Your Own Adventure [EP#17]
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's create our ULTIMATE Fantasy stories! This episode just confirmed we should NOT be authors, but we had fun doing it anyways! 😂The Will of ...
Oddly Specific Book Recommendations (for your very specific moods) 📚 [EP#16]
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we are going to give you our book recs for ALL your very specific moods. Hope you love this one!(We apologize for the audio quality in the last...
Our FAVOURITE Authors and Where to Start With Their Books (READING ORDER RECS) 📚 [EP#15]
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about reading order for some of our FAVOURITE authors! We'll talk about our fav books from each, as well as where to start with the...
The Books That Everyone Hated... But We LOVED 📚👀 [EP#14]
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about some books that the world HATED (aka had very low Goodreads ratings)... but we loved.Books Discussed:Us Against You - Fredrik Bac...
10 VIRAL Books We Will NEVER Read 📚👀 [EP#13]
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about some popular BookTok books that we just do not want to read... Books Discussed:The Names - Florence KnappThe Kingdom of Copper - ...
Long Distance Book Besties: Is Being a Book Lover Better in Canada or Australia? 📚 [EP#12]
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder about book shopping habits, book prices, bookish events & communities across the world? Today we are chatting about our reading experi...
Convincing (*begging*) Each Other to Read Our FAVOURITE BOOKS 📚 [EP#11]
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When your book bestie hasn’t read your FAVORITE BOOKS… Just trying to convince each other to read our favs! Hope you enjoy this episode 💖People...
Books We DISAGREE On... Why We HATED and LOVED These Books 📚 [EP#10]
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From Ali Hazelwood, to Sarah J Maas, to Jessa Hastings, to Leigh Bardugo and more. Let's chat about some of the books one of us LOVED, and the other d...
Our HONEST Thoughts On The Way of Kings | DEEP DIVE BOOK CHAT 📚 [EP#9]
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's do a book club style deep dive today. The book in question... The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. We LOVED reading about Kaladin, Shallan...
Can We Guess the Book From the First Sentence? [EP#8]
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
BOOK CHALLENGE TIME! Let's challenge our memories to see if we can remember the first lines of some of our favourite popular books. Take a stroll down...
The Books That Were ALMOST Perfect... and Why [EP#7]
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about those books that we would highly recommend, and were still quite possibly 5 star reads... but just had one element that made it n...
THIS or THAT? (Book Edition) - Fav Authors, Reading Habits & Hot Takes [EP#6]
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's play This or That (bookish edition) - comparing authors, favorite books, characters, genres, reading habits, and so much more!Follow us on I...
All the BOOK SERIES We are In the Middle Of (Are These Worth Reading?) [EP#5]
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's discuss the book series that we are currently in the middle of reading. Will we continue or DNF?Follow us on Instagram: @onceuponatimezonepo...
The Search for the ULTIMATE Book Trope... Which Trope is Best? [EP#4]
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's search for our absolute FAVOURITE book trope. Will it be enemies to lovers, fated mates, slow burn, found family, or something else? Follow ...
Your Bookish Unpopular Opinions... Do We Agree or Disagree? [EP#3]
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's go through YOUR unpopular opinions and bookish hot takes. Do we think audiobooks count as reading, do we love or hate insta-love, what are o...
Our MOST Anticipated Book Releases For the Rest of 2025 [EP#2]
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's chat about our upcoming anticipated book releases for the rest of the year!Books mentioned:Three Shattered Souls - Mai CorlandNot Quite Dead...
What Types of Readers are We? Get to Know Us & Our Reader Colors [EP#1]
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's take the Read Your Color quiz to learn more about our own reading styles and book preferences!Syd BookWorrom’s video: https://www.youtube....
Are these 10 VIRAL book series ACTUALLY worth the hype? [Special Pilot Episode]
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let's chat about Zodiac Academy, Fourth Wing, Sarah J Maas & More! In this episode, Freya & Jaime sit down and talk through 10 popular fan...