DiscoverModern Mrs DarcySci-fi, fantasy, and a sense of possibility
Sci-fi, fantasy, and a sense of possibility

Sci-fi, fantasy, and a sense of possibility

Update: 2025-07-29
Share

Description

paperback scifi and fantasy books on a shelf

Readers, today’s guest has joined me in conversation on the podcast before, but now our media production specialist Holly Wielkoszewski is in the spotlight as we explore her evolving reading tastes and her favorite genres of science fiction and fantasy.





Holly splits her time between New Mexico, where she and her husband are building an Earthship, and traveling internationally for several months each year. When Holly mentioned at a recent team meeting that she’s shifting away from fantasy and more towards sci-fi in her reading life lately, I wanted to hear more.





Today, we’re talking about Holly’s evolving journey as a sci-fi fantasy devotee, the trends she’s seeing in recent books, and some of her very favorites in these genres. We’ll also explore what appeals to Holly most about these types of books and how she sees the crossover from these genres to other stories she seeks out. We recommend lots of titles that readers who resonate with Holly might also enjoy reading, too.





Please let us know if you have ideas for Holly’s next sci-fi read or other suggestions by leaving a comment below.





<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">What Should I Read Next #487: Sci-fi, fantasy, and a sense of possibility, with Holly Wielkoszewski “I'm always looking for new good reads that are going to draw me in and help me get curious about the world around us.”</figure>







Keep up with Holly’s Earthship build & travels on Substack, or find her at her website.





Enjoy more team features in our Patreon community





Readers, if you love hearing from team members like today’s conversation with Holly, you will love our Patreon community, where our team members regularly pop up for bonus episodes. Our Patreon community is a fun way to get even more book talk in your life. And when you join us as a monthly or annual supporter, you’re also making a tangible contribution to our show. Thank you to everyone who’s already signed up, and if you’re curious, find all the details at patreon.com/whatshouldireadnext.
























<svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<circle opacity="0.05" cx="11.6406" cy="12.3918" r="11.6406" fill="#C60808"/>
<path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 10.2899H6.63672V9.04663H16.6445V10.2899Z"/>
<path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M16.6445 13.3421H6.63672V12.0989H16.6445V13.3421Z"/>
<path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7025 16.395H6.63672V15.1518H12.7025V16.395Z"/>
</svg>

Transcript



<svg width="16" height="12" viewBox="0 0 16 12" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<path d="M14.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V10.5C0 11.3438 0.65625 12 1.5 12H14.5C15.3125 12 16 11.3438 16 10.5V1.5C16 0.6875 15.3125 0 14.5 0ZM14.5 1.5V2.78125C13.7812 3.375 12.6562 4.25 10.2812 6.125C9.75 6.53125 8.71875 7.53125 8 7.5C7.25 7.53125 6.21875 6.53125 5.6875 6.125C3.3125 4.25 2.1875 3.375 1.5 2.78125V1.5H14.5ZM1.5 10.5V4.71875C2.1875 5.28125 3.21875 6.09375 4.75 7.3125C5.4375 7.84375 6.65625 9.03125 8 9C9.3125 9.03125 10.5 7.84375 11.2188 7.3125C12.75 6.09375 13.7812 5.28125 14.5 4.71875V10.5H1.5Z" />
</svg>

Email


<svg width="18" height="16" viewBox="0 0 18 16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<path d="M16.5 9H13.5938L15.0625 7.5625C16 6.625 15.3125 5 14 5H12V1.5C12 0.6875 11.3125 0 10.5 0H7.5C6.65625 0 6 0.6875 6 1.5V5H4C2.65625 5 1.96875 6.625 2.9375 7.5625L4.375 9H1.5C0.65625 9 0 9.6875 0 10.5V14.5C0 15.3438 0.65625 16 1.5 16H16.5C17.3125 16 18 15.3438 18 14.5V10.5C18 9.6875 17.3125 9 16.5 9ZM4 6.5H7.5V1.5H10.5V6.5H14L9 11.5L4 6.5ZM16.5 14.5H1.5V10.5H5.875L7.9375 12.5625C8.5 13.1562 9.46875 13.1562 10.0312 12.5625L12.0938 10.5H16.5V14.5ZM13.75 12.5C13.75 12.9375 14.0625 13.25 14.5 13.25C14.9062 13.25 15.25 12.9375 15.25 12.5C15.25 12.0938 14.9062 11.75 14.5 11.75C14.0625 11.75 13.75 12.0938 13.75 12.5Z" />
</svg>

Download


<svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 14 14" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<path d="M12.5 0H1.5C0.65625 0 0 0.6875 0 1.5V12.5C0 13.3438 0.65625 14 1.5 14H12.5C13.3125 14 14 13.3438 14 12.5V1.5C14 0.6875 13.3125 0 12.5 0ZM12.3125 12.5H1.6875C1.5625 12.5 1.5 12.4375 1.5 12.3125V1.6875C1.5 1.59375 1.5625 1.5 1.6875 1.5H12.3125C12.4062 1.5 12.5 1.59375 12.5 1.6875V12.3125C12.5 12.4375 12.4062 12.5 12.3125 12.5ZM10.625 3L6.375 3.03125C6.15625 3.03125 6 3.1875 6 3.40625V4.25C6 4.46875 6.15625 4.65625 6.375 4.625L8.1875 4.5625L3.09375 9.65625C2.9375 9.8125 2.9375 10.0312 3.09375 10.1875L3.8125 10.9062C3.96875 11.0625 4.1875 11.0625 4.34375 10.9062L9.4375 5.8125L9.375 7.625C9.34375 7.84375 9.53125 8 9.75 8H10.5938C10.8125 8 10.9688 7.84375 10.9688 7.625L11 3.375C11 3.1875 10.8125 3 10.625 3Z" />
</svg>

New Tab






[00:00:00 ] HOLLY WIELKOSZEWSKI: I've been told by a lot of people that that would be a great starting point for me with her writing. And when I say a lot of people, I mostly mean you in the podcast.


ANNE BOGEL: I didn't know we were having those conversations, but I'm happy to discover that.


Hey readers, I'm Anne Bogel and this is What Should I Read Next?. Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader, what should I read next? We don't get bossy on this show. What we will do here is give you the information you need to choose your next read.


[00:00:34 ] I'm so excited about the direction this week's conversation about books and reading is going to go because at long last, I am going in-depth on the reading life with one of our team members in a way that we've done with everybody else. But Holly, today is your day. It's going to be great.


Readers, if you love hearing from team members, like you will today, you will love our Patreon community because we do that a lot more over there. This is a place where our team members regularly pop up for bonus episodes.


Sometimes they do solo episodes like their chosen one great book series episodes, or they're in conversation with each other, doing things like a deep dive on the mystery and thriller genre like just happened.


We also had bonus team best books coming up and a bonus team-focused mid-year check-in that just happened over there. When you join, you can listen to all those episodes at any time.


[00:01:30 ] We've also started up a genre-focused series. That's the one I was just mentioning over on Patreon, where we take a closer look at popular genres and offer readers our starter guide to help them explore new-to-them areas

Comments 
loading
00:00
00:00
1.0x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Sci-fi, fantasy, and a sense of possibility

Sci-fi, fantasy, and a sense of possibility

Anne Bogel