This podcast is a perfect balance of fun and informative. Some of my favorite books I have read in the last few years were ones I learned about on Strong Sense of Place. On the show, Mel and Dave share a new location to travel to through 5 book recommendations. But they also include so much history and information about each location, and their enthusiasm for each place is infectious. Every other week, they post a shorter podcast, called the Library of Lost Time. This always include two book recommendations and a quirky distraction of the week. Reading the show notes is at delight.

Strong Sense of Place is my go-to podcast for planning both my next reads and my next travel destinations. Dave and Melissa bring so much love and enthusiasm to curating information, fun facts, and literary gems. Listening to the podcast feels like sitting in a cozy room by the fireplace with the most charming and delightful of friends, who are brimming with excitement for the books and experiences they want to share. Love the podcast, and thanks!

I feel like I know Dave and Mel as close friends. The podcast is inviting and fun to listen to. I wake up every Friday looking forward to a new episode with wonderful book recommendations that I trust.

Thoroughly enjoy listening to the book discussions and recommendations. Mel & Dave do an incredible amount of research on the books, locations and give excellent recommendations on much more. (such as events, foods, things to do, and other assorted, fun shenanigans! )

I love getting to know a place through books. Mel and Dave make a great podcast team. You can feel their appreciation for one another and their book loves. It’s always a grand adventure. I especially enjoy hearing about food. Sometimes I don’t listen to a podcast right away because I love saving an episode as a special treat. Hats off to you both.

I consider this a perfect podcast! Mel and Dave have an infectious sense of curiosity and enthusiasm for discovering new authors, places, cultural traditions, and facts about the world we live in. I have read so many amazing books thanks to their recommendations, but my favorite part of the show is feeling like I’m sitting with them in the library pouring through the encyclopedia saying “Isn’t that interesting?”

Mel and Dave are utterly delightful and their love for books and reading oozes out of the podcast like warm chocolate out of an oven fresh pastry! It is wholesome, educational, and everything the world needs right now. They take you to places you never knew you needed to go. They each have their own take and approach to the readings, giving the listener a range of recommendations and perspectives, which I love. Their personalities shine through and warm my heart fully. Infinity stars!

I love this podcast and every season is better than the last.

This podcast is such an absolute joy to listen to. The hosts are incredible - knowledgeable, kind, funny, insightful. I can’t say enough good things about this podcast. I listen to many book podcasts and this one is by far the best-produced and may just be my favorite.

Strong Sense of Place is funny, insightful, and so relaxing to listen to. So wholesome! They inspire me to read more.

A podcast like no other! Listen to Mel and Dave talk about different places around the world, as well as get book recommendations to enhance what you’ve learned about. Food, drinks and other pairings are added to peak my bookish curiosity. What’s not to love?!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this podcast! My favorite thing is to keep my Libby app open and add the amazing book recommendations to my TBR list. Mel and Dave are amazing and have the best insight. Listening to this podcast is like listening to a fun conversation your super cool and smart friends are having. Sign up for their emails, best on the internet! They include fun pictures, recipes, and interesting places you had no idea existed but now want to visit!

I love this show so much, the hosts are just delightful and funny and interesting. I love the format of armchair travel to a new location and books that correspond. I love the distraction of the week. All of it! It’s the only podcast I make sure to listen to every episode.

Love this podcast! Enjoyable, informative, relaxing. This feeds my curiosity and encourages me to learn more by suggesting wonderful books I never would have found otherwise. Thank you for providing a stellar show, can’t wait to hear more.

I am so hooked on this show now after the first couple on Paris and France I am already adding books to my next reads and just can’t wait to listen to more … the best podcast I have come across !!! Thank you for your knowledge humor and creativity.

Not only are you both so pleasing to listen to, you both have such great book ideas but you also have my perfect type of distractions! Love Thomas Allen’s Art!! I am a fiber artist and enjoy all sorts of paper and fabric art. I had never heard of him before!! Thanks so much for all you all share! Hugs!! Also BEST Podcast entro and end music!! 💕🎶🎶🎼🎵 And I listen to a lot of podcasts!

This podcast is a must-listen for anyone who loves to read about places and cultures other than their own. Melissa and Dave review and recommend books in all genres that take readers all over the globe, spotlighting one location in each episode. I enjoy this show so much! I’ve discovered many great books that would not have been on my reading radar if not for Mel and Dave. Their friendly, delightful banter, combined with interesting information and excellent sound quality, result in the very best armchair travel! This is a life-enhancing podcast. They go along with me on my morning walks and I always come home smiling! Then of course adding more book titles to my TBR. Thank you so much to these two lovely humans for sharing their curiosity about the world with all of us.

Longtime listener, avid fan! Season 6 starts today!! France is destination! Had a glass of wine from the south of France, forgot my new book journal, took notes, happily realized I have Mel’s last pick, Fresh Water for Flowers on my shelves! All books sounded great. Joan of Arc has been a triggering figure for me since I was very young, and had read about her and was mortified at how the Dauphin did nothing to save her. My parents did not monitor what I read at all and if anything fed me literature that I probably was too young for… I digress, that being said, I’m curious about Dave’s pick “Joan”, a novelization of the story. So happy to be adding to my TBR and learning so much from them as well. I’ll never get to travel to everywhere, but this way you get to be there in great books!

I love this podcast! They make me smile. They make me curious. They inspire me to be adventurous. They spark new interests. There is never a dull moment. (I always trust Mel’s assessment on the foods she talks about because her Well Fed series has some of my very favorite foods) Bonus: every single book that I have purchased based on their discussion has been a pleasure. THANK YOU for your impeccable work.

Thank you for making such a great podcast. I love the book recommendations. I have read many of them. I love the hosts. They seem to be really fun and sweet people.

I love this podcast! The hosts have an engaging format that feels like a conversation with a great friend, a mini info guide about a destination/theme, and diverse book recommendations they’ve fully read! After listening, I check out books from the library I never would have encountered, everything from nonfiction, to graphic novels, to literary fiction. This podcast feeds my love for reading and travel in one place! I learn about places around the world, and am reminded of how beautiful each culture and region is in its unique way. If we *see* people who live in a different part of the world as *real*, simply by reading a book, it makes us all more connected and kind. What a gift this podcast is! Plus, wow…their website has tons of additional content to deep dive into a location. Highly recommend!!

Love, love, love this podcast. Just started listening beginning with Episode 1. Every episode is so interesting - geography, history, food, travel, and reads. The perfect combo! Melissa and David are great! I am now supporting on Patreon and my Amazon cart is full of books I must read.

A great twist on a book podcast. I love the hosts.

I am an avid reader and I absolutely LOVE this podcast! With every episode I listen to, I am adding 1-2 books to my “want to read” list! Dave and Mel describe each book eloquently, with excitement and passion. I always come away with a great sense of what each book is about without them giving away too much. The fact that it’s woven in with travel just makes it all the better! I have been bingeing their podcast and I can’t stop! I highly recommend.

As an avid reader who is also a full-time global nomad this podcast hits on all cylinders for me. I’m on a constant quest to find interesting books that take place in the destinations I visit. Melissa & Dave have given me plenty of options from all over the world…my TBR list never runs dry! Whether its Japan, Paris, or simply a “place” such as “the bookstore,” they present each destination with a witty repartee that is fun and interesting. They’ve guided me toward new books featuring places I’ve visited often AND intrigued me with destinations to add to my TBV (to be visited) list. Their short, weekly “Library of Lost Time” episodes are fun, bite-sized snippets that are perfect for a quick infusion of literary curiosities. If you’ve ever searched for a destination on Google Maps as you’ve read a book, this is the podcast for you!

Such great book recommendations from this show! I try to read widely and the awesome locations the hosts choose are definitely helping me to do that. Thanks for the awesome content!

This is my favorite podcast & I look forward to each & every episode. Such amazing info on all these amazing places to visit around the world & with book recommendations too! What could be better! & the show notes, photos & links on the website! Incredible!!!! Thank y’all for putting so much work into every episode.

I’m not certain how I found you. But I did. And that’s all that matters…I inhale every place, every book, every recipe. Your passion. Thank You for sharing yours. Each week I am giddy for the next. Know.

I enjoyed many episodes. I wished the Peruvian episode should have included books about great contemporary Peruvian writers who show different aspects of the society like Nobel Prize of Literature Mario Vargas Llosa.

Absolutely love this podcast. Every episode is like taking a trip, and every book I’ve read that they recommend has lived up to their review. Found them then have not listened to every episode. Thank you so much! Never stop!

I have tried over a dozen book review podcasts and I rate this as the BEST of them all. And whatever you sign up with the free newsletter, which is just oncredible!

My favorite book related podcast. I do look forward to each and every show. This show is interesting, smart, the rapport is outstanding. They do not interrupt or overtake one another. The history and information to go along with the book recs are awesome.

I love listening to a podcast that has heart and soul. My first podcast was listened to on a sunny Fall afternoon. I have always wanted to visit Italy and how fun to get a new perspective. I will be reading books that were suggested. Thanks for a delightful experience! Looking forward to listening to the ones I have not yet discovered. Joyful Listener 👩‍🎨

This is my new favorite podcast. Each episode is like taking a vicarious vacation with book recommendations to boot! Mel and Dave are fab hosts who sweep you right along their book travels with them. Perfect for those who love to read and travel or those who like to travel via reading.

This amazing production by a truly charming couple is the best/worst thing to happen to my TBR since the internet. So many great recs. Such great travelogue. Thank you and you’re killing my book budget 😆📚❤️

This podcast is for readers first and travelers second. Husband and wife team who share five books they love with a strong sense of place to one destination a week. The podcast has completely transformed my already rich reading life. The pod is educational, entertaining, refreshing, bright and fun! Their research is solid, in depth and the books they recommend are rooted in the location. AND good!! Their interaction is adorable, organic and REAL. 5+++ stars.

Just don’t like politics getting in the way. Agree or disagree. It’s not why I listen.

I enjoy the book recommendations and learning about the chosen places. But the hosts’ cultural and political bias comes through. It doesn’t seem possible these days to avoid it in any podcasts.

My favorite book podcast. Mel’s enthusiasm and curiosity are infectious! The website associated with the podcast is a gorgeous companion to the pod. Thanks Mel and Dave!

Wow! Such an awesome episode! And the Show Notes!!!! So much to explore and read. I loved it! Thank you!

What a great podcast for having years of limited travel! I love love love this concept and they do such a fantastic job picking great reads and interesting locations. I love their relationship and I also always look forward to two truths and a lie.

I have been searching for a podcast that gives great book recommendations and I love to travel. It provides both. I can’t recommend it enough. Enjoy!

I discovered this podcast recently and have already gone back to listen to every episode! I enjoy the natural banter between this couple and their delight in travel and reading. The podcast transports you to places across the globe and my TBR list is growing by leaps and bounds!

Cozy and warm, this show is an unpretentious and welcome respite that celebrates the transportive magic of books. Beyond having an engaging, clever, simple and beautifully executed premise, the recommendations are fantastic and my reading list keeps growing!

So many new book recommendations that I want to read! I love the info they give at the beginning about the topic for the week. I enjoy two truths and a lie. I especially love Mel and Dave’s voices and how they interact together! Can’t get enough of this podcast! My new favorite!

I just listened to the library episode and found my new favorite podcast!

This podcast is so funny and warm and just wonderful! I love everything about it! I heard about it about two weeks ago and finished all the back episodes. So that’s a little sad. But now I have more time for reading. I’ve read two of the books recommended and they were great. I can’t wait to explore more! Thank you so much!

By far, my favorite and only one I have subscribed to, bookish podcast. Love traveling but can’t travel to All the places but traveling through books, yes. I have read several of their recommendations and have not regretted a single one! Read several of the books in Their Paris show right before visiting Paris and it was such a different experience seeing it again with new eyes/perspective. Really a huge fan of this podcast!

Overjoyed that I’ve discovered you! Two of our life-giving experiences- literature and travel - whimsically crafted into one! Thank you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📘🌎”The world needs the light that comes from a world of readers.”

This is one of my fav bookish podcasts. The chemistry that this couple have is awesome. I look forward to this podcast and enjoy their format and book info so much! If you like reading and travel this is for you!