The Bright Side: A Hello Sunshine Podcast

The hottest book of the year so far isn’t a steamy beach read or a page-turning thriller. It’s a heartbreaking — and empowering — memoir about a divorce. This week, Danielle sits down with Belle Burden to talk about her memoir, “Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage.”
Belle Burden had a picture-perfect life. A husband in finance, three kids, a pristine apartment in Manhattan, and a summer home on Martha’s Vineyard. Then, one day — right at the start of the pandemic — she found out that her husband was having an affair. And the next morning, he tells her he wants out. Out of the house, out of the marriage — even out of custody for their kids.
Belle talks about the upcoming Netflix adaptation of her book, starting over after watching her world as she knew it fell apart, and why she wishes a book like hers had existed long before now.

BOOKS MENTIONED:
Strangers by Belle Burden
Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten
The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin
The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Go Gentle by Maria Semple
Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
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This week, we’re joined by BookTube royalty and queen of reviews Cindy Pham. Now stepping into her author era, she’s here to talk about it all: what’s on her TBR, why she’s drawn to messy, flawed characters, and how years of reviewing books have shaped the way she writes her own.
Cindy also shares the story behind her debut novel, The Secret World of Briar Rose, from first drafting it as a teenager to returning years later with a completely new perspective and a fully developed frontal lobe. Plus, we get into reality TV deep dives, bookish trends she’s loving and side-eyeing, and the hilarious promise of a future rant video about her own main character, because no one is safe, not even her.

BOOKS MENTIONED:
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham
That Asian Girl Is a Problem by Rachel Phan (Coming Soon)
Just Between Us by Adeline Kon
Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Book Lovers by Emilty Henry
The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
The River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
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This week, we’re back with Emma Brodie, whose second novel, Into The Blue, is April’s Reese’s Book Club Pick - and Emma and Danielle are going down aaaaall the rabbit holes. From what makes a good fandom, to how improv comedy is, in fact, inherently sexy, to the BTS secrets of filming reality TV, their convo is just as lush as Emma’s decade-spanning, sci-fi tinged, “will they, won’t they” romance.
BOOKS MENTIONED:
Into the Blue by Emma Brodie
Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie
Hitmakers by Derrick Thompson
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
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This week, Danielle is chatting with Veronica Roth, who’s fresh off a major announcement: Divergent. Is. Back. The original trilogy has sold over 35 million copies since it debuted 15 years ago. Veronica has been publishing countless novels and short stories ever since, but now she’s ready to revisit the Divergent universe — with a new twist. “The Sixth Faction” is an alternate universe retelling that dares to ask: what if Tris never left Abnegation, and joined Dauntless? Danielle and Veronica talk about hot tubs, dystopian fiction, and learning to love your own work in all its imperfections. And don’t worry — Tris and Four will still have a meet-cute.
Books Mentioned:
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Sixth Faction by Veronica Roth
Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth
1984 by George Orwell
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
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This week, Danielle is joined by Alex Aster, the prolific, Romantasy Queen of Booktok. Coming out of 2025, in which she published four novels, Alex is back with Starside, her first foray into adult fiction – and, later this year, Barbie: Dreamscape, a YA retelling of the beloved Mattel doll. Alex and Danielle talk perseverance in publishing, the power of storytelling, and which romantasy tropes give Alex the ick (spoiler: hardly any of them do).
BOOKS MENTIONED:
A Guide to Literary Agents by Robert Lee Brewer
Lightlark Series by Alex Aster
Starside by Alex Aster
Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster
Curse of the Forgotten City by Alex Aster
Summer in the City by Alex Aster
Barbie Dreamscape by Alex Aster

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