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- [00:18]
A
Hi everyone and welcome to Baton Paper Podcast. I'm Olivia Mentor.
- [00:22]
B
And I'm Becca Freeman.
- [00:23]
A
And what are we calling this episode? The content.
- [00:26]
B
I. I'm going to call it our Book Travel Agent episode. We have had so many posts in the Facebook group and in the BFF group where people are saying, I'm traveling to this place and I want a book that matches it. So we picked some popular travel destinations and we have curated a selection of books to go with them for all of your summer travels.
- [00:50]
A
And we both just got back from trips, so it is great timing.
- [00:55]
B
And on a third note, we are kicking off an incredibly exciting summer reading partnership that we want you to know about. So this episode is sponsored by our friends at Sol de Janeiro, the Brazilian inspired self care brand that you probably already know and love. And we are so excited to announce our Summer of Soul partnership with them later in the episode. So stay tuned for more info. And as a hint, there will be bonus episodes and live events.
- [01:24]
A
Lots of fun things to discuss. But first, what is your high?
- [01:29]
B
My high is my Italy trip. It's Monday morning and I got back Saturday night. I am still glowing. I don't know if this is recency bias, but I really do feel like it was the best trip I've ever been on. There were aspects of it that were just luck. We had perfect weather. I was worried it was going to be cold and it was high 70s and humid and it was perfect weather. It was shoulder season, so nothing was crowded yet. We went to the Aeolian Islands and it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Also, I was with nine of my best friends for our collective 40th birthday trip. And then I was telling you before we started recording that outside of the trip itself, there was this mental aspect of the trip too that was so fantastic because we were such a big group of 10 people. Everything was planned in advance. You know, all of our meals, car pickups had to be booked in advance. Like what we were doing each day. There was no aspect of waking up and being like, what are we gonna do? Like, it was all planned in advance. Even with like just blob and hang out by the pool days were scheduled. And so it was also a decision vacation. Like the only decision I had to make for a week was what to order on a restaurant menu. And oh my God, that felt incredible.
- [02:52]
A
That sounds absolutely perfect.
- [02:55]
B
Also, I saw a volcano erupt.
- [02:57]
A
Yes. How did that feel?
- [02:58]
B
It felt so cool. So there's in this chain of islands, there's A vault. Actually, there's multiple volcanic islands, but there's one volcanic island called Stromboli, which is kind of a constantly erupting volcano. There's a name for it, it's like a spitter or something. I don't know if that's the correct word. Something like that. It like doesn't store up eruptions. It's just kind of constantly letting off small eruptions. Our boat driver, I don't. He did not seem incredibly reliable. So I don't know, you know, don't take this as fact, but he said it erupts every 17 minutes, basically, and I know. And so my friend Elizabeth, it had been the only thing she wanted to do for this trip. She was so gung ho about it. And I did some research and it was two hours away from the island we were staying on. There were all of these kind of like cheesy sounding tours. And I was like, I don't know about this. And at the last minute we found a private boat charter that could take us there. And her birthday is Tuesday, so it was, you know, kind of very close to her birthday week. And I was like, okay, why don't we just do it? And it ended up being my favorite day of the trip. It was so cool. We went to this island and we walked around. We went to kind of like the one sit down restaurant there that had a great view and we like had drinks, we had dinner and then we got back onto the boat around sunset and we went around the back of the island and we. We saw the volcano erupting like, I don't know, like three or four times. It was so cool. It was very much a being in awe of nature moment.
- [04:37]
A
You send a video of it and it's really unlike anything I've ever seen. I've seen like smoking volcanoes in Sicily, but not the lava. So it's pretty cool.
- [04:47]
B
It was so cool. We screamed every time it happened as if we were on a roller coaster. We were so excited.
- [04:55]
A
I love that. Well, it sounds just ideal in every single possible way.
- [05:00]
B
It was incredible. What about you? What's your high?
- [05:02]
A
I've been back for a little while from Ireland, but we were there for a week and it was beaut. We did not get perfect weather. We got whatever the opposite of that is. Oh no, we did not see the sun at all. Except for the very last morning. It came out for like a couple hours, but you know, that's Ireland. And it was raining and windy, but it felt very of the place. And the best part of the trip was. I had been to Ireland twice before, to Dublin and Galway, which we went to, but I had not been to where we stayed for most of the trip, which is this place in the very, very, very northern part of Ireland. Not Northern Ireland, but the northern part of Ireland called the Inishoan Peninsula. And it is one of the most majestic, gorgeous places I have ever been in my life. We were staying at this Airbnb there. It's in County Donegal, but it's not the city of Donegal. It's like more than. I think it's two hours north of that or something. It's the most northern point.
- [06:03]
B
Okay.
- [06:03]
A
But it's just so stunning. Crystal blue water and just everything is green. There's like bays, but there's beautiful rock beaches, sand beaches. Like, just stunning and completely untouched. We didn't see. And this is kind of weird for Ireland, but I didn't meet a single other American person the entire time I was there. Oh, wow. I feel like most other places you go in Ireland and there's. It's like only American people, but it felt very unspoiled in that way. I guess I'm spoiling it in that scenario. But they did say they want more Americans to come there. I cannot suggest it enough. It is a place I will absolutely go back to. It just felt so peaceful and like you said, I was just kind of in awe of nature and thinking about the people that have lived there for just like centuries and centuries ago and just how gorgeous the view is. And yeah, it was really lovely. And also, I have to say, Irish people are so nice. There's like an openness and a warmth and it's not. I don't know, it's not over the top, but everyone just seemed genuinely happy to be talking to you or to me, which felt really nice, and vice versa. So, yeah, I just. If you're thinking about going to Ireland, it is a ways away. It's like a five hour drive from Dublin. But it's a really, really special place. And I, I definitely my favorite place. I've been in Ireland.
- [07:28]
B
So wait, going back a few episodes, is this the place that was inspired by the video that you saw that inspired this whole trip to begin with?
- [07:37]
A
Oh, no.
- [07:37]
B
Oh, no.
- [07:38]
A
Okay.
- [07:38]
B
This was a random place that you picked.
- [07:40]
A
Yes, this was. So I saw the video of the song called Killa, which I think is about a hurling team in absolutely. I want to say southeast Ireland, and we were in northwest Ireland, but I just got advertised this Airbnb that happened to be in this peninsula. And there's really nothing there. There's a very, very famous golf course. That's about it. And just the most stunning beaches and views I've ever seen. I walked in alpaca along a cliffside like a dog on a beach.
- [08:13]
B
Why didn't you lead with that?
- [08:16]
A
I don't know. I showed up and this man was like, here. Here is your alpaca, Chestnut. And I took chestnut by the leash and we just walked along these vistas. And it was one of those moments where I was like, how did I get here? But I like it here. It's been a while since I've been in a place where there are no tourists. Like, I am the only tourist. And it's just a different kind of feeling, you know, to discovering a place. So I really enjoyed it. And the alpaca man did say that he wants more Americans, like I said, so the wild alpaca way. Plugging that for anyone who's going. It was very fun.
- [08:52]
B
Wow. Okay. Well, what about on the low side? Any lows to speak of, you know, not really.
- [08:58]
A
I went on this adventure trip. I came home, I finished my draft on Sunday, left for Ireland on Monday. There was no travel issues, no delays or anything. Got home, and the kitchen is being renovated, so I have nothing to complain about. Amazing you.
- [09:13]
B
I have the post trip sads. There was no.
- [09:16]
A
Fresh off it.
- [09:17]
B
Yeah. There was no aspect of, you know, I'm ready to come home. Instead, there was like, let's look up real estate listings here. Should we live here? And I'm so sad to be home.
- [09:28]
A
It really ignited my travel bug. Oh, okay. Which I haven't experienced in a while. So I have a different version of that. Maybe. But not real estate. But I was like, so should we do road trip in Scotland next? Or should we do a tropical vacation? Or I've just.
- [09:45]
B
Olivia on the road.
- [09:47]
A
I know, I know. Maybe it's because my home is, like, in such a state of flux right now. But anyway, any real estate looking good? Are you putting in any offers?
- [09:58]
B
No, but I don't dislike the idea.
- [10:01]
A
I mean, me either. Me either.
- [10:02]
B
Owning an Italian vacation home with nine of my closest friends sounds like a really good retirement plan.
- [10:09]
A
It sounds great. Well, let's get into this book travel agent episode and talk about some destinations and books. Books.
- [10:20]
B
Well, first of all, this is so fun. I guess I never thought of it before, of reading a book to go with the place that you're going. But since people have been asking about this and this has been going on for a couple years. I feel like I've tried to integrate this practice, too, of reading something that has to do with where I'm going.
- [10:37]
A
Yeah, I always seem to forget or I have another book in mind when I'm traveling that I want to read that isn't based there. But it's usually like, I read a book and then I think, oh, God, how great would it be to read this in the place?
- [10:49]
B
Totally.
- [10:49]
A
It's more of a reverse engineering situation, actually. Let me give a blanket statement, which is that most of these places are places that Becca and I are familiar with. We've been to multiple times. We didn't do a lot of destinations that we haven't spent time in. So I'll definitely open it up to the Facebook group so people can give more niche recommendations. Yeah, but this isn't the, you know, the end all be all to all travel destinations for sure. But one place we both have spent, I think a good amount of time in is London. So tell me what books you think of when you think of someone asking, what should I read on my trip to London?
- [11:24]
B
God, I love a British book. Okay, so going to London, my first thought was the Magnolia Parks series by Jessa Hastings. And this is a very specific kind of high society, Mayfair type of London. And so the book is about this group of friends who kind of all grew up together and met in boarding school. And they're all kind of the children of millionaires, billionaires, heads of crime syndicates, etc, and so they're kind of palling around London, have a lot of, like, romantic drama. I feel like it would be fun inspiration for places to go in London. And this is a book that is written in such a specific way. I will just give this caveat that if you read the first chapter and you're like, I hate this. It's not for you. You will not like it more as it goes. But it was very much for me. Like, this author describes every piece of clothing that any character has on at any time in great detail.
- [12:32]
A
I saw this book at TJ Maxx yesterday, which.
- [12:35]
B
Interesting.
- [12:36]
A
There's something interesting going on with TJ Maxx in books recently. I also saw a single copy of Strangers. Huh. This is to flag for later. But I kind of want to understand, is this just like a surplus that they're getting of books or are they ordering them? Yeah, we're gonna. This is. We're gonna do a deep dive later, but this is one of the ones I saw there. I was, like, really taking in what selection they had because I couldn't quite figure it out. But great pick. I haven't read it, but great pick.
- [13:03]
B
My second one, on a totally different wavelength is Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason. And this only partially takes place in London. It's all in the uk, but it has to me a very quintessentially British voice to the writing. Like the way she writes is this very like crowded, detailed way of writing that I think of as very British. And it's about this woman's marriage. Her and her husband have relocated from London to like a sad commuter suburb and they get in this fight and they separate and she moves back in with her very idiosyncratic parents. And yeah, I just, I think of this writing is so British that I feel like if you were going to London, this would be a great thing to read.
- [13:51]
A
I'm reading this right now and I can't attest it is, it is a very singular way of writing that does feel very British, but it is, it's dense in a weird light way.
- [14:03]
B
Yeah. It's also like so detail driven of like. I cannot imagine how she picked out such a perfect detail that sums something up. Like there's a lot of section breaks in the book where some sections are just a few sentences, but it's the perfect few sentences. You're like, yes, I deeply understand.
- [14:25]
A
Definitely.
- [14:26]
B
Okay. On another, again, another wavelength. This is a. I don't know if I would call it a full blown thriller, like a psychological suspense maybe. And this book is Wahala by Nikki May. And this takes you to a totally different part of London. And this is about a group of three Nigerian British friends. And you know, they kind of have like this sex in the city vibe. They're all like doing well and brunching and kind of have their. Have their social set down. And one of them has a former classmate who is, I believe, recently arrived to London from Lagos. And this fourth person enters the friend group and creates all sorts of drama.
- [15:18]
A
I remember you really liking this one.
- [15:20]
B
I loved this book. I think this is a little bit of a hidden, hidden gem. And again, it's. It's scarier than my usual. But it wasn't too much for me as a scaredy cat and then my last London wreck because I felt like I had to give something royal because I feel like a lot of people are going to London to do kind of sightseeing and, you know, seeing Buckingham palace, et cetera. My first book that I read this year was the Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage. And I Loved this book so much. It's about a British princess who's living off the grid in Australia. She's studying to become a doctor and because of a freak accident, her father and brother die suddenly and she becomes next in line for the throne and she has to go back to London and reintegrate herself with her family that she's like semi estranged from. And it's very much about the inner workings of the monarchy, the monarchy's relationship with the tabloid press. What does it mean to be a monarch in kind of a post monarchy society? And you're really just a figurehead and what does that mean? It was very fun. There's a, there's a B story romance. There's, you know, all the royal drama that you would expect. But I also really appreciated that it didn't shy away from darker parts. There are conversations about colonialism and Britain's colonial history in it. There is a storyline that kind of like mirrors Princess Diana a little bit. And so the COVID feels very fluffy and the contents I found much less fluffy than the COVID implied in a good way.
- [17:03]
A
Great picks.
- [17:04]
B
What did you bring?
- [17:05]
A
I brought three things. First is a book we both loved and I also think can confidently say is a bat on paper. Listener favorite. Yeah, I feel like many people love this book and they all listen to our podcast, or a lot of them do, or vice versa. And that is Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler. And this is a book about a young woman going through a tough breakup in London. But importantly, she is American and Genevieve is American. So if you want to read a book about an American in London, I think this is a great book. The sense of place is strong, but it's not. There's a lot of things going on beyond. Beyond just the breakup. It's really just a wonderful character study and it's just so readable. Like you could just blow through this and it tugs at your heartstrings the whole time. So love this one. Slightly different direction. Hamnet by Maggie o'. Farrell. I read this before I saw the movie. If the movie wasn't for you, I think you should still give the book a go. But because this is sort of about Shakespeare tangentially, I think this would be great to read. If you're going to London and you're doing like the tourist things, like if you're going to the Globe, if you're doing any of that, I think it would be a great little buddy read. That feels old, you know, it feels a little heavier than maybe a contemporary storyline. And also someone messaged Me, I think, I think for our favorite books of last year episode, someone sent in a voicemail that they read this on a train through England. And it was a great pairing. So it made me think of that. And then finally, a book I loved, good material by Dolly Alderton, I think kind of like what you were saying about Meg Mason to me. Dolly Alderton is just so London and so English to me. And if you're just looking for a lot of laughs and like quintessential British humor, I think this is a perfect pick.
- [19:08]
B
Okay, what about Paris? I feel like Paris is a very popular place to romanticize, but there are very few contemporary novels set in Paris. I feel like Paris would be a very intimidating city to write about unless you had lived there before. Like, I would not. I could take people on a trip to Paris, but I would not want to write a book set in Paris. I would be very afraid of scraping, screwing that up.
- [19:37]
A
As a writer, it does seem intimidating on a lot of different levels, for sure. I've only been to Paris a couple times and not for a very, very long while. So I can't say that I know much about it. But I can say that I read Almost Life, which is our book club pick this month by Kieran Millwood Hargrave. And I thought, well, I think I should go back to Paris just to experience this. Now she's writing up Paris in the 1970s. The story starts there. It's about two women who meet there and fall in love and have this decades long relationship. But it was so sumptuous and glorious. The way she wrote about it, it just felt perfect. I. I can't say whether it's perfect, but I felt like, oh, I want to read this in that city so badly. So someone should, someone out there should. What are your Paris picks?
- [20:27]
B
So in my end, the first thing I thought of was the Paris novel by Ruth Reichel. And Ruth Reichl used to be the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. She was a food critic for the New York Times. So her books are very food centric. And this book is set in the 1980s. It's about a woman who's lived a very sheltered life who gets an inheritance with a contingent that she spends it by going to Paris. And so she goes on this trip that's a little outside of her comfort zone. And she meets this fairy godfather, only almost through a sort of like kismety meeting. And he takes her under his wing and they travel all around Paris and also to the countryside kind of Eating all of these fantastic meals. And so if you're going to Paris for the food, this is the book for you. Another book that I loved. I probably read this 15 years ago, but it is from the 1950s, so I feel like if I enjoyed it 15 years ago, it would still hold up today. And that book is the Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundee. And this is kind of a female version of a type of like man traveling abroad novel that I feel like was very big at the time. And so this is about an American college graduate who goes to Paris in her early 20s, like looking to find a husband and she decides she doesn't want that and has kind of all of these riotous adventures around Paris. And yeah, I don't know how many of the places that exist in the Paris of this book. I'm sure many of them are still open. But like this, it, it just has like a very spunky energy to it.
- [22:15]
A
I mean, the title is pretty spunky.
- [22:17]
B
Yeah, yeah. And then as okay as a blanket recommendation because this one does have to do with Paris, but it's about a food and wine tour that goes across Europe. I think the pairing by Casey McQuiston would just be an excellent blanket Europe wreck. And this book is about two exes who had booked a food and wine tour going around kind of European capitals who then broke up and rebooked the trip separately and end up on the same tour. And again, very food and wine centric. Like it's just very decadent in every sense of the word. It's also very sexy. But this book would be excellent if you were going on a multi city European trip. But I think maybe, maybe France is the section of the book that I kind of remember the clearest and associate it the most with. And then one last wreck. I can feel myself going on and on. But if you are going wine tasting in France, so not Paris necessarily. The book is set in Burgundy, but the Lost Vintage by Anne Ma is a dual timeline historical contemporary novel about a woman who goes back to her family owned vineyard and finds a stash of like very rare wine hidden behind a wall there. Um, and I enjoyed this one tremendously.
- [23:44]
A
That sounds intriguing. Well, moving on to where you just were. Italy.
- [23:49]
B
Can I tell you, I did, I did no reading while I was in Italy. I truly thought we were going to need a full separate episode for all the books we were going to read because we, we took a three week break from recording. I read a book and a half.
- [24:03]
A
I read like two. Yeah. And one was A novella. So basically a book and a half.
- [24:09]
B
Yeah. Nothing was set in Italy, I can tell you. So there was a book that I excited to read in Italy that I still have not read but newly released. The book is Villa Coco by Sean Greer and he is the author of Less that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018. And this is his latest book and it's about a man who's an academic and is hired to catalog the estate of a very eccentric 90 something year old heiress. And he goes to Italy and I think he has all these affairs but he also gets taken under, if you like, a quirky old lady character. It sounds like we have that in spades. But I was really excited to read this one, but I haven't yet.
- [24:55]
A
I've been seeing this pop up.
- [24:56]
B
It has a great cover and then the other recommendation that I always give but I feel like is it should come with a warning label of like do you want to cry on this vacation? And that book is Lizzie and Dante by Mary Bly, which I just feel like I need to shout about because I think it's very under hyped. And this is a book about a woman who has a devastating health diagnosis and she goes on a vacation with her gay best friend and his new boyfriend to the island of Elba, which is an island that's I think off the coast of Tuscany.
- [25:33]
A
And.
- [25:33]
B
And while they're there she meets this reclusive chef who's very surly and they start a romance there. And again it's very like food centric. It's very beach centric. Oh, I loved this book so much, but I cried a lot while reading it.
- [25:52]
A
So great cover. I remember it from the Hidden Gems episode.
- [25:55]
B
Such a good cover, such a good cover. The other thing I will just say quickly is that I would be very curious to revisit Eat, Pray, Love. I feel like that book almost like you know, we've been talking about with yesteryear, with fame, sick with strangers. There was such a cultural conversation around the book at the time and it became kind of this punching bag stand in for like adrift. 40 something suburban moms who were reading it with their book club and then taking on its name as their own life mantra. Like it kind of felt a little live, laugh, lovey. But I would be really curious and I, I read it at the time and I loved it. But I would be very curious to revisit this outside of that cultural moment and yeah, kind of see what I thought without the cultural commentary.
- [26:44]
A
Me too. I've also Never read it. I. My only experience of it is the movie, so I would really be interested.
- [26:53]
B
I would be interested for you to read that, too.
- [26:55]
A
I had one Italy book that I just thought of pop up Tell Me, which is In Her Defense by Philippa Malika, which I. I think is partially set in London, but the whole past timeline is set in Rome.
- [27:09]
B
Okay.
- [27:09]
A
And so if you're like me and you're looking for more of, like, suspense, forward, mystery, dark book, because I think a lot of setting heavy books do tend to be romance or drama or family drama. But I love a dark book on vacation, and so I think this one would be great. Like I said, it's a dual timeline novel that kind of centers around a trial where you're trying to figure out whether a woman has a healthy relationship with this sort of mentor or it's a form of coercive control. But there's so much else in it and a lot about art as well. So if you're in Rome and going to a lot of museums. There you go.
- [27:50]
B
Okay, well, what about just blanket? You're going to the beach. What are you reading On a beach to capture the vibes.
- [27:59]
A
So, gosh, this is my favorite type of book, but I've mentioned this a million times, but Paper palace by Miranda Calli Heller is to me, I read it on a beach. No beach book could be better. There's drama, there's romance, there's atmosphere. But beyond that, is that a beach?
- [28:16]
B
Where is the beach? Of this book?
- [28:18]
A
I believe it's set in Cape Cod.
- [28:20]
B
Okay.
- [28:22]
A
So it's like partially kind of the woods and partially the beach. There's also a pond, but it's just very water, sky, nature. You're in this rickety beach cottage. It just feels like a book that's meant to be read beside a body of water. Okay, so just adore it so much. Next, another book that I think is meant to be read on vacation in some form, and I would say by a beach or a pool. The Wedding People by Allison Espach. We've talked about it ad nauseam, but
- [28:55]
B
Providence, Rhode island, if that happens to be your. Your destination or not. Providence, Newport, Rhode Island.
- [29:01]
A
It's strange that I was just watching Real Housewives of Rhode island last night, and it's strange that. That there's overlap between those two things.
- [29:09]
B
And we are both the Venn diagram.
- [29:11]
A
It's true.
- [29:12]
B
We're the center slice.
- [29:13]
A
It's us. Hello. This is about a woman who goes to a very fancy hotel with a plan to end her life and things change. And surprisingly enough. Very funny.
- [29:28]
B
Very funny.
- [29:28]
A
Less funny. My Go to wreck for anyone going to a beach tropical vacation, in particular a boat vacation. Seawife by Amity Gage. This is about a couple who decides to sail around the world together in a sailboat. This is more on the thriller side of things, though it definitely has a literary feel to it. And then in a similar vein of literary suspense, Saint X by Alexis Skykin is a book that's about this family who's on this fictional island called Saint X in the Caribbean, and one of the daughters goes missing. So it's not your typical whodunnit, but it's really beautifully written, lots of great atmosphere, and if you're looking for a mystery to read while sipping a pina colada, here you go. What are your picks for beach reads?
- [30:20]
B
My first inclination was that I wanted to recommend an Emily Henry. And for an author that I associate so, so heavily with beach reads, people very rarely go to the beach in her books. So maybe, yeah, I mean, a lot of her books take place in Michigan beach towns, but they don't really go to the beach that much. So it's beach towns but not beachy.
- [30:46]
A
Okay, but okay.
- [30:47]
B
So I would say for beach books, the first thing that I thought of was Sandwich by Katherine Newman, which may be a bit of recency bias because I just finished this. But. But this is about a woman whose family takes an annual trip to Cape Cod. There's so much about going to the beach itself, making beach sandwiches, setting up the beach chairs, going into the water or the feeling of swimming. Like, it's just. It does feel like a beach book to me. And the story, the woman in the book is going through menopause and she's there with her adult children, reflecting back on when they were younger, then also her aging parents. But I feel like if you were at the beach with your young children, you could also appreciate this and kind of gives you a little bit of the perspective of like, you'll miss these days when they're gone.
- [31:33]
A
Yeah, I, I also thought about including this one because it is just, ugh, there's so much just quintessential beach goodness in it.
- [31:41]
B
And then the other one that I thought of was the Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. And so this is a book, it's a fake dating romance about these two ex roommates. And he is the son of a billionaire family and he brings her as a fake date to his brother's wedding in order to gain access to his inheritance, I believe. And the Wedding is on a island in the South Pacific, like kind of like Maldives esque. And they're staying, you know, on these like beach. Not hut it's much more luxurious than that. Like a beach villa, a beach. I don't know, something like that. But it's like very luxe destination wedding, beachy vibes. And spicy. Very spicy. If you're in. In that kind of mood for your vacation.
- [32:35]
A
I've had this book for years and I've been saving it for. For a tropical vacation.
- [32:41]
B
I love a Christina Lauren on vacation. I just feel like it's sexy, it's fun, it's usually funny. Like I love a Christina Lauren. Well, what about where you just were on vacation? You were just in Ireland. What would you recommend somebody read there?
- [32:56]
A
So I brought Foster by Claire Keegan. And I had been wanting to read a novella by Claire Keegan, who is very famous. I think her other really well known one is all these Small Things. Yes, are these small things. But very famous Irish writer. And Foster is about a girl who gets sent to live with this other family in rural Ireland during the summer. And it is so fast. I read this in one morning. It's truly like you zoom through it because it's only about 100 pages or so and the writing is just very sparse, but really, really beautiful. And I was underlining sentences and if you're just looking for something really quick, I have to say it felt very satisfying to bring something I could start and finish that really easily fit in my suitcase, but was still, you know, a physical copy of a book. So I definitely suggest that for Ireland. And a lot of the things they were talking about in the novella, even though I was in a different part of the country, felt really. It felt like they applied to the setting I was in, which was nice. And then I haven't read this next recommendation, but it just came out and someone recommended it to me. And that's land by Maggie O'. Farrell. Okay, so this is set in 1860s Ireland and it's all about an Irish map maker.
- [34:16]
B
Oh, which I guess that makes sense with the title. That had not been how I was thinking about it.
- [34:22]
A
Me either. But it's very Irish, apparently. And I saw this when I was there in a very small bookstore and I almost bought it. But have you ever been in a bookstore in Ireland or England? And because they don't really have hard covers, they're all paperbacks. And so they feel kind of like gigantic versions of paperbacks because they're the same size as a hardcover, but I don't know, it just felt huge and I didn't want to pack it in my suitcase. But I did get another book, so I don't really know what was wrong with me, but we'll get to that later. But anyway, this would be a good choice, I think, for Ireland.
- [34:56]
B
Okay.
- [34:57]
A
But I see yours and one of them I absolutely agree with wholeheartedly and I forgot to mention. So I'm glad you got it.
- [35:04]
B
Okay. I think it might be the Rachel Incident by Caroline o'. Donoghue. Okay.
- [35:08]
A
Yes. Love it so much.
- [35:09]
B
Oh, this book is so fantastic and also feels so singular. It's so unique. So the book is set in Cork, Ireland primarily and it's about the relationship between a woman and a gay man who are best friends and they kind of are like platonic soulmates and they find themselves in a love triangle with her professor. They both work in a bookstore. Oh, I love this book so much. Talk about a voicey book.
- [35:37]
A
Me too. It's so good.
- [35:38]
B
And the other thing I thought of, I mean a modern classic, but Normal People by Sally Rooney is what I automatically think of when I think of Irish fiction. This book, I associate it with Dublin. They go to Trinity College in takes place in it has other settings as well around Europe. I believe they're in Italy for part of it. She's in Scandinavia at some point. But I associate this book very heavily with Dublin. So I would highly recommend it if you are traveling there.
- [36:09]
A
Great pick. Classic.
- [36:11]
B
Well, let's take an ad break. I want to tell you about our partnership we have going on.
- [36:20]
A
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Sol de Janeiro, the Brazilian inspired self care brand and our partner for Summer of Soul. So this partnership is a little bit different than anything we've done before, but it is so exciting and we really, really think that you guys are going to be very excited about it too because there is a lot to look forward to. So first of all, there are bonus book club episodes every and corresponding in person book club events in July, August and September. And we have three amazing books picked out to discuss that I think you all will love. So the July 16th bonus book club pick is the Five Star Weekend by Ellen Hildebrand. And we will have an in person event discussing this in Chicago in July as well. The August 20th bonus book club pick is one and only by Maureen Goo and we will have an in person event discussing that book in Miami this August. And the September bonus book club pick is the Parisian Heist by Joe Piazza. And we'll have an in person event for that book in New York City in September.
- [37:28]
B
The bonus book club episode dates are set so be sure to keep those books on your radar and start reading whenever you want. And for the live events in Chicago, Miami and New York City, you can expect a book club conversation. We'll mingle and there'll be plenty of opportunities to try out all of our favorite Sol de Janeiro products. And for those live events, we'll keep you posted on the details like specific dates, venue locations and how to get a ticket over the coming weeks.
- [37:54]
A
And if you aren't located in Chicago, Miami or New York City, we obviously won't stop you from grabbing your friends and making a trip out of it. We would love to see you, but also know that we are planning some Sol de Janeiro themed giveaways for our bat and paper listeners in the cities we can't make it to and we'll announce those details each month in our bonus book club episodes. We are so excited to kick off this partnership and bring you more of what you love and we love book related episodes. A chance for us to meet in person and learn about Sol de Janeiro self care products.
- [38:32]
B
Okay Olivia, next we have queued up one of my favorite places to go in the summer, which is Maine.
- [38:37]
A
Yes, a great place, a wonderful place and so many books set here for good reason.
- [38:43]
B
Yeah, it's funny that the first one I picked is set in a fictional place in Maine, but I do think it's it's fairly representative of like tourist Maine. And that's Happy Place by Emily Henry. So this is about a group of friends who have a tradition of going to a family house in Maine every summer during a fake lobster fest. And there is a lot of Maine summer tourist vibes in this book. It's also a fake dating romance. It's about a couple who have broken off their engagement and are pretending to still be engaged for the the benefit of the the broader group. And then the other book I thought of, which is very Portland centric and kind of the surrounding area, is Evie Drake Starts over by Linda Holmes. So this is about a woman who is starting over after being recently widowed and a man who's a baseball pitcher who is experiencing the yips and he comes to play for a local minor league baseball team and moves into her guest house for the summer. This book I associate most heavily with early Covid. I was in such a reading slump I couldn't get into anything, I couldn't finish anything. And this is the book that pulled me out of A slump. And I'd never been to a minor league baseball game in Maine when I read it, but now I have, and I feel like it's so deadly accurate in, like, the best way.
- [40:10]
A
Very niche interest of yours.
- [40:12]
B
A very niche interest of mine, but
- [40:14]
A
clearly good for everyone since you read it before then.
- [40:16]
B
Yes. And then two other books I would recommend for Maine. One is called Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore. So this is set kind of in a town near Rockland or Camden.
- [40:30]
A
And.
- [40:30]
B
And it's about this family that has a vacation house there, and the daughter and her young children kind of come up there for the summer. And at the same time, another woman arrives. Her mother has recently died and she's found out that the grandfather in this family is her father. And so she comes like, looking to make contact and is kind of like sniffing around the family and kind of gets embroiled in their drama. But this feels very main. This also name checks my favorite lobster roll spot. So I feel like it's. It's very in the know of. Of main culture, or my main anyway. And then the last one is Main Characters by Hannah Orenstein. And this is also about, unknown to each other, half sisters. And this is about two women whose father dies suddenly and they are trying to figure out what to do with his main lake house, and they're living together there for the summer. And this is again, a fictional Maine town, but mirrors the author's experience kind of growing up going to her own family's cabin on a lake in Maine. So if you're there for lake culture versus beach culture, this is definitely the book for you. What about you, Olivia? What did you bring for us for Maine?
- [41:50]
A
Well, I've been talking about this book so much recently, but with good reason. It's just so wonderful. And that's Fellowship Point by Alice Elliot Dark. I was just looking at it because I have it here. It is the most Maine cover ever. It's set in a coastal peninsula in Maine, and it's about this lifelong friendship between two women. I was just looking at the flap copy and it says that it reads like a classic 19th century novel. And that is so true. This book just has the essence of a thick, chunky, classic novel that will just. You can talk about for decades and decades to come, which is why I am here years later, after I read it, talking about it still. But it is so wonderful. And it's also just such a long book. It's almost 600 pages. And I think if you don't like fantasy, but you like the feeling of getting lost in a very, very dense world in a book. This is for you. And it describes Maine beautifully. I think.
- [42:50]
B
You know what else is on my main radar? I have never read an Elizabeth Strout book, and a lot of those books take place in Maine. I've heard they're not summer books necessarily, they're more of a fall vibe. But I have that on my list for this year.
- [43:04]
A
I have Olive Kitteridge. That's her, right?
- [43:07]
B
Yep.
- [43:07]
A
Her book. That's on my bedside table. But I've never read her either, so.
- [43:12]
B
So I talked about this in my newsletter maybe a month or so ago, and everyone recommended. There's kind of two main recurring characters and one is Olive Kitteridge and those books are set in Maine. And then the other main character is Lucy Barton. And I think those books are more set in New York City but have an affiliation with Maine as well, if I'm not mistaken. So people were kind of like. A lot of readers tend to favor one or the other. So you should try one from both.
- [43:44]
A
Interesting.
- [43:45]
B
Yeah. And a lot of her books, excluding her book from this year, which just came out, are kind of interconnected in the same world.
- [43:54]
A
That's so impressive.
- [43:55]
B
Yeah. What about. Okay, I have nothing for this next one, but I know this is a passion of yours. Just even the prompt of it sounds a little bit eerie to me. But what about the woods or the mountains? What if you were going camping this summer and looking for an accompanying book?
- [44:10]
A
Yeah, I mean, if you're. If you're gonna find yourself in a cabin, I think you've probably already read these if you're listening. But if you haven't for some reason, let me be the 9,000th person to remind you first of all, the God of the woods by Liz Moore. Of course, this is about a camp in the Adirondacks and a camper who goes missing. And there's this whole decades long mystery attached to it. A page turner, a thick book. Great for curling up with in a cabin at night for sure. And not too scary. It's suspenseful, I wouldn't. And atmospheric. But the scary stuff is very background for the most part. Same deal with my second pick, which is Heartwood by Amity Gage. This is about a hiker who gets lost on the Appalachian Trail. But there are just such wonderful descriptions of the woods. And same with the God of the woods. Like sometimes it's a little eerie, but it's never too scary. So both great suspense novels that I think do a wonderful job of Capturing the specific magic of the woods and mountains.
- [45:12]
B
And Heartwood is also a main book. It's set on.
- [45:15]
A
Yes.
- [45:15]
B
Is it on the Appalachian Trail in Maine?
- [45:18]
A
Yes. Yes.
- [45:19]
B
Yeah. So there's also a main crossover there.
- [45:22]
A
Yes.
- [45:23]
B
So I feel vaguely gross about this because we just dove so deep on individual countries and cities in Europe, and now we have a blanket category of Asia. But we did want to cover. If you are going somewhere in Asia this summer, we do have some recs for you. Or I have some recs for you. So my first rec is Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, which made me so deeply want to visit Singapore. I still haven't, but I feel like this book is so specific in its voice. I know Grace hated the voice. I loved the way it was written. But the first book in this series takes place across Singapore, Hong Kong and New York. And it's about a man who's from. If you haven't seen the movie On a Plane, which is one of my Go to Plane watches, it's about a man who's from secretly from a very, very rich family, and he brings back his fiance to visit his grandmother's home where he grew up for his best friend's wedding in Singapore. So transportive. Oh, so good. Another recommendation is a YA book called Somewhere Only We Know by Maureen Goo, who you might remember is one of the authors whose books we're doing for our Summer of Soul bonus book club. And before she wrote One and Only, she wrote ya. And. And I think this is probably her best known book. And this is about a K pop star who does a concert in Hong Kong and meets a boy and has this, like, moment of anonymity, and they have this kind of like one perfect day together. So it has a lot to do with the world of K pop, but it is set in Hong Kong. I loved this book. Another Hong Kong book that I loved. It is by a white author. But the book Fake by Erica Katz is a really great book about art theft. Oh, my God. I learned so much in this book. And part of the book is set at an international art fair in Hong Kong. And so if you are an art heist person, oh, my gosh, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. And then I will stop blabbing. But I have one more book. And this is if youf Could See the Sun by Anne Liang. And this book is set at a Beijing boarding school. It's also ya. It is a speculative book as well. So it's about this girl who's the only scholarship student at this, like, very prestigious boarding school, and she's very much an outsider there and, like, feels invisible. But then it turns out that she also has this secret power where she can actually turn invisible. And I thought this book was great. And it definitely has a lot to say about the wealth disparity in Beijing.
- [48:13]
A
I just thought of this one, which I think I read this next book before I started doing the. The podcast, if I remember correctly. But I loved it. And that is Pachinko.
- [48:23]
B
Oh, I don't know.
- [48:24]
A
Have you read Pachinko?
- [48:25]
B
No, I haven't read Pachinko and I. I need to. It's one of those books that everyone recommends and I feel like I can sometimes get a little hung up on new releases. So it's like, on my backlist list, but I just have never made it to it.
- [48:38]
A
Yeah, it's a. It's a series on Apple TV, which I haven't watched. It came out in 2017, but it's a historical fiction novel about a Korean family who immigrates to Japan. And I remember reading this novel and learning so much about history and Korea and Japan, I had no idea. So I haven't traveled very much in Asia myself, which is why I don't have more picks. But this book in particular, if you're going to either of those places, I just found completely eye opening. And it's also just a wonderful work of literature.
- [49:13]
B
Oh, I need to move this up my list. Okay, two last categories. What if you're going on a boat trip or a cruise? I feel like there is a glut of seafaring fun seafaring books this year, maybe. Last year was the book of Sea Disasters, and this is the book. This is the year of, like, fun at sea.
- [49:35]
A
Yeah. I was thinking about this category and I didn't think I had recommendations, but then I was like, oh, I actually do. But they're like pretty much all books where the ship is either leaving you deserted on an island or it is capsizing. Which I don't know if that is the vibe.
- [49:50]
B
Maybe that's for after you get back.
- [49:52]
A
Yeah, exactly. But what have you brought?
- [49:55]
B
Okay, I haven't read this book yet, but it is at the absolute top of my list to read. It was the book I hoped to read on vacation, and then I just did no reading while I was on vacation. And that is Dolly all the Time by Annabelle Monahan. And this is about a woman, a single mom, who moves back to Rhode island to care for her father, and she gets into a fake dating arrangement with this like Richie Rich pants guy who is a yachtsman. I'm not sure why, but I can't wait to find out. And I just love an Annabelle mana handbook. And so I am so excited for this and a little mad at myself that I did not get to read it on vacation. Although I did have like 8 million photo shoots with it on boats for unclear reasons, as if I was its author. Like I need to text Annabelle. I have so many photos of her book on boats.
- [50:45]
A
That's so nice though. I love that.
- [50:47]
B
And then the other book that I just recently read that made me think of this prompt was American Fantasy by Emma Straub, which is about a middle aged woman who goes on a boy band cruise. And it's told from three different points of view. It's told from the woman who goes on the cruise, one of the women who works on the cruise, kind of in logistics, an event prep, and then one of the members of the boy band. And I know this book has been really polarizing, but just my something I love in fiction is something that goes really deep into like a niche social hierarchy. And like this delighted me from the perspective of both the inner workings of the cruise, but then also kind of the social hierarchy of boy band cruisers. I just thought it was so fun to read. I think maybe expectations were miss set for this book because the pitch of it maybe seems a little more like a romance or a friendship book. And I think it's really a middle aged novel.
- [51:51]
A
I agree, Yes, I agree with that.
- [51:54]
B
Do you have anything that is not terrifying to read on a boat?
- [51:58]
A
Nothing came to mind. Okay.
- [52:00]
B
What if somebody wants to be wants to think dark thoughts on a boat?
- [52:04]
A
If you want to think dark thoughts on a boat, I think Isla is, it's not specifically about a boat crash.
- [52:11]
B
It's just that also takes place in another time where I'm like, I wouldn't be worried about that situation happening to me.
- [52:18]
A
Yes. If anything I think it makes it more interesting to read while on a body of water because you can really imagine what it would have felt like to have less technology and less agency as a woman. But that's Isola by Allegra Goodman, Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhurst, about a couple who their boat is capsized by a whale and they're forced to survive in a tiny raft for many, many weeks. Both of those are terrifying but great. I would love nothing more to read these on a body of water personally. And that's my own problem. Well, what about Hawaii?
- [52:54]
B
Well, I put this in Here because there was a prompt just this week in the Facebook group asking about Hawaii. And I was just talking to one of my best friends yesterday who's going to Hawaii soon. So I was like, oh, may, maybe we should do Hawaii. That feels like a popular summer destination or vacation destination in general. Okay, two wrecks. First one is ya and it is the famous In Love book and series by Rebecca Searle. And so before Rebecca Searle wrote adult fiction, she wrote YA for many years and I've been reading her for so long. But this is one of my favorite series. It's about this, this regular girl who gets cast in this very buzzy book adaptation kind of akin to like a Twilight phenomenon, and ends up in a love triangle between two of the stars of the show. And they're filming in Hawaii in this book.
- [53:50]
A
So that's fun.
- [53:51]
B
Yeah, it's very fun. I loved this series. It was a. It was a short lived TV show too that got canceled and I was sad about that.
- [53:58]
A
Have you been to Hawaii?
- [53:59]
B
Yeah, I've been to Kauai a couple times. I actually have a really good friend who grew up there and so I've been for her wedding and then I went another time as well.
- [54:07]
A
Very cool.
- [54:08]
B
And then the other book I thought of was Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins, which doesn't quite take place on Hawaii, but I feel like it would be the right vibe. And so this is a thriller. I think it's scaredy cat approved. And this is about a couple who are hired to take these two rich girls to an island past Hawaii. And so they go to this kind of infamous, potentially haunted island to check it out. And when they get there, they are not the only people there.
- [54:41]
A
Yes. This is a juicy thriller to read poolside for. Sure.
- [54:46]
B
Yeah, yeah. And it just made me think about like all of the uninhabited islands that are like past Hawaii.
- [54:54]
A
Yes, me too. Also kind of a good boat book.
- [54:57]
B
Yeah, also a good boat book.
- [54:59]
A
Well, definitely not a definitive list, but a good start if you're going somewhere. And if not, our listeners will fill you in. In the Facebook group.
- [55:08]
B
I was gonna say we'll, we'll get some Facebook threads going about like, where are you going? Where do you want Rex for? And the Facebook group will sort you out.
- [55:22]
A
Well, let's get into some n matter. Tell me what you are obsessed with.
- [55:26]
B
I have two obsessions that couldn't be further apart if I tried. So the first one is that in advance of my vacation, I got fake eyelashes for the first time and I am obsessed with them. You might remember that a few years ago, one of my New Year's goals was to learn how to put on fake eyelashes. And I never succeeded. I didn't try that hard either, but I didn't succeed. And so before vacation, I actually booked an appointment to get my first spray tan. And then I was having a weird allergic reaction to something, like a skin reaction on my chest. And I decided that it was probably not the right time to introduce new chemicals into the mix. So I scrapped that plan. And at the last minute, I was like, oh, I still want to do something. And so I decided to get eyelash extensions. And I love them.
- [56:15]
A
You got like the. Where your eyes are taped shut and you glue them on. Yeah, yeah.
- [56:19]
B
And I thought it was just going to be a one and done thing, that I was just going to get them for vacation and then let them grow out and fall out. And now I'm kind of like, oh, maybe this is my summer of eyelashes. It's quite expensive. So I don't think I want it to become part of my ongoing regimen. But I was like, well, I could do it this summer. And then through my birthday and then through my book launch, and then I've heard that they can also be quite damaging to your natural eyelashes. Then I'm like, and then I'll deal with the fallout from it over the winter. But I'm. I'm so into it. I got so many compliments on it. On vacation, I felt really, like, put together even with no makeup. Like, it's kind of just like, who me? I just woke up like this.
- [57:01]
A
They're the best for a beach vacation. Cause you truly. You don't have to do anything. I mean, you don't have to do anything regardless. But it just. It makes you feel like you're wearing makeup when you're not, which is such a nice feeling. I went through a phase. I went through a phase for sure. Probably 2017. Oh, my gosh. But I know people that started, and it's now been a decade of getting them.
- [57:25]
B
Oh, wow.
- [57:25]
A
Because it, like. Because like, once you get used to seeing yourself with them, it's Then you're
- [57:29]
B
like, I'm a naked mole rat without them.
- [57:31]
A
Yeah. Yeah. But they do look really good, for sure.
- [57:34]
B
Okay. So I'm entering my phase with that and my second obsession. Real other side of the spectrum. I have gotten obsessed with watching videos of people gifting their older fathers tickets to the World Cup. Usually older fathers who are, like, born in another country. It's kind of like soldiers coming Home from war videos and meeting their dog. Like, I just, I watch them and I get so emotional. And like, I also think there's something about seeing, like, older men be soft and like, really emotional that's really lovely. Like, in most of them, like, the dad gets like, so choked up. Like, he either like, has to cover his face or he's crying and it's like, it's so sweet.
- [58:18]
A
That is very sweet. I haven't seen these, but now that you've said it, I will probably see a lot of them on my.
- [58:22]
B
Oh, my God, I hope so. I can't get enough of them. I was watching them, a bunch of them on the plane back from Italy and I was like, why have I chosen this? Because I'm just like, so sitting in my window seat misting up.
- [58:34]
A
I feel like everyone is crying on a plane. Just no one knows. Everyone's in their own sadness, their own emotions.
- [58:41]
B
What about you? What are you obsessed with?
- [58:44]
A
Speaking of emotions, I am darkly obsessed with the Summer House reunion. I don't know if you followed the fallout of the west and Amanda stuff.
- [58:54]
B
I mean, I haven't, but I'm a human on social media, so I know a lot about it for a show I've never watched and people that I don't know anything about.
- [59:02]
A
Same, same. I don't watch the show either. But I have watched all of the reunion now and so I feel like I know a lot. I think I've also watched like parts of episodes here and there in the past, so I know enough to understand the dynamics. Like, I understand that Kyle is very problematic. They have this really dysfunctional slash non functional marriage. I've like gotten the timeline worked out. I just have so many questions about these people. And specifically, have you seen that west and Amanda were like on some sort of a drug?
- [59:38]
B
Oh, that they were taking beta blockers?
- [59:40]
A
Yes. But if you watch it, it's like so clear that they are on something else. Like, everyone is crying on stage and this woman who is just getting attacked through the entire entire reunion, which she really messed up. But I do not like to watch someone get bullied, even if they like somewhat deserve it. So it was very uncomfortable to watch. But she's just no emotion stoic, I gotta say.
- [60:05]
B
Like, if I was in her shoes where it was like, somehow my job to get dogpiled onto, like, I would be on a drug too, I would want to dissociate. Like, I don't know why there's this, like, expectation that she needs to take it and cry. For the public. And, you know, I haven't watched the show. I don't know that, but I'm like, yeah, yeah, I would want to dissociate if this were me.
- [60:26]
A
I agree with you. And I think had she been crying the entire time, she also would have gotten shit on for that. It was not just that she wasn't emotional, is that she was completely disengaged. Like, she was like, I haven't even watched the show. She disappeared for 20 minutes to an hour, depending on who you ask. When she had opportunities to apologize, it was like she wasn't clear what she should be apologizing about. It was just. I don't know. At the same time, I find Kyle to be the fakest, most disingenuous person. I'm, like, talking to you as if you know all the ins and outs of this. And, like, everyone listens.
- [60:59]
B
Like, I do feel conversant in it, just purely through friends I know who are obsessed with it. And just being on the Internet, I.
- [61:06]
A
I have a lot of thoughts. And I think it's fascinating that Kyle, who was an absolutely horrific person to her all season and problematic is, like, suddenly we're supposed to sit there and cry for him when it's like, this guy does not care. He does not care.
- [61:23]
B
But also, did you see the photo from this weekend of the two of them somewhere, kind of like looking friendly and laughing?
- [61:30]
A
Yes, that's what I'm saying. Kyle is full of shit. I feel like he is playing everyone. Like, he's supposed to be sad. So he's sad. I don't believe a word of him, like, being hurt by the whole thing. I think, if anything, he's relieved because the pressure is not on him. Like, it should have been four hours of talking about how he called his wife stupid bitch and instead. Yeah. And said fuck you to her and all this stuff. And instead it's like we're supposed to feel bad for him because his wife is hooking up with someone else, albeit not a great choice. And west is garbage, but I saw people calling him west td, which is really something.
- [62:09]
B
Oh, God.
- [62:12]
A
Anyway, I could go on, but I just have a lot of thoughts on it and no one to talk to about it.
- [62:17]
B
So I bet listeners are going to want to have a Facebook group or BFF group thread about this, because I feel like a lot of people have a lot of feelings about this. You're not alone.
- [62:27]
A
Thank you. And I just want to say that there's a lot of nuance to this situation. I did not Cover all of it in my word vomit just now. So please don't come for me. But I just have a lot of thoughts. Well, what have you read?
- [62:40]
B
So the only thing I finished was Whistler by Ann Patchett. I went to a launch event for her book and I read probably like a third of it before the event, just in one afternoon. It reads so quickly. And then I finished it in Italy. And this book is about a woman who is in her mid-50s and she runs into a man who was her stepfather for like maybe a year when she was 9 at the Met Museum. And now he's in his 70s or 80s, and they reconnect as adults. And it's really about memory and how you conceive of things when you're a child versus maybe things you might have missed or misinterpreted that you can understand as an adult. I thought this book was so lovely. A lot of people have been comparing it to the Correspondent, which I can totally understand. I think everyone's a lot more likable in this book, to be honest with you. And yeah, I enjoyed the heck out of this. And I also made a good dent in our book club pick for this month, which is Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, which we'll talk about next week.
- [63:53]
A
Oh, great.
- [63:54]
B
What about you? What have you been reading over these last few weeks?
- [63:57]
A
Well, I read Foster, which I already talked about, and then I finished Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns, which is about a young woman who has this love of music growing up in Appalachia, and she may or may not be the long lost daughter of a famous country musician who disappeared.
- [64:21]
B
Oh, I didn't know that that's what this was about.
- [64:24]
A
There's a lot. There's also, like a meteor strike. I have to say this is a book where the structure so completely did not work for me that I really struggled with it. But, you know, speaking of books set in the woods, if you like country music or music in general, and if you like deep Appalachia woods, lush settings, I think you should check this out. But the structure was really tough for me. It's hard to explain unless you read it, but it's very, very unique. It's definitely a big swing. I think finally you might be interested in this. I finally read Loved One by Aisha Muharrar, and I picked this up in a little tiny bookstore in Carrick on Shannon, Ireland, which there's like 4,000 people in this tiny town. It was so cute to go in and see, like, all the Paperbacks. There's no hardcovers. It's so strange to me, it almost feels like fake books, even though they're not. It's just they look kind of like props, even though they're real.
- [65:25]
B
How cool for her that her book is stocked in this like tiny, tiny town.
- [65:30]
A
Yes. You know, it was also there paper cut by my friend Rachel Taft. And so I took a photo of it and I texted it to her and I was like, I am in the middle of nowhere, Ireland. And not the middle of nowhere, but it's a small town.
- [65:43]
B
And I want to know all about the buyer at this. At this bookstore.
- [65:47]
A
Yeah, we were talking about the hardcovers and the paperbacks and it was just, it was so interesting to see like brand new books that had just come out only in paperback. You know, it's just something obviously that's different. Anyway, I read this on the plane coming back. I finished it. I really loved this. This to me, and maybe it's because I knew that the author was a writer for famous TV shows like Hacks or Parks and Rec, but. But it, to me, it just felt like a series. Like there's so much dialogue, it's so snappy and fast. And I really, really enjoyed it. It was like the perfect. I'm not a big plane reader, but to me it was like the perfect plane book, in my opinion.
- [66:26]
B
Oh, I can see that.
- [66:27]
A
Yeah.
- [66:28]
B
I still just love the pitch of this book being an emotional mystery. Like it has the pacing of a mystery without any real scary elements.
- [66:37]
A
I was describing it to my friend after I read it and I was like, it's not really a romance. It's like not really a friendship story. But it is. But I could just see this so clearly in my head while I was reading. I could hear it. Like I could see the dialogue. Oh gosh. It was.
- [66:53]
B
She's a TV writer, so that makes total sense.
- [66:55]
A
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it was actually really inspiring from like a dialogue point of view. And yeah, I enjoyed it.
- [67:02]
B
Well, we also have our June book club pick, which is Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave that we'll be discussing in next week's episode. And I think I'm in this enough that I can do the pitch, but you tell me if I get anything wrong. So this is about two women who meet in Paris when they are both young. One is about to go to college, the other is a graduate student and they have this summer long affair that then kind of echoes through through the rest of their adult lives.
- [67:36]
A
Nailed it.
- [67:37]
B
Woo. We also have an exciting announcement. We have our July listener pick ready to go and this was such a nail biter. I don't know if you kept an eye on this at all while you were away, but this was neck and neck. Do you want to tell the folks what we ended up with?
- [67:55]
A
Yes, we ended up with the Burning side by Sarah Damoff. It was neck and neck with yesteryear. I mean I was think I kept looking and I was trying not to click it by accident cuz the vote was messing it up.
- [68:08]
B
Thank God I didn't bet on this because I would have bet all of my dollars that it was going to be yesteryear.
- [68:14]
A
I mean people love the Burning side a lot. So we're going to talk about it.
- [68:19]
B
So this is from the publisher. Pitched as a poignant family saga by acclaimed author Sarah Damoff, the story follows April and Leo, a married couple on the brink of divorce who are forced to reevaluate their lives after their house burns down in the middle of the night. And then from Allie Davis, who was the person who nominated it in the listener pick poll, she said, I read the burning side in 24 hours and couldn't stop. These characters had my heart in a chokehold. There is so much going on in this book and alternating timelines and POVs, but it never once felt confusing or impersonal. It felt as if we were each character ourselves feeling and walking through their lives just as they did. The best character driven novel I've read, with heavy introspection on marriage, abandonment, diagnoses, family and fighting for those you love. So maybe not like summer read.
- [69:13]
A
No, I'm excited. I'm excited about this.
- [69:16]
B
So we'll be reading that and discussing the last week of July.
- [69:21]
A
Can't wait. And a final huge thank you to our episode sponsor and summer partner, Sol de Janeiro. As we talked about earlier in the episode, you can expect all sorts of fun stuff with the Summer of Soul partnership, including those bonus book club episodes, in person events, giveaways and more. So go to batonpaper podcast.com summerofsoul for more info. And we'll kick off with our first first bonus book club episode reading the Five Star Weekend by Ellen Hildebrand, which is my first Ellen book. I'm very, very excited and discussing it in a bonus episode on July 16, just in time for the adaptation to launch on Peacock.
- [70:01]
B
And if you would like more of us or to get a recommendation for somewhere you're traveling this summer, join us in the Facebook group. Join us in the BFF group. Both are under batonpaper Podcast. You can follow us on Instagram where we will also post all the information about our Summer of Soul partnerships and and events at batonpaper Podcast. I'm on Instagram at Becca M. Freeman and my newsletter is at Becca Freeman
- [70:24]
A
substack.com and I am Olivia mentor all
- [70:27]
B
the places and we will see you next week for Book Club. Bye Bye.