Taking Stock of the Year in Adaptations

Summary

Book Riot - The Podcast: Taking Stock of the Year in Adaptations

Release Date: December 18, 2024
Hosts: Jeff O'Neill and Rebecca Schinsky

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Introduction

In the December 18, 2024 episode of Book Riot - The Podcast, hosts Jeff O'Neill and Rebecca Schinsky delve into the landscape of book adaptations that graced the silver screen and television throughout the year. They explore both the triumphs and pitfalls of translating beloved literary works into visual media, offering insightful commentary on what made certain adaptations stand out while others fell short.

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Overview of 2024 in Book Adaptations

Jeff opens the discussion by reflecting on the state of adaptations in 2024, humorously noting, "I finally called peak adaptation. It took me six years, but we finally hit it." This sets the tone for an in-depth analysis of how the adaptation market has evolved, particularly as streaming platforms exhaust major literary properties and turn to backlist titles for fresh material.

Rebecca adds, "Most of the things that I really enjoyed on screen were not necessarily from big books or books that were my favorites but that made for great television or great movies." This observation underscores a shift towards diverse and sometimes unexpected sources for adaptations.

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Movie Adaptations: Hits and Misses

Successes

1. Dune Part Two

   • Jeff expresses excitement about Denis Villeneuve's continuation of the Dune saga, anticipating its Oscar potential: "I think Dune Part two is the one that's going to be up for a bunch of Oscars."

2. It Ends with Us

   • Rebecca highlights this film as a commercial success, noting its profitability: "It earned 148 million at the US box office. This is a real US Phenomenon." They discuss how the movie, despite mixed reviews of the source material, resonated with audiences and secured a sequel.

3. The Wild Robot

   • Both hosts view this animated adaptation as a sleeper hit, praising its faithful translation and appeal to both children and adults.

Notable Challenges

1. Wicked

   • Jeff provides a critical take on the adaptation of the beloved musical: "The book is a mess... The music is so amazing that it holds a lot of water for a lot of rickety stuff in that show." They commend the performances but question the screenplay's effectiveness.

2. Argyle

   • A significant disappointment, Argyle failed to meet box office expectations, grossing $45 million against a $200 million budget. Jeff comments, "Underestimating Taylor Swift is a fool's errand," hinting at the film's reliance on star power without substantial storytelling.

3. Gentlemen in Moscow & Interior Chinatown

   • Both adaptations received lukewarm receptions. Jeff notes for Gentlemen in Moscow, "They struggled to capture that thread between the darkness and the lightness in a real way," while Rebecca criticizes Interior Chinatown for failing to translate its metafictional complexity to the screen.

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Television Adaptations: Standouts and Stumbles

Standout Shows

1. Shogun

   • Rebecca deems Shogun a frontrunner for Emmy success, appreciating its cultural depth and suspenseful storytelling: "Shogun is the one that's going to win a bunch of awards."

2. Ripley

   • Praised for its faithful adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's work, Rebecca describes it as "stunning," especially lauding Andrew Scott's performance.

3. Slow Horses

   • Continues to impress with its consistent quality, prompting both hosts to anticipate future seasons eagerly.

Stumbles

1. Say Anything

   • Despite strong performances, Say Anything struggles to maintain viewer engagement, leading Rebecca to label it as not having a "sticky" presence with audiences.

2. Three Body Problem

   • Jeff describes it as a "deeply flawed show" that failed to resonate despite its ambitious premise.

3. Masters of the Air

   • Both hosts express disappointment, citing a lack of character attachment and relying too heavily on spectacle without emotional depth.

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Upcoming Adaptations and Anticipated Releases

Jeff and Rebecca look ahead to adaptations slated for release in early 2025, expressing cautious optimism. They mention titles like Nickel Boys and Nightbitch, anticipating their potential impact based on ongoing discussions and limited market previews.

Rebecca teases an upcoming discussion on Argyle, hinting at further analysis in a year-end review episode: "We can talk about that maybe next week with the year end review podcast."

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Trends and Insights

The hosts identify a notable trend of moving away from blockbuster source material to explore backlist titles, providing fresh narratives and diverse perspectives. Jeff observes, "Since the streamers have all gotten through most of the big hot properties... we're farther into back list and I think that makes it more interesting in like seven different directions." This diversification is seen as both a challenge and an opportunity for creators to reinvent and breathe new life into lesser-known works.

They also discuss the impact of streaming services on the adaptation landscape, with platforms like Apple, Netflix, and Hulu shaping the types of adaptations being greenlit and distributed.

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Concluding Thoughts

Jeff and Rebecca conclude the episode by reflecting on the mixed outcomes of 2024’s adaptations. While some projects have soared both critically and commercially, others have flopped despite high expectations. The conversation underscores the inherent challenges in adapting complex literary works while balancing audience expectations and creative integrity.

Rebecca summarizes their stance: "Some things just work as books in ways that are too difficult to try to translate to the screen." This sentiment encapsulates the delicate art of adaptation, recognizing that not all narratives are suited for visual storytelling.

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Notable Quotes

• Jeff O'Neill [00:55]: "What was the adaptation of the year? Rebecca? Let's do one. What was it?"

• Rebecca Schinsky [02:04]: "I think it's fair to say that I finally called peak adaptation."

• Jeff O'Neill [07:57]: "I think it's Dune Part two, and I don't think it's Close is kind of what you may be hearing me say."

• Rebecca Schinsky [11:24]: "Ripley is right there behind it, which that came out so early in the year that I think it's suffering from it."

• Jeff O'Neill [25:33]: "I think it's very possible that the Wild Robot will be up for best adapted screenplay."

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Conclusion

The hosts provide a comprehensive overview of the year's adaptation efforts, balancing praise with critique and highlighting the ever-evolving nature of literary transformations. Book Riot - The Podcast offers listeners a thoughtful examination of what worked, what didn't, and what to watch for in the future of book adaptations.

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For more insights and discussions on the world of books and adaptations, visit bookriot.com.

Transcript

[Jeff O'Neill]

The holidays are about spending time with your loved ones and creating magical memories.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That will last a lifetime.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So whether it's family and friends you haven't seen in a while, or those who you see all the time, share holiday magic this season with an ice cold Coca Cola. Copyright 2024, the Coca Cola Company 70,000 people are here and Bob Dylan is.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The reason for it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Inspired by the true story.

[Unknown]

If anyone is going to hold your attention on stage, you have to kind.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Of be a fre.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

A freak. Hope so.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And starring Timothy Chalamet as Bob Dylan. He defied everyone.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Turn it down.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Hey. Loud to change everything. Make some noise. BD Timothy Chalamet Edward Norton Elle Fanning Monica Barbaro A complete unknown Only in theaters Christmas Day rated R under 1790 minute without parent this is the Book Riot podcast. I'm Jeff O'Neill.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And I'm Rebecca Schinsky.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And today we're taking a look back at the adaptations of 2024 or books that got turned into film or TV. Various kinds, both in the meta sense. Like what mattered. We might take a look at the. Maybe we'll talk for a minute about the kind of state of adaptations. I think it's fair to say that I finally called peak adaptation. I got it right. It took me six years, but we finally hit it. But there's still a lot of Rebecca, don't you think?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I do think so. Like this was an interesting year and as we get into our favorites and the highlights a little bit later, I discovered that most of the things that I really enjoyed on screen were not necessarily from like big books or from books that were my favorites but that made for great television or great movies. And that's, that's not a brand new phenomenon. But when we, when we started cresting mount adaptation a couple of years ago, it was really like the big hot properties and the stuff that like you loved reading and you couldn't wait to see it on screen. And since the streamers have all gotten through most of the big hot properties at this point, we're farther into back list and I think that makes it more interesting in like seven different directions.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I'd say it's interesting. There are quite a few big hit movies on this list in writ large. Like it was a fairly good year at the box office all things. Now we're not going to do comic book adaptation on the show. We don't really cover comics but Deadpool and Wolverine was a huge hit for Disney. Moana2 Sorry sir, there's another one. I just lost it anyway.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Inside out too.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Inside out too. So there was a bunch. There's like kids and things, but that's not an adaptation.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So Deadpool and Wolverine, Kraven the Hunter bombed. Madame Web bombed. Really a weird moment for comic book movie adaptations. Marvel is going through, let's call it aging pains. Deadpool and Wolverine was a huge hit, but it's sort of the exception that proves the rule. Unlike a lot of its other fare. And Marvel has a few more movies coming out next year. I'm particularly excited about Thunderbolts. It looks like a lot of fun, but where we go from here you can even see apparently Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell and Robert Downey Jr. Are all coming back in various roles for another like they're going back to the well. And when you go back to the well, that means that other wells that you drilled came up.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's not a great sign for the new content coming out of Marvel and in the non comic space. I haven't started to see a lot of listings for 2025 adaptations yet. So folks, if you've seen stuff, shoot us an email podcastookriot.com or Patreon members. You can comment on the post on Patreon to let us know what adaptations you are looking forward next year. And we will be doing a preview in mid January. We might have some fun guests join us, so keep us posted about what you're looking at.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Also, before we get into the meat of the conversation, be sure to check out mytbr Co. Just a really great option. I would say this even if it weren't one of our products, but it is. So I get to have my cake and profit from it too. You can give it as a gift. Give it for yourself. Price is all the way from 15 up to a full year of physical books in the mail. Here's what it is for yourself or your giftee. They fill out a reading profile. These are the kinds of books I'm looking for. Then our expert team of bibliologists go back into their digital caves and think and wonder and look up and ask each other what kind of books fit that. Then you get those recommendations either as a digital recommendation only, where for each of the picks there's an explanation written by a human of why that expert book picker thinks it's the one for you. Or you're going to get the books or your giftee will get the books in the mail. So one off gifts, one off for yourself. Year long situations go to MyTBR CEO Co MyTBR Co to check that out. Also a link in the show notes@book riot.com Listen. All right, let's do this. What was the adaptation of the year? Rebecca? Let's do one. What was it? What was the one way to pick the one that were like, this is the movie that came out in 2024 that was the most. I don't know, consequential will be remembered the longest. Where are you going to go with your picks?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Do one for movies, one for tv.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Sure, yeah, that's fine.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Movies. I think the story is going to be Wicked this year and we have.

[Jeff O'Neill]

A point of order around that. I guess we should say. Or maybe you don't have as much of a point of order as I do.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That it's an adaptation of the musical.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That is an adaptation of the book, I think so.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's like the Color Purple was last year.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I have a take on Wicked. I've always liked the musical. Michelle and I saw it several times in New York. They used to do the $20 ticket lotteries. And in the early days of Wicked, you could actually get them. Like we would go and you stand up, you know, you put your name and you wait around. You could be able to do this Rent. And I think Hamilton did this too. It's one of the really cool things that Broadway does where you get the enthusiastic 22 year olds who just moved to New York in the front row. So we saw it several times. We take people in there. The music is really fun and great and the main character. The two main character relationship is wonderful. Other than that, it's kind of a mess, that movie and that musical. The book is a. It's a mess. And so this is. The people are here for Defying Gravity Popular and Loathing. They're not here because it's based on the book Wicked. So I give it an asterisk. That's where I am. Your. But I just don't think it really is an adaptation of a book. I think the idea is cool that Gregory Maguire had but like, let's look at things from the villain's point of view. Is a little played out at this point though. He was early on that side. I'm just not. I don't know. It's gonna be an adapted screenplay, I guess, but I don't think the screenplay is very good. The music is so amazing that it holds a lot of water for a lot of rickety stuff in that show.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I actually have no exposure to any of the versions of Wicked. The book came out, I think, when I was, like, at the end of high school or maybe early college. I just missed it and then missed the musical being a thing. It's not quite in the zone of, like, what I'm drawn to in theater. I probably will. I mean, I'll watch it when it hits streaming. I might go see it in the theater over the holidays. It looks like fun. It looks like a good time. But I think that asterisk is well deserved. I would have put the same kind of asterisk around the Color Purple if we were talking about it last year. Like, a movie that's based on a musical that's based on a book is an adaptation of an adaptation. And you're probably closer in the case of the Color Purple to the source material or at least to the story. But yeah, okay, so outside of Wicked, the movie adaptation story of the year, there's two. And I think it's Dune Part two is the one that's going to be up for a bunch of Oscars. Or if it's not, it will be like, we're all waiting until the third one so that Denis Villeneuve can finally win awards. And then the other, the big one for commercial success is It Ends with Us.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I think It Ends With Us was probably more profitable and almost certainly more profitable on a dollar per dollar basis. I think the budget was 50 million. It earned 148 million at the US box office. I don't think it did much internationally. This is a real US Phenomenon.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We should. We'll put the link back into the show. Notes. When Vanessa Diaz and I went to see It Ends With Us, we talked about it right after the adaptation was released. It's kind of the rare thing where the book is really not great. The movie is also not great, but it, I think, is more palatable than the book and is a pretty faithful adaptation. Folks who loved the book were not unhappy with how the movie went, as evidenced by $148 million at the box office. It's 1 on Netflix this week. It just hit streaming. Big, big story. And there was a lot of, you know, fun gossipy stuff happening around, like mysterious gossipy stuff that happened around the press tour. So for a kind of melodramatic movie and then you get, like, interpersonal drama among the cast. You got a lot of stuff going on with. It ends with us and we are.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Going to get the sequel. It starts with us, and I'm sure it'll do sort of equivalent numbers. But I think this is very it's very contained. Right. There's not a lot. A lot of people have seen this, but not a lot of conversation around Ends With Us. I think the wider sort of critical establishment among movies is keeping it at arm's length, both just for a variety of reasons, not unlike the book world has done with Colleen Hoover's work to this point. Much like I think, did we call It Ends with Us? Did we do a book of the year for It Ends with Us or we just did the whole Hoover ouvo? I don't know how we handled this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But yeah, I think we talked about her a lot that year.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, it's just. It's hard to. It's hard to put in context, but it did very, very well.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think it's Dune Part two, and I don't think it's Close is kind of what you may be hearing me say.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think that's right. It Ends with Us is a story in 2024, but in a couple of years we're all going to have forgotten that this was a sensation that people cared about. No one is going to care about this Colleen Hoover adaptation. Five, 10, 15 years, like, in terms and contribution to cinema, it's definitely Dune Part two.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And I don't even think it's going to have. If you think of some of the other sneered at literary adaptation phenomenons, I'm thinking 50 Shades, I'm thinking Twilights. Those have remained for some, like kind of a cult. Cult maybe is not even fair, but like, there is a pretty consistent fandom for the Twilight movies in Twilight.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And the Hoover Bloom seems to be coming off the Rose. It doesn't have that.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It doesn't have the really important difference that fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight, which of course fifty Shades of Grey is fan fiction for Twilight, inspire a kind of guilty pleasure fun like you. Especially the first Twilight movie where the, like when the vampire starts sparkling, it's like, it's so poorly done, it's ridiculous. And that makes it fun to see the fifty Shades adaptation. The first one at least was so over the top. Like, I went to see it with friends, with little nips of Jack Daniels poured into our Cokes, you know, and like everybody in this theater's kind of shouting at the screen and it was a like, let's just go see what the spectacle is. It ends with us does not lend itself to that because it's fundamentally like a weirdo romance about domestic violence. And so you can't really engage with it on a like, so bad it's good kind of level. And I think a lot of folks have genuine affection for the Twilight series. But a lot of folks, especially in our like elder millennial demographic, have the so bad it's good affection for those Twilight movies, and that does give them more endurance than something like it ends.

[Jeff O'Neill]

With us on the TV side. Let's take a sponsor break before we get to the adaptation of the year in tv.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

This episode is sponsored by the Gardens of Eden by Rosie Lee. Stick around after the episode to hear an excerpt from the audiobook provided by our sponsors at Random House Audio. The Garden family lives on an idyllic estate in Eden, Georgia. That's E D I n, but everything isn't picture perfect. Ruth runs the family's multimillion dollar peanut business. Tensions have intensified after her husband Beau's death, and she feels like an outsider in the very place she wishes to belong. Sisters Mary and Martha fuel the family tension as Naomi, the peacemaking matriarch, steps back. Hidden truths, life and death circumstances, and escalating clashes force the women to grapple with what it means to be family. Spend the holidays with the Garden Family that's G a R D I n from Christmas to Easter in this heartwarming Southern family and its many complexities. The audiobook is narrated by Bonnie Turpin, who is an Audie Award winner and Audible Narrator of the year. Again, stick around after the show for an excerpt of the audiobook. The Gardens of Eden by Rosie Lee. This episode is brought to you by Dutch Bros. Get stoked for all the holly jolly vibes this season at Dutch Bros. Stay cozy with returning winter faves Hazelnut Truffle Mocha and Candy cane mocha. Plus, the new Winter Shimmer Rebel Energy Drink blends up sweet cream and blue razz flavor with soft top and shimmer sprinks to keep those spirits energized all winter long.

[Unknown]

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[Rebecca Schinsky]

Order ahead and start earning rewards.

[Jeff O'Neill]

This year Santa's bringing the power of Energizer into his workshop.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Whoa. The Energizer Bunny's got so much power, he's powered up all the toys. I think that means we're done for the year. I love this bunny. He's the hardest working helper the North.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Pole has ever seen and he wants all your gifts to have the power of the number one longest lasting AA battery. So this holiday season, stock up on Santa's and the elves favorite battery, Energizer Ultimate Lithium. I think I've seen more of these well I've seen about half of the stuff on each of the lists here. It wasn't a terrific movie going year, just in terms of getting out to the theater. I really like. I thought Dune Part 2 was amazing. Wicked is a good time, I think. Rebecca, I'd suggest if you can get to the theater over break, you should go with a big speaker, a big screen. It really is. It really is.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Just go see Wicked.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Go do your 9am or 10am Wicked on the day after Christmas or something like that. And then the other thing I should mention in the movies of the year, I want to mention, I think the sleeper hit that we might see an award season, a variety of places is the Wild Robot, which is a book that my kids loved. A lot of people. We just missed this in the theater. We're going to watch it over streaming. They're really looking forward to it. The response I did a couple posts for a client, frankly, that was sponsoring the Instagram and stuff for the Wild Robot adaptation edition. And the comments were just effusive for the book and the movie. And it did really well. It's a really strong year for animation. There's this movie called Flow, there's the Wild Robot. There's Inside out two. A lot of really interesting stuff there. So that's probably the third of the troika of it ends with us, Dune Part two and the Wild Robot and then the asterisk next to Wicked.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

On the TV side, I have a harder time. I have my personal favorites. But what is like what's going to win the Emmy for Shogun? Shogun. Okay. It's very good. It is very good. I like say anything better. I like them both, but I ultimately like say anything better. I feel like say Anything hasn't been watched very much. Is that your sense of it?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, that's my sense of it as well. And I don't know if it's because it's just on Hulu where Shogun was also airing on FX on cable there. And Shogun had a big splashy campaign. It came out earlier in the year. There's been more time to talk about it. Say Anything is also, I think, struggling because you can't tell anything of what it's about from the title and the pitch.

[Jeff O'Neill]

John Cusack series.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And the pitch for it is a little like it's very serious. Not that Shogun isn't, but there's like action and suspense and like palace intrigue in Shogun that makes it. I think Shogun is a more fun watch like it's not intended to be fun, but it's more enjoyable from a. Just like you can be on the edge of your seat at moments. We're not all the way done with say anything yet here. I really like it as well. Like incredible acting in both. But yeah, it's just not as sticky for some reason with the TV viewing public. And I do think Shogun is the one that's going to win a bunch of awards. Ripley is right there behind it, which that came out so early in the year that I think it's suffering from it. At this point in the year, folks don't really remember it, but that the Netflix Ripley adaptation is stunning and Andrew Scott is just spectacular. The whole thing is shot in black and white for the first like six months of the year. It was my favorite thing I watched on TV this year.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Do you think that suffers from having it being an adaptation that's been adapted multiple times and a fairly well loved. We talked about the talented Mr. Lipley 90s movie that's well loved by people our age and around our age and maybe even a little bit older. There's a been there done that element to Ripley. Well, Shogun has been adapted, but it was a TV series in the 70s. It's on TV like the completely different world. I just wonder that, like, I don't know that Ripley maybe a bit of a retread where some of these other.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Things it might be like, unless you're really paying attention and most people aren't to the details of TV releases, you might think that the Netflix Ripley is just sort of a remake of or like a TV version of the 90s film. It's really different in a ton of ways and more faithful to the book and to Patricia Highsmith's vibe. But most folks don't care about that, especially when you're competing with like Jude Law and Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, which is super fun. I did go back and rewatch the 90s one before the Netflix one hit, but just that's an incredible one. I do it got nominated for some Emmys. I think we'll see it get nominated for, you know, additional awards, maybe take some home. And then on like just pure fandom side, Bridgerton season four did really well. Bridgerton continues to. To kill it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay. So I think those kind of COVID the adaptations of the year. Hard to know, I should say, what to do with House of The Dragon Season 2 and Rings of Power Season 2, which both came out this year. I watched them both enjoyed Them both and sort of a steady B plus, like you kind of know what you're gonna get there. They are based on. These are not extended universe things where this is. George R.R. martin has written a book that covers the material and it's done of House of the Dragon. The Lord of the Rings stuff is a little looser. Goosier. What Amazon has the rights to is still a little unclear to me, but it is based on some of the J.R. tolkien stuff. And then things are filled in. I think fans of Tolkien are into it. It hasn't broken out into people you just know might try really either of these at this point. I think it's pretty hardcore fans of both of those franchises.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think that's right.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All right, how about your favorites on the movies? Like, just. Just straight up the things you were most glad to have watched this year?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay, well, this might be recency bias, because I just saw it over the weekend, but the Return with Ralph Fiennes and Juliet Binoche.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You immediately texted me about this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Effing incredible. It's so. It is so good. It's. It's about, like. Well, it's adapted from the end of the Odyssey when Odysseus comes back from sea after 10 years after winning, you know, taking down Troy. And his bride, Penelope has been surrounded by suitors who are trying to become the new king. And she's getting to the end of her rope. They're like, bad things are happening. Everything has gone to hell. And he. He returns home. And most of the film, I mean, I think it's pretty faithful. It's been a while since I read the Odyssey, but most of the film is Odysseus, like, not telling anybody who he actually is because he washes up on shore and he looks like a beggar. And he's in these, like, tattered, you know, raggedy clothes. And he's finding out from, you know, the local people that are taking care of him what's been going on. And is he going to make his way back to the palace? Is he going to reunite with Penelope? Will he be able to, like, take down these other suitors in some way? What's up with his son Telemachus, who's never really known him? It is so good.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'm so excited.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

They made a great decision to, like. It's not written in the Homeric rhythms. I don't think most of the dialogue is pulled from home. It's just, what would these people do in this story? There's a lot of sections where there's not Much talking. But there's Ralph Fiennes doing Ralph Fiennes face things and Juliet Binoche doing Juliet Binoche face things. And like, there's a big climactic scene where the suitors have got to compete to see who can shoot Odysseus's bow. And can. Can one of them even successfully string the bow and can they shoot it through the head heads of 12 arrows? And like I have read the Odyssey, I know what is going to happen. And I was like on the edge of my seat, like, how are they gonna do this? And what is Ralph Fiennes gonna do? And it's phenomenal. It is so, so good. I'm so glad it was made. I think that's my number one with a bullet or like with an arrow this year. But also Conclave, like kind of. It's a Ralph finds double header.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Wow.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

For me this year.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Wow, wow, wow. Yeah, I'm looking forward to both of them. I think conclave is also on my family's viewings. This was cool about the return is I've only seen the trailer. Of course. I know the Odyssey pretty well. And I'm guessing this is a bloodbath at the end. No spoilers.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay. Things don't go well for the suitors. Let's say there. The thing as I get older, you identify with different characters in books, right? This is what happens at the beginning. You're like the rebels and the kids and the young lovers. And as you get older, you start identifying with, say, Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. The way Ralph Fiennes looks when he washes up on shore is how I feel every morning. Just every morning. That's what I feel. I just, I barely holding on. I gotta get through the day. And I'm not quite as in sort of old man shape like Ralph Fiennes is. I think he did some things. I wonder what kind of regimen, physical, chemical or otherwise, he was doing. But good excuse for Fiennes to round into form.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, He's. Yeah, early 60s. He looks incredible. There is full frontal Ray Fines in this.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You're talking about varying the lead before.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You put it on the big projector in your living room.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Remember that from the Homer?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But yeah, he's. I mean, he just looks phenomenal. It's a full body performance in so many ways. And he's wonderful also in conclave, but so reserved in conclave. His character, you know, is a bishop living in the Vatican trying to run this. He's kind of a company man who doesn't think that he should be in the running to be the next Pope. He wants to be the administrator who like helps these things happen. And he's just, that's quiet. His head, like forehead wrinkles do a lot of work for him in Conclave. But those two performances, I just sat there watching the Return thinking like, man, I thought I got a gift when I went to see Conclave and I got one rave finds this year. But the Return is the real story. It's really fantastic. And I was texting you like, we got to do Hot Greek Summer. We got to read the Odyssey. Then we got to do all of the adaptations of things inspired by the.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Odyssey, Troy and the Return back to back. You know, get some pit and some fine sweating it up.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

No complaints from me.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, my favorite of these is Dune Part 2. I haven't seen all of them. I think my most anticipated continues to be Nickel Boys. It's just. It's just not out where either you or the. The reviews have been pretty good. I think it's going to be in the conversation for best picture. Was it Anora, the brutalist Emilia Perez? Dune part two? There's 10. I don't know as many as others, but that's kind of the list at this point. It feels like, I think adapted screenplay is a fascinating one between Nickel Boys. We haven't talked about Sing Sing yet, but based on the Sing Sing Files, it has a lot of good feelings, especially towards Coleman Domingo. People really like that movie. Kind of a feel good movie if you don't know what's about. It's a theater program group in a prison there Queer, which is based on a William S. Burroughs, I think novella or short story starring Daniel Craig. Craig, I think people don't love that movie as much as Luca Guadadinho's new movie. Apparently Craig's performance is amazing and that's maybe kind of all there is to recommend it. From what I'm gathering at this point.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That'S what I've been. That's the vibe I've picked up about Queer as well. I think I'm probably going to save that one for streaming rather than my holiday time. I do want to give a plug for Sing Sing. I went to see it in the theater. It is. Is really wonderful. It does not get too sweet about the story. Like it is inspiring. There are heartwarming moments, but there are also like really difficult, really sad things that these men experience. It is about the power of art to bring us together for connection, for healing. But it doesn't make it glossy. It doesn't make it go down too easy. And I think that's part of why it's in I think it will be in conversation maybe for a best adapted screenplay. We'll see what else gets tossed into the mix there. Kind of same thing with the Wild Robot. I haven't seen that one yet. I'm keeping my powder dry for Is it going to be in the best adapted screenplay conversation? Will I need to have read it for the show? Is it just something to read the book and see the film on my own just for fun? But that one looks really great.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If I had to guess today adapted screenplay nominees, I'm guessing Nickel Boys, Dune Part two, Conclave. I think I can get the Wild Robot in there without feeling like it's a stretch.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think it's very possible that the Wild Robot will be up for best adapted screenplay.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay then, our favorites on the TV side already. So Shogun, I said earlier in the year. Well, you go first. What's your favorite?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, Ripley. I loved Ripley. I've. I really enjoyed watching Shogun, but Ripley just rang a bunch of bells for me.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I struggle with this because I really like Shogun. I really like say anything but then and I think this is maybe part of the pachinko story writ large. I sort of forget about it. But then I look at like, am I sure that's not the best TV show ever made? Maybe because the production design is out of this world. The piece is gorgeously done. The the acting is phenomenal. The movement between Korean and Japanese. There's multiple ways you can watch this. I watch it with the original language, but then the Korean and Japanese subtitles, they put them in different colors so you know who is speaking what to win. And the switching matters based on.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's really helpful.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's really helpful. I think the thing that hurts it in a wider context, I think frankly, part of is being on Apple, which doesn't do as good of a job at promoting these things because who knows what their business case is. People don't really know what they want to do with these things and that the action is. There are big action things. It's set during World War II, principally season two. So we know Hiroshima, Nagasaki is going to happen. So someone's there or is maybe going to go there. There's drama, but mostly it's interior, mostly it's character. And the cultures and characters portrayed here are ones of restraint, not verbosity. This is not succession or the West Wing, where it's really quiet Action is dialogue, right? The action is are they gonna say the thing? Maybe they're gonna say, nope, they are. And then they say like one thing and all the tears start flowing or someone gets a bowl of rice. You're like, it's the most important thing that's ever happened to me watching tv. And so in that way it's a faithful in spirit adaptation of the original novel. It is the most literary thing on this board, bar none. And I think all those things make it hard for I'm gonna fire up the streaming box tonight and see what's rolling. Am I gonna try this multi generational, multi perspective things in multiple dubbed languages that doesn't have guns or swords or dragons. Tough hang. Rebecca. I think for most people, I mean.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Before the first season came out, I read Pachinko for the first time. I hadn't read it when it was big and I remember saying I was surprised by how page turner y it was and how quickly it becomes a page turner in the book. But like it's huge. It does not pass the O'Neill 350 or less test. But it really moved. And the TV show requires and rewards patience. Like you get to the place where you're that invested of like, are they gonna say the thing? What's gonna happen with the bowl of rice? But it doesn't have the same kind of pacing magic that I think happens in the book. And it's just a tough pitch because it is a quiet TV show for a lot of folks. Watching with subtitles is a non starter or makes it much more difficult difficult. That makes it hard to pitch them things. And there is, as you were saying, there's just not like a lot of action. There's not whose head is going to be on the pike this week, which is kind of the vibe of Showgirl. There's not a lot of intrigue. It's all just really quiet interpersonal stuff which is the hardest to do. And they do it so, so well. I'm looking forward to watching season two. I couldn't get to that level of like five alarm snot bomb television during election season, but I'm going to go there.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, it hasn't been renewed for season three, which is sort of peak adaptation stuff. I don't know, maybe they're waiting to see what happens with award season. I don't have a sense of that there.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We'll just also shout out Slow Horses season four. Any year that there's a Slow Horses, I'm going to be the gladdest that I got to watch a season of Slow Horses.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So reliably terrific that I take it for granted now.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And there's like 10 books and we get one or two seasons a year and they just. They're kind of making them constantly. They finish filming one season and they just pick up making the next. I will watch this for as long as they want to continue making it. It's so terrific.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It certainly passes in my household. The we have four new episodes of shows we're watching. What do we watch first? If there is a new Slow Horses episode? We watch Slow Horses first and it's.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

One of the rare ones where like I know what day of the week it comes on when it's airing and we'll be having breakfast and Bob's like Slow Horses tonight. Yes, that's right.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Right. It's like pizza tonight. There's only one answer to that one. There is. Let's see what else is worth that's kind of it. I the Three Body Problem or Three Body Problem. A deeply flawed show that had moments I still think about. So it is a real roller coaster ride with a three body problem. And I think that's kind of how it's existing right now.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I feel like my experience with that I benefited from having nothing read the books that I just. We watched it on Netflix on vacation and it was just kind of like I was just going with it and there were changes that they made from the story that Bob was like oh, that kind of ruins this element or this part doesn't make sense. It is deeply flawed even having not read the books. But it was enjoyable like it, you know, kind of potato chips for me. Entertainment.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'm almost more looking forward to the second season season because I feel like they did a lot of the establishment things. I'm guessing some of the the characters that worked better than others and ones that worked worked will foreground and background a little bit. But I. I anticipate that being a pretty significant hit. Other things that did better than I thought were maybe just because they're on Apple and you have no idea. But I didn't read great reviews of Dark Matter. I was looking forward to this. I didn't check it out because the reviews weren't great. It got picked up for season two pretty quickly.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It was good enough.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's what I heard. And I just. Good enough isn't good enough enough for me to check it out. Especially when I've already read the underlying source material. And then Silo, which the season. Season two just came out already got renewed for season three and four, which will apparently take it through the end of the Hugh Howey books. And that's kind of so people tend to be watching that whatever Magic 8 ball metrics Apple uses, apparently it checked enough of those boxes to get those going there.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We had listened to Dark Matter on a road trip several years ago and Bob and I both really liked it. So we did watch the show and it was I we've firmly agreed. Good enough, but I don't think we're going back in for season two, so take that to mean what you will. He has been watching Silo and is excited that that's going to continue.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Let's do one more break and then we're going to talk about the things that just didn't work this year, for whatever reason.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

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[Jeff O'Neill]

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[Rebecca Schinsky]

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[Jeff O'Neill]

Or your money back.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

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[Jeff O'Neill]

Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply I can't believe Argyle was this year. That was this year.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I know. I had completely forgotten about Argyle until I was scrolling all the way back through Our year's worth of podcast agenda is looking at like the stories of the year and I was like, oh right, Argyle and I can put that in the adaptation episode.

[Jeff O'Neill]

A huge bomb. And there's all this intrigue about did Taylor Swift write it? Do you remember this?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I know that was I do. Yeah. And we can. We'll talk about that maybe next week with the year End review podcast. It made 45 million dollars at the box office against a production budget of 200 million.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Again, it's Apple Mac. Who knows? Who knows? I think that should have been signed that I don't know. Again, underestimating Taylor Swift is a fool's errand and many a white guy has Died trying to. Trying to do this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

There be dragons.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I feel like in hindsight, now that the ERA Tour is coming to the end, the rumors around Taylor Swift having written and maybe being in this movie based on, like, tick tock, Swiftology had to have been assigned. That's like Dutch. Dutch tulip fever kind of indicators there. We should have known. Like, this is. We're outside the realm of anything rational here. And just watch out, be careful. We're in a swift bubble and a lot of things are happening when you're in bubble.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, yeah, Argyle, that happened this year. People were disappointed by.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Was that the biggest. I mean, I'm looking at the list of stuff you put on here. Maybe we didn't put on some of the other things that just didn't work at all in terms of bad reviews or box office. Nothing else really comes to mind.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I mean, that one had the biggest delta, I think, between the hype around it, some people's expectations for it, and then how it actually performed. So it's. It's worth mentioning. I did go see the Outrun with Saoirse Ronan, which is an adaptation of Amy Liptrop's memoir. Also a really quiet book about a young woman living on, like, Welsh islands, I believe, who is getting. She's sober and she hasn't been sober for very long and she's trying to stay sober. And so she's like, volunteering and working with, like, wildlife organizations and just living in this kind of like, little house, like someone's guest house on this little island. There were some really beautiful moments, but it didn't quite come to life. Like, I haven't read the book, but the movie didn't come to life in the way that I thought it might. I walked out of that feeling like, oh, this feels like it could have been more exciting. It was a solid B, but that was also. It's a small independent movie. There wasn't a lot of press around it, so I don't think that qualifies for, like, a box office disappointment.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I'm just looking at some. I just looked up some of the other Lops Origin, which was the Anna DuVernay film based on Isabel Wilkerson's book. Cast.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Cast, yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Ava DuVernay just did not work from. It had a. It had a $38 million budget, which is modest, but only did 5 million in global revenue. So it lost five times its budget. Yeah, that's. That's a tough hang. Borderlands again, there's a video game adaptation and then Argyle is the Number one on this list. So I think we kind of have it covered there.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Well, good. We nailed it. A lot of TV flops this year, though.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. So let's see. In terms of the delta between expectation and experience, I have to give a special Commendation to the O'Neill Family Performance on Masters of the Air, which is super hyped and haven't watched a frame. So here we go.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. I was really excited for Masters of the Air at the beginning of the year, and we watched most of it. Like, we're close. We got close enough to the end of the season that we should have just finished the season, but we could not stay interested. Like the band of brothers, magic is not there. There are some great performances. There are some faces that were nice to see. There were some five alarm snot bomb moments, but it just did not. I think they moved between the characters too much. It was like each episode really focused on a different character and there wasn't enough time to get really attached to anybody. The Austin Butler of it all made it flashy, but. But it was. I was bummed that I was not finding it to be appointment television.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I probably will watch this at some point. I might be 65 and on a lazy boy on a deck some, you know, like with watching a hologram on my headset. But I will watch this at some point. Maybe a snowstorm. It's going to take some unusual circumstances, but I just don't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think the next time you're sick and you're like, hanging out in the basement to not infect the rest of the family. Masters of the Air is a good contender.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. I think from there, interior. I mean, ones we've talked about. Interior. Chinatown.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Gentlemen in Moscow, the sympathizer. I think we had questions about all of those coming in. I guess I had the highest confidence in the gentleman in Moscow because of the McGregorness. It's a character study. And I think the tone, what Talz does, the tone is harder than people think. And I am people. And I underestimated how difficult that way would be. And maybe McGregor wasn't quite the right choice. Maybe he wasn't.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And there were just some decisions about how they changed the story in the first couple of episodes that I think also, you know, made the show, like, even softer than the book is. There were some sharp edges to the character in the book. I think we only watched the first two episodes before we talked about it on a Patreon episode. And at that point we had both concluded we were done and I had like such a rollercoaster experience because I was not on the Amertols train at all. And I read A Gentleman in Moscow so we could do the adaptation. And I really liked the book. I found it really charming. And the show just didn't have that sparkle. I am going to be interested in what happens with the Lincoln highway, which I believe is the next holes adaptation that we're going to get. Like a road trip story. There's a lot of fun you can have with that. But Gentlemen in Moscow, I think it could have gone places and it just. It didn't quite work for me.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think maybe it should have been a movie.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I agree.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And a lot of the pleasure of the text is the language, both the spoken dialogue, but also the internal thoughts of the main character. And then Tiles's narration, which is sort of arch in a kind of way, has a Wes Andersonian playfulness. Glee. It's darker than that, for sure. And I think they struggled to capture that thread, that needle between the darkness and the lightness in a real way. Sympathizer just didn't work. All my fears about it sort of came true that there was too much Downy doing Downy things. And I think I watched a couple of the episodes, I should say, oh, okay.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I haven't seen any of those.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And just kind of like with Gentlemen in Moscow, I was like, I see what they're trying to do and I like the book better. And so why I'm not doesn't offer me something good and good and different enough to continue watching. Just a real disappointment. I was very worried about this based on the trailer.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So, yeah, we had a lot of side eye for how was that gonna go? Kind of from the beginning of when it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. Would be doing that.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. And then we did an episode, Interior Chinatown. Was that for Patreon? Maybe the people?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, it was for Patreon. So if you didn't talk about Interior Chinatown and say anything and say anything.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Looks great. Jimmy Yang's performance is great. I think a lot of the performances are great.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, Ronny Chieng is having the time of his life.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. I think he's coming out as the real winner there. I don't think it's doing particularly well. A muddled and confused start, which I think they were kind of trying to go for a. Maybe there's a severance mystery box thing happening. Like what is happening to these characters, maybe. But it more felt like a smudge than a real clear sense of stakes and. And why I'm trying to figure that out, I don't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Metafictional devices are tough on screen, and the way Charles Yu executes it just, like, flawlessly in the book, where you always know where you are, you always know what's happening. They just did not translate that. I guess I had a similar question mark around it to how I felt about Cloud Atlas being adapted like the book. There's such a feeling to reading the book, and you're like this. I. But I know where I am. And I had no idea how they were gonna do it on screen. And I think we've all agreed that that was not a very successful adaptation either. Yeah, I was bummed about Interior Chinatown, and it's one where, like, very rarely do I find myself in the place of, maybe we should just not try to adapt this thing. But, like, some things just work as books in ways that are too difficult to try to translate to the screen. And the way that it works in on the page. If you have not read Interior Chinatown, go do it. If you're not in the Charles Yu fandom, get there, join us. It's great. Yes, the water is warm, but it just. It feels so good. And it, like, makes your brain tingle with that little snap, crackle, pop of, like, what are we doing? And, like, where is he gonna go next? And kind of all that magic just didn't translate from tv.

[Jeff O'Neill]

We were talking the other day about. I don't know. We're thinking of those authors that you feel like you can. They can do anything in every.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Book. Feels like you're opening a different present in an Advent calendar. But the Advent calendar might be a portal to your childhood, but everything's pink and upside down, like that kind of thing going on.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You know, Everett and Whitehead and Roth and Smith and then you as one of those people. There's a ungenerous part of me that's sort of glad this didn't work. And I'll tell you why.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Because you want him to go back to writing.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yes. Thank you very much. Because he's been writing TV and having a great career, and if that's what he wants to do, I wish him all the success in the world. But my highest and best. Charles, you experience as just a guy out there on the Internet is a Charles Yu novel every two and a half to three years.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Totally agree. So want him to be successful. Get that bag. Charles, you. But please write us some more books.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Please write us some more books. And this happens with. With writers.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. Gillian Flynn notably very absent from the world of fiction. She's having a great time writing for tv.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Man, I can't even talk.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'm going on NPR game shows with James Patterson apparently.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Just like, what is the.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You look so pain.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I mean, I don't. People should do whatever they want. I totally. I really do believe that. Even if I don't.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, they don't owe us anything.

[Jeff O'Neill]

They don't owe us any anything. But like, I just want to know the story. Like, it's quiet as it's kept. Like, actually, the George R.R. martin, Patrick Ruthfuss we're publicly and loudly not writing things has kind of covered for Gillian Flynn a little bit. Right. Like no one's wondering because it's not a part of a series or anything, but literally what's happened. She's just not writing books. Like, what is. What is going on in her own mind? Like, I don't know that she said publicly, like, I'm done writing or I've had something. I've had a bunch of false starts.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Like, who knows?

[Jeff O'Neill]

I just. She. She hasn't been publicly, I don't know, pained about it. So she seems to be having a great time. So maybe there is nothing and I'm.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I mean, maybe she's just like living her life on that. Gone.

[Jeff O'Neill]

She was writing TV too. Wasn't there a couple TV things?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, there were some TV things. She officiated a wedding that a friend of mine in publishing went to this summer. So she's like out there living life. I know.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I mean, you do reach a point with some people where you get enough gigs and like Cheryl Strayed and Roxane Gay and Gillian Flynn. Those are the genes. Just three that immediately come to mind. They're making a lot of money doing non book things and books are not as renumerative as people think. So I get it. And yet I'm kind of bummed because I'm a reader at heart when it comes to this stuff.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And maybe, like, I don't know, Gillian Flynn has been so imitated at this point that she would almost need a new something like a new shtick. This gone girl burst. The girl on the train burst. Like the huge wave that we're still riding of. Oh my God, it turns out the narrator is unreliable.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. I wonder if, like the Frieda McFadden pale imitators, Delia Owens crawdads has caused a bit of Wait, what do I do in this? On the other hand, those are. They're not just pale, they're Translucent imitators. So maybe a real Gillian Flynn would feel so much more substantial and sharp that jumping into the ring and say, oh, this is what a pro wrestler looks like.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. Like getting a T bone when you've been eating, you know.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

McDonald's for a while.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. All right, Rebecca, anything else you want to say here? What else that we didn't cover?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's just been an interesting year. I love that. For me, the biggest hits were surprises. Like, I didn't go into the year thinking, oh, my God, I'm gonna be so glad. I spent two hours watching an adaptation of the Odyssey. But really terrific. And then, as you mentioned, Nickel Boys has come out officially, but it's not in all the markets markets yet. So we're hoping to see that over the holidays. Same story goes for Nightbitch. And the other big adaptation that's coming out on Christmas is a complete unknown starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan. It is adapted from Elijah Wald's book, Dylan Goes Electric. And I don't know if I have just been Stockholm syndromed about it because they've been playing the trailer for it at the front of every movie I've seen for the last, like, five months. So at this point, I have, like, affection for the. The trailer of a complete unknown. And the whole, like, the mere exposure effect has worked on me. I went from, like, I'm not going to go see a Timothee Chalamet movie about Bob Dylan to like, huh, that looks kind of good. So we'll see the story around that. Like, if it is good, that might also be in contention for best adapted screenplay. I think we'll see some acting nominations for it as well.

[Jeff O'Neill]

The only movie I really am going to make an effort to get to by the end of the year while it's in theaters is the Brutalist. It's not an adaptation. Hollywood theater here is playing at 70 millimeter. I'm in for some Adrien Brody. That's one of the trailer got me as well. Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna go see Nickel Boys for sure. But outside of that, like, it's not. I'm not gonna be racing to catch a lot of this stuff, I don't think before award season. The Return. I don't know if we're gonna make. I don't know. Michelle loves Ray Fines, but he's had some not amazing biographical things happen over the last five or 10 years, so.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I am unaware of these things.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm not that's gonna.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Be a disappointing Google.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I'm not sure it's gonna be fine to put it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh dear.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All right, thanks everyone. Bookriot.com Listen, just email podcastookriot.com Check out the Patreon we just did. The. What did we just do on Patreon? The books we missed.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We did the books we missed this year. Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And then we're recording later in the week. What are we recording for? The Patreon. I'm so out of the loop.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I've lost total track. At some point we're doing the Best.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Of the Rest, which is our favorite things. Yeah, right, right, right, right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It is this week. This week we're recording the Best of the Rest, which is our favorite non book stuff of the year. And that will be the last bonus.

[Jeff O'Neill]

List for the year. So unbelievably boring. I can't underdeliver. I can't over do you under deliver on how boring something is or over what would be the failed state of saying something is very boring? It's a little bit of a logic puzzle.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

What you're doing is underselling here.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Yeah. Something that's not quite a box cutter is the best thing I bought this year. That's a preview.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Well, that's. There's also space for like movie and TV and like entertainment things. Just anything that's not books.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay. All right, thank you. We'll talk to you later.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Y'all have a good one. Thanks so much for listening today. We hope you enjoyed this audiobook excerpt of the Gardens of Eden by Rosie Lee. Thanks again to our sponsors at Random House Audio.

[Unknown]

How have I lasted in this family so long? Ruth thought as she steered her golf cart toward Naomi's driveway. The cart bounced up and down along the old red brick path and Ruth wobbled along with it. She was tired of being jerked around by the golf cart and the tensions brewing in her family. She wondered if the bumpy shortcut to her mother in law's cottage was symbolic of her convoluted placement in the Garden family tree and the repercussions that came along with it. Visitors usually parked in the small circular driveway in front of the house, where the asphalt was smooth. But Ruth rarely drove along the street to get to Naomi's cottage during the daytime. Although the women lived next door to each other on the Garden family estate, their homes were separated by a couple of acres of deciduous trees, and the brick path connected the far end of Naomi's driveway to Ruth's backyard. It was the last original road on the estate, its bricks crafted and laid by the formerly enslaved people who settled the land and whose descendants comprised the family into which Ruth had married. Ruth treasured the path, history, and convenience, but they weren't the reason she tolerated the uncomfortable commute. It was because she finally felt peaceful when she drove over the last brick marking the spot where she and Beau had spent hours talking and stargazing when she first moved to Eden with Naomi. After Ruth stopped the golf cart at the edge of the bricks, she took a long, deep breath, leaning into the headrest with her back slightly arched. The stretch reminded her of yoga class but did little to ease the tension in her lower back. Once a regular attendee, Ruth hadn't gone to a yoga class in a year and a half since the morning Beau died. But she visited the spot in Naomi's driveway almost every day, most often in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. Dissatisfied with her stretch, Ruth opened her eyes. She stared up at the sky, thinking of Beau. Red, orange, and bright yellow hues reflected off the thin clouds. As the sun set, she marveled at the horizon, which felt like a fiery reminder that she was about to face a task she'd dreaded all week. Instead of backing down, Ruth was emboldened. She jumped out of the cart like a Manx cat, landing flawlessly in the stiletto heels she'd worn since her 7:30am check in meeting with the event planner she hired for the Garden Family Enterprise's Christmas party. With the gathering only a week away and this year being her first time relinquishing the party planning duties since she married Beau, Ruth was nervous, especially given the media outlets and influencers scheduled to cover the high profile event. As Ruth sped up the front walk to Naomi's cottage, she smoothed the soft fabric of the black V necked pencil dress she wore. She hardly noticed the multicolored flashing Christmas lights Naomi had placed in the bushes that afternoon. Ruth's schedule had been filled with back to back meetings since she took the helm of Garden Family Enterprises after Beau's death, and it was beginning to wear on her. She was grateful when she noticed the small details she used to obsess about previously. But Ruth couldn't deal with Naomi's unauthorized holiday decisions. Though Christmas remained Ruth's favorite time of the year, she had no time to commit to her tradition of coordinating decorations at the four homes on the family estate. Without someone to rein her in, Naomi was prone to go overboard. She couldn't help it. A simple, decorated bush could morph into a flood of string lights cascading from the fountain in the front yard, with a sea of candy canes and inflatables spilling into the street. Ruth slowed as she accessed the steps of the wraparound porch, digging inside her black Brandon Blackwood tote until she found a scratched heart shaped keychain. She inserted the single key in the door lock, but decided the evening might go better if she rang the doorbell instead. As she eased the key from the lock, the door opened. I was wondering what took you so long to come up to the house. It's too early for you to be sleeping in the driveway again, naomi said with a sly grin. She extended her arms in a broad V shape. With her silver curls falling below her shoulders and white oversized cardigan draping her petite frame, she looked like a mischievous angel.