The Hot List for July 2026

Summary

Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: The Hot List for July 2026
Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky
Date: July 15, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of Book Riot – The Podcast centers on the July 2026 Hot List—a comprehensive rundown of what’s trending in books and reading right now. Hosts Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky discuss the current state of the industry, highlight the breakaway titles, comment on adaptation buzz, and dig into which books are driving sales (and why). They also speculate about the impact of recent and upcoming releases, and address recent industry drama and trends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Book Industry Landscape: A Cooler Summer, But No Shortage of Action

• Overview: 2026 is marked by the absence of a single dominating “Book of the Year,” but several titles are collectively sustaining robust book sales. There’s a sense of “everyone carrying water” rather than one breakout title.
• Print Sales: Sales dipped slightly but basically held flat, reflecting a healthy diversity in bestseller success.
• Quote:

  "There are a bunch of titles, each carrying some weight since there’s not a title that's doing all of the work, even Yesteryear..."
  —Rebecca Schinsky [03:09]

2. Staying Power Titles

The following books are still top-of-mind, having shown endurance from earlier releases:

• Yesteryear
  • Projected to hit 1 million copies, currently at ~445,000–500,000 for 2026.
• Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinnaman)
  • First book sold 500,000 copies this year alone. LitRPG series with viral YouTube and print origins, driven by cliffhangers and word-of-mouth.
  • Quote:

    "These books are just made of cliffhangers... once you get in you want to keep going."
    —Rebecca [06:20]

• Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir)
  • Strong in paperback and now streaming; the adaptation is keeping it in the wider conversation.
  • Quote:

    "Always fun to watch a long tail for a good book and a good movie."
    —Rebecca [09:56]

• Correspondent and View of Golden
  • Both described as “feel good” books, with View of Golden at 2.5 million sold, likely including global/audio sales.

3. Notable Newcomers and Rising Titles

• The Calamity Club (Katherine Stockett)
  • A surprising hit 15+ years after The Help. Reviews are mixed, but indie bookstores and book clubs have embraced it—the "Barbara Kingsolver methadone." [10:47]
  • 172,000 copies since May 5th, #2 NYT Hardcover Fiction.
• Whistler (Ann Patchett)
  • Selling even faster than Calamity Club, pacing 7,000 copies behind—with half the time spent on sale. [12:18]
  • Patchett, compared to Isabel Strout, is a perennial big seller.
• Off Campus Series (Elle Kennedy)
  • Propelled by an Amazon adaptation; three hockey romances in the Top 10, showing just how strong the appetite is for this subgenre.

4. Genre Trends & Market Shifts

• Romantasy & Commercial Romance
  • Romantasy remains a strong, albeit stabilizing, trend. The term’s catchiness ("It's a good portmanteau!") helps with marketing and community identity. [37:10]
  • Commercial romance series (especially MM hockey) are cannibalizing some of the market traditionally occupied by so-called "chick-lit"/upmarket women's fiction.
  • Quote:

    "A lot of the attention and reading focus that went to those kinds of books... is going to romance and romantasy right now."
    —Rebecca [28:02]

• Nonfiction Highlights
  • Regime Change (Maggie Haberman et al.) and Cancel Me If You Can (Dave Portnoy): Both have strong first weeks, with Portnoy slightly ahead. No "superstar" memoir this summer. [28:21, 39:38]

5. Quirky/Unexpected Successes & Social Buzz

• Communion (bell hooks)
  • Experiencing a surge thanks to book influencers, especially as a subtle counterpoint to JD Vance's Communion.
  • Quote:

    "Glad to see it; counter JD Vance with bell hooks every day of the year."
    —Rebecca [30:46]

• Seek Immediate Shelter (Vincent Yu)
  • A short story collection that won the B&N Discover Prize and has climbed to #17 on the bestseller list with 8,000 copies sold. Entry at this level is low, but it’s a triumph for a debut collection.

6. Adaptation & Author Drama

• The Odyssey (various translations)
  • Huge Christopher Nolan adaptation has all of Book Media working to tie-in translations, travel guides, and companion content. Sales stats are muddied by numerous editions. Discussion includes how the adaptation will handle difficult elements from the source material (esp. [47:12 onward]).
  • Quote:

    "Everyone's trying: 'Here's why you should read the Odyssey. Here's what you should know before the Odyssey…'"
    —Rebecca [20:21]

• Children of Blood and Bone (Tomi Adeyemi)
  • Author distancing herself from the adaptation; Adeyemi explicitly told the film's star to not use her name. Drama points to a major behind-the-scenes conflict and is unusual for a debut author with her first optioned property.
  • Quote:

    "She does not want to—this is not a joke…something clearly happened."
    —Jeff [31:47]

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New on the Hot List: Key Books & Releases

| Title | Author | Notes | Timestamps | |-------------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------------| | Land | Maggie O’Farrell | Historical fiction; quieter launch than Patchett, more literary, 56,000 copies since June | [21:46–23:48] | | Tempting Venom (Trilogy Bk #3) | Rena Kent | MM Hockey romance; 27,000 copies in 14 days, #2 behind View of Golden | [24:11–24:53] | | The Shampoo Effect | Jenny Jackson | Upmarket beach read; significant but not viral, 14,000 copies since June 30 | [25:30–26:57] | | Regime Change | Haberman, Swan, et al. | Nonfiction political; 300,000 in first week. | [28:21–28:58] | | Dominion | Jean Kwok | Romantasy; Chinese mythology meets The Hunger Games; high expectations for break-out | [35:49–37:04] | | The Book Witch | Meg Shaffer | New release, combines 'bookish' magic and genres; described as "modern day magical Nancy Drew" | [17:03–19:53] | | Should the Waters Take Us | Stephanie Swallow | Debut; family saga spanning four centuries, blurbs from Jesmyn Ward and Patrick Ryan | [33:24–34:48] | | Cool Machine | Colson Whitehead | New Whitehead release; anticipated future bestseller | [33:09–33:24] | | The Intrigue | Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Genre-bending release, described as sizzling, involving desire and a con | [35:30–35:49] |

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Book Market Diversity:

  “It's exciting to see people reading a whole bunch of different books that are keeping us going.”
  —Rebecca [04:14]

• On Indie Bookstore Power:

  “Some of these authors know what a indie bookstore kind of book club reader wants to do. It's your Barbara Kingsolver methadone.”
  —Jeff [11:21]

• On Adaptations and Publishing Realities:

  “Nolan…they actually talk about the ethics of hospitality. And I’m like wow... the ideas of the Odyssey are going to be out there.”
  —Jeff [20:56]

• On the "Wombo" Trend:

  “We don’t talk about portmanteaus now. We talk about wombos—word combos…”
  —Rebecca [38:31]

• On Romantasy's Staying Power:

  "What we're seeing with Romantasy is that now it is just becoming an established part of...Reading. Every now and then one will get really popular and be like the big Romantasy of the year..."
  —Rebecca [37:11]

• On Author Drama:

  “She does not want to—this is not a joke…something clearly happened.”
  —Jeff on Adeyemi [31:47]

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:04] Launch of the Hot List segment
• [03:08] Overview: No dominant "Book of the Year," shared success
• [04:38] Key Standouts: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Feel Good Books
• [10:47] The Calamity Club & Whistler Sales Breakdowns
• [12:49] Off Campus/Hockey Romance Boom
• [17:03] Segment: The Book Witch new release
• [20:56] Odyssey movie adaptation and sales conundrum
• [21:46] New Hot List Additions: Land by Maggie O’Farrell
• [24:11] Tempting Venom: The hockey romance surge
• [28:21] Nonfiction Focus: Regime Change, Dave Portnoy, etc.
• [30:18] Social Influencer Effects: Communion by bell hooks
• [31:00] Author Drama: Tomi Adeyemi distancing from adaptation
• [33:09] “We’re Watching” – Notable July releases
• [37:10] Romantasy as a lasting genre, impact of the name
• [39:00] Memoir/Men’s Book Sales: Cancel Me If You Can
• [41:14] Speculation: What will last from the July Hot List?
• [47:12] Odyssey movie speculation: Tackling the original text’s more controversial elements

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For the Next Month: What to Watch

• Tempting Venom is expected to remain hot, especially in the hockey romance space.
• Regime Change may have more legs than the typical political nonfic, but sustainability remains a question.
• Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead is the top bet for the next new literary bestseller.
• Should the Waters Take Us, The Intrigue, and Dominion have strong buzz but are less certain to make a commercial splash.
• Continued adaptation talk: Expect more conversation about the Odyssey and related Greek retellings (keep an eye on Madeline Miller’s Circe).

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Tone and Style

True to Book Riot’s style, the episode is lively, jargon-light yet industry-savvy, and conversational. Jeff and Rebecca balance industry analysis with bookish enthusiasm, regularly teasing each other, and often employing gentle sarcasm about genre trends, market realities, and publishing’s perennial oddities.

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Summary

This July Hot List episode captures the reading landscape’s pluralism—no one book rules them all, but the pack is full of robust sellers across genres. Adaptations (notably The Odyssey and Project Hail Mary) are sustaining interest in older titles, self-published hits prove the power of word-of-mouth, and influencer-driven buzz can still resuscitate classics (bell hooks!). The episode is also marked by notable author/publishing controversies and observations on the changing shape of women’s/commercial fiction. A few literary and upmarket releases are rising, but romance and genre fiction dominate. What hits next could come from anywhere, and as Rebecca sums it up:

“It’s exciting to see people reading a whole bunch of different books that are keeping us going.” [04:14]

Transcript

[Jeff O'Neill]

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[Rebecca Schinsky]

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[Rebecca Schinsky]

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[Jeff O'Neill]

This is the Book Riot podcast. I'm Jeff o'. Neill.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And I'm Rebecca Schinsky.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's time for a check in on the hot list. Rebecca, we could have done like a book. Have we done a books of the year so far segment anywhere? We could have done this here. I just occurred to me, oh, maybe we can talk about it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We kind of did it when we did the July it books a couple of weeks ago and we talked about how we had done and which ones we missed out on. I don't think we've titled anything the books of the year so far, but a lot of them are here on this list.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think that's right. Maybe that's an episode. Yeah, we'll do that when we get towards the end of the year. Thanks so much for listening. If you are hyped for the Odyssey as we are, it's I think by the time this comes out in our public feed, the early reviews will be out coming out tomorrow and then opens in theaters on Thursday. We have an episode on Zero to well read about the Odyssey. We have an episode with Emily Wilson, whose translation forms the basis, believe it or not, Rebecca, for Christopher Nolan's huge adaptation. We talked to her about getting into the classics. I mean, also on Zero to well read, we have mailbag episode cover, a bunch of different topics there. At one point in the Patreon feed, I think we had a lot of people join to hear us talk about yesteryear. I would say if you're, if you've been on the fence about doing that, I don't know that you'll be disappointed in our discussion with Vanessa about yesteryear, I think, I think you'll, you'll get something.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It was substantial. And I also just want to let folks know as they're listening, if I sound a little different to you. I'm traveling, so yeah, I'm on a mobile mic, not my usual home setup. Do not be alarmed. We'll be back to good, rich, warm sound next week.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Right. So this is our hot list. Check in for July, took what's winning awards, pre orders, bestsellers. But you know, all the things that go into making something jump. It's kind of like the after action report on the it books. Like now the books are in the world, what actually happens to them. We got a couple sections here as we're. This is a newer format for us to be in the main feed. So Rebecca, you've organized by. Okay, here's some things that are sort of background radiation in the universe of books and reading that are still burning. But you know, they're, they're a little familiar updates on things and then new additions as we get through this here. And I will say this maybe as a way of entry into the July is a fairly cool summer for books beyond the Odyssey. A fairly cool summer for books, I would say.

[Jake Hughes]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And interesting to go through and be making the notes for this and realize like how many books of the year there are after spending all of 2025 talking about how there wasn't a book of the year, like attention didn't coalesce around any one thing until I mean the correspondence started popping at the very end of 2026. But there are so many, several books that we're going to just check in with that we have checked in with every month that we've done the hot list. A lot of standing titles for books of 2026 so far. And then of course, once we roll towards fall, a lot of contenders will happen. But a lot is happening in books and reading and I think that speaks to the general strength. Like we talked on the news show about how print sales dipped a little bit but basically held flat in the first part of this year. And I think it's because there are a bunch of titles like each carrying some weight since there's not title that's just doing all of the work, even the even Yesteryear, which is the book that people think of right now and they're thinking of the biggest book of the year is that like 445, maybe 500,000 copies sold.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's going to sell a million copies this Year Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think it will too. But some of like there's a big romantasy book that has sold a million copies. Dungeon Crawler Carl is at half a million just this year for for their number one book for the first book in the series. And like everybody is carrying water to get us to keep publishing afloat. It's not just one big title that's floating the industry this year and that's exciting. It's exciting to see people reading a whole bunch of different books that are keeping us going.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So many 2025 titles like you said, carrying water for 2026. So these are things that we've talked about. They're on the list. We don't have much more to say about them right now except yes, they are still in the ether view of Golden. There's a big piece on the New York Excuse me in the Wall Street Journal about how it sold. It says 2.5 million copies. So I don't know if that's international audiobook everything going into.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh yeah, this is just 1.2 million year to date.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Year to date. Yes, a lot of last year. And then also Correspondent I think of those together as being feel good. I don't even think there's a book. These are like just feel good. Older people are kind of reading them. I liked one considerably better than the other Correspondent. Those two. They're also alchemized coming from last year. This is Dramiony fanfic. If you don't know Dramion is Congratulations to you. I'd like to live where you are but it's Draco Hermione fan fiction based out of Harry Potter that gets spun much like Twilight. Excuse me. Much like 50 shades of gray came out of Twilight. This is similar here. It is not BDSM but it is extending the love interest story of something that does not happen in the canonical text from which is based though they cannot acknowledge it because they'd get sued to with oblivion here and then I have a new game I play when I'm walking past my local pals here in Portland, Oregon. Don't tell me if I see a man walking out of the bookstore if I bet myself a hundred dollars does he have a Dungeon Crawler Carl book or not? Or it's some any other book Do I make money over time? And right now how's that going? I'm ahead, I'm up. Because there's a lot of Dungeon Crawler Carl Matt Dinnaman books coming out of those bookstores and there's eight of them and they're selling like hotcakes. And if I lose, the other one is Project Hail Mary. Both of those make it on the list, right?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. I saw some Dungeon crawler Carl around some pools and in some airports. Pools and mm. I mean vacation reading like I mean it's the middle of summer but Dungeon Crawler Carl's having a great time. And again that number the first book in the series, there are eight of them now this first book came out in 2024 and it has done about half a million copies this year alone. That is remarkable for a 2 year old paperb that was not on these lists when the book was first published. Like Dungeon Crawler Carl has just been picking up steam. Of course started on YouTube and then after the paperback came out people got really hooked. My understanding is that these books are just made of cliffhangers and that it's like things just keep happening and keep happening and everything is a cliffhanger and once you get in you want to keep going. So there are a lot of people still just hearing about how exciting this is. Lots of coverage about lit RPGs happening and people picking up the first one that will probably go pick up 2 and 3 and maybe, maybe make their way to 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. It's really remarkable.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's what I'm hearing is that you get one and you better be ready to crawl some dungeons because you're going to be doing it until you run out of books. I was gonna buy this just to have for travel, summertime, whatever. I learned something. Tell me Audible and Amazon exclusive in digital and audio. You can get it in print. But I came very close to actually buying the French version on Apple Books when I saw it had one. It had, it had four ratings with an average of one star. And I think the other dads out there were making some mistakes and then reviewing about their purchasing mistakes. So I think. So I'm wondering if this was available on Apple Books, Kobo, Spotify, Libro, I mean would it be selling even more profitably or. I mean he gets, he gets a higher cut because like this is a self publishing this again we've get, we've gotten some of these at this point doesn't happen all that often. We do get some where he owned. I think he himself has all the rights to all this stuff. I don't even know what he has his agent about some of these early deals with and I think he has some kind of probably sweetheart deal where he's getting a higher percent. So he's like, all right, if I'm getting 70% of the COVID why am I like making it available in Apple when I didn't have an agent or someone broker this for me at the same time? So he is, he, he is finding the loot boxes. Matt Deniman is on his dungeon crawls at this point.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I don't know if it would be selling even more if it were available on more audio platforms or if people who like wish they could listen to it on Spotify are just buying it in print instead or something like it's.

[Emily Carmichael]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

One of those great unanswerable questions. I have made this or almost made the same mistake with Project Hail Mary in audiobook because it is also an Audible exclusive and I was looking for it on Spotify and like, the COVID looks the same. It's the German edition, so just look alive out there, folks.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Speaking of Project Hail Mary, this continues really well. The Project Hail Mary now is available News alert for you on streaming on Amazon Prime. Remember that it is a Amazon joint. I think it originally went to MGM plus or something, but now it's available in the regular Amazon prime channel. I couldn't even figure out a way to watch it without commercials. I have Amazon prime. Whatever. It's part of the deal. But I have to. So I haven't. We haven't rewatched as a family that have been looking forward to. Because I don't want to sit through the commercials. I. I do not like the streaming thing where I have to pay for it and I have to watch ads. It makes me very upset and I'm still paying for it. So boy am I sure getting them. But I just don't like this. Rebecca. I know I'd rather buy. Maybe I'm just gonna buy this damn thing and have it. I know I'm gonna rewatch it six times the next 10 years. That's worth it to own.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

One of my first thoughts sitting in the theater opening week of Project Hail Mary was I can't wait to watch this on planes for the next 10 years. And when it falls out of being in the Delta studio, I'm gonna want to watch it anyway. I think I will end up buying it so I can have it on my iPad and go back to it or at least play the greatest hits. It's a long movie, but bounce through my favorite SC I'm really happy to see Andy Weir and Project Hail Mary staying on the paperback bestsellers list. It's always fun to watch a long tale for a good book and a good movie and people having a good time with reading this summer.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Yep.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Updates. So things that I don't know. Are we deciding if these are staying updates of things that we've mentioned before? I guess they haven't quite been installed yet. On the we're going to need proof to get the ones we just talked about off. These are maybe still on, but we can see them going all the way into the future.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, these were new last month, so we're checking in on them. They're still on the list. First, the Calamity Club by Katherine Stockett. I could not be more surprised to see that this is doing so well. Fifteen years more than that after the Help. And the reviews were quite middling for the book itself. So interesting. But it's number two on the New York Times hardcover fiction list, number two on the publisher's weekly hardcover fiction list, number five on the PW overall list, 172,000 copies sold so far since it came out on May 5th. And so a pretty strong show.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Half of yesteryear. I mean, that's remarkable. Congratulations to Spiegel and Grau. I know they were very excited about this. I know the people there, they're a small outfit and I'm glad they're seeing some success with this. I. I didn't know how this was going to go, and this has exceeded my expectations. I think people are enjoying it. I mean, some of these authors know what a indie bookstore kind of book club reader wants to do. It's your Barbara Kingsolver methadone, I think. Catherine Stock it at this point and it's going to be around a while. It's going to sell extremely well. This kind of momentum of that kind of book from those kinds of sources. This is not a Bookstagram book talk sort of thing where it could flame out. This is durable kinds of indie bookstore, book buyer attack, attractiveness to, I think, that kind of reader and that kind of reader who also likes Whistler, which is also selling well. Not surprised by any of the results here. I haven't really gotten into the how many books does Ann Patchett sell? But I remember when Tom Lake came out, I was like, yeah, Ann Patchett sells a lot of books. Kind of like Isabel Strout. Everyone like, oh yeah, she sells a whole bunch of books.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, Ann Patchett, reliably big seller. She's just behind Kathryn Stockett on all the lists right now. But she's pacing ahead of Katherine Stockett in terms of book sales. She's number three on the New York Times hardcover fiction list. Number three on the PW list, number eight on PW overall. But 165,000 copies have sold since June 2nd. So she has sold just 7,000 fewer than Catherine Stockett, but in half the time.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. And it's not about horses.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And it's not about horses.

[Jeff O'Neill]

People all over the country discovering that at the same time. Al Kennedy, Off Campus show on Amazon. But the books, it's based on the deal, the mistake of the score top spots print an ebook list. This is the pleasure reading hit of the summer. I think right now this whole series.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think the real question for me is how long these stay on the bestseller list. Like what is the long tail of book sales after the TV series has ended? Because Off Campus is done dropping new episodes. So how long will new viewers be sustaining interest in picking up the books? This feels like a distinctly summer vibe to me to have three hockey romances show up in the top 10. We'll see come like September, October, especially as other romance series come out and we roll towards more heated rivalry next year. But like the hunger, I guess really the appetite for the hockey romance. I knew it was big, but it is so much bigger than I realized.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, when you get to the point where the second fourth, sort of like tier, not tier, most popular, most well known sell that this rate.

[Emily Carmichael]

Right.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's kind of like when we got the psychological thriller starring a woman where like it wasn't just Gone Girl, it was also Girl on the Train and some other stuff I can't remember. Like you were getting multiple hits in the same vein. That means you've got a reading rush at the same time. My. My most exciting update here is Seek Immediate Shelter deserves to be on this list, at least for a little while by Vincent Yu. His debut novel, Air Quotes because it's sort of linked short stories.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Again, that's a collection of short stories.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But it did win the Barnes and Noble Discover prize. We covered that on the show. I think also it'll be interesting for people to hear. This is number 17 on the PW Hard Fix hardcover fiction list. I would like people to guess how many copies year to date that represents for Vincent Yu's Seek Immediate Shelter has been out for a couple months. I don't just think to yourself, what do you think? We're talking 162 for number four, 172 for number two. What do you think number 17 gets you? Anybody? Bueller? 8,000 copies. So again, you just, you don't have to sell that many books to get on that top 20. But it's hard to even sell that many books, Rebecca, that's sort of the contradiction.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yes. And we. The update there is we put Seek Immediate Shelter on the Hot List last month after it was named as one of Barnes and Noble's best books of the year so far. And it was a finalist for the Discover Prize and we were like, let's get see what happens. At that point, it was not showing up on the bestseller lists. So since winning the Discover Prize, it has sold enough copies to pop it onto this bestseller list at number 17. Real question is, will it continue to climb, especially into the fall and as more big literary hits come out. But also I think we can expect to see it on some of the best books of the year lists at the end of the year. Where will we land? How many? Like, if he's at 8,000 right now, is he going to break 25 by December?

[Jeff O'Neill]

I don't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'd love to see it happen.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I would guess I'd be. I'd love to know the delta in sales between before it was announced, after it was announced, and then now it's going to be on shelves because that's if you go into a Barnes and Noble, they feature the Discover Prize and finalists throughout the year and into the next year. And this one's earlier in the year. As we talked about on the show, I'd be very curious to hear the. The pitch is pretty good. I don't know if it's hooky enough, it's genre enough, catchy enough for sort of passersby to pick up. It looks kind of like literary fiction, a little bit of a commercial appeal. I'm just not sure. But I hope all the good things for Vincent Yu in that book already done quite well.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Looking forward, I'm really just waiting for an adaptation announcement. Like, it's so perfect for a kind of anthology series where each episode could be one of those stories, one of the vignettes, and you would see some of the characters return over time because we do get, like, perspectives from both members of a couple or a father and a son. That would be cool. Feels like apple. Feels like an apple joint to me. I'd love to see that.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, we don't see. Because it does bounce around so much that there's not as exactly a through line to build around like an anthology. But I think an indie film certainly would be cool to see.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, yeah, that would be fun, too.

[Jeff O'Neill]

At the same time, the Hot List is brought to you by Random House and everybody's talking about the book, which by Meg Shaffer. You know, we saw the witch stuff be a phenomenon. Stuff with books is always plays. But Meg Shaffer, that evil genius, decided to jam them together in the form of the bookshelf. The book witch. Rebecca. What is the book witch about?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's about a book witch, which is a person who can hop into novels. The tagline is great. She can hop into any novel, but she just can't stay there. Oh, attention problems.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Screen time.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't know if it's that modern malaise, Jeff, but Rainy March is her name. She's a third generation book witch. And the book witch's job is to defend works of fiction from all foes, both real and imaginary. She has a magical umbrella. She has a cat who is her familiar. And she jumps in and out of stories in order to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes. And it says, like a modern day magical Nancy Drew. Like modern day magical Nancy Drew is kind of all I need to hear

[Jeff O'Neill]

that works that place.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But. So the book witches, they have this code that they live by, where real people live in the real world and fictional characters belong in works of fiction. So when she's in the book, like, she can't eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Like the Fae, like fairies. You're not supposed to eat foods that fairy gives you. You have to stay there. Okay, that's enough.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And like, also, you don't want to. You can't mess up the world. Like, you will become a part of the story if you eat, drink, or sleep inside the fictional world. So you definitely are not supposed to fall in love with a fictional character.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, I'm sure she upholds all these rules and everything goes fine.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And so she's been forbidden from seeing a fella. His name is the. He's the Duke of Chicago.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Oh, French ears perked up. Chicago. They have dukes. Didn't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Apparently a dashing British detective who is the star of her favorite mystery series. And if she's ever caught with him again. Again. So, like, she'd been caught with him before, she's going to be expelled from her book coven and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name is. And then her grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Oh, no.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And guess who's the one person that she trusts to help her solve the case? Ton of friends she's got to call up the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, the world of King Arthur. That sounds super fun. And other classics so that they can find the hidden enemies and unbury the long buried family secrets in order to save grandpa. So you have like book witch, like bookish stuff, the witch stuff. A little romance happening here and getting to fall into the world of stories that you love.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yep. All the public domain stories you could. You could want. Speaking of public domain stories, we don't have the Odyssey on here, Rebecca, but it's the hot book of the summer.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's not on any of the lists yet. I don't know what, there's too many

[Jeff O'Neill]

additions, there's too many editions.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's true. And I will say I am so thrilled to see Book Media is really doing our work. Like our colleagues at all the publications, everybody is trying to move you.

[Jeff O'Neill]

They're trying, they're trying to figure out some way to get the audience. Everybody's out there.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Everybody's gotta hear the translations. Everybody's gotta. Here's why you should read the Odyssey. Here's what you should know before the Odyssey. Here are the places you can travel that are like the Odyssey. We're all trying. I would, I'd be like so delighted to see the Odyssey hit any translation. All the translations. Can someone with the powers find the ISBNs for like the 10 most popular translations and track those on BookScan and put them all together as the Odyssey and let's just try to get a sense of how many copies sell this summer.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, I think it's an interesting point because a lot of what we're doing here is like what's actually selling. But judge Buzz, like the movie is definitely doing 90% of the work, but the idea of the Odyssey is out there as well. And it sounds like. Nolan. I've seen some of these earlier, like not reviews, but like reactions. And they actually talk about the ethics of hospitality. And I'm like, wow. Because like we cover it. You're like, that's something you have to get your hinder on. Like apparently that's in the text. Like the guest host and Zeus is going to get all mad. So the ideas of the Odyssey are going to be out there. This is not some loose translation. Like the actual business of the Odyssey and its reality and other things going on are in the ether. So sales be damned, the Odyssey is here. And I think it's worth mentioning at this point.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I support this. I'm glad to have it on the list.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All right, so having gotten that out of their way. So these are, these are new additions to our hot list. Rebecca, where Would you like to begin here?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We're going to start with land by Maggie O'. Farrell. It's at number seven on the PW hardcover fiction list. Number 11 or, sorry, I'm number seven on one of the lists. Number 11 on the other one. It should. One of these should say New York Times.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's up in the top 12. Ish. Let's put it that way.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It came out on June 2nd, right alongside Whistler by Ann Patchett. They were. They shared a book birthday. It has sold 56,000 copies since June. So Ann Patchett is at about three times the sales of Maggie O'. Farrell.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I like that multiplier. What do you think of that for Maggie o'? Farrell?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You know, I think this makes a lot of sense. Like, Patchett is just more commercial and more accessible than Maggie o'.

[Jake Hughes]

Farrell.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And she had the big moment last year with Hamnet. But Maggie o' Farrell is a more literary writer and this is a return to historical fiction set in Ireland around the Great Famine, doing fathers and sons kinds of stuff. Just there's more to contend with in Maggie o' Farrell than in Ann Patchett. And I, I think, you know, trying to compete with Ann Patchett is a fool's game for most people. But I guess I'm not surprised that Patchett is at 3x of Maggie O'. Farrell. And honestly, for anybody to be like, I've sold a third as many books as Ann Patchett. Still pretty good.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. I'm just wondering how it would. How it compares to their own expectations of it because there's a lot of publicity around this coming off Hamnet. O' Farrell is terrific, and I think. I think she's just earlier in her at least American side awareness than Ann Patchett. I will say this. I've read the first 40. I read the first 40 pages land before I went on my trip and I put it down and I haven't picked it back up. Not that it wasn't interesting, but it didn't really hook me. And I've gotten onto other things and I just wonder. It's about, like, lands. Like, the first 40 pages are about land surveying in Ireland and like, someone does disappear for a little while, but it's like, it feels like more of a slow burn. And I'm just wondering if there's a little bit of a drag on it. Like, it was more propulsive. If it was more like an Ann Patchett book, it might be selling more Ann Patchett. Like, this is still a good result for a Maggie o'. Farrell. Title.

[Jake Hughes]

Yes.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I agree it was on some of the best of the year so far list, but not all of them. Not nearly as many as Ann Patchett. And this is I have set up a false dichotomy here with Maggie o' Farrell and Ann Patchett. But since they came out on the same day and there was a lot of sort of concentrated attention on both of them coming to June 2nd, those were the two big releases that day. So just sort of interesting to track how they're next to each other as they keep going.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Hockey Romance. Ever heard of it? So it sounds like we've got another one here. Tempting Venom by Rena Kent. This is the third book in the trilogies. Enemies to Lovers Male Male Hockey romance again number eight New York Times combined print ebook number six PW overall 27,000 copies June 30th which is a scant 14 days ago as we record it is number two as you say here between the behind thee of Golden. But it's a kind of a false number too. Like it's way way behind.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Right. Like Theo of Golden has done a million copies, more than a million copies this year so far. And I mean this is fun for the guessing game too, right? That like if Theo of Golden is at 1.1 million, how many copies has number two sold and it's 27,000 trade

[Jeff O'Neill]

paperback front list is a bit of a weird genre. Like Theo golden is an outlier among outliers in that it's like 50 shades of gray and Theo of Gold most of the things like I guess some of the Colleen Hoovers were probably trade paperback Front list and Freedom McFadden. But for something to really hit this it needs to hit hard. I have been seeing the shampoo effect everywhere. I have not. I cannot discern if people are liking this what the reviews have been like. Jenny Jackson wrote Pineapple street which I read it was said sort of rich people in Brooklyn Heights having sort of a corrections light like interactions. I enjoyed it. I have not found myself at all inclined to pick this one up. Rebecca, what have you been seeing about the shampoo effect? Have you been crossed paths?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I've been seeing like it showed up on some lists of you know, most anticipated July books. It's about an ambitious young woman who makes her way into a tight knit social circle and she ends up like they're in this small seaside town. So perfect kind of beachy read. She ends up shaking up friendships, shaking up marriages. This synopsis calls it frothy, a frothy novel of love, money Sex and friendship. I would not be surprised to see it, like, around pools and on beaches. I haven't seen a ton of excitement for it. But number four, New York Times hardcover fiction. Number five, PW fiction. 14,000 copies since June 30th. So just about half of what Tempting Venom has done since June 30. The interest is in genre. Like, you know, we. We talk about this all the time. And we were looking at some of the sales numbers from 2025. Earlier this year, I had gone to speak to a friend's creative writing class right after we got those numbers. And I was playing a guessing game with the students of, like, what percentage of books sold in a given year are literary fiction? Like, the stuff y' all are learning to write in this creative WR workshop? And the guesses were, you know, 60%, 80%. It's like, oh, it's like 20 real tiny. And you see that when we really start to dive into the hot list, what a hot literary title sells versus what a hot genre title sells is really a remarkable difference.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Twelve years ago, would we have called this Chiclet Shampoo effect?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, yeah, we would have.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think that's. I think that's the sub genre within. I guess you would a sub genre of commercial fiction be way of thinking about it. But that those. The people that were reading the Candace Bushnell, the Jennifer Weiners then are reading male. Male hockey romances. I think that's just what's happened. Like, a lot of it, you know, there are some, like the Jenny Jackson will be some that will sell, but the dominance of the. The thriller, especially thriller starring a woman, and these commercial romance series especially, has, I think, eaten away a lot of the sort of general interest, you know, professional women's, for lack of a better term, we call Chicklet. That's what it was called. It's a bad name.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Women's fiction.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Women's fiction is somehow worse. I don't know. I don't like it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yes. I don't think women's fiction is better at all. But we've just. Somebody decided that Chick was derogatory, so let's call it women's fiction. But, like, it's, you know, this is just upmarket commercial fiction.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Right. That describes women starring women, basically.

[Jake Hughes]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Describes itself as frothy and fun. Beach reading, like, this is manufactured to be beach reading. There's a beach on the COVID And I. I think you're exactly right that a lot of the attention and reading focus that went to those kinds of books. 12, 15, 20, years ago is like it's going to romance and romantasy right now.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. The nonfiction book of the summer. It's not even close. There's not really even a lot. It's mostly like leftovers like Strangers by Bill Burton or Famesic but Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan we mentioned earlier show it sold 300,000 copies I think the first week or something like that. People were ready to do this. I don't know what kind of legs it's going to have. I think you either going to read this and buy this right away. I don't think it's someone's like oh, 12 weeks. You know what? I'm going to pick up Regime Change today. Sort of like idly walk into it. But it is selling extremely well right now. There haven't been as much. Oh, can you believe that? At least I haven't seen them. Can you believe that story about the Trump administration?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

No.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Because the truth is danger than reported truth. Like this truth that's just out there is just as strange or stranger than anything really that Haberman and Swan can dig up at this point, I think.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. But it is selling well. The only thing that is ahead of it is from the category that I have later in the show called ugh, these guys.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That is Cancel me if you can by Dave Portnoy who's the founder of Barstool Sports. And that is in its first week on the list it has sold 35,000 copies in hardcover.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Politics aside, I know that saying something. I find him one of the hardest people to take that I've experienced online. Like I can't watch 10 seconds of that guy. That's, that's just me. I had a couple I wanted to mention here. I think they're interesting for a couple different reasons. Sometimes something gets a moment a boost for unusual reasons. Right. And probably will not be around this month. Next month. But Communion by Bell Hooks. I saw it when I was writing a block for the flagship newsletter about Libro FM's best selling books of June and Communion by Bell Hooks. It's not a new title, it's backlist. It's been around. Bell hooks is gone RIP bh. But it looks like there was a story about. I couldn't find the link to it so I'm sorry, I'm sure if you Google it, you're better than I am out there. But some bookfluencers were specifically posting about bell hooks Communion to counter JD Vance's book called Communion.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Yes.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And it's about love and friendship, especially for women. And it's doing especially well in audio. It sounds like I'm not seeing on a lot of the other best selling it's trade, it's like backlist paperback, which there's not really a list for, frankly.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's like, yeah, there's not a good place for it to bubble up.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But I did think Libro fm, which is indie leaning because they do most of their business through independent bookstores. So this, if it's going to burble up, it would be in something like this. But I was stoked this worked. Good job book influencers. Proud to see it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Glad to see it counter JD Vance with bell hooks every day of the year.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Great job.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If you've got Spotify credits to burn, it's not very long and you could go find it. We do have, I think our first author drama story of the year that I can remember so far, I think.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So this one is I'm like eyeballs emoji.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Did you see this at all before I put this?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I did, yeah.

[Jake Hughes]

Yes.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Huge YA fantasy from a couple of years ago. The adaptation is in the works and it came out a week or so ago that Adeyemi is not going to watch the adaptation and is like officially distancing herself from it. She's also reportedly shared a screenshot of a DM that she sent to Amandla Stenberg, who is playing the main character in the film, saying, do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me, do not call me. And then her deadline reached out to Stenberg's rep, who declined to comment. But Tomi Adeyemi means business here.

[Jeff O'Neill]

She does not want to this is not a joke. This has been long in the works, is coming out I think in January, which is not an auspicious sign. This sounds like something clearly something happened. We cannot assign blame or culpability or anything here, but I saw stories about this all over the place. We posted about it and there was got a lot of engagement because people were interested this and usually unless you're George R.R. martin and you have an adaptation coming, especially if it's your first adaptation, you don't do this because of why do people want to work with you in the future. I can definitely believe that something went on that Eddie Emmy is super unhappy about. I think that also happens at the same time. It just rarely gets to the point like you and I know about it, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So yes, yeah, that she's out there talking about. Like normally the author is involved in the press tour for these movies even if they weren't involved in the making of the film. And she was involved enough to now have seen some stuff. Like the movie is in post production as you said. It's coming out in January. So like the director and editor have all done what they want to do here at.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Amy co wrote it. Like she. I mean.

[Jake Hughes]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So she's not happy.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. We could do an After Dark someday. Like let's play our five most likely guesses about what actually happened here. But it sounds personal and I am so sorry for everyone involved. That's not the way any of us us wanted this to go. The we're watching seg. We just got our eyes on these. Rebecca. There's not a lot of data. We don't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

New books.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Where do you want to start here. New books coming out. I'll start out Cool Machine. You've read it, you've talked about already. You say it's great. The reviews have been good. I saw Whitehead talking. There's a piece in PW about like wanting to blow it out 80s style as the hair gets bigger. So I wanted to get to the plot. So I will just buy that in.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, it's great. Comes out. Yeah, it comes out on July 21st. I imagine it will be featured in the Hot List in August when we're back here and we're talking about sales and how things are performing. I also have my eyes on should the Waters Take Us by Stephanie Swallow. Have you seen this? This is going around recently. It's a big debut. One of the most anticipated debuts of the season. Follows one family across four centuries, from France to Acadia to the bayous of southern Louisiana, looking at place belonging and how individual acts of moral compromise contribute to cycles of injustice and destruction. It's out today, July 14th. As we're recording this, it was included on Amazon Editor's Best Books of July. The covers got blurbs from Jesmyn Ward, so I'm paying attention. And Patrick Ryan, the author of Buckeye, which was huge last year. Really like big names, especially Ward there. But I think that's an interesting reveal about the kind of audience that they're going for to be in the upmarket literary zone with both. Jesmyn, like Jesmyn Ward, is literary literary. Patrick Ryan, upmarket, but interesting to see both of those there. I think that has a real shot. Debut fiction is really hard, so it might not make it to the Hot List on numbers. But if it's good, it could be on some of the best of lists at the end of the year and there's a lot of buzz around it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

We didn't talk about this in the show. I don't believe. And maybe you did while I was gone. But Barnes and Noble did a little roundup with authors about their pick for the Great America novel, their favorite American novel. And Ann Patchett picked Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. And I've thought about that once a day ever since that's happened. I'm not going to say anything more about that, but I've thought about that once a day. I think since I still have a tab open on my laptop, trying to like think about something interesting to say about it that's not going to get me or other people in trouble.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But people do things. Jeff.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I, I don't know. I was, I was very interested in that and the tab. The tab will not close, Rebecca, because I don't know what to do with

[Rebecca Schinsky]

my Just kind of a shocking choice

[Narrator/Announcer]

for me to catch it. Choice.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Sylvia. Sylvia Maria Garcino Garcia, pardon me, unsurprisingly, has an interesting sounding book out. That's all she seems to pump out is interesting genre spins. This one is a sizzling war about desire, danger and greed and a con of some kind. So that's out today.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. Called the Intrigue. Like what more do you want from her?

[Jeff O'Neill]

I linked to this today A Liberty actually Bird Dog, this that I pulled from her language from in the book Riot newsletter. Dominion by Jean Kwok. She's a literary writer. This is. But this is gonna be romantasy 4th wing by way of Chinese mythology with the Hunger Games. If you like this kind of thing, why not give it a whirl? I haven't heard of one of these breakout. I'm hearing a lot more about hockey romances than I'm about romantasy right now. That's just my corn roll. That's me. That says more about me maybe than anything. But I had heard of some of those other things that have popped out. I am so interested to see about the super cycles I was listening to. I can't remember what I was listening to, the radio or podcast or something talking about like super cycles around trends like how long they last. We were talking about the Sanderson 20 year thing with dragons, the dragon nostalgia cycle and then but even like something like Marvel or Star wars or Star Trek, like these things come and go and again we're early in the romantasy thing. But like book Things don't tend to have like 20 year super cycles. It's going to be four or five years, six, seven years if things really go on. I don't know. I'm not sure about Romantasy. I think often people call the peak too early and I'm one to do that. But at some point you do hit peak at it. We, we did hit peak tv. You don't hear me joking about calling peak TV adaptation anymore because it already happened.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I think that what we're seeing

[Jeff O'Neill]

along in the tooth here.

[Jake Hughes]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think what we're seeing with Romantasy is that now it is just becoming an established part of.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Of reading. And really it existed before. Like there have always been fantasy romances. We just weren't calling them that in mart. Marketing them that way as their own standalone category. So they will continue to be part of the publishing universe. People will continue to read them. Every now and then one will get really popular and be like the big Romantasy of the year. The same way that there's a big thriller of the year and big sci fi of the year. But Romantasy as the big thing in publishing is we're definitely on the downward slope there.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And you know, we've got. We've got a hitter in the on deck circle for the year which is the. The court of thorns and roses business coming out. I know it's not. I don't think it's zero percent. I don't know what percent it is though. Rebecca, how much do you think how legible and catchy the portmanteau of Romantasy is to the popularity of Romantasy? I think it matters at all that it's a pretty good portmanteau that people understand and that it becomes. It has a. Like it was said pretty quickly in my meetings and publishing around these kinds of books. It got picked up. People know what you talk about now. It can't be 0% but is. It matters, doesn't it that has a name. That has a name for the genre.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think people just like it when something that they like has a name.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, that's what I'm saying. But then that goes on to contribute something to the.

[Jake Hughes]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And it, it emphasizes the romance part. It's the spiciness too. Like that's a whole thing. Yeah. Also speaking of Portmanteaus, the kids have informed me I'm at the lake with a friend and her 15 year olds. We don't talk about portmanteaus now. We talk about Wombos word combos, which is a portmanteau itself. That's the. That's the right face. I wish listeners could. Could see you right now. Just dead behind the eyes.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So like I said, cancel if you can. By Dave Portnoy. Things I'd rather talk about than that word bad. The memoir by the founder of Barstool Sports. 35,000 copies sold. We don't have a big memoir this summer. This is what I wanted to talk about. Here we get the J.D. vance. It's selling. It's a political book.

[Emily Carmichael]

Book.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay, fine. That's for a part of the. But we do not have a Spears McConaughey a Cher. The Dunham had a moment. But I think for reasons we talked about in the show before, there's only a certain audience for that kind of a book. I don't. There was no Streisand, no Pacino. I just. We didn't get one of these big ones. We just didn't really get a big one.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

35,000 copies for someone with the public profile of Dan Porter Portnoy. Dave Port. What's his name? Dan. Dave Fort Dave is just not. That's not that impressive like for the number of followers that he has and the profile that Barstool Sports has. So I'm gonna be watching for. Does this continue to have any steam or were these just like first week and pre order sales for the people. The 35, 000 people who care about Dave Portnoy. Like maybe this is wishful thinking.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I don't want to paint with too broad a brush here, Rebecca, but I'm not sure that the real Dave Portnoy out there. Let's just say I'm not sure they have Libby installed on their phone. That's. I'll say no more about that at this particular.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Don't talk to me about how men aren't buying books when.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, they're not even from.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's true. Cancel me if you can.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I guess. Do you think it was a mistake for Portnoy to try to be in the Vance zone? Because you've got to think there's some crossover here.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I mean I'm sure that they weren't thinking about it or their publishers might not have realized that that's what was happening. But yeah. JD Vance behind Dave Portnoy right now with his book communion number three on the New York hardcover nonfiction and on PW's hardcover nonfiction. This concludes the. Those guys.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, those guys section of the show. Rebecca. That's July, August will be interesting because we will have the end of August now acts like early September. So we're going to have basically things that are fall titles that have come out in August. Of the things that are new here, what do you think we'll still be talking about in a month?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's a great question. I think we're going to be continuing to hear about Tempting Venom. Yeah like third in that, you know, hockey romance series. Maybe Regime Change.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'll be very curious to see the sale shape of that to see how that continues.

[Jake Hughes]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And then as they come out of the ones that we're watching should the Waters take us the Intrigue, Dominion and Cool Machine. My chips would be on Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead to show up on bestseller list lists in August.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, it should. It should make the top 20 for sure. I. I would be surprised if it doesn't. Generally the last couple I think have been, you know in the 10 or 15 range for a few weeks when they come out and then they sort of fall off to see there. All right. Bookriot.com Listen to get the. Well they're just. There's really no links. You heard us what we talked about here. Thanks to the Book Witch and Random House by. Excuse me, the Book Witch by Meg Schaefer sponsored by Random House. You can go find find that available now. Check out zero to well read. Happy Odysseying everyone out there. I hope we all have a wonderful time visiting out there. I hope it. I hope you got your premium format seats and your specialty bucket popcorn. That's apparently an IMAX projector which is the biggest missed opportunity in the history of film merch. Also why please I wish the theaters had copies of the Odyssey out here. I know I've seen a lot of posting about the Odyssey and like which I have not seen anyone posting about the Penelope ad by Margaret Atwood. Go check that out. So that's told from the perspective of Penelope. It's a novella. The other thing that's cool in there and no spoilers but there is a group of women who meet an untimely end at the end which I cannot imagine they're going to shoot in the Odyssey. Do you know what I'm talking not to spoil?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yes.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If you want to be spoiled stop listening. But I'm to going to tell something Rebecca and see if she agrees.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Spoilers for a 4,000 year old story.

[Jeff O'Neill]

People want to see the movie they don't know.

[Narrator/Announcer]

This episode is sponsored by Harper Audio publisher of Candy Apple Kisses by Amy Clipston. Stick around after the show to hear an excerpt from the audiobook edition. Artist Emily Carmichael never expected to return to Splendid Lake. But when her childhood best friend Jake Hughes needs help saving his family's beloved orchard, she heads back to the North Carolina mountains. As they fight to protect the Hughes family orchard from a corporate giant, old memories, family wounds and long buried feelings begin to surface. Full of autumn charm, candy apples, and swoony second chances, Candy Apple Kisses is a sweet friends to lovers romance about finding your way home and maybe finding love there too. Narrated by Brittany Goodwin, Candy Apple Kisses on audio is the perfect listen. Again, stick around after the show to hear an excerpt from the audiobook edition of Candy Apple Kisses by Amy Clipston. This podcast is supported by Quince the best summer pieces are the ones you'll end up wearing on repeat. They're comfortable, versatile, and they're somehow right for almost every occasion.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's why I love Quince.

[Narrator/Announcer]

They make elevated essentials using premium materials like European linen, organic cotton and washable silk without the traditional retail markup. My favorite Quince piece this summer is actually a set. I've been wearing their 100% European linen long sleeve shirt and matching shorts like all the time.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Actually so much that I bought two sets in different colors.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I live in them. You can wear the pieces together for an easy put together travel look or split them up and wear them as separates for mix and match. The shirt works over a tank on cooler evenings. The shorts go with just about everything and together they are the perfect mix and match items. Items to pack for a trip Quince's 100% European linen pants, dresses and tops are lightweight, they're effortless to style and they start at just $32. Their denim is soft and comfortable, their organic cotton sweaters are perfect for layering when evenings cool down, and their beautiful 14 karat jewelry adds that subtle finishing touch that makes even a simple outfit feel intentional. Everything at quints is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. So you are paying for exceptional quality, not brand markup. And it's not just apparel. Quint also offers elevated essentials for your home, from bedding and bath to kitchen. Essentials and furniture make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to quince.com bookriot for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. It's now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.com book riot for free shipping and 365 day return quince.com bookriot.

[Emily Carmichael]

Today's episode is brought to you by Harper Audio, publisher of Missed Connections audiobook by Amy K. Roonian. Narrated by Carolyn Hewitt. After losing her dream job managing a Parisian restaurant, 37 year old Sabrina Sorensen returns home to California for her younger sister's engagement part party and straight into her family's questions about her career, her love life and her inability to settle down. Sounds like a lovely family gathering. But when an unexpected airport encounter gives Sabrina the chance to revisit the choices and relationships that shaped her life, she's forced to ask whether chasing her ambitions was worth what she left behind. Missed Connections is a heartfelt, transportive story of second chances, self discovery and the roads not taken. It's got heart, introspection, all those extra good things. And it's good for listeners who enjoy stories about reinvention and the question of whether it's ever too late to choose differently. So make sure to check out the audiobook of Missed Connections by Amy K. Roonian. Narrated by Carolyn Hewitt and thanks again to Harper Audio for sponsoring this episode.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But in book 22 of the Frickin Odyssey, when Odysseus has come back and he's killing suitors like, let's just admit it, Robert Pattinson's gonna get got. Everybody knows it. Like that's not a surprise. What? I cannot imagine that Nolan is gonna let the boy prince of Hollywood, Tom Holland, string up 12 ladies. It's not gonna happen, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't think we're gonna see that. I think we're gonna hear that it happened.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You think they're actually gonna say Telemachus went out there and these probably enslaved women who were converting with the suitors are all going to get strung up by. I don't know. I don't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

No one's a purist, man.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yes, but also we live in a different world, Right?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We'll see that. I mean, I would the same thing

[Jeff O'Neill]

that got him interested in casting Lupita Nuongo as Helen of Troy, which I think is very cool. And I have other thoughts about that. I think that same impetus is not going to have.

[Emily Carmichael]

Have.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Maybe something different will happen, but I just can't see it happening. I would lose all of the money I won betting on dudes buying dungeon crawler Carl if that actually happens.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I, I think you're right. We are not gonna see it on screen.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'd say if I had to guess on one substantial substantive change, that would be my number one draft pick of things. No one would choose.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, and then if I have money on like, I don't think we're gonna see the Penelope ad pop back up onto radars just a little too old. And Atwood is like more tangly but Cersei by Madeline Miller a real contender to return to bestseller list.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I saw Gilbert Cruz was talking to her on the New York Times Books podcast. Looks pretty cool. You can check that over there. Check out zero to well read. Thanks everyone for listening. You can email [e-mail] come join the Patreon. We're a little light this summer on Patreon and taking some time off. It's summertime. We'll be back in full swing. We will continue our regular news shows on Mondays. Rebecca, enjoy the lake. We'll talk to you all later.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Thanks so much for listening today. Hope you enjoy this audiobook. Excerpt from Candy Apple Kisses by Amy Clipston Narrated by Brittany Goodwin Provided by our sponsors at Harper Audio Chapter 1

[Jake Hughes]

Jake Hughes couldn't stop the smile that overtook his lips as he jogged down the front steps of his parents two story farmhouse. A vaguely familiar 1960s pop song. Was it the Beatles or the Monkees? Blasted from the 2002 Hunter Green Jeep Wrangler crunching up the gravel driveway. His best friend since kindergarten, Emily Carmichael, was at the wheel, and he couldn't have been more relieved. She's finally here. Everything's going to be all right. The Jeep came to a stop just as Jake's work boots hit the gravel and Emily jumped out. Carmichael. He called as he pulled her in for a quick hug, lifting her off her feet for a few seconds. It's about time you got here. When he set her back on the ground, she gave him a friendly shovel. Whatever, she huffed. I told you I'd be here by five. Jake lifted his phone from the back pocket of his worn jeans and gave it a dramatic glance. And yet, it's almost six. He shoved the phone back into his pocket. You're never on time. You were even late for our high school graduation. I was only 15 minutes late to graduation and you'd expect nothing less from me, she said with a flourish before reaching into the back of the Jeep for her huge black suitcase. At 5 foot 4, her slight frame barely reached the back seat.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'll get it.

[Jake Hughes]

He gently moved her to the side. I don't know why you bought those big tires for this thing when you practically need a step stool to get in and out of it. She lifted an eyebrow at him. Because it's cool. He set the suitcase on the ground with a smirk as his gaze roved over her. Emily was merely a foot shorter than he was, and she looked the same as he remembered. Her wavy dark brown hair was styled in a thick ponytail that almost reached the middle of her back. Her well loved blue jeans sported holes in each knee, and her signature pink Converse high tops were splattered with a rainbow of dried paint. Her ivory skin was flawless and makeup free, and her eyes, eyes a shade of brown so light they appeared golden, sparkled as she grinned up at him. He could feel a snappy comment coming and he relished it. He'd missed the barbs they'd always enjoyed throwing at each other since they were kids. Standing on her tiptoes, Emily tapped the bill of his ball cap. Why are you still wearing this ratty ol Mets cap? I sent you a brand new one for Christmas, but here you are sporting the one you've had since high school. It's broken in. He adjusted the cap on his head. Broken in. She exclaimed. You've had it since we were 16. I think after almost 14 years, it's time to retire it. He shook his head. Nah. Besides, I save yours for special occasions. Sure you do. She chirped with a laugh. I knew I was wasting my money when I bought you a new one, but I just couldn't help myself. She inhaled a deep breath through her nose and spun around. I love the smell of the orchard mixed with the lake. It never gets old. Which is why you need to come back to Western North Carolina more often, Carmichael. In fact, my mom and dad were heartbroken you didn't join us last year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her ever present smile wobbled. Yeah, I know. She pushed her ponytail over her shoulder. I should have come here instead of spending it with Steve and his family. He lifted an eyebrow. This was news to him. He thought she and Steve were happy, that Steve might even pop the question. He was the first guy Jake could remember Emily gushing about in their texts and calls. Trouble in paradise? You could say that. You broke up? She examined her short, nibbled nails. Yup. He took a step closer to her. When? It's been a couple months. She glanced up toward the clear blue sky as if the answer was hidden there. Maybe June. Yeah, it was definitely June. So that was why she hadn't mentioned Steve when they'd texted and she'd dodged his questions about how things were going with him. It's August. M. Why didn't you tell me? There she is. Mom hollered from the porch. You made it. Emily raced up the steps and Jake followed with her suitcase. Mom engulfed Emily in a tight hug. It's been too long. We missed you at the holidays last year, sweetie. You must have been busy. I hope you'll come this year. It's not the same without you. Emily gave Jake a guilty look, and he responded with an I told you so look. I'll definitely try. She fiddled with her mother's engagement and wedding ring, which hung from a silver chain around her neck. She hadn't taken them off since her parents had passed away four years ago. How is Mr. Hughes doing? Mom jammed her hands on her hips. Emily, you're almost 30. When are you going to start calling us Diane and Leon? Her expression brightened. But thanks for asking. He's doing better. I'm so glad to hear it. M shot Jake an accusatory look. I would have come sooner if Jake had told me about the heart attack. Jake held up his hands. It was a crazy time. Too crazy to call me? Her brown eyes challenged him. Jake grimaced. She was right. He should have called her when it happened a month and a half ago. But Dad's heart attack had been such a shock that he'd barely remembered how to tie his shoes.