The It Books of May 2025

Summary

Book Riot - The Podcast: The IT Books of May 2025

Release Date: April 30, 2025
Hosts: Jeff O’Neill and Rebecca Schinsky

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Introduction to IT Books of May

In this episode, Jeff O’Neill and Rebecca Schinsky delve into the highly anticipated book releases of May 2025, a month renowned for its significant literary contributions. Jeff introduces the concept of "IT Books of the Month," emphasizing May as one of the four crucial months (alongside June, September, and October) where the publishing industry sees a surge in notable releases.

Jeff O’Neill: “It's one of the four. It's one of the four. It's May, June, September, and October. It's an enormous month.” [01:13]

Rebecca and Jeff discuss their methodology for selecting the top 21 books they are interested in, acknowledging the challenge of narrowing down such a vast array of choices. They consider various factors, including popularity, buzz, personal interest, and the current cultural zeitgeist.

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Exploring the 82-Book Pool

Jeff reveals that his long list includes 82 books that score a 6 or higher on his interest scale. The hosts brainstorm ideas on how to effectively cover these additional titles without overwhelming their audience or diluting the focus on the top contenders.

Jeff O’Neill: “These are the pool from which I will probably pull my book reading. Yeah, go ahead, Rebecca.” [01:55]

Rebecca expresses her concern about the sheer number of books, highlighting the difficulty in managing such an extensive list amidst her impending travel plans.

Rebecca Schinsky: “I have some big travel happening at the end of May and early June. And I'm starting to panic about how am I going to read all of the things in May and June that I want to read...” [03:50]

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Featured IT Books of May

1. "Bad Friend" by Tiffany Watts Smith
   Release Date: May 6th
   Publisher: Celadon Books

   Jeff introduces "Bad Friend," a memoir, history, and cultural critique focusing on the complexities of female friendships. The hosts dissect the title's significance and speculate on its thematic connections to other works like Christy Tate's "The Group."

   Jeff O’Neill: “It is Shinsky Core to the Core How Women Revolutionized Modern Friendship.” [10:41]

   Rebecca shares her curiosity about the book's approach, particularly its potential exploration of famous female friendships and their socio-cultural impact.

   Rebecca Schinsky: “I think female friendships have taken on new social significance...” [11:12]

2. "Mark Twain" by Ron Chernow
   Release Date: May 13th
   Publisher: Penguin Press
   Length: 1,200 pages

   The discussion shifts to Ron Chernow's extensive biography of Mark Twain, questioning the necessity of its substantial length. They debate the value and challenges of engaging with such a hefty tome.

   Rebecca Schinsky: “I think a 1200-page biography can probably be shorter, but Ron Chernow probably has his reasons.” [15:07]

   Jeff highlights Chernow's previous successes with biographies of Washington and Grant, pondering Twain's enduring influence and the potential reception of this biographical project.

   Jeff O’Neill: “Mark Twain shows up on the edges of things... How Ulbricht did, like, this is the thing.” [15:35]

3. "Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind" by Nate Bargazzi
   Release Date: May 6th
   Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

   Jeff expresses excitement about Nate Bargazzi’s memoir, anticipating its appeal both as an engaging audiobook and a family-friendly listen. They discuss Bargazzi’s rise to fame and his potential impact on the literary and comedic landscapes.

   Jeff O’Neill: “I am really looking forward to listening to this with my family.” [21:02]

   Rebecca categorizes it as a pop culture IT book, emphasizing its broad appeal beyond traditional book enthusiasts.

   Rebecca Schinsky: “There's almost nothing better than a comedian memoir on audio.” [20:54]

4. "Run for the Hills" by Kevin Wilson
   Release Date: May 13th
   Publisher: Echo
   Genre: Literary Commercial Fiction

   Kevin Wilson’s novel is lauded for its sharp, zany, and entertaining storytelling. The plot centers around a woman discovering unexpected family ties and embarking on a road trip to uncover deeper familial connections.

   Rebecca Schinsky: “You should all be reading Kevin Wilson because I love him.” [22:33]

   The hosts commend Wilson’s ability to blend humor with poignant narratives, making his work a standout in the month’s lineup.

5. "Harmattan Season" by Tochi Onyebuchi
   Release Date: May 27th
   Publisher: Tor Books
   Genre: Hard-Boiled Fantasy Noir
   Length: 240 pages

   Jeff introduces Tochi Onyebuchi’s "Harmattan Season," describing it as a post-colonial West African fantasy with noir elements. The novel promises a blend of cultural depth and genre innovation.

   Jeff O’Neill: “Hard-boiled fantasy noir, Raymond Chandler-esque.” [36:28]

   Rebecca raises concerns about the title’s accessibility and its potential barrier to broader readership.

   Rebecca Schinsky: “I think A Harmattan Season is not a great title because people are gonna be like, what the hell is a Harmattan?” [37:22]

6. "My Name is Emilia Di Valle" by Isabel Allende
   Release Date: May 6th
   Publisher: Valentine
   Genre: Historical Novel

   Isabel Allende’s latest work follows a young writer’s journey in South America to uncover familial truths. Jeff and Rebecca discuss Allende’s consistent thematic presence and its implications for the novel’s reception.

   Jeff O’Neill: “She will probably do some interesting media. It's probably going to be quite good.” [41:30]

   Rebecca Schinsky: “If you didn't enjoy an Allende book before, it's unlikely this one will feel like a super sticky, relevant cultural thing.” [41:56]

7. "On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong
   Release Date: May 13th
   Publisher: Penguin Press
   Genre: Literary Fiction

   Ocean Vuong’s new novel is anticipated to resonate deeply with readers through its exploration of unconventional friendships and existential themes. The hosts predict significant acclaim and award nominations, given Vuong’s previous successes.

   Rebecca Schinsky: “It rings all the bells that you want an IT book to ring and it will be very well written and it could very reasonably be nominated for big awards.” [43:58]

   Jeff commends the book’s thematic depth and its potential to engage a wide audience.

   Jeff O’Neill: “It's about those kinds of heady issues. I think an unlikely friendship can pull at the heartstrings in a way that works for a lot of people.” [44:44]

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Additional Highlights

• Sponsorship Breaks: Throughout the episode, sponsors like Nordstrom, Camcat Books, 8th Note Press, Bloom Books, and Eleven Labs are featured, promoting various book releases and services. These segments are seamlessly integrated without disrupting the core content discussion.

• Listener Engagement: Jeff and Rebecca encourage listeners to contribute ideas and feedback via email, fostering an interactive community around book discussions.

• Upcoming Releases and Anticipations: The hosts briefly touch upon other notable releases and anticipated books listed on Goodreads, hinting at future episodes that will explore these titles in depth.

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Conclusion

Jeff O’Neill and Rebecca Schinsky successfully navigate the vast landscape of May 2025’s book releases, highlighting a diverse array of genres and authors poised to make significant impacts. From Ron Chernow’s extensive biography of Mark Twain to Ocean Vuong’s emotionally resonant novel, the episode provides listeners with a comprehensive guide to the month’s must-read books. Their insightful discussions, coupled with strategic selections, ensure that both casual readers and dedicated book enthusiasts find valuable recommendations to guide their reading choices.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jeff O’Neill: “It's one of the four. It's one of the four. It's May, June, September, and October. It's an enormous month.” [01:13]

• Rebecca Schinsky: “I have some big travel happening at the end of May and early June. And I'm starting to panic about how am I going to read all of the things in May and June that I want to read...” [03:50]

• Jeff O’Neill: “We are content people. We got to use every part of the spreadsheet here.” [02:00]

• Rebecca Schinsky: “I think there's a couple I really, really want to get to and then I read some other, some potpourri, some debut novels, some stuff.” [04:03]

• Jeff O’Neill: “I was gonna say you want to buy your dad Mark Twain. Actually buy them big. Actually buy them big.” [21:11]

• Rebecca Schinsky: “There's almost nothing better than a comedian memoir on audio.” [20:54]

• Jeff O’Neill: “Kevin Wilson performs consistently well. He probably has a good shot at like, big New York Times Best of the Year list someday.” [25:35]

• Rebecca Schinsky: “I think A Harmattan Season is not a great title because people are gonna be like, what the hell is a Harmattan?” [37:22]

• Jeff O’Neill: “It's about those kinds of heady issues. I think an unlikely friendship can pull at the heartstrings in a way that works for a lot of people.” [44:44]

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This episode serves as an essential guide for readers looking to navigate May 2025’s literary offerings, providing thoughtful analysis and engaging discussions on a curated selection of IT books.

Transcript

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[Jeff O'Neill]

For 24 hours straight, which chef will out cook outpace, outlast the competition?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

No chef escapes the clock.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All new 24 and 24. Last chef standing. Sunday night at eight. See it first on Food Network. Stream next day on Max. This is the Book Review Podcast. I'm Jeff O'Neill.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'm Rebecca Schinsky.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And it's it books of the month time. Not only is it it books of the month time, it is it books of the year month time. Does that make sense?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Because May is the big book release month of the year so far.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's one of the four. It's one of the four. It's, it's May, June, September, and October. It's an enormous month. I was just throwing spaghetti ideas at Rebecca because here's what happens. So I do my edelweiss surfing. I look at most anticip lists. I go on Goodreads, I look at our own notes and to come up with the IT books thing. But I'm also started. I did the first one for April, but I think it's going to be recurring thing for first edition where I do the list of the 21 books I'm interested in that are coming out this month. I may not read them all. It Well, I will not read them all because I do not read 300 books.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You read fast, but not.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But these are the, these are the pool from which I will probably pull my book reading. Yeah, go ahead, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

82 is so many.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, I didn't even say that yet. I said and. But you're jumped on it because I told you this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'm sorry. Let's try that again.

[Jeff O'Neill]

My long list, not including the IT books was 82 books that I'm like, I would give that a shot. Like I'm a 6 or higher on a 10 point scale of interest. And I was saying to Rebecca, there's got to be content in those extra 60s. We are content people. We got to use every part of the spreadsheet here. Shinski. That's what we're trying to do. And so we were, we were kind of spitballing what to do. Is there something fun to do with those other 60ish titles. So we had a couple ideas and we'd like your feedback. And our email address is podcastookriot.com Two ideas that are ours, and if you've got a better one, kind of in the fantasy league, like maybe there's a different version. What would you be most interested or vote for one of these two. All that.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It has to be more interesting than just type up the list of 82 titles and give them to us.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's not happening. That's not happening. So the first thought was we kind of go through them one by one and skim the cream from the crop. Okay, John, hit it or quit it. Hit it or quit it. Fmk. I know. Buy, borrow, bypass. We could use whatever euphemism you want. We're actually kind of going through it and evaluating them one by one. The idea I just had, because this is what I used to show Rebecca, that is an interesting list, is I have them in a spreadsheet with an Edelweiss link. And I don't have a title because who. Who can be bothered to put the title. I just put the link in.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But it's just a spreadsheet for yourself. No.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And maybe we say we ask random.org to provide us seven numbers and we pick them at random and talk about them.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Or I pick seven numbers or something.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Or something where we just sort of talk about a subsection of them and see, because this is. If you're doing 7 out of 70, that's a 10% sample size, you're gonna have a sense of whether or not this is a good year. Like, is this a good year for wines? Was this a good month for Jeff's wandering reading eye? I don't know.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I have been also looking at summer releases and I have some big travel happening at the end of May and early June. And I'm starting to panic about how am I going to read all of the things in May and June that I want to read when I know that for.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Basically, I got a little panicky too, doing this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Honestly, I'm not going to be reading like, this is not travel, where I'm going to be chilling at night with a book. So I started in on my May reading over the weekend. Yeah, I did. And I'm just going to have to be, you know, we're going to do some radical excitement, acceptance of there are too many books and I'm not going to read them all. But I'm really going to have to be ruthless about prioritizing the ones that I super want to get to. Like in most months there's a couple I really, really want to get to and I get to those and then I read some other, some potpourri, some debut novels, some stuff. I don't know how it's going to go. You know, like we, we do the experimental thing. We're sampling from the poo poo bladder.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yep.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I feel like in May it's, there's a lot of stuff on offer and I'm going to have to like, just go for the cream.

[Jeff O'Neill]

There really is. Let's do our first sponsor break and we'll get into the it books of May.

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[Jeff O'Neill]

Foreign.

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[Jeff O'Neill]

If this should be your first time with the it books of me, here's how it goes. I cull the Internet, I plug myself into the matrix really is what happens.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You really do.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And come up with a list of the 10 books that I think best fit our vibish criteria for being an it book, which is some combination of popularity, art, buzz, personal interest, you know, zeitgeist, you know, whatever else is going on and we're trying to decide what the book of the month is in those regards. One thing we wrestle with, and I have another. We have a segment for kind of the hall, the Popularity hall of Fame. If you have one of some of these authors have a new book out. Yes, it's a big deal. Is it an it book situation? Probably not. An example of why not is probably Chipotle serves more food than the top 50 Conde Nast best restaurants of the year combined. Right? Chipotle is good. I like Chipotle. Eat there all the time. But it's not something that is going to be written about a lot in food and wine.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Not necessarily newsworthy or that interesting.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And this is not to compare the cuisine, just the familiarity and availability can make it less interesting. It does make it less interesting from an item book situation. These are our rules. If you'd like to do something different, I encourage you to make your own list that is more than welcome. You can even email it to [e-mail] so I've got 10. We take them one by one. Rebecca doesn't know what the lists are. Sometimes I mess with the order. Did I mess with order this week? I don't this month. I don't remember having done so, and I don't think there was something I was trying to dodge.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, and that's usually when there is like a book that is so clearly going to own the month that we don't want to talk about it in the first or second slot and then just knocking things out behind it and.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Just sort of kick over kindergarteners as the bully on the playground for the whole list.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But, you know, like, as an example, last spring when James came out, we talked about James at the very end of that month's It Books episode because it was going to win and everybody knew it was going to win. But we wanted to give, you know, Onyx Storm.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I mean, that was one that was so huge by itself that there's really no, you know, you just have to batten the hatches and let the storm blow through onto something like that. So I haven't done anything to the list thus far. Up first, Bad Friend by Tiffany Watts Smith. Is this on your radar and all?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It is.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I was going to say this is Shinsky Core to the Core How Women Revolutionized Modern Friendship. It is on sale May 6th from Celadon Books. It's a memoir, history and cultural critique about the turmoil and complexity of female friendships. I, I, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna clear out for you on this. What do you, what do you think of this idea? I mean, are you gonna read this? Are you interested in, is this like, bad taste in your mouth? What do you want to say?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I mean, I'm interested in this. I think I'm curious about what the first few reviews of it will be like. Like, I don't need to be sold on anything related to female friendships. So, like, if it's more of a sales pitch, I don't know that I need that. I think I read something that indicated that some of this is like profiles of famous pairs of female friends. Very famously, Fran Leibowitz and Toni Morrison were like, besties and if it's profiles of those kinds of interesting friendships, I would like to know more about those kinds of things. But female friendships have taken on new social significance, I think, especially in the last like 50, 60 years as women have moved out of the traditional nuclear family, stay at home mom situation and have more. We've had more opportunities and more options. And of course, you can have a nuclear family and be a stay at home mom and have vibrant female friendships. Don't email me. But there's, you know, women are looking outside of the nuclear family for social support and we seem to have gotten a handle on friendships in a way that the men have not yet caught up to. So I'm curious about what a more like a sociological historical perspective would be.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Why is it called Bad Friend?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't know. That's a great question.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I don't. I didn't get that in the marketing material, I think. Oh, I see. I'm sort of looking into it. She's talking about a few of her. She's talking about herself.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That she is a bad.

[Jeff O'Neill]

What was that book that we read that had sort of a similar. Gosh darn it. We both read it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Are you thinking about Christy Tate?

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yes. What was that book called?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The first one was the Group.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, that's not it. That's not the one.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Her second one, I can't remember the title of it, but it was about her relationship with her friends and sister. Right, right.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And how they fell apart in trying to put them back together. So it sounds like it might be a similar thing of high fidelity, but for your girlfriends.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. Or like I'm a bad friend. So let me look at some examples of friendship and examine what makes a good one.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Heartbreak, but by Florence Williams. But for lady friends. That's a good pitch. That should be on.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I would read the crap out of Heartbreak. But for lady friends.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You can send me your $25. Okay, so that's gonna automatically make it through because it's the first one. I did look at this one and wonder about positionality. So there's a world in which this should be 10 or 9 or later. But here we are. Rebecca. I'm not going to mess with it. Oh, I can download the epub right now. I didn't see that before. I will not be right now because I've got things to do with my life. That 1200 pages of Mark Twain by Ron Chernow.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I wondered what we were going to do with this.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Like an asteroid, destroy my reading life for a month. It comes out May 13th from Penguin Press. Cherno, of course, the redoubtable biographer of notable Americans who was thrust into a different stratosphere of knownness and notoriety. Not notoriety, that's. That's bad. But a high profile because of Lin Manuel Branda's adaptation of his magisterial biography of Alexander Hamilton, which came out 21 years ago. He's written a couple of subsequent books since. Has it been two? Looks like there's been Washington and Grant. This, to my knowledge, is his first foray into an artist's life, which is notable.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It is a new area of concern for him.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It is to give you a little bit of context, longer than things he's written before. I know that he's got a lot of juice to do what he wants, but, Rebecca, if you're his editor and you're like, you know what, your Washington book was only 928 pages. Does Twain really need 300 more?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I mean, I think it's an open question, like, if Ron Chernow is engaging in like, some literary criticism, are we going to examine the different Twain texts and get into, like, there's a lot of written Twain material you can build on. And Mark Twain holds. Continues to hold a place in, like, the popular imagination. You know, there's the Mark Twain Prize for humor. People refer to like. Not that George Washington people perform like.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Val Kilmer performed as Mark Twain.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Right.

[Jeff O'Neill]

How Ulbricht did, like, this is the thing.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Mark Twain shows up on the edges of things in Oppenheimer, doesn't he? Or. No, that's Einstein. That's the other guy with the big white hair.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's a very hilarious slip. I like that a great deal.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Ask me about the difference between Tom Robbins and Tom Wolfe. Now, listen, I think that when you're over 400 pages, and really, if you're over 500, you gotta earn every extra page has to be justified. 1200 pages is so many pages of a person's reading life. This book can probably be shorter, but Ron Chernow probably has his reasons. I don't know. I hope that it's all justified. I will not be reading 1200 PA of the Mark Twain biography. I think I am going to pass this one through to the next round because there will be headlines. He's going to do the tour. You're going to see him on NPR and probably cnn and there will be a New York Times piece. It's going to be one of the best books of the year, almost unquestionably. But most people are going to glean the tidbits from the book and not the 1200 page reading experience.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If you were going to pick an American author to do 1200 pages about.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh my God.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Your draft pick is Mark Twain. He lives a fascinating life, an interesting character, well known. A little less well known about his life is that he. He would invest in these crackpot business adventures. Like he lost his first fortune investing in an early typewriter. Does it just.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay. I love knowing that.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. And like he just was fascinating person. His. I mean spoiler alert for Mark Twain's life. But like his wife and daughters pre deceased him and he was really heartbroken at the end. Like the bushy haired white haired Mark Twain that we think of. That's late Twain. Early Twain is a rascal and a rogue. And on the river in Mississippi and Hannibal, Missouri. I wonder if Lin Manmuandra is looking at this book going damn it, I threw away my shot on Alexander. No, it did fine. I'm kidding. You could always see a vers. I mean you can definitely see what's going on. I wonder about him wrestling with the. The work itself. Like what's he going to say about Huck Finn. What's he going to say about and Connecticut and King Arthur.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Is there a better way to be remembered than as a rascal and a rogue?

[Jeff O'Neill]

No.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Amazing.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So should we all at some point but 1200 pages. I was trying to think what page count would this have to be for me to have an honest crack at reading it in my working life. I think if it had a six in front up to 699 I could.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Talk myself into a six something. Maybe not for Mark Twain but for. I would read a 699 Toni Morrison biography.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Would you read a 1200 page. Is there someone you'd read a 1200 page document?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I would give the most consideration to a Toni Morrison biography. I don't know that this point in my life also because of, you know, we're trying to read a lot of things. I would. Anything that's 1200 pages I'm saving for.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Retirement, would I read a 1200 page biography of myself even?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

What about a 1200 page biography of phosphorus?

[Jeff O'Neill]

It is elemental. It's. It's close. Yeah. I don't. I don't know. It's a fascinating document. I'm sure it'll be authoritative and it will be un. It will go unread by dads everywhere for Father's Day. So.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Right. It's not an accident that it's coming out three and a half weeks before Father's day.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So I was on all the books this week with Lib. The episode that came out today as we recorded the 29th. I'll talk more about my picks in frontless foyer but I don't know if this was in the show or us just talking after the show. Doesn't matter really at this point. I'm sorry if you've if you've heard that or this will be repeat. We realized that we both have a shared affection for Nate Barnes, the comedian Nate Bargazzi.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh okay.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And he has his memoir coming out May 6th from Grand Central Publishing called Big Dumb Eyes Stories from a Simpler Mind. I am going to listen to this immediately and it will probably be in my ears until it is done because I find him charming and it might be something. It's a great audiobook for the family. My family has enjoyed the Barkatsy Experience 225,000 print run. He had a moment really beginning before the Washington sketch on snl, but that one really catapult him into a near thing. I think this could be a big deal. I think this is important within the book world. I'm not sure. Rebecca, help me navigate how to think about Big Dumb Eyes by Nate Bargazzi in sort of this enterprise that we.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think this is a pop culture it book and not a book world it book like he got interviewed by the New York Times interview podcast recently. There's a big like Nate Bargazzi publicity push happening, but I think they are trying to reach the people who have watched his Netflix specials, not the people who are just book nerds looking for their next celebrity audiobook. There's almost nothing better than a comedian memoir on audio.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I said that exactly. I was again this was pre staging what I'll say on Thursday. But I found another one I like and I'll recommend to you. But yes, totally agree.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, almost nothing better. It might I don't know if it's going to outsell Mark Twain. It'll it'll have a higher read through rate.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I was going to say you want to buy your dad Mark Twain. Actually buy them big.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Buy your dad Nate Bargazi. Yes, that is what you should do. Unless your dad is like a big, big nerd with a lot of spare time. I think we're going to pass Mark Twain through to the next round. But I'm glad you mentioned Nate Burgoyne.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'm really looking for. I genuinely looking forward to listening to this with my with my family.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I will just know like not to try to reach you on May 6, because this is going to be in your.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think we'll probably save it for a road trip. I think I'll. I'll save it because it's so.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's not going straight into your veins.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I would if it were just me, but I've got others to consider here.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Rebecca, more generous reader.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It takes a village of three. Okay, up next, on sale May 13th from Echo, it is Run for the Hills, a novel by Kevin the Lumberjack Wilson.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Do you think this has made it back to him? Does he know that we're working on a fun nickname for him?

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, I think we'll probably talk to this on Thursday, but something that someone wrote for Book Riot made it back to a celebrity.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's true.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You don't know. You never know when the message in a bottle will find an especially appropriate listener. Kevin Wilson, who writes sharp, zany, dark, brilliant, entertaining works of literary commercial fiction.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

What the hell is.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

He is the best, funniest writer you're probably not reading.

[Jeff O'Neill]

There you go. That's why I called him the Lumberjack.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, listen, I, I love. This is the one I started this weekend when I was starting my May reading. Man, I, I love Kevin Wilson. Like, I sat down after dinner and I thought, I'll give it a couple of chapters. And I looked up 75 pages later. And that's how it goes with him. The setup is this woman who owns. She's in her early 30s. She owns a farm with her mother. They're out on a Saturday. The people have been visiting the farm. They're in Tennessee. And later in the shift is when the weirdos come to the farm and a man she's never seen before pulls up in a car she's never seen before, says that he's her half brother, that. That her father is also his father, that. That their shared father was this guy's father first. And that dad left their family and then became the father to woman on the farm. And it turns out actually they have more siblings. And does she want to come with him on a road trip to find their other siblings, inform them of this, and maybe to track their dad down? And it's. It's 2007, so it's like before 23andMe and all of the DNA tracking stuff became really big. He's. He's done some old school detective work and they're going to take this really interesting spin on a family road trip in a rental PT Cruiser.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You know, he. He lives in Tennessee. And so maybe I've got the Mid south on my mind. Coming at the Bargazi is Kevin Wilson. Is George Saunders, plus Nate Bargazzi. Is that a thing? Did I just invent something?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, that's not the worst.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's not. Well, thank you very much. That's very kind of you.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's going on my tomb.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That actually is going on my tombstone. Jeff O'Neill, not the worst. I was most reasonable I might sign for that right now.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

If you.

[Jeff O'Neill]

My batna.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

If you go first, I will give the shortest eulogy. Be like, Michelle, I'm so sorry. I really. I need to say literally, just a few.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Ron Swanson, like, toast you legitimately.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I worked with Jeff for decades. I loved him dearly. Jeff was not the worst.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Not the worst.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. When you said the Mid South, I was thinking about Walton Goggins and he being from Alabama and like, the south produces these kinds of characters who just see the world in a different way. They're willing to, like, take some risks in the way that they tell stories. Kevin Wilson is not as out there as Walton Goggins, but I think, like, a midpoint between Nate Bargazzi and Walton Goggins is maybe where you find Kevin Wilson.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Fanny Flagg plus Tom Robbins. Is that Kevin Wilson? I don't know. I could do this all day.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But anyways, where would you like to.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You should all be reading Kevin Wilson because I love him. We're passing Kevin Wilson through.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I'm not gonna fight you on that. That could be incorrect in the larger scheme of things.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I mean, Ron Chernow is going to sell more copies of Mark Twain, but Kevin Wilson performs consistently well. He probably has a good shot at, like, big New York Times Best of the Year list someday. He will no longer be under the radar. Some glorious day.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I mean, really has to be Our underrated pick, I think that we think has. You know, you could really do underrated like, he sold the Note here is 850,000 copies across all editions lifetime. He's doing fine.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But one for people, I think. Let me put it to you this way and see if you agree. I think the thing that bothers us about Kevin Wilson not being as famous he is. It's a Swiss army rec. There's a lot of different kinds of readers that's gonna like this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. There's so much fun. Even though sometimes the concepts are dark, the books themselves are not, like, dark, challenging experiences. They're incredibly readable and relatable and just a good time like this will probably be the best time I have reading this year.

[Jeff O'Neill]

How's this for an idea? I can't do it for the release, but maybe for the paperback. The Books of Kevin Wilson with Kevin Wilson for first read. Is that an idea?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Is that something that would be a good can. I will sit in on that list on that, too.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay, moving on down the road. Up next From Norton, on May 13, Isabella Nag and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire. Darkshire. Darkshire. I'm not sure. I think it's Darkshire. So Oliver Darkshire. I read his first book, Once Upon a Tome, which is a memoir of being an accidental antiquarian bookseller.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, I remember that one.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Which I liked a great deal. This is his take on cozy fantasy. Norton is doing some stuff with it. This genre itself is very popular. And Once Upon a Tome was a hit. Like, it's a book nerd hit. It's going to be very difficult for me to out Kevin Wilson this, but I'm very looking forward to this. So this is in a village somewhere in England called Eats Grasby. I assume he made this up. Isabella Nag, the main character is unhappy. Things aren't going well. She has a feckless husband, which is, of course, better than gormless. Would you rather be feckless or gormless?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think I would rather be feckless. Gormless is like. I'd rather. Because feckless is like you're just not meeting your responsibilities. But gormless is like you're boring.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And almost nothing is worse to me.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I was gonna say that's a real. I'm already boring, so that doesn't fear me. It's like saying I'm worried about being bald. That's something I need to worry about.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But by virtue of being not the worst, you are neither feckless nor gormless.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think you could be not the worst and be gormless.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Maybe.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Maybe. Anyway, and she. She kind of. What little pleasure she seems to get in life is taking care of, like, her weird menagerie of animals that have come on to her little country farm.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I thought you were gonna say her garden.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And then her husband comes home with a spell. Spell book from the local wizard. And she thinks, it can't be. It can't get any worse. Let me try some magic. That's what happened.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Does she find a spell to get rid of her husband? Is this a fried green tomato situation?

[Jeff O'Neill]

I don't know if this is sort of a little Shop of horror situation in which the thing becomes a giant man eating 200 pages his dark, winning Englishness means that I will be listening to this on audio. So that's Isabella Nag and the Pot of Basil. And the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I had to overcome my own aversion to the whole cozy situation because this sounds too cute by half to me.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. If. If I could send you. Well, you can look maybe at the COVID after the fact. It is not. It's got a little sharpness to the product design. And Darkshire I don't think he has. Having read his sort of scathing and warm and winning account of book selling, I think he's gonna have just enough edge for you and I to be able to. You know, it's like the opposite of take a little spoonful of sugar.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

We need like a spoonful of lemon juice or vinegar thing to go down with it. Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

If there were not 82 other books to read this month, maybe I would consider.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You will not. I'm not arguing that you will get to this. I think I probably will, though. 82.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think we're gonna stick with Kevin Wilson here.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think that's fair because this sounds.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Like it will be a book nerd hit, but not a broader.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think I'm gonna have the chance to talk to Oliver for first edition. I hope so. Take a look. That's something else going on there, too.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I do appreciate naming a character Nag when she has a feckless husband's husband.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All right, up next, May 20th. Where am I in my list? Do I need to take. I need to take another sponsor break. I need to take a sponsor break right here.

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Today's episode is brought to you by 8th Note Press, publishers of On Screen and Off Again by Caitlin Cross. Seven years ago, childhood sweethearts Wilhelmina and Dax were on top of the world as the charismatic star and sidekick of a hit kids TV series. But then the show was canceled and Dax moved on. Now Will makes the tabloids instead of callbacks and Dax is a rising star cast in a buzzy new movie. When his studio struggles to find the right co star and the pair run into each other, Will gets the role. The chemistry on both sides of the camera is stratospheric, but this is Will's chance to reclaim her career. And Dax already left her behind once. Will their romance be an on screen hit but an off screen disaster? Questions that need answering. This is from debut author Caitlin Cross. This was inspired by her time on movie sets with her show business dad. It's also interspersed with snippets from the movie. The movie has vibes from the Notebook, right? So just like some little nostalgia, a little romance, even from the movie that they're shooting. Love it. Make sure to check out On Screen and Off again by Caitlin Cross. And thanks again to 8th Note Press for sponsoring this episode. Today's episode is brought to you by 11 reader publishing from 11 labs. Did you know that only 5% of books are made into audiobooks each year? It's a wild stat, but if you've ever done audiobook production, you know how difficult and costly it can be. Which is why the good people at eleven Labs created eleven Reader Publishing. If you're wondering what it is I got you, I'm about to explain it right now. It's a zero cost program to create and share your audiobook directly with their 11 reader app. Simply upload your manuscript, format your text and you're ready to publish. Enrich immersive audio that's powered by ElevenLabs AI voice technology. Best of all, each time listeners play your book with their pick of AI voices on the app, ElevenLabs rewards the voice actors they've partnered with. It's a pretty cool and great way to bring more books into audio form. So take a look, see what you think from Eleven Labs and their entirely free Eleven Reader Publishing program. And thanks again to Eleven Reader Publishing from ElevenLabs for sponsoring this episode.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Okay, up next, spent by Allison Bechdel From Mariner Books, May 20. Her new graphic novel slash memoir about what do you do if, say you became suddenly a best selling graphic novelist who had bestselling books and then things that got turned into other things based on your books and you're just living in Vermont running a pygmy goat sanctuary as one does. How do you deal with it all?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Wait, is that what Alison Bagdell was actually doing?

[Jeff O'Neill]

I have no idea. That is what the cartoonist name Alison Bechdel is doing in this comic.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh I hope for her sake that was real.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, it doesn't sound like it's going too super well, right? Maybe. Say your character has a beloved comic strick named Dykes to watch out for. Anyway, I am really really looking forward to this. I have been on a Bechtel thing from a long time. Fun home end before it's been a minute I think since I got a new Alison Bechtel.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

She did one about a while.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, exercise your bodybuilding a little while ago. I can't remember what that one was called, but anyway. 272 graphic novel pages, a first print run of 50000 copies May 20th spent by Alison Bechdel. I'll speak for you. Well, I'll put this word in your mouth and you see if you spit it out or swallow it, which would be if this book had come out five years ago. Maybe there's a little more heat around Bechdel.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's been a while.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's been a little bit of a while.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And I learned about this book when I was going through catalogs last week. I haven't seen a lot of publicity around it. And a 50,000 print run, like even knowing that print run numbers are often inflated for vanity reasons on these things like that, they didn't inflate it to say at least 100 makes me. It gives me some pause. She'll probably do some interesting media. It's probably going to be quite good. But I think there's not much heat behind Bechdel anymore because it has been a while. So unless there's something in it that really takes hold, it's unlikely that this is going to become super zeitgeisty. Yeah. So we'll run one more round with Kevin Wilson and Run for the Hills.

[Jeff O'Neill]

The Secret to Superhuman Human Strength. Superman Strength. Pardon Me was her last book that came out in 2012. Best graphic novel 2021.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

2012. So it's been.

[Jeff O'Neill]

No, no, I'm misspeaking. It's 2021. Okay. Only four years ago.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Four years.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Fun home, of course, was a huge hit in itself, but then it was turned into the musical Are youe My Mother? Which one won the Tony? So it has been quite the ride for Alison Bechdel over the last decade or so. Okay. Moving on down the line. I was looking for something in the sci fi fantasy genre. So this is not an author. I think I've read one book by Tochi Onyebuchi, but this particular book is called Harmattin. Season H A r M A TTAN comes out May 27 from Tor Books. 240 pages. Hard boiled fantasy noir, Raymond Chandler esque. Post colonial West African fantasy that got me going. Beast of Night was a young adult book that was a. That became a bit of a thing. Riot Baby, which was a novella, was a finals for the Hugo, the Nebula, the Locust, and I don't think won any of those, but it was up for all of them and it sold quite well. An interesting person teaches screenwriting or holds a BA from BA from Yale, MFA in screenwriting and a master's degree in economics and a J.D. from Columbia.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Whoa. Okay.

[Jeff O'Neill]

The world's Most Interesting Person Committee just. They got a note.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Somebody better send personal.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Let's just put them in the Rolodex for, you know, whatever's going on here in the future. Sure. I'm into this. I know we have some fans. I think Sharifah is a fan.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I. I'm very interested in this book. At 240 pages, that's noir fantasy. I could probably blow that away in, like, a day.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's a Friday afternoon on your porch with something pink to drink.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Hard to. I probably can't proceed, but it's a.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't think it can. You know, I think, like, a noir fantasy sounds like a great time, but the fantasy that's going zeitgeisty is all romantasy right now. Basically. Anything else seems to be having a hard time breaking out in the genre. I also think A Harmattan Season is not a great title because people are gonna be like, what the hell is a Harmattan?

[Jeff O'Neill]

Dispel it to you, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yes. I don't know what it is. And anytime, like, I don't love that this is true. But when there are unrecognizable words that people don't know what they are in the titles of books, it makes people less likely to pick them up. Just. That's one more barrier to entry. So we're just going to. We're going to continue with good old Lumberjack Wilson here.

[Jeff O'Neill]

This next book, I'm really excited for Norton. I think it's their lead title for May, maybe even the summer, just judging by the publicity, emails and pitches I've gotten on it. And let's say it worked on me. It worked on one reader, and that's enough. It needs to work on. This is the Book of Records by Madeline.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, yes.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Have you heard about this? Okay, I'm gonna try to synopsize it without just reading verbatim the language I have, because here's my understanding what happens. So the main character and her father show up at this place, an enclave and all that portends. And something about this place means you can move between times and locations. Like, there's a door you can go through, maybe a little bit of Bill and Ted's. I don't know if you know where you're going or you just get in the phone booth. But over the course of going between times and places, she starts to meet and befriend people and then start to seek people out, like great thinkers and artists and philosophers and trying to come to terms with existence. When you have access to all of human knowledge and all humans have ever existed, what do you do? I don't know what the plot is necessarily. I don't. I mean, I'm not. I don't need to know what the plot is. Like, it sounds like it's a really cool idea. A little bit of the Ministry of Time, maybe a little bit of the Dream. The Dream Hotel, maybe a little Bill and Ted's. Maybe a little bit of Han Con thinking, high concept. I'm willing to try this. I'm very.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It sounds like a little bit of. What was the Blake Crouch? Dark matter.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Dark matter, yeah. That was more of a thriller.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Thriller, but the moving between ideas. Yeah, but moving ideas. This sounds great. I think that it also depends, like, if the writing is on the upmarket side rather than the, like, literary. Literary side. And I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know. It might have a shot at book clubby potential. It could sit in that zone. There's a big publicity push around this one and there has been for months. So I think they're trying to hit that. That zone of popularity and literary acclaim.

[Jeff O'Neill]

They're trying to do the Dream Hotel thing with it. They want it to be. They're. They're trying the same literary genre spec fic element. It's also about something.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think I'm gonna take this one. We're gonna pass Book of Records through.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. She was shortlisted for the Booker, so this is not her first rodeo in terms of having a book that's gonna have serious acclaim. Yeah, I thought it was an interesting pick. Up next, from Isabel Allende. Her new book, it is called My Name is Emilia Di Valle. It comes out May 6th from Valentine, translated by Frances Riddle. This is a historical novel. A young writer who goes to South America to find out the truth about her father. And you can't. You. You can't go into truth about the father and not find out something about yourself, can you?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

No.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Has there ever been a book, one of these written? You know what? I went on a journey to find out a secret about my family. And my sense of self is totally unchanged. And yet he is unharmed.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You see, Jeff, every journey is actually a journey into the self.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Right? Yeah. The real treasure was the blurbs. We got along. Allende, of course, a titan of 20th into 20th 1st century literature and of Latin and South American writing. I think the problem with Allende, well, it's a little bit of the Erdrich problem, which is they're of a piece and in order to have a different result, you need the novel to do something different. This sounds like a really good Allende book, which is, I mean, almost like the Stephen King zone, which they're hard to break out of what they already do already.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I also. I totally agree with that. And I also think that once you have ended up on high school syllabi, there's like some kind of an inverted halo effect where, like, Isabel Allende, for some people is an author they just had to read in school. And it's hard to. It can be hard to overcome that. The books are great. But I do agree, an Allende book feels like an Allende book. Feels like an Allende book. And if you didn't enjoy.

[Jeff O'Neill]

She sold 80 million copies, so God love her, she's doing just fine.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, she will end up on the best of lists. She might end up on some award nominations list. Like, Isabel Allende's legacy is. Is safe, she's doing okay. But they're not super newsworthy when there's a new Allende because her books do tend to feel similar to each other and not necessarily like of a. Of a particular moment.

[Jeff O'Neill]

1866.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Right, right. Like it's not a super sticky, relevant cultural thing. And we're going to stick with Book of Records here.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All right. Uplast the Emperor of Gladness by Ocean vuong, Penguin Press, May 13. Vuong, of course, the poet as well as a novelist. And I think on Earth we're briefly Gorgeous, which was his last book, which. When did that come out? 2019. It's been a while at this point. Broke him through in a different kind of a way. Yes, he did have time as a mother, which is a poetry collection a few years ago. But this is a chosen family friendship. The stories we tell ourselves in order. Like, it's a big crack at mainstream literary fiction. I can tell you why. Here are the comps. The Night Watchman, the Coven of Water Demon, Copperhead, Heaven Earth Grocery Store. The Book Club plus category is what we're trying to do here. And I think he's got a shot, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think so, too. Yeah. This is gonna. This is gonna win this round. I think that makes sense that on Earth we're briefly gorgeous. That year seemed like a surprise hit. Like it was a literary darling.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think you're right. And then it busted out of just literary darlingness and it ended up on a bunch of the year end lists. It sold very well. Like I heard Vuong on podcasts that had nothing to do with books.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The profile of Ocean Vuong. Sort of.

[Jeff O'Neill]

We need a poet to comment about this thing. Let's get Ocean blew up.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And as you were saying, like, the themes of this book do seem like right down the middle of what is zeitgeisty right now. It has not been too long for people to have forgotten how much they loved on Earth were briefly gorgeous and to get really excited about hearing from Ocean Vuong. The press around this is going to be interesting and there is going to be a lot of it. And I think OceanFuang has a lot of range. Like he'll probably go do a really thoughtful interview on NPR and they'll pull out some poetry things and the Times will do something interesting, but more casual. Smaller publications will also cover this. It rings all the bells that you want an IT book to ring and it will be very well written and it could very reasonably be nominated for big awards.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So I think that's a good winner.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If the setup for listeners matters. Here's kind of the idea. It sounds like there's a young man person. I don't know, I'm not sure. It doesn't say. So we'll say a young person who is not doing great and he's on the edge of a bridge and you can kind of guess maybe what that's about. And as he's sitting there, he encounters a woman who is having some sort of episode and it's clear that she got dementia of some kind and that brings him literally off the edge and he becomes her caretaker and friend. And this new relationship sounds like it's going to provide ballast to both of them in some regard. But it's about those kinds of heady issues. I think an unlikely friendship can pull at the heartstrings in a way that works for a lot of people. Oh yeah, 416 pages. Do I wish it was 60 page shorter? Absolutely, absolutely. Was that going to prevent people Demon Copperhead suggests otherwise if people really like it. But yeah, I think this is. This is the chance to be. I'm trying to think of who a comp would be for this. I guess for Gaza is not a bad one. It's not a bad one.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, but those are more poetical, multi generational, like epic. I don't find Vuong to be in that. Working in that mode.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And I think more beautiful that people want Hanya Yanagahara to write now.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Maybe that's a. Yes, that's it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Something like that. I think she's. I really like to Paradise. I. I'm waiting it's been a few years.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yanaka Car is my list and I can't wait to see what she does next. I think people might want something like this from her. I don't think she wants to do that. That doesn't mean it's bad or anything. I think she's wanting to do something.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't know that any writer working today is less interested in delivering what people. People want to.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That's fair. That is very fair. Anyway, so that's May 13th. I think that's our book of the month, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think so too. A very good month.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. I mean between that and the Cherno, you've got two heavy hitters at the end of the books, you know, at the end table. That's going to be there as well. And then you get the Kevin, Kevin Wilson Brigaze. Like it's suddenly pretty interesting. It's not a pretty fun. Let me do my emeritus list of books. So these are authors that huge.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay. The Mount Rushmores.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood. Never Flinch by Stephen King. The Tenant by Frida McFadden. The one I was a little borderline on maybe including is Fredrik Backman has a new novel coming out called My Friends. He's not an every year kind of guy, but it's kind of like the Bachmann verse is pretty well established and.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You know what you're getting looking.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's like very, very anticipated. So anyway, and then I also went on to Goodreads and I looked at the most anticipated for the month and I was like, okay, let me find the big romantasy and I'll just name check it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Great.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's called the Night in the Moth. Do I need to say more? A gothic mist cloaked tale of a prophetess who is forced beyond the safety of her cloister on an impossible quest to defeat the gods with the one night whose future is behind our sight. So there you go.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's gonna leave the Cloister kids.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You know, it turns out Lauren Groff is like, what are you doing? What are you doing? So those are the ones that for.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Every 600 page romantasy you could read Matrix five times.

[Jeff O'Neill]

There's a great chance the Night of the Moth outsides all of my it books finalists combined. And that is okay. That's not what we're doing.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Have fun out there.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I. I thought I would least bring it into the convo.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Just say I see you. I appreciate you. You remain not the worst, Rebecca.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Thank you so much. On that note, we'll talk to y'all later. Incoming transmission. Hello. This is Matt and McKinley from History Dispatches. We are the Father Son Duo, bringing you the weird, the wild, the wacky and the craziest tales from across time, from the Ice bowl to the Great Heathen army and the head of Oliver Cromwell. The same head they kept on a pike for three years.

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Yep.

[Jeff O'Neill]

All here on History Dispatches. New episodes every weekday. Find out [e-mail] or wherever you get your podcast app.