The It Books of October 2025

Summary

Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: The It Books of October 2025

Hosts: Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky
Date: October 1, 2025

---

Overview

In this wide-ranging episode, Jeff and Rebecca break down the “It Books” of October 2025—the buzziest, most anticipated, and potentially most impactful book releases of the month. Using their signature knockout-round format, the hosts analyze literary fiction, buzzy nonfiction, genre hits, and posthumous works, weighing factors like artistic merit, critical acclaim, bookstore buzz, and award potential. The episode captures the shifting landscape of fall publishing and the complexities of predicting what will truly resonate.

---

Episode Flow & Format ([01:07]–[02:38])

• Jeff explains their “knockout round” process: a bracket where each new book is compared to the last; Rebecca usually decides which advances, with Jeff occasionally weighing in.
• Criteria include: artistic merit, buzz, sales potential, and “IP lifeform” potential.
• Their lens is shaped by taste, critical response, cultural trends, and, occasionally, personal bias.

---

1. The Deep Fall List: No “Generational” Picks, but Plenty of Depth

[01:07]–[02:18]

• Discussion opens with both hosts noting there’s a deep pool of strong releases this fall, even if there isn’t an obvious blockbuster.
• September was hotter than usual; October is loaded with big names and long-anticipated titles.

Quote

• Jeff: “There’s not like...generational picks, but it’s a deep draft.” [01:09]
• Rebecca: “October has some names. November looks pretty quiet, and then December tends to be a little bit of a desert.” [01:51]

---

2. The Knockout Round: Book-by-Book Breakdown

Adam Johnson, The Wayfinder ([06:09]–[09:14])

• Pulitzer and NBA winner Adam Johnson returns with a massive, genre-bending historical epic set on a Tongan island: “Talking corpses, poetic parrots, and a fan that wafts the breath of life.” 736 pages.
• Both hosts debate Johnson’s under-the-radar status and what critical/literary cachet means in 2025.

Quotes

• Jeff: “He may have to snatch from Barbara Kingsolver for you. Underrated. Who knows?” [06:47]
• Rebecca: “Historically, it’s very consistent for someone to win the NBA or the Pulitzer or both and still not be a big name.” [07:53]

---

Erin Summers, The Ten Year Affair ([09:14]–[12:25])

• Contemporary novel of infidelity with a dual timeline—one where the affair happens, one where it doesn’t.
• Praised for sharp dialogue (“Effron-esque in their concision”), humor, and relatable themes.
• Rebecca is very enthusiastic: “I’m so excited for this one...few things are more banal than somebody cheats on their partner. And yet...to make that feel fresh is really hard.” [11:15]

Advances past The Wayfinder:

• More accessible, potentially wider mainstream (“it book”) appeal.

---

Joe Hill, King Sorrow ([12:25]–[14:26])

• 896-page “Dragon Academy” dark fantasy from Stephen King’s son; huge 200,000-copy print run.
• Discussed as a potential genre juggernaut but unlikely to break big outside established fan circles due to length and niche.

Quote:

• Jeff: “896 pages is not something that is going to [cause] mainstream readers to dip into high fantasy like this.” [14:26]

Ten Year Affair moves on—deemed more mainstream.

---

Harper Lee, The Land of Sweet Forever ([14:26]–[18:48])

• Posthumous, “hodgepodge” collection of stories and essays; 1 million print run, expected to be pushed hard in stores.
• Both hosts are skeptical of its importance beyond the front-table bookstore placement.

Quote:

• Rebecca: “There will be reviews in the Times...probably a lot more people will buy it than will read it.” [18:17]
• Jeff: “It’s a cash grab assembled by the Harper Lee estate.” [18:26]

Ten Year Affair advances again.

---

Megha Majumdar, A Guardian and a Thief ([19:05]–[21:57])

• Near-future Kolkata ravaged by climate change and scarcity; family drama meets dystopia.
• Finalist for both the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award.
• Hosts note that awards recognition gives it crucial “it book” potential, even if it’s dark or challenging.

Quote:

• Rebecca: “By virtue of being a finalist for two major awards, it’s going to knock out Aaron Summers.” [20:53]

A Guardian and a Thief becomes the new frontrunner.

---

Cory Doctorow, Shitification ([25:22]–[29:00])

• Nonfiction on the decline of the Internet (and society) via algorithmic manipulation.
• Hosts debate whether the idea’s cultural permeation will overshadow the book itself.

Quote:

• Rebecca: “I think this book will land...But I also don’t know that I need this book; I am the choir to which Cory Doctorow is preaching.” [26:13]
• “This has the possibility of being a kind of revolutionary idea...Will [it] do it by itself? Probably not.” [27:44]

A Guardian and a Thief moves on.

---

Quan Barry, The Unveiling ([30:14]–[31:47])

• Literary horror set in Antarctica—race, guilt, survival blend with genre tropes.
• Rebecca: “This book...could go some places. I think it’s going to have a hard time competing with an awards contender like A Guardian and a Thief unless we get big news about an adaptation.” [31:47]

Majumdar’s novel wins the round.

---

Susan Orlean, Joyride ([31:47]–[34:13])

• Memoir from the beloved New Yorker writer, reflecting on her creative journey.
• Both hosts highlight Orlean’s status as a “literary person” and suggest this will be a moment of giving her flowers via positive press.

Quotes:

• Jeff: “This will be a chance for people to give Susan Orlean her flowers because it’s about her.” [33:27]
• Rebecca agrees and advances Joyride.

---

Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket ([34:13]–[38:54])

• Crime/noir set in Great Depression Milwaukee, 304 pages—remarkably short for Pynchon.
• Context: Recent surge of Pynchon interest (including “One Battle After Another,” 2025 Nobel Prize speculation).
• Pynchon’s mystique and event status, even beyond mainstream fame or awards.

Quotes:

• Rebecca: “As a literary event, which is what the it book is meant to capture, we have to go with Pynchon.” [38:54]
• Jeff: “[Pynchon is] sort of beyond good and evil when it comes to awards...he’s a made man.” [38:14]

Shadow Ticket outpaces Joyride.

---

Zadie Smith, Dead and Alive: Essays ([38:54]–[41:22])

• Collected essays from Smith, covering everything from Morrison to contemporary politics.
• Both hosts are euphoric but acknowledge collected essays don’t often become “it books” on the scale of a new Pynchon novel.

---

Mark Z. Danielewski, Tom’s Crossing ([41:22]–[43:03])

• 1232-page western from the cult author of House of Leaves.
• More of a niche phenomenon; high anticipation among superfans, but unlikely mass impact compared to Pynchon.
• Rebecca: “There are not as many of those people as there are Pynchon people. Thomas Pynchon wins the month. Shadow Ticket.” [43:03]

---

3. Honorable Mentions & Wildcards ([43:03]–[46:47])

Brief spotlights and zany pairings:

• Ali Hazelwood, Mate (paranormal romance; sequel to viral hit)
• Kristen Miller, The Women of Wild Hill (feminist commercial fiction)
• Harlan Coben & Reese Witherspoon, Gone Before Goodbye (audio book co-narrated by Witherspoon; hosts unsure what to make of this phenomenon)
• Nicholas Sparks & M. Night Shyamalan, Remain: A Supernatural Love Story—hosts are floored and amused by this unlikely pairing.
  • Rebecca: “I like gasped so hard I rolled my desk chair halfway back through my office.” [46:38]

---

4. Winner: October 2025 It Book

Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon

• The event book, selected for literary significance, zeitgeist impact, and genuine event status, even in an era when Pynchon outsizes many contemporary categories.

Quote:

• Rebecca: “Shadow Ticket, it’s the one.” [47:01]

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Jeff on book selection: “There’s nothing I’m having to hide...I’m not worried it’s going to nuke everything out.” [01:07]
• Rebecca on new Harper Lee: “This is a hodgepodge of stuff that somebody found in the attic and wanted to make some money off of Harper Lee.” [18:04]
• On Cory Doctorow’s title: “The term [‘Shitification’] is wonder—I mean, the term is amazing.” [28:25]

---

Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Books Featured | |-----------|------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 01:07 | Knockout round intro, criteria | All upcoming | | 06:09 | Book 1: The Wayfinder | Adam Johnson | | 09:14 | Book 2: The Ten Year Affair | Erin Summers | | 12:25 | Book 3: King Sorrow | Joe Hill | | 14:26 | Book 4: The Land of Sweet Forever | Harper Lee | | 19:05 | Book 5: A Guardian and a Thief | Megha Majumdar | | 25:22 | Book 6: Shitification | Cory Doctorow | | 30:14 | Book 7: The Unveiling | Quan Barry | | 31:47 | Book 8: Joyride | Susan Orlean | | 34:13 | Book 9: Shadow Ticket | Thomas Pynchon | | 38:54 | Book 10: Dead and Alive: Essays | Zadie Smith | | 41:22 | Book 11: Tom’s Crossing | Mark Z. Danielewski | | 43:03 | Honorable mentions & wildcards | Hazelwood, Miller, Coben/Witherspoon, Sparks/Shyamalan | | 47:01 | Winner selected/closing thoughts | Shadow Ticket |

---

Final Takeaways

• October 2025 is a deep, if not banner, season for major releases.
• Thomas Pynchon’s Shadow Ticket is the clear “It Book of the Month”—a true literary event with wide-reaching media, critical, and cultural interest.
• Other contenders reflect the richness of contemporary publishing: major nonfiction ideas, celebrated literary returns, sequels, posthumous works, and unexpected genre crossovers.
• The hosts’ banter highlights the challenges of forecasting an “It Book” in a fragmented, trend-driven landscape, but their blend of industry knowledge and enthusiasm offers a thorough guide for readers looking for the fall’s most important releases.

---

Transcript

[WhatsApp Advertiser]

When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

[Indeed Advertiser]

Learn [e-mail] this episode is brought to you by Indeed. When your computer breaks, you don't wait for it to magically start working again. You fix the problem. So why wait to hire the people your company desperately needs? Use Indeed's sponsored jobs to hire top talent fast. And even better, you only pay for results. There's no need to wait. Speed up your hiring with a $75 sponsored job credit@ Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply.

[Jeff O'Neill]

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

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And I'm Rebecca Schinsky.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And it's time for the it books of the month for October 2025. Rebecca seems like a. There's not like sometimes in drafts they say there's no generational picks, but it's a deep draft. And I'm kind of feeling that way about the fall. Like there's a lot here, but I'm not having to hide anything. I'm not. There's nothing I'm having to like put at the end because I'm worried it's going to nuke everything out. So that's kind I'm feeling about the fall. I don't. Does that jive with you?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It does. It jives with me, I think. That's right. We have a lot of recognizable names coming out this fall. A couple really long anticipated books. Some of those were September, some of them October or later. You usually October feels like the bigger month to me.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

But September had a lot of heat and I think we are settling into October has some names. November looks pretty quiet, and then December tends to be a little bit of a desert.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I thought November looked pretty good as I was putting this together. Maybe. Maybe I'm.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'm not deep into November prep yet, so I'll. I'll take your word for it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So if this is your first time joining us, this is how it goes. I've selected usually 10. I have 11 this time just for fun.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We're in charge.

[Jeff O'Neill]

We take them one by one and it's knockout round style. So the first one automatically advances, but then the second one, we'll consider them head to head. Rebecca will talk with me about which of them should advance. Usually it's her decision and I'm merely advice and consent. Sometimes I prevent her from making an egregious error. That happens very rarely, but every now and again I'm like, I'm not sure we can allow this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The occasional veto is welcome.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, yeah, some perspective in context there. And our heuristics are our own, but there's something along the lines of artistic merit, critical, I don't know, acclaim, possibility, how much of buzz there are behind them, sales, art, all the things that go into it too, put into this primordial ooze from which we hope the life form of an IP book will emerge of its own accord.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Colleen Hoover fans, get ready. Her best selling novel, Regretting youg is coming to the big screen from director Josh Boone, who brought us the fault in our stars. This powerful story follows Morgan, played by Allison Williams, and her daughter Clara, played by McKenna Grace, as they navigate love, loss and the secrets that can tear a family apart. With an all star cast including Dave Franco, Mason tames Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald, Regretting youg brings to life everything readers loved about the book first love, second chances, heartbreak and the complicated, beautiful bond between mothers and daughters.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's the kind of film you want.

[Sponsor Announcer]

To see with your mom, your best friend, your book club, anyone who loves to laugh, cry and gasp together in a theater. Don't miss Regretting youg Only in theaters October 24th.

Today's episode is brought to you by Hachette Audio, publisher of the audiobook Secrets of the Purple Pearl by Kate McKinnon, read by Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynn. From Saturday Night Live legend Kate McKinnon comes the highly anticipated second book in her number one New York Times bestselling series about mad science, Three Peculiar Sisters and the mysterious Millicent Quib. It's summertime in Antiquarium and everyone has flocked to the majestic lakeside Purple Pearl Hotel, including the nefarious group of evil mad scientists, the Kinetics Research Association. They haven't given up on resurrecting their fearsome leader, Anti Talon Shark Tooth, and they have a nefarious plan to go about it. But Millicent, Gertrude, Eugenia and Dede are onto them and they are determined to stop the kra, even though they are now full pariahs in antiquarium society. It's a mad science summer vacation they'll never forget. Also, don't miss the first book in the series, the Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for young ladies of Mad Science, make sure to check out Secrets of the Purple Pearl by Kate McKinnon. And thanks again to Hachette Audio for sponsoring this episode.

This episode is sponsored by Zondervan, publisher of Holy Disruptor by Amy Duggar King Stick around after the show to hear an excerpt from the audiobook. In Holy Disruptor, Amy Duggar King steps out of the shadows of her famous family to share her unfiltered story of faith, resilience and finding freedom from generational patterns. With honesty and courage, Amy reveals the struggles she's faced, the truths she's uncovered, and the hope that's carried her. This powerful audiobook, told in Amy's voice, isn't about perfection. It's about breaking cycles and daring to live differently. And she does openly address the challenges of growing up in the Duggar family spotlight, along with her journey to healing.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

In this honest memoir.

[Sponsor Announcer]

For anyone longing to rise above the past, Amy's story is a bold invitation to step into healing and wholeness. Narrated by Amy herself, the audiobook is available everywhere October 14th. Again, stick around after the show to hear an excerpt from the audiobook edition of Holy Disruptor by Amy Duggar King.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I didn't hide anything. I don't think I have anything about the list. I've got some honorable mentions, other noteworthy books that I kept out of the Knockout for reasons I'll explain at the end, but let's get into it here. First up, speaking of someone we haven't heard from with what we were just talking about Kieran Desai on the show a few minutes ago, though it's a few days ago. For those of you listening, Adam Johnson has a new book out called the Wayfinder, a historical epic about a girl from a remote Tongan island who becomes her people's queen. Talking corpses, poetic parrots, and a fan that wafts the breath of life. Wow. I'm not sure what to make of this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Sounds weird.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Sounds funny.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Sounds strange. Interesting. I do know what to make of this. 736 pages. He won the Pulitzer Pride for the Pulitzer Prize for the Orphan Master Son and and the National Book Award for Fortune Smiles. I think he may have to snatch from Barbara Kingsolver for you. Underrated. Who knows? Adam Johnson. That's not. I mean, I'm not kidding.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's fair. Yeah. Barbara Kingsolver has made it to the mainstream and Adam Johnson is still for.

[Jeff O'Neill]

The real heads, an NBA and a Pulitzer. And I mean, seriously, I once I thought about it, I was like, this is clearly the leader in the barn. And I gave the lumberjack nickname too early to Kevin Wilson because Adam Johnson. Johnson is somehow more anonymous than Kevin Wilson. Sounds like a founding father. He was like the third delegate from Rhode island at the Constitutional convention.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Great point. Because Kevin Wilson has the zaniness of his books at least. And Adam Johnson is writing like pretty.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Thinky literary fiction and they come out every five years. So it's a long time to not remember Adam Johnson.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Between it is like historically it's very consistent for someone to win the NBA or the Pulitzer or both and still not be a big name. Every time we hop in the Wayback Machine to do a power ranking of a past like 10 or 20 years ago, I'm reminded and re grounded in. Oh right. Most things get forgotten.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. It's got to be even more dispiriting if you're a writer. It's like even if I win a National Book Award and a Pulitzer, we're going to hear Rebecca and Jeff talk to me like I'm nobody. What I'm saying is you're not nobody. You are. Well, you might be nobody, but Adam Johnson is not a nobody. And it's. I think I'll be very interested to see what if any residual affection people have because it doesn't feel to me like people felt about the orphan Master son. They way the way they feel about the inheritance of loss or something like that. Oh, this is not a paperback favorite. Kind of.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's not a paperback favorite. That's the difference is that Kieran Desai seems to occupy that space that hits to both the book club crowd like I'm a pretty commercial reader and also can garner critical acclaim. And Adam Johnson is writing much more squarely to the. The literary crowd.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. Very interesting to see. I hope to get to this but I've got to be perfectly honest, there's a lot on my docket and 736 pages is a big ask at this.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. This one. I think for me it would have to win an award to become a priority.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Well, that's just what Adam Johnson does. Writes books, wins awards. Okay. Automatically advances up next. Sometimes you're biased for or against a book because you've read it. And I think because I have read and I've talked about how much I liked the 10 year affair by Aaron Summers. I'm putting it here. But I do think there is a chance that it's. It's going to get some year end attention. It's on quite a few most anticipated books of the year list. Aaron Summers is someone who works in publishing and I think has some, you know, connections and heat there. Oh, I didn't mention before. Sorry. The Wayfinder comes out from McD on October 14th.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So you can look for it there. The 10 year affair is from Simon and Schuster and I just had the notes here October 21st. It is the story of an affair, contemporary story, set in a small town in upstate New York. A town and setting Aaron knows very well. Did I talk about this on the show already? I think I did for a.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We talked about.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think it's terrific in the way that a contemporary novel is terrific if it's about your cohort. And this is very much cohort adjacent to me. And I think it will be recognizable to you and maybe a lot of folks out there. We don't get as many pretty straight. Like, we get more novels like Miranda July's infidelity novels than this one, which is pretty banal, pretty every day. And I felt that. I kind of found that refreshing, to be perfectly honest. And she's devastatingly funny and spares no one in these. There is not a good person, bad person. It's not that kind of a situation. The innovation or wrinkle here is that there's a dual timeline. In one timeline, the affair happens and the other it doesn't. And then they sort of merge and cross each other back and forth in interesting ways.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I can't wait.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But I think that actually I like that I didn't need it. What I needed is Aaron Summers giving me dialogue between two people talking in their bedroom. That's what I was thinking.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I'm so excited for this one. I think by virtue of being about what it's about and being funny and more accessible, it will definitely overtake Wayfinder in it. Book potential. But also very high on my personal list for October. Coming off of your recommendation, like, nothing few things are more banal than somebody cheats on their partner. This is very common. And yet. And yet to be able to, like, make it interesting and funny and tell a good story and have this, like, sliding doors element of things. I think it's the things that are. The experiences that are most common are often the hardest to portray in art and to do them well and to make it resonant for a wide array of people. Because, of course, everybody's experience. Experience is unique inside this. That common thing. Like if you've never cheated or been cheated on, you know, somebody who has, you know, a bunch of people who have. And to make that feel fresh is really hard I think it's harder than to make something that feels weird like Miranda July. But that's my own bias coming out. So we're going to pass the 10 year affair ahead of Wayfinder.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And not only familiar and banal because it's so common, it's also a. Almost a chestnut of literary representation. Like literally going back to the Iliad, like Helen running away. You know, this is just something that's been happening for 2000 years because of the nature of the human heart, but to make it feel fresh and new. And I'm going to be very careful what I'm about to say next. There are sequences of dialogue in here that are Efron esque in their concision. Dark humor. I thought it was terrific. So I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to your own response to see how right I am or I am not. Okay. Up next, From Joe Hill, October 21st. Well, I've got to say, Edelweiss, these new pages where I can't get, I can't open link a new tab and then I can't see what publisher is on the popover. We need to get somebody on. This is William Morrow King sorrow. It is 896 pages, making Adam Johnson's the Wayfinder looks felt in comparison. 200,000 copy print run. This is the deluxe limited edition, so we're getting on them printed end papers and stencils, edges. It is a Dragon Academy, but from Joe Hill, which is probably the only way I could maybe get interested in Dragon Academy at this point.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's a dark and scene survived fourth wing.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I mean, it feels like this is also trodden earth.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, we know what a Dragon Academy book is. And so you do need somebody who's going to do it in a fresh, different, darker, twistier way. And honestly, for Joe Hill Readers, 896Pages is a thing that recommends it. That's part of the experience.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's a nice morning. Yeah, totally.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

That's. That's part of it. I think Joe Hill will outsell the Ten Year Affair, barring some major book club selection for Aaron Summers, which could happen. But I think the 10 year affair is more of the mainstream pick. So we're gonna ride Aaron Summers forward for another round.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's interesting. Joe Hill, for those who don't know, he's Stephen King's son and has been a very successful writer for decades at this point, but has never quite broken out past the sci fi and fantasy people consider reading him who don't read sci fi fantasy, 896 pages is not something that is going to do that. But a proven author. I mean you don't.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

He's doing just fine.

[Jeff O'Neill]

You don't get 200,000 copies because you're not going to sell. But even something like SA Cosby, which is genre, a different genre, maybe a more even now to this moment permeable genre readers like people dip into mystery thriller more than they'll dip into high fantasy like this as a mainstream reader. But interesting to see what you know who's who has broken out and who has like Andy Weir is now someone that anyone can pick up. That's hard sci fi. It's just fascinating to me which ones do and which ones don't. Okay, let's see. On sale October 21st from Harper the Land of Sweet Forever Stories and essays by one Harper Lee. A posthumous collection of newly discovered. Sorry, I got something in my soul trying to read that Ingenuously discovered short stories and previous published essays and magazine pieces offering a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary career and mind of Harper Lee. With an introduction by Casey Sepp Cep, the authorized Harper Lee biographer. I put this on here because there aren't that many books with Harper Lee in it. Go Set A Watchman was the event of that year for good and for ill. So I offer it to you, Rebecca, to give me some perspective on how to understand how to care or not care about the Land of Sweet Forever, which has to be one of the more saccharine titles I've ever heard in my life.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The fact that the bookish Internet is not papered over with ads for this new Harper Lee book, I think tells me most of the things that I need to know about it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Would you like to hear the print run before you continue?

[Sponsor Announcer]

Sure.

[Jeff O'Neill]

One million.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. Because they're going to stick it on the front table of every Barnes and Noble in the world with a sign about from the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, which is still the book that most people will say was their favorite book or the most influential book on them when they were coming up going through school. Like there are still the generations above us are like carrying the flame for To Kill a Mockingbird. Like we've got another 40 years, I think, before we're really done.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If you're in the middle school in the 60s, you definitely read To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, people have a lot of affection for it. It was very important in its time, like the conversation around Lee. And it's not really fair read any author whose book is 60 years old through the lens of today's politics. But the conversation and criticism of Lee from a 2025 perspective is pretty sharp. So I don't know among. Like. Like, this is not going to be a TikTok sensation. Like, there's. There's not a lot of appetite from younger readers for. And I say younger is like anybody under 40 for something new from Harper Lee. But maybe an interesting historic document. There will be reviews in the Times.

[Jeff O'Neill]

There will be a CBS segment. Right. Which is both really big and, like, not exciting. Weirdly. That's kind of where this is going to be.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah. And there will be like, I think the fact that it is short stories and essays. Like, it's a weird kind of camel of a book to have some stories that had never been published before, some essays and like, letters to the editor.

[Sponsor Announcer]

That she had written.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I think there's a recipe in here as well. Like, I remember when the book was first announced being like, this is a hodgepodge of stuff that somebody found in the attic and wanted to make some money off of Harper Lee.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Stuff by Harper Lee doesn't have quite the same.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Frankly, I would. I would respect that move. Or just like miscellaney.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Cash grab assembled by the Harper Lee estate.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Right. Let's call it what it is. Will it be revelatory in any way? Probably not. Plenty of people will buy it. Probably a lot more people will buy it than will read it. It's hard for me to imagine this becomes, like, truly newsworthy, but they will move some units. You know what? Aaron Summers. Carry on.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Wow. Wow.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

We're not going to end the month with Harper Lee, so I might as well just let Aaron Summers have this moment.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It does do the thing. It sounds like that we both wanted. And you especially wanted to go set a Watchman, which was. Treat me like adult and tell me what a scan is in the form of this introduction saying what all this stuff isn't.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yes. Tell the people where these things came from.

[Jeff O'Neill]

This is not, you know, these are not manuscripts that Harper Lee had written in blood the month before she died, desperately hoping to see the light of day. Like, that's not. Not what this is. So anyway, this is something you recently picked up in the draft because it's made some waves on. In the award season. I don't know. Honor roll that we are currently experiencing. And that is A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar, which comes out October 14th from Knopf. Did you read a burning which was long listed?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I did not.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Hmm. So this book is set in a near future Kolkata, India which is ravaged by climate change and food scarcity in which two families seek to protect their children and must battle each other. So like family drama Hunger Games. I'm not really sure what here it sounds like there's two different stories going on. I. I'm not sure what to make of this. It's very much looks like kind of straightforward literary fiction in terms of the packaging because there's like you know, one of these Audubon like drawings of a flower but then with a weird ass orange eyeball on top of it. So it has an uncanny sort of situation. I'm excited to see if this is good. I mean I guess already we know some people really like it. I'm not sure what to do with this. This is an author. I don't, I don't have any relationship to this author so I very.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't either but it was. It's a finalist for this year's Kirkus Prize which is being announced in October. So we will find out this month this month month for these it books how it does there. And it's a finalist for this year's National Book Award. So this author is on the come up big attention and just by virtue of being a finalist for two major awards, it's going to knock out.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Has to be considered. Yes.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, it's going to knock out Aaron Summers and we do have to consider it probably sales largely would depend on how it goes for these awards. It sounds a little too dark for a big book club selection unless it manages to. If it's like in the Laila Lalami zone of where the Dream Hotel hits these dark and very timely current events.

[Jeff O'Neill]

That feels right to me.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Dystopian thoughts. But also went for the book club. So if Majumdar is writing there it could be really big. But having not read it, I don't know what kind of zone they're in.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I wonder if it's like Dream Hotel DNA but with a little more book clubby family drama saga stuff going on. Would be an interesting place to live.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Or like just a little like a touch more literary. Dream Hotel came a little too close for my taste at least to just saying the thing rather than letting us arrive at the conclusions. And if Majumdar is allowing the reader to do a little bit more of the work. Be interesting to see.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Let's do a sponsor break here before we continue.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Today's episode is brought to you by Flatiron Books, publisher of the Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber the hotly anticipated adult debut novel by the beloved number one New York Times bestselling author of the Caravel and Once Upon a Broken Heart series is a contemporary fantasy kicking off a brand new series. It takes place in Los Angeles. There's magic, there's romantasy, there's dark academia. There are also local legends and urban myths. And it all starts with a class in an old movie theater. Like I said before, Stephanie Garber is the New York Times bestselling author of some very successful fantasy series and the Alchemy of Secrets is her highly anticipated adult debut. Cosmopolitan magazine says Stephanie Garber spins pure magic in her books and her adult debut is absolutely no exception. This time, Garber is turning the Hollywood glamour up and taking us on a unique new ride that you don't want to stop talking about. So make sure to pick up Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber and thanks again to flatiron Books for sponsoring this episode. Today's episode is brought to you by Hachette Audio, publisher of the audiobook Crossroads of Ravens by Anje Sapowski, read by Peter Kinney. Anje Sapowski's Witcher series is a global phenomenon with over 30 million copies sold. It's also been translated into over 40 languages worldwide. And if you like Henry Cavill, he stars as Gerald of Rivia. Now let's talk about Gerald now in Crossroads of Ravens. It's a new standalone and it follows fantasy's most beloved monster hunter, AKA Gerald of Rivia. And this is his origin story. Because every legend has an origin and Gerald or Ifius begins here in this brand new chapter of Anje Sapowski's Witcher series. Follow Gerald in his earliest days as a witcher as he faces monsters and humans alike. Make sure to check out Crossroads of Ravens by Anjay Sapowski, read by Peter Kinney. And thanks again to Hachette Audio for sponsoring this episode. Today's episode is brought to you by Harlequin, a leading publisher of romantic fiction delivering feel good high stakes and heart pounding stories across every kind of love. No matter what kind of romance you love to read, Harlequin has it for you. And in one of their latest books, Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf by Isabel Taylor, we've got some snowed in goodness. We've got some small towns and some unusual residents. So when a snowstorm hits during her travels, Luna Stack finds herself stranded in Clawhaven, Alaska, a cozy small town with more than a few unusual residents. Well, things go from bad to complicated when Luna accidentally drinks a potion that tethers her to Oliver Musgrove, the local grumpy innkeeper who also happens to be a werewolf. Now these two opposites are stuck spending the winter together while they wait for the antidote, and although they might not want anything to do with each other, the bond says otherwise. Make sure to pick up Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf by Isabel Taylor, and thanks again to Harlequin for sponsoring this episode.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's hard to know what to do with non fiction books about ideas because sometimes the idea itself can usurp the book. Like, you know, a Marie Kondo sort of a situation where that idea sort of broke containment even something like the Anxious Generation. That book sold extremely well, but the idea that screens are bad kind of was out there already and I feel like there's some element of that within Shitification by Cory Doctorow, the subtitle being why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and what to Do About It. The idea, I feel like will be a bigger deal than the book, but I feel like the book is onto something real that I experience and we all experience even if we don't know it. But it's also into a larger trend of the Internet guys are not out to help us. You know, it's kind of where we are with this sort of story.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I've been thinking a lot about this one and how I think this book will land because like I am core, I am the prime audience for this idea. But I also don't know that I need this book. Like I am the choir to which Cory Doctorow is preaching. I think when you work on the Internet as we do, or you are really familiar with the big the big bad Internet guys, it's easy to forget how many people are not and are just waking up to or like kind of really settling in to the idea that their phones make them feel like shit, that the algorithm might have bad intentions for them, that there even is an algorithm, frankly. And like what that, what that might mean. But I was explaining this concept of inside ification to someone recently in my, you know, normie civilian life recently of they get the users hooked and by providing value, and then they get the advertisers hooked by providing eyeballs. And then once both parties are hooked, they wring as much value as possible out of both sides and everyone's experience gets worse. And the like light bulb that I could see go on in this person's head of like that is what happens was instructive for me because like this is an idea that Internet people have had that we've been talking about for a while, but a lot of folks just out in the world who feel like crap carrying their phones around, I think. I think we're crossing the chasm, you know, into like the mainstreaming of this idea that our phones make us feel bad and that the products are not actually built to make us feel good or to give us any kind of pleasure. The products are built to extract value from us and we only get a little value from them at the very beginning when they're getting us hooked up. Hooked. And that has the possibility of being a kind of revolutionary idea or contributing to like if you toss insidification onto the pile with the anxious generation and you start to pull in, you know, every screen on the planet, the big book about TikTok, you start to get more of like the amalgamation of those ideas can lead to a conversation that could change society. Will inshidification do it by a itself? Probably not. And as much as I love the term and I love Corey, I think.

[Jeff O'Neill]

The term is wonder. I mean the term is amazing.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't know about putting it on a cover of a book that you want people to pick up who don't know what it's about. Like the poop emoji is doing a lot of work there.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, I think it could well be the idea of the fall. But how much of that is Cory Doctorow or how much is it? I don't know. The more the most specific manifestation and definition, like specificity, articulation of something. I think that augurs well for the idea but maybe augurs poorly for this book changing the narrative. Because I think that narrative is out there, as I think you're intimating.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I mean, I think so we'll carry Mega Majumdar and a Guardian and a Thief forward for at least another round.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I don't know if I said that when it comes out, but McD October 7th is when that comes out. Up next, coming out from Grove, all you publishers, when is this come out? October 14th. Yeah, let's put it in the lightest possible font. Three way through, three quarters of the way down the page. The unveiling by Quan Berry. So who wrote we read right upon sticks When I'm gone look for me in the East. This one is a literary horror set in Antarctica in a story of guilt and survival in America's racial legacy. So someone goes on a cruise and she is a black film scout and she's looking for locations for a big movie about Shackleton's dooms expedition and things Happen. I really like Quan Berry. This is a Grove title. The. The COVID suggests to me more literary than genre, as does the Grove imprint, I should say. So the horror here will probably be of a literary quality rather than say a. I guess a more of a Joe Hill, you know, more. More. More literary, which is more my speed of horror. Straight ahead. Horror is not for me. That's not where I like to live.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, I'm expecting like Jordan Peele flavors of horror.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yes, yes, it was a book riot. Fall 2025 most anticipated pick. People's number one must read book of the fall lit hub had the most anticipated sci fi, fantasy and horror. Quan Berry is not an everyday name, but I think there's a chance this has some crossover appeal into award season. I wouldn't be shocked to see some kind of adaptation or movie thing going on here. Also, I just like Quan Berry and want to put.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, this book on the list. I loved We Ride Upon Sticks. That was one of my favorite books.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Rowan. The way. I don't know if I talked about it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh my. That's excellent. And. And the fact that Rowan loved it and did probably did not get all the 80s references is a good. That's a good vote of confidence for Quan Berry. I would love to see her become more of a mainstream literary name because we Write Upon Sticks is great and is also weird and zany and told in a like collective third, like collective plural voice. This does look like a. I think literary horror is the most crossover potentially of the literary crossover genres. Yes, people are willing to go there. Barry is great. It's a third novel, maybe has worked out the like, early author stuff. This one does look like it could go some places. I think it's going to have a hard time competing with an awards contender like A Guardian and a Thief unless we get big news about an adaptation or something. So I'm gonna carry Meghama Jumdar forward. But like in my heart, it's Quanberry.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Makes sense to me. Let's go next to Joyride, a memoir by one Suzanne Orlean. A masterful memoir of her finding her creative calling and purpose that invites us to approach life with wonder, curiosity and impressible sense of delight. Orlean says the story of my life is the story of my stories. That does make sense. You got to slow down for a second. A creative memoir written by Susan Orlean, who is, I would say, a beloved torchbearer of being a literary person. One of the great New Yorker writers of all time. Her last book was about pets, which I don't remember the name of that. The one before that was the library book which did extraordinarily well. So that's Joyride by Susan Orlean which comes out October 9th from Simon and Schuster.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

She's so well established and so beloved that like I just recently read an essay where someone was going back to the orchid thief, you know, and re examining that sort of memoir about obsession. And of course that inspired the movie Adaptation. An adaptation called Adaptation is very confusing. Good work. Also Susan Orlean up with like the cast of Adaptation is such a wild exercise. In contrast, this is a really interesting head to head, a big award contender literary novel like a Guardian, a thief up against Susan Orlean. A creative memoir.

[Jeff O'Neill]

If I might chime in.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Please do.

[Jeff O'Neill]

This will be a chance to, for people to give Susan Orlean her flowers because it's about her.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So I, I might tip the scales there.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Sure.

[Jeff O'Neill]

There's a lot of way. And we might get a lot of profiles and a lot of stuff going on.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

She'll go on fresh air.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, she's gonna make all. She's a great interview. She's a wonderful person. I think in a lot of ways what people imagine being a literary person might be like in the best possible sense. Right. And I'm not sure I will listen to this with extreme prejudice. Also I should correct myself. It's October 14th. Her first event is actually a pre pub date. So I got that wrong. Reader Press, Simon Schuster. But October 14th when it comes out. But I think this will be a laudatory moment for Susan Orlean.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So that's let's carry Joyride.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah. I don't think though it's going to make it past the next one for a reason we have talked about because Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon comes out in October. I don't know. God. Penguin Random House. I swear to God, I want to know what imprint this I really do want. It's Penguin Press. October 7th. 304 pages. So slighter on the Pynchon side. One battle after another will have been out for two weeks. This is set in the Great Depression and it's a crime. Sort of Pynchon's version of 30s crime noir. It sounds like we get a gumshoe kind of person here. Hicks McTaggart, a one time strikebreaker turned private eye and sort of gets mixed up with Nazis and British counterintelligence. And I know there's always motorcyclists in a pinch and there's always motorcyclists and none of it goes well, so, okay. Anyway, that's. I am looking forward to this set in Milwaukee, which I. I don't have a prior for a great literary novel set in Milwaukee.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You could tell me this book was about absolutely anything.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It doesn't matter. It kind of doesn't matter. Right. But I think what does matter is, is it is 300 pages.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

So it's in the water right now.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And I do think that a crime noir is more accessible than some of the other stuff. Pinching. Totally done this of late, you know, inherent. Well, of late it's been out. Inherent Vice, which was the other Paul Thomas Anderson adaptation, is a crime story in which there's a lot that's a durable coat rack on which to hang the coat of many colors that Pynchon likes to drape himself and his books in. So I think that does make sense.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

As One Battle After Another comes out, Pigeon's name will be in the press from that side as well. Like, there's an opportunity, I don't know if you own an indie bookstore, to make yourself a nice little display of books by the author that One Battle After Another was inspired by. And put up your paperbacks of Inherent Vice too, because, like, people have a lot of affection for that and sell them this one because it's only 300 pages long. Like there's just. He's in the water. Laura was telling us, Laura McGrath on the Patreon episode last week, that Pynchon is currently the highest rated American author in contention, at least according to Ladbrokes for the Nobel Prize. And I gotta say, Vineland felt so current and is a 35 year old book. And the reviews of Shadow Ticket are saying this book, like, comes out into, like, it's set in the past, but it's coming out into an America that is the kind of America Pynchon imagined in Vineland. He sees the country in an interesting way. And what is a noir crime book infused with his 2025 consciousness gonna be like. I'm very personally glad that we just read Vineland because I probably would not have made a new pension, my entry level pension, but now I'm excited.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So are you think you're gonna read this?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I don't know if I'll get to it. Like, first thing, we'll see what the rest of the. The fall looks like. But I'm gonna be like, I will read it at some point. I don't think I'm gonna go back and do a bunch of the pension backlist. At least not like, you know, before my retirement when I got time. But Shadow Ticket's gonna be everywhere. Kind of notable that we haven't seen it get a nominated for any of the big awards this year. But Pension is hard and like, inscrutable in some ways. I said overstimulating in the flagship newsletter.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think that's right. I. I don't know. I mean, he feels a little bit to me like he exists outside of time. And it's not just because he doesn't give interviews, which he doesn't, and I think that contributes.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Sure.

[Jeff O'Neill]

But it almost feels like this is going to sound really highfalutin. And remember, I am not Thomas Pynchon, just in case you were wondering. But like sort of beyond good and evil when it comes to awards.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Like he's a made man. Like, it doesn't matter if he wins the National. It just he's already won and he won 50, 60 years ago.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And this is tricky in the it books construction because he won't give awards or he won't give interviews, so they're not going to be big profiles of him. It's definitely not going to be like the Reese's Book Club pick. Although what a universe that would be, right? There will be a claim. There will be art. It's like people don't have the personal affection for him that they have for Susan Orlean, because all we know of Thomas Pynchon is what the books are. But I think as a literary event, which is what the IT book is meant to capture, we have to go with Pension.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think we have to as well. A couple of punchers, chancers to go. Still, if Shadow Ticket is not my most anticipated book of the fall, and I'm not saying it isn't, I haven't really done my power rankings, though one of the few other contenders would be Dead and Alive Essays by Zadie Smith, which comes out October 20th, also from Penguin. I don't think I need to sell you. Nor I. On anything more than Dead and Live Essays by Zadie Smith with. With an unbelievable cover of her, like, turned away from the camera, looking somehow even more stately, regal.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It would only be better if she were smoking a cigarette.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Jeff, Wait. You know what? AI Chat. Jpt Add a camel light to the okay, she's writing. I mean, come on. She's walking through London. She's writing about the passing of great writers like Amos Didion Morrison considers government. She's narrating herself as an audiobook, which normally I would read Zadie Smith and writers like her because I want to Be a sentence guy. But as we found in Intimations, she is sneakily one of the great narrators of anything, especially her own writing. So if she's going to do some impressions, do a little singing, I'm going to light a candle, I'm going to sit cross legged somewhere and Zen out to Zadie Smith doing Zadie Smith sings. I'm so excited for this, but that does not mean, and nor do I think it frankly should surpass Shadow Ticket by pension. But man, am I excited.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, this is very high on my personal list for October. And a collection of essays kind of similar to what we were saying with Harper Lee. Like most of these have been published in other places. It's not largely new work, it's collected Zadie Smith essays. But Zadie Smith's collected thinking is something that I always want to engage with. I think I'm going to read it. I have a galley. I think I'm going to read it and then maybe like dip into the audio.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Depending on which chapter, depending on the essay, some might be better than others.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Or if you get ahead of me in the audio, I expect texts about which ones you really have to listen to. But I think a multimedia experience of Zadie Smith is the best way to do it. She's an incredible reader. If you are somewhere where she happens to be on tour, oh my God, you don't even need to like her. Just go.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yeah, just go. Okay, last one. The number 11th out of 10. Tom's Crossing, October 28th from what's imprint here? It's a PRH title. Pantheon, 1232 pages.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Do you know where.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Mark Z. Daniel Danielewski, who wrote House of Leaves, one of the great literary enigma phenomenons of my adult life, follows it up with something, a western about two friends determined to rescue a pair of horses set for slaughter. I'm guessing it's about more than that, because I bet you could do that in 12 pages. There were crimes in 1982 and trials. And then something else happens. Maybe zombies or people coming back to life. I'm staring at these descriptions. I don't know what to expect. I think what you get into with a Danielewski book is a wild, immersive, vertiginous, lengthy time. So there we go. I had to. I couldn't leave it off. I had to put it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, no, it's hard to make it leave it.

[Jeff O'Neill]

A real thing.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah, it was a huge phenomenon. And it will. This will probably have a sticker on it that says by the author of House.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It Absolutely does. Like, it's like a hat I'm looking at right now. It's like a. It's like a. It looks like a hat picture that could be in a target frame of a cowboy hat with the title and author of House of Leaves in the top. Right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Great. I think for the folks that have been looking forward to another book from him, this will be quite a big day. There are not as many of those people as there are Pynchon people. Thomas Pynchon wins the month Shadow ticket.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I think. That's right. I think it has to be. Yeah, has to be. Honorable mentions. Other Things Mate by Ali Hazelwood, which is the sequel to Her Bride. This is where she gets into paranormal. Paranormal romance. Bride did extremely well. I'm kind of off the big selling TikTok books, even putting them there to dismiss them. But I wanted to mention them here. The Women of Wild Hill by Kristen Miller. She wrote the Change.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

She's carved out an interesting niche for herself of commercial genre with a edge, a political gender edge, feminist edge.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The change is really fun.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I like the change quite a bit. The Women of Wild Hill is a little bit like a checker on a checker to call it that. I don't know, maybe I'm wanting to be a little more subtle, but I don't know. I've got two team ups that I didn't know what to do with, so I'll put them here. Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coburn and Reese Witherspoon. I have no sense of what to make of this book at all. I haven't read any of these James Patterson whatever crossovers. I find myself completely uninterested in this except to be interested in the phenomenon. I don't know what to do.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Yes, that's all I've got about that one either. Yeah. And I know Reese Witherspoon is going to be one of the narrators of the audiobook that came out.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Great. Is this going to sell? I have no idea. None? None.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Will they pick it for the Reese Book Club?

[Jeff O'Neill]

I mean, you don't need to, but also why else have a book club except to do stuff like this? And I don't know. I hadn't heard about this. Maybe you've heard about this. I had double checked this to make sure it wasn't some generative AI slob language thing that people made up Nicholas Sparks with. Do you know this? No. I could give you a hundred guesses. Would you like to take five right now?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh my God. Give me what, like direction Can I give you this?

[Jeff O'Neill]

Slugline. This is not the title, but it's title. Colon. A Supernatural Love story. Oh.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Oh, my God. Nicholas Sparks is the co author. Male or female?

[Jeff O'Neill]

Male.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Okay. Supernatural. I have no idea.

[Jeff O'Neill]

M. Night Shyamalan. What.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I was. I mean, I would never have landed there because I don't think of Shyamalan as a writer, but I was doing it. Like, who, what respected, like suspense writer would associate with Nicholas Sparks? Wow.

[Jeff O'Neill]

New York architect Tate Donovan. Which isn't that name of an actor? Isn't Tate Donovan a real person?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Anyway, that's someone's name. Yeah.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So because, you know, it's a Nicholas Spark book, the house is going to be very important. So this person goes to Kate Cape Cod to design his best friend's summer house. And then he is also recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Of course.

[Jeff O'Neill]

And I guess things happen. I did not see this coming. I don't know who got struck by lightning and pitched this to whom.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I need to like.

[Jeff O'Neill]

The title is Remain a Supernatural love story. October 14th from Random House.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I need to not think about how much money publishing spent on that.

[Jeff O'Neill]

I mean, maybe it's gonna sell. Sell. It's a story about the power of transcendent emotion. I've never heard that. Just emotion.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You could just put that on all of the Nicholas Sparks books.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Yes. It's not about love. It's not about. It's just.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It doesn't matter. Pick an emotion.

[Jeff O'Neill]

It's just emotion. It's just a big tub. It's just a big flat of emotion. You could buy it at Costco.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Feelings, a novel by Nicholas Feelings.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan would.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Never in a million years have gotten to M. Night Shaman. I know.

[Jeff O'Neill]

Can't you understand why I was like, I need to make sure this is real?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

I like gasped so hard I rolled my desk chair halfway back through my office.

[Jeff O'Neill]

So I had no idea what to do with that. So there we go. I hope if you read. Anyone out there reads Gone before Goodbye or Remain and like to tell us about it. I don't think I'll be picking up these books myself, but there we go. So. Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Shadow Ticket, it's the one.

[Jeff O'Neill]

There we go. I will be happy to report back to you all. Choose the email [e-mail] show notes bookriot.com listen. Go check out Zero to well at go check out the Book Riot newsletter. And as always, thanks for listening. Rebecca. Thanks for this doing this, Rebecca. Thanks everyone for listening and The Book Riot Podcast is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Thanks so much for listening today. We hope you'll enjoy this audiobook excerpt from Holy Disruptor by Amy Duggar King. Thanks again to our sponsors at Sonder.

[Amy Duggar King]

For years my story has been told. For me, I'm that Amy crazy cousin Amy, the happy, spunky niece of one of the most famous families in America, the Duggars. For 10 seasons and 109 episodes as a featured member of the smash hit Cable television show 19 Kids and Counting, I felt like I had no control over how I was presented to the public. My uncle Jim Bob Duggar wouldn't listen to me and the network took orders directly from him. I wanted to scream from the rooftops, I'm not crazy or wild. Imagine a world where normal activities like wearing a bathing suit or going to the movies is considered a sin. This is what the patriarch of my family, my uncle, called ungodly behavior. Wearing anything bright yellow or black is wrong. No one goes to college. Kissing is absolutely forbidden. Wearing shorts even on the hottest days? Forget it. I've never done drugs in my life. I don't like to party, I don't have a police record. But because I was different from all of my cousins, I was considered the black sheep. I wasn't allowed to be myself and I had to hide who I was if I had any hope of being accepted in my aunt and uncle's home. I loved going to the mall with my friends, having full blown concerts in my car, going to dances and being adventurous. But at Uncle Jim Bob's home, I was made to feel ashamed for being who I was, a normal teenage girl. Not only was I singled out and shamed, but I was lied to as well. I'm still trying to untangle the lies, some of them televised across the country and even the world from the truth. Now it's finally time to tell my own story. It's not all black and white. My childhood was fun in a lot of ways and I spent almost every single day with my cousins from the oldest cousin Josh, pushing us girls in the Radio Flyer wagon down a huge hill as we laughed and screamed with joy. To being surrounded by television crews under bright lights and traveling the world together. Doors were flung open to us because of the Duggar name. I have been told stories about my family by many different people, including my mom, family, friends and people in my community. My own memories are twisted and tangled threads of good and bad, fun and fear, order and chaos, love and pain, truth and lies, godliness and evil. There were painful, complicated moments where I felt uninvited, rejected and too much or not enough, as well as moments that were loving, good, warm and comforting. In a way, I miss the closeness of our Duggar family, but I do not miss the legalism or the judgment. This is a story of a little girl born into what would become a very famous family, but who had a deep heartache and trauma of her own that no one outside of her house knew much about. My uncle and aunt seemed to have the perfect family and mine was anything but. This is also a story of escaping control, manipulation and abuse from almost everyone close to me as I fought to find out who I truly was and getting to know myself and finding my voice took some time, but I finally discovered it and I am no longer afraid to stand up for what is right. What I experienced through the years with my uncle and aunt and their 19 kids, along with my own grandparents and parents, has helped me grow into a truth seeker, a truth teller and a holy disruptor. My faith has been my anchor, guiding me through even the hardest moments. But that doesn't mean this journey has been easy. In fact, it's been deeply painful because I've seen and experienced things that I know must grieve the heart of God. Watching people twist faith for their own gain, witnessing deception where there should have been truth, and feeling the weight of betrayal from those who claim to love God. It's heartbreaking. Yet through it all, I've held on to the certainty that God sees, knows and cares. And even when my heart aches, I find comfort in knowing that his love remains constant as I navigate the wild seas of my life. The beautiful story of Jesus calming the wind and the rough waters resonates deeply within me, offering a powerful symbol of the peace he desires for every corner of our lives. Mark 4:35 41 being a holy disruptor is all about standing up for the truth in order to break the trauma and toxic cycles in a family. It's about saying this has gone on long enough and it stops with me. Though it can be costly to be a holy Disruptor, I have learned to be filled with an inner calm that comes only from knowing Jesus. As I continue to face the wind and waves, I am at peace and I willingly stand against anything or anyone who breaks the heart of God. As you listen on, you'll see that I'm not hiding anything under the rug. In fact, the rug has been completely pulled away. Settle in for a story that reveals a world of unrealistic expectations and manipulation a world where I had to untangle a web of carefully crafted lies while fighting to protect my own mental health. It's a journey of breaking free from toxic cycles, confronting painful truths, and finding the faith to keep going. Consider this my unfiltered testimony. And if your story is anything like mine, I want you to hear this loud and clear. No matter what chaos or trauma you're experiencing, if you're willing to become a holy disruptor, sweet freedom is waiting to embrace you on the other side. I was always told you are too loud, Amy. Well, folks, if you ask me, I haven't been loud enough, and I'm about to get even louder.