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- [00:00]
Hannah
I mean, I'm basically rich now.
- [00:02]
Tina
I mean, it's like, here's 7 cents per paycheck. Enjoy, enjoy. Spend it all on eggs.
- [00:07]
Hannah
Yep. Right. Here's, here's to make up for the egg prices. A whole like 20, 20 extra bucks a paycheck probably.
- [00:14]
Tina
It's silly. Better than nothing, I guess.
- [00:17]
Hannah
I know better than nothing.
- [00:18]
Tina
I mean, they've like beat us down so hard, we're like, great, thank you. Like, I made for.
- [00:23]
Emma
I got a paycheck from meta for.
- [00:25]
Tina
The first time ever. Over yesterday it was $4.75. I said, well, that's a. That's a hamburger.
- [00:33]
Hannah
That's a hamburger.
- [00:46]
Tina
Welcome to Book Talk Etc, A podcast.
- [00:48]
Emma
Bound to grow your tbr.
- [00:49]
Tina
I'm Tina from TBR Etc.
- [00:52]
Hannah
And I'm Hannah from Hand Picked Books.
- [00:54]
Tina
This is a conversational podcast about books and more from two Midwest Mood readers who are easily distracted by new releases. And today we are sharing our April books on the radar.
- [01:04]
Hannah
If you enjoy listening, we'd love for you to follow us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. And if you have a quick minute, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on social media. It truly helps us connect with other book lovers.
- [01:20]
Tina
Hey, Hannah.
- [01:21]
Hannah
Hey, Tina. How is your morning so far?
- [01:25]
Tina
Good. We're recording in the morning on the weekend. It feels quite nice. I am thrown though, because I moved my. I'm usually having my script over here so I'm like on the mic sideways and now I'm looking straight on. But I feel like this is going to be a better angle for our YouTube. We are, in case you all didn't.
- [01:41]
Emma
Know, we've got our YouTube channel up and running.
- [01:44]
Tina
So this podcast that you're listening to currently is also on YouTube. Same thing, but you can see us. And we would love if you would head over there. We're going to link it in our show notes, head there, see our faces.
- [01:56]
Emma
But more importantly than that, leave us a comment. So it's like a really good way to interact with us real time.
- [02:01]
Tina
I know Buzzsprout has this thing where.
- [02:03]
Emma
They do fan mail and so we.
- [02:05]
Tina
Sometimes get texts like that, but it doesn't say who it is and we can't respond or it says who it is, but we can't really respond.
- [02:11]
Emma
So, you know, if you have any.
- [02:12]
Tina
Feedback or just want to say, hey, go over to our YouTube channel, we'd love that.
- [02:16]
Hannah
Yeah, nice way to engage with us in a different way.
- [02:19]
Tina
Yes, exactly. And anyway, so now I feel very thrown off because my script is in front of me, and I'm like, what am I? I'm just, like, staring, right. A camera. But I. I will get over it. I am sure used to it.
- [02:30]
Emma
Yes, exactly.
- [02:31]
Tina
So we are right at the tail end of March.
- [02:35]
Emma
We're doing our April books on the radar.
- [02:37]
Tina
So April's a pretty good publication month.
- [02:40]
Emma
I think.
- [02:40]
Tina
It was fairly easy to get a nice list of books that I'm excited about.
- [02:45]
Emma
Some, though I didn't bring, and I don't know what your list looks like. I did not bring the new Chuck Wendig, although I'm obviously so excited.
- [02:52]
Tina
We both are. That is our April community.
- [02:55]
Emma
Read A Staircase in the woods.
- [02:57]
Tina
And I'm excited for when the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. But I did not bring that today because I already brought that as a shelf edition. But those two, in addition to the ones I'm bringing today, I'm very excited for.
- [03:08]
Hannah
Yeah, I picked some different books than a couple that I'm. I'm really excited for. So I'm personally really excited for the new Abby Jimenez, which comes out in April. But I feel like that is such a buzzy book. She doesn't need my promotion. Same with the new Emily Henry book, which comes out in April. She's a little more hit. Or for me, but I always read her books when they come out. But, I mean, they didn't even do, like, a marketing campaign for the new Emily Henry this year, because she doesn't really need it at this point.
- [03:41]
Tina
Yeah, they're just so popular.
- [03:42]
Hannah
So popular. So those are two that I'm. I'm really excited about that release in April, but not ones that I am bringing today.
- [03:48]
Tina
Got you. Okay. I know. And I like doing that nod, because I was finding. I'm like, did I talk about this already? Like, the ones that I brought today. So anyway, you know, at the top.
- [03:56]
Emma
Of some of these shows, you might hear us add a couple even extra.
- [03:59]
Tina
Titles that we just didn't bring to our list.
- [04:02]
Emma
So we each have five today.
- [04:03]
Tina
So I will dive right in with my loving lately, because we've got a lot of ground to cover. And my loving lately is it's an app for your phone. So I feel like once winter sort of is toward its tail end, I'm like, all right, time to come out of hibernation. Time to move a little bit more. And I wanted to incorporate more stretching into my daily habit, but I am terrible at remembering to do it. So I downloaded this app that I'm really enjoying, and it's called Bend. And this one is a wellness focused.
- [04:33]
Emma
App app designed to help users improve.
- [04:35]
Tina
Flexibility and mobility through stretching routines and light exercises. And it's on iOS and Android and I don't pay for it. You can pay and have like their, you know, premium version. I just use theirs, use their free one. And for me this works really well.
- [04:52]
Emma
Because I'm very good at following instructions.
- [04:55]
Tina
But really bad at coming up with.
- [04:56]
Emma
Routines on my own.
- [04:57]
Tina
Like I would never like if I'm stretching, I'm like butterfly. That's like the only one I can come up with. So this one works really well. And I like this app because it's.
- [05:07]
Emma
Appropriate for beginners and people that stretch all the time. So for example, when I open the.
- [05:11]
Tina
App when I was working on this script, it gives you the option to do a five minute wake up routine, a 15 minute full body, a four minute posture reset, which I really need to do a 10 minute one before sleep. Or if you're an expert, you can do a 30 minute expert stretch. And if you want to, like, if you're having a problem area, you can sort by area.
- [05:34]
Emma
So your hips, lower back, neck, anything.
- [05:36]
Tina
That'S been bothering you. And you can also set it to where you have a multi day series, meaning they will take you through, you know, different stretches throughout the week. Or you can browse by category like pre workout at the office, relaxed and relax and unwind.
- [05:54]
Emma
So anyway, it's a nice little way.
- [05:55]
Tina
To get stretching in. I also love a streak when I am in the rhythm of doing something. I hate to break it, but it's.
- [06:05]
Emma
Hard for me to get in that streak.
- [06:07]
Tina
So this one will tell you like, hey, you've had a whatever day stretching streak, do you want to do it again? And that sort of like it motivates me.
- [06:14]
Emma
And you can also set reminders. So my reminder goes off at like.
- [06:17]
Tina
9:00 because you know, that's my bedtime and so it'll be, hey, it's time to stretch. And I was so excited about this one. I'm like, Jonathan, I've got this new app. You're going to love it. And he's like, oh, Ben.
- [06:28]
Emma
Yeah, I've been using it for years.
- [06:29]
Tina
I'm like, well, thank you so much for not filling me in on it now. He is the most flexible person I know.
- [06:36]
Emma
Like, it's very odd. I'm like, why are you so stretchy?
- [06:38]
Tina
Part of it is because he stretches. I mean, imagine that. So yeah, it's been really fun to do at night. And the girls see us doing it and get into it too. So I will say give this a shot if you want an easy way to work in, more stretching and flexibility into your day. And this is the app called bending.
- [06:56]
Hannah
That's cool that your kids are doing it, too. That's a fun, like, healthy family habit.
- [07:01]
Emma
Yes.
- [07:02]
Tina
Lily loves to go.
- [07:03]
Emma
Jonathan is a track coach, and so.
- [07:05]
Tina
She goes to practice with him sometimes and does, like, the little fun warmups with the girls.
- [07:10]
Emma
I love it.
- [07:11]
Tina
So we're, like, low key, trying not.
- [07:12]
Emma
To put too much pressure.
- [07:13]
Tina
But we both did track, me and Jonathan, and I'm like, maybe she'll want to do track, too.
- [07:18]
Hannah
Oh, I think that's really cool that you do that as a family. I think it's really good for the kids to see, like, what the parents do and be able to be involved with them.
- [07:27]
Tina
So it's better than just, like, looking at my phone, you know?
- [07:29]
Hannah
What? Yeah, of course.
- [07:31]
Tina
Well, I mean, my phone's there, but she can at least, you know, engage as well.
- [07:34]
Hannah
Yeah, absolutely. No, that's a great one. I. It's funny, we've been talking about actually at my work, we, you know, sit for our jobs all the time. And I was recently talking to a colleague, and she was like, we all need to remember to stretch. And she's been like, messaging us and being like, remember to do your stretches today. Yeah, and I never do.
- [07:54]
Tina
Yeah, you're like, got it. And then you forget immediately.
- [07:58]
Hannah
Yeah, but I. It's really important, especially if you do have a more sedentary job, so. What a great recommendation. I worry that I wouldn't follow the notifications.
- [08:10]
Tina
Oh, I do. I immediately ignore them. I'm like, great. No, I'm not stretching right now. And then I do forget sometimes.
- [08:14]
Hannah
But then you do. Okay.
- [08:16]
Tina
But I do know you do remember it later when I. I will ignore it kind of right in the moment, but then I will remember later. But if I'm off my streak, then I get annoyed, and then I'm like, well, whatever, I'll. I'll pick up again next. And then it. It's several days before I do it again.
- [08:30]
Hannah
Sure. But kind of nice to have in the back of your mind at least, because now you're stretching. At least more than you would have been.
- [08:35]
Tina
Exactly. Yes. Better than zero.
- [08:38]
Hannah
That's so true. Okay. My loving lately is a practical item that we've been using all the time. So I just discovered the sunscreen sticks last year. And so, you know, and if you have little ones or even yourself, you know, it's so annoying to put sunscreen on your face and if you're not wearing like makeup with sunscreen, I don't know, just like the lotion and like putting that on your face is so bothersome, especially if you have little ones like trying to like squirt the sunscreen out and put them. The sunscreen sticks have been life changing for us, but we were noticing some of the other ones kind of broke our faces out and broke our kids faces out as well. We finally found one that works really well and is still pretty affordable and that's the sun bum sunscreen stick. And it's paraben free, it's vegan, it's cruelty free, which those are all things that we look for in general. But for whatever reason, this one doesn't make us break out. It works really well and I believe it's either 30 or 50 SPF, but it works great and is good for putting on the neck. We put it on all of our like diaper bags or purses. Just carry this around with us because it's only, I want to say like 11, like between 11 and 15 to get the little sunscreen stick. And it lasts a while. So it's very affordable, very portable and does well with our kids skin and with ours too if we're going to be outside for a long time. So this has been like an everyday essential item for our family lately and that is the sun bum sunscreen stick.
- [10:17]
Tina
This is a really good recommendation. I hate rubbing sunscreen in. I hate it. I don't like the smell of it. It gets in my hands and my eyes are really sensitive and I'm always touching my face and touching my eyes and it gets in my eyes and it's a problem. So I think I need one of these.
- [10:31]
Emma
When you said 30 or 50, I.
- [10:32]
Tina
Thought you were going to say dollars. I'm like, oh my God. This is like luxury sunscreen. You're talking about the SPF.
- [10:37]
Hannah
SPF, yeah, I always, I always. It's 50, so it's 50 SPF for the kids one. So they have one that's specifically for kids. I do believe they have a sunscreen stick though, that's just like a Norma. We get the kids one and we also use it sometimes just because. Yeah, well, we just would rather our, our kids have something that's like for sure, you know, catered toward them. But yeah, it's travel friendly. I just looked. It's 10.99. And so it's just a very affordable thing for us to Keep, like I said, purse, diaper, bag, carry on.
- [11:11]
Tina
Do you put it anywhere else other than your face and neck or just like do you use it on the body?
- [11:15]
Hannah
You could. I think it's just for the convenience because it, it's like a stick on, you know, like I'm not saying stick on a roll on because it's like a deodorant stick. Yeah, right, for your face. So you could. Yeah, for your face. So you could put it other places. But yeah, it probably would be a little bit more convenient to do like a little like that on the rest of your body.
- [11:37]
Tina
Probably would take too long. Just sunscreen stick your whole like bring that to a baseball game if you're like, oh yeah, burning when you're outside. I love that idea.
- [11:45]
Hannah
We also use it for. So our, our son or has very, very fair skin. I would say like me, Dustin, our daughter, like we have medium fair skin where we will actually tan if we wear sunscreen. Whereas our son doesn't tan. He doesn't whatever. Like we have to keep him protected at all costs. He's just very fair.
- [12:07]
Tina
Yeah.
- [12:07]
Hannah
And so this sunscreen stick has been nice because we can even literally fold his ears back and like do it on his ears and get the back of his neck. Yeah, and the front of his neck and those places that just tend to burn really easily.
- [12:18]
Tina
Yeah.
- [12:19]
Hannah
And he' sensory sensitive. So like trying to put liquid lotion all over his face and his not a good ears is not a fun time. I mean I would rather get him in all winter gear than try to put lotion sunscreen.
- [12:32]
Tina
That's a lot. No, you know what I have, I have these really fluffy makeup brushes.
- [12:36]
Emma
They're really short and dense and I'll put sunscreen on there for the face.
- [12:39]
Tina
And then use that to rub it in because I don't, I'm a hands.
- [12:42]
Emma
I don't like my hands sticky, but.
- [12:43]
Tina
I, I'll put it on there and like rub it in. But this sounds probably like a better alternative, so.
- [12:48]
Hannah
Yeah, well, and Amazon, actually my sister in law, I have a family member who does the liquid sunscreen. But then Amazon actually sells these things that you can put liquid sunscreen on and then you roll it or brush it on. Yeah, I can link, I can link those too. So whatever your preference is, there are lots of options. Clearly this has been a problem that parents have had for a while, for millennia. And you know, depending on your personal preference, there are ways to just a little bit easier get around it.
- [13:19]
Tina
Oh my gosh, I love that so my latest read, I'm actually, I'm. I'm hoping you didn't read it because I saw you haul this book in a recent mail post you posted on Instagram. But it is I leave it up to you by Jin Woo Chong. Have you started?
- [13:34]
Hannah
I didn't read it yet.
- [13:35]
Tina
Okay, good. But I saw you had it. And you all listening might remember this one because it has very interesting setup. And I brought it for our March Books on the Radar episode. This is the one about the man who wakes up after having been in the coma for two years. And Jack Jr. Wakes up to a world he barely recognizes.
- [13:53]
Emma
The introduction of this one was fantastic.
- [13:57]
Tina
It jumps right in, and he's waking up and he's, like, very disoriented. And he can tell he's like, somewhere he doesn't recognize. And he described it as feeling like an or was stuck in his throat because he was intubated. There was like, breathe.
- [14:10]
Emma
A breathing tube was in his throat.
- [14:12]
Tina
And so he sees this nurse that has been working with him for two.
- [14:15]
Emma
Years while he was in a coma.
- [14:17]
Tina
And the man starts freaking out because he's like, you are not supposed to get up. You're not supposed to be waking up intubated. So the guy freaks out. Anyway, it's this really compelling opening because I'm like, oh, my gosh, what would you do? So you find out that Jack is waking up after this medically induced coma.
- [14:34]
Emma
And he comes to find that everything has changed. And what's interesting is that he went.
- [14:38]
Tina
Into the coma, I think, in 2019, and now it's two and a half years later. So he missed the entire pandemic. And he's very confused why people are all wearing masks.
- [14:47]
Emma
He's like, am I sick?
- [14:48]
Tina
And they're like, no, you're not sick. But not only that, he's alone, and.
- [14:53]
Emma
He had been estranged from his family.
- [14:54]
Tina
For, like, 10 years. He. No one will really tell him what's going on.
- [14:59]
Emma
He was engaged, and he doesn't know.
- [15:00]
Tina
Where his fiance is, and he doesn't know what's going on.
- [15:04]
Emma
So you as a reader come to.
- [15:06]
Tina
Figure it out as they unpack it, and eventually you find out that he does have family. He has a brother and his mom and dad. And his mom and dad are divorced, but they're not estranged. They get along very well. And they eventually come to visit him, even though he was, like, basically begging the nurse not to call them. And the nurse was like, they've been here every other day for the past several years. I will be notified. We will be notifying them. So, reluctantly, Jack Jr. Goes back home to the bustling Korean.
- [15:34]
Emma
Enclave of Fort Lee, New Jersey.
- [15:37]
Tina
And his parents are delighted, of course.
- [15:40]
Emma
That he has made a full recovery, because you find out what happened to him and it was.
- [15:44]
Tina
Was incredibly traumatic. And his parents, though, don't know how to handle this. And they're sort of acting as though he never left. And not only are they acting like he never left, he's also now back working at Joja, which is their ever struggling sushi restaurant that he was set to inherit before he ran away from it all. And basically this book is about him reintroducing himself to the life that he left behind. And you're figuring out with him what.
- [16:11]
Emma
He left, what he lost, and sort.
- [16:13]
Tina
Of why it is that he ended up in this coma.
- [16:16]
Emma
I personally would have liked a little bit more.
- [16:19]
Tina
It's kind of a tale of two books because I was really interested in the setup of this, like the medical aspect. I just thought it was so interesting.
- [16:27]
Emma
This one is his recovery is maybe.
- [16:29]
Tina
25% of the book and the 75% of his is him in his hometown, in the restaurant. But by and large, I thought it was really well done.
- [16:37]
Emma
I love the familial relationships. They are complex, but between him and.
- [16:42]
Tina
His brother, between his brother's wife and.
- [16:44]
Emma
They have a son and a younger.
- [16:46]
Tina
Son and the mom and dad, but not. They're very relatable. Like, it was just very. It was like this slice of life about a family. And I love that there wasn't this intense sort of hatred and drama. They were just trying to accept him in the ways that they knew how. And I love that the parents were.
- [17:05]
Emma
Divorced but still very friendly with each other and very much united in the.
- [17:08]
Tina
Love of their children. The author did an excellent job with depicting being a restaurant owner and going behind the scenes of, you know, going.
- [17:18]
Emma
To the fish market at 4am to get sushi or to get the fish and do those things.
- [17:22]
Tina
There's also a little bit of a discovery and sort of a little love angle thrown in there.
- [17:28]
Emma
And overall, I highly recommend this one. I enjoyed it.
- [17:31]
Tina
I thought it was not an easy read, but it's not. You know me, I can like my dark.
- [17:36]
Emma
My books very dark and bleak.
- [17:37]
Tina
And this one was not. And I liked it. It.
- [17:40]
Emma
This one is I Leave it up to you by Jin Woo Chong.
- [17:44]
Hannah
Oh, yeah. I was excited about that one. I'm glad that you brought that. And I didn't realize that it. Which is funny because I think it has food on the COVID but I don't think I realized that it had, like, a restaurant aspect.
- [17:55]
Tina
Yes.
- [17:55]
Hannah
And I know that's something that you like in your books, especially when it's done well because of your personal connection, so.
- [18:01]
Tina
Oh, yeah. And you just reminded me. The thing that I thought was so.
- [18:04]
Emma
Well done is this tension between the.
- [18:06]
Tina
Dad trying to hold it together. He's in his 60s and, like, ultimately eventually wants to retire, but feels like he doesn't know how to do that and doesn't know who he is without the restaurant. And I was like, oh, I see that. That, Yeah, I, you know, I understand that. And sort of succession planning and. And anyway, it was just like a. It was a nice story about a family that I enjoyed getting to know.
- [18:28]
Hannah
Oh, nice. Well, I'm glad that you liked that one.
- [18:30]
Tina
Yeah.
- [18:30]
Hannah
My latest read is Don't Let the Forest in by CG Drew. So this is a debut young adult psychological horror about high school senior Andrew, who is drawn to a dark and twisted world at his boarding school. And he has a best friend, Thomas, who becomes entangled with these really wild and scary nightmarish monsters that end up appearing from Thomas's drawings out of his notebook in his diary. So we find out that Thomas has abusive parents and they have disappeared. And so after that happens even more strange occurrences start happening. And Andrew discovers that these monsters from Thomas's drawings are very real and very deadly. And these two boys fight to protect others at the school while the bond between them, between Andrew and Thomas deepens. But growing danger forces Andrew to consider a chilling choice. Does he destroy the creator of these drawings in order to stop the monsters? So really cool premise. And I ended up buddy reading this with my friend Emma, my monthly buddy reading friend, and neither of us ended up totally loving this one. But we are really glad that we read it and glad that we read it together. This book has rave reviews from the young adult horror community. And overall. And although I don't fully agree with them and I'll explain why in a minute, I will say that I think what this book did really well and I think will work for so many readers and was my favorite part of the book was that it had great atmosphere. Like, the woods were so haunting and every time they visited, you could just feel the tension. And it also was set in this boarding school and so, like, it definitely almost had like, horror Gossip Girl vibes. Even though we're following two boys instead, it just, I don't know, it just had really great atmosphere that Added to the tension of the story, it was so creepy, so haunting, and, yeah, just had that dark academia feel that I love so much. Where this book fell short for me was the redundancy of it. They were at the school, then the woods at the school, then the woods. And it just kind of happened like that over and over again and it felt really repetitive. Another thing that I think that this book did really well is it has an asexual character. And this book has received really fantastic own voices reviews of people that are ace and have really wanted to see themselves represented in books. And this book has gotten fabulous reviews, as I think it should. I'm really glad that we're seeing such an important representation, especially in the horror genre. I think it's just especially great when genre fiction sees those representations. I will say, like, it's a young adult book. And the sexuality of these teenagers, although is definitely a part of them, it's not really deeply explored in this book. And so if I were to hand this to a teenager, I do. I don't know if that teenager didn't have the understanding beforehand. I don't think they're going to come out of this book fully understanding that. But it might get them curious to explore more. And I think that that is a great thing. So I was really happy to see that here. While this book was not a personal favorite for me, it's one that I see a lot of merit in and I thought was overall a great story and one that I would personally recommend to the right reader. So I'm glad that I read it. And that was Don't Let the Forest in by CG Drew.
- [22:19]
Tina
Did that book have drawings in it? Like, are you seeing Thomas's drawings?
- [22:24]
Hannah
Okay, they did have drawings in it. I did listen to the audiobook, but I ended up, I was perusing Barnes and Noble and I picked it up and I was like, I wonder if this has drawings in it. And it does, and I love it. I just wish that I had read it physically. I wonder if I wouldn't have had a different experience reading it. But you don't know. Especially when you're primarily an audiobook book listener. You just pick up the audiobook.
- [22:47]
Tina
Sure. You don't know what's in it.
- [22:48]
Hannah
I don't know what's in it. So really great one to have physically on your shelves too.
- [22:54]
Tina
Yeah. And they are a bookstagrammer paper fury on bookstagrammer.
- [22:58]
Hannah
I didn't know that.
- [22:59]
Emma
Oh, my goodness. They were the first account that I.
- [23:01]
Tina
Ever followed on bookstagram. I Loved that they had a blog too. And they, I remember, said that they started their bookstagram because ultimately wanted to be an author and figure like, hey.
- [23:15]
Emma
Let me build my audience now.
- [23:16]
Tina
And I'm just like, very proud of this person that I don't know personally, but I'm like, this is so cool, because at the time they were not an author and now they have more than one book, which is really neat.
- [23:27]
Hannah
Well, that almost makes me appreciate the book even more because like I said, I definitely think this was one of those books where I don't read a lot of young adults anymore. And so I definitely think that partially has to.
- [23:36]
Emma
Sure.
- [23:37]
Hannah
That definitely plays a piece. And it also had really lyrical writing, which. Which is good. Like, the writing was really good. Yeah, I don't love lyrical writing. That's just a personal preference. But I do. I think that this is a good book. Yes, I think that this is a good book.
- [23:53]
Tina
Yeah, no, I understand completely. But anyway, yeah, I was just like, we can link to their Instagram too. It was. I remember very vividly that was the one of the first people I followed.
- [24:02]
Emma
Because I'm like, this is incredible. They do very intricate pictures.
- [24:06]
Tina
But anyway, I'm glad you read that one.
- [24:09]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [24:10]
Tina
You want to get into the book list? You want to talk about.
- [24:12]
Hannah
Let's get into our April books.
- [24:14]
Tina
Let's do it. Books on the radar. Okay. My first one probably is no surprise. I think I put this in my most anticipated for the year wrap up video. And it's the last session by Julia Bartz. This one comes out on April 1.
- [24:28]
Emma
And Julia Bartz is the author of.
- [24:30]
Tina
The Writing Retreat, which I loved. And this one is a another thriller about a social worker who, after coming.
- [24:38]
Emma
Face to face with her dark past, must infiltrate a mysterious wellness center in.
- [24:42]
Tina
The deserts of New Mexico.
- [24:44]
Emma
And I am always the first thing I did when I saw this synopsis.
- [24:48]
Tina
I googled the author and I'm like, I don't love mental health as a.
- [24:52]
Emma
Plot point always, but the author is a practicing therapist.
- [24:56]
Tina
So I was like, okay, I'm gonna allow it. And I'm gonna, you know, sort of operate under the assumption that it's going to read true to form because it's.
- [25:04]
Emma
About this catatonic woman who shows up.
- [25:06]
Tina
At the psychiatric unit.
- [25:07]
Emma
And the social worker is named Thea. And she swears that she knows this person from somewhere and is very shocked.
- [25:13]
Tina
To find that this person has a.
- [25:15]
Emma
Link to her personal past.
- [25:17]
Tina
And this person was catatonic, but eventually gains, you know, more lucidity.
- [25:21]
Emma
And claims that she can't remember the horrific recent events that caused her brain to shut down.
- [25:27]
Tina
Thea is not quite sure how to treat this patient. And then the patient disappears. But. And I don't know about this part, but because it was tied to something in Thea's past, she decides that she's.
- [25:37]
Emma
Determined to find her and follows a.
- [25:39]
Tina
Trail of clues to a remote center in southwestern New Mexico. And I'm like, babe, I don't think you should really be following clients around the desert. But, hey, what do I know? And she gets there. It is sort of this wellness retreat.
- [25:51]
Emma
It's a charismatic couple running this wellness.
- [25:53]
Tina
Retreat that focuses on uncovering attendees romantic and sexual issues. And it sounds like they are.
- [26:01]
Emma
There's increasingly more and more intimate exercises.
- [26:04]
Tina
And Thea is finding that she is.
- [26:07]
Emma
Getting closer to the patient, but also getting answers about her past.
- [26:11]
Tina
Anyway, I'm really into this one. I think the author is, for me.
- [26:16]
Emma
Somebody that writes just the right amount.
- [26:18]
Tina
Of pacing in their thrillers.
- [26:20]
Emma
It's still smart, still well written, but.
- [26:22]
Tina
Also a page turner. So I will be picking this one up as soon as I can.
- [26:27]
Emma
This is the last session by Julia Bartz.
- [26:30]
Hannah
I feel like I am always willing to try a potential synopsis like. Like a theme or a trope that I don't like. If it's from an author that I know that I do.
- [26:41]
Tina
I love that.
- [26:41]
Emma
That's so true.
- [26:42]
Hannah
You know?
- [26:42]
Tina
Yes.
- [26:43]
Hannah
So it's like, okay, maybe this has some amateur detective stuff, but. But also has these other things that I like, and it's from an author I know that I trust, so hopefully you are in good hands with this.
- [26:53]
Tina
But I'm like, thinking. I'm like, she must have gone through a lot of. Like, she must have pulled her hipaa. Oh, right. That's what I was thinking.
- [27:00]
Hannah
Thinking.
- [27:00]
Tina
I'm like, you can't follow people around.
- [27:01]
Hannah
But, I mean, you definitely can't.
- [27:03]
Tina
I will report back. But what do we know? What do we know?
- [27:08]
Hannah
Oh, that's funny.
- [27:09]
Tina
Not anymore.
- [27:11]
Hannah
Wait, you used to be a therapist?
- [27:12]
Tina
Yeah.
- [27:13]
Hannah
You used to be a practicing therapist?
- [27:15]
Emma
Well, my.
- [27:16]
Tina
It's in school counseling. My master's.
- [27:18]
Hannah
Oh, okay.
- [27:18]
Emma
Yeah.
- [27:19]
Tina
But I never was able to get hired because I graduated in 09 during the big. The recession, so. And then I sort of changed tack and got into admissions.
- [27:31]
Hannah
Isn't it wild how much can change in, like, what is, in retrospect, a short amount of time? Oh, like, for you, it's like, oh, that was a long time ago. But yeah, I mean, not really in my brain, in retrospect.
- [27:44]
Tina
A lifetime ago.
- [27:45]
Emma
Many things.
- [27:46]
Tina
Like a lifetime ago, then. Yes, many things.
- [27:49]
Hannah
Many things are doing in 2009.
- [27:52]
Emma
Don't tell me.
- [27:52]
Tina
I was like, oh, I think my husband might have been in high school as well. I'm not sure.
- [27:58]
Hannah
Sophomore.
- [27:59]
Tina
I think he might have been a senior when I was getting my master's.
- [28:02]
Hannah
Definitely a lifetime ago.
- [28:03]
Tina
Anyway, sure. Luckily we didn't meet then because. No, I think I'm right because I was doing my school counseling internship and I'm pretty sure he was still in high school. Different school. But I always think I'm like, oh, my gosh, good thing I didn't get placed there. No, I didn't meet him until he was 24.
- [28:19]
Hannah
There you go.
- [28:20]
Emma
30.
- [28:21]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [28:22]
Tina
Oh, look at us now, though.
- [28:23]
Hannah
I didn't know that there was such an age gap between you two.
- [28:25]
Tina
Yeah, five and a half years. Years.
- [28:27]
Hannah
Okay. That's not that many years. It's not that many are three years apart.
- [28:32]
Tina
Yeah. That's why I was like, oh, good, there's an age gap.
- [28:35]
Hannah
Although it's reversed when you're adults and like the same seasons.
- [28:38]
Tina
It's like Jonathan never felt.
- [28:41]
Emma
When you. If you looked at him for when he was in high school, he looked.
- [28:44]
Tina
Like he was a grown man when he was like 17 years old. So he always, like, he just is. Never gave immature to me, even when I first met him. Yeah, it was 20.
- [28:52]
Hannah
I mean, I was. I was 19 when Dustin and I started dating, so I was probably definitely immature. But we don't talk about that. We don't talk about that anymore.
- [29:00]
Tina
We got there in the end.
- [29:01]
Hannah
We did. Okay. My first book on the radar is the Sirens by Amelia Hart. And this is coming out on April 1st from St. Martin's this book has two timelines. In the first timeline, it's 2019, and Lucy wakes up in her ex lover's room with her hands around his throat and flees to her sister's house, who lives in a coastal home in New South Wales. And she is trying to understand these vivid dreams that she has been having that has led to this attack. But then her sister Jess goes missing, and Lucy is starting to uncover some pretty eerie rumors around the town. There have been disappearances, A baby has been abandoned, and there have also been whispers, numbers of women's voices on the waves, all while Lucy's dreams are continuing to grow more and more intense. And then we follow a second timeline in 1800 where we have Mary and Eliza, who are two sisters and they are forcibly taken from Ireland to Australia, and strange changes are occurring between them as well. So this sounds like a captivating story of two sisters. Well, four sisters, really, separated by centuries, but also bound by an unexplainable connection. And I am eager to see how these two timelines and how these two sets of sisters find a way to one another. So I'm excited about this one. And I never read Amelia Hart's book Wayward. That came out, I think, a couple of years ago now. But I know a ton of people really loved that one, and that's on my TBR as well. So, yeah, I'm excited for this. And that is the Sirens by Amelia Hart.
- [30:46]
Tina
I was wondering if you had read her previous novel, but that one's. I haven't.
- [30:50]
Emma
Up your alley.
- [30:52]
Tina
And you just said something before that ties in nicely to my next book on the Radar. You talked about how even if it's.
- [30:59]
Emma
A trope you're not sure of, you're.
- [31:00]
Tina
Willing to give it a shot if.
- [31:01]
Emma
It'S an author you like.
- [31:03]
Tina
And my next one is Happyland by Dolan Perkins Valdez, comes out on April 8th. And this one. Okay, I'll explain it. And then why I was, like, not sure at first, but Dolan Perkins Valdez was also the author of Take My.
- [31:18]
Emma
Hand, which is a book that I need to read.
- [31:20]
Tina
I think Renee brought it to the show, so I never ended up reading it, but I know I would love it. Did you love. Yes, I loved it. I'm so mad that I haven't read it yet. It's so silly. Like, whenever I bring it. No, I can still read it, even though someone brought it to the show a while, you know, at any point. But I digress. This one is about Nikki, who's not.
- [31:41]
Emma
Seen her grandmother in many years. And so when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates, but only for a moment. And after years of silence from her family due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she's determined to learn the truth while she still can.
- [32:01]
Tina
But when she gets there, instead of the answers that she's been seeking, Mother.
- [32:05]
Emma
Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of.
- [32:07]
Tina
A kingdom on this very mountain and.
- [32:09]
Emma
Of her great, great, great grandmother Luella, who would become its queen. And it sounds like the makings of a fairy tale royalty among a community of freed people. But the more Nikki learns about the kingdom of the happy land and the lives of those who dwelled in the.
- [32:24]
Tina
Ruins she discovered in the woods, the.
- [32:26]
Emma
More she realizes how much of her identity and her family's secrets are wrapped.
- [32:30]
Tina
Up in these hills. Because this land is their legacy.
- [32:33]
Emma
And it will be up to her to protect it before like so much.
- [32:36]
Tina
Else has been stolen away. This one I was pausing about. Cause I'm like, the kingdom through me.
- [32:42]
Emma
Sometimes I'm like, is this magical realism?
- [32:45]
Tina
What is going to happen with this? But I'm going with it because it's.
- [32:48]
Emma
Inspired on true events.
- [32:50]
Tina
And I'm like, okay, I have to know what happened, what was what inspired this story.
- [32:56]
Emma
It's multi generational.
- [32:58]
Tina
And I like the setting, the western, you know, banks of North Carolina. Actually that's not the Banks, but I digress in North Carolina. And I'm curious to see how this is going to turn out. But this book is Happyland by Dolan Perkins Valdez. Also, the COVID really is what I.
- [33:15]
Hannah
Was just about to say.
- [33:16]
Tina
Were you?
- [33:17]
Hannah
I was looking it up as you were, as you were chatting about it and I was like, oh my gosh. This beautiful woman on the COVID with the flower crown around her head and she's like looking up to the sky with her eyes closed, exposed. It's very stunning.
- [33:30]
Tina
It's very good.
- [33:31]
Hannah
So I really want you to read Take My Hand. I think you would love it too.
- [33:36]
Tina
I know I will. It's quick.
- [33:38]
Hannah
One day.
- [33:39]
Tina
It'll take me like one day.
- [33:41]
Hannah
Yeah, really, really good. And it sounds pretty different from.
- [33:44]
Tina
Yeah, very.
- [33:45]
Hannah
Take My Hand is just like straight historical fiction.
- [33:48]
Tina
Fiction. Yeah. And that's why I'm wondering, I'm like, is Happy Land going to be more straight historical fiction?
- [33:54]
Emma
Are there fantastical elements?
- [33:55]
Tina
I don't know know.
- [33:56]
Hannah
Well, you will find out.
- [33:57]
Tina
I will let you know.
- [33:59]
Hannah
Okay. My next book is the Bright Years by Sarah Damoff. And this comes out on April 1st. A lot of books are coming out on April 1st, I noticed. And it's coming out from Simon and Schuster. This follows four generations of a Texas family grappling with secrets, addiction and loss. We have a couple who are deeply in love but carry hidden struggles. A couple who have a long lost son that one of them doesn't know about. And characters battling things like addiction. And then a tragic event shatters their family. And Georgette, one of the siblings, ends up distancing herself. Years later, Lillian, another one of the siblings that we're following, her son wants to seek his birth family, which prompts all of these other characters to confront their past. And the story is told from three perspectives. It said that it's a heartfelt novel that explores the lasting impact of family bonds and the power of love and grace. I've heard really great early reviews for this one already, and some readers who I share similar tastes with have been saying, add this book to your TBR this spring, so say less readers. I trust family story with siblings. I'm sold. That is the Bright Years by Sarah Demoff.
- [35:21]
Tina
Yeah, I feel like I saw this one and I read the synopsis. I was like, I feel like this is a Hannah book. Yeah, I should have told you, though. I think I just internalized it. I was like, great. Noted. But I will in the future, if I come across one that I'm like, you might like this, I will let you know. Because I love that too.
- [35:39]
Hannah
I love that. I love that, too.
- [35:41]
Tina
Yeah, no, my fun to know.
- [35:42]
Hannah
It's fun to know other people and connect with with other readers where you're like, I know this person and I know their taste.
- [35:48]
Tina
Oh, I know. And even listeners do that now to us because, you know, we've been doing it for so long. I think you'd really like it. Based on what I know about what you enjoy, and that's always so fun.
- [35:57]
Hannah
It's like a love language.
- [35:58]
Emma
It is, really.
- [35:59]
Tina
And I always love when people take the time to actually, like, send that to me.
- [36:03]
Hannah
Mm, me too.
- [36:04]
Tina
All right. My next one, though, is very different than anything we've shared so far because it is Bat Eater and Other Names.
- [36:10]
Emma
For Kora Zhang by Kylie Lee Baker. This one comes out on April 29.
- [36:14]
Tina
And this is horror. And in this book, a woman is.
- [36:18]
Emma
Hunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic. The main character, as you might guess by the title, is named Cora Zhang, and she works as a crime scene.
- [36:32]
Tina
Cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown.
- [36:38]
Emma
But none of that seems so terrible when she's already witnessed the most horrific thing possible, her sister Delilah being pushed.
- [36:45]
Tina
In front of a train, and she finds out that this is a racially motivated murder. So the bloody messes don't really bother Cora.
- [36:54]
Emma
She's more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of.
- [36:58]
Tina
A stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table.
- [37:05]
Emma
So, of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can't be sure what's real and what's in her head.
- [37:10]
Tina
So I think we're getting some unreliable narration here. Okay, this one is very Gory. And I think I'm going to just sort of leave it there.
- [37:17]
Emma
You understand the vibe that you're going with here.
- [37:20]
Tina
This one is said to be for fans of Stephen Graham Jones and Gretchen Faulkner Martin. And this one is wildly original, darkly humorous and subversive.
- [37:31]
Emma
Now, I.
- [37:32]
Tina
One of our listeners, Genevieve, said, Tina, I have to have you read the first, I think she said 30 pages of this and this was a while ago. And I was like, okay, sure, I'm gaining. And that's the setup of the book when you know that her sister gets murdered. I was jaw dropped. I was like, oh, my God, this.
- [37:49]
Emma
Is an intense read.
- [37:50]
Tina
But also I have to know what's going to happen. I have to know if she gets out of it.
- [37:55]
Emma
I have to know about the bite marks.
- [37:57]
Tina
So this one, for those reasons, this.
- [37:58]
Emma
Is on my list.
- [37:59]
Tina
It is Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zhang by Kylie Lee Baker.
- [38:04]
Emma
Wow.
- [38:04]
Hannah
What a title, too.
- [38:05]
Emma
What a title.
- [38:06]
Tina
Yeah, very. Yeah, yeah. And if you're not in the mood for a pandemicy novel, don't read it because it's very much rooted in those days.
- [38:15]
Hannah
You know, I could see, based on the synopsis that you shared, I haven't read the other author that this book was compared to, but with Stephen Graham Jones, his books definitely, like, deal with trauma and they're also gory and kind of have like that psychological aspect. So based on that synopsis, I could totally see the Stephen Graham Jones connection. I've never read that other author though, and I really want to.
- [38:39]
Tina
Yeah, they wrote Manhunt and Cuckoo and looks like there's 125.
- [38:45]
Hannah
A fabulous cover.
- [38:47]
Tina
Manhunt's cover. Jonathan, go ahead and enter this in on the video. It is wild.
- [38:55]
Hannah
Yes, it is wild. Okay. My next book is a total left turn again from the one that you just brought. And that is the Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong. So this is another story about four siblings who find themselves odds. One overwhelmed by family life, another struggling to reclaim their creative voice, and a third unable to let go of old resentments. And the last is keeping both a secret and an unspoken longing. There is a profound loss, and these siblings are forced to lean on each other. But fractured trust makes it difficult as they navigate long buried tensions, especially a deep rift between the two middle siblings. Things they are challenged to redefine what family, for them, truly means. This is a story of ambition and hidden truths and complicated love. And it is said to explore how family can both shape us and pull us apart. I've Noticed I've brought two, like, complicated family stories and I don't know. I am who I am. These are stories that really appeal to me as someone with a somewhat complicated family background, myself and four siblings of my own. I am really hoping to connect with some family stories in the coming months. And I'm excited for this one. And that is the Float Test by Lynn Stager Strong.
- [40:23]
Tina
Yes, that is totally a book for you. I think this author does family dynamics really well. I read their book Flight a while ago and thought it was like, very accurate. You know, it's complicated. And yeah, that one sounds really interesting. Okay.
- [40:38]
Hannah
Yeah. And I forgot to mention, this one comes out on April 8th from Mariner Books.
- [40:43]
Tina
Yeah, I went from I like to know same. Yes, I should be including the publishers. I always forget, though.
- [40:49]
Emma
I went from April 1st to April 29th.
- [40:51]
Tina
Those are the only two dates I'm bringing. I don't know why, but my next one is Julie Chan Is Dead by.
- [40:58]
Emma
Lian Zhang, comes out on April 29th.
- [41:00]
Tina
And this one's cover is what got me. I will not lie. It is a debut thriller, perfect for fans of bunny and yellowface. And a young woman steps into the life of her deceased twin who was.
- [41:11]
Emma
An influencer, only to discover the dark.
- [41:13]
Tina
Side of social media. And I'm okay, Just know my humor.
- [41:19]
Emma
It says Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything except a pulse.
- [41:24]
Tina
And Julie is working as a supermarket.
- [41:27]
Emma
Cashier with nothing to lose and finds herself thrust into this glamorous yet perilous.
- [41:32]
Tina
World of her late twin sister who.
- [41:35]
Emma
Is a popular influencer. Now, these two were separated at a.
- [41:38]
Tina
Young age and they are identical twins.
- [41:40]
Emma
So I'm imagining there's some sort of.
- [41:42]
Tina
Like, taking over here. And they were polar opposites and rarely.
- [41:47]
Emma
Spoke except for one viral video that.
- [41:49]
Tina
Chloe initiated that was called Finding My.
- [41:51]
Emma
Long Lost Twin and Buying Her a House. Hashtag emotional.
- [41:54]
Tina
And you find out that Chloe died under mysterious circumstances.
- [41:59]
Emma
And Julie sort of takes the this as her opportunity to live the life she's always envied.
- [42:04]
Tina
But turning into Chloe is easier than expected. But then, of course, things aren't perfect and she goes to some of these.
- [42:12]
Emma
Events and things, of course, start to.
- [42:14]
Tina
Spiral out of control.
- [42:15]
Emma
And Julie is beginning to uncover the sinister forces that might have led to her sister's demise. Because remember, she died under mysterious circumstances.
- [42:23]
Tina
I gotta know what's going on here. And especially with those comps, I am very intrigued. This book is Julie Chan is Dead by Leanne Zhang.
- [42:33]
Hannah
Yeah, that one sounds. That one sounds really Good and really interesting. You know stuff's going to go awry with her. I know.
- [42:42]
Tina
What could go wrong?
- [42:43]
Hannah
What could go wrong?
- [42:44]
Tina
Notice?
- [42:46]
Hannah
Who knows? But I want to find out.
- [42:47]
Emma
Yes, same.
- [42:49]
Hannah
My next one is called Polybius by Colin Armstrong. This one comes out April 29th from Gallery Books. And this one might potentially be the one I am most excited about from all the books that I'm bringing. So this book is pitched as Stranger Things meets the Walking Dead. And although I didn't personally love the Walking Dead, I do love post apocalyptic books and I do love a zombie story. And Stranger Things is my favorite show of all time. So anything that has Stranger Things on it, I'm gonna try it.
- [43:24]
Tina
I did not know that about you.
- [43:25]
Emma
Okay, this makes sense though.
- [43:27]
Hannah
Yeah. It is my absolute everything. I love, love. I love Stranger Things. So in this one we follow high schooler Andy in a gentrifying seaside town who takes a job at a shady arcade. Already. What could go wrong?
- [43:42]
Tina
Yeah, right.
- [43:44]
Hannah
Desperate to save money for her escape to Silicon Valley. And then we have Ro, who is the sheriff's son, and he is seeing this as a chance to get close to her. But a mysterious new game arrives to the arcade and players are becoming obsessed with it. And a strange like epidemic sweeps through the town with this particular game. And it's fueling paranoia and violence and some people are even experiencing hallucinations as a coastal storm cuts them off from the outside world, which I just. I love that like something happens that could happen that like cuts people off from communication. Sign me up. So this storm cuts them off from the outside world and Andy and Ro are racing to uncover the truth about this game before they too lose everything. Yeah, I'm probably again like the most excited for this one out of all of them. And I hope that I can actually make myself read this one. And that is. Yeah, that is Polybius by Colin Armstrong.
- [44:52]
Tina
Excuse me while I try and spell that. How do you spell Polybius? P O. I know it was.
- [44:56]
Hannah
It was hard for me to say. Is P O, L, Y, B, I, U, S. I don't know if I'm saying that right, but that sounds better than Poly bias. Poly B. Poly bias. Maybe it's poly bias.
- [45:08]
Tina
No, no, I was just being funny. Oh, I love the COVID of this. Yes. This is really nice. Okay, cool. I love this. Yeah, Maybe we need to do an episode where we can tie this in somehow so you have an excuse to prioritize it it. All right.
- [45:23]
Hannah
My bring it as a latest read.
- [45:24]
Tina
Though you can always bring it Anytime. Yes, my last one is one that.
- [45:28]
Emma
I'm very excited for.
- [45:29]
Tina
And this is a another book by an author I love.
- [45:31]
Emma
It's the Road to Tender Hearts by.
- [45:33]
Tina
Annie Hartnett comes out on April 29th. And this one is about 63 year old million dollar lottery winner PJ, who would be the luckiest man in Pondville.
- [45:45]
Emma
Massachusetts if it weren't for the tragedies.
- [45:47]
Tina
Of his life life, the sudden death.
- [45:49]
Emma
Of his eldest daughter and the way.
- [45:50]
Tina
His marriage fell apart after that.
- [45:52]
Emma
And since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar. And he probably doesn't have much time left.
- [45:58]
Tina
He's had three heart attacks already.
- [46:00]
Emma
But when PJ reads the obituary of.
- [46:02]
Tina
His old romantic rival, I'm laughing. This is inappropriate.
- [46:07]
Emma
But he realizes that this means his.
- [46:08]
Tina
High school sweetheart is finally single again.
- [46:11]
Emma
And this renews his enthusiasm for life.
- [46:14]
Tina
And he does decides he's going to drive across the country and try and win Michelle back from the retirement community. And before he PJ can hit the road, a tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother's grandchildren.
- [46:29]
Emma
Anyone else would be like, okay, I'm.
- [46:30]
Tina
Not making this road trip.
- [46:31]
Emma
But PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town.
- [46:36]
Tina
And he also asks his adult daughter to come along to babysit it.
- [46:41]
Emma
And then of course there is a.
- [46:42]
Tina
Cat because what great road trip novel is complete without some sort of animal. And yeah, this is basically PJ's second chance at love. I think Annie Hartnett just does these quirky, out of the ordinary, just compelling stories. So. Well, this is a darkly comic story. It's warm hearted. I love a story with an old.
- [47:06]
Emma
Person in it and they're calling him an old man. He's 63.
- [47:09]
Tina
So I, I think that's a little rushed, but I'm reading from the synopsis and a man in his 60s and I do love a road trip and I love people that are getting back together. I, I just also love that he.
- [47:21]
Emma
Saw his romantic rival, had an obituary.
- [47:23]
Tina
And he was like, great, this means his wife is available. Like how devious. But I am so excited for this one. It is the Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett.
- [47:33]
Hannah
Yeah, that one sounds really, really sweet. And I love a road to trip novel.
- [47:38]
Tina
I love a road trip novel too. Love that.
- [47:41]
Hannah
So good. Yeah, that's a trope I really like. Okay, my last one is Bad Nature by Ariel Courage. And this one sounds really interesting. It comes out on April 1st from Henry Holt and our main character is armed with a terminal diagnosis and she has a vendetta. Hester leaves behind her high powered New York life and sets off to fulfill her lifelong dream which is killing her estranged father. And on the way to California she picks up John, who is an environmental activist hitching rides to toxic waste sites. And as they sure and unlikely pairing. And another road trip book.
- [48:29]
Tina
Exactly.
- [48:30]
Hannah
This is another road trip book. So the two of them are traversing five star hotels, cultish compounds and the heart of their unraveling country and doing it all together while experiencing unexpected revelations that threaten to derail Hester's mission. Womp, womp. This one is darkly funny and unexpectedly moving. The synopsis says that this is a sharp subversive road trip novel about about grudges, moral ambiguity and also the possibility of redemption. So I love like an unlikely hero story or this story where you have this character who's going through clearly like some pretty, you know, messed up thoughts and they meet an unlikely person that kind of changes their mind about things. I really like that. And it kind of sounds like that's what this story is going to try to do with this unlikely bond between these two people. So this one sounds funny and dark and road trip novel. All things that I really like. So that's Bad Nature by Ariel Courage.
- [49:38]
Tina
I've never heard of that one. What a good pick. And yeah, you're we're on something onto something with these road trip novels.
- [49:46]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [49:47]
Tina
Oh, I'm excited to get started. Speaking of speaking of getting started, I am currently reading a book that came out this year but not, not that recently.
- [49:57]
Emma
It's the Quiet Librari by Alan Eskins.
- [50:00]
Tina
And this one sort of this dual timeline historical fiction in present day book.
- [50:06]
Emma
About an seemingly ordinary librarian who is forced to confront her past. And she has an.
- [50:13]
Tina
Anyway, you find out a lot of things about her and she is going back, it sounds like to previous times, 30 years earlier when she realized that.
- [50:23]
Emma
Her best friend recently was murdered and it has ties to their past.
- [50:27]
Tina
So I'm enjoying it very much. So far I'm about 50 pages in and I think it's really good and I'm excited to see where it goes.
- [50:34]
Hannah
Ooh, perfect. Okay, so my current read, I'm just wrapping it up and that is our community read for March and that is Wild Dark shore by Charlotte McConaughey. I have to say, really enjoying it. I'm going to save my thoughts for our patrons when we discuss at the end of this month, but I'm really happy that we picked this one. It's a very similar to her other book that I've read by her Migrations climate fiction has a mystery tied to it. Really beautiful, reflective, emotional writing and characters. So yeah, really, really glad that we picked this one. And that's Wild Dark shore by Charlotte McConaughey.
- [51:16]
Tina
And I love when I'm getting test messages from Hannah as you were like, getting towards some of the more juicy parts. I'm like, I read it in January, but I feel like I want to go back and like reread parts of it because it was just that good.
- [51:30]
Hannah
Especially the last quarter.
- [51:31]
Tina
Oh, I know. There's no fading away in this book. It's really, really good the whole way through. You will hear us talk about this together on the show next week.
- [51:43]
Hannah
Yeah, I'm excited to discuss that. But it's funny too, because you always know when it's like, I don't know, like something that I either want, like an immediate response for or that I have to right now because. Because normally we communicate via Slack and this was a text moment. That was a textinger.
- [52:01]
Tina
I know. I love when that comes through. I'm like, ooh, ooh, an immediate text.
- [52:04]
Hannah
Yeah, Serious.
- [52:05]
Tina
For real. All right, well, that's it for today. We thank you for spending a part of your day with us. Links to all the books mentioned can be found in the show notes. And don't forget, you can find a video of this podcast over on YouTube. And if you enjoyed today's episode, you can can help us by following wherever you listen and following us on YouTube or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps us get our show out to new listeners and grows our audience. And don't forget, if you would like access to exclusive bonus content and community, you can join us for $5 a month on patreon.com booktalk Etc.
- [52:38]
Hannah
If you'd like to connect with us, you can email us@booktalk etcmail.com you can also connect with us both at Booktalk etc. On Instagram and Tina TBR Etc and Hannah at handpickedbooks. Talk to you next week. And in the meantime, remember, everything's better with books. I thought about it as I was talking, but I didn't. I was like, I'm not going to do this on the fly. I know myself.
- [53:05]
Tina
I know. I just like threw that in there. I was like, well, here we.