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- [00:00]
Tina
Here's the things. Here's the things. Just. Yeah. Please read through. Hold your questions till the end.
- [00:06]
Hannah
Yeah, hold your questions till the end. I got a lot to cover.
- [00:09]
Tina
Oh, I love it. Welcome to Galore. Welcome to Book Talk Etc, a podcast bound to grow your tbr. I'm Tina from TBR Etc.
- [00:27]
Hannah
And I'm Hannah from Hand Picked Books.
- [00:29]
Tina
This is a conversational podcast about books and to Midwest mood readers who are easily distracted by new releases. And today we are leaning in and reading all new releases.
- [00:39]
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.
- [00:54]
Tina
Hey, Hannah.
- [00:55]
Hannah
Hey, Tina. How are you?
- [00:57]
Tina
I'm good. Better now that we're recording and, you know, having this time together.
- [01:02]
Hannah
Yes, I agree, man. We were talking about school starting soon, which is just wild. And I'm sure many of our listeners already have their kiddos back in school. We start a little bit later in the year.
- [01:16]
Tina
We do, too. Yeah. We start toward the end of August. But I saw some of those back to school photos. I'm like, already?
- [01:21]
Hannah
I know.
- [01:22]
Tina
Although my oldest has been out of school since May, like, 12th. So I'm like, okay, it's time. Like, let's get back on his schedule. Though. I will miss having her around all the time, and I know Cassia will, too. The baby will be like, where's Lily? Like, what's going on? But it's both.
- [01:37]
Hannah
It's hard having them home in the summer. And it's also like, the second I get done with work, I get to be with them and I get to spend my lunch break with them and things like that. And that's nice. It's challenging, but nice.
- [01:50]
Tina
It'll be different, but other than that, I feel busy. I feel so busy. And I'm, like, oddly almost looking forward to having more of that schedule because this summer got out of control. I haven't read. I haven't finished a book in seven days. And I'm.
- [02:07]
Hannah
Which is unlike you.
- [02:08]
Tina
I'm itching. It's, like, making me squirrely. But I'm like, of course. Self talking. Like, lady, it's okay. You're gonna be fine.
- [02:15]
Hannah
It's just out of the routine.
- [02:17]
Tina
Exactly. It's out of my routine. But Lily did the funniest thing the other day. I was doing something and I was getting annoyed, and she was like, mom, why don't you put your headphones on? I was like, oh, my God, that is in the nicest way. Not in a, like, you know, mean way. Just like, you know, I think you need. You need. You need your headphones, you need your audiobook. And I'm like, you get me, girl.
- [02:35]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [02:36]
Tina
So anyway, hopefully I should finish one soon. Luckily, I do have. I was ahead with reading, and we were talking about this too just a moment ago. I sort of like reading. I always joke I'm like, reading as the bridge is burning, but I sort of like that. I don't like being too far ahead because it, like, I don't know, it's a weird thing.
- [02:56]
Hannah
I agree. I'm a little bit ahead right now, and that is where I want to stay right now. It's like one or two episodes ahead. Feels really good. But then after that. In fact, one of the books that I'm bringing today, I finished a few weeks ago, but I'm now able to plug it in and.
- [03:14]
Tina
Oh, plug it into, like, the episode.
- [03:15]
Hannah
Yeah, plug it into the episode as my latest read. But I was putting my notes together and I was like, oh, man, I. I need to jog my memory here. Thankfully, with that one, I had left live notes because I knew I wasn't going to be able to bring it until later. I'm like, I need to remember to do that.
- [03:32]
Tina
Yes. Plug for book Mori again for me, because I. That is where I just dump anything I'm thinking as I'm reading it. And I'm so proud of myself because I was like, I don't remember what I. I know how I liked it, but I'm like, the finer points are gone. Luckily, I put my little note. What's that?
- [03:50]
Hannah
You use that little book review section.
- [03:51]
Tina
I. I must. Yeah. Is that what it's called? I do. I do the little. Yeah. So do you do it right after.
- [03:58]
Hannah
You finish a book or do you do it as you're reading?
- [04:02]
Tina
I do it as I'm reading. So I'm showing you now. I don't know if y' all can see this. Oh, you can see my dirty phone. But this button here, this button here, you press and then it says, input yourself. And then you. I just leave my raw thoughts in there as I'm having them. I'm literally like, this is from the book for today. Thank goodness. Because I have so many, like, just random thoughts now.
- [04:24]
Hannah
But those are the ones that are fun to share.
- [04:26]
Tina
Yeah. And those are the things you sort of forget. Right. So anyway, plug again for Book Maury. One of my favorite, like, life saving apps that I use. Especially if you're someone that wants to, like, remember what you read or like, if you share content online. It's really helpful.
- [04:39]
Hannah
Yeah. Cosign Tina got me hooked on Bookmory and I use it for that visual book calendar.
- [04:44]
Tina
Yes.
- [04:45]
Hannah
Which is just so nice because I forgot that I even read certain books at the beginning of the month. After two weeks, it's gone.
- [04:51]
Tina
So it's gone. Right.
- [04:53]
Hannah
I love having, having that little visual calendar. It's great.
- [04:56]
Tina
I agree. I also sort of was leaving my raw thoughts for my loving lately as I was going through it. So I'll transition. I am so excited to tell you all about my loving lately. So, as I alluded to, I was on a road trip this past weekend. Shout out to Nora, thank you for letting us drive your car. We. I was taking sort of the middle leg on the way home. We went to Niagara Falls and then we were driving home and I'm like, yeah, let me drive in the middle. And I wanted a short podcast that I could. That everyone could sort of enjoy. Thank goodness. I don't know what divine intervention brought this to me because, oh, you know what it was? I was like, oh, let me put on this American Life and on this American Life because I know I like that podcast because there's like little series I didn't want something that's going to be a 10 podcast thing. Right. And in it, it had an episode called Chicago Hope. And I was like, chicago Hope, Chicago. Cool. What's this about? So I put it on and what it was was the first episode of My Loving Lately. My loving lately is the Retrievals season two. And they were sort of teasing this first episode on this American Life. And that's how I discovered this podcast. Oh, my God. Okay. So all I saw, you know, because I'm like queuing it up about getting ready to drive, and it says the story of the most commonly performed surgery and what goes wrong with it 100,000 times a year in the US and I said, neato. Cool. What's that about? I don't know. Put it on. Because I didn't even know what it was about. Come to find out, it is about C sections. So I will give you a caveat now that even hearing me talk about it might be hard. Certainly listening to it if you've had a C section or maybe will if you're maybe going to have children at some point is really hard. So then as I, you know, sort of started listening I come to realize what it's about. It is a podcast that explores how women's pain is often minimized and dismissed. And you guys might know, the Retrievals season one, I have not listened to that yet. I know it was really popular, and I'm going to go back and listen immediately. But after the creator, Susan Burton, did that podcast, hundreds of listeners wrote in to share their own stories of inadequately treated pain. She said some of the most shocking emails were from listeners who said they felt everything during their C sections, from the scalpel cutting through their flesh into their organs being moved around. They felt it. Felt it. And so it says, cutting someone's body open and operating when they can feel it, that is not how it's supposed to happen. That's something from history or from war. Significant pain during a C section can't be something that 100,000 women experience each year, can it? And so this woman, Burton, set out in search for answers and uncovered a story not only about a widespread problem, but also about the people trying to solve it. I have never been more hooked from a podcast. Episode one. I cried six times. I'm not kidding. Like, I. I was in the car with my two friends, and they. I felt like. I'm like, thank God I'm not alone. Or Because I would be sobbing the entire time because I had a C section. What, not two years ago?
- [08:20]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [08:21]
Tina
And while the procedure was okay, so many of the things they're describing. I remember begging the anesthesiologist, please, I have this thing where it's like, a higher threshold. I need more medicine. If you're giving me, like, even Novocaine for a cavity or whatever it is, I just have this higher threshold than most people. And I was like, I promise I'm going to need more than what you would normally give. He's like, I got you. You won't feel it. Right. And I just remember being literally terrified because, you know, my epidurals didn't even work fully right. And so I'm like, that's one thing. That's one thing. But having an unplanned C section. And I was like, you just don't let me feel it. Mine was really traumatic because I had an allergic reaction to the medicine they give to stop bleeding, so I couldn't breathe. And I remember that feeling of being sort of strapped down, frankly, and not being able to breathe. And I thought, we lost our baby. Thank God she's fine. I'm fine. We all survived. But I just remember being that anesthesiologist was like an angel to me because I'm like, imagine if he. He wasn't paying attention or didn't believe me or didn't notice that I was turning blue. You know what I mean? There's so many things that could have gone wrong. Listening to this podcast brought it back, and I'm glad to have listened. It's an incredibly produced podcast, as you might imagine. Right? It's a. I think it's. What is it the New York. Is it New York? A New York Times podcast? I think so. We'll say it is.
- [09:51]
Hannah
But this American Life.
- [09:53]
Tina
Exactly.
- [09:54]
Hannah
If they previewed it on this American Life, it's like the most famous podcast. Exactly, exactly.
- [10:00]
Tina
So, you know, obviously this is well produced, but something Cassia speak of the baby. She's riding on her little scooter now, so everybody's fine. But the production of it's so interesting because what they did is instead of just telling their story straight, they're like, okay, picture this. A busy Chicago hospital in the south side of the city. It's a cool, crisp fall morning, whatever. And they sort of give you it almost as though they're reading a script and they're, like, reading you these notes. And then they pull back. Let's pull back and look at this and that. It was flawless. I mean, truly so incredible. I liked this for so many reasons. I could relate to it personally. It's emotional. You're hearing from people who have had really close ties to what they're investigating. But also, there is a baby light at the end of the tunnel. Something happened as a result of this. So it's not completely maudlin, like, oh, my gosh, this is a horrible thing that might happen. There's, like a resolution almost. And it was perfect for what we wanted it for because it was only four episodes. And I think that's all it's going to be because you get a beginning, middle, and end with this in, like, a very compact amount of, you know, time you're spending with them. All right, I confirmed there are four episodes, and it was just incredible. I sort of felt bad because the two women I was with don't have kids yet. And I was like, I. It doesn't happen that often. You know, I'm like, feeling bad because I'm like, oh, my God, like, this could turn a person off having children. But luckily it's rare but also still very, very valid. And holy cow, is it shocking. I just loved this podcast. If you saw my. I posted a little Instagram teaser. This is the loving lately I was telling you about. And that is the Retrieval Season two.
- [11:50]
Hannah
Well, I am definitely going to have to listen to that. You were just telling me your birth story. I was like a couple of weeks ago, because I'd never heard the whole thing from start to finish. And so knowing that you listened to that just after you had just recounted the whole thing happening again, you were probably already feeling like emotionally that was getting brought up again. And then you listened to this podcast. Oh, I love hearing stories like that about women, about medicine, about people's experience with birthing and with having children in general, including like adoption and foster. The whole system, and especially as it pertains to medicine is fascinating, heartbreaking. I'm glad that this one involves some hope and light at the end of the tunnel. So how a lot to unpack. My loving lately is much simpler, more boring, but still good. It is what I've been loving lately. It is the Estee Lauder Pure Color Replenish Hydrating lip balm. And it really is that like a hydrating lip balm. And I love having something on my lips. You and I have shared loving latelies, including the Elf, the one I just.
- [13:12]
Tina
Used as I saw you. And I love brought yours out.
- [13:15]
Hannah
Yes. And I love a gloss, but sometimes I do just want a lip balm. It has a little bit of a tint of color. And what I love about this is that it feels almost like a mix between a gloss and a balm because it goes on like a gloss, but it's not sticky like a gloss, but it's also not waxy like a chapstick. And I'm wearing it right now. It's very, very light. It smells so good. This is perfect for if you are going into work in the office or if you have to be somewhere, but you don't have a face of makeup on. And you don't necessarily want to put on a gloss or a lipstick, but you don't necessarily love the feeling of chapstick. This has been my saving grace. I actually keep one in my car so that I can have one in there if I'm didn't put. If I didn't put something on my lip when I was going to work or something like that. And I also love having it on my lips at night, like as I'm. As I'm after. I've done my face routine and my skincare routine because it just feels like my lips are getting this like hydrating bath before bed. I love it. It's so great. That is the Estee Lauder Pure Color Hydrating Lip Balm.
- [14:33]
Tina
Where did. Where did you come across this?
- [14:36]
Hannah
My sister got me hooked on it. I knew it. I was like, puts it in my. Yeah, she puts it in my box like every Christmas. And I just got hooked on it. And I was like, this is gonna be my new. Just.
- [14:48]
Tina
This is my.
- [14:48]
Hannah
Keep one in my purse. I have it in the car. It's a little on the expensive side. It's like 35 to $40 in that price range. This lasts a while, though. I would say that if I'm using it a few times a week, it lasts me months. Like a couple few months. So if you think about, you know, the cost per use, it's not too bad.
- [15:10]
Tina
Yeah.
- [15:10]
Hannah
For the amount of time that you're getting for it. But it is like, you know, 35, 40 splurge for a lip product, which I understand is a little out of the ordinary.
- [15:19]
Tina
But I mean, now and again, though, treat yourself exactly.
- [15:22]
Hannah
And if it's something that you're gonna use. I really have been using the cost per use thing.
- [15:27]
Tina
Did you get that from me?
- [15:29]
Hannah
The Estee Lauder?
- [15:30]
Tina
No, the cost per use. Because I talk. I say that all the. I say that all the time.
- [15:36]
Hannah
Yeah, maybe I. It's possible I heard it somewhere at some point a few years ago and I've. I love it. I use that, like, motto all the time.
- [15:46]
Tina
Yeah, it's a good motto. It is a good motto. So we can transition to latest read. I see my notes are missing from my script. If you don't know, it's actually kind of funny. I always have a script. Heaven forbid. I just try and talk about the books as though I've read them. Like, I always have a script and I see it, like, didn't save or something. So I'm just going to tell you about this book and see how I do. My latest read is Night Watching by Daphne Wollsoncroft. And this one, I know a lot of us got on our radar from Dennis at Scared Straight Reads. He's a friend of the show. We had him on a while ago at this point point. But I always trust his thriller recommendations because that's primarily his main genre. And why this one stuck out versus, like, some of the other recommendations is because this is scary. Everyone was saying how freaking scary it is, and I'm like, got it. Like, say, say less. I want a scary book. And they also said it was really good on audio. So what it's about is Nola Straight. She is a radio host. She Works nights and gets calls. And she lives in Portland, Oregon. And the calls she gets are stories of hauntings and cryptic sightings and just weird stuff from the listeners. And then she ends up getting this call from somebody, and what they're sharing is triggering some trauma that she had experienced previously because she got into this because her father was the host initially, and she sort of took over for him when he stepped away. And she is known for having a notorious incident or being a survivor of what they call the hiding man. So she survived. She's a final girl, basically, and odd choice of career, right, if you survive, you know, an intruder. But she decides to lean in and. And then the person that calls into her radio show is sharing details that make it seem like this person is back again. What I love my first note is, all right, this is giving me the five star feeling. I knew nothing about this. I knew very little about this. And I love a podcast tie in. I love a true crime tie in. So, like, initially, I'm like, yes, this is right off the bat, something for me. You also. It's very gruesome. Like, it's direct. Like, you are, you know, getting scenes of pretty brutal violence. And is it weird to say I didn't mind that. I liked it. I appreciated that the author went there because it felt realistic. It felt like, oh, okay, my God, like, this is crazy. And she really amps up the tension with this. There were some good red herrings, Will say. She led us to believe certain things, and I appreciated that. I think she wrote a good story and had me, you know, sort of questioning everything. Her dad is this very interesting character. He is somebody that's larger than life. And he seems to be sort of less concerned because throughout this, Nola starts to worry that she's being watched again. So not only does she think the hiding man's back, she's like, oh, great, he's watching me, right? And that's what I think this book did really well is give you. It plays on everyone's biggest fear of, like, a home intruder. Like, it did a really good job of that. I. I really enjoyed the reading experience, but it was not a five star read for me. And I can't really tell you why other than I know why. But I don't want to tell you right now because it'll be a spoiler. If you're a reader that feels like the journey is worth it, if it's a really good journey to get to the ending, and even if the ending is not your favorite, then you'll probably love this book. This one's being rated really highly and really favorably by a lot of people. And again, I did enjoy it. I just had certain particularities that I was like, oh, I wish that this or that would have been different.
- [19:49]
Hannah
Sure.
- [19:50]
Tina
The author herself, I didn't know this. I've never heard of her before. She actually is a true crime podcaster and I was like obviously, of course she is, because that makes a lot of sense. The podcast that she hosts is called Going west, the Going west podcast and is a true crime podcast that's been around for a while. So I'm like, oh, that totally makes sense. So I think if you like a thriller or want a thriller that you know, talks about serial killers that is very spooky and scary and is really good on audio, this one could be something for you. This book is Night Watcher by Daphne Wollsencroft.
- [20:26]
Hannah
I have had that one on my radar also. It sounds really good and I love that the author is a true crime podcaster.
- [20:36]
Tina
It made sense.
- [20:37]
Hannah
Back at it. So I will have to check that podcast out. I am going to segue us right into romance and talk about Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin. This is a book about Drew Young who is a self proclaimed book hater. Yes you heard that right. What I know. And she has always thought that the movie is better than the books. But what she didn't anticipate was inheriting her grandma's bookstore, the Book Nook. Drew is in way over her head even before the shop's resident book club comprising of seven ladies who are pure menaces and they begin to do what they think is best for Drew and Metal. And then we have the best selling author Jasper Williams, who is a hopeless romantic and he meets Drew at the Book Nook signing event and becomes determined to show her the beauty of reading. He curates a book bucket list in exchange for her to help exploring the local Denver scene for his current manuscript. And they go river rafting and try local restaurants. And Drew begins to connect with Jasper in a way that she thought only happened in fiction. But then there's some messy family drama that threatens to jeopardize the future of Book Nook. So Drew is navigating those challenges and reminded that real life isn't just big dreams and sweeping romance, but Jasper is the plot twist she never saw coming and he's writing a happily ever after just for them. So this was a cute rom com I have been wanting to read from Alexa Martin for a while. She writes some sports romances that I think she's a little bit more well known for. But this was kind of her traditionally published rom com. It came out in 2022 and it's been sitting on my shelf since the release, so I'm glad to have it finally knocked off my TBR shelf. This was such a quick read. I really did enjoy the community elements of it. That was my personal favorite part. The book club ladies were a hoot and a half, and Drew had a really great group of girlfriends too, that their friendship dynamic and their conversations were the parts that I remember the most vividly about this book. She had some really close relationships that really stood out to me. Drew genuinely not liking books, though, was a little hard for me to get behind. It was brought up a lot, which was kind of obnoxious. I do think the author tried to make it like an endearing, quirky character trait, but it started to annoy me a little bit personally. Jasper, though, was such a thoughtful romantic interest and I really liked him a lot. I think that he and Drew didn't make total sense to me, but they did have great conversations and they kind of grew on me as a couple by the end. I also did love the Love island references that were dropped throughout the book. While I don't think that this is one that will make a lasting impact on me and especially in my romance reading repertoire, I'm still really glad I read it. It was nice, it was easy. It's a great palette cleanser, and I would recommend it to lovers of a classic rom com. And that is better than fiction by Alexa Martin.
- [23:58]
Tina
I love that you did a classic rom com and I feel like I need a break from my intense stuff, so I might try that genre here in a bit. Yes, yes, I know Alexa Martin. I was thinking, I'm like, that author's name sounds familiar. She wrote this book. There is. It's a series, the Playbook, where it's like, I guess all football. I'm not sure. But book three, we'll insert the COVID here. Jonathan and I recreated it because it looks just like us. I mean, really, it looks really like us. Yeah, I don't. I do have the book somewhere. I don't know where it is, but it's like a big football player and then a, you know, blonde lady. And so I'm like, this is great. I want to read this because I don't know, it looks like us on the COVID so I'll have to try it out at some point.
- [24:43]
Hannah
Please post the photo of you and John too.
- [24:47]
Tina
Oh, I will. Oh, my God. I have to dig that out. Yeah, I did it on IG a lot.
- [24:50]
Hannah
See if you can find it.
- [24:51]
Tina
I will. Yes. All right.
- [24:53]
Hannah
Shall we talk about romanticizing our reading life?
- [24:56]
Tina
Oh, my gosh. How fun. Yes. And we have to thank a listener. Someone wrote in and basically was like, how do you read so much and find ways to do it? Having kids that are young and working full time. And so it sort of spun out into a, you know, how do we romanticize our reading lives? Because obviously we're both quite busy, as most of our listeners are. So I was thinking about some of the routines and some of the things we do, and I always find that when I take the time to romanticize my reading life, it's a better experience. Does that make sense? Like, I feel like when I'm really dialed into a book, especially if it's a really good one, that is my favorite reading experience. But you got to make time for it.
- [25:41]
Hannah
Yeah, I agree. And that can be challenging to do. But the first thing that I was going to mention and bring up, that has helped me immensely because I. I first of all want to kind of co sign all of the recommendations that are made all the time. Listen to audiobooks. Yes. Huge help. Read, you know, in multiple mediums in general, like on your phone, in the grocery line. All of those things are definitely helpful. Bringing your Kindle to a soccer game with your kids. In terms of actually, like, really romanticizing my reading life, I think that this, to your point, is something that just really enhances the overall experience and something that I have been doing for a while now that works for me. For me, it's at night. I think you got to pick the time of day that works for you. If you're an early riser or if you love a lunch break reading session. But pick like, 20 minutes out of your day during a time that you don't have to be attentive to anyone else. You know, like, for me, it's after kid bedtime. It's before bed. I like to get a cup of chamomile tea, and I like to spend at least 20 minutes. I use the Forest app, so I can't access any of the apps on my phone. I cannot pick up my phone. I take 20 minutes, and oftentimes that 20 minutes turns into a longer reading session. But even if it's just that 20 minutes, it's still enough to, like, really focus on my book, be intentional with it. And it's helped me also with my goal of reading More in print. And that's kind of how, for me, I'm making progress on that goal while also just really having intentional time with my book every single day.
- [27:27]
Tina
I love that that's such a good idea. And I'm sort of sad because right now it's been the worst. Not even a slump. It's just been the worst stretch of my reading life. Not because I can't find books. I'm just not reading because I don't literally have time because I'm being too social, really, is what it boils down to. But when I am trying to romanticize things, I do love to annotate. Like you said something or you didn't say that, but I know you do it. So in my brain, do it.
- [27:59]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [27:59]
Tina
Yeah, in my brain. That's with your tea. And you got your. Your. Your highlighters, you know, the ones that you like. What is it? Mr. Sketch.
- [28:07]
Hannah
Mr. Pen.
- [28:08]
Tina
Mr. You're very close. Mr.
- [28:09]
Hannah
Pen with a pen.
- [28:11]
Tina
Yeah. So, yeah, my best when I'm doing this is very niche and very funny. But when I'm really romanticizing my reading life, I am in what we call the wood room. It's like a three Seasons room, but it has these big sliding glass doors, and I'm in my recliner. Something about me is I am an indoor person, so I. But I like nature, right?
- [28:34]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [28:34]
Tina
I want to be able to see nature, but I want to be inside. Right. So I love sitting in my chair. I just got this chair, too. It's incredible. And it's. It's a recliner, so I'm sitting there. And it has pockets, too. So in the little pockets, I've included some highlighters that I hide from my kids because they tend to use them for anything. So I'm hiding, and I have sunflowers. Now my sunflowers have come up. So I'm sitting in my chair reading my book. And then I got my sunflowers that I can see in the birds. Visit them and Eden, again, a very niche, specific sort of setup. But I think if maybe you are an outdoor person and you have the ability to read outdoors, just sort of maybe taking a page from what Hannah suggested, taking the time to actually do it and making it more of a routine, but then also finding your space, like. And for me, that's not. I'm not going to read a print book if I'm sitting in the spot where I always sit in the living room, you know what I mean? Because the kids are going to be climbing on me this and that. That is more. Exactly. This is more removed. It's sort of a special reading spot. I also have one upstairs in my loft, which I need to use more than I do. But, yeah, I think. I guess my sort of how we romanticize is having a little different area carved out in your house, if you can do that.
- [29:51]
Hannah
Yeah. I think that that is such a good point for me. It. It's changed over time, but lately it's been working to do it in bed. I know a lot of people can't do that because it makes it too sleepy and they'll fall asleep. I like it. Especially if everybody in my house is already asleep. That almost kind of like wakes me up a little bit.
- [30:12]
Tina
Wow.
- [30:13]
Hannah
But I also do it at my desk also, which is where I record. Right here. I'll get my heating pad and my blanket, and I'll put on a cozy room on my computer.
- [30:24]
Tina
Yes.
- [30:24]
Hannah
Which I know again, for some people might not work because they really need to separate their workspace from their cozy space. I have a way of making my space cozy, and that works for me personally. But I think I like what Tina said about just choosing a special place that is either totally dedicated reading place or just a place that feels right to you so that you can be intentional and cozy up with a book.
- [30:49]
Tina
Oh, that sounds so nice. Now I want to do that, but unfortunately today's a busy workday, so.
- [30:53]
Hannah
I know, right?
- [30:54]
Tina
We will have to. Maybe tonight, though, when I get home, I'll do my 20 minutes and go in the wood room and, you know, make it a priority.
- [31:00]
Hannah
Or you could listen to. Listen to something. Although I don't know if you would consider that, like, relaxing, but listen to something while you do your face routine with that product that you brought.
- [31:12]
Tina
My wand.
- [31:13]
Hannah
Your wand. So you can, like, really do magic with the wand and then, you know, listen to your audio.
- [31:19]
Tina
I do like that. I do like to use my skincare tool as I'm reading on my Kindle. I love it. But. Yeah, I would also love to hear any sort of suggestions from the listeners how you all romanticize your reading life. Could be anything. Could be something specific. You know, it could be just building your tbr. Like, we want to know, obviously, we always want to sort of get suggestions from anybody else, but let's talk about.
- [31:40]
Hannah
Our new releases, shall we?
- [31:42]
Tina
Yes, let's talk about our new releases. And I just had a moment. I'm like, oh, my God, is this a new release? But yes, it is. This is a marriage at sea. This one's by Sophie Elmhurst. And the subtitle is a true story of love, obsession and shipwreck. And this one you might be familiar with. I had it on my Summer Bonanza list. This is a wild story. It is a true story of a young couple that gets shipwrecked. And their names are Maurice and Marilyn. And they're an odd couple. He is a loner, awkward and obsessive. She is charismatic and ambitious. But they share this sort of dream. They. They want to make sure that their lives, quote, unquote, mean something. And they share this dream of running away from it all. And they asked the question, what if we like, did that? What if we quit our job, sold our house, bought a boat and sailed away? And so they literally did. Maurice began to study nautical navigation. Marilyn made detailed lists of what they would need to take. And then in June 1972, they set sail. And for a year, it's all good. They are going deep in the Pacific. They're seeing like animal life, whales, they're seeing all sorts of stuff. But then a breaching whale knocks a hole in their boat and sinks it. And their boat freaking sinks, literally. And so what ensues is a jaw dropping fight to survive in the wild ocean with little hope of rescue. They were together on a raft, a rubber raft for four months. They nearly starved to death. And basically they have to find a way to survive, but also get along with each other.
- [33:19]
Hannah
And this is a true story.
- [33:20]
Tina
Obviously this is a true story. This is a true story. It's nuts, this that you're going to love this or not. And here's who I think will really enjoy it. If you are somebody that loves the idea of exploring a marriage, an everyday, ordinary marriage, right, that goes through, and the people in it go through something extraordinary and then have to go back to their lives when they inevitably come out on the other side. Pick this up. You'll really enjoy it. Because what I think the author did that was really interesting is she talks about their marriage. I wasn't expecting that. I guess I thought the whole thing would be them at sea, right? And about the rescue and sure, you have a lot of that, but I enjoyed the first two thirds more than the last piece. But also, you know, I get that because she sort of the author goes on to tell the story of the rest of their lives. And like, you know, after their big thing that happened to them, honestly, their lives were sort of just regular. And I think they felt a letdown as well. They even talked, I don't know if I should say this. But they even said once, you know, because you know, that they survive, obviously, like, that's, like, in the synopsis. Right. They even were asked that if they had to do it all over again, knowing they would survive it, would they do it? And they said yes. And that gives you an idea, I think, about the type of people they are. I liked it. I thought it was great. It was short on audio, maybe seven hours on audio. I'm holding the print copy in my hand now, and it does include pictures. And if you're watching us on YouTube, we'll include a couple pictures of their raft. Because I could not figure out. I'm like, how. How. How did they not get extreme sunburn? And you sort of see it. It has, like, a cover. But I really liked this. I thought it was enjoyable. The ending sort of let me down. If you come into this, the folks that won't like this is if you only want the At Sea part and the survival, the other parts are going to. Yeah, exactly. So I was like, okay, you know this and that. Right. But it still was a very enjoyable read. I'm not mad that I read it. And what an absolutely bonkers story. It was really interesting. So this one's A Marriage at Sea, a True story of Love, Obsession and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhurst.
- [35:32]
Hannah
I'll give her one thing. I have never even heard of a memoir like that.
- [35:37]
Tina
Right. So you said you. You keyed in on the thing that I. Okay, you said memoir. And I thought this was a memoir. And I didn't realize it wasn't a memoir until the last third. Like a big, dumb, dumb. It's a true story. It's a true story. So it's narrative nonfiction. So the author is some other person. I thought it was going to be a memoir until I'm like, wait a minute.
- [35:59]
Hannah
I'm glad I mentioned that then, because I was still sitting here thinking it was a memoir.
- [36:03]
Tina
I thought it was a memoir so.
- [36:04]
Hannah
Much about this couple. She.
- [36:07]
Tina
There is a previous book that was written, and I don't know if that was. I think it was written by one of the, you know, people. I can't remember if it was the husband or the wife. So she basically built on that and included a lot more of the marriage and sort of, you know, these other pieces. So there is an original, original one. Yes, exactly. There's an original one from the 70s, I think. And then this person, Sophie Elmhurst, wrote it. But I. Yeah, so I thought it was a memoir, but, yeah, I figured it out. But, yeah, if that sounds interesting, go ahead and grab it. It was a good read. All right.
- [36:37]
Hannah
My next book is one on my summer bonanza. It is great. Black Hope by Rob Franklin.
- [36:45]
Tina
Finally. I've been waiting, waiting.
- [36:48]
Hannah
Okay, so I'm also finally bringing a book that I absolutely loved. This book gave me six star book feeling.
- [36:57]
Tina
Hell yeah.
- [36:57]
Hannah
I have it right here. I listened to it on audio and highly recommend the audio, by the way, but I want to go back and annotate this because it was beautiful. This is a story about Smith, and at the start of the novel, he's been arrested for cocaine possession in East Hampton on the last day of a sweltering summer that leaves a young black Stanford graduate in a state of turmoil. It is just weeks after his socialite roommate's mysterious death and he is still processing the resulting tabloid spectacle. He is drawn into the court system and he finds himself in a unique situation because his class protects him, but his race does not. This novel is a dizzying journey through the New York party circuit, Atlanta's elite black society, and it ties in mystery as well with the search for truth about the night that his friend died. This book felt like the love child between Black Buck by Mateo Escorpor and Real Life by Brandon Taylor, which I don't know if you've read Real Life, but no. It was at times satirical and had that present mystery the way Black Buck did. But then it had this profound way of talking about grief, class and intersectionality the way Real Life did. I bring that up because I think that if you like either of those authors or those themes explored in literary fiction, you've got to pick this up. The writing was just so beautiful to me. It was smart but easy to sink into. It didn't feel inaccessible at all. I didn't have to figure out what it was that the author was trying to. I didn't have to figure out what it was that the author was trying to say to me, while at the same time it wasn't spoon feeding me. It just was. And in such a beautiful way. The storytelling captured and showed Smith and his life and his grief. But it also just had some really stunning ways to talk about addiction. I highlighted a lot of those sections. There is a part in this book where he has a friend who does something really scary as it pertains to the life of an addict, and they have this argument and conversation about it afterward that literally gave me chills. The dialogue and situational conversations in this book really stood out to me. I think if you enjoy literary fiction, Books that explore race, class, queerness, and the intersection between all of those things. Please read this six star book for me. Chef's Kiss. That was great. Black Hope by Rob Franklin.
- [39:41]
Tina
Oh, my gosh, I'm so glad you loved it. I cannot wait to read that one. And I'm even more excited now.
- [39:48]
Hannah
You'll really love it, Tina. Like, I'm very confident.
- [39:50]
Tina
Oh, oh, I'm confident too, baby. I can't wait. Now that you've read it, I'm like, great, let me go ahead and squeeze that one in.
- [39:56]
Hannah
Squeeze it in.
- [39:58]
Tina
And I love a thriller that has, like, something to say, you know what I mean?
- [40:01]
Hannah
Yeah.
- [40:01]
Tina
Now my book, Everyone is lying to you by Joe Piazza. I don't know that it necessarily has something to say, but it was freaking entertaining. So everyone is lying to you. It's about Lizzie and Bex, and they were best friends in college. After graduation, Bex vanishes, leaving Lizzie confused and devastated. Literally, like one was supposed to visit the other and then she just sort of ghosts her and it was just this really weird thing. But now it's 15 years later and Lizzie has been sort of following her former friend online for years because Becks is now Rebecca Summers. A traditional lifestyle, a trad wife, Instagram influencer with millions of followers. And she lives on a ranch with her five children and her handsome husband, Gray. Lizzie is living a quote unquote normal life. She is a magazine writer who's kind of struggling a little bit in the inner career and raising her kids. But then one night, out of the blue, Bex calls Lizzie with a career making proposition. She wants to give her an exclusive interview about her business venture and is going to announce something new. And she invites her to something called called Mom Bomb, which is a high profile influencing conference. And this is perfect for her because Bex is like, I don't know why she is reaching back out to me, but I could use this to jump start my writing. And so she decides to attend. But when they get to the conference, Bex goes missing. And Gray, her husband, is found brutally murdered at the ranch. And Lizzie finds herself plunged into the dark side of the cutthroat world of social media. Up. And she has to try and figure out what the heck happened. Was it her friend? Where is my friend? Where are her kids? What is going on? This one was so addictive, truly, I just ate it up. I think this gives really, really good insight on influencer culture. Now the main character, Lizzie, irritated me. I'm like, girl, you know, pieces of it. I'm like shaking my head at her. But like I also sort of felt in on it. Like I felt like the author knew that the reader would react that way. So I didn't mind that. Some of the twists I was able to predict, but not in a bad way, in more of a. Ah, yes, I got it. And, and I just thought it was a really good sort of execution. If you like, you know, podcasts or, or things that uncover influencer lifestyle. I'm thinking like Scamanda. It sort of gave me that vibe. Right. It gave me. Because you're really digging into influencer culture and what people will do about. If you're curious about trad wives and like sort of what is appealing for them and what they want to do with that. There's a really good side character in here that works sort of as a manager for Becks and I loved reading her. Lots of twists in this. This almost too read a little bit like a John Marr's book, if you can imagine, because you have a lot of twists and moral conundrums and just gosh, it was really entertaining. I don't think I was expecting to love it as much as I did, but I highly, highly recommend this. One of my favorite thrillers I've this year, it's Everyone is Lying to you by Joe Piazza.
- [43:11]
Hannah
Wow. I'm glad that you enjoyed that so much. I didn't even think that I knew you were reading.
- [43:17]
Tina
I read it in early July, maybe June. I read it a while ago, but it was really good.
- [43:24]
Hannah
Well, I'm glad to know that you enjoyed it so much.
- [43:27]
Tina
Yes.
- [43:28]
Hannah
So my next book is these Summer storms by Sarah McLean and and I have been seeing this book everywhere. So this is definitely a buzzy one. I hadn't really seen a lot about it and then as I was reading it, I don't know if that ever happens to you, Tina, where it's like you're currently reading a book and now all of a sudden you're seeing it everywhere. Yeah, so that definitely happened with this one. This is about Alice Storm, who walked away from her powerful dysfunctional family years ago. She chose a life far from their influence. But after the sudden death of her larger than life father, she is pulled back into the family's private island off the Rhode island coast for one last goodbye. She plans to keep her distance, but her father had other ideas. And in true dramatic fashion, he left behind a final challenge. Stay on the island for one week, complete a series of tasks and earn a share of the inheritance. So this week Ahead means dealing with her siblings, chaos, secret affairs, power plays, obsession, plus her mother's competitive games and Jack Dean, her father's maddeningly attractive right hand man. So I think I had the wrong expectations going into this book because when I originally had this book on my TBR, so Sarah McLean writes historical romance and like regional historical romance. So I was expecting going into this one a romance, but obviously reading that synopsis to you and then also looking it up on like Goodreads and New York Times and the storygraph, it's like, oh, this is her contemporary fiction debut. So I want to preface all of this by saying I think I had the wrong expectations going into this book. It is not a romance. While it does have have a romance in it. So this is really mostly a family drama, it is an inheritance game. And with books like these, I personally want to be deeper in the family drama. The inheritance game felt like it should have been higher stakes because it. It kind of is. You have this massively wealthy family with this father that died, there's tons of money involved. And so it felt like the stakes should be really high. And they were. But then there was also this romance thrown in and it kind of was made to feel lower stakes than I think it actually probably would have been. I don't know, it felt like it was cheapened a little bit for me. And also the privilege in this book was just really hard to relate to. I obviously love like a rich people behaving badly book, but I don't know if it was just my expectations going into this one were so out of what this book actually delivered that I don't think this is a bad book. I just think that if you're going into it, you really have to know what you are getting. You're not getting a romance, you are getting a family drama. But the stakes are not high. This is not a literary family drama. This is a contemporary fiction family drama with a splash of romance.
- [46:45]
Tina
A dab.
- [46:46]
Hannah
It was just a splash. Just a little, just a little dabble. And if that sounds good to you, I think that you would enjoy this. It was well written, it was well plotted. The characters were while insufferable, like well drawn out characters. So go into this one with the right expectations if you think you'll enjoy it. It was not for me. That was these Summer storms by Sarah MacLaine.
- [47:08]
Tina
Fair enough. And honestly, as you're describing it, I'm like, maybe I would like that. I don't know. I like an inheritance game. I like the sound of kind of reminds me of an Elan Hilderbrand. That's what it's making me think of.
- [47:19]
Hannah
Totally.
- [47:20]
Tina
Yeah. Okay. I was wondering if that was like the comp, but maybe like better written, More well written. Okay, cool.
- [47:26]
Hannah
More well written. Yeah. In my opinion. Obviously. I know a lot of this is subjective, but just, you know, sharing my personal thoughts as we're. As we do.
- [47:36]
Tina
Okay. I'm so excited about my next one, my shelf edition, because it is an early buzz or an early. I'm telling you about it early. It is the Truth about Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent. And you might know Liz Nugent as the author of Strange Sally diamond. And I loved that book. So I was so excited to see this one come out. There is no cover yet. It comes out on March 12th in 2026 and we only get five sentences. It says, if my sister hadn't been beautiful, none of it would have happened. Ruby Cooper and her sister Erin live an idyllic life in their close knit church community in Boston. But When Ruby is 16, she is involved in an incident that causes her family's world to implode across decades. The fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind. Ruby in Dublin and Aaron in Boston. Not that Ruby wants to think about the past, but the past can't stay a secret forever. That's it. That's all you get. And I'm like, I don't know, you know, her books sometimes like that. Yeah, I know, I know. To be clear, her books are dark. They are. I love Strange Sally Diamond. I also loved Lying in Wait so much. I loved it so much. And I'm looking at this website, it's Penguin uk and the covers, they obviously have different covers, but she has four books now and they've like made the covers go with each other. And it's so stunning. I'm like, oh my gosh, I want this. I'm showing it now if you're watching on YouTube because it reminds me of how Riley Sager does it or how they do his covers where there's like a color theme but you, you can still tell it's a sacred cover. It looks like they've done that for her books and I love that for one am a big fan. So that book is the Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent.
- [49:19]
Hannah
I am also bringing a upcoming release that I am really excited about. This one we don't have to wait quite as long for. This is the Black Carnival by Harlequin Grimm. This comes out our birthday week, October 25th. It is set in 1886, New Sarum, England. And we have Atherton Graves, who only knows a life surrounded by corpses amidst a rash of child deaths. He alone suspects they are the product of murder. At least that is what the ghosts in his mortuary tell him. But there is hardly time to hunt the killer. Aetherton has just sold a cadaver to a spiritualist at the notorious Black Carnival. And the town gang known as the Disciples are not going to take that lightly. Caught between a serial killer, a circus bursting with foul characters, and his spiraling madness amongst the restless dead, Aetherton will undoubtedly become the villain of his own story. The question remains, who, if any, will be unscathed by the rampant destruction that he has invited?
- [50:25]
Tina
Ah.
- [50:26]
Hannah
What?
- [50:27]
Tina
Give it to me.
- [50:28]
Hannah
Give it to me. That sounds so good. That's the Black Carnival by Harlequin Grimm.
- [50:34]
Tina
I love books that. So niche, that deal with cadavers, but, like, not in the weird way, like, I'm talking like old timey where they used to be sold to medical schools and they had to like do it for, you know, science so people could like dissect them, but they didn't have enough bodies. Insane. So that sounds.
- [50:54]
Hannah
Have you read Good Anatomy Red Stiff by Mary Roach?
- [50:59]
Tina
Yes. Have I read Stiff or is that the one I need to read? No. Have I read Stiff?
- [51:06]
Hannah
It's on. It's one that I. I want to read also.
- [51:10]
Tina
I have not read it. It's behind me. But I've read Working Stiff by Judy Melanick and TJ Mitchell and she's a forensic pathologist in New York City and worked there during 9 11, and it's just unbelievable. Loved that book and highly recommend it, but now I'm like, I need to get Stiff on my radar as well.
- [51:30]
Hannah
Yeah, I haven't read it, but I just know about it.
- [51:33]
Tina
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I. It's. It's a weird, morbidly curious. That's what we are.
- [51:39]
Hannah
100%. We sure are.
- [51:41]
Tina
Well, that's it for today. We thank you so much for spending a part of your day with us. Links to all the books mentioned can be found in the show notes. And if you enjoyed today's episode, you can help us by following wherever you live us in and by 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'd like access to exclusive bonus content and community, you can join us for $5 a month on patreon.com booktalk etc if you'd like.
- [52:07]
Hannah
To connect with us. You can email us@booktalk etcmail.com you can also connect with us both at Booktok Etc. On Instagram and YouTube you can find Tinabrechet and Hannah at hand picked books. Talk to you next week. And in the meantime, remember, everything's better with books.
- [52:29]
Tina
And one of them, she goes, oh, you're Tina. You're the book girl. And I was like, yeah, I am. I am the book girl. And it's so funny because they by the end of the trip they're like wait, you work outside of the podcast? I'm like I wish this was my full time job.
- [52:42]
Hannah
Right?
- [52:43]
Tina
My full time job. Yes indeed. You know, they're like oh, I didn't know you like, like I thought you were, you know, a podcaster. I'm like that on the side. That and many other things. Exactly.