B (2:03)

Again, I love that for you. I take it you didn't open it. Like, you didn't take it out of the box.

A (2:09)

No, we never took it out of the box. If you want to type B for. For life over here, we had left it in our garage and I'm like, this is taking up space. Let's see if we can get money back for it. And also, our membership is coming up in like two weeks. And I'm like, okay, here's the deal. I'm going to renew my membership if they take this back. I didn't.

B (2:27)

Here's my deal.

A (2:28)

Here's my deal. You're going to miss out on my. My business. My three times a year that I shop there.

B (2:33)

My $60 a year.

A (2:35)

That's like 113 or something. Oh, is it definitely higher? I think maybe I have the pro membership. I don't actually.

B (2:43)

I do think that there are some levels. At least I. I know that there are with Costco. Like there are some levels. And I'm assuming it's the same with Sam's club because they are just a very similar business.

A (2:54)

Yeah. Well, I can't wait. I got Diet Coke waiting for me upstairs. But before we get into my groceries, I'll kick things off with my loving lately. I mean, really, my loving lately. I'm so sorry to disappoint. It's really more of a functional piece versus anything that exciting. But my loving lately is this. This here pen. So this is the frixion clicker erasable pen. It's a gel ink pen, fine point seven black ink. And the reason why I love this so very much, Somebody recommended this to me when I was getting back into book journaling. They messaged me and they were like, these are the only pens I use. You need an erasable one. And I was like, I don't know, let me try it. And so I ended up loving it specifically for my planner. This planner is nothing crazy. I think I got it from Staples, but I needed a new one because I used my other one. But what I love about it, I mean, obviously, as you might imagine, is that you can literally erase it. And not only can you erase it, it's not like you can erase it, just something you wrote recently. Like I just erased some. Something from here and you can't see it, but it pretty much completely goes away. And I love that. I am delighted, especially for a planner, because I'm always changing plans. Things get moved, things get canceled. I don't like white out. I don't like crossing things off, but I do like erasing. I also like how this writes. It's really a satisfying drag on the page. If you are a pen person, you probably know what I mean. It just catches really nice. It's not the deepest, darkest ink, but I don't need that for my planner. Like, I. I actually don't want that for my planner. My planner is insane. Literally. There's function.

B (4:42)

Functionality is the most important part.

A (4:44)

Absolutely. The function of these pens is just five star. I'm writing my. My planner is pretty small and so I'm writing a lot in these little Boxes and it's thin enough to where I can get everything in there. But it's also not so thin where I feel like I'm like what am I reading? It doesn't fade. Like I've been using these now since I bought them. So probably, I don't know, four months and I freaking love them. So this is my loving lately. I think it's $5 for three of them on Amazon. We will link to it. It's the pilot Brixian clicker erasable pen. The erasers right on the back. And also really good clicking.

B (5:20)

Oh nice. Did you say that you have the 1.0 or the 0.7?

A (5:25)

0.7.

B (5:26)

Okay. That's important to me to know what good. If it's like a book or are

A (5:33)

you a 1.0 person or a 0.7 or lower.

B (5:36)

For me it completely depends on what I'm using it for. If I'm just writing in my journal or writing a note. I like a bolder tip pen. I'm fine with a. With a 1.0 or a 0.7. If I'm annotating, I'll go as small as a 0.1.

A (5:50)

Wow.

B (5:51)

Because I like to write really, really small. So I don't discriminate on point size. I just use them for different purposes.

A (5:59)

But different pens for different purposes.

B (6:02)

That's right. I am a little bit of a pen freak. So I have one more question for you.

A (6:06)

Amazing.

B (6:06)

Is it. Is it lefty friendly with smudge? With the smudge.

A (6:11)

I. Well, try it out. I. Fun fact about me, I'm not fully ambidextrous but there are some things that I do left handed. For example, I eat left handed. So if I like with a spoon or fork, I will eat left handed. So let me test it out for you.

B (6:24)

Yeah.

A (6:26)

Marie,

B (6:28)

I like the test, the live testing.

A (6:30)

It does smear a bit. Yes, I would say it smears a little bit. So.

B (6:35)

But just a little.

A (6:36)

Just a little. Yeah. Nothing crazy. And I think too I kind of smeared it on purpose. I'll do further, further testing as throughout this recording. But I think by and large it's pretty okay.

B (6:50)

I really like. I really. No, I'm not. I just. I always.

A (6:55)

You want to know?

B (6:56)

I always.

A (6:57)

It really doesn't smudge too bad. No, it really doesn't on that second pass. So I me being a non lefty, I would go ahead and give it a stamp of approval because it really doesn't smudge too bad.

B (7:07)

Yeah. I love pilot pens. Pilot's a good choice. Okay, well, nice. My. My loving lately I am really excited about today. So it has a little bit of a background to it. But my loving lately is called the Folio Society. And this is a company. They take well loved, well known books, sometimes classics, and they bind them themselves in this cloth binding and they add illustrations to them. So one of our patrons, Sydney, so kindly gifted me a book from the Folio Society from one of their collections. She gifted me Hamnet by Maggie o' Farrell because this is my favorite book of last year. And she read it also and loved it. And we were able to chat about it a little bit on Instagram, which was so lovely. And for Those watching on YouTube, you can see it's just this gorgeous cloth bound book. It is. And inside it has these stunning illustrations here. And it's just so special for when you have a book that you really love and you don't, at least. I know for me I like a sprayed edge fine. But at this point they're not necessarily rare. And so it's really nice to have something that has been really well bound and is an actual unique edition of a book that you love. Right now I think that they have a. They do. They have a spring collection that's up that includes books like the Great Gatsby and the Martian. I saw that they also have a new copy of Howl's Moving Castle, which is one of their limited editions that they have right now. That is a book that the studio Ghibli movie was based on. I love the movie. I've never read the book before, but this copy on Folio Society's website looks absolutely stunning. So I would just encourage you to look at what they have and see if they have any collectors editions that call out to you from one of your favorite books. I feel like this would be such a great gift for like a family member who loves reading or who collects books like this. They have A Christmas Carol as one of their books and that would just be such a great, like Christmas gift. I feel like, I don't know, they have some. Some great things here that I think would just make some great gifts. So I seriously cherish this book and this gift so much. So, Sydney, I know I already thanked you privately, but thank you again for sending this to me. I have been kind of casually perusing their site to see what else they have ever since then. So if you want to check it out, that is the Folio Society.

A (10:09)

This is so nice. I. I don't know if I've ever really looked into it. I don't know if I haven't heard it. Anyone listening who is going to be buying Hannah a gift at some point. They also have a station 11.

B (10:21)

Yeah, I saw that.

A (10:22)

A really good gift for Hannah. And I'm like, I did see that. Yeah. These are so literally stunning. They're so nice. Also kind of a good way to, like, build your tbr. Like, I'm like, oh, piranesi. Like, I've always kind of been curious about that. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm like, oh, these are really, really cool. Great recommendation.

B (10:42)

Yeah. And I think some of the. The copies they have continually, like, they keep in their stock. And then they have these limited editions. Like right now, Howl's Moving Castle is their limited edition book that they have. Very expensive. I think their limited editions are rare finds. They're very pricey. But I think normally these books are a little bit more affordable for a collector's copy.

A (11:10)

They have a really nice. They have one of Stephen King's the Shining, but of course it has wings on the front, so I can't possibly get that.

B (11:19)

So scary. Wait, why Wings for the Shining?

A (11:22)

You know, that's actually a lovely question. And I don't know. I've actually never read that particular Stephen King. I've read or I've. I think I've watched either parts or all of the movie. I have no idea why Wings would be a part of that.

B (11:37)

I'm trying to remember. I have read the Shining before and I could think of like, a fire hydrant that would be a fabulous. Because there's a scene with a fire hydrant that's like, really scary. Okay, I don't think. I see. I'm trying to think. I don't know if it was in the movie. I've never seen the movie, but I've read the book.

A (11:55)

Oh, oh, oh. In the book. Got you, got you, got you.

B (11:57)

Cool.

A (11:58)

Oh, they have a bunch from Stephen King. Shiny cemetery love. Okay, anyway, time to get off this website.

B (12:05)

I know, right?

A (12:06)

It's so fun standing here forever. Oh, my gosh.

B (12:10)

A full set of Lord of the Rings. Okay, we're gonna. We're gonna.

A (12:13)

Moving on, hopping off. So. Okay, I want to tell you about my latest read. This is a Hannah request, actually, so I'm bringing today A Sharp Endless need by Max Crane. I had posted it March wrap up that I had read it and you had said, oh, I want to hear about it. So here we go. I am ready to chat about it now. This one I would consider a bit under the radar. I don't know of too many folks that have read this one. We picked it for our in person book club last month because we also did like a March Madness tie in. And this one is about female basketball players. Okay. This is what I would call a coming. A really gritty coming of age story. And you're following the star point guard named Mac Morris. It's her senior year of high school and she begins with two really big things that happen to her. Her father dies and a transfer student arrives named Liv. Liv is just as good as Mac is, but they play different positions. And so, you know, what could be a really competitive rivalry actually turns into a very intense friendship. So they end up. They end up playing side by side with each other on their high school basketball team and they discover an electrifying game winning chemistry. And if you're thinking that kind of sounds boring. I don't love sports. I could have used more sports. So I think it's used very sparingly because it's not about the sports in their season. A part of what they're doing is trying to decide where they're going to commit to for college, which I really enjoyed. Again, especially as we were, you know, kind of going and picking brackets on March Madness. I ended up picking, gosh, what school is it in here that they talk about a lot? Gonzaga. And I ended up picking them on one of my brackets. I. Cause I was like, oh, I'm reading about it in my book. But anyway, it's really not about basketball. They are on the court for some of it, but off the court they fall into an equally intoxicating more than friendship, one that feels out of bounds in their small Pennsylvania town. They both teeter on the precipice of adulthood and end up really dabbling in some, I guess, normal things, but things that are pretty, pretty tough, like sex, drugs and of course the looming college signing deadline. And really Mac gets caught. Her dual impulses of basketball, which is her life and has been her life her entire life so far, and self destruction. And Matt kind of has to decide what life she wants to fight for this one. I would liken to euphoria very much a. I mean, yeah, right. You're like, oh, okay, they're athletes. Yeah, athletes apparently in this world get up to some pretty hinky stuff to the point where I was like, Mac, could you just stop doing drugs for a little bit? Like stop doing that. Right. And I, But I, I also for me feel like, especially teen girls, I think a lot of it did read. Very authentic. I really love the exploration of their relationship. Mac is more open, I will say. And Liv comes from a very traditional family. And so the fact that she's even remotely potentially interested in another woman is pretty troubling for her. They copped this to call me by your name and the book Pizza Girl. And I feel like that's a really. Those are two really, really good comps. So props to the publisher for giving us those because I think that you get that weirdness, the outsiders, the sort of intensity that you're getting with with some of those books. And I think this one is a book for people who like to read coming of age fiction, who like books that have big feelings and who like sports. Of course, the. I will say the ending for me didn't 100% land. I would love to have had more, but I also am somebody that loves an epilogue, so, you know, I'm always going to say that I want more. I read Matt Crane's debut. Their book was. I keep my exoskeletons to myself.

B (16:13)

That a lot about that one.

A (16:14)

Love that one is fabulous. The writing is solid in both. That one, though, for me, was pretty exemplary. It's dystopian, it's queer, it's. It's really an interesting story. So I recommend that one even more highly. But I still do recommend this one. This book is called A Sharp, Endless need by Mac Crain.

B (16:34)

Yeah, I think that that's such an interesting age group to explore in general because it's kind of that in between from young adult into adulthood. And you can feel so lost. And it sounds like that was really explored in this one. And yeah, I wanted to hear you talk about it because it was one that I didn't think I was going to get to anytime soon, but has definitely been on my radar, so to speak. And I haven't heard a lot of other people talking about it. And so I'm glad that I got to hear a little bit more about it today. I'm going to take a complete left turn with my latest read and I am really randomly bringing the Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. Oh. And yeah, this was a book that I wasn't planning on reading or listening to. I listened to it, but it was on my husband's reading list and his therapist recommended that he read it. And so we listened to it together on a car ride. We had a long car ride recently. And. Okay, I'll tell you a little bit about this one. So for over a decade, Brene Brown has found a special place in everyone's hearts as a gifted map maker and fellow traveler. She is a social scientist and a kitchen table friend who you can always count on to tell the truth, make you laugh, and on occasion cry with you. And what's now become a movement all started with the gifts of imperfection. So this was the 10 year anniversary that I read, which is why it's kind of going into this. And that book was really, really, really popular and was sold in 35 different languages across the globe. And this book really tackles just effective daily practices and 10 guideposts to wholehearted living, what she calls wholehearted living. And these guide posts in this book kind of help us to understand the practices that will allow us to change our lives and our families and help us walk through what can feel unattainable and kind of sabotaging those negative thoughts and expectations that we put on ourselves along the way. Brene writes that this book is an invitation to join a wholehearted revolution. A small, quiet, grassroots movement that starts with each of us saying, my story matters because I matter. So I read Daring Greatly and Braving the Wilderness, gosh, almost a decade or so ago. And I remember really enjoying them and finding them insightful when it comes to, you know, these ideas of wholehearted living and assuming the best in people and becoming more free from shame and self judgment. However, I do feel like once you've read a couple of her books, they kind of all start to blend together and that's fine. Again, I think that her work is good and I think that what she has to say is valuable, but it's not like you're getting brand new information when you're picking up another book of hers. And Even with this 10 year anniversary edition, which just happens to be the one that my husband and I picked up and grabbed the audiobook for, for this trip, it had a new forward and I think she restructured the layout of this book a little bit to include these quote unquote guideposts. I think those guideposts were set up a little bit differently in the original copy of this book. I don't really know if that did a whole lot, and I'm obviously just being really blunt and brutally honest here, but I. This book was not bad. I enjoyed it. I think there's a lot of really valuable, there are a lot of really valuable tools here. And yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna leave it there in terms of my kind of opinions on it. I know that she has recently gotten some criticism because she gleans her results from qualitative research that she does, but then is kind of propped up and called a clinician. I don't know a lot about that. I just know that she has faced some recent criticism and this popped up when I was kind of researching her and her books before talking about it today on the show. So I wanted to bring it up and address it. She's also faced some criticism in failing to adequately credit black female scholars and this promotion of courage culture that some argue really ignores systemic issues like race and class. And it's kind of. Her work kind of centers on very privileged white middle class experiences while kind of presenting them as these universal experiences and. And ways of living. That said, there's an equal amount of critics and scholars who argue that she does give credit where it's due and doesn't claim that these ideas are wholly her own. So I didn't have enough time to fully deep dive this, but especially with all of the conversation around Mel Robbins and her work, I just think this is something that we should be considering when we elevate these white women. And I am not saying do or do not read her books. I am saying we should keep that conversation open and just make sure that we're thinking about that as we are reading these books and considering these ideas. So that was kind of a messy review of this book. It's been a really long time since I've read Brene Brown and I gu. Would I recommend it? Yeah, I think it was. I think it was fine. It wasn't personally life changing and there wasn't any new information for me personally if I were to recommend any of her books. I think that Daring Greatly is the best and most holistic one that she's written, in my opinion. That's just my opinion though, so take that with a grain of salt. But that is the Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown.

A (22:21)

I think that was a fabulous review. I think you brought up a lot of points that you know. One, I think you are somebody who's pretty self aware. And so I think where her books maybe are helpful are to folks.

B (22:34)

Sure.

A (22:35)

A lot of these ideas are first time and she breaks them down in ways that are accessible, which I like. I've only read her once. I read Daring Greatly and I really enjoyed it. I did too, but that was when it. I mean, dang near when it came out probably. So it's been some time. But yeah, I love that you brought a nonfiction. My goodness, we have to do a ticker. How long has it been since we brought nonfiction? I mean, maybe less for you. I feel like you brought a dog one.

B (23:01)

That dog book.

A (23:02)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, we've.

B (23:04)

And the Notebook one.

A (23:06)

And the Notebook one. So we're certainly not known for our nonfiction. Hannah does a little bit better about that than me, but thank you for bringing that one. Yeah.

B (23:14)

And when I. When I say these ideas aren't new, I more so mean in the Brene Brown conversation. To your point, we both read Daring Greatly a while ago, and maybe I'm biased because that was the first book that I read by her, and so that's my favorite. But when I've read, you know, Braving the Wilderness and then this one, it just felt like a lot of the information was pretty repetitive. And I think that you. I think that there's more meat to these conversations in Daring Greatly. But again, I might be biased because that was the first one that I read by her. So, you know, take that for what you will.

A (23:48)

That often happens, though. I swear, the first book I read by an author, I'm like, that's my favorite.

B (23:52)

That's the one.

A (23:53)

I know. I don't know why that is. But yes, it actually kind of ties into our book Talk a little bit nicely because we wanted to talk a little bit. I. Okay, I'm excited about this. So we're talking about how we vet books, essentially, before we decide to read them slash add them to the TBR and let me air my grievances. Currently, the book of the moment right now is a book called Yesteryear by Carol Claire Burke. People are talking about this. People are loving it. People are hating it. People are talking about this.

B (24:26)

I here's the book of the moment.

A (24:28)

It's the book of the moment. And hey, we're recording this on a Friday. Maybe by Tuesday when you're listening, it won't be. I have a feeling it probably still will be. I actually bumped it up. I'm reading it currently because I cannot stand it anymore because I am a person that wants to know very little going in. And people have been messaging me like, hey, I saw this. This person didn't like it. This person did. Which I love. I love all any and all book conversation, but it's also me knowing myself. I am an impressionable gal. And so I'm like, I need to read this immediately so that I'm not

B (25:02)

in swayed by all these opinions.

A (25:04)

Exactly. And so I have to air that out. You'll hear us talk about that. It is our community read for book talk. Et cetera. We're talking about it in a couple of weeks here, so certainly Hannah and I will bring it to the show at some point. But it brought up a really good idea. Like, how do we decide? What information do you need, Hannah, to decide to read a book or not? Do you read Synopses? Is it Vibes? Is it Cover? What is it all of the above. Yeah, right. Ultimately an amalgam of that.

B (25:36)

Yes. And I think it depends on who is recommending something to me. I think from some people, I'm kind of like, okay, if they recommend it, I know I'm gonna like it. But then there are some like. Like, if I'm just scrolling TikTok and I see I keep seeing a book pop up, then I might look more into it before I decide to read it myself. And in that case, I might read the synopsis or look at a review where someone does describe what the book is about. I. But if someone. If someone specifically that I know especially in person, is like, you should read this book. It was nominated for this. It's post apocalyptic and you're gonna love the characters, then I'm already sold. I already have enough that I need from that. Especially if it's someone who knows me as a reader. In the past, I would say I almost never looked up the synopsis. I feel like I used to just be an all Vibes reader, and I've just in the past couple years, been burned too many times and I only have so much time to read. And I feel like, especially because I'm pretty much bringing. I am bringing everything that I do read to the show. I really don't want to bring a bunch of clunkers I want to like. I know people think that it's fun to hear about books that I didn't like, and I always will be honest about that. But also, it's a book recommendation podcast. I really want to be recommending books to you more often than I am bringing books that. That didn't serve me or that I don't feel comfortable recommending. So I think that that's made me a little bit more careful in choosing what to pick up, and that has included maybe being a little bit more diligent about reading Synopses.

A (27:23)

What a fantastic answer. No, I mean, I have no notes. I'm like, everything Hannah said. Because it totally does depend. It's just so funny. And I was messaging someone on Instagram. Her name is Annie and she has a book account as well, and I could link to her, but it' so funny because I was talking to her about yesteryear and she's like, yeah, same. I don't like to know much about a book before going into it. And then I'm like, that is rich coming from us as people who talk about books online. Because literally what I just did was basically read you the synopsis for a few books. So it sort of makes me wonder if listeners are folks that are more amenable to the synopsis. Maybe you, you all tell us, do you skip forward, like maybe you fast forward until we get to the part where it's, it's us sharing our opinions. I don't like though, when people are sort of critiquing folks online for how they do their videos or their recommendations. And I've seen a lot of people say, we don't need the synopsis, just tell us what you thought. I don't agree. I'm also seeing the opposite though. Huh?

B (28:27)

I've also seen the opposite though.

A (28:29)

Really? You've seen people say I see the opposite synopsis?

B (28:32)

Yeah. Like you didn't even tell us what the book was about.

A (28:34)

I wonder if it's because we have those differing opinions. If the algorithm is like, this is going to activate you and this is going to activate you. So we're going to show you different critiques. So I am somebody, you know, and all of that is fair. Synopsis, no, synopsis. I am somebody who wants a little bit of a synopsis. I want to know just enough. That is such a freaking hard skill. You all know I'm trying to do better. I'm trying to make more like book recommendation videos, like off the cuff sort of pre planned books that I love. Book list videos too. And I love the people that are really able to get people hooked without giving them too much. That is a freaking skill, man. And there are some folks that are really great at doing it. But yeah, that's sort of what I like to see and what I try to provide. Like even in my new Release Tuesday videos, I'm like, okay, here's just enough to get the people excited when you

B (29:23)

say that you want to, like, you don't want to know a lot about a book going into it. Do you want, do you not want to know a lot about the synopsis or do you not want to be swayed by other people's opinions? Or is it both?

A (29:36)

No, I don't really. That's the opinions. I don't want to know what people thought about it. I don't want people's opinions about it. I Don't want that because I don't want it to.

B (29:48)

No, I hear you. It's not like an offense thing. It's not like a. I don't want to hear you talk about it.

A (29:51)

It's a. I want to read it first.

B (29:53)

I need to this first, and then I'll come back to this.

A (29:56)

Exactly. And I've known this about myself since I've been. So now five years since I've been podcasting, I can't listen to other podcasts or content creators talk about books that I have not yet read. Some of them. Who cares? Like, some of them are not, like buzzy or, you know, books that I'm really anticipating or ones that I think polarizing. Those especially. I don't want to see what people thought before going in because I want to make my own opinion. But I just have this. I don't know if I'm a mimic or what it is, but if I know somebody hated a book, somebody loved a book, it's going to potentially affect my reading experience. But this conversation, though, is doing for me. It's really bringing up an interesting point. We were talking about Brene Brown and her research earlier. I'm like, ooh, this is a research project. I wonder if people that listen to book podcasts like synopses or like their books pitched to them in different ways versus folks that don't listen to because they're like, I don't want to get too much. I don't want to get too spoiled and too in the weeds about it.

B (30:49)

You know, I feel like I. So I do listen to a lot of book podcasts and always have. Yeah. And I listened to. I listened to booktok, et cetera, before I joined the show. I've always been a podcast listener, and I still do listen to them even since joining the show. And I love hearing the synopses on a podcast episode. On social media, I tend to be a little more impatient, which is kind of the nature of the beast. And I'm indifferent. I don't mind hearing about it. I will. I will hold the right side of my screen and listen on two times speed, though.

A (31:24)

Sure, sure.

B (31:25)

So I feel like for me, it's almost like I have a different preference depending on what platform I'm on.

A (31:30)

Makes perfect sense though, right? I think podcasts do lend themselves, of course, to more longer form conversation. Kind of like the conversation that you and I are having right now.

B (31:38)

Yeah, yeah. Cause I feel like on social, I'm paying more attention to patterns rather than actual. I don't want to say rather than actual opinions, but it's more like, wow, I keep seeing this book in a post or I keep seeing people talking about this one. I've seen this book three times in my feed today. And then I will go and look it up for myself.

A (31:58)

Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm in the process right now. We're in April and we're sort of prepping for Summer Bonanza. It's our summer episode where we pick 10 books that we're both very excited about, about to read over the summer that published between end of May and early September. And I'm sort of what I do for that is if I hear something that I think might be worthwhile to look into, I just add it to my list on my phone and then, you know, when I'm starting to narrow it down. I've always wanted to be a person that samples books. We know that I'm notoriously not great with that and I feel like I can't glean enough from like the beginning. I saw somewhere somebody had this wild hair, this wild idea and what they said they do. Instead of just reading like, oh, I'm going to read the first page because you can certainly get something from that very first, that very first sentence. Like this one. The book I'm holding, she always suspected she would die young. That is a great opening. But somebody mentioned try opening the middle of the book and picking out a random area and sort of read that and see if that does anything for you. Because then you're in the meat of it and it gives you a better idea about plot and how the book is written versus just an opening sentence. Because publishers know that people are looking at the beginning. I thought that was really interesting. But if you're someone that's sensitive to spoilers, you might accidentally spoil sure thing.

B (33:21)

That might not be the option for you.

A (33:22)

Yeah, but I thought that was like a fun strategy. Maybe one I'll try, who knows. But to that end, I, I think we've, we've kind of covered how we vet books, how we decide to add them to our tbr and what the value of synopsises are. I will actually go ahead and review the book that has fabulous first sentence. And that book is Boring Asian Female by Kenwin Shu. This one does not come out until the end of April. Hannah, help me describe these books. It's not a weird girl book. I love books with very intense, obsessive female main characters. What is that vibe? Unlikable characters, obsessive obsessive I would say obsessive.

B (34:06)

Yeah.

A (34:06)

Love an obsessive character. And you definitely get that from this book here. Um, I brought this, actually, as my. One of my March, one of my April books on the radar. So you may have heard about this before, but this one is about Elizabeth, who uses percentiles to rank people. She's like, I know I'm only in the 10th percentile for likability, but I'm in the 70th percentile for attractiveness and the 99 percentile for academics. She has always, always had this dream of going to Harvard Law. She grows up in South Dakota in a very small town and has always sort of felt, even though she's from there, has felt like an outsider and has really des to go to a bigger city. So she goes to Columbia for undergrad, and now is the time, baby. She's applying to law school. And then the worst happens. She gets rejected from Harvard. Say what? So she really spirals as a result of this rejection and does some pretty interesting things to try and figure out why she was rejected. But she ends up becoming fixated on this woman that's in her class. Her name is Laura. Laura seems to have a lot of the same similarities as her. She is an Asian woman. They both go to Columbia. They have had sort of similar experiences. But she's like, I know I'm smarter than her. I know I got a better LSAT score and this and that. But she really ends up becoming obsessed with Laura to try and figure out why she was accepted and why Elizabeth herself was not. Many people are not going to like this. Many people are not going to like this. I loved it. I ate it up. I loved. I loved it. I loved everything about it. I'm giving it five stars because it was just one where you set it and forget it. You just enjoy the ride. You enjoy the insanity in our discord. I said, this is for fans of Best Offer Wins by Marissa Cascino. You get that obsessive main character that will stop at nothing to get what she wants. This also gave me a lot of the same vibes as Julie Chan Is Dead by Leanne Zhang, another book I loved. All of those are high recommendations from me. This one is slightly less over the top than those two. Slightly less. Maybe if I'm doing percentiles, maybe 15% less over the top than those books. This is probably in the. Yeah, this is in the probably 75th percentile for over the top. Ness. I loved it.

B (36:32)

I love that.

A (36:33)

I'm not gonna say anything more, but get this on your radar. I had a great time. If you love women that are sort of imperfect, obsessive and obsessed and annoying.

B (36:45)

Intense.

A (36:45)

And intense. Very intense. You gotta read this one. I. I loved it. It was a delight. That's Boring Asian Female by Can Win shoe.

B (36:54)

Yeah, it's like talk about a strong personality.

A (36:57)

Strong personality and a kind of a bad person. And you're like babe.

B (37:00)

Right? Right.

A (37:01)

I don't agree with you, but also I'm. I can't look away. I can't stand stop looking at you because what are you doing?

B (37:08)

That's funny. Okay, I am going to bring. Actually funny enough, I think that you brought Boring Asian Female to I think our most recent books on the radar. And I brought this one that I'm going to bring now to our most recent books on the radar and that is the Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon. Tina has already heard me talk about this and if you joined our Mood Reader happy hour earlier this week for our patrons, you also heard me talk about it a little bit, but I'm really excited to bring it to the main show. This is about a self running smart house and we're following a young and sentient Roomba who listens to her owner Harold as he reads aloud to his dying wife, Edie. Mesmerized by To Kill a Mockingbird and craving the human connection that she witnesses in Harold's stories, the little vacuum renames herself Scout and embarks on a journey of self discovery. It is as cute as you think it is. But Edie passes away and Scout and her fellow sentient appliances discover that there are sinister forces in their midst. The omnipresent grid, which monitors every household in the city, seeks to remove Harold from his home now that Edie has passed away and this is a place that he has lived in for the past 50 years with his family. With the help of Adrian, a neighborhood boy who grows close to Scout and Harold, as well as Kate, Harold and Ed, Edie's formerly estranged daughter. The humans and the appliances must come together to outwit the all controlling grid lest they risk losing everything that they hold dear. I keep saying it, but I'll keep saying it. Millennials who watched the Brave Little Toaster are gonna feel so nostalgic reading this. I told our patrons the other night during our Mood Reader happy hour, the live group chat that this felt like if Kevin Wilson wrote the Brave Little Toaster. And I stand by that. That it also had Robin Sloan vibes. Very quirky, but warm and tender hearted. Definitely on the weird side, but not so weird that you are pulled out of the, you know, depth and tenderness of the story. So if that sounds up your alley, I think you should definitely consider picking this one up. I thought that I was just going to fall in love with Scout, but I truly fell in love with all of the characters here. Each of these sentient appliances and cars and humans and their stories, their lives that were really entrenched in this tech world that they live in felt really. The story just felt really close to home. And it was honestly kind of a relief to see everyone's humanity still living in this world where everything has literally been created to not need humans anymore, and they were still craving that and still coming together in that with each other, both the tech and the humans. And it felt like just as we advance tech more and more, it was really comforting to see that even in the midst of pretty much complete takeover, these people and even their little appliances were rooting for, to quote the Artemis 2 crew, all of humanity. And that just felt really good. I wish that it had gone a little bit deeper, perhaps with its themes just on personal preference reference. But also, I think this book is lovely and I would absolutely encourage you to pick it up if you're feeling super bummed about, I don't know, AI advances and just the heaviness of the world right now. I think that this will provide some respite and healing without pulling you so far out of reality that you're disassociating completely. But there's also nothing wrong with that. So, yeah, I would. I would really recommend this. I think I was thinking four stars after I finished it, but I'm kind of leaning closer to a 4.5. I don't know if I'm quite ready to give it a five yet, but we'll see. The more I sit with it, the more I'm just really happy that this book exists. And that is the Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon.

A (41:10)

Great review. And I love that we are so particular. I've made a video that was ranking or sharing books either. 4.5, 4.7.

B (41:17)

I saw that today.

A (41:18)

And I still. I'm like, did I get it right? Like, because one of them I bumped down, it was a five star and now I'm like, anyway, I'm just glad to know that I'm not alone with my tinkering with my rating. Yes, that book sounds.

B (41:30)

I'm just not sure.

A (41:31)

That book sounds fabulous. And I love that you address that. It is human, right? It's got that human side to it. Because it sounds so good.

B (41:39)

Yes. Because in this world, even the main character, Kate, who's Harold's daughter, she. She comes home and her job is like, collecting data to help hackers not be able to hack into their AI systems. And I don't want to say anything more with that because it's kind of a bigger part of the story. But, you know, even these people who are very, like, just driven to find their humanity and kind of fight the system that is trying to destroy that. That she works in it, because those are the only jobs that are available now. And so just an interesting part of the conversation, and I. I appreciated that there was some nuance there in understanding just that part of the. The system. I don't know. I don't want to go any deeper than that, but it really does tackle some very interesting conversations.

A (42:37)

All right, that sounds like a good one. Normally, you are one, I feel that takes us in a left turn. I'm gonna take us to a serial killer book. If that's the. If it's fine with everything.

B (42:48)

Love it.

A (42:49)

Let's go. It is the Good Girl by Michelle Dunn. This one only has 1500 ratings so far. It came out. Okay, so I'm counting it as a new release because it just came out in the US last month, but it was out in the UK in 2024. It looks like this book, man. Okay.

B (43:07)

All right. This is one of the ones that you rated five stars, right?

A (43:09)

I loved this book. Yes. I did rate it five stars.

B (43:12)

Okay.

A (43:13)

Okay. It is about Grace. And Grace doesn't seem like the type of woman who'd have a man cable tied to a chair slowly dying in her house because she keeps herself to herself. She works at a coffee shop. She's sort of an every woman. She's friends with the people in the community. And yet also, she is a kid killer. She is. And so the story, this story basically follows two characters. Grace, who has this huge secret, and Detective Garda. Jerry Hughes. Jerry is a detective, and he is noticing a pattern of killings in his area. The problem is Jerry has known Grace and her sister for years and years and years because they came up in a very rough area of town and had a very rough upbringing. They were not well taken care of, but able to hide it well enough to where no real intervention ever came to fruition. So Jerry sort of has been looking out for Grace since she was a young adult. And now he is wondering, is this connected? Are the disappearances connected to Grace herself? And if so what am I going to do about it? So that's what this story does is it sort of follows these two characters as you're trying to figure out what's going to happen. This one is very dark. I mean, talk about dark. So pretty much every content warning I will say, though, the darkness is in spurts, especially in the very beginning. The very beginning. I'm like, oh my God, am I going to deal with an entire book, this type of brutality? And no, you aren't there too, too long. But it is pretty dark the entire novel. This one, though, has great characterization. The character of Jerry is fabulous. I don't always love detective charact characters myself, but this one was really, really well done. This author clearly did her research. She clearly understands child abuse and neglect and created these characters that you somehow feel sorry for even though you know that you shouldn't. And I love that this author was able to give us this nuance. It's also. Actually, where is this set? I think it's set in Ireland. My apologies. I'm not. I want to say it's set in Ireland. I think that's true. But my point with saying that is. I was going to say the setting is really great. Obviously not great enough for me to exactly remember where it's set. But what I mean is, I love. Because you're in the coffee shop a lot and you get some of these side characters that come in and out, specifically a character named Maggie was just really great to read through. I don't think this is one that's going to knock your socks off with its twists and turns. I don't think it's one that's going to really, you know. And I don't think it tries to too. I think it's a really excellent serial killer story that gives you the humanity behind. But it doesn't do it in a way that's really justifying killings. It's more so just giving you a complete picture of where this darkness might come from. Let's put it there. If you like books that are more of a why done it versus a who done it, I would recommend this one. And this one made me a little emotional because you really do come to care for these characters years. That's what it is. Cork is where this is. The author is from Cork. And so you can tell the author is from the place in which she's writing. And it just felt very realistic. I loved it. I really did. I think this one was fantastic. Absolutely. Highly recommend it. But again, only to those that are okay. With some pretty grim and dark stuff. It's not just the killings. It's also some other things as well, including stuff with kids. But I thought it was really good. I don't know what to say. I don't know. You know how I read this book is the Good Girl by Michelle Dunn.

B (47:07)

You know how I read. What can I say? What can I say?

A (47:11)

It's a.

B (47:11)

Well, I. Okay, well, I'm gonna keep us square in the dark and disturbing thriller. You said another word and I'm trying to think of what you said. But. But basically, yeah, I'm going to keep us in the kind of dark thrillery space. My book is Adrift by Will Dean. Yeah. So this one is about Peggy and Drew who are both aspiring writers and they move to an isolated canal boat with their 14 year old son. Peggy is really the glue that holds their family together. And their son is bullied relentlessly for his physical appearance and also his family's lack of. Drew becomes frustrated by his wife's sudden writing success. He moves their boat further and further from the city, from the town that they are currently residing in. With their increasing isolation, personal challenges are becoming harder for the entire family to ignore. Especially as they desperately try to break toxic generational patterns. But when Drew's gaslighting becomes so intense and too much for Peggy to take, it ends up setting off a catastrophic series of events. So I'm going to leave it there. This felt so different from other Will Dean books that I've read. I've only read two others of his and honestly I will say, I guess one similarity across all three of the books that I've read of his is that they're all set on the water. And I am actually only putting that together just now. They're all set in the water. I don't know if that's purpose was full, but I feel like in the past with his books there is this shocking reveal. I feel like at least with the two that I've read, that's kind of something that he is known for. This one felt so different because it was more of this domestic psychological suspense that doesn't necessarily throw you for all of these twists and turns out, but is really just an examination of what it is like to be in this really mentally and emotionally abusive home. And I didn't like it less because of that at all. I just think that especially when you have an author like this who is known for, you know, these shocking twists and turns, it's good to set some clear expectations of what to expect here. There is a resolution and there are definitely some reveals that I think add some texture to the plot of, like, oh, I see. Like, that's why this happened and that's why this happened. And I really appreciated that. But I would say that this is definitely more psychological suspense than straight thriller. And it really is a deep look at how abuse impacts families, from the children involved to the partners and the community as well. It was a really painful exploration of that and it's definitely dramatized. But at the same time, abuse like this does happen. It does have deeply negative impacts on someone's ability to trust themselves and think fully for themselves. And you really see that here. And there were times where I felt betrayed by Peggy for not, you know, maybe making decisions that I would have made as a person and a mother and a partner. But I also thought that that was a good reminder that people who are being treated like this at home are victims and the choices that they make are likely not choices that other people would make in a safe environment or that people would understand. And I think that that was really explored here as well. I can't speak from any of this, from experience. These are just things that I was thinking about while I was reading it. And I appreciate a thriller or a suspense that can get me to think deeply like this, this. So I know that was a really heavy one, but if it sounds interesting to you, I would recommend it. I gave this one four stars and that was Adrift by Will Dean.

A (51:23)

I feel like Adrift would go super well with the Good Girl. They have very similar themes like the effects of child abuse and long lasting and how it affects people, families, and the community. Good recommendation. I will cap things off with my shelf edition and I feel like this one's very timely because this is a love story set around the space race. I am holding an infinite love story by Chanel Cleeton. And this is an author I've not actually read ever. I know she's pretty prolific. Really? Okay. She does like romance. She does like historical fiction, but I

B (51:58)

think historical, historical romance, it's like a dash of romance.

A (52:00)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

B (52:01)

It's not like classic historical romance, but it's like historical fiction that has a love story thrown in.

A (52:05)

Exactly, exactly.

B (52:06)

Yeah, yeah.

A (52:07)

Okay. And this one is about an astronaut that gets lost in space and his wife who relives their epic love. She attempts to unravel what truly happened to him. When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It's 1968 and the country awaits with Anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the moon. And then comes the knock at the door. Joe Mitchell spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts on board are feared to be dead. It's his wife Vivian's worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In the quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that has felt as though it was written in the stars. As the investigation surrounding Joe's lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband's name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. Space. Then someone starts sending Vivian messages, messages she believes only Joe could send. And she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time. This one comes out in July from Berkeley. And that is kind of where I'm going to leave it. I'm really hopeful that this is very. That the Artemis 2 has a very different experience than what's going on.

B (53:25)

They're okay. I believe.

A (53:27)

I believe. I know, I know. But I'm like reading through the synopsis. I'm like, maybe don't read this today because it sounds.

B (53:33)

Well, we will all know.

A (53:35)

We will all know by the episode drops, we'll know that they've made it safely by the time you're listening to this. But this book, hey, if that sounds interesting, it's An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton.

B (53:48)

I think that does sound interesting. I didn't know that she was coming out with a new book, so that's exciting. Even though I've never read her. You know, if she's one of those authors where I'm like, oh yeah, they're coming out with a new one. Yeah, yeah, okay. I am Bringing A Beast Slinks Toward Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang. And I had seen this one kind of floating around, but then it was long listed for the women's prize. And so I was really excited when William Morrow sent it my way. This is about a woman who has not seen her father in 11 years, ever since he vanished from her life on her 14th birthday with no explanation. Then one day she receives a call. A man is waiting on the porch of her childhood home asking for her. He's older now and more fragile and burdened by a half forgotten prophecy. She is struggling with what she owes this near stranger. And he begins recounting stories from his past, his violent youth during a time of political upheaval and his own mother's life under foreign occupation, gradually circling the prophecy that ended up bringing him back. Longing to understand her family's history, she listens. But the truth proves to be darker than she imagined, and soon unsettling visions begin to follow her. Fox spirits are lingering in the shadows of her commute. A monstrous creature is starting to haunt her dreams, and this apparent prophecy is something that she cannot escape and is drawing nearer and nearer. So this is said to be a a like magical realism take at a family story. And I think it sounds really interesting and I'm definitely more interested in it knowing that it was long listed for the Women's Prize. So I oh I also really like the COVID It's got this rabbit on it that has deer horns. So anyway, just sounds really interesting. And that is A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang.

A (55:43)

That one sounds good and I was wondering why I had recently heard about it again and it's because it's the Women's Prize. Yes, very exciting. Well folks, that is 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. If you enjoy today's episode, you can help us by following us wherever you listen 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, please try. Join us for $5 a month on patreon.com booktalk Etc.

B (56:18)

If you'd like 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 Tina at TBR etc and Hannah at HandpickedBooks. Talk to you next week. And in the meantime, remember, everything is better with books.

A (56:42)

I like to mimic and that's not fun when you're actually talking to somebody from the UK or Australia.

B (56:48)

You're like me.

A (56:50)

I don't mean to mimic. I just can't help it. I just can't help it.