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- [00:02]
A
You can't. You're not gonna be in here if you're gonna be itching. You hear me?
- [00:05]
B
Oh, you can't be in here if you snorting.
- [00:09]
A
Yeah, go away. Go on. Go upstairs. Go watch the house for me.
- [00:13]
B
Go.
- [00:13]
A
Let me know if anyone comes, okay? She does not want to leave. Okay, okay, fine. You're gonna be quiet.
- [00:22]
B
She needs a mommy.
- [00:23]
A
I know. Because John and Cassia are not home. So she's just up there rattling around. I guess she doesn't want that. Never comes down here unless she's like, by herself.
- [00:35]
B
I was gonna say, I don't think that I've ever experienced her coming down to come hang.
- [00:50]
A
Welcome to Book Talk Etc. A podcast bound to grow your tbr. I'm Tina from TBR Etc.
- [00:56]
B
And I'm Hannah from Handpicked Books.
- [00:57]
A
This is a conversational podcast about books and more from two Midwest Mood readers who are easily distracted by releases. And this week we are chatting about our May books on the radar.
- [01:08]
B
If you enjoy listening, we'd love for you to follow us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. And if you have a quick minute, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on social media. It truly helps us connect with other book lovers.
- [01:22]
A
Hey, Hannah.
- [01:23]
B
Hey, Tina. How are you today?
- [01:25]
A
Oh, my gosh, just fine. How are you?
- [01:27]
B
I'm great. Your bangs look fabulous today.
- [01:31]
A
Do they? Wow. They're just air dried for the most. Yeah, I was like, you know, I
- [01:37]
B
like it when you wear your hair. When you wear your hair wavy like that. Is this is your whole hair just air dried? Yeah, the whole thing.
- [01:44]
A
The whole. All of them. All of the hairs, yes. They're all air dried. Indeed. Yes.
- [01:50]
B
That looks so good.
- [01:51]
A
Thanks. I didn't put anything in it. I was like, I have a. I had like 15 minutes to shower in between meetings. I was like, let me get in there really quick. And this is what we left. We're left with. But thank you for the compliment. I will always accept compliments, particularly from other women. Someone commented on my one of somebody that follows me on Instagram, left me this really nice comment on my Instagram story. She's like, I hope this doesn't sound weird, but you look really pretty in this photo. She's like, I always like when another woman compliments me, so I thought I would let you know. And I was like, that is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. Yes. I said, I. I accept all compliments, particularly from ladies. So.
- [02:28]
B
Yeah, I agree.
- [02:29]
A
Except, anyway, Other than that, doing good. It's 80 degrees outside and I'm wearing a turtleneck, so perhaps not my smartest choice. It does have a short sleeve, so we've got that going. But I'm in the.
- [02:41]
B
But it is a sweater. Sweater material.
- [02:43]
A
Yeah.
- [02:44]
B
Yeah.
- [02:44]
A
It's light and it's also black. Yeah, we're on camera. True. Not going outside. I just know it's hot from the window.
- [02:55]
B
Have you kicked on the AC yet?
- [02:57]
A
Hell no. I'm trying not to. I don't want to put the AC on ever again. We just have a series of fans throughout the house. Actually, the fan. We will link it below it is. It was a loving lately. I think a year ago.
- [03:08]
B
I remember that. Yeah.
- [03:09]
A
The tower fan. We now have two. They are integral. Integral. Integral.
- [03:14]
B
Integral.
- [03:15]
A
Integral.
- [03:16]
B
Integral. I say integral.
- [03:18]
A
They're right. They're very important. They're a very important part of our house cooling system. So we will link them because they're so, so good.
- [03:25]
B
Ye. I just wrote that down. We'll. We'll link those again because we are inching toward warmer and warmer weather, and it happens fast. You get like one or two weeks where it's, you know, 65, 70, and then boom, it's summer.
- [03:38]
A
Boom. Here you go. Enjoy. But, yeah, other than that, having a good time. I mean, I went to the gym this morning, and I will tell you about my loving lately because we are talking about sports bras. Listen, my apologies if this does not interest you at all. I'll get through this quickly. But. But I am a gal that needs a specific type of sports bra. Like, I cannot just wear, like, a light, light coverage. You know, I need the ultra industrial, not going anywhere type of sports bra. So my very, very favorite one is from a brand called she Fit. I have had it for over four years. I love it. It's high impact. It zips in the front. I mean, this thing is like, it is a production to get on, but once you're in there, baby, you're not going any. It's got adjustable straps, again, clasp in the front zipper, and I love it. The only thing I do not love about it is that is retailing for $69. That is too expensive for me. I don't like it. Hannah knows you that. I love a bargain. And so I. I. John hates it. He's like, just buy a second one of the one that you like the most. This is dumb. Instead of trying to find a replace anyway, I have indeed, though, found a replacement that is about half the price, if not More. It is from Amazon. It is. Listen to what this is called. The Yvette front closure sports bra for women. Large bus support. Great. Thank you for that high impact for running. This one I got for 27 on sale and it's got all the same accoutrements. It zips in front. Good support. This one's slightly more comfortable. It's not quite as industrial as the one from she Fit, but that means there's a slightly less strong hold still. Very, very good. This one, though, does not have adjustable straps. If it did, it would be perfect, but it's just slightly less than perfect. And for a decent price, it is a decent dupe and I'm real, real happy with it. So we will link both of those down below in case anybody's super jazzed and on the market for a new sports bra, particularly if you are a person that's running with a large bust.
- [05:44]
B
Yeah.
- [05:45]
A
So my loving lately are two types of sports bras.
- [05:48]
B
Yeah, I remember. I love that these types of sports bras are being made and like, made more like there are multiple different versions and types of bras for different, you know, bust sizes. I remember when I was doing. I used to. I used to ride horses. And so one of the girls that I rode with had a very, very large bust and she had to wear three sports bras because then, like, that's just what you did. Like you just strapped it on so that when you're, you know, barrel racing, they're not flying here and there. But anyway, do you remember that?
- [06:26]
A
Do you remember when I first found out that you were a barrel racer, that I thought you were in the barrel, but I forget. I love it. I love that.
- [06:35]
B
How could I forget?
- [06:36]
A
Little hand. I just climb it inside of a barrel. I don't know what my visual was, but yes, it used to be that I would wear more than one and now I can get away with just one of these.
- [06:46]
B
Well, I'm glad. Yeah. Because they've. They are making them better now, which is great.
- [06:54]
A
Boob technology has gone. Come along.
- [06:56]
B
Boob technology. Heck yeah. Go women. That's because women are designing more things now. We're allowed to get it because we're allowed to now. Yeah, exactly. Well, my loving lately is a couple of. A couple of different things, but they're in the same vein. I have these two types of notebooks that I have really been enjoying, and I'm using them for two different purposes. I first found out about campus notebooks. I don't know if you've ever heard of them, but it's a. It's a brand. They're similar to, like, a composition notebook, but they're a little bit thinner. They're fully paperback, so they, like, flop open completely. And they also have a grid. So they're made with the, like, a bullet journal, similar to a bullet journal. They have the grid style, which is my preference. And they're also really cheap. So I first found out about these campus notebooks when shopping on stationery pal and also watching stationery hauls on TikTok. Guilty pleasure. That's like what I fell asleep to sometimes is stationary hauls, especially sp, specifically from stationery pal. And I kept seeing everybody unhaul these camp not unhaul, everybody haul out of their boxes these campus notebooks. And I was intrigued. Well, you can get them also at Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and they are very affordable. You can get a pack of five for, I want to say, like, $10. And I'll make sure to link that below. But you can also get them at Barnes and Noble for those who would rather shop there and Stationary Pal. I also like that there aren't a ton of pages. I've never filled out a notebook to completion in my entire life. And I don't need 200 pages in a little notebook like this, especially for the purpose that I am using this one for, which is my joy list. I saw this creator that I follow that was like, are you looking for a way to fill those notebooks up that you have laying around that you've bought because you love the notebook, but you don't know what to use it for? And she just ran down a list of all of the ways to use a notebook that's laying around. I will link that video if I can find it. She's one of my favorite journal creators, and one of the things that she said is she was like, just start a joy list anytime something makes you happy, like at your desk or whatever, write it down in this notebook. And if you don't have your notebook with you, just write it down on your phone and then put it in your notebook, you know, when you get home. So I've officially started a little joy list. I've got my. My little list started there, but I'm excited to keep filling that out. My other notebook that I've been loving is a little bit more basic, but it doesn't have the basic layout. I can't remember exactly what the name of this particular Moleskine is, but it is a Moleskine notebook. I will again when I link it down below. I'll link the specific layout of the Moleskine that I chose. But I'm using this one for work. This is my work planner. And it has one section of the notebook that is just normal lines, and then it has. It's already sectioned out and it has like footnotes on the side and the bottom. And I am definitely someone where I will write something down in my notebook and then I have, like three bullet points that I want to add to it later. You know, it'll be like one task, and then when I look at it, I'm like, well, that task is actually I need to write an email first, and then I need to write a marketing plan, and then I need to do X, Y and Z. And so this is really nice because I could get my thoughts down on that lined portion and then if I have an additional thought, I can kind of write something in the footnotes. So, yeah, so these are two notebooks that I have been utilizing a lot lately and have really been loving. And I got this particular Moleskin at Barnes and Noble also. So, yeah, I will. I will link those in our show notes, and those are my loving lately. These are my two notebooks.
- [11:00]
A
I am quite sure that we can never have too many notebook recommendations, so I'm always interested. I love, like, some people I've seen share, like, their journal ecosystems. I'm like, fantastic. I want it all. Tell me everything that you are journaling about. I want to know the different uses that you have, but because I think it is interesting. So thanks for sharing that with us. I. Guys, I'm running low on loving lately. I. My favorite things to bring are like, podcasts, but I'm not finding that I have any time to listen to podcasts or consume anything literally, other than audiobooks. So my reading's been going great, but I'm like, dang it, I would love to be bringing, like, TV shows or podcasts as Loving Lately, and I just simply can't find the time. So I'm trying to think of things that might be interesting. So bear with me.
- [11:51]
B
As always, a great recommendation.
- [11:53]
A
I mean, for some. But anyway, if you have any things that you would like me to consume and offer my opinion on, I would love to hear it. I'm always taking recommendations now. Well, I get to it anytime soon? Maybe, maybe not. But, you know, summer's coming. Maybe my schedule will allow to enjoy and consume some other things. But that's kind of where I was
- [12:14]
B
going to say your lovings.
- [12:18]
A
My lovings.
- [12:18]
B
My loving Latelies, you're always busy, but you've been particularly busy the last month or two.
- [12:24]
A
April is a nightmare. April is a nightmare. But it's almost over.
- [12:28]
B
It's hard to see beyond that when you're in it. Right. You're like, I have no time and I'm never going to have time again. But you will, mayhaps at some point.
- [12:36]
A
Literally. Oh, I have my morning activity, my afternoon, my evenings, and then I crash. It's everything.
- [12:43]
B
And that's also good that you sleep because. Oh, I'm a sleeper.
- [12:47]
A
I'll sleep like me no matter what.
- [12:49]
B
Yeah, just do everything between the hours of, you know, 10 and midnight. Don't recommend.
- [12:56]
A
Cannot imagine. I would love to do that. I would love to be awake from 10 to midnight doing something, but I don't think I need to squeeze any more productivity into my day. I think it's pretty well squeezed.
- [13:07]
B
I think. No, I think is a good choice. I've been actively trying to do it more where I'm like at least three nights a week. I need to go to bed, bed on time.
- [13:15]
A
Maybe someday we'll get it four nights
- [13:17]
B
a week, one day, bump it up.
- [13:20]
A
Dream big. Dream big. So speaking of dreams, would you like to talk about our mutual latest read?
- [13:27]
B
Yes, I am so excited to talk about this one.
- [13:29]
A
We are talking about the book of the moment right now because our latest read is Yesteryear by Carol Clare Burke. And I'm sure if you are listening to our show that you have heard of this book. It is everywhere. And we're bringing it today as our joint latest read because it is our book talk Etc, community read for April. And this is an anomaly. Usually we've already discussed it with our patrons. This time we have not yet had the discussion that'll happen next week on Tuesday with our patrons. So actually tonight, when you guys, if you're listening to the day this episode airs, tonight we're talking with our patrons. But Hannah and I are going to chat first. Now we know very little about what the other thinks. I made a video about it because I simply could not stand it anymore. I had to get my thoughts in the Ethereum. And I know, I remember, you're like, I have not watched it. I'm like, I haven't watched it yet.
- [14:18]
B
Yeah, good. Don't watch it yet.
- [14:20]
A
Don't watch it because it's not for you. Right. It's for, I guess, my own entertainment. But in case you're not familiar with the story, Yesteryear is about a traditional American woman, AKA A trad wife influencer who suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855, where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister. And this is a debut novel, which I actually sort of peripherally knew, but I'm reading it now, and I'm like, oh, wow, what a debut you're following in this story. Natalie. Natalie is your trad wife influencer. She lives in this farm with her husband and there are many children. I think they have six children. And, you know, they are portraying themselves as a certain way to the Internet and they're having a lot of success with it. Sure. Behind the scenes, there's nannies and other folks that are helping them, you know, keep the farm going, so to speak. And she is able to justify the fact that they're not on camera by saying, oh, well, I'm just protecting their identities. Right. She also deals with her haters, AKA the angry women, by just assuming that they're jealous and calling them angry women because she feels like she is living the dream. And then again, as the shorter synopsis stated, she wakes up one morning and the life isn't hers. And the children and her husband are familiar, but they're not exactly, exactly the same. Something is off. So what the hell is going on, basically is the crux of this story. And I can't tell you what it is. Why this took the reader Internet by storm. Like, I have no idea. I think.
- [15:59]
B
Yeah, because it really happened before it was picked up by the G. Was it gma?
- [16:05]
A
Gma, yeah.
- [16:06]
B
Yeah. Because I feel like I was seeing buzz for this. Well, you and I were excited to pitch it as a community read back when we were pitching our community reads as we do with our patrons. And that was what, back in February. And this didn't release until.
- [16:24]
A
Yeah, it was early 2026 that we were talking about this. I want to say we heard about it from one of our booksellers back in 2025, if memory maybe they were
- [16:33]
B
saying, this is going to be a big one.
- [16:36]
A
Yeah. From Forest Books. I want to see.
- [16:38]
B
Right.
- [16:40]
A
Somebody said that this is going to be a big one. And then I looked at the synopsis, I was like, holy cats, you're right. Of course, the marketing dollars go into it and everything else. But I also think it is a very of the moment story.
- [16:50]
B
Yes. The tradwives are. Are like the conversation around them. I mean, these influencers have been having a moment for a few years, but I now I'm seeing like there's a horror book that's coming out that's literally called Trad Wife.
- [17:05]
A
Trad Wife.
- [17:06]
B
And I think we're going to be seeing a lot of that in the upcoming publishing year or two.
- [17:10]
A
Yeah, there's been a lot already, and I think it's not stopping anytime soon, especially with this book. Here's what I will say. If you seen my video, you know that I did enjoy this book. I will say, though, this is not a thriller, so don't go into this one thinking it is a thriller, because it's not. It's almost genre bending because in some ways it feels like historical fiction a little bit. In some ways it feels like contemporary fiction. In some ways it feels like a mystery or suspicious suspense. I sort of landed with calling this literary suspense in that there is a mystery slash suspense element. But it does not have the pacing of a traditional thriller. And I think some folks were expecting that, understandably so, as it is, you know, sort of categorized in that way. But it's not a thriller, so setting those expectations early, I think is important.
- [17:57]
B
Yeah. On that same vein, I completely agree with everything that you just said. I will say, though, I mean, at least I felt that the story was very propulsive in the same way that a thriller is. It just. It isn't what you think of when you. When you think of, like a traditional mystery thriller. But there's definitely a what's going on element to it, for sure.
- [18:19]
A
Yeah, it's not a popcorn thriller, like, where it's like you're just gobbling the pages. But the pacing for me was really good. I was sunk. I mean, I was hooked from the beginning. One thing, too, that I think you also experienced was that I was expecting this to be more of a linear story. And it's actually told in two parts, sort of. So you're getting the present day and then you're getting. Okay, so you're getting the current year, and then you're getting the 1800s point of view. And I thought we were going to just be dropped into the 1800s and stay there. It's actually not that way. You're going back and forth. You're going. You're following her, Natalie, from the, you know, start of her family rising to fame. How did she build this empire? And then it's also following her in the 1800s, trying to figure out, like, what am I doing here? Who are you people? What's going on? Am I insane? All of those things, like. And she kind of goes through all of the emotions with that, and I quite liked that. I'm really glad the author spent so much time kind of giving us that dual narrative.
- [19:21]
B
Yeah, me too. It was, you know, when I originally read the synopsis or learned what the book was about, I did think that we were going to spend more time in the 1800s. And while we got a lot more, like, backstory on the character and more of, like, her life and kind of how she even became a tradwife influencer, we spent more time there than I was anticipating. But I'm really glad that we got that. And I agree with that choice that the author made, and I think that it made a really compelling story.
- [19:51]
A
I agree. Something else that I think helped me enjoy this is that I was aware of the author before I read this. Carol Claire Burke. She is a pop culture commentator on TikTok, and that's sort of where I first discovered her. And I. I wish I could remember, but she covered something. I don't know if it was Britney or, like, something that I was interested in. And I remember getting her perspective a lot and thinking, wow, this person's really articulate and puts together a really good video in a way that is respectful and not just, like, overly done and for clickbait and all of that. So when I got the physical arc, I was like, oh, my goodness. I know this author from her time on social media. So I appreciated that, and I think it helped me frame this story because I don't feel like she was glorifying this lifestyle. And yet I also don't feel like she was necessarily mocking and calling it. Yes, shaming it. I don't feel like she was shaming it. Did you feel that way?
- [20:55]
B
No. In fact, I pulled up a quote from a review that I'm finally starting to dig into reviews a little bit more. Not fully, and I probably won't until after we've had a discussion with our patrons. But I saw this one quote. Oh, I wish I could remember the creator so I can credit them. If I find it, I can put it in the show notes. But this isn't coming from me. This is coming from another creator that I follow on Instagram. And I love what she said. She said, is. So Natalie's our main character in this story. She said, is Natalie a bad person? And. And she's also talking about, like, influencer culture. In this quote. She says, is this bad or just a successful product of the people that she surrounds herself with? And I thought that that kind of tied into the point, too, of, like, what makes these people the way they are. Is this culture in and of itself bad? Or are some of the people in it just products of these certain environments? And you know, what in it is good? What's neutral, what's bad, what's none of the. And to your point, like, I don't know if she was really trying to tell us what to think necessarily. And I love when stories do that. I really don't love to be told exactly. I mean, I do sometimes. I do sometimes, but. Yeah, but in this case, I really like that there was some nuance there.
- [22:19]
A
I thought there was plenty of nuance, too. And I'm completely with you. It's more like, what am I feeling right now? Because it's. It. One thing I will say, this book will make you feel. It won't necessarily make you feel all good things. You might hate her and you might, you know, hate the story or whatever it is, but you're going to feel. That's what I always say. Entertain me. I want to be entertained while reading. If I love it or hate it. I think I was telling. Go ahead.
- [22:43]
B
I was going to say I was telling you a little bit of this last night when we recorded one of our bronze episodes together, that this is a book that I feel is easy to recommend to a lot of people because regardless of what you think about it, you're going to be entertained. And I stand by that. And you just brought that up like, this was a very entertaining read. And I completely agree. I think that's partly why it has been getting so much universal buzz, is because regardless of if you read a lot of pop fiction or if you read more thrillers or more contemporary or more historical fiction, there's kind of a little bit of all of that in here. And at the end of the day, it's just a very propulsive, highly entertaining story, which I think makes it a perfect fit for a book club.
- [23:30]
A
I was gonna say the same thing. Perfect fit for a book club. Book club. Members of mine, if you're listening, let's read this one because I would love to discuss it with more people. We're chatting with our patrons soon, but I just think. I feel like there's hard. Almost no bottom. Like, there's so much to discover with this. I actually did a tandem read. Well, not at the same time, but I was listening to it. I was reading it, and I was almost like not wanting to listen because I was enjoying it so much that I really wanted to savor it. So when I was finished, I went back and I annotated the entire thing, which was such a fun experience, and I feel like I got more from it the second round. I have so much more to say, unfortunately, I'm.
- [24:07]
B
We're.
- [24:07]
A
I think we're both trying to be very vague because of course, we want you listeners to read it on your own and experience that. I'm trying to think if there's any other universal things, any points I want to make.
- [24:18]
B
Well, I was going to ask you because I think that this is something
- [24:20]
A
that I thought of something too, I want to ask you.
- [24:22]
B
Okay. See, there's so much here. There is, yeah. So one of the things that I know that we have already talked about just a little bit, but that I think is not spoilery that we could touch on, too, to also give other readers who haven't read it kind of an idea of what to expect from our main character, Natalie. I think there's been a lot of discourse about whether or not she's likable, unlikable, et cetera. And I really liked what you had to say when we talked about it briefly off. Off the. Off the mic. And so I want you to share a little bit about some of your thoughts that you have about Natalie being a, quote, unquote, unlikable character.
- [24:55]
A
Well, you'll have to jog my memory if I don't say it again. But what I think. Okay, couple of things. When that was one of the things that I've been getting and the reason I read it early before our book club discussion was because so many people were like, tina, what did you think? And I am somebody that can be very. I don't want to hear many opinions before going into it. And so one thing that I, that did leak through, that I kept hearing is Natalie is so unlikable. And I'm reading this thinking, okay, when is that going to happen? When is she going to be unlikable? Is she a perfect person? No. Does she have these inner thoughts that maybe some of us have had ourselves sometimes? Yes, absolutely. Now, I don't condone the things she does because certainly I think there's a lot in here, you know, that some of it. Some of it is over the line for sure, and you'll read it and figure out what that is. But I also feel like she brought out the unlikable parts of myself. And in some ways I felt seen. I'm like, you know, been there, man. Like, I don't know what else. And I can't remember exactly what we talked about, but that was sort of the crux of It.
- [26:04]
B
Yeah. And I also think that the author abs. I mean, she knew what she was doing with Natalie. There's like kind of a theme throughout the book where there is a certain person in Natalie's life that's always like, can you just be nice? Like, can you just be nice? And how relatable is that? And it goes along the same phrase of women always being told, can you smile more? And it's like, can you smile more?
- [26:26]
A
Just be nice, Natalie.
- [26:27]
B
Just be nice. And it's interesting hearing so much feedback. And I thought that while I was reading it, I was like, I don't like her a lot of the time, but I think at the same time there is so much in her that is easy to relate to and hard to relate to. But you do. And I think that that her such a complex character. And I went back and forth on my feelings about her a lot, but after talking to you, I was like, confirm it confirmed my belief that she's actually just a really well written, complex, excellent character.
- [27:00]
A
I thought so too. Not one that you're going to love, but I feel like there's more to it. There's a. There's the surface level, here's what we're going to think about her, and then there's a lot more underneath. Not to say that like again, her motivations and we agree with what she's done, but I think there's a lot there now. And this kind of leads me to the question I wanted to ask you. There is a lot there because I think of how she was early in the book and the community she was brought up in. And I think with that there were certain expectations that she had for herself and that people put on her based on that. I am not somebody that would say I'm too familiar with religion. So I'm wondering for you who is more familiar, if you at all, what you thought about some of the religious aspects of this.
- [27:45]
B
I think that it's just really interesting because I think that like most of the people that I grew up with and that were in my friend and friends and social circles growing up were very conservative, evangelical Christian or just Christian in general. And so that was my religious experience. And it's so interesting to me seeing everybody in my friend group and including their parents, teachers that I had, et cetera, where they kind of ended up in relation to their religion growing up. And there really are like some people that went full traditional, you know, like they. They really went there. Then there are some people that fully deconstructed from that faith and now are like, living these extremely opposite lives that are very. Liberal is the only word I can think of right now. It's not like a perfect comparison or opposite. But, you know, it's just interesting to see. I think when you grow up in such an extreme environment, in any capacity, it's interesting to look at what extreme you fall in when you grow up. Do you fall into that same extreme? Do you completely detach from it and you go into this other extreme that's completely opposite, or do you just deconstruct a little bit and reevaluate, you know, how you live in that similar space? And so I know I didn't exactly answer your question, but those are the things that I was thinking about when reading it, knowing that I, you know, grew up not Catholic, which I think I think was the upbringing that Natalie had growing up. So I didn't grow up Catholic, but, you know, similar in a just religious environment in general. So I thought that it was just an interesting part of her character, and those were some of the things that I thought about when I was reading it.
- [29:38]
A
Yeah, no, thanks for sharing that, because I was, you know, some of it, she uses scripture and like, you know, there's definitely more of a conservative lens in some of what she's saying and what she does. And it also made me think. I feel like she took it to the extreme and in the be, you know, in. In the creation of. Of her account and. And her Persona online. It was the early days of Instagram, and so I think we.
- [30:01]
B
Which is so fun.
- [30:02]
A
Didn't know. Yeah, it was fun to see that. You know, I think we as didn't know what to think, and we sort of didn't know that that could be a career. And then, you know, I can see the tent temptation as to when you start doing certain things, the things that get a reaction, you're like, well, shoot, I want to do more of this. You know, Anyway, fascinating story. I think it was really well written. Folks. Keep ask. I've been asked this so many times. What's my star rating? And I. I think I'm gonna give it five stars. Initially, I said four and a half because, you know, there's certain elements that I would have maybe like to see different. But then I'm like, in terms of what I think, how I personally define a five star read? It's going to be a book that I look back on for the year. Oh, yeah, I read that in 2026. It's a book I'm talking to people about. It's a book that I enjoyed, you know, versus, like, oh, it's literarily perfect. No, that's not how I rate things. So I'm giving it five stars. I'm going to go ahead and print that out in my reading journal and make it official.
- [31:00]
B
Oh, I love that. My reading is. I think I'm standing by that right now. I do have some, like, things that I. Some criticisms that I almost don't even want to bring up. Not because I don't want to share any negativity, but also I feel like a lot of them go into spoiler territory. And it's like, oh, these are things that I can probably talk about, like, when discussing the book, but I don't think everybody's going to have that same experience. Some of them are a little bit more personal to me and, you know, my relationship to influencer culture and things like that. So I don't even think they're fully worth mentioning here. I'll say. I don't think it's a perfect book, but do I think it's highly entertaining? Yes. Do I think it's great for a book club? Yes. Did I love talking about it with you? Yes, I loved talking about it with you. And I think that there's a lot to love here, and I 100% get why it's getting all the buzz that it's getting right now.
- [31:49]
A
Yeah, well said, man. And that's why it's so, like, star ratings are so subjective because there are so many things based on your own Persona, like what you would gravitate toward or what rubbed at you the wrong way. Like, there's no way for you to tell, but. But I feel energized. I enjoyed talking with you about this as well. I said this last night. I was worried you were going to hate it for some reason. And I was like, oh, man, we're going to have a hard time because we can disagree on books, you know, and it's something we've never. We've never not. You know, there's been times when we're like, oh, you liked it more than I did, or vice versa. But I was like, man, I have so much to say, so much positive. It might be a harder conversation if you were like, God, it was terrible. But anyway, that's not the case.
- [32:28]
B
But I do think that this one, there is a lot to discuss, whether you loved it or hate it. I'm really curious when you are. When we have our book club discussion, I'm really eager to hear what everybody thinks. I think overall it will be positive. But I feel like our group of readers does tend to have a lot of not polarizing opinions, but just like they all have their very own unique individual opinions. And it's usually kind of across the board and so. Or not usually, but it can be. And I'm excited to see, like, where people land and why.
- [33:03]
A
You are so right. Usually with book club, the community reads we do, there's almost always people that are anywhere from two stars to five. Like, almost always. And I love that.
- [33:13]
B
And each community has a lot to say, and I. I love that it makes the conversations really dynamic and fun, so.
- [33:19]
A
Oh, I love it. All right, well, I'm ready to dive in and talk to you a little bit about some of the May books that I'm excited for. Honestly, at first, folks, I was like, is May a lighter month? Like, are we getting a little bit of a reprieve? Did you also have that experience?
- [33:34]
B
I had a little bit of a hard time.
- [33:36]
A
Okay.
- [33:37]
B
Finding some books to bring. I did.
- [33:39]
A
I had to dig a bit. And I'm really happy with the group that I've come up with. But I will say I'm like, okay, this is a good way. I honestly think it's a little bit of a tiny bit of a lull before, like, summer reading and things like that. But anyway, okay. Okay, I'm excited. I'm gonna start with one that I've been waiting for. And Hannah knows that this is one of my all time favorite authors, so I'm so excited. Not reviewing, but talking about Five by Ilona Banister. Ilona Banister, of course, wrote one of my all time favorite books when I ran away. And her book Little Prisons was also a five star read for me. So I'm really excited. This is a little bit of a departure because those two are more, I would say, contemporary fiction. This is kind of a literary suspense, I think. So in this book, it asks the question, have you ever tried to pass the time by imagining the lives of the strangers standing next to you? I am an only child. Child. I've said that before. And I grew up in a condo with a lot of units, and I used to do that all the time and be like, wow, there's people living in there and they're all like, doing their own thing, just like, right next to each other and they're not aware. Like, it fascinated me to no end to try and imagine what people were doing, you know, and what their lives consisted of. In this book called Five, it introduces Readers to five seemingly random people waiting for a train. But they're not just five people. From the beginning, we know that one of them is going to die. Soon, very soon. In five minutes, the next train to London will arrive and it will kill one of them. But before this happens, you will learn their stories. None of these people are saints. Readers might fall in love with the beautiful young man who is on the verge of gambling his life away. They might pity the cantankerous old woman who has fallen to the ground, who is yet refusing help. Perhaps readers will look away from the child throwing a tantrum or judge his mother, who is surely to blame. And some will be curiously compelled by the successful and damaged businessmen orbiting them all. These are the candidates for this morning's misfortune. But they, of course, don't know it. Only you know. And you, our complicit reader, will not be able to resist deciding who deserves to walk away and who deserves only five more minutes to live. This is a weird setup, but I love the sound of it. Very original. It breaks the fourth wall and asks the reader to be the judge, jury, and executioner. And I just know she's going to nail this because just gets the inner workings of people. And I truly can't wait. I'm going to read this as soon as I can. And this book is five by Ilona Banister, comes out from. On May 5th from Crown.
- [36:18]
B
Okay. Did you read this already?
- [36:20]
A
No.
- [36:21]
B
Oh, you haven't read it already? Okay.
- [36:22]
A
No, no, no.
- [36:23]
B
I don't know why I thought maybe you did, but okay.
- [36:26]
A
The way I said it, I was like, I'm so excited to review this for you. And I meant, like, to love.
- [36:31]
B
It's a loved, beloved author. Right? You're excited because. Because you have a feeling.
- [36:36]
A
I can't wait. I got to talk about it. Yeah.
- [36:38]
B
Okay. My first book is the one that I am also probably the most excited about. It's called John of John by Douglas Stewart. And this comes out on May 5th. And this is about John Callum McLeod. And he is out of money and doesn't have a lot to show for his art school education. And he takes the ferry back home to the island of Heron to find out that little has changed except for him and who he is. In the windswept croft where he grew up, Cal begrudgingly resumes his old life stuck between the two poles of his childhood. His father, John, a sheep farmer, tweed weaver and pillar of their local Presbyterian church. And his maternal grandmother, Ella, a profanity loving person who has kept a faltering peace with her son in law for several decades. Cal wonders if any lonely men might be found on the barren hillsides of home, while John is dismayed by his son's long hair and how he seems so unwilling to be saved. As lambing season turns to shearing season, everything seems poised to change as the threads of holding together the fragile community become increasingly knotted. I have not read from this author before, but I own both Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo and I really want to read both. They've just been those books that have been like looming on my shelves for a while and when I saw that Douglas Stuart was coming out with another book I was like, okay, I'm really excited about this one. I also really want to bump those other two books up on my TBR and read those as well because I just have a good feeling about this author. For me, another thing that stood out in the premise of this book that I think I'll be curious to kind of explore is it sounds like what our protagonist is experiencing is kind of juxtaposed posed with the lambing season and you know, it turning into shearing season and this like juxtaposition between his life and then farming life and how those two mirror each other. I don't know if that's what the author's trying to do. I haven't read it, but that's what I picked up on from the synopsis and that sounds interesting to me. So that's John of John by Douglas Stewart. It comes out on May 5th.
- [38:57]
A
Yes, I know that. That one is highly anticipated by many. It reminds me in its setup of Seascraper by Benjamin Wood. Kind of the father, you know, sort of lambing and whatever. Doing the job of your family versus branching out on your own. That's a book I really enjoyed, so I'll be curious to think to know what you think about it if you get there.
- [39:18]
B
Me too.
- [39:19]
A
My next book is a debut and it's called Mercy Hill. This one also comes out on May 5th and it is about four sisters growing up on the campus of the underfunded state mental hospital where their strong willed mother serves as the head of psychiatry. That sounds really good to me. It's about the Cross Sisters who have lived their entire lives on the sprawling grounds of Mercy Hill, the embattled Raleigh mental hospital run by their mother. Since childhood, JJ Caro, Mimi and Denise have been inundated and involved with their mother's mission. They will work alongside her to protect Mercy Hill from the fate of other state hospitals across the country, which are being gutted and closed one by one. After an incident involving the highest security ward, Mercy Hill faces greater scrutiny than ever. And Lisa Cross pushes each of her daughters even harder in the name of the mission. As the sisters cross into adulthood, the pressures of their isolated environment and mercurial mother set them on different and perilous paths. And as the battle wages on, the youngest sister and narrator Denise grapples with added responsibility that comes from being the last hope for their mother's dreams. This is set in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the hospital's fate hanging in the balance. And Denise recounts the transformations that shape and destroy her family, along with the landscape of the mental health care system in the United States. I think that sounds so good. I'm very curious. I love the fact that there's four sisters. I love that they're growing up in this mental hospital with their mom. I'm so curious about their mom and just all, all of it. It all sounds great to me, that book. Oh, I didn't say the author's name. My bad. I will tell you now, though. That book is Mercy Hill by Hannah Thurman.
- [41:05]
B
I did not see this one come up when I was looking for my books. I am also now very curious and intrigued by this one.
- [41:14]
A
You book, for sure.
- [41:15]
B
Yes. And it's narrated by Christine Lakin, which is one of my favorite narrators for those of you who pick up books by the narrator, which I oftentimes do. And also it's set in. In Raleigh, which is a place that I lived for a while.
- [41:29]
A
So I was like, reading this, and
- [41:31]
B
I'm one of four sisters.
- [41:32]
A
This might be Hannah's. Anyway, feel free to read it and bring it and let us know what you think. But it sounds well, I'm just glad
- [41:38]
B
that you told us about it. So thank you. I love it when you bring books to my attention. And it's just such a good reminder, too, that we're two people who are very embedded in the book space and we can still be surprised by what's coming out there because isn't it fun so much. And it's so much fun. I love it when you put books on my list. So thank you for bringing that. My next one is Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey, and this comes out on May 12th. And Tina, have you ever read a Sarah Gailey book before?
- [42:11]
A
Yeah. Their books are wild and crazy.
- [42:14]
B
Yes, they really are. I am am really excited about this one because it sounds it Also sounds just bananas and talks to a really interesting concept I think in literature, especially the horror space. This book is pitched as similar to the movie Mid Summer, which Tina, I'm assuming you have not seen, but is a pretty popular movie in the horror and like indie film space. And I love when books and stories are comped to Midsummer. This one sounds like it's going to be a high dread, slow burn, psychological and folk horror novel. It's about Celia who is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family and to belong to someone. And that is why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival. This is held by the secluded community that lives there. So. So I definitely see the Midsummer tie in there. This community promises that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is going to happen here. There is no grief experienced at Kindred Cove because there's no suffering at all and nothing is ever lost. Celia knows that at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible ever growing reef, that she is finally going to find herself. She is so ready. She wants to be healed. She has to be transformed. She's ready to believe. She has experienced so much trauma and she just wants to belong. I am intrigued by books that explore cults, toxic belonging tactics that are used to coerce people into control. And we have Celia here who is suffering from loneliness and clearly some past trauma that she's experienced. And she's desperate to find that, that family feeling, that sense of belonging. And so she's drawn to this, you know, mysterious, idyllic community. And I just have a feeling it's not going to be everything that it seems to be. Sarah Gailey is an author that has worked for me in the past and I'm always eager to read more queer horror in general. So this is definitely on my radar. That is Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey.
- [44:32]
A
Yes, that one sounds very good. And I too am bringing a horror novel next. It is I Know A Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy. There was an introduction by the King himself, Stephen King. This is a horror short story collection and it includes the novella Rest Stop which I have already read and I really, really enjoyed it. And I heard that now Rest Stop is out of print because it is now now going to be included in this collection and I own a copy of Rest Stop and I felt so cool to know that. Anyway, it says there are locations in this world where the light doesn't seem to reach, where no matter how illuminated the place might be, shadows creep in too strongly to Fight back. A suspiciously empty gas station rest stop in the middle of the night, littered with googly eyes. A doctor's office where a bottle of booze and a tear stained folder wait on the desk. A tech millionaire's haunted kitchen. Kitchen. A bible quoting ventriloquist dingy apartment. And a yoga retreat in the middle of the desert. Silent except for the screaming. These supernatural and sinister locations are your destination and bestselling author Nat Cassidy will be your guide. That is so. Rest Stop is included in this along with a number of other original short stories, some of which have never been published before. These are going to be gory. Like there's no question. If they're anything like Rest Stop, it's going to be very in your face. Not relentless. But the thing that I love about Nat Cassidy's writing, I've actually read all of his books.
- [46:09]
B
Now.
- [46:09]
A
My favorite is Nestlings. Yes, I've read all of them. There's three I reckon. But anyway, they're always proper horror but also really well drawn characters are in it, which I think is hard to do and you don't always get. And I just love his writing for whatever reason and his books work for me. Oh my God. This is 512 pages. I did not know that.
- [46:32]
B
Wow.
- [46:33]
A
I thought this was going to be a little. A little 300 boy, but no 512 pages. So we are. We are. Get ready. Get buckle up. But I'm delighted to get this on my tbr. It is I Know a Place Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy.
- [46:52]
B
I love a horror short story collection or anthology collection. I just feel like that genre specifically works really well for me with those short stories. So that's exciting. I didn't know that Nat Cassidy was coming out with a collection like that. It sounds really good. My next one is one that surprised me. It was not previously on my radar, but when I saw it I was just really excited. It's called this Dark Night. Emily Bronte Alive Life by Deborah Lutz and this comes out on May 5th. So I'm bringing some nonfiction. I know we do have quite a few nonfiction readers so hopefully this is exciting for some of you listening. This one is about Emily Bronte and she lived from 1818 to 1848. She was only 27 years old when she began to work on one of the most important novels and English English language and it is a novel that just took the world by storm recently with the new movie adaptation and that's Wuthering Heights. She published Wuthering Heights in 1847, like, that's when she completed the novel. And it actually took the world almost a century to catch up to Bronte's masterpiece, and has taken even longer to know Bronte, who has been a very elusive figure within a ghostly legacy provoked by her very early death and the loss, and then it says in parentheses, and likely destruction of almost all of her personal papers, which is just so sad. Drawing on formally inaccessible notebooks and manuscripts, our author constructs a portrait of Bronte, her famous writing sisters, Charlotte and Anne, and the effect of their sisters and their mother's tragic death. In the first full length biography in over 20 years, renowned scholar J. Deborah Lutz sketches the days of a woman crafting otherworldly fiction while running her father's parsonage, writing, interweaving with household work, daydreaming and exploring the rough hewn outdoors. She traces the influence of Bronte's life and work and follows how Bronte's fantastical early poems of the night sky, women rulers and outsiders and rebels grew into the stormy and transcendent Wuthering Heights. Lutz also illuminates the overlooked ways that the legendary writer addressed debates of her time that still resonate very much in the world today, including questions of gender and sexuality, race and class, and rapid industrialization set against the natural world. From her menagerie of dogs and birds to the beloved moors that Bronte wandered. And later emblazoned in her novel, Lutz depicts the passions of an author at odds with convention, uniting the domestic and the cosmic. This dark night plumbs the life and writing of this idiosyncratic woman, dark soul and monumental genius. That's it. I'm actually still in the middle of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. And it's so interesting knowing that this is one of Emily's sisters. How similar Jane Eyre is to a lot of what I just read there in terms of like the description of the moors and just a really troubling. It sounds like childhood. And it's really interesting that some of that is bleeding even into some of her sister's literature. Literature. I would really like to make it a project to complete all of the Bronte sisters work and really study how their experiences led them to all write such rebellious and tumultuous literature, especially for their time. I'd really like to compare their work and see how it's different, how it's similar, and how their writing really shaped how they were impacted individually by the trauma that they experienced. It's my understanding that they experienced very significant emotional and physical abuse. And they both experienced inst. Institutional neglect, familial dysfunction. Again, all of which is represented in Jane Eyre, which I'm reading right now. So I just find their story really interesting in the canon of classic literature. And so this one caught my attention as I'm exploring more of their work in general. So that is the Dark Knight. Emily Bronte. A Life by Deborah Lutz.
- [51:14]
A
Well, that was very thoughtful. That was a lot, but very thoughtful. And I'm like, here you go. Here's a haunted rest stop. I don't know. People might die.
- [51:22]
B
In their squiggly eyes, we contain multitudes.
- [51:25]
A
We sure do. Oh my gosh. Well, to that end, my next novel is called I'll Watch youh Baby by Nina Veal. And it's horror. So just get, get ready starts in 1974. Lottie Turner is already infamous, running a wheel of schemes and scams. She's willing to work for what she wants in creative ways, but no business is more lucrative than desperate families looking to adopt a child. And there's only one way to procure children quickly and only. And the only way to take what's owed to you is to cross the line that no one else is willing to cross. Then, in 1994, Bless has finally found the family she deserved. After suffocating slowly with lackluster parents in a non starter past, she's found the friends that mean everything to her that she'd live and die for. And as they make their way across the country one smash and grab at a time, Bless is used to acting fast and thinking on her feet. But someone is playing along game. Someone has unfinished business. And soon Bless is trapped in the web of horrors, past and present, where the only escape hatch is a path that only she can walk if she can find the courage to take it. Apologies. I think I thought this was horror, but I don't think this is. And I don't know why I said it that way. Hover. You know, I had a struggle. It is. Okay, okay. I'm not crazy. It is. It is a. A suffocating and sharp narrative horror novel for fans of Victor Laval and the Reformatory. Okay, good. I was thinking it would be certainly by the COVID I don't know, man, this could be really good. Either way, I'm. I'm intrigued. This is I'll Watch youh Baby by Nina Veal and comes out on May 26th.
- [53:07]
B
What a great title. And I also love the main character's name is Bless. Bless, that's such a Good one. Unique. Like, yeah, that's a good. It's a good character. Name one that I feel like will stand out and you'll remember when you're reading it. Yeah, that one sounds really interesting. Okay. My next book is called Galen by Walter Mosley and this comes out on May 26. This is a coming of age novel from the MWA Grand Master and pen and Edgar award winner, Walter Mosley that explores love in all forms, romantic, familial and platonic. And it is centered around one black family, including a neurodivergent man, and the found bonds that help ground them. We follow Galen in this novel, a brilliant young black man and he is the son of two seemingly mismatched parents. His mother is a gifted scientist whose own mother expected her to exceed all of her achievements in her family. His father is a gentle cook at a small vegetarian restaurant whose idiosyncratic nature follows the young woman a radically different love and understanding of life, despite his inexperience and lack of education. His parents grand love story starts off the entire story and really sets us up to follow Galen and his family. And we follow them through each new twist and turn. The journey through Galen's coming of age tale as he ventures out into the world is marked with peaks and valleys and such a drive that you can't help but strap in for it all while never waiting for it to end. I love a family story. This one sounds like it's going to be very deep and emotional and maybe even romantic a little bit. So I am excited to give that one a try. I know this is a well loved and well known author. I have never read any of Walter Mosley's books before. I don't think that I can remember off the top of my head and I don't think I've read any of their work before. But that is Galen by Walter Mosley. That's out on May 26th.
- [55:12]
A
Yes, I have not read their work either, but I really should. They've been on my list.
- [55:15]
B
I don't know why I'm questioning that. I'm like, wait, have I. I don't. I don't think that I. I have. I don't know why I'm like hitched on that a little bit. No, I, I definitely haven't.
- [55:25]
A
I haven't read anything, so.
- [55:27]
B
No.
- [55:28]
A
All right. Are we going for one more?
- [55:31]
B
Yes, I have one more.
- [55:33]
A
I don't know why that accent is.
- [55:34]
B
Okay, I followed along.
- [55:39]
A
Last but not least, we have a new Stephen Rowley book coming out on May 19. And it is take me with you. Okay? It says, we are all alien, even to the people who know us best. College professor Jesse Delruth has been abandoned. Thirty years into their relationship, Jesse witnesses his husband Norman, get out of bed late one night, walk into their Joshua Tree backyard, step into a strange beam of light, and disappear. What? How could Norman desert him after a lifetime together? And where did he go? And most confoundingly, will he ever, ever return? Jesse knew that they were both feeling stuck, longing for something they couldn't quite name. But was there rut so deep that Norman's only option was to leave Jesse behind? As Jesse struggles to understand Norman's disappearance, he tries to piece together his new reality. Is he expected to wait patiently for a partner who may never come back? Or is this an opportunity for reinvention? He is, after all, alone for the first time in his adult life. Should he return to the classroom, put in a pool, get a dog, call his mother? What does it mean when you're alone? When you've always been one half of a hole? When Norman's sister Lally lands on Jesse's doorstep with an urgent request, Norman's absence becomes even more profound. Add to Jesse's grief and confusion a conspiracy theorist neighbor, a strange man following him, and suspicions that meet that he may have had a hand in Norman's disappearance. And Jesse starts to crack under pressure. With his husband missing and the world closing in, all eyes are on Jesse. But before he can understand how Norman could leave it all behind, Jesse must confront what it means to stay. Stephen Raleigh brings his resonant wit and emotional insight to an epic love story. An exploration of the forces that draw two people into the same orbit and the gravity that threatens to pull them apart. I don't know how I feel about an alien invasion, but I suppose I will find out. I don't know why not. That book is Take Me with you by Stephen Rowley. Man.
- [57:36]
B
Stephen Rowley. What? What are you doing? I feel like you're just branching out, man. He's just branching out out. I've only read one book by Stephen Rowley, and that was the Editor, which came out a while ago now, like five or six years ago. It was set in the publishing world, and I thought it was fine. And ever since then, I haven't, like, been reaching for Steven Rowley's books, but I know people really loved. He's the author of the Gunkle, right?
- [58:02]
A
Yes. He wrote the Gunkle and the Gunkle Returns and the Editor. I think those are the ones that I've read.
- [58:09]
B
I think I want to try the gunkle by this uncle. This one also just sounds interesting. Yeah, I don't know what sounds so, so interesting and different from his other stuff that he's done. So I'm glad you brought that. Okay. My last one is Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu. And this one is also out on May 5, and it also sounds kind of weird. So it's. I like that I'm bringing it right after you're bringing an alien invasion one because this one is also coming kind of. I think it's going to sit a little bit on the weird side. This is set on an otherwise unremarkable morning, and the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same ballistic missile threat inbound. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill. So confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Becket are stripped to their base basic instincts and it reveals their truest self. So Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question. Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter. Millie confesses her unrequited love. David hits the gas, speeding away from his wife and his child. And then a second message comes. False alarm. Please disregard all kinds of clear so first comes relief and then comes the reckoning as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of the decisions that they thought might be their very last. This is a debut and it follows a very eclectic cast of characters over the period of many years, suggesting that the conflicts the missile exacerbated were really simmering under the surface long before and providing ripple effects of the false alarm will be felt for years to come to come. This just sounds really unique. Like what a unique concept for a book and I love following debut authors, so I am excited to see reviews for this one come through as well. That's called Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu.
- [60:12]
A
Interesting. We are bringing some cool stuff this month, just as we thought we were going to slow down in publishing. And then you get Surprise, surprise. Exactly. Now I will share before we go, my current read. I am almost finished with Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas and I am really enjoying it. It's about a man who, his name is Emmett. He takes an experimental weight loss drug called Obexidine and the side effects are pretty catastrophic and they include potential cannibalism. So, you know, not ideal, but I'm enjoying it. It's a very interesting book and I can tell the author is writing this from a Lot of perspective. He shares in the author's note that he has struggled with his weight his entire life. And so a lot of he's like. It almost felt autobiographical except for, you know, the cannibalism aspects of it. And I should say it's horror and it's alluding to those things. It's not overly graphic on the page yet, although I have probably 25% left. But I'm enjoying it. I'm curious to see if poor Emmett's gonna get out of this, but that book is. Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas.
- [61:24]
B
I was excited to see that you were. Yeah, poor Emmett. I was excited to see that you were reading this when you shared it on your stories. I think it was. Yeah. So I'm excited to hear your review for that one. I am currently reading into the Blue by Emma Brody. Can confirm it is not a time travel novel. Thank you.
- [61:43]
A
I thought it was time travel for some reason. What is wrong with me?
- [61:47]
B
Not time travel? Well, it follows a TV set that is set on like an intergalactic. It's like an intergalactic show. And so there are some like, time travel y sounding things when they're talking about, like, the plot of this show on set. So when I was reading it, I was like, oh, I wonder if Tina wasn't picking up on this like, you know, intergalactic time thing that's within the show. That is in the book.
- [62:19]
A
Fiction, fictional show.
- [62:20]
B
Inside the book. The fictional part of the book, the actual characters, our main characters, our protagonists are not time traveling. This is a love story. It is sad, but I'm eager to see how it ends. But from what I've heard, it is a romance. So I'm hoping that, that it has a happy ending. But I don't know yet. We'll have to see. But I'm really enjoying the love story so far. I'm enjoying the setting being kind of Hollywood adjacent. The main character is a writer for snl, so that's a fun aspect. Overall, really enjoying it. I only have about. I'm over halfway. I'm like 60, 70% of the way through, I want to say. And I have a feeling, feeling it might be a five star. So we'll see. I'm really in. I'm. I'm really enjoying it. That is into the Blue by Emma Brody.
- [63:16]
A
Good, I'm glad you're reading that one. I'm excited to hear what you think.
- [63:20]
B
Yeah. Another buzzy one.
- [63:21]
A
Another buzzy one. That is it though, for today. We thank you for spending a part of your day with us. Links to all the books mentioned can be found in the show notes, and if you enjoyed today's episode, you can help us by following 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. 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.
- [63:48]
B
If you'd like to connect with us, you can email us@booktalk etcmail.com you can also connect with us both at Booktalk etc. On Instagram and YouTube. You can find Tina at TBR etc and Hannah at HandpickedBooks. Talk to you next week. And in the meantime, remember, everything's better
- [64:05]
A
with Books, Inc. What the hell word is this?
- [64:15]
B
Inculated.
- [64:16]
A
Inculated. Inculated.
- [64:19]
B
Inculated.
- [64:20]
A
Sorry, I knew that wasn't right.
- [64:21]
B
Very funny,
- [64:24]
A
Cook. Incalculated.