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- [00:00]
A
Hey, we've already been recording for 40 minutes. This is going to be a nice, juicy episode for everybody.
- [00:04]
B
Juicy.
- [00:04]
A
It's going to be juicy.
- [00:05]
B
Well, I mean, I did take a. I took us aside to see where beans come from.
- [00:11]
A
That was fun.
- [00:12]
B
It was fun. Welcome to Book Talk Etc, a podcast bound to grow your TBR. Hi, I'm Tina from TBR, etc.
- [00:29]
A
And I'm Hannah from Hand Picked Books.
- [00:31]
B
This is a conversational podcast about books and more from two Midwest Mood readers who are easily distracted by new releases. And this week, we are sharing our overhyped and underhyped books for 2025.
- [00:43]
A
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 and love our show, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or sharing us on social media. It truly helps us connect with other book love.
- [01:01]
B
Hey, Hannah.
- [01:02]
A
Hey, Tina. How are you doing?
- [01:03]
B
I mean, I'm delighted. I can't wait to chat with you. How are you?
- [01:07]
A
I am doing great. I feel like we have not talked a lot before this episode about what we're bringing or our ideas, and I'm honestly just kind of excited to organically be able to have this conversation and hear what you're bringing because I genuinely have no idea.
- [01:22]
B
I feel the same way. And frankly, I didn't know what I was bringing until about, you know, nine this morning because I was working on my script before work and I'm sitting there and I'm like, I feel like last year I was very clear on what my favorite books were, what my least favorite were. I was like, easy peasy, I've got it. I had my top 10 set and I just put it together this morning. My. What is my least top 10? Because I've read so many books this year. I was like, okay, I'm not going to bring books to this episode if I'm going to also bring them on the top 10. And I know, right? You're not as. You're not.
- [01:56]
A
I'm doing the same. I'm doing.
- [01:58]
B
You're doing the same. Okay, good. Okay. I was gonna say I didn't want to cross over. Fantastic. Okay, that's really fun because I didn't want to, like. Anyway, we didn't talk about it like we said, and I didn't want to pressure you if you brought one that's like a double dipper, but I have no double dips. But for that reason, I really had to sit down and say, okay, Here are my favorites or, you know, ones that I'm considering. Are there any I think are under over, yada yada yada. Now? Right now it is December 12th as we're recording this and we are taking a week off. So next week you will not get a new episode from us, but you will get a new episode from us on the last Tuesday of 2025, which is December 30, where Hannah and I are sharing our best books of 2025. So my list isn't finalized in this moment, but I have a really good idea. And I'm like, you know me, I'm like, can I find one that's going to kick one of these other 10.
- [02:49]
A
Off the list before next week? I guess two weeks from now?
- [02:53]
B
Yeah, I know we have plenty of reading time left. So before we get into our overhyped, underhyped, inappropriately hyped books, I want to share my loving lately. This might be the most embarrassing loving lately I've ever brought. I don't know if it's embarrassing, but.
- [03:10]
A
What?
- [03:11]
B
Sit with me for a moment because my loving lately is beantalk. Are you familiar?
- [03:18]
A
Like the magical fruit?
- [03:20]
B
Yeah, yeah, that beans. Exactly.
- [03:22]
A
Tina. I'm. I'm very familiar. I have a colleague and we share bean videos.
- [03:26]
B
Fan Tastic. I'm so glad you're on your wavelength. I'm so, so glad that you are on my wavelength. And I was thinking for you specifically. Okay, so here's the thing. Here's what I've been eating, specifically a bean salad. It's called a dense bean salad. And, and I've also been doing a bean sort of wrap for breakfast. And I've just. So this dense bean salad, let me tell you about it, I guess it's sort of a trend, but it was coined, I think, by this TikTok creator named Violet, who popularized this protein rich, no lettuce style salad in 2024. Although of course bean salads have existed for ages. But I think for hers, it just became her thing. It became her niche. And so of course there's a lot of other people that share their bean recipes for it. But you might be thinking, okay, why do we care about beans? Ok, beans are really, really good for you. They are delicious. They are easy because you don't have to cook them unless you want to, of course, but you don't have to. They're also really, really good for meal prep. They're versatile. And when you make something like the dense bean salad, the flavor sits in the fridge and it gets better. And better. So originally my lunch was going to be the dense bean salad. Now I've been eating it for breakfast because I'm not a breakfast person, neither is Hannah. And so I've just been literally eating this bowl of beans for breakfast and I feel great about it. So the one that I have been making, there's a lot of ways to do this. The one that I sort of have been taking a spin on is more of a Mediterranean dense bean salad. And so in mine, it. And of course, obviously you can customize this however you want to. My base were those Cannonelli beans. I don't exactly know how to say that word, but I think that's like a white bean. Yes, the white bean. I think I did two cans of those. I did cherry tomatoes, I did black olives, mozzarella pearls, yellow pepper, pepperoncinis and I think that's everything. And then you kind of just do whatever you want with it. I did like an olive oil. A little balsamic in there. No, A little red wine vinegar and then some seasonings there. And you toss it all together and you can portion this out if you, you know, have like Tupperware or whatever you want to use for that. Mine's just in a bowl in the fridge. And when I tell you it's just such a satisfying thing to eat, the flavor keeps and I've just been really happy with it. My other bean based item that I have been enjoying is sort of a bean taco for breakfast. Specifically, I've been doing the refried beans because that's sort of what I had on hand. And I'm like, great, let me try this out. So it's just a tortilla. You put a refried bean in there, you close it up, throw it in the air fryer for like, I don't know, two, three minutes. Gets crispy. There's your breakfast. Now if you are an egg person, throw an a scrambled egg in there. I then top it with some tamed jalapenos, which are like the less spicy jalapenos. Call it good. And so I've really been enjoying bean talk. If you're like interested, take one. And if you're somebody that has TikTok, take one moment to Google bean talk or search up beantalk in TikTok and you'll get fed a hundred recipes or a hundred people also talking about beans. Listen, I'm having a great time with it and I feel like it is a great way to get your fiber in that something that I just don't get enough of. I know that for a fact. And I'm like, great. If you eat a certain amount of beans per day, you're going to have a good time. So anyway, my loving lately. It's beans. That's my loving lately.
- [06:53]
A
Love it. I, I mean, hey, I brought cucumbers.
- [06:56]
B
Once, so you know what? Hey, we are versatile.
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A
We have to.
- [07:00]
B
Just like the mighty bean.
- [07:02]
A
Just like the mighty bean. Yeah. No, I love this. And I. Like I said, I have a colleague and we share, like, bean recipes with other. I think it started because she had just started at work and one of our first conversations was like, if we could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? And we were like, either beans or potatoes because classic. You could basically eat those two items and be okay for a very long time if you only ate those things. So anyway, that's how the conversation started. But I very much co sign bean talk. Love that you brought that so much.
- [07:37]
B
Now, where do beans come from? This is a legitimate question. I actually don't know. Like a Cannonelli bean.
- [07:43]
A
Don't they come from the ground?
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B
Are there.
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A
I could be wrong. No, soybeans, they come from a vine.
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B
Where do beans come?
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A
Because, well, like green beans and stuff.
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B
They're a lagoon. Lagoon.
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A
They're a legume. I've also heard. I. I don't know if you're asking how they grow, like how they grow, or if you're asking, like, what group of food that they go into.
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B
No, no. And more so I've never, I've seen soybean farms. I just, I'm trying to think. I've never seen like a bean farm. I think it's different because they are not really in the United States. Let's see here.
- [08:21]
A
Well, soybeans. We have a lot of soybean farms here in Michigan.
- [08:27]
B
I'm talking like a black bean, though, or like a caninelli bean. Where do we get it from?
- [08:34]
A
I'm finding it right now. Well, they grow from seeds. Wouldn't you know? That's what popped up. And then, yeah, they're vining plants. It seems like pretty much all of them, or if not most, are vining plants that produce flowers and then pods. I knew that about green beans, but it sounds like all beans are like that. If you are a farmer and you are listening to this and this is so painful for you to listen to, apologize, feel free to, you know, give us some knowledge on our, on our beantalk information and how they grow. Like they grow from vines.
- [09:14]
B
I could hear my husband slash our editor's eyeballs rolling into the back of his head in the future, and I'm sure he's going to find a YouTube video that tells me all about it. Anyway, just a fun aside. Wanted to know if you in case you were curious, that's what I've been up to. Tell us what you've been loving lately.
- [09:30]
A
Hannah okay, mine is a little bit different, but it's in the bookish space and it is a specific article from Book Riot by Kelly Jensen. It is an article Young adult has entered its awkward adolescence and it's teens who are losing out. And this was a really long article, but it was really interesting. And I feel like every once in a while a article comes out or comes along that perfectly articulates a shift that you've been noticing but haven't fully found the words to talk about it yet. And that was definitely the case with this article, and it was interesting to read because it's something that's happening in real time, the way young adult is drifting away from actual teenagers. And I've seen quite a few people talking about this on TikTok and Instagram, on social media in general, but I haven't seen someone so holistically describe everything that's happening and why in such a articulate and complete way. Between sales slumps and the rise of Romantasy even, and a growing focus on adult readers, specifically this young adult category that was meant to reflect adolescence is kind of aging out of its own intended audience. And I found this article just really smart and nuanced. And it's unsettling too, because it asks the question, if the bookshelves are labeled young adult but they're not serving young adults anymore, who are these books actually for? Because you can't say they're for adults, because then that would be weird or even wrong. Question mark. It's just a really interesting question. At the end of the day, young adult doesn't need to be rescued from adults. We read. We read across all categories, and there's no shame for any of that. Adults should absolutely be able to read young adult. And this article is not saying that adults shouldn't be reading young adult books. That's wonderful. But when the market begins prioritizing adult tastes over teen needs, then teens are the ones who are losing these literary spaces that are supposed to be built specifically for them. And her article really highlights the stakes here. If young adult continues to age up and flatten its diversity especially, and then market itself as adult romance, younger readers are simply going to drift away. And as we enter the age of social media and Gen AI, teens are losing access about stories about their own lives, and we're going to lose this generation of readers. And I just think that it's worth paying attention to. I didn't mean to get all like, womp, womp.
- [12:12]
B
No, I think it's.
- [12:13]
A
This article was really fascinating and a healthy young adult category ultimately serves everyone. So I think what I'll also leave you with is, first of all, just give this article a read. I think it was really interesting and it was encouraging in parts. I think if you're a teacher or a librarian or a parent, advocate for age appropriate young adult access, attend board meetings or respond to book challenges, or even support your local library's selection policies. I think this is huge in an era of just widespread book bans in general. And I also would say if you're reading young adults, review it as young adult and not adult books. I think that I have definitely fallen victim to that also and just support debut and marginalized young adult authors. Even if that's. If you're not buying or selling or reading them, you can even share them on social media. Visibility really helps keep the breadth of diversity and young adult books alive. So anyway, I'm gonna. I'll step down now. But a really interesting article. Definitely encourage you to give it a read. And that is why has entered its awkward adolescence and its teens who are losing out. An article on book Riot by Kelly Jensen.
- [13:27]
B
No, I'm really glad you brought that because immediately, as soon as you read that title, my first thing I wrote down is smut. Because I feel like there are readers who are adults who are sort of. And I don't know that it's necessarily a bad thing, but I can totally see that because I think those books that are very spicy are getting traction. And then it's sort of the idea that more and more come out because that's what people are buying and that's what people are reading. And then we've talked to this with some. We've talked about this with some of our booksellers previously, is that, you know, the books that are young adult, but they have these like really spicy plots and then there's like the animated cover or the illustrated cover rather. And then it's like, okay, why are my middle. Why are my middle schoolers reading XYZ book when you know what's inside of it? So, no, that's such a good something that you nailed it. I had. I can recognize it And I can intellectualize it, but I hadn't like named it yet. Right. Well.
- [14:23]
A
And that's where I was at too before reading this article, which is why I was so thankful for it. I just feel like she really was able to engage every aspect from sales to what social media has done to what we can do next to how these books are being reviewed. And I think that you also nailed it. And saying when adults frame young adult as spicy or not spicy enough, that is reinforcing misaligned expectations for what the genre is even supposed to be. And that's not to say that there shouldn't be like sexual content in young adult literature, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. And then when we're just talking about the book in that way, again, it just misaligns expectations of what teens should be getting out of it, which is not necessarily, you know, a spicy romance or romantasy. So it's a really interesting discussion and she did a really great job.
- [15:17]
B
I love that. And I like what you said too about adults recognizing that these are books for young adults and that. And that's kind of why I don't read a ton of ya, because I know that that is not for me. Like, I, I almost don't, you know, and maybe I'll come back into it when my girls get a little bit older and, you know, I want to start reading some of the things that they're reading. I do like some ya. It's just not a genre that I'm as close to as some of the others. So really interesting article and I'm glad you spoke up about that or, you know, sort of brought that to our attention. We are sharing latest reads today and I'm so happy to share this with you all because I have a lot to say, I think. Now I recently read A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar and this is one that I had brought, I want to say, as a shelf edition. And I. Or, or maybe it was to our mailbag bonus episode. I can't remember, but I remember I got it in the mail. This is an arc that I'm holding and I didn't know anything about it other than I've heard of the author because they wrote a burning. And then I was reading this along sort of live on air and I'm like, holy cow, this sounds so good what we're reading about here. It is set in a near future Kolkata and it is beset by flooding and famine. You're following Ma her two year old daughter and her elderly father, who are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma's husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They have finally procured their long awaited visas from the consulate. They're packing their bags and they're ready to go to America. They have their flights and their flights are in like three days. But one morning they awaken to discover that Ma's purse, containing all of their treasured immigration documents has been stolen. Which is absolutely devastating because you can't just get a new passport quickly, you can't just get a new visa. These things take years. Especially this book is set in the near future when things are even more dire. The book itself is set over the course of one week and it tells two stories. You're of course following Ma and her family as they try and find their documents and see if they can get on this plan plane. And then you're also following Boomba Boomba is the thief. He's the one that stole the purse. And you come to find out what is driving him. This is so fantastic. It is a book that will really have you questioning what's right and what's wrong. It's a book that examines the lengths you would go to to feed your children, to protect your family, and how that inherently means being selfish. And to what level will you take that? And why is it that, you know, some kids are worth feeding over other kids? This gets really, really deep. And what I will say about it is that you think, oh, the Guardian and the thief. I know what I'm getting here. I know who each person is. But as you read on, you find that things aren't necessarily as black and white as you might think. I would call this dystopian. I saw somebody say, wondering if there's a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthy's the Road Run for its money. Here you go. And I get that. I totally see that because this book is bleak, not just for the family. Yes, I felt for the family and Ma and you know that her dad and her daughter trying to get on this airplane because they are talking to her husband and he's so excited to see them, he can't wait. And she doesn't necessarily disclose to him right away that they're missing their documents because she doesn't want to freak them out. And gosh, there's just this really, really beautiful writing and passages that make you reflect on how interconnected we all are and how there's these people that you run into in your everyday life. And you don't know anything about them, and yet you're dependent on them. I'll give you an example. The school bus driver. I don't know his name, but, like, I depend on him every day to be on time and to safely get my girl to school. And it's just these little interactions that you have throughout a person's life that really, she really made me think about that. She also talked a bit about still having pride for your city and having pride for where it is that you come from. Despite its failings, despite, you know, the, the shortcomings that you have, you can still be proud of those things. I thought there was really good tension with this because, again, it only takes place over the course of one week. And so I was just reading this, like, what's going on? Are they going to get to get on this airplane? And I just think this book is really clever and dark. And when I first picked this up, I actually had to set it aside because I started it in early November. And things are happening in our current political climate that were really paralleling this in a way that was making me not making me take pause and sort of I had to take a step back from this book. But I'm really glad that I got back into it because I think I thought I was getting one thing. And the more I read, we got another. This is one where it's good until the last page. You're going to want to discuss this with somebody. And I am not surprised that it's an Oprah's Book Club pick, because I often find that Oprah chooses novels where maybe there aren't these likable characters, there's complicated ethical and moral issues, and you're not quite sure exactly what you want to say about this or what you think about it. But she sure gets you thinking. And so for all of these reasons, I highly recommend this. Also, not for nothing, the audio, fantastic, really well narrated. It's a full cast narration. And also they're doing these phone calls to the dad in the US and they do like this interesting, I don't know, audio thing where it sounds like they're talking through the phone. Highly recommend this. I thought it was stellar. It's A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Mahajumdar.
- [21:11]
A
Yeah, that sounds really good. I am bringing a book later that I'll talk about at some point on the show on this episode that is an Oprah's Book Club pick. And same thing. Just so many moral and ethical dilemmas. And she does such a Good job at picking books that are going to be really discussable for book club. Which makes sense because she is a book club.
- [21:32]
B
So she's not new to this book club game.
- [21:34]
A
No, she's not. She's been doing it for a minute, that is for sure. Okay, my latest read is a romance. It is called the Passion Project by London Sperry. And this is a story about Bennett, who runs Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date. She ends up making a alcohol fueled confession which is that she is not actually remotely ready to date. And in fact, it's been years since she has felt genuine connection and passion for anything at all. Not pottery, not sports, not any kind of craft, just nothing. And rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure. Bennett needs to find a passion for life and Henry is determined to help her find it. So every Saturday they plan to try something new in New York City as friends, of course. And that is hence the title, Passion Project. As this project to find Bennett's passion for life continues, the pair of them tackle everything from literally carpentry to tattooing to repelling off skyscrapers at one point. And Bennett slowly starts to feel her guarded exterior ebbing away as the story. At the end of the day, Bennett has to decide what she wants and if she is truly ready to move on from the things that have contributed to her lack of passion. Mainly the grief of losing her best friend with sparkly banter and tender hearted romance. Ultimately, this is a story about a woman in her 20s trying to find herself again after heartbreak. My first thought when reading this is that Henry was almost a little too cutie patootie cinnamon roll, golden boy. But he, he really was just genuinely such a sweet person and you really grow to love him. Throughout reading this one, he really grew on me. I loved the conversations that Henry and Bennett would have. They seemed really natural and their chemistry as a couple just jumped off of the page and very quickly. I never had to doubt their authentic care for one another as friends and then eventually more. I love romances that grapple with grief and this one did so in a way that felt deep and raw and meaningful and didn't make the happy ending feel out of place. She tackles anxiety with this one, depression, heavy sadness, while also having me giggling and kicking my feet. On the next page, both of our protagonists are dealing with loss here. Henry is slowly losing his father to Alzheimer's and Bennett has had the loss of her best friend that she is actively still grieving and dealing with. Which is two different types of grief too. You know, one on Henry's side where he is losing someone who's not yet gone, who is still there but it's still a loss. And then you have Bennett who is actually lost, someone who's passed away that she's been very close to. So I also liked that there were two types of grief that were explored in this novel. This book also definitely has the yearning and the pining. If that is essential for you as a romance reader, I approve. This has my stamp of approval for the pining and yearning category. There is also a moment in the story where there is only one bed, but the room has a ton of antique dolls in it. And I mean like a ton of them. And yeah, it was so creepy and all these dolls are like surrounding them in this room. And it was genuinely one of the most memorable scenes in a romance book that I have read all year. It was so funny and also cute. My one gripe with this one is that the ending, there's. There's a bit, there's a little bit toward the end. It's not the very end. The very end was fine. It was a happily ever after. And I was so relieved once we got to that point. But the third act conflict and Bennett, specifically her choices here, I found not only frustrating, but I truly was squirming. I wanted to throw up. Her decisions just made me absolutely bananas. I was having such a hard time and I know that those decisions that she was making have to do with the grief and the anxiety that she's dealing with. But I just had a really hard time handling it when it was over. I was just so relieved. I can't say more. But that is the one thing that kept this from being a full five star romance for me. Otherwise this is definitely one that I will be recommending and I thought it was sweet. I'm really excited to see what this author does next. And that is the passion project by London Sperry.
- [26:16]
B
You said so many funny things in your review. Just now, giggling and kicking my feet. I wanted to throw up. Cutie patootie cinnamon roll. Like you're just got the hits kept on coming with that but I'm glad that it worked, you know? Yeah, I love December reading. Actually. I love hate it because I feel like I'm such a, like I don't know. I. I do great with a project as we know. And so sometimes in December I'm like, I don't know what to read. I feel like I'm all over the place with it. But it is kind of fun to just pick up something that sounds interesting and ride with it.
- [26:49]
A
Oh, yes. I have been reading a lot of great books and just I think like you said, it is hard on the one hand because you kind of feel lost and you're like, wait, I can read whatever I want.
- [27:01]
B
What do you mean?
- [27:02]
A
But there's also a lot of freedom in that and I'm, I'm really enjoying that. So it's been fun.
- [27:06]
B
All right, it is time, folks. We love end of the year content. And as always, this is a book talk etc tradition. We are talking about the books that we found to be overhyped, underhyped, and appropriately hyped for the year. Now, of course, we're going to do a little caveat in that. I believe in offering critical book reviews, right? Providing there's context. And I think it's important. It helps us build our credibility. So if we happen to mention one of your faves as something we found overhyped, this is our personal taste. It's not necessarily us saying like, oh, this is a bad book. No one should read it. It's more so like, okay, this for me, in my reading taste, for my reading life, I found it to be overhyp hyped. And the very fascinating thing too about hype is that everyone's in different circles, right? So things that I'm like, oh my gosh, this is overhyped. I saw it everywhere. There's some people that could be like, what? What book are you talking about? Right? And same thing with underhyped. I really tried to bring ones that I know are a little more under the radar, but I have a lot of under the radar ones coming in my best of list. So I did not bring those today because I didn't want to have that crossover, but that I am excited to share.
- [28:14]
A
Me too. And you worded that so well. I think it also helps listeners to the podcast recognize, okay, are they more of a Tina reader or a Hannah reader? Or maybe a blend of both? Because you'll learn I tend to like books that don't work for Hannah or vice versa. And so it can also just help you learn more about what your reading tastes are. And it's definitely not a reflection of like Tina said, the book or the authors that wrote them, or you as.
- [28:42]
B
A person for enjoying it.
- [28:43]
A
Or you as a person for enjoying it.
- [28:44]
B
I'm talking to myself. I am talking to myself though, because sometimes, like, and especially now with YouTube and other places, I'll get people that say, this is the worst book I've ever read. And I'm like, I. You. You heard me just say it was my favorite for that year. And I don't take it personally, but I'm like, this is an interesting critique. So for me, I like to tell you why something didn't work for me or why I feel it was overhyped. Like, you won't often hear me just say hated it because, like, what? That's not really constructive.
- [29:10]
A
I also think context matters in that situation. I think that when someone says something was their favorite book of the year, that might not be the best time to say that you hated it and think it's trash. So I think there's room for all opinions, but there's absolutely a time and a place to share those opinions.
- [29:24]
B
Well said. Well said. Okay. And I'm saying all of this because I'm going to tell you my first overhyped book, in my opinion, and I'm so excited. Wait, do you want to guess?
- [29:34]
A
Oh, no, I don't think I could guess. I just. I just realized that we're doing this right now, and I am just so excited. Excited to hear your picks. Okay, tell us.
- [29:44]
B
It's Heart the Lover by Lily King. Okay, I know that is a popular opinion. For me, it was overhyped. I saw people in many different spaces talking about this and what Heart the Lover is about. Ultimately, it's about friendship, loss, and the lasting impact of first love. Now, this book is set in the same world as writers and lovers. For me, I read Writers and Lovers right before I read Heart the Lover. I sort of did them back to back, and I'm happy that I did, but it doesn't mean that I liked both of them. But I will say the two are connected. You can, though, read Heart the Lover by itself, and I still think get a lot out of it. I actually, I've heard readers say this before, and I don't often understand what they mean, but now I do. I found this to be emotionally manipulative. For me as a reader, there's something that happens that's very specific to my life that I don't love seeing in fiction right now. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be included ever, but it was just something that I'm like, oh, boy, here we go. I also didn't buy the relationship, and I didn't quite love the female main character, but I also didn't like how she was treated. So I actually had a lot of qualms with this. Or I had A lot of things that I'm like, this just did not make for a great reading experience for me. I'm glad it resonated with so many and that so many are loving him, but for this reader, it was just a bit overhyped. That one is Heart the Lover by Lily King.
- [31:13]
A
Starting out strong.
- [31:15]
B
I know, right?
- [31:16]
A
I'm also starting out strong. My first overhyped book is Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry.
- [31:22]
B
Yeah, I think you are in the majority. I bet.
- [31:26]
A
But the book got a lot of hype still.
- [31:27]
B
Sure.
- [31:28]
A
Even though I think it was critically, and that is the case for two, I think of my books that are overhyped, it got a lot of critical response from readers who read those authors. But in general, when you look at the book lists, when you look at Goodreads, when you look at Barnes and Noble sales, etc. These were still, like, massively buzzy books this year. And this particular story is about two writers who are competing to write a biography for a famous person. And they go to a small town, and while they're competing to write this biography, they kind of work together to solve this mystery that is attached to this person. And she reached into mystery with this one, and unfortunately, that really didn't work for me. I was not able to feel the connection between the main characters while also caring about the small town and the amateur sleuthing that was taking place. And it made each part of the story and what it was trying to do feel really disconnected for me. And it pulled me out of the characters within the mystery and the romance and the different things that were happening. I think this one, like Tina mentioned, was polarizing overall this year, but it's Emily Henry, so of course this got an immense amount of hype. Her books have not worked for me before, but her last book was a huge hit for me. One of my favorite romances, Five stars. So I was really disappointed that this one fell flat. But hopefully there are more Emily Henry books for me in her writing future, so I will definitely still be reading whatever she puts out next. But this one was a disappointment for me. That's Great. Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry.
- [33:12]
B
What was the one that you rated? Five stars.
- [33:15]
A
Funny story.
- [33:16]
B
Ah, yes. Okay. I was trying to remember what the most recent one was.
- [33:20]
A
I also loved People We Meet on Vacation, which is not one of her most loved ones, but I loved that one, too. I'm excited to watch the movie.
- [33:27]
B
I was gonna say, doesn't that have a movie coming out?
- [33:30]
A
Sure does.
- [33:30]
B
Excellent. All right, well, my next Overhyped. I think you would agree with me. It is say you'll remember me by Abby Jimenez. And this one I just didn't love. And I say this as somebody who has loved her books previously. It is about Samantha and veterinarian Xavier. And when you were describing the main character earlier from your latest read, that's what made me. I immediately thought of Xavier because I was like, yeah, he was kind of this too good to be true. Perfect guy, right? Yeah, that's not my issue with this. These two share an instant, powerful connection on one unforgettable first date. And then the very next day the main character, Samantha, has to move across the country to care for her mother. And it becomes. And it's across the country, they're in California and Minnesota. And so it becomes this long term relationship. Can they, can't they make it work? I think it boils down to I didn't care for the main character. She wrote. She was in marketing and it was for some company. I don't know what it was. I want to say like a potato company or something really strange like that. And she thought she was so funny. She thought she was the funniest person to ever make a thread. And like, you know how Wendy's has it. Really funny. Social, snarky. This really funny and snarky social media account. I think that was like sort of what this main character does for our work. And it was just grating on me. I also didn't love the relationship and some of the family stuff in California wore on me as well. So overall, this was a miss for me. And I've also heard that this is maybe folks that really like Abby Jimenez's work. Not their number one favorite, but that's sort of where I landed with that. That one is say youy'll Remember Me, Abby Jimenez.
- [35:24]
A
Yeah, that one was over hyped for me too. And I love her as an author. I love her books. And this one also didn't work for me and I co sign everything that you mentioned. Oh, me next. Oh, it's me next. Okay. My next one is Bright Years by Sarah Damoff and.
- [35:48]
B
Oh, what?
- [35:51]
A
Yeah, now to be clear, I didn't like hate this one or anything, but I do think that it was.
- [35:56]
B
I love this.
- [35:56]
A
Overhyped.
- [35:57]
B
Yeah, it is, baby.
- [35:59]
A
It is hyped. And this is a Texas family saga. It follows four generations of the Bright family. We begin at the start of the novel with Ryan and Lillian. And they're newly married and super in love. And then they're hiding this life altering secret. And then their daughter Georgette grows up watching their marriage unravel and a big tragedy happens that kind of unravels. And the rest of the book really propels from this tragedy that happens. And Georgette's pulled back home into this history of her family that she has been trying to outrun her whole life. Like I said, I didn't dislike this one or hate this one. I had really complicated feelings about it. Again, there was a topic, a content topic that I don't want to say I really don't like reading about, but I am very sensitive to how this particular topic is discussed. And I didn't love the way it was handled in this one. And this was a very personal reason. Like this was definitely not. I don't think this was good. It was just very personal for me. And, and I also just something about it was feeling a little bit empty. There was just something about it that wasn't fully emotionally resonating with me. When I first reviewed it earlier this year, I noted that the writing felt a little bit confusing because there would be pages and sections that I would highlight and love and then the next page would have a lot of repetitive language and repetitive sentences. And it felt like half the book was edited really well and really tightly and then the other half just wasn't, which also just felt kind of off and I think might have contributed to me feeling that lack of emotional resonance. So I'm really disappointed because I was really excited for this one. I think it ended up being more of like a 3.5 rather than, you know, a five star glowing review. So this one was overhyped for me. And that's the Bright Years by Sarah Damoff.
- [37:57]
B
I am glad you said that because I know you brought it to the show and I can't remember exactly where you landed, but now hearing you share that, I'm like, oh yes, I remember now I remember. It was on my it is on my list list to try before the end of the year because I've heard so many people say it's on their best of list.
- [38:12]
A
Yeah, I'll be curious what you think regardless.
- [38:15]
B
All right, next for me, this is going to surprise nobody because my next one I thought was Overhyped is Not Quite Dead yet by Holly Jackson. And okay, so here's the thing. We were just talking about YA books and how they're for YA readers and this book is Holly Jackson is a YA author and as I understand it, this is her adult debut and I found it still to be Written in a juvenile way. Specifically the main character. Are you sensing a theme? I didn't care for the main character in this one. I thought she was so what it's about. Let me back up first though. This one won the Goodreads Choice best thriller of the year. And I know people love the author, but I'm surprised that they rated this best for mystery. It is about 27 year old Jack who gets attacked in her home and given only seven days to live due to this fatal head injury. And she has sort of a medical condition that's going to cause an aneurysm and they can't operate on it because that would the operation. She's not likely to survive. So she basically has seven days left to live. And for me I just felt this read very young and I didn't find the mystery itself that compelling. The dialogue was grading, the the narrator is very snarky and she just keeps reminding people like, well, I only have seven days left to live. Well, I'm gonna die soon anyway, so why does it matter? And like, fair enough. I can't imagine what it would be like to live with that knowledge. But same at the same time, if it's me, I'm not spending my last seven days on this earth arguing with people and trying to find my murderer. I might, but probably not like I'm going to to do something else with my time. So that was overall my thought. It also felt very long. It's like 375 pages and I felt them all. So my next overhyped is not quite dead yet by Holly Jackson.
- [40:10]
A
I was waiting for this one. Yeah, I think that was the one that I was like, oh, she's probably going to bring some from the, from the Goodreads Choice Awards list. Specifically that one.
- [40:20]
B
They made it easy for me.
- [40:22]
A
They did. But that makes for great content. So I was happy to listen along.
- [40:28]
B
Were you gonna say something I forget? No, I don't think so.
- [40:31]
A
Great. Okay, moving forward. Okay. My next one is definitely one of those ones that I have a feeling some people are gonna be like, wait, I didn't see that book anywhere. Because it is genre fiction and particularly with horror and literary horror, and that is Victorian Psycho by Virginia Fato. So I feel like if you're in those spaces, you've absolutely heard of this one this year. It came out, I wanna say in February of this year. So it's been a minute, but it's. It is a 2025 release and this one centers on a young governess who joins a household that has already cycled through like one too many governesses. And from the very beginning, Winifred, our main character, is way beyond eccentric. She struggles at every turn to stifle her very deeply unsettling compulsions. And it kind of continues to snowball throughout the entire book. Speaking of really not enjoying main characters, that is definitely the case for this one for me. And it's not because I don't like unlikable characters or even bad ones. I just didn't find her very interesting. She was deeply disturbing, but I didn't think that her character brought anything particularly unique to the canon of chaotic weird girls. The humor just felt a little off. And this book is short, but it gets repetitive. And I kind of found myself losing interest. I was like, okay, I feel like this joke has been told before. Or I feel like, feel like I've read this before kind of a thing. And not just in Winifred, but also the overall plot and the tone of the book. There are a couple things that happened toward the end where I was like, okay, I don't know if she needed to go that direction, but here we go.
- [42:15]
B
Here we are.
- [42:16]
A
Here we are. So I just kind of felt that way throughout the whole book and it didn't work work for me personally. And that is Victorian Psycho by Virginia Fato.
- [42:26]
B
Yes, I think that one for sure is hyped, especially in those spaces. And I never grabbed it. I, I, yeah, I actually think I tried a few pages and I was like, I'm not sure and just sort of lost the plot on it.
- [42:37]
A
I think you can skip it. I don't. Yeah, you don't think. It was also very stream of consciousness, which I think is not something that you love in general, so not necessarily you could skip it.
- [42:47]
B
Okay, I, I'll take that into consideration. All right, my next two I feel, I don't feel bad about because I did not like either of them. And I feel I'm justified in my opinion because the next one that I think is overhyped is Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coburn. This.
- [43:04]
A
They don't need you.
- [43:05]
B
They don't need me. Listen. They don't need me. This is about a disgraced army surgeon who takes a lucrative top secret job treating a mysterious patient in Russia, only for that patient to vanish and she can gets sort of dragged into this global conspiracy. I found this to be convoluted. I found this to be over the top, but not in a way that was entertaining or all that believable. That I could all forgive because there was, you know, some medical aspects that I enjoyed. The pieces of the rationale. I was like, all right, that's kind of cool. I can see rich folks doing that. But the biggest sin for me with this one is the dialogue. The dialogue was so cheesy. It was so cheesy. Literally, there's a sentence that reads trey is the definition of a playa P L A Y A H. I was like, I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go. So overall, this was not for me. I don't feel like it read like a typical Coban. I'm a Coban fan, and this was just not that good. And so I don't recommend it. And if you liked it, that's great, but it was not my fave. That one is gone before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben.
- [44:20]
A
Oh, I could feel your secondhand embarrassment again as you were talking about the writing dialogue in there. Thank you.
- [44:27]
B
No, thanks.
- [44:29]
A
All right. Well, mine. I'm really disappointed that I. That this didn't work for me because it's an author that I have really enjoyed in the past before and really enjoy reading from. And that is. Well, okay. I shouldn't say I enjoy reading from. I've enjoyed one book. I'll get there. I'll get there. The Unworthy by Agostina Bazterica. Oh, this is a feminist dystopian horror. It follows a young woman living in a very harsh and isolated community where these sisters, called the Unworthy sisters, spend their days serving this powerful, enlightened. And from her cell, our main character. We're following her. And from her cell she is writing her life story in scraps of ink and even occasionally her own blood, clinging to the belief that obedience will earn her a place among these people on paper. This has everything that I want in a dystopian horror like this. And I will say I remember the opening paragraph to this book viscerally. I remember where I was when I was reading it. I was reading it in. I was listening to it, and I was listening to it in the parking lot of our local. It's a grocery store. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time.
- [45:47]
B
Grocery store. It's in the parking lot of a.
- [45:49]
A
Local food of a local grocery store. Well, it's like a farmer's market. Grocery store. Gotcha. That's the word that I was looking for. But I was sitting in the parking lot and I was waiting to go in because I was listening to the beginning of this book, and it was so disgustingly graphic. It had to do with a cockroach. And I will never forget it. So she. This author can write like so, so well. But when I. So when I started it, I was like, okay, I'm sad. I'm so into this, but it just got to be really repetitive. I'm noticing that's just something that I really struggle with and will notice really fast while I'm reading. If any of the words feel repetitive or the. The plot points feel repetitive, I'm going to pick up on that. And I did, and it started to grate on me. It's also very overly religious in the sense that it continually moves from prayer to punishment, from prayer to punishment and back again throughout the whole book. And I felt like the character development kind of came at a cost to that. So I am really disappointed to say that this one didn't work for me. Again, this is an author that I really want to love.
- [47:01]
B
Love.
- [47:01]
A
I want to love this author. I've really loved Tender Is the Flesh, but I've tried two others from them and have not cared for them. So it's one of those things where I'm like, do I keep returning or do I accept that this is not an author for me? Even though I've loved one of their books, I don't really know what to do about that. But this one didn't work. That's the Unworthy by Agostina Besterica.
- [47:24]
B
Yeah, that one's tricky. She can write. And what you said about visceral writing. I remember reading Tender is the Flesh, which I did really enjoy, but having a hard time. I was like eating a turkey sandwich and I was like, I cannot do this. Like, I will never forget trying to read that damn book and to like, eat lunch. I was like, you know what? Maybe this is like an evening type book, because this is grossing me out totally. All right, My last over hyped book, folks. It. Say it with me. Everyone can predict it. It's the Tenet by Frieda McFadden. This is my least favorite book of 2025. It got second place in the Goodreads Choice Awards. And this one involves a couple named Blake and Krista who take in a mysterious female tenant to help with finances only for strange and sinister things to happen in their home. This was cheesy and it was riddled with plot holes, and I like my thrillers clever. This was so. I. I'm not happy about this book. I really am not. The characters were silly. The Resolution was silly, it was outlandish, it was far fetched, and I found the dialogue to be very cheesy. There's Goldfish Funeral that I didn't care for. So overall, I think this one is skippable. And I say this is a Frida fan. Okay. I've read many of her books. I've liked several. This is missable for me. That's the tenant by Frida McFadden.
- [48:49]
A
Oh, man, what a bummer. A funeral. Goldfish funeral, huh?
- [48:54]
B
Goldfish Funeral sure was.
- [48:57]
A
Okay. I'm a little nervous to bring my next one.
- [49:01]
B
Okay. That's okay. We're in a safe space.
- [49:03]
A
Okay. Okay. It's Katapasis by RF Kuang.
- [49:07]
B
Yes. No, that's okay.
- [49:09]
A
I'm disappointed too, because it was a book club pick for us and pretty much everybody else loved it. And I was like, oh, I must have just missed something with this one. But this is a story about Alice and she. Wait, what was the name of. What was his name?
- [49:29]
B
Peter.
- [49:30]
A
Peter. Okay. Yeah, okay. So this is a story about Alice and Peter and they basically go on a quest in hell and they are trying to find information from this professor that they both used to have and whom Alice has, like, idolized as well. And. And they. Yeah, they go on this journey in the underworld and try to kind of pick up the pieces of this professor and solve a mystery of sorts. And they're doing it together and there's a friendship that they develop and ultimately, you know, a bit of a love story as well. And I did really enjoy that aspect of it, but I just found myself struggling to finish this one and. And I felt like. It felt really long. I also know that one of the main gripes that I've heard from other people is that they really didn't love Alice. And I think that was the case for me as well. And I completely hear people on kind of their defense of her and her character, but I just didn't enjoy her. I didn't enjoy her perspective, and I just found myself feeling grated by her presence on the page. I do remember, though, really appreciating some representation on Peter's part in this book. And so there were definitely aspects that I appreciated. Again, this is another one of those ones where I think it was like a 3.5 or something like that for me. So definitely not a book that I deem bad or, you know, anything like that. I still would say I enjoyed it. I just felt like it was overhyped and I almost felt disappointed that I. I wasn't able to kind of join everybody in loving it. So I think this might be the one that I'm the most bummed about on my list, and that is Katabasis by RF Kong.
- [51:24]
B
I think more people were disappointed in this than you. Yeah, I think so.
- [51:31]
A
Because I haven't, like, in my spaces. I feel like I am the only one.
- [51:35]
B
No, no. Oh, my God. What? That's funny.
- [51:38]
A
That's how I feel. Because I love that shit.
- [51:41]
B
I loved it. And I'm like, I. Maybe that's because I'm like, I loved it. And I'm seeing all people say they didn't love it. You didn't love it as you wanted to. And you're seeing people say in your. Yeah, I think that's.
- [51:51]
A
Oh, that's interesting.
- [51:52]
B
Interesting. Okay, so we're gonna get into some under hyped ones now. Now this is more fun, right? It's always fun to be like, okay, this one wasn't worth it. But I do love sharing under hyped or, you know, maybe books that are a little more under the radar. Now. My first one was the Great man by Kyra Davis Laurie. This one is a retelling of the Great Gatsby, set among LA's black elite. And you're following this young veteran who finds his way after the war and gets pulled into this new world of tantalizing possibilities. And I love this one. I love the characters. I was very comp. It was. I found it to be. I found it to be very compelling. And I love that the author was able to fold in this real court case into the narrative. So you're kind of getting multiple things here. You're getting the Great Gatsby retelling, which you're also getting this court case. It was 1948 U.S. supreme Court case Shelley vs Kramer, in which the Supreme Court ruled that racially restrictive covenants were legally unenforceable in courts nationwide. So the whole thing that's happening underneath in this story is that some of the white folks in the neighborhood are trying to push their black neighbors out based on, you know. Oh, based on these rules that were later deemed unconstitutional. And I just love that that was a subplot that I got to learn about while also getting this very compelling, rich, rich story that still felt new and familiar. And I think the author did a great job with this one. Highly recommend it. That is the Great man by Kyra Davis Laurie.
- [53:16]
A
Oh, great job with that one. And I love that it was a retelling. Did you read this one? For our Retellings episode.
- [53:23]
B
I did. Yes, I did.
- [53:25]
A
Yeah. Yeah. I think we both found some really great reads from that episode. I think that was one of my favorites reading wise from the year. Yes. Okay. My first one I'm really excited to talk about it is the Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace. And I'm particularly excited to bring this one because it is a thriller or thriller adjacent and that is, I just always find so much joy when I find a book in that genre that I really love. This one is set in 1954. We're following Virginia, who is a young woman who wakes on a trip transport bus bound for Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital. And she has no memory of who she is, only flashes of the dark and dangerous skills that she somehow has. The doctors are telling her that she's Dorothy Frazier and that she is a violent, paranoid schizophrenic committed for treatment, but she is positive that they are wrong. And then she gets these visions of this dystopian future and a desperate mission to save humanity. And so you as the reader are also like, like, okay, who's reliable? Who's not here? And then a man appears claiming to be her husband Paul, and says that he's helped her manage these visions for years. And he ends up kind of taking her into custody. And the story goes from there. I'm going to leave it there. As you can tell, it's kind of a little bit of a convoluted, wild plot. Hang in there. This story went in directions I could have never seen coming and I love that with a thriller book. Book. I thought it was really well written and I thought it was really fast paced, but not in a way that took away from any depth or good writing. I love when a book can just be like action, action, fun, fun, great dialogue, mystery unraveling here without sacrificing any depth to the story. It's just hard to manage that fast pace and also quality writing and storytelling. And this book did it so well. I would really love to see more readers of like dystopians or thrillers or anyone who loves a fast paced book that reads almost kind of like a movie, I think would love this one. So that is my first pick for under hyped books. And that is the Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace.
- [55:46]
B
I love that and I love the COVID of that one. And me too. It was, it had a pop there for a moment and then I heard nothing after. So I'm glad that you. Yeah. Brought that back up.
- [55:56]
A
Gosh, I didn't see Anybody talking about.
- [55:58]
B
It, I feel like you're just so cool, you know, you're an innovator.
- [56:04]
A
We all have those, we all have those books that we bring that we never see anybody talking about.
- [56:08]
B
It's like, yeah, mine, I'm like, I feel like mine are so. Because I've, I've talked about them, so I'm like, of course people are talking about them, but I know, yeah, I.
- [56:15]
A
Feel the same about.
- [56:16]
B
It's a card objective. But my next one's also a thriller. It is Night Watcher by Daphne Wilson Cross. And I will say this is underrated, or I should say under the radar because it got a little buzzy in the bookstagram community because I know Dennis from Scared Straight Reads loved it, but it was not on the Goodreads Choice Awards. And I didn't hear anybody else really talking about it after the, after Dennis. And there's only 8, 500 reviews on it because I had to check. So I'm like, I thought this was buzzy, but there's less than 10,000 reviews, so I guess not. This one is about Nola, who is a late night call in host, host living in Portland, Oregon, who, you know, sort of is a true crime host. And she is also a final girl. You find out that she survived a home invasion when she was younger and now she's starting to worry that the serial killer is back. This is. This one walks the line between horror and thriller. And maybe that's why it wasn't nominated because it's sort of hard to describe. I don't exactly know where I would put it. It's an intense thriller, I think is where I land. Now, this wasn't a perfect book for me. I had some issues with the ending, but I, I was really gripped the entire time. And if you like being scared, I do think this one did a great job of freaking me out. That is Night Watcher by Daphne Wollsoncroft.
- [57:37]
A
Yeah, I'm interested in that one and I agree. That's another one that I feel like I saw a little bit about when it first came out. And then nothing, absolutely nothing. So I'm glad that you reminded us of that one as well. My next one, I'm so happy to report, was on my summer bonanza, my poor summer bonanza from this year. I had a couple of winners and this was one of them. That is in the Family Way by Lainey Katz Becker. And I don't know if I've seen a single person talk about this book, but I really loved it. It's set in 1965America. We're following a group of women, and during this time, women can't open bank accounts, divorce is super taboo, and abortion is illegal. And we're following a group of friends that meet every Tuesday for canasta, and they trade advice and secrets. And after Lily Berg, who is a doctor's wife, learns that she's unexpectedly pregnant again, she takes her friend Becca's advice and agrees to house Betsy, who is a pregnant teen from a local home for unwed mothers. And Betsy ends up living with the Bergs for six months to help her on the house, deliver her baby and then also ultimately disappear from their lives. But once Betsy moves in, everything becomes more complicated than anyone could have ever thought. And the story follows all of these women in this kind of entangled mess of relationships and the things that are going on in their lives on the edge of a lot of cultural change that is happening in their country and in their lives as well. This is a book about what it means to be wives, mothers, and individuals with dreams of your own. And I thought that it tackled all of those themes and topics really well. I was really invested in each of these characters storylines. It's a little bit messy because you're trying to figure out, okay, how does Betsy, this, you know, young teen who is staying in their home, how does she connect with this story? And you're trying to figure out how each of these friends, how their stories connect. And it really does all come together. And I felt like each of the issues that were tackled felt organic because there can be books where it's like, okay, well, conveniently, all of these women are dealing with, with every issue that could possibly happen, you know, when it comes to this topic of pregnancy or, or whatever, but, but not with this one. I felt like each of the issues were tackled really delicately, really thoughtfully, and it, it felt real and organic to things that could actually happen to all of these women in their lives. And I would love to see more people read this one that was in the Family Way by Lainey Katzbecher.
- [60:29]
B
Yes, I think you're right. You're the only one I've heard talk about. This. This.
- [60:33]
A
Yeah, love that.
- [60:35]
B
Love that for you. Now my next one. It is one that I. Okay, it's Sky Daddy by Linda Folk. When I look back on my reading year, the year of our Lord 2025, I'm going to look back and remember Sky Daddy because what a freaking story. This is about Linda, a woman who is feeling disconnected from normal adult life, who works Works in content moderation online. And she secretly harbors a deep sexual attraction to planes, airplanes, like literally. I found this character to be so flawed and so deeply human and somebody you can root for. She is self aware and knows that her interests are fringe, but she can't quite figure out how to fix that. She also doesn't. She also doesn't know if she wants to fix that. She doesn't really see anything wrong with it. She's not hurting anyone. But you know, of course this obsession becomes a bit self destructive and the ending really will tug on your heartstrings. I loved this book. So if you can get past the idea of somebody being sexually attracted to planes. And I think you will really get a lot out of this story, so I highly recommend it. I will never forget Linda. That book is Sky Daddy by Kate Folk.
- [61:53]
A
I will never forget Linda.
- [61:55]
B
I'll never forget her. I want to be her pal, you know, I think we'd get along. I'd be like non judgmental, you know, like, okay, you like it? I love it. Just don't hurt anybody. Like, what's, what's the harm, man?
- [62:06]
A
Oh, that's so funny. Okay, my next one is one that I did see around, but I still think it deserves more hype and attention than it has gotten. And that is the River Has Roots by Amal L. Mohtar. And I thought that this was such a beautiful story. It's set in a small, enchanted, like, fantastical town. And it's perched on the edge of what is called fairy, which is kind of this mysterious land adjacent to another mysterious land. And then we're following a mysterious family and they tend enchanted willows and they uphold this old pact to sing to the trees in gratitude for their magic. And the family's two daughters are as devoted to each other as they are to their this pact and their duty. But then one of the sisters turns down a controlling suitor and chooses a lover from this fairy land instead. And she puts both their bond and this pact and their lives in danger. I thought that this was such a beautiful story on sisterhood. It also had those cozy, whimsical, enchanted vibes while also carrying a lot of emotional weight and tackling great topics, including even gender identity and your devotion to your family and what comes first and what it means to choose yourself or your family. Does it have to be both? I thought that it grappled with those questions and the decisions that the characters made really well, was really deep and moving and impactful for such a short book. This is a novella. And the one person that I also saw raving about it and it's the reason that I read it was Liz Hein. I saw her review of it and she was like, I can't stop thinking about this book. And that was the reason why I picked it up. And I think that this book definitely has that impact where it's so small, but then when you're done reading it, you just can't stop thinking about it. And I love stories like that. And that is the River Has Roots by Amal El Mouthar.
- [64:18]
B
I am glad you brought that one. I see it now and again. For some reason I always think it's memoir and then, oh, funny. I don't know why there must be a memoir that it reminds me of. But like every time I see them or something, I think, so it, I don't know what it is. It just is giving me memoir. And I'm like, it's totally not. It's totally not. Okay. My next one is Life and Death and Giants by Ron Rindo. This is about a gentle, giant sized Amish boy who lives in Wisconsin who is very large and he possesses deep connections with animals and also a pretty significant athletic ability. What's interesting about this is that it follows him and you sort of learn about Gabriel through the eyes of the town folk who took care of him. This is a unique story and it's I. It's a unique story and I don't want to say too much else. I have something written here and it's a spoiler.
- [65:17]
A
You're like, I can't even look at it.
- [65:18]
B
I was like, I'm not gonna say. I don't want to say that word. I don't want to say that. So it's just a unique story. You're literally following him from his. The day he's born and like what happens to him and how what he goes through transforms his community. I've seen some discourse online where it's like, I would have loved to hear from Gabriel and give him a point of view and I totally hear that and I think I also would have loved that. But I do think the author still was able to get away with it because you're getting this really compelling story that's very human. It's got a lot of heart and something that I'll remember. It does have a pretty. There's parts that are pretty intensely into football, which I like. I remember talking to Jonathan about that. He plays football and coaches and everything else. I was like, oh my gosh, he's describing this and this, and I could see that not resonating with some, but just know you're not in football the entire time. But this one is memorable, and I really enjoyed it. That is Life and Death and Giants by Ron Rindo.
- [66:15]
A
Yeah. I am so glad that you have given this book a platform, because I've heard from, like, one other person that it's really, really, really good, and I. I'm just excited for. I think I want to read it.
- [66:27]
B
I think you would like it. I think you could get down with it. Even though there's a football component. I think you'll be fine.
- [66:32]
A
I think that I would enjoy that. You know, it's funny because even though I'm not a sports watcher or a particularly athletic person, I actually have really enjoyed sports stories. I think that the stories of either, like, success or even how like teammates or, you know, those kinds of stories of people connecting through sports, I think is. Can make for really powerful storytelling. So I am definitely a complete proponent of having sports in fiction. I think I could be down with that.
- [67:07]
B
In that case, I would. Would recommend it.
- [67:09]
A
Yay. Okay, Maybe I'll read that on break or at some point. My next one is Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin. And I did see this one around a little bit in some literary spaces, but not as much as I personally think that it deserves. And I will tell you about it in just a second.
- [67:31]
B
Can't wait.
- [67:33]
A
Okay. This is about a young, queer, black Stanford grad, and he is thrown into the court system for possession of cocaine. And he is in a place where his class offers him protection, but his race does not. And he is still shattered by the recent death of his very glamorous, like, somewhat famous roommate, whose story ends up becoming tabloid fodder. And he ends up escaping to Atlanta, but actually only sinks under the pressure of his very, very accomplished family. And when a friend starts spiraling, he ends up returning to New York to uncover what really happened to both her and his roommate. And then as he slips back into the city's nightlife and underworld, he starts to search for answers, both with what happened to his friend and his roommate, but also kind of who he is and searching for his own freedom and future. I thought that this was such a beautiful story, and I really appreciated this character's perspective. I loved our protagonist. He is extremely flawed and he has a lot of struggles, obviously, but I think that the hope that is attached to this narrative and following this character along that journey as he discovers himself and deals with his Grief and figures out what's happening with his friend and learns who to trust and who really believes in him and who doesn't. I just really appreciated following this character along that journey. I thought it was beautifully written and really emotionally powerful. And I loved it and that was great. Black Hope by Rob Franklin. Another one from the summer bonanza that was a winner.
- [69:28]
B
Yes, that is one that I really want to read at some point. I am sure I will. And next up is woodworking by Emily St. James. This one is so good. And it follows a trans high school teacher from a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other trans woman she knows, one of her students. I thought this was fantastic and really captures. It does a lot with a lot of different relationships. It captures the relationship between student and teacher. And I want to be clear, it's not in an untoward way. It's just this very. It's just an interesting way. And I think if you've ever worked in education or if you, you know, sort of had these mentor figures in your life, that'll resonate with you. And I think this book was very eye opening. You do find out why it's called Woodworking and you find out via one of these side characters and they share their story and in the most incredible way. I won't soon forget it. I was like wrapped. And it's just one side character and I think it's just one chapter. When you find out things about her that just had my jaw on the floor, I'm like, holy cow. It was so compelling. And I just think overall, this is a book that's a standout and I want more people to read it. So that one is woodworking by Emily St. James.
- [70:52]
A
Oh yeah, that one sounds really, really good. I heard some people talking about this one, but not a lot. But the people that I did hear talking about it have said the same thing, that they just loved it. My next one is the Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson. Yes, Walker, I loved this book. And this follows a woman after the birth of her child. A young mother who begins experiencing amnesia, hallucinations, premonitions, and just a sense of overwhelming dread. All of these episodes culminate in what ends up being her disappearance and reappearance in Prospect Park. With no memory of what happened, where she's been, or what she's done. We have a psychiatrist who ends up investigating whether her symptoms stem just from new parent exhaustion or long buried trauma. And her visions of a man who died 20 years earlier pull him into a deeper mystery that challenges everything that he believes about his own reality. The result of this one is just this really speculative literary puzzle about memory and identity. I loved the format of this one. It was partly transcripts from the psychiatrist kind of recounting his experience that he had with this woman as a patient. And then we're also simultaneously following journal entries, stories from the patient, this mother, and trying to fill in the gaps and figure out the puzzle in between reading their two narratives. And everything kind of comes to a head by the very end. I thought that this one had great explanations for what was actually going on. And I thought that the way the story was set up in these transcripts and also these journal entries was just really engaging and fascinating. I think that this one is great on audience. I listened to this one when I was going on a lot of walks over the summer, and it kept me really good company. I thought that it served a listening experience really well. And that was the Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker.
- [73:03]
B
I think that's another one that I don't see as much. And another one, for some reason thinks a memoir. So I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe.
- [73:11]
A
That's so funny.
- [73:12]
B
I don't know.
- [73:13]
A
That one I could kind of see more because it has a name in the title and it kind of like the COVID kind of looks like a memoir. Ish. A little bit. So I could see that.
- [73:23]
B
I don't know. I don't know where I get that from, but I will.
- [73:26]
A
Shall we talk about some hyped books that we think deserve it?
- [73:30]
B
I think we should. And. All right. So my first appropriately hyped book, in my opinion. Okay. And I want to say this again. A lot of the ones that I. Some of the ones I have in my top 10 list list that I'll be sharing soon could have easily made this list as well. But the first one I'm going to bring is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reed.
- [73:51]
A
Yeah, I was hoping you'd bring this one.
- [73:53]
B
Yes. Last year we wrapped up the show by predicting books that we thought were going to be big hits for the the next year, which is 2025. We both brought Atmosphere, and I think we were accurate. This one. Did it win Historical Fiction for Goodreads Choice? I want to say yes, it won something.
- [74:12]
A
I don't remember what category for, though.
- [74:14]
B
I want to say it was historical fiction. But at any rate, it definitely has gotten the buzz that I think people, you know, that I was anticipating. This is about an astronaut candidate named Joan in the 1980s NASA Space Shuttle program. And it sort of blends romance with high stakes space shuttle disaster. And so I loved this one. I also will say, say one of the things I loved the most about this story was Joan and her relationship with her niece. I'm not somebody that I don't have a niece, so I can't really resonate with that myself. I do have daughters though. But I just think Taylor Jenkins Reid did such a great job illustrating how powerful an aunt and niece relationship can be. And I just love that because I guess I don't often see it in fiction. But I think that was really, really well done. And I loved this reading reading experience. I couldn't put it down and it's a highly recommend for me. That one is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
- [75:11]
A
That was a fun full circle moment too, from bringing it as an anticipated hyped book to it really working for you and being one that you thought was really appropriately hyped. So I love that that came back around. My first one is Conform by Ariel Sullivan, which I just recently talked about on the podcast. I loved this one. This was a super hyped book. I feel like I was seeing this one on TikTok, especially on BookTok. And this one is set in a dystopian future where your worth is measured by genes and procreation. It's comped as Handmaid's Tale meets the Hunger Games. And I think that that is very apt, a perfect comparison in my opinion. We're following Emmeline, who is chosen to be a mate to Colin, who is a member of this mysterious elite class.
- [76:01]
B
A mate.
- [76:02]
A
And yeah, I don't love that they call their mate. It's like a they. They go into a contract together. It's called a procreation contract. And they are required to procreate together. That is how they.
- [76:14]
B
Okay, okay.
- [76:15]
A
The population, hence the Handmaid's Tale, like that comparison. And it pulls her into this world of rituals and secrets and lavish life, but also a rising rebellion. And that is really where the plot to takes place in this book is kind of figuring out what's going on with this political rebellion that is happening within the story. There's also a wonderful love triangle in this book that is very high stakes. You're trying to figure out, okay, do we trust Colin? Do we trust this other love interest who is not a member of the elite class? So just some really interesting political things and social things that are happening within the story too. It ends on done a cliffhanger a little bit, because it is going to be a trilogy, but it also wrapped enough things up in this first book to be satisfying. It's definitely a series that I'm going to continue on with and I'm super excited to see where the story goes. And that is Conform by Ariel Sullivan.
- [77:13]
B
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that one. I was curious about it and I still remain curious. Despite them calling one another mate. No. Is that what you said?
- [77:22]
A
I. Yeah. It's so funny that you said that too, because I was sharing this book with Alyssa from Worlds Within Pages and she said the same thing. She was like, wait, wait, wait. Did you just say.
- [77:32]
B
I don't know why?
- [77:33]
A
I'm like, I hate that. So if you can set that aside, it's worth it.
- [77:38]
B
Yes. Okay. Fantastic. My next one that I found to be appropriately hyped, believe it or not, is Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown. And if nothing else, I'm grateful to the Goodreads Choice challenge that I did for myself, because I never would have read read this and I actually quite enjoyed it. This was long listed for the Goodreads Choice Best Thrillers and I actually think it was shortlisted. I can't remember. Doesn't matter. But this is number six in the Robert Langdon, Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons series. So I will say for this one, it is again following Robert Langdon and it takes place in Prague when he travels there with a woman that he is sort of having this relationship with and things go pretty off the rails. Here's what I liked about it. It kept that nostalgia of the Da Vinci Code and the familiarity, but it gave you a new story. And this one is about the meaning of life. It's like. It takes on psychology of consciousness and I was very satisfied with how everything pulled together, so I read this. I've only read Da Vinci, Cold and Angels and Demons. I would say go ahead and jump in if you want to. You could read the others in the series, but you certainly don't need to to. But I thought the Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown was appropriately hyped.
- [78:56]
A
I am so happy that you loved this one because I know you were not looking forward to reading it on your challenge. And it's always so fun to be so pleasantly surprised in that way. Okay. My next one that I think was very appropriately hyped is Heartwood by Amity Gage. And this is one that I listened to on audio. I thought the audio was fantastic. This is about a woman who goes missing on a trail and we are following different Perspectives of people in this woman's life as they are talking to local law enforcement and being interviewed and things like that as they are trying to locate this woman and find her. I thought that this one was very suspenseful and fast paced, even though it's not a book that I would consider a thriller. I think if you go into this one with thriller expectations, you might be disappointed. But I think that if you want to read, read a somewhat suspenseful and engaging mixed media story about a missing person, then it was really engaging and fun and entertaining. I don't think that this is one that was terribly deep, but I do remember it being just a perfect summer book. If you want a beach bag book that isn't a romance or something in a similar genre, I think that this would be a great choice. I really enjoyed it and think that it was worth the hype. And that is Heartwood by Amity Gage.
- [80:21]
B
Another Goodreads choice, long list star.
- [80:24]
A
Yes. And another read with Jenna book. And I thought that it was a little bit of an odd choice for her book club because it almost felt a little bit more like a Reese pick for me. It was a little frothy. Wouldn't you say that? A little bit? Yeah. Wouldn't you say?
- [80:39]
B
I didn't get. I didn't get frothy.
- [80:42]
A
Well, because, okay, hard things are happening. I mean, you've got a missing person and they're talking about. About, you know, some. Some tough things that. That happened and there's like some trauma and things.
- [80:52]
B
Sure. You know, you know, just.
- [80:55]
A
I don't know, there was something about it that felt almost like disconnected from all of that.
- [80:58]
B
Yeah, no, that's fair. I wonder if it was the point of view of this character that gets introduced after a while. She's more of a. An elderly woman who is sort of using her connections to help solve the case, essentially. Yes. That was a little. Yeah, I could see. I can't get behind it. I can get behind you on that. Okay, I'm coming back around.
- [81:22]
A
You read it more recently than I did, so. Because I. It's been like six.
- [81:25]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [81:26]
A
I think since I've read it, you know, so some of those finer details are a little fuzzy. So I'm glad that you brought that back up and made that connection.
- [81:31]
B
Yeah. Well, my next one, and this is a surprise. Okay. So my next one that I think is appropriately hyped is audition by Katie Kitchamura. And this one kind of got a decent amount of buzz. So it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and I just saw a lot of people talking about this. It opens with two people who are meeting for lunch in Manhattan and you're, like, not quite sure who they are. One is an accomplished actress and the other is a younger man. And we don't know the relationship that the two have with one another. But the rest of the book sort of explores what is and what might be. This book is interesting. It's about identities and it's. It takes place in. It's about actors or folks that are sort of putting on these different facades, and it's about the roles that we play in every day. I don't know why. It just hit me at the right time. This is literary, it's experimental. And I'm not fully sure that I understand it, but I do get why it's so provocative and talked about. And for that reason, I would say it's appropriately hard Hyped. This is Audition by Katie Kitamura.
- [82:41]
A
Yeah. I recently read another article on Book Riot and they put out an article saying, like, what books made it on the most favorites list of the year? And this book audition was, I think on they mentioned that it was like either one of the most or like the second most book that was recommended and a favorite on the most lists this year.
- [83:05]
B
I love that idea. I want to find that article. We'll try and link it.
- [83:08]
A
I think it's right there. Yeah, I think it's right there. Pinned on their main page.
- [83:13]
B
Book Riot's always doing Pull it up. They're always doing the things, you know.
- [83:16]
A
They do such a good job. Okay, my next one that I think was appropriately hyped is Happy Land by Dolan Perkins Valdez. I really, really like this one. It has been a while since I have read it. It just feels like earlier in the year when was ages ago. But I remember feeling so warm after I finished this one. It's set in the hills of Appalachia, and it's funny because Heartwood is also set in Appalachia. I feel like that was a little bit of a theme for me this year. And in this one, we have a community of formerly enslaved people once who once built a kingdom of their own, inspired by memories of African royalty. And years later, we're following Nikki, who is summoned by her estranged grandmother and learns the story of her great great grandmother, Queen Luella, and the land that they are trying to protect that is now in jeopardy. And she uncovers her family's legacy and realizes how deeply her identity is actually tied to this land and that it's time to finally reclaim what is theirs. This is the kind of historical fiction that I love reading about. The kind of historical fiction that has you googling and learning things even outside of the historical context of, like, land rights and real estate things. And it was just really, really interesting how the author blended all of those things into this narrative. One thing that this author did with this novel and with Take My Hand, which I also read and absolutely loved, is she just writes these characters that you would die for. You would do anything for these characters. And she also paints a really good picture of both the past and the present timelines. And you, again, fall in love with these characters from both timelines. And you just walk away from these stories feeling so hopeful and just loving these characters so much. So I absolutely loved this one. And that is Happyland by Dolan Perkins Valdez.
- [85:24]
B
Happyland is one of the ones that I also want to read. It is on my long, long tbr and I'll get to it at some point.
- [85:32]
A
Yeah, I think you'd like it.
- [85:33]
B
You know what? Actually, I think it's on the Aspen Words Literary Prize, so I will be reading it next year. That's right.
- [85:39]
A
I have read so many books from that list.
- [85:41]
B
I know you need to hop in the old Discord server. It's. I will gonna be a good time, I hope. All right, so my next one that I think for me is appropriately hyped is Cataphesis by RF Kuang. And we heard about this one earlier. This one's about Alice and Peter who go into hell because. Because they're altruistic. They're trying to rescue their professor, who's down there now due to some magic gone wrong. But they're not trying to rescue him because they're altruistic. They are trying to rescue him so that they can graduate, which I just think is so funny. I think the reason this one worked for me is because I work in academia and I have a doctorate. And I just know the. How inane it can be sometimes and just how silly some things are. And there were so many sections in this one that just gave me a giggle. I thought Alice, for me, was really funny, and I actually appreciated some of the denser points. I love RF Kuang's writing, and I love that I was able to just. I mean, there was so much I didn't understand. I'm like, great, don't care. Let me circle it something I can go back to. And I just had a really good time with this. I feel like I could see myself rereading this because I read it rather quickly. I sort of did a tandem audio and physical copy, but I think now that I know what's going on with it, it. If this one was. Were to be reread, I would get a lot more of it sort of on that second pass. So for me, this one is appropriately hyped, but I also can totally see why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. But that one is Katabasis by RF Kuang.
- [87:12]
A
I do wonder if I wouldn't have liked it more if I didn't have the physical copy, because I heard that it had, like, pictures in it and was a lot more engaging in print. And so I might. I might peek at it next time we're at an indie bookstore or next time I'm just book shopping in general to look at some of those pictures and things like that.
- [87:31]
B
Yeah, they're drawings that they have and, like, different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you should. It's. It's. It's interesting.
- [87:37]
A
And isn't there even, like, a map of kind of the art?
- [87:40]
B
Yeah, that's what they're drawing.
- [87:41]
A
Things like that. Yeah. So.
- [87:43]
B
Yes, exactly.
- [87:43]
A
Was that a spoiler?
- [87:45]
B
No.
- [87:46]
A
Oh, okay.
- [87:46]
B
I don't think so.
- [87:47]
A
Okay.
- [87:47]
B
They're in hell. And, yeah, they're. They. They sort of don't exactly know what it looks like, but they each had their own way of interpreting it, and so that's what the drawings are. Are about.
- [87:57]
A
Love that. Okay. My next one that I thought was appropriately hyped is King of Ashes by SA Cosby. I really, really loved this one. This was another BTE book club pick. We had some really good picks this year, this being one of them. This is about a family who owns a crematory business, and we are following Roman, who has actually left this business behind until he gets a call from his sister who reveals that their father is in a coma and their brother is entangled with some. He's entangled with a dangerous situation. And they need Roman because he has some financial expertise that will protect the family and help. Help the family out. I don't want to say anything more because I think that this is one of those books that the less, you know, going into it, the better. But these, his entanglements that the family end up in are very dark and very gritty. I think if you've read SA Cosby before, you know that he does not shy away from the dark parts of life, but he also does a really good job of blending that with these family dynamics and really rich characters. And even when these characters are in these moral dilemmas or kind of grappling with really tough decisions and making decisions that you don't agree with, he finds a way to still attach you to these characters in this story. I thought that overall it was just really gripping and I loved the way it ended and wrapped everything up as well. So I am was super excited to see this on the Goodreads Choice Awards. I've seen it on a lot of other favorites lists as well, and I think that it is very well deserved. And that is King of Ashes by SA Cosby.
- [89:45]
B
When earlier you were like, I'm a little nervous to share this one, I was like in my head thinking, is.
- [89:50]
A
It King of Ashes?
- [89:52]
B
There's only two books that I don't want to hear you not feel our hype. That was one of them. That was one of them.
- [90:00]
A
I loved this book and I'm starting to notice so many themes too. When I'm talking about these books that I liked, I'm like, I feel like I'm saying a lot of the same things over and over again.
- [90:08]
B
Isn't that fun?
- [90:09]
A
But it's okay because that is what I liked about them.
- [90:11]
B
I know. And for me, I'm like, oh, the ones I didn't like, the character was snarky and a jerk and I didn't quite care for them. They thought they were so funny. Yes.
- [90:19]
A
Anyway, I. I keep talking about blending darkness with tenderness. Like, I keep mentioning that.
- [90:24]
B
But there's something here. There's something to that. Um, all right, I will wrap things up. I think I'm bringing this one because I was so surprised. It's another one from the Goodreads Choice Awards. I know I'll stop talking about it eventually, but it's the Impossible Fortune by Richard Osmond. And I will actually sort of say that I think the Thursday Murder Club mystery series is appropriately hyped. Granted, this is my first foray into it, but I can totally get the appeal. And what's fun is that I hear that this is not even their favorite. So there's other good reading experiences that I have to come. This one is about the investigation of a disappearance of this guy named Nick who is a wedding guest whose life is in danger due to this job that he has, essentially. And then the Thursday Murder Club people try to solve it. It. I had a really fun time with this. This is. Oh, my wine is here. Thank you. Sorry.
- [91:17]
A
That'd be a nice pick me up.
- [91:19]
B
I asked for it earlier because we were like fading. And I'm like, I need something back in. We just had a brief interlude. Jonathan delivered a glass of wine to me because it is now happy hour. But essentially I was just remarking on how I could see people really appreciating the Thursday Murder Club. And I'm excited to get back into it. I said in my vlog that I'm going to continue on with the series series. And I think once the next one is announced, that is the year that I'm going to choose to read them all. But I hope it gives me a little bit of time so that I can catch up. But the book that I think is appropriately hyped is the Impossible Fortune by Richard Osmond.
- [91:54]
A
Oh, I just love that you had such good luck with some ones that you were not highly anticipating being winners for you.
- [92:01]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [92:02]
A
It's just so fun when that happens. My last pick, my book that I think was very appropriately hyped is one that I actually haven't brought to the show yet. I haven't reviewed it yet. So I'm going to be brief because I still want to fully review this at some point in the new year. But it is Culpability by Bruce Hulsinger. This is an Oprah's Book Club pick. It is about a family whose wife, Lorelai, is heavily involved in AI And I don't know exactly if her like, her exact role is described, but she works in the ethics of AI like that's the department that she works in and that she studies with. And there is an event that happens at the beginning of the book that you don't know a lot about when the book starts. And you kind of spend the rest of the book book figuring out how this pieces together, how AI is involved and Lorelei's involvement. And it deals with a lot of moral and ethical questions. And we're following this family and they, at the beginning of the novel, are actually escaping to a vacation home and trying to kind of find some respite from this event, this horrible event that they're all recovering from from. And just some juicy things happen while they're on vacation. This is one of those stories that slowly unravels. You're kind of picking apart this mystery that happened before the novel began, while also there is a mystery that ends up happening in the present timeline. There's something that happens while you are reading, while this family is on vacation and you're piecing both together at the same time. And I thought that that was done, done really well. I am excited to talk about this one more. But I will say for now that I thought that it was worth the hype and I could see why so many people are loving this one. I think it would be great for book clubs because of the questions that it makes you ask and I think it would just make for really rich discussion and that is Culpability by Bruce Hulsinger.
- [94:11]
B
I can't wait to read this one. I knew it had an AI component, but hearing that it's about somebody who works in the ethics of AI, like that is so for me.
- [94:21]
A
Oh, there were so many times in this book where I'm like, wait, what would I do? I don't know what I would do. And it happens so much throughout this book. So yeah, just really, really interesting one. I think worth the read even to just ask yourself some of those questions.
- [94:38]
B
Oh, fun. Okay. I will be reading that next year as it's on the Aspen list and we are going to wrap. I know this was a very long episode, so thank you so much for hanging with us. If you are still with us with us, leave us a comment or Congratulations, social media. Yes, congratulations. This has been really fun. We will wrap. In lieu of our shelf edition, we are going to share which book do we think is going to be hyped in 2026? Will we see it in about a year from now on our favorites list? I don't know who's to say? But I will tell you that the book that I'm predicting as one that will be very hyped next year year is Kin by Tayari Jones. We have been waiting for a new Tayari Jones, at least by we I mean me and many others since An American Marriage, which was another book club pick from Oprah. I think it was 2018 or 19 and boy oh boy, I have just been ready and waiting. I know this one is about sisters and it's set in the south and that's really all I need that I know who the author is and I am going to read it and it comes out in March. What say you? What have you picked out?
- [95:47]
A
I think that that is a great prediction. I'm positive that this one is going to get a ton of buzz and I'm really excited about reading it myself. One that I think is going to be a pretty buzzy title. I'm curious about what I'm going to think about it personally, but I think it's going to blow. Blow up. And that is Half his age by Jennette McCurdy. This is from the author of I'M glad My mom died. Which, gosh, when that memoir came out, I don't think there was a single person that didn't read it. Like it was just all over the place. And I think people are really curious about her fiction debut, including myself. And it's always interesting to see if an author can go from nonfiction from memoir to fiction. So I am eager to see see if we like, if we like her fiction. And I think whether or not this one gets really positive or really negative reviews is going, we'll have to see about that. That's a question. But I have a feeling that we're going to see it everywhere regardless.
- [96:50]
B
I agree.
- [96:51]
A
And that's Half his age by Jennette.
- [96:53]
B
McCurdy Yes, I can see this is a good one. And this one doesn't. It comes out in a couple weeks, believe it or not, January 20th. 20th. So.
- [97:01]
A
Oh, I was like, it comes out. It comes out next year, right? Yeah.
- [97:05]
B
Which is in a couple of weeks.
- [97:07]
A
So I guess we'll soon get to see if I'm right or not.
- [97:11]
B
Yeah. And it actually looks like Ken got bumped up. It was end of February now that is being released. I could have sworn it was March, so who knows.
- [97:17]
A
Not mad about that.
- [97:18]
B
Not mad about that. Right? We don't have to wait as long, but thank you so much for being here. We had such a good time chatting with each other again. We are going to be off next week in anticipation of the holidays, but we will be back at the end of December. Sharing sharing our favorite books for 2025. Gosh, I'm just riffing. What? How do I end this show? Usually there we go. But that is officially it for today. We thank you for spending a part of your day with us. Links or at least the list of the books mentioned can be found in the show notes. And if you enjoyed today's episode, you can help us out by following wherever you listen and by leaving a review on Apple Podcast. It helps us get our show out to new listeners and grows our audience. And don't forget, if you'd like access to exclusive bonus content and community, you can join us for $5 a month on patreon.com booktalk Etc.
- [98:11]
A
If you'd like to connect with us, you can email us@booktalk etcmail.com you can also connect with us both @booktok etc on Instagram and Tinabrec and Hannahandpickedbooks. Talk to you next time. And in the meantime, remember, everything's better with books.
- [98:30]
B
They you know they're going to have something to chat to write in about. If nothing else, I'm sure we're going to hear from the bean folks of America. And I can't wait.
- [98:38]
A
Farmers. Beans grow in the. The ground. That's potatoes.
- [98:43]
B
They're on mines, Hannah. They're on mines.
- [98:45]
A
Got it.
- [98:46]
B
How come I've never seen a bean vine? Well, I'm just picturing the mechanics of. Of this because they're so small.
- [98:54]
A
But I should know this because my dad literally grows purple beans every year. I forget what they're called, but they're a purple bean and they grow on a vine every single time. I don't know why I was like.
- [99:07]
B
I can't wait for John to edit this. Okay?
- [99:10]
A
I'm so dumb sometimes. I'm just like, I can't believe I graduated college.
- [99:14]
B
We. I mean, we've got our area of expertise. It just so happens to not be in agriculture. Sue me.
- [99:21]
A
It's true. It's true.
- [99:22]
B
Okay.