The top 10 Questions we get

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Books With Your Besties"
Episode: The Top 10 Questions We Get
Release Date: November 8, 2024

Hosted by Emily and Ashley

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of "Books With Your Besties," hosts Emily and Ashley delve into the top 10 questions they frequently receive from their listeners. The dynamic duo shares their insights on favorite thriller tropes, book recommendations across various categories, author controversies, and their personal reading philosophies. With a blend of humor and candidness, Emily and Ashley offer a comprehensive guide for both new and seasoned thriller enthusiasts.

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1. Favorite and Least Favorite Thriller Tropes

Timestamp: [00:29]

Emily and Ashley kick off the episode by discussing their favorite and least favorite thriller tropes. Emily expresses her love for the classic "locked door mystery in the snow" scenario, highlighting the irresistible allure it holds for thriller fans. She humorously notes, "Anytime there is a locked door mystery in the snow... that's my favorite" ([00:57] Emily).

Ashley shares her fascination with thrillers that feature ambiguous child characters, stating, "I have really realized I love thrillers where you don't know if a kid is problematic or not" ([02:00] Ashley). Both agree on their disdain for excessive gore, emphasizing their preference for psychological over horror elements.

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2. Recommended Thrillers for Beginners

Timestamp: [10:25]

When asked for thriller recommendations for newcomers to the genre, Ashley suggests "The Guest House" by Robin Morgan Bentley, praising its smart writing and engaging twists without relying on overt scariness ([10:35] Ashley). Emily counters with "None of This is True" by Lisa Jewell, lauding its brilliant writing and meaningful character development, despite its less intense nature ([11:04] Emily).

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3. Top Thrillers for Avid Fans

Timestamp: [12:05]

For seasoned thriller lovers, Ashley recommends Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects," describing it as "absolutely outstanding" with a compelling miniseries adaptation ([12:18] Ashley). Emily adds "Look Closer" by David Ellis to her list, appreciating its Halloween-themed spookiness and intricate twists ([12:26] Emily).

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4. Thrillers Suitable for the Easily Frightened

Timestamp: [13:32]

Emily recommends "Everyone Here is Lying" by Sherry Lapena for listeners who are easily scared, noting that while the book isn't traditionally frightening, it delves into complex, unsettling relationships ([13:35] Emily). Ashley echoes this sentiment with "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam, highlighting its realistic apocalyptic scenario that induces a deep sense of unease without relying on typical horror tropes ([16:01] Ashley).

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5. The Scariest Thrillers They've Read

Timestamp: [15:06]

Emily lists three particularly scary thrillers:

• "Appetite for Innocence" by Lucinda Berry
• "The New House" by Tess Stimson
• "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam

Ashley complements Emily's list with:

• "Home Before Dark" by Riley Sager
• "Butcher and the Wren" by Elena Urquhart
• "The Butterfly Garden" (title withheld to avoid spoilers)

Both hosts emphasize the psychological depth and chilling premises that make these books standout in the horror-thriller spectrum.

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6. Essential Non-Thriller Reads

Timestamp: [18:18]

Shifting gears to non-thriller genres, Emily advocates for "American Dirt" by Jeanine Cummins, praising its heartfelt portrayal of a family's perilous journey from Mexico to the United States ([18:22] Emily). Ashley recommends:

• "Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah
• "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
• "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant

These selections are lauded for their historical significance, emotional depth, and exploration of complex relationships.

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7. Underrated and Underrated Thrillers

Timestamp: [20:19]

Emily highlights two underrated thrillers:

• "The Change" by Kristen Miller: A humorous yet thrilling narrative about menopausal women channeling their energy into unexpected ventures.
• "The Sanatorium" by Sarah Pierce: Praised for its snowy setting and strong character development ([21:27] Emily).

Ashley adds "Good Night Beautiful" by Amy Moloy to her list, noting its mind-blowing twists and engaging plot without revealing spoilers ([21:41] Ashley).

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8. Authors You Should Never Skip

Timestamp: [22:19]

Emily and Ashley share their favorite authors whose works they never miss:

• Emily's Picks:

  • Lisa Jewell
  • Lucinda Berry
  • Art Tor

• Ashley's Picks:

  • Stacey Willingham: Known for "Flicker in the Dark," "All the Dangerous Things," and "Only If You're Lucky."
  • Heidi Gudenkopf: Celebrated for her tasteful depiction of violence and deep character exploration.

Both hosts emphasize the importance of respecting authors' crafts and the profound impact their storytelling has on readers.

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9. Book Controversies

Timestamp: [25:05]

Emily and Ashley delve into the polarizing reactions surrounding certain books and authors:

• "Verity" by Colleen Hoover: Described as highly polarizing, with some readers obsessively loving or hating it. Emily notes, "most people loved it," despite the loud dissent from a vocal minority ([25:17] Emily).

• Freda McFadden: Controversial due to allegations of borrowing storylines and inconsistent character portrayals. Emily criticizes her portrayal of female characters as "dumb as a box of rocks," while Ashley points out the rapid pacing of her thrillers ([26:29] Ashley; [27:55] Emily).

Additionally, they discuss controversies within the BookTok community, such as influencers being paid for content without delivering promised services, emphasizing their commitment to authentic and honest reviews ([28:18] Ashley).

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10. Final Thoughts on Reading

Timestamp: [31:57]

Emily and Ashley conclude the episode by sharing their unique approach to selecting books for their club. They emphasize reading books alongside their community without prior knowledge to ensure authentic discussions. Emily mentions, "This is an authentic book club... let's read this together and see what we all think" ([32:29] Emily).

They also highlight the importance of diverse reading methods, welcoming listeners who prefer reading visually, audibly, or even through Braille. The hosts encourage emotional engagement with the material, stating, "as long as you can be mad about it or sad about it with us, that's all that matters" ([34:41] Ashley).

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Notable Quotes

• "Anytime there is a locked door mystery in the snow... that's my favorite." — Emily ([00:57])
• "I love thrillers where you don't know if a kid is problematic or not." — Ashley ([02:16])
• "It's just horrifying. This would be called the Horrifying Book Club if we liked that." — Emily ([06:20])
• "They are just like the most gorgeous woman, but they're dumb as a box of rocks." — Emily ([27:55])
• "We don't make content about books we don't like." — Ashley ([30:33])

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Conclusion

Emily and Ashley's candid discussion offers valuable insights into the thriller genre, providing listeners with a curated list of must-read books and a deeper understanding of their personal preferences and philosophies. Whether you're a thriller novice or a seasoned reader, this episode serves as a comprehensive guide to navigating the complexities and controversies of contemporary thrillers.

For more content, exclusive discussions, and behind-the-scenes footage, support Emily and Ashley on Patreon at thecreepybookclub.com.

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Connect with "Books With Your Besties":

• Patreon: thecreepybookclub.com
• Instagram: @creepybookclub
• Book Club Website: creepybookclub.com

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Happy Reading! 📚

Transcript

[Emily]

Hi, I'm Emily.

[Ashley]

I'm Ashley.

[Emily]

And this is books with your besties. Hi, Ashley. Hi, a.m. we are back and today we're talking about all things books, mostly thriller books, but also other books, right?

[Ashley]

Yeah, I think so. We get a lot of questions from followers listeners. So I think these are our most frequently asked questions. It's exciting to talk about them.

[Emily]

This will be fun. So we'll read a question and then we'll both answer it. Perfect. Okay. Question one. What are your favorite thriller tropes or types of thrillers and your least favorite.

[Ashley]

I almost want to pause and say listeners and followers who've been around for a long time comment right now what Emily's is because it's very, very obvious to anyone who's been around. So you answer first.

[Emily]

No one's gonna know. But here's what it is. Anytime there is a locked door mystery in the snow, if you are going to a snowy location and the WI fi is out and the roads are closed and the it snowed 12ft and. And you have no other way of. Of connecting with anyone and cell service is down and. And plus your cell phones got stolen. That's my favorite.

[Ashley]

Our listeners know this and our social media followers any. Even if it's not a good book, if the COVID shows a cabin in the snow, you're gonna buy it.

[Emily]

I own it. Yeah, Actually, I just saw a reel that had suggestions for winter books and there were like three or four I hadn't read and I was like, I really need to look into making sure that I'm not missing these because that's not.

[Ashley]

Okay. Inappropriate.

[Emily]

Inappropriate. So I gotta go. I've gotta go. I have shopping to do.

[Ashley]

All right, podcast over. Emily has to go buy her snow snowy books.

[Emily]

What? What do you like, Ashley?

[Ashley]

I'm worried that when I first say this out loud, people are going to be concerned for my mental health and well being. But I have really realized I love thrillers where you don't know if a kid is problematic or not. Like a child.

[Emily]

Ooh, creepy kid stuff.

[Ashley]

Yeah, and sometimes the kids end up being creepy and sometimes they don't. But I love not, not knowing.

[Emily]

I like some of those too. Like the push.

[Ashley]

Oh, I could talk about that for days.

[Emily]

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry.

[Ashley]

Absolutely.

[Emily]

Yeah. Those kid books are good. The new house.

[Ashley]

Yeah. Oh my gosh, we could keep naming them. There are so many that are so good.

[Emily]

I'll ask questions. Yeah.

[Ashley]

The other. The other book that I am a complete sucker for is. Is a book where someone is being held captive in one way or another, like in somebody's basement or in a bedroom, and you don't know who has them or why.

[Emily]

I love those too. I like stalker books. Kidnapping books. That's what's wrong with us.

[Ashley]

This is why we started our book club and podcast, to convince ourselves that this is normal.

[Emily]

Well, I think the podcast has convinced me we're not normal, but okay. I. I also really love domestic thrillers. I don't know what it is.

[Ashley]

I know. I know you do. Part of me, I love them too. Just let's put that out there. And part of me thinks I like them because we know that some of them are happening all around us in our suburban neighborhoods, in our schools. We know that these are people we know.

[Emily]

I agree. I walk down my street and all the streets around me and I'm like, who has their wife, like, held captive essentially in their home? And then I'm also like, who has a body in the basement? I don't think. I don't think we have the right brains again. We should just end this now before.

[Ashley]

We'Re canceled, before our neighbors hear us talking about folks.

[Emily]

And I love, love my neighbors too, but I just. It's like walking around, you're like, that house looks creepy. I bet there's something going on there.

[Ashley]

Truth be told, we are probably the ones that people are worried about. Like, I wonder in my neighborhood what people know me as. They're probably like that weird lady that walks her dog and. And runs all the time.

[Emily]

Well, they probably also know so much about you from your social media.

[Ashley]

True story.

[Emily]

So they're like, there's the liberal lady who yells about her kids and me. They. They don't know any of that. They do know that I have a weird, creepy book business, but, you know, I'm just a lady next door.

[Ashley]

Just. It's got all the secrets. Well, okay, so we know what you like. What do you not like?

[Emily]

I am not really into cults. So if it's a cult book, I'm sort of, eh. On that. What about you?

[Ashley]

Aren't we trying to make it cult? Isn't that what our book club is?

[Emily]

Yeah, we're gonna lead them into reading.

[Ashley]

Every thriller book and coming on retreats with us.

[Emily]

Yeah, hanging out and eating good food. That's our cult plan.

[Ashley]

You know what I don't like? And we could also lose followers for saying this. I don't like paranormal stuff. I can't. I can't get behind it.

[Emily]

I'm similar. Ghosty bucks. Not really? For me, once in a while there's a. That's why an exception is fun. But that's the same with a lot of genres. Right? You and I don't like specific things, but then there'll be like a one off that we do like. Yeah.

[Ashley]

Oh, the other one I really do like. And I have to say this because I know other people will agree. I love a good detective mystery. I love a detective mystery.

[Emily]

Me too. They're so smart. And I feel like we don't read enough of them.

[Ashley]

I know Sometimes, though, they have like eight books in a series.

[Emily]

But we could just read one.

[Ashley]

We could try.

[Emily]

Maybe we should do that. I know something that we both don't like, and that is gore and horror.

[Ashley]

No, this is the psychological thriller book club, not the horror gore. I don't like it.

[Emily]

Yeah, it's. It's no longer creepy when you're tearing someone's fingernails off. It's just horrifying. This would be called the Horrifying Book Club if we liked that.

[Ashley]

The Insomnia Book Club.

[Emily]

I was. I started some book. I remember I started some book and I called you after chapter one, and I was like, I don't know if I can handle this book. And you were like, no, stop immediately. That book is not for you. And I was like, oh, thank. Thank you. Thank you for saving me before I got very upset by something.

[Ashley]

We have to protect ourselves from ourselves.

[Emily]

Okay, I have one more thing, and it's going to make me unpopular, but it's probably because I'm a psychologist. I cannot stand my least favorite thing. And I will tell you, I talked with Dr. Lucinda Berry about this before, and she feels the same way as me. So I know it's a psychologist thing, but I cannot stand when a book has dissociative identity disorder or dissociation as its explanation. I cannot handle it. That's my thing. Here's why, though dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is the rarest of all disorders you could possibly imagine, probably in psychology. And in fact, it's. It's controversial. There are many psychologists who question its veracity. Like is. Does it even exist? And if it does exist, it's in exceedingly rare, unique cases and maybe not fold association. It's just one of those things that's been popularized by movies and social media because it's kind of flashy and exciting. So a book that has that as explanation feels like A, a cop out, and B, just dumb to me. Like, oh, that's no that didn't happen. And so it. I hate it. I hate it. I'm like, oh, there was the easy, low hanging fruit. It's kind of like if you kill off a character because they're problematic in a TV series because you don't know how else to resolve it. It just feels to me like you. There was no better way to resolve this or for you to find a twist. So you're like, what's the weird, you know, movie split and dissociative identities. Let's put a multiple personality thing in.

[Ashley]

It's like the paranormal thing where you're like, oh, that's the answer. No, not, not a good book if that's the answer.

[Emily]

I know. I have read a book once that I really loved and it ended with a paranormal explanation. And I really still could appreciate that. I enjoyed the journey, the story.

[Ashley]

Well, and without giving anything away, the book we read last month. Right. Had an explanation that had a bit of psychology behind it. Am I saying that right? Like it had.

[Emily]

Yeah. There was some psychological stuff in one of our recent book of the months. Yeah.

[Ashley]

And it was a good book. It seemed like it was done well.

[Emily]

Yes. I was still entertained. I would say it's an exception to that. I enjoyed it still.

[Ashley]

Yeah.

[Emily]

Despite some of the things being things I wouldn't meh. Normally love. Yeah. And I actually partway through that book was like, please don't be this.

[Ashley]

And the other thing we both like is multiple points of view. Unless we have to make a flowchart of like 12 people.

[Emily]

I know. You know what I really wish authors would do is that the top of the page would say the name of the chapter. So it always says the name of the book. But I wish it would say the name of the book on one side and then on the other side it would be like chapter seven, Jennifer, 1982. So you could be like, oh yeah, okay. That's who I'm reading. Because there are times where I'm like, I have to flip back and be like, who's this though?

[Ashley]

Yes, absolutely. And you know, I don't pay attention in the first place. So I have to really make myself focus when it comes to multiple points of view. But I love it. I'm a sucker for it.

[Emily]

I know. I love it too. Especially when it all comes together so interestingly. I love. I mean, the brain of thriller authors is remarkable.

[Ashley]

Apparently this is going to be a three hour episode. Question one took us 14 minutes.

[Emily]

I know. Apologies. Okay, number two, what thriller would you recommend to someone just getting into the genre.

[Ashley]

Do you want me to go first?

[Emily]

Yeah. Okay.

[Ashley]

I'm gonna see if you agree with me. I said a book that I also think is very underrated and under read. And that's the Guest House by Robin Morgan Bentley.

[Emily]

That's an excellent choice.

[Ashley]

It has enough twists and turns to be totally entertained. It's a very, very smart book and it's written incredibly well. But it's not. You can sleep. It's not scary. It's more of a, well, psychological thriller and less of a scary book.

[Emily]

Okay, now I'm second guessing my choice because I think yours is better. But you tell me what you think I said because. And I do recommend this to everybody. I said none of this is True by Lisa Jewell.

[Ashley]

And.

[Emily]

And here's why. Her writing is really brilliant. So the story and the character development are really meaningful. So for people who haven't read a lot of thrillers, they still have that background story. And I didn't think it was scary. I thought it was more sad almost. But I get that it's kind of dark.

[Ashley]

I think the problem with starting with that book, which I agree, everyone has to read it, but you're probably going to be let down by the next five books you read because it's that good.

[Emily]

I mean, it's really in my top five thrillers of all time.

[Ashley]

I think it's so good.

[Emily]

So maybe I'm just biased.

[Ashley]

No, I mean, you can't go wrong with Lisa Jewell. And that one in particular is outstanding.

[Emily]

Okay, next question. 3. What thriller would you recommend for thriller lovers?

[Ashley]

I'm gonna throw this way back. And you, I bet if I gave you like 20 guesses, you would never guess what I'm gonna say. But I think if someone loves thrillers and they haven't read this, this book will blow their mind. And that is Sharp Objects.

[Emily]

Oh, I was gonna guess Dark Places.

[Ashley]

Oh. I mean, kind of same difference.

[Emily]

Which I love Dark Places too, but Sharp Objects. Okay, Very good.

[Ashley]

Yeah, I. That book is outstanding. That book is absolutely outstanding. I think. And then the miniseries was just as good.

[Emily]

Anything Gillian Flynn or. Gillian Flynn?

[Ashley]

Yeah, I don't. I don't remember. But also, why hasn't. Why hasn't she written a book in a long time?

[Emily]

I don't know, but she, she's like, here, let me put some incredible stuff out and then I'm gonna go chill out. Good for her. Okay, here's what I said because I just feel like it doesn't get enough hype. It's super twisty it is spooky season themed, so it's like Halloween theme. And that's Look Closer by David Ellis. Okay. I. I think it's a great book for thriller lovers. Thriller lovers are going to find things in it that are still exciting.

[Ashley]

I want to see someone on our group page or on Instagram. Someone somewhere also just recommended this book and said if you're looking for something right now, this is what you should be reading.

[Emily]

I feel like I don't know why it's not recommended more. So go look that one up. To everyone who has not read it and who likes thriller books. Look Closer by David Ellis. Okay. Okay. Number four, what thriller do you recommend to people who get scared too easily?

[Ashley]

You go first because what if we have the same one?

[Emily]

Okay. I said everyone here is Lying by Sherry lapena.

[Ashley]

I love that book and it's fun.

[Emily]

I thought it was fun. I was not scared at all. And I don't think there's anything scary about it. Holistically, that's not true. Everything we read is messed up. Okay, but you know, layers.

[Ashley]

If someone's gonna buy it and read it and be like, those ladies are mentally unwell.

[Emily]

Yeah. If you don't like thrillers, go, get out of here. This episode's not for you.

[Ashley]

This one, I just finished it. It's our book of the month. But I said the last one at the wedding because. By the same author as Hidden.

[Emily]

Jason R. Kulak.

[Ashley]

Yes. It's not scary, but it is so. It's so messed up. It's just like it.

[Emily]

Wait, don't tell me anything else.

[Ashley]

Little spoilers, but it's like I read it in two sittings. It's like family dynamics, family relationships, and you really think somebody is like the bad guy and they are not. It just takes you on this completely wild ride, literally until the last three pages.

[Emily]

I can't wait to keep reading it, but I've been a little distracted with just lots of things to do and so I'm excited to just get some time to sit down and read.

[Ashley]

Yeah, well, once you start reading it, you're not going to be able to stop.

[Emily]

Okay. Number five. What are the scariest thrillers you have read? I picked three to talk about.

[Ashley]

What do you have? I have two. One. Maybe we have the same. Do you have a Riley Sager one?

[Emily]

No.

[Ashley]

Oh, I had home before dark. Right. That's somewhere the snakes come out of the ceiling. That's.

[Emily]

I knew you would have that one because you're scared of snakes. But for some reason, I Was like, it's okay.

[Ashley]

And then I had one, which I know you could not finish because we don't like horror and we don't like gore. But I love the podcast Morbid and it was a well written book. But Butcher and the Wren, the. That book was terrifying.

[Emily]

By Elena Urquhart.

[Ashley]

Absolutely. I could not sleep. I could not. Anyway, I didn't read the sequel because I'm too scared. But it was a good book if you can handle it.

[Emily]

Okay. That is one that I do remember being like, I can't read this because it was too. Too much for me. A little bit. Okay, here's what I put.

[Ashley]

That might have been the one I yelled at you about.

[Emily]

I said appetite for Innocence.

[Ashley]

Yeah.

[Emily]

By Lucinda Berry, which I loved so much. It's also on the top of my thrillers list and I think all thriller lovers should read it. And if you are just getting into the thriller genre, you should put it on your list to read as your 60th thriller book. Right. Book.

[Ashley]

A therapy session for two days after you finish it.

[Emily]

It is not for the faint of heart. But what. What was scary about it was just the premise more than anything. The thought about that. Okay. You know, the New House really scared me. We have a whole episode on that one, so people can go listen to that. The New House by Tess Stimson scared me so much thinking about. I don't want to give any spoilers, so go listen to that episode. Okay. And then this is the one that I probably thought about the most. And it's Leave the World behind by Rumen Alam. And I read this before it became a NETFLIX movie, which it's a great movie on Netflix too, but it's a apocalyptic thriller, so you don't know what's going on in the book if like who's safe and what's going to happen. But also something's happening in the world and it is more realistic than my brain could handle. And I was absolutely terrified as absolutely terrified about the reality of like, this could happen. So there we go.

[Ashley]

And the constant give and take in that book of really not knowing if the people in the house are even good and trying. I was stressed the entire time. One other one I want to make sure I mention is the Butterfly Garden. You haven't read that, right?

[Emily]

No.

[Ashley]

Oh, my God. That is. I don't know if you should. I'm scared anything away by saying it's like girls being held captive by one of the most disturbing humans you could ever write in a book.

[Emily]

I kind of want to. But I'm also scared. I don't know. No, not for me. Okay. Thank you. I'll trust you. So many good books to read. Maybe I'll just skip one that you say do not read it only because you're too weak. Okay. I love this because we're going to take a bit of a deviation. Number six, what non thriller do you think everyone should read?

[Ashley]

You go first because I bet we're going to have one or two that are the same. I have two.

[Emily]

I. I just put one. I think everyone should read American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. It is about a family trying to get to American dirt from Mexico and they are wanting to illegally cross the border. And it's just, it's heart wrenching and it is hopeful. It is everything. And I think it's just really important to understand those kinds of stories.

[Ashley]

I'm actually going to say three and you're going to probably know one of them for sure. I'm going to say Nightingale or by Kristin Hannah or basically any book by Kristin Hannah. I know as you and I have said, she, she does not write uplifting. She does not write. They're historical fiction and the books are real. So you feel like you are getting a lesson in the Holocaust or the Dust bowl while also sobbing for these stories of families just trying to survive.

[Emily]

I just love, I. I love how much research she puts into it so that it's like a refresher on historical pieces of. Of times. And I like that.

[Ashley]

And I also put Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini and the Red Tent.

[Emily]

Oh yeah. Who wrote the Red Tent?

[Ashley]

I'm not sure.

[Emily]

Anita Diamante? No, that's someone else.

[Ashley]

I feel like the Red Tent for me was one of the first books that really made me think about female relationships and about the power of women. And that's just a book that I think everyone should read and it's a biblical story.

[Emily]

Oh, it is. Anita Diamant. So yeah. And that. Yeah, that's so good.

[Ashley]

You go first. Tell me a thriller that you feel like is pretty unknown and underrated.

[Emily]

Okay. I wrote down two that I think people don't talk about. One is the Change by Kristen Miller. It is so funny. It is so fun. It has that paranormal thing in it. But it's not paranormal. It's more like magic. It's so funny. It's about menopausal women channeling their energy from menopause into like useful things. But it's also got this thriller aspect that I won't tell you But I think is topical and interesting for lots of people. So the change. And I laughed out loud the first, like 10 pages. I started laughing and I was like, oh, I love a book that can make me laugh out loud. That's a thriller. And then the second one, it's a little bit older, but I just feel like people didn't give it the love it deserved. And maybe not everyone loved it as much as I did, but it's the Sanatorium by Sarah Pierce. Guess what? It's a snowy setting. But I. I think her setting was really incredible. I think the story was super engaging the whole time. I thought it was so fun. I also.

[Ashley]

I also felt like for a snowy people stuck in a cabin book, the character development was good. Like there were people I was rooting for and people I. Not in that book. I said, this will not surprise you. I feel like everyone's heard my answers all the time.

[Emily]

But.

[Ashley]

Good night Beautiful by Amy Moloy. Yes, I think it is. I don't hear enough people talk about it. It's a short read, it's a quick read, but it will absolutely blow your mind. The twists and the turns are. I don't. I can't say anything else. Just think that there's a psychologist and someone can hear him through the floor doing his sessions. And then I'm just going to tell you to go from there because any. Anything else I say, we'll give it away.

[Emily]

Okay, fine. I love that. Okay. Should we do number eight? Sure. Authors, you'll never skip their books.

[Ashley]

There are too many same.

[Emily]

I was like, there's like 20. Because anytime I hear about a new book coming out by someone, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna read that by a lot of authors. So I picked three that I think I just really, really need to read all of their. Everything they've written. And I'm going through a lot of it, but okay. My three are Lisa Jewell. I just love her books. Lucinda Berry and Ar Tor.

[Ashley]

Ar Tor. Yes.

[Emily]

I've really enjoyed books by all of those. By her. She's phenomenal by all three of those. So who did you pick?

[Ashley]

My first was the easiest pick I've ever made, and that was Stacey Willingham.

[Emily]

Yeah.

[Ashley]

Her debut was in 2022. So flicker in the Dark, all the dangerous things, and only if you're lucky. I'm like, those are all bangers. Those are like. And they're so different, but such incredible books. And she has a new book coming out, I think. August 2025.

[Emily]

I. Yes. I'm excited for her. I will. You're right. I mean, I'll read anything by her, too.

[Ashley]

Of course, I. The next two. I had Live Constantine, because when we had the Sisters on, I thought, I will read whatever you write just to talk to the two of you again. And, like, obviously, if you've read the last Mrs. Parish, that. That book is outstanding. And then Senator's Wife was just a fun kind of thriller set in Washington, D.C. with all the, like, hobnobs. I loved that book so much. And then the last was an author we talked to last week, and that's Heather Gudenkopf, because I haven't read anything by her that I did not love. And she. She manages to bring in a little bit of not gore, but she's a little bit harder in explaining some of the violence happening. And she does it in such a tasteful, meaningful way that it just works. So her books have some, like, pretty scary stuff, but it just goes. Because she's so good.

[Emily]

I love her, too. Yeah.

[Ashley]

And she's respectful. Right. We got to hear about how she researched so much for her last book. And any author, I think that takes so much time to be respectful of the characters that they're writing about and the subject matter. I just have a lot of respect for her.

[Emily]

I do, too. This is the hard thing about being in our position is we've talked to so many authors that I have. I have such a long list of authors that I respect and care about. It's. It's crazy just that I want to read their work because I care about their craft and what they're doing, and I think it's powerful, and I love reading them. Okay, Number eight. I mean, number nine. Number nine. What book controversies do you know about, Ashley?

[Ashley]

So I'm gonna say an author of a book that is controversial. The book is Verity. The author is Colleen Hoover.

[Emily]

Correct. Heard of her? Yeah, I've heard of her.

[Ashley]

You cannot. You cannot say Verity without people either completely being on your side and obsessed or people telling you that it's the worst book they've ever read in the history of books.

[Emily]

I know. It's really interesting how polarizing that book is. I just. I wish I cared more.

[Ashley]

I wish I did, too, but I just don't. I like the book.

[Emily]

It was entertaining. I mean, I thought that it was good. There you go. Check. But people are so obsessed with hating it or loving it. I mean, look, if you look at the reviews, most people loved it. It, like, got over a million reviews, and it's almost five stars. So the people have spoken, but the people who hate it are loud.

[Ashley]

Well. And do they really hate the book or do they just want to hate something to be different?

[Emily]

That's a good question. They maybe really did hate the book, but I doubt they hated it any more than they've hated some other thrillers. Like, I've definitely disliked some books before. And, like, I. I just. It's the passion for me that's interesting. Okay, that's a good controversy. That's a good one to bring up. I'm gonna bring up a controversy, and that's Freda McFadden. All the way controversial.

[Ashley]

All the way.

[Emily]

I mean, one, there's some allegations of. Maybe she borrows some story lines from others, but I. I don't know. There's been nothing definitive out there about that. So that's just one of the reasons I think she's controversial. But then people seem to love or hate her. Here's the thing. Do you like her, Ashley?

[Ashley]

I think the pace at which she turns out thrillers is insane. And I think when you start with her, like the Housemaid. I love that book. I absolutely love that book. But then it kind of loses its luster after a while.

[Emily]

Okay, here's the thing is, I will never Skip a Frida McFadden audiobook. I have found that listening to them, it's just easy. It's one of those, like, they're. They're very similar to each other in terms of style, and I love to listen. They're a quick listen. They're engaging. So I'll listen to any Frida McFadden audiobook. And I've listened to a lot of them, and I. I always get them. Here's the thing. I don't understand why all of her women characters are such idiots. She writes every single book. There is a phenomenally beautiful. That's how they're described. They're just like the most gorgeous woman, but they're dumb as a box of rocks. Like, they are just. They make the worst choices.

[Ashley]

They're like, I don't know.

[Emily]

And then he told me I was stupid and my hair looked ugly. And I was like. But maybe he didn't mean it like that. I'm like, what? No, no. No woman would do every. Any woman would be like, this date's over by, you know.

[Ashley]

Yes, absolutely. I don't. I think I just took a break from freedom McFadden Books, too. I read Housemaid, and then the Housemaid Returns or whatever the next one's called. And then I just kind of decided to. To move on from that. Once you. Once you've heard the rumor that potentially some of the content is taken from other people, you. You kind of can't.

[Emily]

I'm here.

[Ashley]

So you start listening or reading a book and you think, I think I've read this before.

[Emily]

That does happen sometimes. But a lot of her books that I've read, I don't know that they came from anywhere else. So I don't know about anything about that controversy. Besides, that's just what I've heard. Okay. Other controversial takes. Listen, book talk. Book Tick Tock is apparently like a controversial place. There's all kinds of. There's a whole community there that I think we're not a big part of because we're old. Maybe we're a little old.

[Ashley]

Wasn't there a controversy last year on booktok where people were supposedly paid to for content about books but never got paid? Do you remember that?

[Emily]

Yeah.

[Ashley]

We were like, you didn't answer that email.

[Emily]

Oh, yeah. Well, there was one guy who was trying to. We got an email, right? He was emailing book influencers asking them to do like, sexual content. Like, like d. Like you had to be like scantily clad and dance with his sexy book and he would pay you. I don't was like $200 or something for your book.

[Ashley]

And we did it.

[Emily]

I'm just kidding.

[Ashley]

I was like, you did?

[Emily]

And we didn't even like read the whole email before we heard about the controversy. And then we saw the email. We're like, oh, we got one of those. So there's one. There was also one I saw earlier this year that was somebody who's a book talker on TikTok who apparently was having authors mail them their book and pay them like indie authors and pale pay them money to do a TikTok on their book. And then they were never doing it. The content. They weren't providing the. The services or something. So that she became some book talker, became very controversial. Which, for the record, we have a good BookTok account, but we have never had an author pay us. Right?

[Ashley]

Nope.

[Emily]

Ever. And we don't. We have had authors send us their books, but we make very clear we owe them nothing. If they want to send us their book, that's fine. But we, we don't make content about books we don't like. Basically. Yeah.

[Ashley]

That's a standing rule we have. We tell authors if we don't like it. We're not going to use our social media presence to bash You. But we're not going to do a video saying we liked it. We're not going to lie about a book.

[Emily]

No, we just. We just want to share books. That's what we usually do. We just share them. Just say, we liked this. And then people are like, oh, my gosh, thank you. Like, you're welcome. That's it.

[Ashley]

It's also. This isn't a controversy, but I always find it fascinating because to you and I and to people who love reading books, these authors are. I hate the word celebrities, but we hide them and really hold them in really high esteem. So when we're like, oh, let's go look at their Instagram and follow them, and they have, you know, 4,000 followers. I'm like, why don't you have 2 million followers? You're writing these amazing books. Why are people not paying more attention to you? And authors just work so hard.

[Emily]

Well, I think so much of that is that we just don't even think about going to search for them. You know, like, if we knew we were. They were on there, we would go follow all of them. But you have to, like, be effortful sometimes to go find those people. And your algorithm's stupid. Once you follow, like, Blake Lively, that's all you get is, like, blake Lively. And, like, a list stars. And you're like, that's not really what I want. So now we have a good algorithm where we get all the book folks.

[Ashley]

We do. We have a good book algorithm.

[Emily]

Okay, last question. What else do you need to say about reading?

[Ashley]

I want to tell people, because I think this is important, that when we pick our book of the month, we have not read it in advance. And I don't know many book clubs where the people facilitating the conversations and picking the books do that. But to you and I, it's really important to read it with the people who are a part of our community and. And experience the book with them. And sometimes we have hits, and sometimes we have crazy misses and we talk about it. We go there.

[Emily]

I love that. We sell our hardcover copies of our books on the creepy book club dot com. And here's the thing. Little known fact, Ashley and I get our books from that same stash, so they are shipped to us. When they're shipped to you, we do not get them in advance. We do not even look into them very much. We look a lot at reviews. Now our Patreon members help vote on. We provide, like, three choices for book of the month, and they vote. And that's been so much fun. But I want this to be an authentic book club. This is not a Ashley and Emily recommend this book. It's a let's read this together and see what we all think.

[Ashley]

And sometimes 20 pages in, we think we have made a grievous mistake.

[Emily]

It's rare, but it does happen.

[Ashley]

I can only think of two. Two books come to top of Mind where the whole book club was like, do we trust you anymore? Like, we don't. We don't know.

[Emily]

They're like, can you please cancel my subscription? No.

[Ashley]

But then you get a total knockout. Like the Chris Whitaker one. We just read all the colors of the dark, and then you could have like four bad ones in a row, and they'd be like, it's all right. Do you remember that one?

[Emily]

It's true. We've had so many good ones. And right now we're shipping the Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Green. That looks really good. I'm excited to get that one. So I need to finish the Jason or Kulak, and then that's next.

[Ashley]

And I'm holding her to it. I just finished editing our interview we did with Sarah Pekkanen for Gone Tonight, if you. A year ago maybe. And at the end of it, she goes, when House of Glass comes out, I want to come back and talk to you. And that's the book our read with us Patreon members picked. So now we can hold her beat to the fire. Sarah, we're coming for you.

[Emily]

So excited for that. I. I want to say one more thing about reading, and that is I think you can read with your eyeballs or your earballs. Yes. Or your fingertips. If you read Braille. I don't care how you read, but you just use one of your senses to read. So I am not. Not opposed or I have no negative thoughts about people who listen to their books and then join our book club. So you should come and join us. Yeah.

[Ashley]

I think however you take in content that works for you, as long as you can be mad about it or sad about it with us, that's all that matters.

[Emily]

Yeah. We just like your emotions.

[Ashley]

But also our book club members do have big feelings about narrators and how they are.

[Emily]

I mean, me too.

[Ashley]

And make or break it.

[Emily]

Me too. I did listen to one book and it sounded like, I won't tell you what author. But it was funny because it reminded me. I was like, I think this is what the author is like, too. Like, is the author reading it? But it wasn't the author reading it. But she picked someone of her likeness and the story was about like maybe 30 year old people or 40 year old people who but it sounded like a 65 year old smoker woman was reading it and I was like this doesn't work. This I couldn't get through the book the whole time. I was just like so frustrated. So sometimes I have to be like I'm going to go ahead and pivot and get that with my eyes that.

[Ashley]

One or I'm going to put it on two times and just get through it.

[Emily]

I know sometimes that too. Okay Ashley, this was fun.

[Ashley]

This was fun. I love talking to our book, our besties and hearing from them. So comment on any of the Questions right answer 1 through 10, whatever you want.

[Emily]

Let us we want to hear your answers too.

[Ashley]

Happy reading you guys. Bye bye. Thanks for listening.

[Emily]

For more content find us on Patreon at the creepy book club.

[Ashley]

Happy reading.