Season 8, Episode 33: Reading Grooves + Our Reading Hermitages

Summary

The Currently Reading Podcast
Season 8, Episode 33: Reading Grooves + Our Reading Hermitages
Release Date: March 23, 2026
Hosted by: Meredith Monday Schwartz and Elizabeth Barnhill

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Meredith and (guest co-host) Elizabeth have an energetic, bookish conversation all about “reading grooves”—those moments when your love of reading is re-ignited—and dive deep into a fascinating “reading hermitage” thought experiment: if you were sent to live alone in a cabin, with only five authors’ collected works, whom would you choose? Along the way, they recommend current and backlist reads, share very personal stories about their bookish lives, and highlight the heart of the Currently Reading community.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Bookish Moments of the Week

Spring Fever Returns

• Elizabeth shares how the warmer Texas weather and a rejuvenating trip to Winter Institute have reinvigorated her reading (04:19).

  “I have book fever, darling.” – Elizabeth [04:13]
  She describes her cyclical reading groove and how “spring fever” often translates into renewed reading excitement.

• Meredith also describes how she recently emerged from a reading slump:

  “There’s always going to be ebbs and flows, and I just. I’m so comforted by the fact that our reading is always there. If you take a small break or a long break, your reading will always be there to come back to.” – Meredith [04:54]

• Meredith discusses how big life projects or habit changes (like Whole 30) send her to the library for a stack of cookbooks:

  "My instinct is always to go to the books whenever I'm doing anything in my life." – Meredith [06:31]

• Both hosts predict a “return to analog”—physical cookbooks, craft books, and other hands-on, inherently human reading experiences (07:10).

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Current Reads

Elizabeth’s Selections

1. These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner
   [08:49]

   • Historical fiction, written as the diary of a frontier woman in early Arizona.
   • A perennial staff favorite at her store, a book with “universal” appeal across genres.

   • "We all love Sarah. If you loved Little House on the Prairie or James Michener’s Centennial or even the show 1885, you won’t want to skip These Is My Words." – Elizabeth [10:27]

2. London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
   [16:28]

   • New narrative nonfiction about a real case involving a London teen’s mysterious death and his web of lies.

   • "What really scares me though are fiction and nonfiction that delve into children in legal or social trouble…like Defending Jacob…and this little book here." – Elizabeth [16:32]

   • "Patrick Radden Keefe has my whole narrative nonfiction writing heart..." – Elizabeth [17:43]

3. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
   [24:12]

   • Memoir/nature-writing hybrid: a pandemic journal about rescuing a wild baby hare and rediscovering the pace of the natural world.
   • Described as “a tale of resilience and survival, both human and animal” [24:12].

   • "There is such an analog movement going on…and we are finding books that are coming back to our core existence in a quiet but hopeful way…Raising Hare belongs on this list." – Elizabeth [25:45]

Meredith’s Selections

1. This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crumb
   [11:32]

   • Thriller centered on two best friends who host a famous true-crime podcast, until one goes missing.

   • "Five star thrillers, like true thrillers, are really rare for me…I could not put this book down." – Meredith [12:50]

   • Meredith highly recommends reading the Author’s Note, which describes the author’s long journey to publication.

2. The Plea by Steve Cavanagh
   [18:59]

   • Part of the Eddie Flynn legal thriller series.
   • Focuses on a con artist-turned-lawyer facing immense pressure from the FBI.

   • "I’m a sucker. A sucker for a reformed criminal protagonist, con artist with a heart of gold is so right up my alley. Eddie Flynn’s the perfect example…" – Meredith [20:49]

3. Yesteryear by Carol Clare Burke
   [28:44]

   • Contemporary/literary fiction: a trad-wife influencer wakes up to find herself living in 1855.

   • "If you are looking for an excellent book club book, a really good one, the kind where you show up and nobody can shut up…this is your choice." – Meredith [29:11]

   • "Loaded with so many topics…influencer culture, womanhood, religion, politics, feminism, motherhood…Burke doesn’t tell you how to feel—she…lets you sit with it." – Meredith [30:46]

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Deep Dive: The Reading Hermitage Thought Experiment

[37:05]

Prompt:
If you were sent to live the rest of your life in a cabin with no TV or internet, and could only take the collected works of five authors, whom would you pick and why?

Selection Strategy

• Both hosts aimed for “itch scratching” across their eclectic reading tastes and considered authors’ volume (“I need a lot to choose from” – Meredith [38:49]).

Selected Authors:

Elizabeth’s Five:

1. Min Jin Lee – For epic, multigenerational fiction
2. Anthony Horowitz – For British detective mysteries with clever twists
3. Patrick Radden Keefe – For top-shelf narrative nonfiction (edge over Eric Larson for “what have you done for me lately?” factor)
4. Kristin Hannah – For comfort, diversity and calming, “warm blanket” books
5. Liz Moore – For literary mysteries in her “sweetest of sweet spots”
   – Alternate ("if someone can’t perform their duties"): Rick Bragg

Meredith’s Five:

1. Louise Penny – For cozy, re-readable, comforting mystery series
2. Charles Dickens – For classic, lengthy, and re-readable literary fiction:

   “I would actually love an opportunity to reread all of Charles Dickens.” [41:55]

3. David Sedaris – For non-fiction and humor, and “getting me out of a blue funk”
4. Stephen King – For horror, crime, the Dark Tower series—“never boring except for Fairy Tale” [45:48]
5. Debbie Macomber – To balance out heavy choices with comfort “heart books”
   – Margaret Atwood was runner-up for the final spot.

Takeaways and Reflections

• The exercise shed light on each reader’s literary DNA (47:55), and the choices felt both revealing and slightly stressful (“your entire universe of inputs” – Meredith [49:02]).
• Both agreed their lists together would be “very powerful,” and imagined a crow surprise-delivering new books to cabins for living authors (43:10, 48:44).

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Bookish Community Highlights

Bookish Friend of the Week

[52:12]

• Shoutout to Amanda for creating a “press list” challenge on StoryGraph, compiling every book Meredith and Katie have ever “pressed” on the show—a way for listeners to try and read their way through the entire recommendation archive.

Bookstore Promotion

[35:21]

• Currently Reading listeners get 10% off (code: currently) at Fabled Bookshop for the six books discussed in this episode. “If you would like Yesteryear personally signed to you, put it in the comments and we will get it signed.” – Elizabeth [35:21]
• Announcement of Book Lover’s Weekend at Fabled in Waco, April 10-12, with signed books, panel discussions, and live podcast tapings.

Hidden Gem Pick

[52:29]

• No One’s Coming by Kevin Hazard – Narrative nonfiction about rescuing a doctor from Ebola-stricken West Africa.

  “People, the 35 of us who have read it really loved it.” – Elizabeth [52:57]

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Notable Quotes

• On finding reading grooves and the cycles of reading:

  "I started feeling a little...itchy, a little worried that I was starting to think maybe I’m not a reader anymore...That is not the case, thank goodness!" – Elizabeth [03:39]

• On cookbooks and analog reading:

  “I think there’s going to be a big return to analog...things that are inherently human are going to become valuable in a very specific way.” – Meredith [07:10]

• On author selection for the hermitage experiment:

  "This is like all we have to read. We're not getting newspapers. We're not getting anything else. So this is our entire universe." – Meredith [49:02]

• On the power of community-driven reading:

  “Bookish friends are the best friends. Thank you for helping us grow and get closer to our goals.” – Elizabeth [55:49]

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Important Timestamps

• [01:08] – Welcoming Elizabeth as co-host and previewing the deep dive
• [04:19] – Bookish Moments of the Week (Spring/book slumps & grooves)
• [08:49] – Elizabeth’s current reads begin
• [11:32] – Meredith’s current reads begin
• [24:12] – Raising Hare discussion
• [28:44] – Yesteryear discussion (book club pick)
• [35:21] – Fabled Bookstore promo, signed books & Book Lover’s Weekend
• [37:05] – “Reading Hermitage” Deep Dive
• [52:12] – Bookish Friend of the Week segment (community challenge)
• [52:29] – Hidden gem/final grab bag pick: No One’s Coming by Kevin Hazard

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Tone & Style

Friendly, candid, and bookishly enthusiastic—Meredith and Elizabeth riff off each other, combining deep readerly wisdom with practical, sometimes very funny, lived experience. The episode is loaded with honest takes, gentle humor (“Do they have to have water? Well, I’d build it a pool!” [27:11]), and a palpable sense of warmth for the reading life.

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Summary

This episode is essential listening for fans of Currently Reading and anyone looking for inspiring, honest, and practical book recommendations—with a hearty dash of “what if” reading fantasy. The episode is especially engaging for those who love reading-themed thought experiments, community reading challenges, and finding their next bookish groove.

For more details, signed books, or community resources, visit Fabled Bookshop or the Currently Reading Instagram and Substack.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Hey, readers, welcome to the Currently Reading podcast. We are bookish best friends who spend time every week talking about the books that we've read recently. And as you know, we won't shy away from having strong opinions. So get ready.

[A]

We are light on the chit chat, heavy on the book talk, and our conversations will always be spoiler free. Today we'll discuss our current reads, a readerly deep dive, and a little something bookish before we go.

[B]

I'm Meredith Monday Schwartz. I'm a mom and a Mimi and a full time CEO living in Austin, Texas. And my first instinct for anything new is always to start with reading about it.

[A]

And I'm Elizabeth Barnhill, the book buyer at the beautiful fabled bookshop in Waco, Texas, and Meredith's co host on All Things Murderful, part of the Patreon content we're currently reading. And my spring fever has turned into book fever. This is episode number 33 of season eight and we are so glad you're here.

[B]

Oh, Elizabeth, I am so glad to be recording a big show episode with you. This is the first time you've ever done the big show.

[A]

I know. I've been so excited about it and just thinking all week, what books do I want to bring and what do I want to talk about? I've been so excited to do this all week, Meredith.

[B]

And when you thought about your current reads, they didn't have to all be murderful. So that kind of freed you up to we really want people to know you and people want to know you beyond just the murderful parts of you because you love all kinds of books and reading.

[A]

I do. And I, of course, murderful books I've loved since I was a little girl. But I'm a very eclectic reader and I love that I get to share some of my other loves with with our audience today.

[B]

All right, well, along those lines, I will let you know that our deep dive today is one that I am very interested in talking about with you, Elizabeth, because we had somebody mention in the Bookish Friends Facebook group that they were trying to pull together. If you were going to live in a cabin by yourself, you were going to be a hermit and you were going to have no TV or Internet and you could only take the works of five authors. What five authors are you taking? So, Elizabeth, we are gonna chop that up later in the show.

[A]

Don't you know, I'm gonna try to find a way to cheat and add an extra one. We'll see if I can do it. But I've been Thinking about this all week, and I keep changing them up. And, you know, it's been really fun to try to figure out those perfect five authors.

[B]

It's. It's a big question, so we're gonna get to that. But first, Elizabeth, let's do our bookish moments of the week. What have you got?

[A]

Well, Meredith, I am just in the best reading mode right now. It has been kind of, I don't know, the last couple of months. I haven't really felt it. I've been very busy with other things in my life. And as you know, I read seasonally, so every season, I start off with the books I'm the most excited about. And then toward the end of the season, we start looking. It's sort of the dregs. And I'm like, I need to try this before our big quarterly reading reviews at Fabled. I'm not as excited about it, but I'm going to try. But anyway, I started feeling a little, like you say, a little itchy, a little worried that I was starting to think maybe I'm not a reader anymore. I don't know, maybe I don't love it. However, that is not the case, thank goodness. And I just got back from Winter Institute, which got me so inspired. I'm starting all my books that are coming out from May till August, and I'm reading about a book a day or a book every other day right now. And I can hardly wait to get my. All my things done so I can just sit down and read. And, you know, I think we, as Texans are just. It is just such a beautiful time of year. It's warming up. It's beautiful outside. I just feel invigorated. And I'm. I'm feeling very, very excited about my reading right now. So I have told you, we used to laugh at my grandmother, my very berry Southern grandmother would say she had spring fever, and I have book fever, darling.

[B]

So I was so hoping that we were going to get a spring fever from you.

[A]

It's a spring fever type of day, so I'm so excited. What about you, Meredith? What is your bookish moment of the week?

[B]

Well, along the lines with what you're saying, I, too, kind of along that same period of time, I was also really struggling finding books that I wanted to read, and I was really kind of slumpy. And then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I've had like four five star books in a row, and I've started taking walks again outside, and that always equals audiobooks to me. Found a couple really good audiobooks that I got really excited about. So, yes, it's a. It feels good to want to be reading, but there's always going to be ebbs and flows, and I just. I'm so comforted by the fact that our reading is always there. If you take a small break or a long break, your reading will always be there to come back to. So that feels really good. But my bookish moment of the week is the fact that. Did I tell you, Elizabeth, I think I might have told you that I'm doing a Whole 30?

[A]

Yes, you did. Okay.

[B]

Because, you know, people who do whole 30, it becomes their entire personality.

[A]

This is.

[B]

This is what's happened to me. I am probably never going to do this again. Because your girl loves a carb.

[A]

Yeah, I know you do. I know you do. Are you a little hangry right now, Meredith?

[B]

I'll tell you what I'm not. No. Because I'm actually not. Like, I'm. I've had plenty of food, but I am very. Like, I don't like to eat the same food over and over and over again, except broccoli, which I eat every day.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So I immediately thought, the first couple days of whole 30, I'm like, you know what I need to do? I need to go and I need to get 82 recipe books from the library. And thank God my library had so many, like, paleo and whole 30, like, all the things. So poor Johnny went with a huge backpack and came home with all of these books just to pour through them for recipes and, like, best practices and all this stuff. And yes, all of this is available online, of course. And I've done my share of pulling together resources online. But for me, my instinct is always to go to the books whenever I'm doing anything in my life. When I had my babies, when I, you know, started a career, when I started my career as CEO, any of those things. When we got a dog, I always go to the books. And it just. It's like, even if. Even though we have this whole big Internet and now, of course, all the other resources that we have available, I still am comforted. Or I found a. I find a foundation when I start with a big pile of books on the topic.

[A]

I'm the same way. And I love a cookbook. And, you know, I just discussed on all things Murderfall, people are really going to start turning more toward cookbooks and crafting books because you're not as worried about AI coming up with all this information. So people are starting to Trust cookbooks more and I love that. So we're, we're going back to basics, baby.

[B]

I think there's going to be a big return to analog. A lot of things. I think that's, I think that analog and the very hu. Things that are inherently human are going to become valuable in a very specific way. And I'm really, I think that's great.

[A]

I agree. But I, I do think really some of my favorite times, if I'm just wanting a little serotonin boost, I pull out my cookbooks. So I think that's great. I would. And I'm, I'm glad that you're doing the whole 30. You know, I love to eat very, very clean food as well. I eat cottage cheese every day. Who would have ever thought Little Lizzy at 14 would have never thought how excited 50 year old me would be eating cottage cheese every day.

[B]

Yeah, I mean you do eat really clean and I usually, you know, I, I eat well. Like, I eat well.

[A]

I eat perfectly fine. Right? Yes.

[B]

But I just wanted to see. This really has nothing to do with anything other than I hadn't been fueling my body in ways that were making it feel really good. I wanted that like energy back. I wanted, you know what I mean, I wanted to reset. So that's why I'm doing it. But anyway, I promise not to mention it anymore for the whole rest of the episode. Let's talk about books instead. So you have three current reads, which I'm so excited to hear about. Your, your reads. So what's your first one?

[A]

Well, I tried to. I did one current read, one book that is a backlist that I sell all the time and a book that I read last year that I loved. So I, I thought nobody really wants to hear all of the books I'm reading. They're coming out six months from now because where's the fun in that? So that's how I approached these books today.

[B]

I love it.

[A]

And the, the first one I want to talk about is these Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. Now I have 10 to 20 books on the shelves at Fabled that will always be there as long as I'm the buyer. That would be a fun little deep dive at some point. These are the books that have shaped me as a reader, are perhaps my favorite books of all time. I wanted to bring one of those to the big show today and the one I have selected is these Is My Words. I read this book in 2012 and gave it five stars and apparently many others did the same as it has almost a 4.4 on Goodreads with over 82,000 reviews. Wow. I know. It's so good. We could also still get it in paperback and it was originally published back in 1998, and that's kind of unheard of. Turner was inspired to write this wonderful book after hearing a lifetime of stories about her great grandmother, Sarah Agnes Prine, along with memoirs from family members who crossed the United States with Sarah in a covered wagon and ultimately landed in the Arizona territory in the late 1800s, early 1900s. I will never forget the main character, Sarah Agnes Prine, as she begins the book naive and a touch ignorant, hence her diaries. These Is My Words. We follow Sarah along the journey through diary entries and watch as she develops into an elegant and charming woman, wife and mother. There is a love story at the heart of the book that is very chaste, but ultimately we fall in love and root for this scrappy and spirited pioneer. What I love about the book is that so many people in the store love this novel with vastly different reading tastes and genres, but we all love Sarah. If you loved Little House on the Prairie or James Mishner's Centennial or even the Show 1885, you won't want to skip these Is My Words. There are more in the series, but this one can be read as a standalone. That is these Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner.

[B]

Oh, that is. That is one I have got to get for my sister. Because every time I've heard you talk about it, I just think Melinda would absolutely love this book. I have got to get that for her this year.

[A]

I think you might too. She's just such a. There's something about her that is so endearing. And I love. The story goes she lived in Arizona and she retired at 75 because she. Her lasso abilities were a little bit off. I'm like that. Oh my gosh, I love that so much. So, yeah. But I. I just think this would be a great one for our readers or for maybe a gift for your mother or like you said, a sister. It's a great one. All right.

[B]

Perfect. All right. Well, I am bringing. Because I don't get to record the big show with you normally, I am bringing three books. I believe that you've read all three, so we'll be able to talk about all of them. And the first one is the one that you know because we were talking about this, I am absolutely obsessed with it is five huge stars. And that is this story Might Save youe Life by Tiffany Crumb. So good okay, so you've read this one, right, Elizabeth?

[A]

Yes. Okay, I have read it.

[B]

All right, so here's the setup. Our lead characters are Benny Abbott and Joy Moore. And they are best friends, and they co host a super popular podcast, like Not Stay Sexy, Don't Get Murdered.

[A]

My favorite murder.

[B]

There you go. So every week, these two, Benny and Joy, they. They talk about, like, survival stories, and they, like, one of them brings a story of some crazy thing like, what would you do if blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then the other person tries to figure out what they're gonna do. So it's this really popular podcast and they have like 35 million downloads a month. So it's really, really in the zeitgeist. But behind all of this success, of course, there are cracks. Joy has really severe narcolepsy, which is an interesting part of the story. And they're trying to work out a bunch of business st the background. And there's a stalker who has been posting photos of Joy all over social media. And Joy's husband Xander, who manages their like, produces their podcast for them, has always been a little bit weird about Joy and Benny, but of course, there's no reason to be because they're just friends. And then one morning, Benny arrives at Joy's house to record a show, and he finds a shattered window and nobody at home. And they look and look, and Joy and Xander, Joy and her husband Xander are gone. So that's what starts out our story. So this book showed up as a book of the month pick. I actually hadn't heard. If I'd heard about it, I had forgotten about it. And I chose it. And then it arrived and I did something I almost never do with Book of the month anymore. And that is, I immediately opened it up and started reading it. And that is the last that you heard from me until I finished it. Because I could not put this book down. Five star thrillers, like true thrillers, are really rare for me. I'm lucky if I find one a year, really. But every element of this book hit exactly right. The construction that author Tiffany Crumb uses to tell the story is perfect for this kind of mystery setup. The way she ramps up the anticipation, parcels out the information, and then the whole picture begins to come into focus for us. It's really well done for this debut authority. I really was surprised that this was the debut. So this story has several things that I love. Behind the scenes details of a podcast tour, which I'm always interested in. Those kinds of details. A couple of fantastic dogs that are absolutely all right and multiple characters that you can root for, which is not usually true in a thriller. And part of the reason why I struggle with thrillers so much. So it's got characters, pacing, stories, a great resolution. This book hit on every level. I read it in print and I had a wonderful time with it that way. But several people have said that the audio version is really, really well done and apparently it includes something that the print version does not include. I might have to go back and listen to it just for that. So when you finish, be sure to read the Author's Note. The story of Tiffany Crumb's 18 year journey to write this debut novel is truly inspiring and it made me love this book and even more. I can't wait to see what she writes next. This is this story Might Save youe Life by Tiffany Crumb.

[A]

I loved this book so much. I loved the Author's Note and it just makes me so, so happy for the author. But anyway, yeah, this was one that I just kind of saw in, in the middle of the catalog and I thought, well, this, they all, all my publisher reps know I'm always looking for a really good mystery or thriller. And my rep said, oh, I think you might like this one. And oh my gosh, it is. It was fabulous. And I love that it's blowing up as it is.

[B]

So, yeah, it's amazing. I hate the title now. The title is the title of the podcast that they do like. That's the podcast title. But as a title of a book, I think it's probably put a lot of people off, to be honest, because I don't think it reads. I don't think it reflects what you're actually getting in the book.

[A]

I keep wanting to say, this story might change your life. Yeah. And I keep. It's like, why is it not popping up? And then I'm like, oh, no, that's. There's too many words. Agreed.

[B]

So the COVID in the title I, I found fault with, but neither of those were under Tiffany Crumb's purview, so. But I look absolute 5 stars. Will not be surprised if it's on my, my list. My top list of the year.

[A]

Yay. Okay. Wonderful.

[B]

All right, what's your next one?

[A]

So my next one is a book that is coming out in just actually I think it's next week. So this is very exciting. This is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. Yes. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026 and it did not disappoint I think I can go on record as saying that mysteries and thrillers, for the most part, don't scare me. Give me all the serial killer books On a dark and stormy night when Brian is out of town and I'm golden. Books that really scare me though are fiction and nonfiction that delve into children in legal or social trouble. Like Defending Jacob, Someone We Know by Sherry Lapena and this little book here. Here's the setup. In 2019, a teenager named Zach Brettler falls to his death from a posh London apartment into the Thames. After extensive investigation, his parents discover that their sometimes mercurial and elusive son changed his Persona at boarding school from a middle class London Jew to the son of a billionaire Russian oligarch. As one does.

[B]

Right. And this is again, this is non fiction.

[A]

This is a true story. As they uncover more and more, they realize that the con was finally up and their son had made some very powerful enemies. Was the death a suicide or something more sinister? The story takes the reader from London to IDI Amin's Uganda and post communism Russia. Patrick Radden Keefe has my whole narrative nonfiction writing heart and he has quickly become my favorite author in the genre. I learned so much from the book and want to remind my sons that impersonating a billionaire Russian oligarch is perhaps not in their best interest. That is London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. And it comes out the first Tuesday of April. I think that's April 3rd ish. April. Around there. 7th. April 7th, yep.

[B]

Yes, this is on my pre order list because I heard, I. I know that you really loved it and several people have read early copies and said that it really does live up to that empire of pain kind of readability.

[A]

Yes, for sure. Yeah.

[B]

All right, Excellent. Okay. Now that is one that I'm really looking forward to. Okay. My second one is a backtrack for me. So you know our beloved Steve Cavanaugh, Elizabeth. We. Yes, we love him.

[A]

We do.

[B]

The Eddie Flynn legal thriller series. Well, I have been for some reason in that series. I can't quite explain it, but I've been jumping around in the ones that I've read. I haven't read them in order. So I finally decided, you know what, I'm gonna go back to the beginning. And I read the plea by Steve Kavanaugh. Oh, have you, have you gone back that. And. And read from the.

[A]

That's where I started. I was, I started with him when he first started.

[B]

Oh, you did? Okay. I had not. But I love the Eddie Flynn character so much that I was like, I really want to be a completist. So let's go. Let's get ourselves organized and not be animals, and let's go back and do this properly. So here's the setup of the plea. Eddie Flynn is a former con artist who now works the other side of the law as a criminal defense attorney. But old skills die hard, and sometimes the courtroom requires a little hustle of its own. In this second book, it's actually the second book in the Steve Kavanaugh series, Eddie finds himself caught in an impossible situation. The FBI wants him to convince tech billionaire David Child to plead guilty to murdering his girlfriend and testify against a corrupt Manhattan law firm sitting on a bunch of dirty money. But the kicker is that Eddie's wife is tangled up in that firm's mess. And if he doesn't play ball, if he doesn't do what the FBI wants him to, then she is going to go down for some of the firm's crimes. So Eddie is in a no win, rock and a hard place kind of situation. But you know Eddie, he's always gonna get. He's gonna get things figured out. So as I said, I'm working my way through. And I absolutely love Eddie. I absolutely love the side characters. I love going back and getting their. The beginning of their story together. It was really fun to see where Eddie started. I'm a sucker. A sucker. For a reformed criminal protagonist, con artist with a heart of gold is so right up my alley. Eddie Flynn's the perfect example of this archetype. He's that former hustler. He's got all this, like, street. Not street cred, but, like, street smart. Street smart. Street smart. And Steve Kavanaugh just writes him with such earnestness that I feel like you just can't help but root for him. So here, though, is where I want to be fair about what this book is versus what I think Kavanaugh's later works have become. The plea. This book is very action forward. It's got a lot of early John Grisham energy, which I mean as a compliment. If you love legal thrillers with the pacing, with that kind of pacing, like John Grisham with, like, sharper elbows, then this one is perfect for you. There are some really interesting courtroom elements here, but there's. This is more of an action thriller than say, 13 or 5050 some of his later books. The plotting is very linear, like very this happened and then this happened, and then I shot this person and then this fight happened. It's less of that intricate twisty crime plotting that Kavanagh is bringing these days to his books. But I was never bored. I found myself reaching for the audiobook more than usual to find out what was going to happen next. And I just really like being in Eddie's head. I just really. I enjoy him so much. So I'm glad I doubled back. I do think if you're looking for a fast paced plot, forward thriller with a really likable character, then this is a solid choice. If you want something with a little more nuance and subtlety and a little more flair, you're going to want to start with his later books. I would suggest starting with 13.

[A]

Me too.

[B]

Also, Steve Kavanaugh is just a really nice guy, the author, so it always makes you want to root for him too. So this is the plea by Steve Kavanaugh.

[A]

I feel like the defense and the plea did a really good job of introducing us to Eddie Flynn, where I think by. Toward the. The later books, everyone kind of knows Eddie Flynn and it's more about the. The plot and things that are happening in the story. So that's why I loved the defense in the. In the play. Now, did you read the defense as well or not yet?

[B]

No. And sitting here right now. So I do not understand why I can't seem to get this series right. Why did I say to myself, I'm going to go back to the beginning and then why did I start the second one? I don't understand this.

[A]

You are a whole new person, Merit. Who are you? I leave you for two months and I'm like, who are you?

[B]

Yeah. I don't. I don't understand how I did that. Because I really thought sitting here today that I had gone back to the very beginning. I don't get it. But now I have to go. So I've doubled back. Now I have to double back even further. But I will do it.

[A]

I will say I have a hard time remembering if the defense or the plea is first or second because they. Those two. The words just go together to me. So.

[B]

Yeah, but I'm. I'm capable of looking online. This information is available to me.

[A]

Yeah, you. You have no excuse. I read. I probably read them 10 years ago. If or more. I hadn't. I wasn't working at Fabled when I read them.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I usually. This is not something I struggle with at all. But this, this is an outlier. But that's okay because I just want to have read all of them, even if that means I'm doing it in A really weird jigsaw puzzle kind of way.

[A]

That's right. I love it. I love it.

[B]

All right, what's your third one?

[A]

All right, My third one was one of my favorite books of last year and it just makes me so happy. And I don't think we've really talked about it on the show. And that is Raising Hair by Chloe Dalton. This is a memoir slash nature book and is a tale of resilience and survival, both human and animal. Chloe Dalton was working as a high powered journalist in the uk, but retreated to her family's country home during the pandemic lockdown. So she was forced to slow down after traveling the world, surviving on stress and the constant need to cover late breaking global news stories. One day on a walk near her country home, Dalton finds a baby leveret, which is like the Texan version of a jackrabbit. Most hares die quickly in captivity, so not a lot is known about the species. Dalton knew that if she didn't try to save it, death was imminent. So she decided to bring the baby home There. We as the reader, are blessed by her journey of creating an environment that allowed the leveret to grow. I'm getting a little choked up thinking about it. This is a wild animal that develops a schedule and makes a space for itself and learned to cautiously trust a human, which forced Dalton to slow down and appreciate small things, observe her surroundings and reconnect with nature. There is such an analog movement going on in the world right now and we are finding books that are coming back to our core existence in a quiet but hopeful way, like the Correspondent and Theo of Golden. And those are the books that are really hitting right now. Raising Hair belongs on this list in a mighty but lovely, smart and gentle way. This is Raising Hair by Chloe Dalton and I could not have loved it more.

[B]

I have heard so much good stuff about this book. It feels like the perfect time of year to read it too.

[A]

It is and I think you would love it. This is a morning read for you, Meredith. And I just. And I love that it's a. It's a true story. I love books like that. Or even stories like Born Free. Do you remember watching that in the 1970s and 80s? Yeah. Or there was. There was a great one about a man raising an otter in the Hebrides Islands of Scotland. I think Billy and something last year. And that made me so happy too. So this is just sort of right in there. This is a feel good book and again, a great book to give as a gift or just to Enjoy yourself.

[B]

You know, I'm not a gigantic animal person. I like. I like some dogs and I like, you know, whatever, but I'm not a gigantic animal person. But I think if I found a baby beaver, I might take it in.

[A]

I see you enjoying a baby beaver. I think I would take. I would want an otter. I think I enjoy otters.

[B]

Do they have to have. Otters have to live in water, though?

[A]

Yes, they do.

[B]

But we have.

[A]

We have a little lake by our. By our house. So I built it a pool. I think I'd build it a pool. But this is more. Honestly, this is more about appreciating nature and slowing down. Like I. I just yesterday. A couple of finches have now built a nest in my wreath on a glass door so I can see it from the outside. Everyone knows nobody in my family is allowed to use this door for a month. I've already told everyone nobody is going through this door. And I just. And I think part of it was me. I mean, I've always loved birds, but part of this was me remembering. I need to slow down and enjoy this.

[B]

So you need to pay.

[A]

Because of this? Because of this book? Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Is this book a crying book?

[A]

No.

[B]

Okay, so every. Okay with the. The hair.

[A]

Every. Everyone is happy and it's. It's all good. This is not a crying book. I just. I get. It was just sweet. So I just got a little. It just made me happy thinking about somebody taking care of a tiny little creature.

[B]

Yeah, poignant is fine.

[A]

It was.

[B]

I just don't.

[A]

Very poignant.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then the lever, it goes outside and the lawnmower comes. No, I'm just.

[B]

Right. It gets run over by a truck or something. Or a coyote.

[A]

That's all. That's for all things murderful. They're not. Not here. All right.

[B]

Okay. Well, my third book is another five star book. This one really surprised me how much I liked it. Although you had mentioned it a long time ago and I kind of put it in the back of my mind. This is Yesteryear by Carl Clare Burke.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

All right, here's the setup. Our lead character, Natalie Heller Mills, has built the perfect life. At least the perfect performance of one. She is a wildly popular trad wife influencer who's got millions of followers who tune in for her Instagram worthy farmhouse, her handsome cowboy husband and her six adorable children. Never mind. And please don't mention the nannies behind the scenes, the industrial grade kitchen hiding behind the rustic one. Or the fact that her husband is heir to A political dynasty. Natalie has curated this life that sells the fantasy of wholesome American womanhood, and business is a booming until one morning she wakes up cold, dirty and terrified. Not in her carefully staged farmhouse, but in 1855. Her home, her husband, her children are all there ish. But everything is wrong. The electricity is gone, the kids are dirty and strange. Her husband, who wasn't a great farmer, is suddenly like a very competent farmer. And Natalie, who really before didn't do any hard labor, is now expected to haul firewood and hand wash clothes. She's not happy about it. So this is a great setup. And oftentimes really, really great setups are not. They don't always live up to their premise, but this one does. Let me tell you guys, if you are looking for an excellent book club book, a really good one, the kind where you show up and nobody can shut up because there is so much to talk about, this is your choice. And if you love an unreliable narrator who you can't look away from, if you thrive on sharp social satire and want literary fiction that doesn't make you work hard to understand it, all of those things you are going to find in this book. This book is loaded with so many topics that are all over today. We're talking about influencer culture, womanhood, and what does that mean to me and what does it mean to you? Religion, politics, feminism, and how does that play into religion and politics? Motherhood? Am I doing it right? Am I doing it wrong? Burke, the author doesn't do the thing that I think a lesser writer would do, which is to try to tell you how to feel about these things. Instead, she presents you with this wild, deeply specific situation and then she just like lets you sit with it. She trusts you as a reader. And I love that in my books there is so much to talk about. I can see a book club really having a mix of opinions on the characters, on what happens to them, on whether or not they liked the book. I do want to flag something important. I think it's important that you read as little about this book as you possibly can before you go in. A huge amount of the enjoyment is in uncovering the plot twists. And if you read, if you go in and if you read a lot, you're those plot twists are going to get revealed to you. You want to experience this fresh. Natalie's one of those characters that people are going to have very strong opinions about. So be ready for that as a reader. And figuring out how you feel about her is an important part of your experience of this book. And this is a ride. This is smart literary fiction that is also really readable. You guys know that almost always is the way I would describe my five star books. There's a confidence in this debut. I've got a second debut here, which is amazing. The prose is very self assured, the structure incredibly intentional and it just went down like a milkshake. It's not warm and fuzzy. You are not going to want to hug this book when you're done. But it makes you think, it makes you feel something and it's entertaining. And for me, that's my trifecta, my overwhelming feeling. Of course, when I closed this book was first. I can't wait to talk to some people about it. And also I really was surprised that this was a debut. This is Yesteryear by Carol Clare Burke and Elizabeth. Did you. Would you say you liked this book?

[A]

Ooh, I don't know if the word liked is the right word, but I was completely fascinated by it and I, I just knew that it was going to be a hit the minute I read it. I think it's hard. It kind of made me feel uncomfortable, I guess I would say, you know, I, I am not a trad wife, but good grief, I like to bake and to knit and to do those things. And I, you know, I'm like, well, is this, is there a space in the world for people who love hearth and home and also are feminists and also believe that women can do anything they want to do? But also, you know, I think that this idea, it really hits that idea of don't, don't believe everything you see on Instagram.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And the perfect life isn't what we need to be aspiring toward.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Honestly. But I loved it. I got to sit next to Caro at a dinner back in October and we hit it off. I loved her and I knew and we immediately. I asked her to please come to Fabled for our big book lover weekend, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. And it's just been so much fun to watch this blow up. It's the number one indie next pick. Which means that of all of the books coming out in April, this was the number one book chosen by indie booksellers. So that's a big deal. Yeah. And I really appreciate that. Cara, really, she's. She just seems genuinely moved by what indie booksellers are doing to promote her book and that thrills me. So she is as smart as a whip, such a great writer, and again, such a great book for Book club discussion. But I was on Goodreads and I saw you gave it five stars and my heart grew three sizes. I was so happy.

[B]

Yeah, it's an interesting book because it's the kind of book that you feel going into it is going to have an agenda. Like it's, you feel like just from the topic or the premise that it's maybe getting ready to take down. Down.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Some element of it. But that's not at all what it's doing because it's actually playing a much bigger game than that. It was really, really well done.

[A]

Yeah, I gave it five stars as well. I, I just think it was fantastic.

[B]

Yeah, that's a good one. Okay, so yesteryear, I am very much looking forward to meeting her at book lovers weekend. That is going to be really, really fun.

[A]

And I would love to say I talked to this, the management at Fable today and all six books that we've talked about today. If you get them at Fable, the code, currently, just the word currently, we're going to give you 10% off. And if you would like yesteryear personally signed to you, put it in the comments and we will get it signed. And we would absolutely love to do that. So we've got her coming. We've got Lady Tremaine's author, Rachel.

[B]

Rachel Hockhauser. Yeah.

[A]

Yes. We have the indie next pick. We have the Reese pick, which is Lady Tremaine and the genepic Amy Jo Burns with, Wait for me. All going to be on this panel coming to Waco in just a couple of weeks. But if you want any of those books signed, we will happily do that for you.

[B]

Now, Elizabeth, I hadn't planned to ask you this, but are, are you guys sold out? Like to be. If people still want to come. Can they come?

[A]

No, we have, we have some spots available and we would love to have you come. If you look up bookloverweekend.com you can get more information on it. It's April 10th through 12th and of course, Meredith and I will be doing an episode of All Things Murderful and it's going to be just a rollicking good time. We're going to have reps come and talk about the best books coming out in the next couple of months. And we would love to have you for just an impromptu trip. Last minute decision.

[B]

Last minute decision. I'm really looking forward to it. Betsy and I are coming and we, you know, yeah, we're going to do our thing. We're going to, I have a couple ideas. We have a Couple ideas for doing something a little bit extra fun for all things murderful there. It's really fun. I really. I know I talk all the time about not wanting to, you know, socialize, but I really do enjoy just being with other readers in that group. It's really fun.

[A]

Yes, I agree.

[B]

All right, now let's get into our deep dive, which is, I thought, a really interesting one. You're sent to live the remainder of your life in a cabin alone. You've got no TV and no Internet and no help coming. I mean, like, you're fine. You've got food. You're like, you're. You're warm, you're comfortable. All of that. You can only take the works of five authors. Who are they? This. I. I think that I had 25 different permutations of my list, and I've. I've arrived on at one permutation. But ask me in an hour, and I think I will change my mind.

[A]

I know, and I just. Even as you were saying that, I thought. Well, I wasn't even thinking about the classics. Like, Jane Austen is going to be haunting me from her grave.

[B]

Exactly. All right, well, so let's go. Let's ping back and forth. We're gonna have to keep. We're gonna have to keep the momentum going on this.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Because we can't talk too much about it, you know, because we'll be here forever. But let's ping back and forth. You give me. And these are not in any order. Right. These are just as you had them. So who's your first one? And you're taking again, all of their works. And I want you to start. But tell me just a little bit, how did you make your decision?

[A]

Well, my decision was I thought about all the genres of books that I love. Like I said, I'm a very eclectic reader, and I wanted to make sure that all of my reading loves this. The itches got scratched. So that is how I did it.

[B]

Okay. I did. I did the same thing. I also thought a lot about volume. Like, I. Like I wanted to take Lauren Groff immediately came to my mind. But I was like, she hasn't written enough for her to be one of these five. Like, I need. I need volume. I need somebody to have written a lot to make my list.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because I want a lot of books to choose from.

[A]

Right. Well, my first one was. One of the things that I love is a sweeping drama. I love the buzzwords that mean a lot to me in fiction are sweeping and epic and multi, generational and Min Jin Lee was who I chose. She wrote Pachinko, and she has an upcoming book called American Hogwon. And I got to meet her at Winter Institute. And I am absolutely in love with this author. She is funny, she's smart, she's sassy. She's all the things I love. And those are just two books, but they are so humongous that I would have a lot of, you know, I. It would give me a lot of. I have a lot of time to go through these books. And even American Hagwon, which comes out in September, is really five books in one, so.

[B]

Well, and, you know, book boyfriend Bill was mentioning all that book, too, and saying, like, this is going to be a blockbuster.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah. She was on a panel with Colson Whitehead and Marlon James, and we were all like, min Jin Lee, keep talking. You're so funny. You're so smart. So that is who I chose for my big, epic, multi generational story author.

[B]

Okay. My first one is boring. We're just going to get it out of the way. Everybody knows who I'm picking. You know, I'm taking all the Louise Penny books.

[A]

Okay, done, done.

[B]

Who's your second?

[A]

Okay. My second is Anthony Horowitz for detective mysteries.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

The first book I ever read of his was the Magpie Murders. I was sitting on a beach reading a dark and brooding PBS show. Well, like nobody else was at the beach. But I immediately jived with his humor, his Britishness, and how each of his books has a unique twist, whether it's a book within a book or making himself one of the main characters in his fictional novels. I love Anthony Horowitz.

[B]

Now, you know, he, of course, Magpie Murders and the Daniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne and Horowitz series. But then he has written so much else, which might not be exactly what you want to read, because I think he's written, like, some things, spy stuff. And he also wrote the Sherlock. The Sherlock?

[A]

No, I loved it. He wrote Moriarty.

[B]

He was chosen by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle to continue the Sherlock books. So he's written a few more in that series, and then he's written a bunch of other stuff which at least would provide some variety. So that's going to offset the Minjin Lee two books that you. That you brought.

[A]

Yes, that's true. All right, what's your next one?

[B]

My next one, I am going for a classic. I do love a classic. I, of course, people are going to think, well, Count of Monte Cristo, that is not what I chose, because, again, Dumont did not write Enough for me to choose him. I chose my second favorite, which is Charles Dickens. I love me some Charles Dickens. Yeah, he's written a lot. And there's a lot to be reread. There's a lot. The books are in conversation with each other. It's. So I would actually love an opportunity to reread all of Charles Dickens. So that's my second choice. Choice.

[A]

I. Tale of Two Cities is one of my lifetime top five favorites.

[B]

Exactly. That's a really, really wonderful one. But I'm a Great Expectations girl. And then I would love to. Then there's several that I haven't even read. Like, I just bought Bleak House and I was like, at some point, I just. I need to get into these. I love. I love Charles Dickens.

[A]

My dad, when I was my 15th birthday, he gave me a copy of Great Expectations and he wrote to Elizabeth, to whom I have Great expectations. And I love it.

[B]

That's very sweet. I love it.

[A]

That's very sweet. Okay, my next one is. I mentioned it earlier, but of course I need some narrative nonfiction. And I'm going to go with Patrick Raden Keefe. Now, this one was hard one, because I also probably would have said Eric Larson a couple of years ago, but this is a case of what have you done for me lately?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I have not enjoyed his books quite as much since Dead Wake. Patrick Radden Keefe is hitting it really well for me right now. Even though if I'm. If I'm all by myself in a hermitage, I don't know if I need to know about IDI Amin's Uganda. However, it's very, very interesting and I love Patrick Raden Keefe.

[B]

Now it would be interesting if we put a little spin on this and. And said, okay. And whoever you choose, if they write new books, then that is like surprise delivered to your cabin.

[A]

Yes, I honestly thought about that. Yes.

[B]

Like a crow comes and drops a parcel that's wrapped in brown paper like olden days. And it's like the new Patrick ridden Keefe that you didn't know he was publishing.

[A]

I think that's very, very important. I also think that our hermitages need to be next door to each other with the tunnel. And blue can be trained to bring books back and forth so I can read your Charles tickets.

[B]

Wouldn't that be so fun?

[A]

We would have so much fun. Let's move to a nunnery.

[B]

Oh, just a nunnery for the two of us. It's just you and me and. And.

[A]

And books.

[B]

And books. And no men whatsoever.

[A]

I Think Brian might be a little sad about that. And Johnny, I was gonna say, I

[B]

don't think the two of us would last very long like that. No, no.

[A]

But we sure would have fun for a little bit. We could be like Maria from Sound of Music just for like a year or two.

[B]

I love it. Oh, that's perfect. All right. My third one is my non fiction pick and I had to go with the author who in real life I would choose probably if I had to choose an author to be in my hermitage with me. And that is David Sedaris. He's written a lot. I've read and reread and re listened to his entire canon multiple times, and I never get sick of them. He's always good for getting me out of. Of a blue funk. And so he's my third choice.

[A]

Good one. Okay, my next choice is Kristin Hannah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I love Kristin Hannah. I know she's the most. Probably the most commercial on my list, but she has written books that. There's something about her. Books that just kind of decrease my blood pressure level. I can feel myself calming down. They feel like a warm blanket. And she has written romance, she's written thrillers, she's written mysteries, historical fiction. So I've got so many different options with her and so many books. But I love Kristin. She's always got a special place in my heart. She was the first author to ever follow me on Instagram. I nearly died when I saw that. She's so kind and gracious and I love. I love her dearly. So I would definitely choose Kristin Hannah.

[B]

Okay. I think that's a very, very good one. And she's written a good. A good amount of books, so you'd have. And like, they're very different one from the other, so that could take you lots of different places. That's good. All right, my fourth choice, I'm going with Stephen King. You knew I had to have some hardcore horror. He's got some crime fiction. He's got the Dark Tower series, which is another one of those when I retire. My. It's my husband's favorite series and I really want to read that. There's a lot of books to read. They're incredibly readable, page turning, but also there's real depth. I think rereads would be interesting. He's never boring, except in Fairy Tale,

[A]

which I thought was super boring.

[B]

Exceedingly boring. But who knows, maybe at the. At the cabin it wouldn't be so Stephen King. That feels like a good, solid choice for my Murderful Bent.

[A]

How did I miss Stephen King? Yeah. We're definitely need to be. Going to need to be next to each other.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. My next one is. Literary mystery is a favorite genre and nobody does it quite like. Like Liz Moore.

[B]

Yes. This was one I had on. Yes.

[A]

I was wondering if she'd be on your list. So. Literary mystery is my sweetest of sweet spots in my fiction reading heart. And when it's done well, it is not to be forgotten and always appreciated. That's what Liz Moore brings to the table. Her last two books have been in my top one or two books of the year. Long Bright river and God of the Woods. And I will always welcome the sometimes disturbing but well written novels to my hermitage any day of the week.

[B]

Absolutely. This is one I, you know, I've said I want to be a completist of hers. I really. I wonder if now that my dad has passed away, I wonder if I could read Long Bright river in a way that I couldn't before because that's been sitting on my shelf for all this time.

[A]

It's so good.

[B]

Yeah. I wonder if at some point that'll be. That'll be one that kind of unlocks for me. I think that's. I think Liz. More. Yes. Okay. And that this last slot, Liz Moore was up, as was the potential. And then I ended up with the funniest two authors in my final slot. I knew I wanted to be a woman, but I. This just says a lot about me as a reader. And that's why I think this exercise is so good. Because I think it says a lot about each person as a reader. And I cannot wait to hear what our listeners. If people want to take a run at this, I will be fascinated by it. Because in my last slot I ended up going back and forth between Margaret Atwood and Debbie Maycomber.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

I don't think anyone has ever paired those two authors for anything ever.

[A]

No. It would be like a battle of the. Of the last slot. I, I think you need to pick Debbie May Comer.

[B]

I think so because I have a lot of. Have a lot of heavy on that on my list so far.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And Debbie May Comer is just really. It's that kind of comfort, the heart element, the love stories in there. I love the shops on Blossom street, that whole series. It's one of my favorite series. She's written a lot, A lot. So. Okay, I'm gonna put Debbie May Comer in there.

[A]

Well, I didn't do a very good job finding prolific authors other than Maybe Krista and Hannah. So I couldn't decide with my nonfiction between Patrick Radden Keefe and Rick Bragg, you know, my dear Rick Bragg. So I just. I. Yeah, so Rick Bragg, he's my six. In case somebody can't perform their duties like, you know, the runner up in the Americas in American Beauty Pageant.

[B]

Your alternate juror can.

[A]

Yes. Just. Yeah, 13. Just in case. Ever.

[B]

I love the idea that we would get surprise books delivered by a crow. If you've chosen an author who's still writing.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah. Yes. Because those are. This is more about how they write and how these books make us feel.

[B]

Right, Right. But then you're also trapped there. This is like all we have to read.

[A]

Right.

[B]

We're not getting newspapers. We're not getting anything else. So this is our entire universe. When you answer this question, you're creating your entire universe of inputs.

[A]

Andrea Mara would have been a great choice.

[B]

I thought about. I mean, I thought Catherine Ryan.

[A]

How Catherine Ryan. Me too.

[B]

I thought about a lot of this, but I thought. I am not sure that I. What I wanted to do was use my slots for things that I knew I would want to read and reread Charles Dickens.

[A]

And you did it. Did a very good job.

[B]

I thought you did a good job. I think, again, I think our two lists together are very powerful.

[A]

Yeah. So I always like to push the limit. So when you said five, I was like, well, I could do 10. But hey, you know what?

[B]

This is an interesting exercise. And everyone can do it exactly the way that they want to. Make your own rules. Maybe you're not in a. I mean, you and I would choose cabins, but maybe other people would choose a beach house. They would, you know, wherever you want to be, a tree house, wherever you want to be stuck. You got to put some limits around you. Otherwise it's not really. It's not interesting if you don't make it a little bit difficult for yourself. So I thought this was really interesting.

[A]

I think it's great. Yeah, it was a great, great exercise.

[B]

All right, so we will put up on socials a couple of different ways for you to weigh in. We'll put on Instagram. We'll put it in the Bookish friends group. You guys can weigh in with your five authors and why, how you made your decision. This will be absolutely fascinating. And again, for all of you who are following along via our newsletter or our substack with Reader Know thyself, this is. You're going to see this question at some point in the not too distant Future. So begin making your list now. Okay, before we go, Elizabeth, we have a couple of things I wanted to talk a little bit about our bookish friend of the week. Of course, you know, if you want to get a lot more content from us and you can become a bookish friend, it's $5 a month on Patreon. There's about 3,000 of you. More than 3,000. 3,100. And in our bookish friends group, it's an incredibly active group. And this week, bookish friend Amanda was. Well, actually last week, she was listening to the show that dropped last week, and she was saying after listening to today's episode where we were taking an. Katie and I talked about our list of books we wanted to press into people's hands that exists on our website. We'll put that in the show notes here, too. We were revisiting it, trying to figure out did these books hold up? And we both decided that they absolutely did, with very few exceptions. There's a couple hundred books there. And do you know that bookish friend Amanda went on to storygraph and she made a perpetual challenge available on storygraph, where she input every book that Katie and I pressed from that list. And you can go in there and you can adopt it as your own challenge. And if you want to, you can say, I want to read my way through this list. So you can do that on storygraph. And Amanda took a lot of time and detail and care to put that together, and I just really thought that was fantastic. And I know a lot of people have already jumped on that, so I just wanted to thank Amanda for doing that and also to let you know that that is available. So just search for books we want to press into your hands on storygraph from currently reading.

[A]

I love that. What a great idea. And so thank you. Grateful for people who take the extra time to do the little things like that.

[B]

Isn't that nice? Yeah, it was great. Okay, Elizabeth, what did you choose from? You had five choices from the grab bag available. What did you choose before we go?

[A]

Well, I chose a sleeper hit that I want to put in everyone's brains right now, and that is the book no One's Coming by Kevin Hazard. And I want to thank Sarah, our dear Sarah from Sarah's podcast Bookshelves, for putting this on my radar, because I have read Kevin in the past, but I had not seen this one in the catalog. And right now there are 35 ratings on Goodreads.

[B]

Oh, no.

[A]

At 4.66. So, people, the 35 of us who have read it.

[B]

Loved it.

[A]

Really loved it. So this book is. Of course, he's. He's a non fiction author. The book talks a bit about an airplane company called Phoenix Air and the obscure mission it has undertaken over the years. But this one is about them rescuing the American Dr. Kent Brantley from West Africa where he was on a medical mission and contracted Ebola and was taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta to be treated.

[B]

Oh, right. This was like in the Obama years, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And he, Kent. Kent actually went to college where my dad taught college, and they lived in Abilene, Texas. So we were very, very glued to this story. And it's fascinating. I mean, absolutely a fascinating book. So this is one that you will love. Give it to your dad for Father's Day. But let's give Kevin a little love because this one was a really, really good book.

[B]

Oh, that's right. I did hear her talk about this and somehow I didn't make that connection to the exact. Like when you said it. All of a sudden I. I could see that news story unfolding in my head.

[A]

Yes, I know. I was reading and I thought, I know who this, this person is. But I told all the booksellers that I saw at Winter Institute about it. This one needs to get some love.

[B]

They were bringing him like off a helicopter on a gurney. He was like almost dead. Right.

[A]

And I mean, people, it's a death sentence.

[B]

And then they were worried about bringing Ebola to the United States.

[A]

Yeah. Yes. We gotta read that. Oh, it's. Yeah. There's so much. So many things to discuss there. Yeah.

[B]

All right, Elizabeth, this was super fun to record. Record with you. You're going to do it again with me, right?

[A]

Oh, please, I would love to do it anytime.

[B]

Okay. Excellent. That is it for this week. As a reminder, here's where you can connect with us. You can find me. I'm Meredith at Meredith Monday Schwartz on Instagram and Katie is at Notes on

[A]

Bookmarks on Instagram and you can find me Elizabeth @Wacoreads on Instagram. Our show is produced and edited every week by Megan Putabon Evans and you can find her on Instagram at most of megansreads reads full show notes with

[B]

the title of every book we mentioned in the episode and timestamps. So you can zoom right to where we talked about. It can be found in our show notes and on our website@currentlyreading podcast.com.

[A]

you can also follow the show at Currently Reading podcast on Instagram or email us@hellourrentlyreading podcast.com and we are on Substack, a newsletter, and YouTube.

[B]

We are in all the places and definitely don't sleep on the fact that we have a new email address. So not not the Gmail one. Now it's hellourrentlyreading podcast.com. all right, if you want more of this kind of content, you can join us as a Bookish friend. As I said, it's only $5 a month and you get tons of content. You get a lot of community, and you keep this show commercial free. You can also rate and review us on Apple podcasts and shout us out on social media. Every one of those things helps us to find our perfect audience.

[A]

Bookish friends are the best friends. Thank you for helping us grow and get closer to our goals.

[B]

All right, until next week, may your

[A]

coffee be hot and your book be unput downable.

[B]

Happy reading, Elizabeth.

[A]

Happy reading, Meredith.