← From the Front Porch
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- [00:02]
Annie Jones
Your message amplified. Ready to share your message with the world?
- [00:06]
Erin
Start your podcast journey with podbean.
- [00:08]
Annie Jones
Podbean Podbean Podbean Podbean the AI powered all in one podcast platform.
- [00:14]
Erin
Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.
- [00:18]
Annie Jones
Launch your podcast on podbean today.
- [00:20]
Erin
My school uses Podbean.
- [00:22]
Olivia
My church, too.
- [00:23]
Annie Jones
I love it. I really do. Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South Home. For too long, it was easy to revert, or maybe to realize you were still who you'd once been. Tova Mervis we would never I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. Today, I'm joined by Bookshelf operations manager Olivia and online sales manager Erin to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in February. If you're a new or newish listener, you might not realize that from the Front Porch is a production of the Bookshelf, a small, independently owned bookstore in rural South Georgia. By listening to our show and recommending it to friends, you are helping to keep our indie bookstore in business. And if you like what you hear, one of the ways you can financially support us is through Patreon. Last year, we read the classic American novel Lonesome dove with over 1,000 Patreon supporters. And in January, we kicked off our 2025 reading of Don Quixote. For $5 a month, you can access our monthly Conquer A Classic recaps as well as our porch visits monthly live Q&As, where we talk about everything from pop culture to nail polish to what books you should take on your next vacation. To learn more about our Patreon tiers and Benefits, just visit patreon.com from the FrontPorch. Now back to the show. Welcome back, guys.
- [02:18]
Olivia
Hello.
- [02:19]
Erin
Hi. Happy 2025.
- [02:22]
Annie Jones
I know it's so weird because we've definitely seen each other and there have been New Year from the Front Porch episodes, but this is our first new release rundown of the year, and so it does feel like we should be cheersing and saying happy New Year.
- [02:35]
Erin
I mean, it's still January for us right now.
- [02:38]
Annie Jones
That's right. So it's never too late. These episodes we like to preview just a couple of our favorite titles coming out this month. And so we are gonna talk February new releases. And as usual, Erin has made browsing our podcast book selections so easy. You can go to bookshelfthomasville.com, type episode 515 into the search bar and you'll see all of today's books listed ready for you to pre order or purchase. You can use the code NEWRELEASEPlease at checkout for 10% off your order of today's titles. Actually, quite a bit of good, fun books coming out in February, I thought.
- [03:16]
Olivia
I know. I had to pick Erin's brain this morning as to which ones I should talk about.
- [03:20]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I feel like there were months last year where I kind of had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get my three, and this I had to, like, eliminate some.
- [03:29]
Erin
So, yeah, it's. It's an abundance of goodness. I'm excited to talk about them.
- [03:33]
Annie Jones
I am, too. I'm gonna kick us off with the Snowbirds. This is by Christina Clancy. It's released this week on February 4th. I picked this up partly because the COVID is super colorful and eye catching, and sometimes in the doldrums of winter, you're like, oh, a pink. A pink book. What's this? So. So I saw it come in with the arcs, and I need to pass it on. I think Mallory wanted it next and I need to give her my copy. But Christina Clancy is actually a historical fiction writer, or at least that's what I knew her as. She had written a book. Oh, gosh. I think loosely based on, like, the Playboy Mansion a few summers ago. It was called Shoulder Season, and I really liked it. It was like following this one woman who lived at the Playboy Mansion in, like, I don't know this. I don't know, 60s, 70s. I can't remember exactly, but I liked that book a lot. This was a total shock. I could not believe it was the same author because this book is set in the modern era. Kim and Grant are like a longtime couple. They've never been married, but they are partners. Kind of reminds me of, like, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell vibes, where they've been together forever. He's a professor, she's an artist photographer. Raised their little girls who are now adults. So they're empty nesters. They live in Wisconsin. And Grant is kind of at a crossroads in his career. The university where he worked has closed. And so Kim is feeling antsy, and they decide they're gonna be snowbirds and they're gonna move to Palm Springs for the winter. And Kim is more excited about this than Grant. But once they get there, Grant, you know, drinks the Kool Aid too, and they're having a good time. But you can tell you, the reader know, well, something is amiss here in this relationship like this, this couple doesn't seem quite as happy maybe as they should or could be. And the book opens with Grant going on a hike and in Palm Springs, and he goes missing. He doesn't come home. And so what unfolds is not a straight up mystery of some kind. Although you do wonder what happened to Grant. Did he get lost on a hike? Did he potentially take his own life? Was this intentional? Was this accidental? They're not quite sure. So there's like a search party that's happening. But then all while that is happening, Kim is having flashbacks to their relationship. And so it's like the. It's not an Olivia book. It's not. But there is a mystery component. But I guess what moves it into Annie territory is that then there's a lot of reflection about this relationship. So. Reminded me a little bit of one of my favorite books of last year, Leaving by Roxanna Robinson. I also was reminded of Like Mother. Like Mother, where there's a few different storylines or character lines that you're kind of following. And then I saw the publisher compare it to the last thing he told me, which I do think is an okay comp. I think the last thing he told me is more straightforward mystery than the Snowbirds is. But I do think, if you like Laura Dave, this would be a good. A good book to try for you. I loved the Palm Springs setting in that way. It was very reminiscent of the guncle, and it makes me want to visit Palm Springs. It sounds like a good time, Sounds like a fun winter playground. And then I was like, well, we kind of have our own Palm Springs here where it, you know, until last week, it never snowed. Anyway, I really liked this book. I liked Kim and Grant a lot. I like their familial relationships. I was intrigued about their partnership and their dynamic. The writing is good. Also, it's relatively short. This is not some 500 page treatise on a relationship, on an empty nester relationship. It's just a short, fun. I think Fun is an accurate descriptor book about what happens when the thing that brought this couple together maybe aren't there anymore. And is their relationship worth continuing to pursue as their kids are older and they enter a new phase? So I liked it. It's called the Snowbirds. It's by Christina Clancy, out this week.
- [07:46]
Olivia
All right, well, I'm starting this year off with the best one yet. So how are you gonna top this? Follows.
- [07:54]
Annie Jones
How are you gonna top this?
- [07:56]
Erin
I guess I don't have to go after you. Just this is it.
- [07:58]
Olivia
This can actually just end the podcast.
- [08:00]
Annie Jones
Great.
- [08:00]
Erin
Love it.
- [08:03]
Olivia
My first book is the Bones Beneath My Skin, the newest book by T.J. clune. This is actually another one of his re releases that he independently published years ago. And now Tor McMillan is republishing it with a new cover. This is out February 4th and I think this might be my newest favorite, TJ Klune, which is a really big statement, really big praise. Yeah, especially after like last year I reread House in the Cerulean Sea and then Somewhere beyond the Sea. I also read all of the Wolf Song series a lot, A lot of TJ Last year I was deep in that world. But then I read this one and it was both different from what he normally does, but also just so tj, we are on a first name basis.
- [08:52]
Erin
I'm surprised you're not just calling him Teej at this point.
- [08:56]
Olivia
I don't know that anyone calls him Teege.
- [08:59]
Annie Jones
You never know.
- [09:00]
Olivia
This is true. Okay, so this set is set in like 1995 and the main character is Nate Cartwright and he has just been through so much. He recently lost his parents to in a very devastating way which is stated slowly throughout the book. He lost his job and then him and his brother are no longer speaking because of an incident way back when all his parents left him was a lakeside cabin that they would vacation to as children. And then his father's rusty old pickup truck that is barely working. Everything else has been left to his brother. So that kind of show like there was an inciting incident with him and his parents that took place prior to their deaths and he's just kind of left on his own. So he moves from Washington D.C. where he was fired from his job for another incident that you will get to in this book. Nate is a mystery that I will not reveal because you have to read this book to find out. But you'll love him so much. You'll love him so much. And so he goes to this cabin thinking he's just going to get away. He's going to figure out his life and go from there with this rusty old pickup truck and this beaten down cabin. But when he gets there he finds that there's already people in his cabin. There's a man who's clearly ex military named Alex with a really big gun that he's not afraid to use. And then there is a 10 year old chatty eccentric little girl who goes by the name of Artemis Darth Vader, which is the most TJ Kloon thing in the world. And from there he's kind of like, well, I could leave now and just let them do whatever they need to do, or I could stay here and try to figure out what's happening. And he stays and he kind of gets tangled up in their world. There's a romance plot throughout this with Alex and Nate. Artemis. Darth Vader is one of my favorite children that I've met in a TJ Klune book so far. He really does write children very well. They're always hilarious. They're the comedic reliefs throughout the book. But Artemis, especially has just such a big heart to her and there is so much depth to her. This book was so much fun. It was a supernatural thriller. I'm not gonna tell you in what way it was a supernatural thriller. Well, the thriller part's pretty obvious, but the supernatural part is maybe not so much. It was just so good. It was so good. Everyone should read it. As long as you like TJ Klune.
- [11:34]
Erin
It seems like there's less. You said there's supernatural. Is it less like magical realism and more? Because I know a lot of his books have those aspects.
- [11:42]
Olivia
I think actually this is more sci fi.
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Erin
Okay.
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Olivia
More sci fi than magical realism. Yeah.
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Erin
Okay, Interesting.
- [11:48]
Olivia
Which I do love a good sci fi element.
- [11:51]
Erin
Who doesn't?
- [11:52]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I'm impressed with his backlog of writing. Like, yeah, I didn't know that this was previously published or self published or whatever the case may be. But because he is consistently putting out, what, like a book a year at.
- [12:07]
Olivia
Least, I feel like, yeah, he does still have a whole nother series that he has self published that they haven't republished. It is one of his more eccentric plot lines. I did try to read that and I. I got halfway through and then I. I did put it down and didn't pick it back up again. That was probably one of the few TJ's that, like, I couldn't get through just because it was. It was almost a little too comedic for me. Personally, I don't know that they will be publishing that one, but I do know that he has written a new novel.
- [12:38]
Annie Jones
Okay.
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Olivia
That I'm assuming will be 2026 or something. If you follow him on Instagram, like, you learn a lot.
- [12:48]
Erin
Okay. My first book is called the Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. It comes out next week on February 11th. I wouldn't normally pick up a Marie Benedict. It's not that I don't like historical fiction. I read a lot. I feel like I read enough historical fiction to say that that's Something I read, but I don't gravitate towards them. So I see it, I think that looks awesome. And then I read something else. But this, but this one I picked up just because it, I kept seeing it everywhere and it, it looked fun. And if we're being honest, I needed a book that came out in March. And I like these, I like these kind of surprises because you just think I'm reading it because it comes out in March. And it turns out, guys, it was a great book. So I'm glad that I read it. It is about this crime solving and this mystery appreciating club made up of like Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie and three other like well known female mystery writers. And they are all a part of this club, this sort of boys club in London. I wish I could remember the time. I'm assuming it's sometime in the 20th century, 19 something. So sometime in those hundred years this happened. But they are part of this boys club of mystery writers in London and the guys are kind of snubbing their noses at them. They look down on them, they say, well, that's great, you do your little female mysteries, but you're not really as good as us. So in an attempt to prove their worth as well as make themselves feel better and show what they can really do, they decide to take on this cold case of a young nurse who was found murdered in France. And the authorities are just like saying, oh, well, she was probably just here. They found a syringe next to her and they say, well, she's probably just here selling drugs. Case closed. Like, you know, she was just a terrible person and she got murdered by a drug dealer. And these ladies are like, no, that doesn't, that doesn't seem right. So they band together and they go all over London and France and other places exploring this case and figuring it out. And what starts as just an attempt to make themselves, you know, feel better and prove what they can do really turns into this sort of almost dangerous and emotional solving of a case where they get very invested personally and they really try to show that this woman was murdered and they try to find out who her murderer was. And it leads them right back to London to some people they've known before. So the best part for me of this book, I mean, it was just a fun, straightforward mystery. And those are just great. Sometimes you just need to read it and be like, ooh, they did what? And oh, they did what? But the best part about it was the banter between these women, these female writers. I Mean, they're all real life writers. So I did a little deep dive of each one of them after the book was over and, you know, saw what they wrote and when they lived and how they dressed and even things like that. Just the banter between them is fun. They were, they're all strong women. So there was some bickering, but there was a lot of just supporting each other and having different gifts and abilities. And it was just a fun, almost female friendship book, besides being a mystery. And I listened to the audiobook and it was read by Bessie Carter, who played Prudence Featherington on Bridgerton. So it was she. She did great voices and it was just, it was a fun listen and a fun book. If you're already a fan of Marie Benedict, you'll want to get this. But maybe if, like me, you don't normally tend to pick up a historical fiction book, I think this would be one you could, you know, if you need to check a bingo box somewhere or you want to get into more historical fiction in 2025, this would be a great place to start. So it's the Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict comes out next week.
- [16:31]
Annie Jones
I like when there's a historical fiction with a twist or like, you know, we talked about in Literary Lunch that so much of historical fiction is the assumption or the idea that it's going to be World War I or World War II. And so it's fun to me to see some of these authors explore other time periods that maybe we don't know as much about or there's no war involved. Right. Or weave in, you know, a different genre, like a mystery thriller element or. Because it almost sounds like this is, oh, you know, something like Killers of a Certain Age or something like that. But like, but, you know, set in a historical time with historical figures. I think that's really fun. Yeah.
- [17:11]
Erin
And it was funny. I mean, there are parts where they put on disguises and they use, you know, they use different names. So there were parts that were actually laugh out loud funny to this.
- [17:19]
Annie Jones
That's so great. So my next one is probably a more typical mystery suspense novel. It's We Would Never by Tova Mervis. This releases next week on February 11th. I picked this one up, I want to say, back in November, December, when we were at that stage where any book we finished, it felt like a miraculous event. It just felt like, can I just read a book that I could finish and reach the end? And so often what I will turn to in times like that is a mystery thriller or a Quick rom com or something like that. So I picked this up, I think I saw it in the arcs pile upstairs. And immediately upon starting it, I was like, wait a minute, this feels very familiar. And so part of the reason I wanted to mention on the podcast, and I've mentioned it a few other places, is because I do think there will be local readers, local listeners who might particularly be interested in this one. So Tova Mervis has obviously very much been inspired by the Dan Markel murders. Dan Markell was an FSU law professor living in Tallahassee. He was found murdered outside his home a few years ago. I want to say like 2018 or something. And turns out he was murdered by a couple of hitmen. And the mystery like really dragged on and on. Like there are still court cases, there are still people being charged in this murder case who are still being brought to court this year. And so it wasn't a mystery that these two hitmen did it. They were kind of dumb. And so that was relatively air quotes, easy to solve. But the question became like, well, who? What was the motive? Like who hired these hitmen? And lots of stuff about Dan Markell's pretty contentious divorce started to come to the surface. So I say all that to say this book by Tova Mervis, which is again called We Would Never, is about a woman named Hayley Gelman. Hailey is back with her daughter, living with her parents, recovering from the murder and loss of her ex husband. They went through a contentious divorce. He has now been found murdered. She has kind of fled home with her little girl. And his murder mystery is unfolding in the news media. And all the while Haley is at home being doted on by her very devoted parents, her brother who she loves. They're just clearly a super close knit, tight family. But as the book unravels, so does the family. And certainly if you're familiar with the Dan Markell case, you can see kind of what's going to happen next. And it's where the book kind of gets its title from. And it's a mystery suspense book, but it is very much about why. So it's not so much the mystery of who did what, it's really a mystery of what would lead someone to do something like this. What kind of family would behave this way. I was super intrigued. I flew through it. It's quite a fast book. So I think even if you're not familiar with the Dan Markell case, it's a quick, fast paced suspense novel that you could easily finish in a day or two. But also, if you read Young Bright Women, which was a lot about the victims in the Ted Bundy case, I think this could also be an interesting, even book club conversation about fiction inspired by true crime. You know, we're having a pretty. I think we're pretty regularly having conversations about true crime and the ethics of true crime. But I do wonder when I read a book like this, the ethics of a book like this, because this book is certainly unpacking it from Haley's point of view, so from the ex wife's point of view. And there's not a lot of. There's not a lot of time spent with the victim, the actual victim of the murder and his family and what they must have thought. Anyway, so I thought this was super interesting. And then if you are interested in the ethics of true crime, if you're interested in the ethics of fiction inspired by true crime, I think this one is worth picking up. And it's just a fast. It's a fast book. I enjoyed my reading experience. It's called We Would Never by Tova Mervis. It's out next week.
- [21:30]
Olivia
Man, a lot of stuff happens in Tallahassee.
- [21:33]
Annie Jones
So, listen, I started re watching the West Wing. I don't know how far I'll get, but I was like, I just need. I just need something.
- [21:38]
Olivia
Is that in Tallahassee? No, no.
- [21:40]
Annie Jones
But in the first episode.
- [21:41]
Erin
Finished it.
- [21:42]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [21:43]
Erin
All the seasons.
- [21:44]
Annie Jones
In the first episode, like, two Florida State students come up to one of the characters, and Jordan is constant. We are constantly laughing at how often Tallahassee is mentioned in pop culture. And I think it's because it's a fun thing to say. Like, I think Tallahassee, it, like, has a ring to it. And so it pops up all the time. And then real life things happen in Tallahassee pretty frequently. Anyway. It's a quirky place that I'm proud to call home. It shows up all kinds of places. It's.
- [22:12]
Erin
I was watching a Bachelor, like, recap. Little thing someone does on Instagram. And he was comparing, you know, when they're all there waiting for the rose. He said, this looks like a. This looks like a sorority formal at fsu. And I was like, yeah, he's not even.
- [22:26]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
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Erin
Why? Why are you.
- [22:28]
Annie Jones
Well, like Tina Fey's book, Bossy Pants. Like, she references. And I don't. You know, FSU, especially in, like, the 90s and 2000s, had a reputation as, like, the number one party school. But she makes a reference. I think she's like, it's the essay where she's like writing to her child or something and she's like, I hope you never get a tattoo, like an FSU sorority student or something like that. Like, she makes a. So it's just like FSU Tallahassee pop up all the time.
- [22:53]
Erin
They still have a reputation all the time.
- [22:55]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [22:56]
Olivia
That's funny. Also, the more I think about it, the title we would never is so good.
- [23:02]
Annie Jones
It's really good.
- [23:02]
Erin
I love it.
- [23:03]
Olivia
It's so good. It's so simple. But it implies so much.
- [23:07]
Annie Jones
Yes.
- [23:08]
Erin
And it really applies different ways and.
- [23:09]
Annie Jones
It really get the reason I'm like. I don't normally say like a mystery. Suspense makes a good book club book because sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not. But this one I do think would. Because you could ask yourself, would you. Huh. How low would my family go? Like, how. Like, you know, what would push my family to the brink? Anyway, I think the title is great and yeah, super smart.
- [23:31]
Olivia
My last comment is, every time in the past couple of years I have heard of a real life hitman. They have not been good at their jobs.
- [23:39]
Annie Jones
No.
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Olivia
And now I'm just like, is the fictionalized version of a hitman inaccurate or are these people who are doing this in real life just. They are not in the right profession.
- [23:52]
Erin
Yeah. I feel like the ones that make the news are not doing it professionally. They're doing it. They're just on the fly. Like someone asks them, hey, do you.
- [24:02]
Olivia
Feel like, yes, you want to kill someone? They're like, sure, I could do that.
- [24:07]
Annie Jones
Right.
- [24:08]
Olivia
And then they find out they can't.
- [24:10]
Erin
They can't not. Well, no.
- [24:11]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [24:12]
Annie Jones
Yeah. I think the ones that we don't hear about work for the government.
- [24:15]
Erin
Exactly. Yeah.
- [24:16]
Olivia
They're the good ones.
- [24:17]
Erin
The good ones you don't hear about because we don't do that.
- [24:20]
Olivia
Yeah. Well, good job, everyone. No, nevermind. Oh, I take it back. My next book is. Is called you are fatally invited by Andy pliego. It's out February 11th and it's a debut mystery novel. I think it's. I think it's a thriller. If we're really getting into, like, is it thriller, suspense or mystery? I think this is mystery thriller. I flew through this book. Even though it was. It was very long. It felt like over 60 some chapters because it was broken up into five days. And each chapter is from a different character's point of view. So there's a lot of chapters in each day. But essentially this is about this, like, renowned anonymous author named J R Alistair. No one. No One has seen them. There's a lot of mystery and intrigue around who they actually are, because I guess when they were first writing, they knew who this was, and then there was, like, maybe a mysterious death and maybe a child took over writing for them. But, no, it's never been confirmed. But they are. They are huge in the way that, like, if you go to any bookstore in the world, you'll probably find a James Patterson on the shelf. This is that author in a fictional book. So they're hosting a writing retreat for these six thriller writers who all have their lives entangled in some way, mostly because they're in the writing world and it's not humongous. And so they've seen each other at conferences or they've gone on tours together, that sort of thing. But they all each have a dark secret to their life as well that this J.R. alister knows about. But they don't know he knows, and they don't know anybody else knows a lot of secrets. And J.R. allister has hired this former aspiring writer. Her name's Mila, who. She wrote a book a while ago. The book was stolen and published under somebody else's name. And since then, she has not written. So she has her own revenge plot happening during this weekend because that author who stole her book is there. JR Alastair has their own plot happening this weekend. And you go through each night, they all end with a murder mystery of some sort that the authors all have to get together and try to solve. Like the first night, it's this dinner with this plate of fish that they all have to find the meaning behind the fish. Like it's a riddle of some sort. So at first you're just like, oh, this is fun. I like this.
- [26:53]
Annie Jones
You love a riddle.
- [26:54]
Olivia
I love a riddle. The book starts with a map of the house where they're at. It's on an island, but it's like Clue style, you know, where it's like, oh, this is so and so's room. This is so and so's room with secret passageways.
- [27:08]
Erin
Well, of course.
- [27:10]
Olivia
So I'm in. And so each night ends with a mystery which only gets darker as people start dying when you don't solve the mystery.
- [27:21]
Annie Jones
Oh, I see. The stakes are high.
- [27:24]
Olivia
The stakes get higher and higher until, like, a big final ending where it's kind of revealed how they know each other, who J.R. alastor really is. It was so much fun. It was a lot of fun because it did feel like Clue meets Benjamin Stevenson novel, where it is very cleverly written. I didn't feel like I had to pay like too much attention to what was what like. I. I knew that this author was going to lead me where I needed to go.
- [27:51]
Erin
Yeah.
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Olivia
So it truly was just like a fun novel to read. But I was so impressed for this being a debut novel. Yeah, it was great. I loved it.
- [28:00]
Annie Jones
Great character names. Great. Speaking of great titles. That's a good title. Yeah, it's fun.
- [28:05]
Erin
And I love a Locked room or Locked House. Locked island mystery where everyone is there with their own agenda. That. That's really interesting to me because it's not just like one person is inv. These people who don't know what they're doing, they know what they're doing and they're there to make accomplish it.
- [28:21]
Olivia
I like when they have stated that they understand that this is a trope. I don't want them to go into it and be like, oh, we're all stuck. You know, it's like, no, we're going to this murder mysteries island writing retreat. Like we know that everything about this is a big old trope.
- [28:38]
Annie Jones
Yeah. It sounds like it could be for fans. Did either of y'all read over the holidays the most wonderful crime of the year?
- [28:45]
Erin
Yes. That's what I was thinking about.
- [28:47]
Annie Jones
Yeah. So maybe folks who liked that, but that was obviously a holiday themed book. Maybe this could be their next read.
- [28:55]
Erin
Yeah. My second book is called the Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker. It comes out February 25th. I don't know if either one of you read her. She has other books, but the one I read from her that I loved was called the Age of Miracles.
- [29:09]
Annie Jones
I love her.
- [29:11]
Erin
She's so good. And like the Age of Miracles has a dystopian sort of, you know, basically the world stops turning and so time has no construct. There's no day, there's no night. It's just night all the time. It's. But it's like also. But a family's trying to deal with that. Such a good book. If you haven't read it, just go put it on your TBR now.
- [29:31]
Annie Jones
I know, Olivia, you don't have time and I respect that. Neither do I. But if you ever did, I actually do think you'd really like Karen Thompson Walker. Both Age of Miracles and the Dreamers. They're like. I think they. They're fast paced. I finished Age of Miracles like it was one of those books I stayed up to like midnight reading. I have distinct memories.
- [29:52]
Erin
Yes.
- [29:52]
Annie Jones
So they're fast paced, but they're kind of like post apocalyptic a little bit. I think you'd like them.
- [29:58]
Olivia
Yeah, I'll add her to the pile.
- [29:59]
Annie Jones
Yeah, put her on your giant stack.
- [30:02]
Erin
Well, this one is a little different in that that's kind of what I went in expecting was sort of post. There's a lot of that post apocalyptic dystopian feel, but it wasn't really like that. Although there were lots of magical. Real realism is not the right word. I would just call it. They're both unreliable narrators. And I'll tell you more about that. This book is really a case. It's presented as a case study done by Dr. Henry Bird. He's a psychiatrist, and Jane comes to him one day for psychiatric care. And in the middle of their session, she just gets up and leaves. And he's like, like, wait, where'd you go? And a few days later, he finds out that she's in the hospital. Because they call him. Because I guess she put him down as, like, a person to call. They call him and they say she's in the hospital and she's been missing for several days and doesn't remember any of it. And so you're like, ooh, tell me more. What's going on here? And so she comes back to see him, and this whole thing starts where she starts to come for him for care. These episodes start happening more and more, and there's like some kind of secret that she's not telling him. We get it from his perspective, and then we get some chapters from her perspective. So we know there was this traumatic thing that happened in. When she was in college, a boy she kind of loved jumped off of a building, and she was basically accused of being the reason that he did that. And so. So you're wondering, is she. Was she. Because from her perspective, she wasn't. But you're finding out that, like, authorities and other people are saying, well, she was. And even his. The boy's family saying she was. So that was in her past, but one during one of the episodes of this blackout. And then she's walking on the street and she sees that boy. He stops her in the middle of traffic in New York City and stops her and says, hey, I'm, you know, I'm Nico. But he's dead, right? But she sees him. So there's all this magical stuff that's happening. And he tells her to get out of the city. And he's like, growing up. He's like a doctor now. And so she's trying to figure out, is he dead? Is he not Dead. Why am I seeing him? So she's talking about all this with him. And one of the things that the psychiatrist tells her to do is she also has a young son, which is why this is so scary, because for days she'll just go missing, and she's not taking care of her son. And so he tells her to start writing a journal, start writing letters to her son. And so she does. So you get a lot of secrets in those journal entries to her son that he's going to read in the future. And then, of course, you're getting it from his perspective. And you really don't know, kind of until the end of the book who is telling the truth and who's not. And so it really kind of blurs the line between reality. So the whole time you're reading, you're just like, wait, did she really see him or did she not? Or where. You know, where is she going during. Is she faking it? Because the authorities start to think she's faking it, and she's just a mom who wants to get away from her son and who's having, like, a mental breakdown, and she's just, you know, leaving him for days on end, and she's like, I'm. I'm really not. I'm actually blacking out. It kind of reminds me of if anyone has read, like, the Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young or even the Time Traveler's Wife. There's no time travel, but there is that sense of a little bit of an unreliable narrator and the person going somewhere else. And at the end, really, the way it resolves is actually kind of sweet. But there is still that otherworldly element to it. So it takes a little bit to get into it at first, because it's slightly clinical, because they are like case notes. But once you get into it and you start realizing that there's all these things that are happening that you don't have answers for. I really just couldn't put it down. And it's really pretty short. I think it might be less than 300 pages. So it's kind of a short little book. So it's called the Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker. It comes out February 25th.
- [33:49]
Annie Jones
I'm excited about that one. I think I might. I think I might try it. It almost even sounds like. I mean, not as thrillery as the Silent Patient or Anna O, but the case study part. Like Anna O, I forget when it released, but she was like a psychiatric patient because she stayed in like a constant state of sleep. And so she was accused of murder, but she fell asleep after committing the murder and never woke up. And there was this debate about is she really asleep? Anyway, so this who's the reliable narrator played a role there too. So I'm curious about that one. And I like Karen Thompson Walker's writing. Yeah.
- [34:26]
Erin
And it's beautiful. In some of her loaders to her son, she's a single mother by choice and she writes a lot about motherhood and this just love and loss. And so there are really beautiful even if you're like, I don't know, it sounds too like science fictiony for me. Like there are it's really just a beautiful book about loss and like how you can bring things back together. So it's good.
- [34:50]
Annie Jones
Okay. My last one I'm not going to take too long with because I believe I mentioned it on my reading recap episode and I know I'm going to mention it on an episode upcoming episode of from the Front Porch, but it is back after this by Linda Holmes. It releases on February 25th. I wanted to include at least one romance rom com adjacent book because it is the season for that. And if you are a seasonal reader and you're looking for a new romance novel, I think you should give Linda Holmes a try. I especially like her because her books have a lot of depth to them. They go beyond the romance to me, where the main characters are really interesting and well rounded. And she's also frequently talking about something else. So Linda Holmes wrote Evie Drake Starts over, which was a lot about starting over. It had fun baseball references. Flying solo was perhaps more traditional women's fiction than maybe than a romance, though there was a romantic element to but then in back after this, the main character is Cecily. Cecily is a podcaster. Linda Holmes is a podcaster, so.
- [35:58]
Erin
That's right. I forgot.
- [35:59]
Annie Jones
Yeah. So she's the host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. She also works and writes for npr. So she brings a lot of her expertise to the table and it listen, it had me laughing out loud. What we do here is not at all to the equivalent of what NPR does or the ringer does or. But I think if you at all are involved with podcasting, there are some really funny tidbits and super interesting tidbits about the industry and the changing tide of the industry. So Cecily's a podcast producer and she works for this podcasting company that is maybe about to go under. They're kind of financially strapped. It was this really successful startup, but the podcast wave is kind of ever changing. And so she is kind of at a dead end in her career. And she had a horrible experience with an example, and she hasn't dated in a long time. And her boss, who's pretty skeezy like, tells her, hey, in order to bring bad revenue, we're partnering with an Instagram influencer, a wellness influencer, a dating expert, and she's going to come on board and guide you through blind dates. And we're going to record all of it and it's going to be a show for our podcast network. And Cecily is adamant that this isn't something she wants to do, but she's realizing if she does it, it might save her job and the jobs of her friends because it might bring this podcasting network back to life. And so she's partnered up with this woman named Eliza. And here's what I loved, is that Eliza so easily could have been this like Instagram wellness guru stereotype. And instead, Eliza's pretty interesting character. And now we also get some insight into influencer industry and influencer culture. And she also is at the whims and mercies of an ever changing algorithm and an ever changing industry. And so she winds up becoming perhaps not quite a sympathetic character, but more sympathetic, I think she would have been, than in the hands of a different author. And of course, there is a romantic element not only to the blind dates, but also perhaps, perhaps Cecily comes across a date or a guy she's interested on her own, outside the boundaries of the podcast she's recording. And so then there's some ethics to that. I flew through this one. I really liked it. Linda Holmes is so reliable to me. I know I'm gonna like her books. Her characters are smart and witty, great banter, relatively closed door. So if you're more a PG PG 13 reader, I think Linda Holmes would be a totally great pick for you. If you're an Annabelle Monahan fan, you should try Linda Holmes. So this is her latest. It is called Back after this releases on the 25th.
- [38:43]
Erin
I'm so excited I'm going to read that one. It's already on my to read list.
- [38:48]
Annie Jones
I think Julia Whelan might be the narrator.
- [38:51]
Erin
Okay. I actually have like the the E copy, so I'm gonna read it that way.
- [38:55]
Annie Jones
Yeah, it was really fun to read. I liked it.
- [38:58]
Olivia
My last one is a middle grade novel. My favorite one so far this month, which was good. There hadn't been a ton of favorite ones so far this year and Then I found this one, and I was very, very happy with it. And I almost didn't pick it up, because here's my complaint to Kindle. Not to our staff for Kindle, but to Kindle. K I N D L E. They need to add the authors onto. Like, when I download them, it doesn't have the author on the little picture. It just has the title. And I wouldn't have picked this up unless I had seen the author, because the author is Ann Blankman, who, I don't know if you guys know, but she wrote Blackbird Girls, and that book has started many a conversation between me and young readers in their children's section. It's about two girls fleeing from Chernobyl. It's fascinating and so well written. And I almost didn't pick this up until I saw that she wrote it. And I was like, she hasn't written something in years since then. Years now. Yeah, this is about. It's set in, like, the beginnings of World War I, I want to say. Or maybe in the middle. When was World War I? Anyone?
- [40:11]
Annie Jones
19? 13? 14, 15? Like 19. That. Yeah, that. 1914. 1918.
- [40:18]
Olivia
Okay. I think this was 14 or 15.
- [40:20]
Annie Jones
Okay. Yeah. World War I.
- [40:21]
Olivia
World War I. We shouldn't have gone into years. I'm so bad at years.
- [40:27]
Erin
I just told you, my first book happened sometime between 1900 and the year. Year 2000.
- [40:34]
Olivia
History was not my strong suit growing up, but this is a little girl, Marta, and her father, who are both German, and they are traveling from New York to England because at the time, Germans weren't allowed to travel on American or English boats because of everything that was happening. So they had gotten onto this boat with fake IDs and fake passports, trying to pass as an American. So they just didn't talk to anybody. The boat that they got on is the Lusitania, which.
- [41:08]
Annie Jones
Oh, no.
- [41:10]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [41:11]
Erin
I said, perfect reaction, Annie.
- [41:15]
Annie Jones
But she does love a disaster tale.
- [41:18]
Olivia
Yeah, yeah. Who. Who doesn't? You know?
- [41:21]
Annie Jones
And this is great. This is why, you know, middle grade, I was super into that. Like.
- [41:25]
Erin
Yeah.
- [41:25]
Annie Jones
You know what I mean? Like, you're into the I survived stuff, and, like, here's an elevated I survived experience.
- [41:31]
Olivia
Yeah, exactly.
- [41:32]
Erin
It gives a human side to a thing that kids are learning about in school. And then they're like, oh, I'm learning about someone that, you know, fictionally went through this thing. Yeah.
- [41:39]
Annie Jones
Oh, okay. I'm interested now.
- [41:41]
Olivia
Thank you. So. So was I. Um. So they get on this boat. They're. They're trying their best not to speak to anyone because they know their German accents will give them away. And she can do an accent that passes almost as New York, but her father cannot. I mean, born and raised German. That's a hard accent to shake or shape into anything other than what it is.
- [42:05]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [42:06]
Olivia
So they do find him out that he is German. And as they're taking him away down to the brig, the first torpedo hits the ship. And she is like back at her room, finding their life jackets, trying to figure out where her father is and where to meet him. But the crowd of people, this is, I imagine the scene in the Titanic where like she's trying to run backwards down the stairs. Everyone's running, running up the stairs, so she gets pushed with the crowd. And then you have the whole scene on the boat which was so well written because you were as stressed out as that little girl in, in the most middle grade fashion, mind you, where like the lifeboats on one side, because it's tilting are too far away for people to get into. The lifeboats on the other side are now over the ship, but they're too heavy to push over. So now there's not enough lifeboats for people. She does find her dad and they have to jump into the ocean to be safe from the ship. Then we meet her again in England where she has like come ashore and she's now trying to figure out how to pass as something that's not German, but try to make her way back home to her mom in Germany. And she meets this Irish family who take her in because they think she's Dutch. Could be a similar. Sure, you never know. And then it really becomes a story about why are these nationalities so divisive in our lives when, like, she's a good person, her father is a good person, this Irish family are good people. But she's so scared that as soon as they figure out that she's German that they will hate her even though they've come to love her. It's such a well done story. I'm over halfway through it now and I'm loving every second of it. Ann Blankman is just such a great historical fiction writer in the middle grade genre of which there are many. But I think she is one of the standout ones for me.
- [43:59]
Annie Jones
I might read that one, the Enemy's Daughter.
- [44:01]
Olivia
It's so good.
- [44:02]
Annie Jones
My, you know, my ancestry is German and they came over and landed at Ellis island, but they came over Pre World War I, I think. But he wound up going back and forth quite a bit. You know, some of my Family members, like changed their name when they came over because they didn't want it to sound too German. Yeah, it's super interesting. So I might read that. That sounds good.
- [44:23]
Erin
What was the name of that one again? Olivia.
- [44:25]
Olivia
The Enemy's Daughter by Ann Blankman.
- [44:28]
Erin
Okay, My last one is called Famous Last words by Gillian McAllister.
- [44:33]
Annie Jones
Oh, my gosh. Aaron, tell me all about this because I'm very interested.
- [44:38]
Olivia
No, but I will be reading it.
- [44:40]
Erin
No, you're going to. Okay, well, as always, I will try not to spoil it for the listeners or for you.
- [44:45]
Olivia
Yeah, first ten pages. Yeah, this one's on my list.
- [44:50]
Erin
It comes out February 25th. But for me, Jillian is a must read. I've read all of her books. She's becoming for me like a T.J. newman. Like, you write a book. I'm going to read it and I'm going to love it. I haven't. She has not disappointed me yet. I know what I'm getting into when I read one of her books. And I actually think this might be my favorite of her so far. We'll. We'll see. But okay, so there's a young mom, her name is Camille. She has a baby, like a nine month old baby. She. You wake up, you find out this is the last day of her maternity leave. She's going back to work as a publishing agent. Her husband. So I do love that this book has a lot of publishing and book related talk, which is really fascinating. I always love that. But her husband's name is Luke. He's a ghost writer for a lot of really wealthy and well known people. And this is all set in London, by the way. And she wakes up and he's gone. And she just thinks, okay, like he went to work or, you know, I can't reach him on his phone or whatever. She doesn't worry about it, but she's a little. A little peeved. He does leave her like a note. Like a, like a, like a note to say where. But he doesn't say where he is. He just says something like. It's a very cryptic note and she just thinks that. What is that? Oh, I gotta go back to work. It's crazy. So she goes back to work and she. The next thing she knows, there's some policemen showing up on her at work telling her that her husband is holding three people hostage in a warehouse. And she's like, as you can imagine, like, if someone showed up, Annie, and told you Jordan was holding three people hostage, you would be like, what is he talking about?
- [46:22]
Annie Jones
To them about Myers Briggs, because that.
- [46:27]
Erin
That's a different kind of holding hostage.
- [46:29]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [46:29]
Annie Jones
Is he hosting a workshop they can't get out of?
- [46:33]
Olivia
A chess club. Is it a chess club meeting?
- [46:35]
Erin
Yes, it turns out that's it. Yes. He was just talking to them about their personality types. But she's. So. She's very confused, of course. She's like, my husband is a good person. He's. He's just a regular guy. How did he get involved in this? What's happening? And so that's happening. Of course she's devastated, she's baffled, she's shocked. It's very public. It's on the news everywhere. And they're saying his name and her name. So her co workers are like, what's going on? And then there's a hostage negotiator who is called in to negotiate with him. And he. He's seeing the situation and he's thinking, something is off here. It doesn't seem like your usual hostage situation. So he's tasked with talking to them. And there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of time spent on that situation. The situation resolves itself. I'm not going to spoil anything. The situation resolves itself. And part of it resolving itself is that her husband is. Goes missing. Like, he's just gone. They don't know where he is. They never can find him. So then the book jumps forward like, I don't know, seven, five to seven years later. And she's just trying to live her best life without her husband. She doesn't know where he is. She presumes he's dead somewhere and is trying to get all this paperwork done so that she can sell their house and do all these things and kind of move on without him. She's met kind of a new boyfriend. They have a daughter. Their daughter's grown up and, you know, is like seven or eight years old now. And so there's all that. But then things start to happen that. And this whole time she's never given up the idea that her husband is a good man. And it wasn't, you know, it had to have been something weird. What. What's happening. So there's things start to happen in this part of the story that start to confirm that, like, maybe it wasn't his fault. Maybe it was something. It was someone else's fault and he got mixed up on it. And then the rest of the book is all that coming to pass, like all you really unraveling everything and figuring out all the rest of the details, what really happened, why it happened, and that's all I'll say. So I feel like I can't tell much more. You're going to be like, oh, that's what happened. So. But it's just. It's a classic. I don't know if I'd call it a thriller either. Definitely suspenseful, but also just, you know, it's like sort of that feeling of like, how well do you know the people you love? And if you know that they're good people but the situation says otherwise, how strong do you stand in that feeling of, no, they're a good person. I know them. And how, how much are you willing to fight for that? So it was just. It was so good. It will. I mean, honestly, I have been ignoring all other responsibilities at my house, finishing this book.
- [49:16]
Annie Jones
That's how, you know, laundry, dishes.
- [49:18]
Erin
Nope. I'm gonna go sit on the couch and read this.
- [49:21]
Annie Jones
Yeah, that's what you want in a thriller or really, Honestly, any book right now is what I really want. She's the kind of author who sometimes I get eye rolly about a time jump because sometimes I'm like, okay, cop out. What actually happened in the couple, you know, what happened right after the hostage situation. But she is somebody who has done time jumps to success before, and so I trust her. I'm like, okay, I'll ride along with you. Did you read this electronically or did you listen to it?
- [49:50]
Erin
I did. I did. I read it electronically. And they were actually speaking of time jumps. Like, the parts are titled like, you know, it's got this. And it's like seven years after this thing. And I literally was like. I literally gasped because I was like, what? Yeah, you can't just jump forward like that and not answer my questions. But she will. She'll take care of you as a reader.
- [50:10]
Annie Jones
That's fun.
- [50:11]
Erin
Yeah.
- [50:12]
Annie Jones
Okay. That is a great, pretty diverse stack of lit that we've come up with for February. I think there are some good winners there. So if you, you go to the store website again, bookshelfthomascill.com, you type in episode 515 into the search bar and then use code new releasePlease at checkout, you get 10% off your order of any of the books we talked about today. Thanks, guys.
- [50:34]
Erin
Yeah, thanks.
- [50:40]
Annie Jones
This week I'm reading Isola by Allegra Goodman. Olivia, what are you reading?
- [50:45]
Olivia
I'm ready reading the Enemy's Daughter by Anne Blankman and Erin.
- [50:48]
Annie Jones
What are you reading?
- [50:49]
Erin
I'm reading Run for the Hills by.
- [50:51]
Annie Jones
Kevin Wilson oh jealous. That's so fun. From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram ookshelftville and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website bookshelf thomasville.com a full transcript of today's podcast episode can be found at. From the frontporchpodcast.com Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of from the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. Our executive producers of today's episode are Cami Tidwell, Chantal Carle, Kate O'Connell, Kristin May, Linda Lee Drost, Jean Queens, Amanda Wickham, Martha Stacy Lau, Chanta Combs, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Farrell, Nicole Marcy, Wendy Jenkins.
- [51:55]
Erin
Lori Johnson, Susan Mullings.
- [51:58]
Annie Jones
Thank you all for your support of from the Front Porch. If you if you'd like to support from the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and helps us reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for from the Front Porch, scroll down until you see, write a review and tell us what you think. Or if you're so inclined, support us. Over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access, live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to patreon.com from the front Porch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.