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- [00:02]
Annie Jones
Your message amplified. Ready to share your message with the world?
- [00:06]
Erin Moon
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 Moon
Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.
- [00:18]
Annie Jones
Launch your podcast on podbean today.
- [00:20]
Erin Moon
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. This life is one that I didn't feel worthy of, but I now know I am. It's not too good to be true. It's just true. London Sperry Passion Project 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 April. If you are 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 your friends, you are helping keep our indie bookstore in business. And if you like what you hear, one way you can financially support us is through Patreon. Last year, we read the classic American novel Lonesome dove with over 1000 Patreon supporters. And earlier this year, we kicked off our 2025 reading Don Quixote, a far different but equally memorable experience thus far. For $5 a month, you can access our monthly Conquer a Classic recaps as well as our porch visit episodes, which are monthly live Q&As on Zoom, 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 their Benefits, just visit patreon.com from the front porch. Now back to the show. Hi, everybody.
- [02:23]
Erin Moon
Hello.
- [02:24]
Annie Jones
We're back. It's April.
- [02:26]
Erin Moon
Yay.
- [02:28]
Annie Jones
We're making it.
- [02:29]
Erin Moon
Yes, we're doing it. I don't know about you guys, but April this year, because of the exciting. You know, we've got Annie's book coming out. It feels like Christmas is happening in April for us at the store a little bit. Which is exciting.
- [02:43]
Annie Jones
Is it exciting, Erin? It is exciting.
- [02:45]
Erin Moon
Look at my face. It's exciting.
- [02:47]
Annie Jones
Is it exciting? Is it manic? Is it?
- [02:50]
Erin Moon
It's a little.
- [02:51]
Annie Jones
Both Olivia and I looked at each other in a meeting yesterday, and it occurred to us, like, by the time this episode comes out, we Will have already done Word of South, because Word of South is early this year, and we're grateful it's early. Like, we do not want Word of South to have been on the same weekend as Indie Bookstore Day Roche, Annie's book release. But it's also early. So it's, like, catching us off guard. Like, April is always full. April is always full. And this year, it feels like we're pushing it to its limits.
- [03:22]
Erin Moon
We are.
- [03:24]
Olivia
Oh, we absolutely are. Also, it just feels like quarter one is never ending.
- [03:29]
Annie Jones
Never ending. So long.
- [03:30]
Olivia
Yeah. I talked to a parent, and they were just like, february. Why was that month so long?
- [03:36]
Annie Jones
Yeah, and it should. It is the shortest month. Like, it should have flown by. But I think I was. Even while I was recording the intro to this episode, I was like, oh, my gosh. Last time I was coughing every other sentence. I had to mute myself. I was so sick for so long in February. And now we're here. It's April. There's pollen in the air, but there's.
- [03:59]
Erin Moon
Claritin in our veins.
- [04:01]
Annie Jones
But by rose show, we should be feeling great. Yeah, honestly, by. Honestly, by rose show, we should feel so much better.
- [04:08]
Olivia
Those roses better soak up all that pollen. I don't know if that's how that works, but I don't think so. No. They've released the pollen, don't they?
- [04:17]
Erin Moon
Maybe they'll attract bees. I don't guard the pollen.
- [04:20]
Annie Jones
Yeah, it has to do with bees. I read a story in storytime yesterday. Actually, I don't know if y'all will read the same books I read, but I read this book called all the Colors of Spring or something. It's not, like, amazing. I was just trying to find spring books and save the Easter books for April. Anyway, so I was reading this book, Colors of Spring, and it's all about this granddad and grandson who are gardening together. And, like, orange is the color of grandpa's garden shed, et cetera. I probably have it memorized now, because I read it four times yesterday. But anyway, one of them. I was like, what does spring? You know, I asked them, like, what does spring remind you of? Flowers. Blah, blah. And these. The grandfather and the grandson have planted these flowers. And one little girl was like, why would you do that? They'd die. And I, like, looked at her, and I was like, I mean, they do, but they're so pretty while they're here. Like, I was like, how can I impart wisdom upon this child to tell her that it's worth the planting of the flowers, even though they die. Anyway, it got real existential story time.
- [05:21]
Olivia
You had another class where you asked that question and the one kid was like, what? What reminds you of spring? And he was like, tornadoes.
- [05:27]
Erin Moon
Yes.
- [05:31]
Olivia
That child is from a very particular part of the United States.
- [05:35]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. And not entirely wrong. Somebody else.
- [05:38]
Erin Moon
Yeah.
- [05:38]
Annie Jones
Somebody said, tornadoes, rain. And I was like, yeah. I mean, I was looking for flowers.
- [05:45]
Erin Moon
Right. Easter bunnies.
- [05:49]
Annie Jones
Right. Instead I got death and tornadoes. It's fine.
- [05:53]
Olivia
The kids are doing great.
- [05:55]
Annie Jones
They're okay. Everybody. Okay. So we are here to talk about April related releases. We are coming to you a week later because we had some scheduling issues with March Madness, but we know y'all love that episode, so we hope that it's okay that we've delayed a few things. So we're coming to you kind of middle of the month instead of beginning of the month. But as we go through these April books, do keep in mind Aaron has made browsing the podcast book selections so easy. You can go to bookshelfthomasville.com and type episode 524 into the search bar and you'll see all of today's books listed right ready for you to pre order or purchase. You can use the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and get 10% off your order of today's titles. Are y'all ready?
- [06:37]
Erin Moon
Yes, I'm ready.
- [06:39]
Annie Jones
Okay. My first book is the one I led the episode with. It is Passion Project by London Sperry. This came out this week. Listen, I love a good rom com, but the truth is I do find them few and far between. Like, there's an abundance of romances and romantic comedies in the publishing world, but it does feel like you kind of have to dig. I have to dig to find the ones that I like. I may be in the minority there because I'm actually not maybe what you would call a romance reader. So I did want to highlight this one because I really did like it. This is a paperback original. Last year, one of my favorite rom coms I read was called Summer Fridays. I still stand by that book. I think it would be a fantastic one to try this year if you didn't try it last year, but there is like a slight infidelity plot line in that book that I think was a deterrent to a lot of readers. So I'm here to tell you if you liked or wanted to like Summer Fridays. I think you will really like Passion Project because it's basically Summer Fridays, but without the infidelity plotline. I think readers of that will really like this book. So our main characters are Bennett and Henry. The other thing that I think London Sperry handles so well here is Bennett struggles with her mental health, with anxiety. And in some books, especially fiction, I feel like it can feel like a. Oh, what did we used to call that in the 90s? Like a TV special? Like a.
- [08:11]
Erin Moon
Like an After School special.
- [08:13]
Annie Jones
Yes, an After School Special. Like, that's what it can feel like. And instead. Instead I felt like the way London Sperry handles this character is so realistic. And it's just like this is something that's part of Bennet's life. She deals with it, she works through it. But I loved how it was handled. So that is something I think worth pointing out. But Bennet is set to meet Henry on a blind date. She shows up to the blind date, she gets very nervous. She decides she wants to back out. I believe perhaps maybe she throws up in the bathroom. She, like, hides in the bathroom. She's very nervous anyway, but he's still there when she comes out. And so they wind up developing this friendship because Bennett expresses that she doesn't really have any passion. Like, not only in dating or romance, but also just like in her life. She's not. She doesn't really care about her job. She doesn't have a hobby. Even her friendships are kind of hit or miss. And so Henry takes it upon himself to help Bennett and like, to befriend her, and they're gonna figure out what her passion is. And so they embark on this series of adventures, vignettes throughout the book as she tries to discover what she's passionate about. I love a rom com that is rooted in friendship, that has good chemistry, that's relatively closed door. This ticked a lot of boxes for me and I flew through it. I just thought it was fun. So if you're looking for a good spring rom com, I actually think this one would be lovely. This is Passion Project by London Sperry. It came out this week and it's a paperback.
- [09:48]
Erin Moon
That sounds so good.
- [09:50]
Annie Jones
It was cute. It was really cute.
- [09:52]
Olivia
Okay, my next book is not cute. Surprise to no one. This came out two weeks ago on April 1st. It's gifted and Talented, the new book by Olivy Blake. I really, really like Olivie Blake. I've read a couple things by her and I've liked them all. I do always think she has struggled in the past with, like, balance between, like, character driven and plot driven, where she. She wants so much to do both at the same time. And then I picked up this one Because I was just like, I just really like her. And she does, she does do a good, like, magical realism fantasy book. And she just nailed it. The balance was absolutely perfect. The book takes place in five days, so when you're thinking about it, not a lot can happen.
- [10:39]
Erin Moon
Right.
- [10:40]
Olivia
And it all revolves around the death of the father of this family of three children. Very Succession esque, if you will.
- [10:49]
Erin Moon
It's sort of the COVID the plot reminds me of like Succession meets Umbrella Academy, sort of. If like anyone's ever seen that.
- [10:55]
Olivia
Yeah. She took a lot of inspiration from Wes Anderson's the Royal Tenenbaums, which I also really love. And I can see bits and pieces of that mixed in as well. But to me, this was like, well, I don't want to spoil succession for people.
- [11:11]
Erin Moon
I think at this point, if they haven't watched it, it's okay, right?
- [11:14]
Olivia
Fair, fair game.
- [11:15]
Annie Jones
Yeah. They can fast forward.
- [11:16]
Olivia
Yeah, it is like the episode and the following episodes after Logan dies. And you're just like, what?
- [11:25]
Erin Moon
I haven't seen it. I'm not gonna watch it.
- [11:28]
Olivia
I mean, we all know it was coming.
- [11:30]
Annie Jones
It was coming.
- [11:31]
Olivia
He's old and this father owns a giant company. I think it's called magictech if I'm not mistaken. But it's like one of those conglomerates where they own so many different smaller entities. And he's run it for years. And so when he passes away, the big question is, who did he appoint to take over as CEO? And then you meet the three kids, you meet them all on the, on the moment they're finding out that their father has passed away, all in various stages of what's happening in their current life. The youngest daughter, I think her name is Elid. I, I, I wish I had listened to the audiobook so I could know the actual pronunciation of it, but she was, used to be a ballerina, had a huge injury and had to step away from dance. And now her father kind of took her under her wing and she runs, like, their social media and marketing, which everyone just kind of like looks at her with pity because they're just like, oh, like you have nothing going on in your life. You can't get past this sort of thing. She's very outcast from her other two siblings. Then you have the middle child, Arthur, who, he is a failing politician, currently failing. He's in, he's in a race to hold some sort of government seat. And all you know is that he is losing terribly. And he knows it, the world knows it. And so his life is just like, he's a mess.
- [12:54]
Annie Jones
That is succession adjacent.
- [12:56]
Olivia
Yeah, it really is. I thought about it the whole time I was reading.
- [13:00]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [13:00]
Olivia
And then the eldest daughter, Meredith, is like this. She never expresses emotions besides, like, negative emotions. She sold. She started this app that was supposed to make people happy. The app is now under a point of contention because she then sold it to her father's rival company, and now her ex boyfriend turned journalist is investigating it because he thinks she's a fraud. So, like, all three of these children are failing at different aspects of their life. They also all have, like, magical properties that they can use. Some to their hindrance, some they used incorrectly. Like, Meredith kind of used it to her advantage, and now it's backfiring a bit. Arthur, he makes things like, he'll be on stage talking in front of a crowd, and then the electricity will just go out. Not helpful to his campaign, as you can imagine. And then the youngest sibling, she keeps bringing up, like, apocalyptic events. Like, she's about to be in a plane crash and all these locusts come out and, like, help guide the plane down. Like, all of these big things keep happening. And they know it's tied around, like, the. The turmoil that their family is facing in the moment, but you see them at their worst and then at their double worst because now their father has died, they're all back in their family home, and they're trying to figure out who's going to take over the company. It was so well done. I loved it. It's long.
- [14:27]
Erin Moon
I was going to say, because the audiobook is, like 20 hours long, so I was wondering how long the. How big the book is.
- [14:34]
Olivia
I think it was worth every page.
- [14:36]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [14:36]
Olivia
I. I really, really liked it. I thought she did. Amazing.
- [14:40]
Annie Jones
Is this your favorite of hers?
- [14:42]
Olivia
Yes. By far.
- [14:43]
Annie Jones
Okay. Okay.
- [14:44]
Olivia
By far. Yeah.
- [14:45]
Annie Jones
Okay. That's good to know. Yeah.
- [14:46]
Olivia
Gifted and talented. Get it?
- [14:48]
Erin Moon
Now I have the. I have the alc. And I'm going to maybe save that one for, like, a time when I don't have any other books to listen to or read to.
- [14:56]
Olivia
It's one of those where, like, don't read it alongside something else.
- [14:58]
Erin Moon
Yeah.
- [14:59]
Olivia
Like. Like, invest your time in it.
- [15:01]
Erin Moon
Be the only one.
- [15:02]
Olivia
Yeah. Because it is. There's. There's both a lot happening and not a lot happening. But you also want every second with those characters because you're just like, man, these people are so messed up.
- [15:16]
Annie Jones
I was about to say, read it when you need to feel better about yourself.
- [15:18]
Olivia
Exactly.
- [15:20]
Erin Moon
Okay. My first book I actually heard about through one of Our beloved customers, Meg Cranshaw. She had ordered it, and it's called A Change of Habit by Sister Monica Claire. It comes out April 29th at the end of the month. Listen, Annie, this is right up your alley. I mean, it's.
- [15:36]
Annie Jones
I'm so excited. It's on the. It's on the Literary First Look Guide. I'm pumped about it.
- [15:42]
Erin Moon
The COVID is so fun. It's like a. It's like a dress. And then on the other side, it's like the nun habit, you know, so. But it's not. It's not like Sister act like it. You know, there's no school children involved or gangsters or whatever is going on. Yeah, yeah. Greatest movies ever. But it is. It's a memoir. For. Her name was Claudette Powell. She actually grew up in Rome, Georgia, which for us is about, you know, three or four hours away. I've been there before. She grew up. She had a very tumultuous childhood. Her family was very poor. Her father was abusive and sort of absent for much of her life. And so for her, she. I think she saw a book when she was like, seven about nuns and just sort of grabbed onto that idea of safety, of protection. And so for her, being a nun was always a goal of hers. But of course, she lived. She grew up in a, you know, a very Baptist family, very Southern family, and being a nun was considered almost akin to, like, mental illness. Like, why would you want to go be a nun? That's crazy. So she thinks, you know, okay, I've got to grow up. I've got to be a wife, I've got to be a mother. Got to do all these things. And so she moves to. She also finds that comedy is something that she doesn't have, beauty, but she feels like she has comedy and she's funny. So she decides to move to Los Angeles and make her way as a comedian, as a, you know, as a writer for comic shows. She becomes part of the Groundlings, which is. This is so fascinating. Like, she performs in the Groundlings with people like Sherry O'Terry, Jennifer Coolidge, like these very big names. She has a whole chapter, you know, several chapters about that. But ultimately, everyone else starts finding success around her, and she just kind of stays where she's at, and she can't seem to really get into it. And so she finds herself poor in la, not doing what she wants to do with that dream of being a nun still alive, but not. She can't see how to get there. And so she ends up just getting Married just because she thinks, well, this is the next thing to do. And this guy seems okay. And obviously, as we probably know, it's not a great marriage. He's not a great guy. And at the resolution of that marriage, when it ends, she feels like she's at the rock, at rock bottom. So she starts to sort of seek out that dream again of being a nun. And it's. It's. What I loved about this book is the. The nitty gritty. Like, how does one go about being a nun? And it was. You think you just, you know, Maria von Trapp style, just show up at, you know, show up at a nunnery. They accept you. You play the guitar and all as well. It's much more difficult, which I found really fascinating. But she does connect eventually with these sisters, the sisterhood. I'm like, I guess it's a nunnery in New Jersey. And so she ends up going there. But it's a really long process to become a nun. You have to be free of debt. At least that's their rule. You have to be free of debt before you become a nun. So she has to take years. It takes her years to pay off the debt before she can be a part of it. And so I'm. I'm like, three fourths of the way through, so I'm not finished with this book yet. But what I do know is that when she finally goes in there and becomes a nun, it's very hard for her, as you can imagine. It's very silent. There's not a lot of talking. There's not a lot of praise and affirmation, like, you're doing a great job. It's a lot of, like, you're not doing that well. And she starts to think, why am I even doing this? Like, why did I come here? I'm not good at this. I don't want to be doing this anymore. But I think the rest of the book, it's about to turn around where she's really going to connect with these nuns. She's really going to find herself and find that this is a place she loves. And so for me, it's. It's a beautiful memoir about someone's spirituality. Someone growing up, you know, poor and really finding themselves as an adult through a lot of hardships. But it's. For me, it's also just. I like the. Like I said, I like the nitty gritty of, like, gosh, what does it really take to become a nun? And. And it's not just as glamorous as the movies and books make it seem that it's actually a really difficult process to go through, and it really refines, like, what it is you want to do with your life when you go through that. So if you love a good memoir, if you love hearing about the nitty gritty of the spirituality and. Or if you just, you know, if you just like a good Southern sort of rags to riches memoir, I highly recommend this. It's called A Change of Habit by Sister Monica Claire. Comes out April 29th.
- [20:10]
Annie Jones
Are you listening to it or did you download the.
- [20:13]
Erin Moon
I downloaded it. Yeah.
- [20:14]
Annie Jones
Okay. That was my only holdup, was trying to figure out the best way for me to read it. But maybe I'll just. Maybe I'll just suck it up and download the ebook because I'm really excited about that one. Okay. My next book is when the Harvest Comes. This is by Denny Michelle Norris. She is the editor in chief of Electric Literature. So if you're big in Bookstagram or the Internet aspect of publishing, bookselling, and you follow lit hub, Electric Literature, things like that, you'll be familiar with her work. This is her debut novel. I'm probably a little over halfway through this one right now. It is divided thus far into two sections. So the first section is about Davis and Everett and their wedding. And I do think Davis kind of functions as our main character. He is a young gay black man who is engaged to a little bit older white guy, and they are getting married, I want to say, on Martha's Vineyard. So the first half of the book is kind of set at this wedding weekend, which. So I immediately was kind of hooked into it. Everett and Davis clearly love each other. Everett's family, they kind of remind me of the Kennedys, you know, or something like that. They. He has this rather idyllic family who has accepted him, and they are thrilled to throw this wedding. Davis's family is not present, and so Davis is very eager to adopt Everett's family as his own during the wedding weekend. This is not a spoiler, but his sister Olivia does wind up showing up and in fact, you know, tries to reconcile with Davis and agrees to walk him down the aisle. They have had a good relationship over the last few years, but they just don't keep in touch because she continues to be in touch with their father and Davis does not. Davis is estranged from his father, who's like a Baptist pastor or a reverend in the black community. And he and Davis have been estranged mostly due to his sexuality and the decisions that Davis has made that his father does not understand. And the parts of Davis's life that his father just does not. Doesn't even begin to compete with him anyway. They are estranged, but Olivia's not, which then has put a wedge between Olivia and Davis. So the book is really from Davis's, Everett's and Olivia's perspectives. And while they are at this wedding weekend, again, this is not a spoiler, but Davis and Olivia realize that their father has died in a car accident. And what then unspoiled spools in the next half of the book is the aftermath of that. So what happens when this person who helped raise you, who loved you until it felt like maybe he didn't? What happens when he dies before you get any type of closure or reconciliation? And how does that impact Davis and his marriage? Does it start to drive a wedge? Grief can sometimes drive a wedge between you and the people you love because you are just totally overshadowed by it. All the while, Davis is also a young musician, and so I really actually loved having the author wrote about his relationship to the viola and to artistry and creativity. This book is so much about human sexuality, gender identity. There's this really memorable scene where Davis is getting ready for his wedding day. And he's known in his musical, like, performances, he wears jumpsuits. That's like his kind of calling card, I guess. And so he's gonna wear a jumpsuit on his wedding day. But he also has like a dress in the back of his closet. And his friends who are there with him are like, oh, my gosh, like, wear the dress. And there's all this inner turmoil with Davis of trying to figure out, like, which side of himself is he gonna present to the world. I found it to be very poignant. It is relatively sexually explicit. So I just said that Passion project is closed door. I would say this book is open door, although it's literary fiction. So for some reason, when sex scenes appear in literary fict fiction, to me they're not like the main impetus of the book. And so, you know, I don't know if that will bother readers or not because this is not a romance novel. This is literary fiction about Davis, Everett and Olivia and the fallout from the death of Davis's father. I can't believe this is a debut. She's doing a lot of different things that all manage to work pretty well together. Like I said, about gender, sex, love, acceptance, dysfunctional family, literature, certainly, but with much deeper undercurrents. This is when the Harvest Comes by Denny Michelle Norris. Out next week on April 15, a.
- [24:52]
Olivia
Lot of father deaths in this episode.
- [24:54]
Annie Jones
Yes. Lots of daddy issues in this episode. From the front porch.
- [24:58]
Olivia
Spoiler alert. But more to come.
- [25:01]
Erin Moon
Yeah. And I was like, my next book also has a father death. I hate to say my last book does.
- [25:08]
Olivia
Okay. My next book doesn't, so that's good. This is Midnight and Soap Lake by Matthew Sullivan. It comes out April 15th, so next week. And I almost didn't pick this book up, but I did see a ton of indie booksellers reviewing it and really liking it. One of a mystery lover writer that I love.
- [25:28]
Annie Jones
Mystery writer, a mystery lover that I love.
- [25:33]
Olivia
Let me try that again. Stuart Turton.
- [25:38]
Annie Jones
Oh, okay.
- [25:39]
Olivia
Blurbed this. And that was part of that was what made me pick it up because I almost didn't. The description of it. You're just kind of like, what is this book? Is it a mystery? Is it like a small town sort of book? Is it a horror novel? Because it was also like they comped it to like a Stephen King. And I was like, okay, I don't hate Stephen King, so I'll give it a shot. And I thought this book was so good. I absolutely loved it. I'm not going to do any better at describing this plot than the, the back of it does for you. What I will say it's one of those books where a woman starts to investigate a current crime and all of these small town, hidden secrets, unsolved mysteries start to get solved alongside it. To me it felt very like, akin to Like a Distant Sons by Tim Johnston. Maybe a little bit louder than that. That book was very, very quiet, very subdued for what it was. This one is, is not as subdued, but this is about a girl, Abigail, who moves to a town called Soap Lake with her newly husband. They just got married like a couple months ago. He's a scientist and he's there to study the lake in Soap Lake. I believe it's called Soap Lake. But I did now read this book like maybe a month or two ago. But that feels pretty.
- [27:02]
Erin Moon
What a surprise it would be if it wasn't Soap.
- [27:04]
Olivia
Like I'm now really hoping that it is. There are like entities to this lake that have had, had like healing properties for people. And so scientists go there to study the lake and no one has really figured out what's going on. Her husband is set on figuring it out, but then shortly thereafter they move to Soap Lake. He's called away on like this research assignment up in like Scotland or somewhere. Again. I read this book like over a month ago and so now she's just by herself in this town that she didn't actually want to move to. That's a rather quirky town. Like, very small, tight knit. They're known for having the world's biggest lava lamp that they never actually finished building. So it's just the base of the lava lamp, but they advertise it fascinating as being there. Also, apparently Soap Lake is like a real town that I was gonna say, yeah, okay, it's a real town. And their whole thing is like, I believe that one day the lava lamp will get built.
- [28:06]
Annie Jones
I want that for them.
- [28:07]
Olivia
Yeah, you move there so excited for this lava lamp and it's just the base, but a part of this town is also this like lore of this monster called Treetop. And when you start to learn about Treetop, you're like, oh, this is probably one of those tactics that like got passed down story wise for like children who are a bit rambunctious and get into trouble and they're like, oh, treetop will come for you sort of thing. But Treetop, for a long time now, maybe longer than an average human life, has actually been killing people. And so she witnesses Treetop when she's like down in her husband's science lab of their basement and he's looking at her through the window. And she, as a rational adult is just like, I know this can't be true. Like, there's no monster here. This is real life. Like somebody is playing a prank on me of some sort. And the next day she runs into this kid in the desert who's like this very young child covered in blood that's not his own. And she finds out that it's his mother's blood. And now she's like, what happened to this woman? Which leads her into trying to figure out what happened to everything else in this town. It was just really, really well done. And it like maybe the first two chapters won't grab you right away, but the more characters that he adds into it, the more interested you become because they're just so interesting. And a lot of them just feel like such real people that you would. That you would meet and find in a small town. But that's Midnight in Soap Lake. It was just really, really good. It's one of those books you're just like, should I pick this up? And you should pick it up.
- [29:49]
Annie Jones
Let us help you. You should pick that up.
- [29:51]
Erin Moon
Those are the best kind. When you're like, I don't know, I'll just give this a shot. And it ends up, yeah, yeah, okay, my Next book is the Amalfi Curse by Sarah Pinner. It comes out April 29th. Again, I'm about, about halfway through this. Um, you guys, it's been a hard. It's been a hard time getting through books. Not some of the book's fault, it's me. But I loved the Lost Apothecary. She wrote that. I feel like it was one of the first books I read as a bookseller here at the Bookshelf. So I think it was in 2021. It must have been. But she has written several books since, like the London Seance Society. I want to say there was another one, I can't remember, but she's.
- [30:30]
Olivia
No, that's it. Yeah.
- [30:31]
Erin Moon
So she's been very prolific. I mean, you know, one every year or so. Yeah. And this one reminded me a lot of. If you liked the Lost Apothecary, I think you will also like this one because it has the same format. And I didn't read the London Seance Society, but I know in the Lost Apothecary there was a historical timeline with a strong female heroine and then there was a like more modern day timeline with a female heroine who is looking into some things that then tie into this historical timeline. And that is what is happening here in this book. The modern day timeline is based on Haven Ambrose. She's a. I got like, what's the word? She's like. I called it a nautical archaeologist. Like she goes down to shipwrecks and like figures out, you know, what happened and tries to find artifacts and things like that. So she's like an archeologist but for the ocean.
- [31:25]
Annie Jones
Fascinating.
- [31:27]
Erin Moon
It is fascinating. This book will make you want to probably do a deep dive if you are a deep diver like me. Literally a deep time. I see what you did there. But she is. And her father was one before her and so he obviously ignited that passion in her. But he has recently, as I'm sorry to say, has recently passed away.
- [31:50]
Annie Jones
So.
- [31:51]
Erin Moon
But so she's obviously more passionate about it. And one of his biggest dreams was to. There are these waters right off the coast of Positano, Italy, on the Amalfi Coast. And that was one of his dreams. There's like this really famous wreckage there that everyone's been trying to, you know, get to and that she's gonna sort of take up that dream of his and go and do it herself. But as you know, as something's gonna happen, which is when she gets there, strange things start happening with the water. There's like storms when there Wasn't supposed to be storms. There's a boat collapse, like a boat sinks when there was no reason that the boat should be sinking. So. And she starts to wonder what's going on. And so of course, she starts to research what happened during like, what happened in the past of this town. And we know because we're also reading the historical timeline, which is there's a young woman named Mari. I think it's Mari M A R I. She's a young woman who's part of like a. I'll call them a coven makes. I mean, I don't think they would call themselves witches, but I think what they would. What they do is sort of witchcrafty. So we'll call them a coven. And they possess strong magical powers that are like, passed on through the females in their family. And these powers allow them to manipulate the water. So they go into the water and they can make currents and they can make waves and they can like make the water hot or cold or whatever. They can manipulate it and they use that power to. In this time, there was apparently a lot of pirating. So they use these powers to disturb the waters enough around their area that it kind of keeps. Makes a barrier, a water barrier where pirates can't get in because it's. So it's not friendly to boats. So because of their powers, their town finds a lot of financial success because the pirates are not coming in and stealing all their things. And it's a place of safety because the people are safe there from the pirates. But of course, everyone in the area doesn't know that these women are doing that. And they're considered like sort of outcast for doing. You know, the people that do know about it are. It's considered to be witchcraft. And, you know, people didn't like that back in the day. That's kind of where I'm at now is like the two. Where the two points are starting to converge of Haven finding out what happened in Mari's past. Mari's also has a. She wants to leave this town because she has a fiance that has taken a place like a job on a boat with two of the most powerful, like crime brothers in this Italy, in this area. And so she's trying to free him from that job. And so there's a lot going on. But again, it's. It reminds me a lot of the Lost Apothecary because there's women in very oppressive historical timelines and then there's females in this current timeline which are trying to uncover the secrets of the Past. So that's the Amalfi Curse, and it comes out April 29th.
- [34:45]
Annie Jones
I think Nancy really liked the Lost Apothecary. It might have even been a shelf subscription for her. So maybe if y'all, if listeners liked that, maybe you like this one.
- [34:53]
Erin Moon
I think so.
- [34:55]
Annie Jones
Okay. My last book, Listen, I thought a lot about this. I looked at a list. I looked at a list of books coming out in April and you're like, what's good? I feel like it would be dumb.
- [35:05]
Erin Moon
Anything good coming out in April 22, maybe.
- [35:08]
Annie Jones
I feel like it would be dumb. And you know what? Publishers? I didn't get a copy of Emily Henry's new book. So we're going to talk about Annie B. Jones's Ordinary Time. In all seriousness, we are super excited. Yeah.
- [35:23]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [35:23]
Annie Jones
They're literally in Olivia's office. She's walled in. I talked to Keela yesterday about signing copies, but hopefully by the time this episode comes out, all those books are going to be signed and ready, ready to ship out. But if you. I don't know if you're new around here or if I haven't done my job well, you may not know that I have written a memoir in essays called Ordinary Time, Lessons Learned While Staying Put. It releases on April 22, and it is. Things are feeling real, really real now. I was able to travel to McDonough, Georgia, to do a little book event as part of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. They had a group of authors there a couple weeks ago, so I was able to do that once this episode is out into the world and as of this recording book tour stuff is finalized and that announcement has been made, so things are definitely ramping up. It is so odd to be on this side of publishing rather than solely the bookseller side. It's been super interesting, but it has been very weird to go from bookselling to then writing and now trying to market and sell a book that you wrote. It's very weird. But here's what I'll say.
- [36:40]
Erin Moon
Surreal.
- [36:40]
Annie Jones
Yeah, super surreal. But here's what I'll say. It is a memoir. When I talked to the group of booksellers in McDonough, what I told them what I wanted for this book is what I want for every book as a bookseller, which is I just want the right book to find the right person. And so it doesn't necessarily mean, oh, it becomes a New York Times bestseller. Our job at the bookshelf is to just hand sell the right book to the right person. And so if you are wondering is Ordinary time for me. Here is what I will tell you. Here are some comp titles. So I believe that this book is like Mary Laura Philpott's I miss you When I Blink, maybe even like her more recent book Bomb Shelter. I hope that it is. I know I've read it out loud multiple times now. I know that it is poignant and earnest. I hope it is funny. I think it is funny. Laugh out loud funny in at least a couple different places. And so I would also say if you like Eric Thomas's Here for It or his essay collections, I hope that you might find these enjoyable. Deep in the Backlist I read this book years ago, before I think I was even a bookseller. There is a book by Heather Lynde called Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, and Heather Lynd is an obituary writer living in rural Alaska, and this is all about her life in small town Alaska and what it was like to move there and to be a part of this quirky cast of characters. I hope that I have done service to what it has been like to plant myself in the rural south, which is not something I really ever wanted or thought I would do. And so I hope that I write lovingly and tenderly and funnily about what that experience has been like. So if you like books like that, I also think we fought so hard for this book. The irony of course now being that I have a child coming out in June. But we fought so hard for an April release date. And part of the reason I fought really hard for that April release date was because of Indie Bookstore Day. And it was also because I do think, and I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true, I really do think this would be a great Mother's Day graduation gift. My brother teaches high school seniors and he and I often talk about the pressure to be extraordinary and the pressure to do something big. You know, I thought that was just a millennial pressure, but I actually think it is a pressure put on Gen Z as well, that they're gonna be like the world changers. And now we're, you know, now we're also talking about, I think, Generation Alpha anyway. And I just want people to read this book and know, no, you can just live your quiet, ordinary small town existence. And I believe that is interesting and I believe it matters. And so part of the reason we fought for this book to release in April was because I really hoped that maybe a high school or college grad might receive some encouragement from it and might think oh, okay. Like, I don't have to do. I don't have to move to the big city. I don't have to do that thing that I really thought. I mean, I. Annie B. Jones, Annie Sue Butterworth, really did think I would be a failure if I didn't get to go to New York and be the journalist I'd always dreamed of. And so I would love to take that pressure off of the next generation of people that, no, you don't have to do that. And in fact, you can live a really deep, meaningful existence in. In a small place. And so that is what Ordinary Time is all about. It is a memoir in essays, so it is deeply personal. Again, I've read it out loud now and forgot just how personal it is.
- [40:10]
Erin Moon
You're like, who wrote this in here?
- [40:13]
Annie Jones
Super fun. Super fun. When Erin Moon was here, I pulled her aside and I was like, do you wish you'd written fiction? Do you wish. Do you think that would have been easier? Which, of course it wouldn't have, but, like, there's a part of me that thought, if I had written fiction, would I feel as exposed as I currently do? I feel very exposed. I've written on the Internet for a long time, but I still consider myself a relatively private person. And now it's out there, man, for anybody who wants to read it, to read it. So it is deeply personal. But it is my hope that you might read at least an essay or two and think, oh, yeah, me too. Because that is my favorite kind of reading experience when I feel like, oh, yeah, I've been waiting for somebody to say that. So that is Ordinary Time Lessons learned while Staying put releases on April 22nd.
- [41:05]
Olivia
I feel like we should have closed out the episode with that one. I'm not going to lie to you.
- [41:09]
Annie Jones
Sorry, guys.
- [41:11]
Erin Moon
I honestly had the thought, you know, we usually go, Annie, Olivia, and me and I almost suggested why don't we do it the opposite, the way you get to go last? And we can all just say, great job. End of podcast.
- [41:22]
Annie Jones
It's just one of the many books releasing in April.
- [41:27]
Olivia
It's totally casual.
- [41:28]
Erin Moon
Yeah, yeah.
- [41:29]
Annie Jones
Just tucked right in with everything else.
- [41:32]
Erin Moon
We're just so thrilled for you. I mean, like, you know, watching you get to this point, it's just been so lovely for us as your team members to see the success for you, and we're just very excited. Everyone, be kind, be gentle and read this book.
- [41:47]
Annie Jones
Yes. Be kind, be gentle. Yes. Well, it's truly. I wrote the store newsletter this week. I don't know when it will release. But I sent it to Caroline today. But one of the things I talked about was, I mean, this book is only possible because you all gave me the space to write it last year, last winter. Especially, like, being able to carve out actual time and space to think and to write was crucial. And this book would not. I mean, publishing is so hard to break into. It would not be possible without the bookshelf, without from the Front Porch, without. I hate to sound like pbs, but without listeners like you.
- [42:24]
Erin Moon
Exactly.
- [42:24]
Annie Jones
No, truly, it's totally possible because of the Bookshelf team and because of the Bookshelf community. And I hope that I did service. I do write about the bookshelf in the book, and I hope I did service to her and to our team. Yeah, I hope people enjoy reading about it.
- [42:41]
Erin Moon
Absolutely. All right, Olivia, on to some more Father Death. After that.
- [42:46]
Olivia
After that brief interlude, we are now back to Father Death.
- [42:50]
Annie Jones
Great. No daddy issues in my book. I'm pleased to report Chris Butterworth is.
- [42:55]
Erin Moon
Also relieved, alive and well.
- [43:01]
Olivia
Okay. My next book is Middle Grade. It's the Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner, who you might know from the History Smasher series. Yeah. She has written other fiction, middle grade novels besides that one was like Breakout, which was also really good. That was like, back in 2018. But I think the History Smashers really put her. Put her on the map. Yeah. Because that. We sell that constantly here. This is out the end of April. It's April 29th. And it was one of those books where the publisher kept pushing on me. And I was like, sure, why not? I'll give it a shot. And I'm so glad I did because it was one of those middle grade stories where you're just like, I could cry. I'm not going to because I'm not a crier. But, like, if I. If I were, I think I might. You know, I can feel that there.
- [43:48]
Erin Moon
Could be tears involved.
- [43:50]
Olivia
I think people could cry at this in a good cathartic sort of way.
- [43:53]
Erin Moon
You need that sometimes.
- [43:55]
Olivia
Yeah. This is about a kid. I completely forgot his name. Finn. Finn Connelly. And he is about to fail seventh grade. He's been through quite a bit. The pandemic hit. He's in New York, like, outside the city, New York. He recently lost his father. And so to pass seventh grade, he has to write. I think it's like 20 poems on a hero. And his whole thing is like, his father got famous because he was a part of the FDNY when 911 happened. And there's Like a famous picture of him being a hero.
- [44:31]
Erin Moon
Oh, wow.
- [44:32]
Olivia
But Finn has struggled with this because since then, his father has maybe not acted like a hero in his own life. And there's just a lot of pressure put on people who peak like that. And he saw his father go through that, and then he lost his father. And so he's gone through a bit. He had an emotional moment where he maybe very possibly vandalized a headstone in a local cemetery and then got caught for it, the poor kid. What he didn't realize was this was the headstone of, like, a legendary local mountain climber. She was well known of climbing, like, all 46 high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. And then she would write letters to people encouraging them to do the same, sharing her story on that mountain, and they would write back to theirs. And she was just one of those people who was just. She wanted people to experience it like she did. So instead of, like, getting in trouble with the cops and whatnot, he. Her daughter has now asked Finn to. In the three months of his summer vacation, along with writing 20 poems about a hero, he now has to climb all 46 high peaks.
- [45:43]
Erin Moon
Wow.
- [45:45]
Annie Jones
Just a small little task.
- [45:47]
Olivia
Just a tiny little prep task you can do. Like, some of them are back to back, so you can do, like, three in a day. Okay, so it is. It is doable. It's a lot of work, but it's doable. She also asked that he brings her dog with him because it was her mother's dog and he loved the mountains. And so she, like, gets volunteers from people who have also done the 46 peaks, and they, like, alternate who goes with him on different peaks. And so he gets, like, pieces of their stories. His grandmother runs a bakery, and so he makes a cookie for every mountain that he climbs. It's just one of those sweet stories where a lot of it is written in prose. You'll get a couple of his poems that he wrote for his English class for the summer. And then some of it is the letters that this woman would write to hikers because he did find that his father was also climbing the mountains. And so he found a box of letters that the woman. So happens the headstone that he kicked over that woman was writing letters back to his father when he was, like, struggling to finish all these peaks. And now it's, like, cathartic, because now he's like, well, now I'm finishing them for my father. It's just one of those really beautiful stories, one of those great middle grade reads. And because it's written in all the different formats. It. It really does fly by. Like, I think I read this in one sitting, but you just. You find such a sweet spot for Finn. He's a good kid. He's just going through a lot, you know, so.
- [47:15]
Annie Jones
Yeah, he's been through a lot.
- [47:16]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [47:17]
Annie Jones
It sounds.
- [47:17]
Olivia
Trouble with heroes.
- [47:19]
Annie Jones
Did you ever read. Did y'all ever read Joan Bauer?
- [47:23]
Olivia
Yes.
- [47:24]
Annie Jones
Okay. I assume she may now be deceased. Olivia. We read her for Forever Young Adult because she wrote wonky, but she.
- [47:33]
Olivia
That's why. I know that.
- [47:34]
Annie Jones
But she wrote other things that had a bit more depth than thwonk did.
- [47:40]
Olivia
What?
- [47:41]
Annie Jones
Yeah, there was one called Backwater that I really loved anyway, but it kind of makes me want to revisit. Like, I'm intrigued by this book because it sounds like a Joan Bauer book. And, Yeah, I really liked her.
- [47:53]
Olivia
Maybe meets, like, a Sharon Creech sort of vibe. Yeah. I also made me want to hike a mountain. And then I was like, olivia, you do not thrive in nature.
- [48:04]
Erin Moon
No, I know.
- [48:06]
Annie Jones
Maybe in the colder weather there wouldn't be bugs.
- [48:09]
Olivia
No, I do. I can do nature in cold weather. Snow. My best friend.
- [48:14]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Donna. Hat, gloves and climb a peak or 3. December.
- [48:19]
Olivia
Leslie would go with me. She'd love it.
- [48:21]
Annie Jones
Yes. Yeah. She'd thrive.
- [48:24]
Erin Moon
Every time I go to REI with Wesley, I'm like, I can. I can do this. I'm an outdoors person. All I need is some gear.
- [48:31]
Annie Jones
I've got this, like, Lorelei Gilmore, like, has the fishing fly fishing outfit. Like, the clothes.
- [48:38]
Erin Moon
We can do this if you have it. The clothes are half the battle, so.
- [48:41]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [48:42]
Erin Moon
Okay. My last book is called the Eights by Joanna Miller. It's coming out April 29th. I have not read this one yet. I'm eager to crack into it. I have downloaded it. I'm ready to read it. I love the COVID I love the whole thing. But it's a historical fiction novel, and it follows four of the first women who were allowed to matriculate at Oxford University in 1920, like, after the first World War. And it was, like, the first time they'd allowed women at Oxford for, like, I think a thousand years. That sounds. No, that sounds wrong. Maybe a hundred. How old? Oxford. I don't know.
- [49:18]
Annie Jones
Because Oxford's, like, from the 1400. No.
- [49:20]
Erin Moon
Okay. Well, maybe it literally is. Maybe now that that's not so crazy for a thousand years.
- [49:24]
Annie Jones
So I went to a restaurant there that was a.000 years old. Yeah. That's wild over there.
- [49:29]
Erin Moon
It blows my mind.
- [49:30]
Annie Jones
It's Wild over there. No wonder America, we're just hanging on by a thread over here. We've not lasted little babies.
- [49:36]
Olivia
We're still learning.
- [49:38]
Erin Moon
We're in the tall buildings that are thousand years old.
- [49:42]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [49:43]
Erin Moon
So anyway. Yeah, so they are allowed to. It's just. It follows four of them and they're fictional. These women are assigned to live in Hall 8, hence the name, the nickname for the eight. There's. There's Beatrice, she is an imposing daughter of a suffragette. There's Marianne, she's the daughter of an English vicar. There's Dora, who lost a brother and a fiance during World War I. So she is struggling. And then there's Otto line, they call her Otto, who is a wealthy female who is defying her family's expectations of her and desires by going to college. So as you can imagine being some of the first women there in over in a really long time, they face a lot of opposition from both their counterparts and their professors. And just in general, culturally, you know, when women are not expected to be, they would prefer that women do other things besides going to college. They do experience a lot of opposition, but as I can tell, it does a good job of including a lot of historical information. So if you love historical fiction for the. The real facts and the real places that authors put these characters in, I think that you will find that this does a great job of this while also giving a lot of character driven information about these fictional women and how they sort of stand in for the types of women that were that you might encounter in this time period and the struggles they experience as they try to find love. And also they're still dealing with the war, this, this world war that the world has been through and how is that impacting the workforce, the, you know, the university sector, their personal lives and things like that. So I have, again, I haven't read this yet, but I do think this. A lot of people it's, you know, I would say it tends towards the PG PG 13. So of course, if you're a Susie reader and you love historical fiction, I think you would really enjoy this one. And I'm so excited to start it. So it's called the Eights by Joanna Miller. Comes out April 29th.
- [51:43]
Annie Jones
I'm legitimately excited for this. I can be hit or miss on historical fiction, or at least that's, or at least that's what I claim on this podcast. But I love an Oxford setting and I feel like we don't get as many books set in Oxford as you would think we would get. I don't know. When you go over there, you realize the deep and lasting impact the world wars had. We were able to tour Modeling College, which is where C.S. lewis taught, and like, there's just these dedications everywhere to the students who were lost during the Great War and World War II. They lost an entire generation of young men, which makes me wonder if that's why Oxford started to accept women, which I'm sure the novel will address. But anyway, I am looking forward to that one and I do think Susie would probably appreciate it. Well, like if you read Becoming Mrs. Lewis, which is also set in and around Oxford. Or Natalie Jenner, she's another historical fiction writer where I I think a lot of her books. Maybe you'll like this one. The publisher is excited about this too. I remember them highlighting this one. So I'm excited to read these. Okay, as we discussed at the beginning of this week's episode, these are our April new releases that we are super excited about. You can go to bookshelfthomasville.com, type episode524 into the search bar. You'll see all of today's books listed there. If you would like 10% off, use the code New Release please at checkout and you'll get 10% off your order of today's books. This week I'm reading Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green Olivia what are you reading?
- [53:16]
Olivia
I'm reading Candle island by Lauren Wolk.
- [53:18]
Annie Jones
And Erin what are you reading?
- [53:20]
Erin Moon
I'm listening to Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.
- [53:28]
Annie Jones
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 @bookshelftville 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 Kami 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.
- [54:26]
Erin Moon
Lori Johnson, Susan Mullings.
- [54:29]
Annie Jones
Thank you all for your support of from the Front Porch. 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 right away. 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 to 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.