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- [00:00]
Podcast Host
When's the last time you read a great book? Maybe a book that changed your life or changed your perspective? Well, if you need a recommendation or two, I'd suggest you move over to the McConnell center podcast, where we're dropping weekly recommendations from academics and authors on books that just might be what you need. Search for the McConnell center podcast wherever it is you get your podcasts and give us a listen today.
- [00:28]
Annie Jones
Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. He would often try to think that perhaps that has to be the case, that our teenage years have to simultaneously be the brightest light and the darkest depths, because that's how we learn to figure out our horizons. Fredrik Backman My friends, 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 from releasing in May. If you are a new or newish listener, you might not realize 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 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 in January we kicked off our 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, which are monthly live Zoom 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 various Patreon tiers and their benefits, you can visit patreon.com from the front porch. Now back to the show. Hi guys.
- [02:24]
Olivia
Good morning.
- [02:25]
Erin
Hello.
- [02:25]
Annie Jones
We're here, believe it or not, to talk about May books we're just flying.
- [02:29]
Erin
Through this year really are halfway.
- [02:32]
Annie Jones
It's simultaneously dragging and blink and it's over. So as we go through these May new releases, do keep in mind, listeners, that Erin has made browsing the podcast book selections so easy. Just go to bookshelfthomasville.com and type episode 528 into the search bar. There you'll see all of today's books listed, ready for you to pre order or purchase. You can use the code NEW releasePlease at checkout for 10% off your order of today's titles. Okay. There's a lot coming out in May, actually.
- [03:06]
Olivia
Yeah. Really good books.
- [03:08]
Annie Jones
Really good books. Like, summer kickoff is what it feels like.
- [03:13]
Erin
Yeah.
- [03:13]
Annie Jones
Okay, I'll get us started. And I am going to start with, I don't know, a different kind of book. For me, maybe it is. Poetry Is Not a Luxury. This is an anthology collection of poetry released this week. I follow Poetry is Not a Luxury on Instagram. We're going to link to them in the show notes. It's a great. Well, I think it's a great way to ingest. Is that to take in poetry every day. I love the poems that they feature and they do such a great job of both modern poetry and classic poetry. It's a great introduction if you are one of those people who thinks poetry is not for you. And I think there are a lot of people who think it's not for them. I almost think it's like short stories where we associate it with English class. And if you have positive memories of English class, that excites you. And then if you have negative feelings and memories of English class, maybe it's overwhelming. So I think this is a great collection. And we do. At the bookshelf, we don't have a huge poetry selection, but we do have a decent sized one and we do really well, particularly with well compiled, thoughtfully compiled, wild collections. So here's what I like about this one. This is compiled by the same person who, by the way, is anonymous, which I'm like, ooh, I didn't know that. Yeah, I. I tried. Now watch this episode release. And, you know, there's. There's some kind of reveal about who it is, but to my knowledge, this is. This person anonymously runs the Instagram account and is anonymously, has anonymously compiled, edited this collection. It's divided up into seasons, but maybe not just your typical interpretation of those seasons. So in the first section, it's called Summer, which is perfect because that's what we're entering right now. It's all about love poems. For weddings and anniversaries, there are poems about travel, protest, joy, exhilaration. Then it moves into Autumn, which is more nostalgic. Poems about home and family and friendship, gratitude. Then winter. It's poems about grief, loneliness, mourning, comfort. And then spring, which has celebratory poems, nature poems, lots about rain and flowers, new beginnings. So I love this. I love when somebody gives thoughtful consideration to how a book is structured. I think about a bit much, which is divided up into mood. And so, again, this really does lend itself to picking up and putting down. You're not meant to necessarily read poetry, start to finish. You can just pick this book up as you want. I think it'd make a great graduation gift, potentially a great Mother's Day gift. It's got a really lovely, colorful cover. I'm excited about this one. I'm going to be buying this one. If I had to bet, it'll be right up Caroline's alley as well. And so this is. It has poems, if you follow the Instagram account, and in fact, go to the Instagram account and kind of see what you think to know if this is for you. But the poems are both old and modern, though there is an emphasis in this collection on living poets. So I also think it's great if maybe your last time to experience poetry was, like, Keats or something. This might expand your knowledge of the genre beyond maybe what you learned in high school English class. So that is. Poetry is not a luxury. It's an anthology that came out this week, and I'm really excited about it.
- [06:41]
Olivia
That's right. There's another. I won't. I'm not talking about it today, but there's another great poetry book coming out by this month, and make by Josie Balka. I don't know if you've seen her on Instagram, but she, like, reads her poetry, like, real close to a microphone, and it's such a pleasant sound. And she has a poetry collection coming out called I hope you remember in May, and it's also categorized by longing, loving and living, I think. So there are poems for that. So I do love it when they kind of say, hey, read. These poetries are for this. This. These poems are for the season of life.
- [07:13]
Annie Jones
Yes, the season of the year. I love that.
- [07:17]
Erin
I do feel like poetry is coming not back in style, but more in style.
- [07:22]
Olivia
Yes.
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Annie Jones
I think Instagram has helped. I really do. Like, I think about poets like Kate Bear or Lindsay Rush. Yeah, there's another. Erin, do you follow? I think you follow. Maybe Hannah Rowe. She's got a collection coming out anyway. I just feel like Instagram has made it maybe more, but I think you're right, Olivia. I do feel like it's like you. I hesitate to say it's making a comeback, like it ever went anywhere, but, like. But it does feel. I think we're selling it more than we used to.
- [07:50]
Olivia
Yeah, I agree.
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Erin
Absolutely. Yeah.
- [07:51]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [07:52]
Erin
I'm one of those people who is not a poetry person, mostly because you guys Might not know this about me, but I'm a very literal person.
- [08:00]
Annie Jones
Yeah. It's not really shocking that it is.
- [08:02]
Erin
Almost Amelia Bedelia over here. And so I. English was a struggle.
- [08:10]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [08:11]
Annie Jones
Isn't that funny?
- [08:12]
Erin
But maybe this is. Maybe this is my time to shine.
- [08:15]
Annie Jones
Yeah, There you go.
- [08:17]
Olivia
I think poetry is intimidating if you think. You think you're not getting it. But I think if you just remove that sort of like art, like, you can know a lot about an art and really enjoy our piece. Or you can just stand there and look at it for what it is and enjoy it. And I think everyone can enjoy poetry if they just. Just read it for what it is and don't try to think too hard about it.
- [08:37]
Annie Jones
Yeah, you don't have to write a grad level paper about it, you know?
- [08:40]
Olivia
Exactly.
- [08:41]
Erin
I remember going into English class and they would be like, all right, what did everyone get from this poem? And everyone got the same thing except for me. And I was like, I really thought this was obvious.
- [08:52]
Olivia
You're like, he's comparing her to a flower, guys. A flower.
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Erin
He likes flowers.
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Olivia
Yeah.
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Annie Jones
Is it obvious?
- [09:03]
Erin
Okay, my next book is a middle grade book called Billions to Burn by Taylor Banks. And this is out May 6th. This one I picked up on a whim because middle grade for me flies by so fast, and I needed a fast read. This is about a kid named Zeus. All of his siblings are named after Greek gods. They didn't really address that in the.
- [09:23]
Annie Jones
Book, but just kind of glossed over that detail.
- [09:26]
Erin
Yeah, it was kind of fun. But his grandfather or his great grandfather, I can't remember. This is also slightly futuristic. It's set in, like, 2036. So, like, technology is a big. A bigger thing than it is right now, which I think we all see coming, you know? And Zeus's family is very wealthy, but his grandfather, or his great grandfather. Sorry, I can't remember. He owned a printing company during the Harlem Renaissance. And it was kind of like this tell all sort of newspaper. And then the place where they did all the printing burnt down. And he left clues to a secret page that has like a secret billions of dollars, basically. So Zeus is going to visit his grandfather like he does every summer for like a couple of weeks. And his grandfather just never shows up. It's just Zeus and his grandfather's butler, who's a very nice guy. Like, young too. He's in his 20s and just kind of like there to help out. Like, he's a. It was a really cool character. But Zeus thinks that something has gone wrong because his grandfather isn't answering his phone. Like, it's just very unusual circumstances. So he calls on the four grandchildren, the, like, almost founders of this newspaper company, because all of them have their own special first edition. And with those first editions, they start to piece together all of these clues and work their way to the secret page. I was worried during this book that it would be repetitive, like clue after clue and there's people chasing them because that's what happens, you know, when you have a secret treasure. But it really didn't feel repetitive at all because also the relationship between the four kids was tense. There was like a big falling out between them and now they're like, kind of trying to, like, not only get to the puzzle, but, like, also be friends again. It was really fun. It was really entertaining. I read it in one sitting because it was just really fun. Yeah, those billions to burn.
- [11:37]
Annie Jones
Yeah, it sounds a little different from. We're always talking about where the fun middle grade books are. You know what I mean? Like, and this one sounds like, oh, this is fun. Like, kids will enjoy this.
- [11:50]
Erin
We don't need a moral here. We just need, like, fun ride.
- [11:53]
Annie Jones
Sure.
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Olivia
Yeah.
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Erin
Yeah.
- [11:55]
Olivia
14 year olds like the idea of searching for a billion dollars too. So.
- [11:59]
Erin
Yeah, we wouldn't, you know.
- [12:01]
Annie Jones
Don't we all?
- [12:04]
Olivia
Okay. My first book, I'm sorry to say, takes a bit of a darker turn, but it's okay.
- [12:10]
Erin
You don't have to be sorry about that.
- [12:11]
Olivia
That's usually your job, Olivia. So today I'm taking that role. This is a book I love. I love, I love. I think I love it all the more because I picked it up with zero expectations and it just surprised me, just blew me out of the water. It's called the Names by Florence Knapp. I believe she is a British author. This book is set in England and Ireland, but it comes out May 6th. And we opened the book by meeting Cora, who is a new mom, and she has a nine year old daughter named Maya. And they are on their way. They're pushing her, the new baby, to the registry office so that they can decide on what the name for the baby will be. And so we, we don't know much, but we know that their father, the father, the husband, his name is Gordon and he wants the baby to be named Gordon because it's his name, it's his father's name. And it's sort of a family tradition to pass this name down, but Cora doesn't want to name him Gordon. And so we're. We're. Left wondering why, which we'll find figure out pretty quickly. And the daughter, Maya, wants to name him Bear because she says it sounds cuddly and soft. And Cora herself wants to name him Julian because it means Sky Father. She likes the name of it, and, you know, she likes the sound of it. And also she thinks it might be a good compromise between a name like Bear and a name like Gordon. So. So in the first part, she chooses the name Bear and she goes home. And basically what happens from there from that day is. I don't know that they tell you that particular day what she chooses, but then there are three sort of story lines that branch off from that day, and it's all dependent on what she named the child. So in one scenario she named him Bear. They went with Bear, Maya's choice. In one scenario, they named him Julian, and one scenario they named him Gordon. And these three storylines sort of they go off from that decision. And it really shows you what everyone who is involved lives become because of that day. And one of the main storylines, I'm sorry to say, is that Gordon, the father, is a terrible person. At home, he's a charming doctor. Out in the world, people love him, he's beloved. But at home, he is an abuser. And so she is scared. She doesn't want to name the baby Gordon, you find out, because she hates her husband. He's terror. He's a terrible person. And she doesn't want the baby to grow up to be like him. So these three storylines do all contain a bit of abuse, and that is hard to read. And I hate sending out books like that into the world and recommending them. But it's so beautiful, the writing is so incredible. And just showing who this baby will become based on the names that he's given at birth is. Was just such a neat experience. And it just shows how it affects his. How it affects Maya, how it affects Cora, how it affects Gordon and the grandparents and friends and family, everyone. You kind of see what happens. And so it has a bit of not a thriller aspect to it, but you are kind of turning the pages to see because it jumps ahead seven years each time. Like, it'll tell you what happened in that time period based on those names, it'll jump ahead seven years. And as I'm sharing about it, it sounds very confusing, but I wasn't confused once it was very clear what timeline we were in. And each chapter has a little heading that either says Bear or Julian or Gordon, so you know what storyline you're in. But I loved it. It's a gorgeous book. I want everyone to read it and then come back and tell me what they thought about it. It's called the Names by Florence Knapp. It comes out May 6th.
- [15:55]
Annie Jones
I think this is going to be based on publisher descriptors. I think somebody's going to pick this, meaning a celebrity.
- [16:02]
Erin
They have.
- [16:02]
Podcast Host
No.
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Olivia
I wrote on my Instagram, if you don't. If you don't see this everywhere, something has gone wrong. Because this is an incredible book.
- [16:09]
Annie Jones
I think the publisher. I think it's going to have some kind of celebrity book club, potentially. How did you read this? Because I. This has been on my list. Did you read this?
- [16:20]
Olivia
I read the E. The E. Copy. Like the. Yeah, I downloaded it.
- [16:24]
Annie Jones
Okay, I'll have to do that because I'm really excited about this one, too. I just think it's such a fun premise. Like, such a thoughtful, interesting premise.
- [16:31]
Olivia
It is.
- [16:33]
Annie Jones
Okay. My next one is highly anticipated. I think probably people listening to this podcast know more about it than I do because they're so excited. But it is My Friends by Fredrik Backman. Of course, we all know Fredrik Backman as the author of A Man Called Uwe Beartown. Britt Marie was here. You name it. Anxious people like you name it. I feel like every book he releases into the world is super popular and deservedly so. Like, every book I've read by him, I really, really like. I think this one is a little bit different. Although, again, he kind of runs the gamut. It's not like he's writing the same book over and over again. I have not read this yet because my dad took this one home. Like, I used to pick my dad's options for shelf subscription. Like, I would give him a stack. But these days, like, whenever he's at the bookshelf, he just goes upstairs and shops the arcs himself, which I think is fun. And so he picked this one and he didn't know anything about Frederick Backman, which I think is kind of delightful because most people do.
- [17:35]
Olivia
Like.
- [17:36]
Annie Jones
Or most. I won't say most people do, but a lot of our readers certainly do. And so he. He was telling me how excited he was about this book, and he was talking all about it. And I said, dad, you know, because of course, it's just funny, like, how you connect with your. I said, did you ever see the movie A Man Called Otto, which is the kind of movie my parents would love with Tom Hanks? And dad was like, yeah. And I was like, okay, well, that was based on this book. This author is pretty prolific. Anyway, it was just fun to like take my dad down that rabbit trail and I think my dad's like, oh, maybe I'll read more by him. But anyway, my dad is in the middle of this book right now. Basically the premise is that there's a woman named Louisa and she is obsessed or sometimes somehow comes into the possession of this work of art, this relatively well known work of art. And she is one of the first people who really, I guess because of her proximity to it, she really starts to investigate it and really ruminate on it. And what she sees in the painting are these three teenagers at the end of a pier. What I'm curious about and what I could not find out without reading the book is is this a real work of art that Fredrik Backman has based? And I think maybe it's too early for interviews with him or whatever as of this recording because I am just curious if this is based, like if he used his imagination and based this on an actual work of famous art. I don't know. Somebody's probably yelling at their, at their phone right now because they know. But anyway, she's, she investigates and kind of studies this piece of art and she notices that there three teenagers at the end of a pier. And then the book goes back in time 25 years and it then is the story of these four friends and it's all about their friendship, their devotion to art. Each friend, each teenager has a very distinct kind of personality. My understanding is the novel kind of goes back and forth between Louisa, who wants to know the story of this painting and kind of goes on this journey to figure out where this painting was originally created, what the inspiration was. So she's going on her own journey and then we as the reader are going back 25 years and kind of perhaps seeing what Louisa is trying to discover. I'm excited about this. I am going to read this. It sounds, it weirdly sounds summer, Summer y to me. Maybe it's because of the coming of age like teenager element, but I like Fredrik Backman a lot and I don't read all of his books. Like I'm not a completionist when it comes to Frederick Bachman, but this one I'm intrigued by. And so this is My Friends by Fredrik Backman. My dad is reading it right now and is loving it. So for what that's worth.
- [20:18]
Olivia
Yeah, I know people will be very excited about this one.
- [20:21]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [20:22]
Erin
Have you seen his award speech? What was it? I think it was at something with Simon and Schuster, but he Gave a speech and his like publish publicist made him do was so good.
- [20:32]
Annie Jones
He listen. I don't follow. It's not like a rule for me or anything, but I don't follow a ton of authors. But every so often he like pops maybe in my for you section on Instagram or something. He's fun. He seems delightful.
- [20:46]
Erin
He seems like a good timer.
- [20:47]
Annie Jones
Yes. Yeah. Which is kind of what you'd expect maybe based on reading his books. Yeah, he's somebody I would love to see in person. Like, I think that'd be really fun.
- [20:58]
Erin
Yeah. He'd be a reluctant but a great speaker.
- [21:02]
Annie Jones
Yes, exactly.
- [21:04]
Erin
My next book is called the Language of Birds by K. Merson. This is out May 13th. I hadn't heard of this author before I picked up this book. Book. But I guess this is not her debut novel that she has written a couple other things as well. I picked it up because the. The title of it had like puzzle solving, like Cryptology. And I was like, yes, sold this. The main character is a 17 year old named Arizona, which I keep trying to remember what Jeff Zentner said about like, where they, where they draw the line between like young adult and adult novels with like the protagonist.
- [21:42]
Annie Jones
Yes.
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Erin
Because this is like the second or third adult novel that I have read with a teenage protagonist.
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Olivia
Oh, interesting.
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Annie Jones
Interesting.
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Erin
I don't remember what he said, but he said something because when he was writing like adult versus ya, they told him there's a distinction.
- [21:58]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
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Erin
But Arizona, she like lives in a van with her mom and her dog Mojo. She loves geo. Geocaching, cryptology, like solving puzzles. She's very, very smart. Her and her mom are on their way to this. What do you. It's like an abandoned town, you know, somewhere out in like.
- [22:19]
Annie Jones
Yes. Yeah, one of those, like one of those town. Yes. A ghost town. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
- [22:26]
Erin
And there's a national park connected to it. And they're going there because that's where they're going to let go of. Not bury, disperse her father's ashes.
- [22:37]
Olivia
Okay.
- [22:38]
Erin
So they get there and Arizona and her mom are like, all right, we'll meet at this church at 4pm and Arizona goes off with her dog. Who you do. Her dog is like a big part of the story because they're very close. Arizona is on the spectrum of some sort. So her dog is also her companion. Very, very close to her. Nothing happens to the dog.
- [23:02]
Olivia
Thank you.
- [23:03]
Erin
The dog is fine. Well, the dog does maybe end up in some danger at some point, but the dog makes it through.
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Olivia
Okay.
- [23:10]
Annie Jones
Nobody panic.
- [23:11]
Erin
Yeah. Nobody panic. Mojo's fine. So they go back to meet at 4pm and her mom doesn't show up. She finds out her mom got kidnapped, and the people who kidnapped her mom basically leave her with this puzzle that she has to solve. And as she, like, digs further and further into it, she realizes it's this puzzle that her father had supposedly started to solve. It has to do with, like, a cult that deals with alchemy, like an ancient sort of thing, and her father had almost solved it, and now this organization is ready to get the treasure from it. And so they think Arizona can do it because they know about her through her father.
- [23:54]
Annie Jones
Interesting.
- [23:55]
Erin
So Arizona and her dog are now out in the world trying to figure out this puzzle with the hopes that she can get her mom back in time. It's definitely tense at some points, but you're also just rooting for Arizona. The whole time I felt about Arizona, how I feel about Harriet from the Little Friend by Donna Tartt, where you're just watching this child and you're just like, go do it. Go do it. And then at some point, you're just like, wait, hold on. You are still a minor.
- [24:26]
Annie Jones
Please be.
- [24:27]
Erin
Yeah, her mom is also, like. You do get chapters from her mom points, her mom's point of view. And her mom is this person who just, like, she's not scared of being kidnapped. She tries to escape several times during this. So there's not any, like, fear or worry in that way. You're just like, all right. These two women know how to handle themselves. They kind of somehow know what they got themselves into, and we'll see it through. It did end. They solved the puzzle, but not in the way I thought they would solve the puzzle, which was really refreshing. Again, this wasn't one. This is my second treasure hunting novel that I'm talking about on this podcast. It did not feel repetitive. I was hoping that it would be something like Fellowship of the Puzzle Makers, where I can also solve the puzzle along with them. It was not. This is a very intense puzzle, but it was so well done. I loved Arizona and her dog Mojo. It was just you. You fall in love with those characters, and you're there to see them through. So that was the Language of the Birds.
- [25:30]
Annie Jones
And that's an adult novel.
- [25:32]
Erin
It is an adult novel.
- [25:33]
Annie Jones
I know.
- [25:34]
Olivia
Yeah. Yeah, that was my question. I couldn't remember what you said if it was middle grade or adult. Yeah, that sounds good. Wow. Lots of treasure hunting. Get in on treasure hunting.
- [25:43]
Annie Jones
It's time. It's time for Adventure. It's summer. Go to a ghost town, split up with your mom, she kidnapped.
- [25:48]
Olivia
See what happens.
- [25:49]
Erin
Last summer was missing child. This summer is treasure hunting.
- [25:53]
Olivia
Okay, okay, okay. My next book is Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson. It comes out May 13th. I really love Kevin Wilson. He's almost. I haven't read all of his books, but I've read quite a few. Nothing to See Here was, I think, my entry to Kevin Wilson. And then I really loved Now Is not the Time to Panic, which came out a few years ago. So I was very excited about this one. Was not disappointed. He writes quirky families and quirky characters so very well, where they're lovable and slightly imperfectionist, so that you, you know, have empathy for them or. And you want to root for them. When it opens, we meet a young Madeline Hill with her father. And they're sitting there, they're talking. They're on a farm, they're running a farm. And you can really see that, sense the love between them. And then the very next chapter, they've skipped ahead to where Madeline is an adult and she's. Her father has left and she's running the farm with her mom. And a man in a PT Cruiser shows up one day and says his name is Reuben Hill and he is her half brother, and they have the same father. And his father left their family to start Madeline's family. And Madeline is like, yes, well, my father left. And he says, I know, because I've been researching this, and it looks like we have two other half siblings scattered across the country who have also been fathered by our father. So they kind of want to, like, confront their father and also find out more about their father and more about their. These siblings that they didn't know about until today. So they agree to go on a road trip, which I do love a good road trip novel, but I agree to go on a road trip, go pick up the other siblings, head to California, where they will confront their father, and mostly just ask him questions like, why did you leave? I thought the fun part about this book is it could have been depressing, right? A father leaving all these families. It could have been depressing, but it's just funny. It's sweet. The father kind of reinvents himself. Like, when he is Reuben's dad, he's a writer. They live in Boston. When he leaves there, he says he's a farmer. He lives in Tennessee. When he leaves there, he says he's a professional basketball coach. That child he has ends up being a. Like a ncaa, you know, college, like a basketball star. And they meet. They had go pick her up actually at like, basically like the March Madness tournament. They go pick her up at the tournament where she's playing. And then he's. He leaves again. Says he's a filmmaker, and the little boy that he has there is really into films and. And so it's just fun to watch him reinvent himself and how each of the children take on that personality. So of course it's moving because they have a lot of questions for each other and for their father and, like, why did he leave us? Why did he have these other families and not ever contact us again? It's about letting go of that idea of family that you may have in your head and embracing the family you have. So the family they've made without him. And then as they meet each other, they. They have these new brothers and sisters that they make their own little quirky family because they've bonded over the loss of their dad and also just, you know, being alive in this world. So it's super, super sweet and it has a good kind of touching ending, I think. And so, like, I feel like, you know, with nothing to see here, there was kids who started on fire, like, so there's nothing. There's nothing like that in this book. No sort of magical realism, but it's just a sweet cross country family story. So that's called Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson. And I literally didn't think about the title being the fact that their last name was Hill. Like, it sort of hit me and I was like, oh, okay, all right, I get that. Kevin, Good job.
- [29:39]
Annie Jones
Clever, Kevin.
- [29:40]
Olivia
Clever.
- [29:41]
Erin
I have so many questions for that father.
- [29:43]
Olivia
Okay. Yeah, right.
- [29:44]
Erin
How did he hold so many different jobs?
- [29:46]
Olivia
Yeah, I don't know. He's just one of those, like, catch me if you can type characters where he just. Just reinvents himself. So.
- [29:52]
Erin
Well, how do you fake your way into becoming a, like, major basketball coach?
- [29:57]
Annie Jones
Oh, I envisioned that he was lying. Oh, I didn't envision he was a real coach.
- [30:01]
Olivia
No, no, I envisioned that that's what he told people.
- [30:04]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I don't know. I'm. I'm gonna read this. I like Kevin Wilson a lot as well. My first, I think the only one I haven't read is actually Nothing to see Here, which I don't know how that one missed me, where I missed it. But family fang, like, is where I was introduced to him and he writes these quirky families so well. Interestingly, Aaron, the names and run for the Hills. There's some serious overlap there about how our names and our parenting.
- [30:32]
Olivia
That's true. That is very true.
- [30:34]
Annie Jones
That's who we are.
- [30:35]
Olivia
Well, what's interesting is because he gives them all names. Like, their names are Ruben, Madeline. But then he gives them nicknames. So, like, he calls Reuben Rube. He calls Maddie Mads. He called. Like, they have a. He has another daughter. He calls her Pep. Like, and so they all. They bond over that, too. Like what he called you what, like that's your nickname.
- [30:52]
Annie Jones
Huh?
- [30:53]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [30:54]
Annie Jones
Okay, I'm gonna read that. I'm excited. I also love a road trip book this time of year.
- [30:57]
Olivia
And there's basketball involved slightly, so you'll like that.
- [31:00]
Annie Jones
Sold.
- [31:00]
Olivia
Yeah, sold.
- [31:02]
Annie Jones
Okay. Speaking of maybe summer books, although this one does feel a little heavier in nature. I'm gonna close out with a debut novel called Sleep. This is by Honor Jones. It releases next week, May 13th. This is a debut by the senior. A senior editor at the Atlantic. So Honor Jones works for the Atlantic. Admittedly, this one caught my eye for two reasons. It's got a great. To me, very striking summary. Cover a girl in a swimming pool, and then it's blurbed by Ann Patchett. And I know, as booksellers, blurbs, we kind of know that, you know, blurbs are kind of about who you know, stuff like that. But I still am. My interest is still piqued when I see an author I respect blurb a book. And so Ann Patchett blurbed this one. And so I started reading it and was immediately hooked. The book opens with a young girl named Margaret. You can sense maybe that she's a little bit of a tomboy, a little bit precocious, and she's playing hide and go seek with her neighborhood friends. And it feels very. I mean, it really does feel very summertime. Like, they're outside. You can sense the heat. The adults are like drinking lemonade on somebody's porch. It just feels of a certain time. And so Margaret is, like, hiding. I think it's like, under the steps or near a BlackBerry bush or something. You almost feel like you're reading about Scout and Jim in To Kill a Mockingbird or something like that. Like these kids having fun. And then her mother, Margaret's mother enters the picture. And immediately the novel becomes tense. Like you can just like. It's nuts to me how this author was able to immediately change the tone of the book within a few pages because you can see something is perhaps wrong with Margaret's mother. And also, Margaret is frequently in her mother's like, I don't. I don't know how to describe it. Cone of rage. Like it just feels like she has her eyes set on Margaret. Margaret is a tomboy. Her mother is very put together. And so she likes snaps at Margaret, like tells her to go clean up and like immediately the novel shifts in tone. Like you kind of think, oh, this is gonna be fun, like summary coming of age story or something like that. And instead you're like, oh, some. This is a mother daughter story is what this is gonna be. And so fast forward and the book pretty immediately fasts forward to Margaret. She's playing hide and go seek again. But she's now 35 and her two little girls are hiding somewhere in the house. And it's her childhood home. She has come back here after or during a div. Kind of a marital separation. And so now Margaret is having to figure out who she is as a daughter, who she is as a mother, and how she was affected by her own mother's mothering. I love books like this. This is definitely soundly literary fiction, but I do feel like the parts I've read at least are pretty propulsive. Like enough is happening with the characters that I do really care. Margaret is the star of the show, but certainly this is a mother daughter story. And I do think because of the setting and because of this house, that I think is gonna play a pretty significant role. It feels summertime to me, like something like the Paper palace or I don't know, a Barbara Kingsolver's Unsheltered or something like that. So I'm really excited. I'm about a third of the way through and I'm really loving it so far. Hard to believe it's a debut that is Sleep by Honor Jones.
- [34:23]
Olivia
I see that everywhere, so I know it's going to be good.
- [34:26]
Annie Jones
I think it's gonna be pop up a lot of places.
- [34:28]
Erin
Well, I have another kind of mother daughter story. This is the Ascent by Allison Bukala. Bukala. Bukala.
- [34:37]
Olivia
Sure.
- [34:38]
Erin
It just feels better. It's out at the end of the month, May 20th. And this is about everyone's favorite occult.
- [34:47]
Annie Jones
Yeah, it is.
- [34:50]
Erin
So this girl Lee, I believe her full name is Ophelia, but everyone just calls her Lee. She grew up in a cult in Philadelphia, which is what caught me at first because I did listen to a podcast from Stuff you should know about the Move Cult, which ended with a bomb being dropped on their little.
- [35:09]
Olivia
Oh no.
- [35:09]
Erin
Yeah, wild. Check it out. And then I thought I was like, oh, is she referencing this? She Is not. She is not. Although there's probably other cults in Philadelphia just like there's cults everywhere.
- [35:21]
Annie Jones
Not just, don't worry standing up.
- [35:24]
Olivia
There's Pennsylvania.
- [35:25]
Erin
Everyone gets their own cult. Okay. But Lee grew up in this cult in Philadelphia. They didn't have, like, a name for themselves. But one day she woke up, and everyone was gone. And from that day forward, they were known as the 15, because there were 15 people, 16, including her, that just went missing one day, and no one ever found out where they went. Lee just woke up one morning. She has no memory of, like, anything happening in the night. Like, sounds of people leaving at all. All she knows is that her mother took her little sister and the rest of the cult, and they all just disappeared.
- [36:07]
Olivia
Oh, no.
- [36:08]
Erin
She was 12 at the time, I want to say. And so she just ended up wandering around Philadelphia. A cop found her, and they did their, you know, next of kin research, and she ended up living with her aunt. From that day forward, her aunt kind of knew her mom. I mean, she obviously knew her mom was in this cult, but she had no point of communication with her after she joined the cult. And Lee, this was all she knew. She was very. She was a baby when her mom joined the cult. And so from that day forward, this is. This is just what she knew. So she grew up with her aunt then and her cousin, who is an awful person and did not like Lee, did not like the intrusion that Lee kind of put in her family and the attention that inevitably she stole from her own mom, because her aunt was like, this girl knows nothing about the real world and needs a lot of help and has a lot of issues because her mom just abandoned her with her younger sister, and she doesn't know why she was left.
- [37:11]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [37:12]
Erin
So then you flash forward and you meet Lee. She has just had her first child. She's working on, you know, getting that baby to sleep through the night. Her husband and her are struggling because of that. He thinks the baby should be in her own room. Lee is kind of afraid to let the baby be out of her sight for obvious reasons. But her husband doesn't know these obvious reasons because Lee neglected to tell him anything about her past, which was a point that did anger me throughout the book. If you're gonna marry someone, come clean.
- [37:52]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [37:52]
Erin
You know, just need.
- [37:53]
Annie Jones
Just tell them about the culture we're raised in. It's okay.
- [37:56]
Erin
You. You at that point, need to trust that your husband will be okay with that.
- [38:01]
Annie Jones
He can handle it.
- [38:02]
Erin
Or he should maybe not be your husband.
- [38:05]
Olivia
Like Good marriage advice this morning. Thank you.
- [38:09]
Erin
And that's Olivia's corner. So then one day, documentary starts coming out about. And she had been contacted by a reporter, but now the reporter's done trying to contact her and get her story. The documentary is coming about, out about the 15. So it's now like in the world zeitgeist sort of thing. And then one day her sister just shows up on her doorstep. And now Lee's world has just like flipped upside down because she's just like, you're alive, you're here and where have you been and what's going on? And that's all I'm gonna say. You have to read the book to find out what happens next.
- [38:50]
Annie Jones
I might read that book for real.
- [38:52]
Olivia
I know, for real.
- [38:53]
Erin
It was a good cult story. It was a good cult story.
- [38:56]
Annie Jones
Ebook, literal arc. What'd you read?
- [39:01]
Erin
Ebook.
- [39:02]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [39:02]
Erin
I didn't get the arc of that one.
- [39:04]
Annie Jones
I gotta get on the ebook. I mean, I'm on the ebook train. I'm reading things via ebook. But. But I. Guys. And it does work for me. I do use.
- [39:12]
Erin
It's hard to pick up though.
- [39:13]
Annie Jones
But it is because. Because truly out of Sight, out of mind and the Kindle. I don't see the COVID In fact, the other day I was like, what am I in the middle of reading? I know I'm reading a book. And I was like, what is it? And I didn't know because it was on the Kindle. Like I. Anyway, I do just want to read a physical book sometimes. I do.
- [39:33]
Erin
Yes. It truly is out of Sight, out of mind. And I don't like that I can't see the COVID because I'm such a visual person.
- [39:41]
Annie Jones
Yes.
- [39:42]
Erin
That like I. And this cover for me didn't really do the book total justice. It almost looks a little bit fantasy esque.
- [39:50]
Annie Jones
Oh, interesting.
- [39:51]
Erin
And plays more into the cult aspect of her life than like what's currently going on with her sister showing up, her dealing with first time mom things, and being a liar to her husband.
- [40:07]
Annie Jones
Harsh words from Olivia.
- [40:09]
Erin
Am I wrong?
- [40:11]
Annie Jones
No.
- [40:12]
Olivia
But I do like the drama it provides within fiction.
- [40:15]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I do too.
- [40:16]
Olivia
Not real life. I shouldn't do that in real life.
- [40:18]
Annie Jones
Correct.
- [40:20]
Olivia
Okay, well, talk about summer. My last book is from the COVID to the content is a true summer read. It's the Love Haters by Katherine Center. It comes out May 20, so at the end of the month, Katherine center is always an author I will be interested in. Like, I may not read every single one of her books, but I'VE read a few of them and I feel like they always sell really well for us. She wrote an author's note at the end of hello Stranger, which was one of her previous books. That was so moving to me. It was basically about how romances, everyone likes to poo poo, like oh, it's just a romance book or oh, it's just a rom com. But she's like, they just provide such a, it was just such a moving note about how they romances and rom coms provide us a sort of brain pleasing thing in the midst of like a difficult world. And I could not agree more. And so I love her take on a rom com and on writing rom coms and the what they take, what they do for us in this space. So this is a book. We meet Katie Vaughn. She's the main character. She is about to get laid off from her job as a video producer. So in one last like attempt to save her job, she agrees to go do a video, like a segment, sort of a video like, I don't know what you call it, like for TV or something about a renowned Coast Guard rescue swimmer down in Key West. So she's going to have to go to Key west, she's going to have to jump in the water, jump out of helicopters and all these things. But the, the problem is, and this is just funny, this is a very rom com thing to happen. She doesn't know how to swim and she hasn't worn a bathing suit in 25 years. She doesn't want to wear them, she doesn't like wearing them. So. And the person asking her to do this segment is the brother of the Coast Guard man that she's about to go do this profile on. And so there's a lot of like tension between the brothers. And of course this Coast Guard rescue swimmer is incredibly handsome, has a rescue Great Dane named George Bailey. So if you love dogs, this is going to have a dog plot line. There's an eccentric ants involved. It's Key West. I mean like there's nothing more summary than that. So as you can imagine, there's a lot of Katie has to do a lot of lying to get this role and a lot of lying to stay down there to save her job. And I haven't finished reading this yet, so I cannot tell you what happened. So. But we'll all be surprised together. But what I can imagine, of course as most rom coms go, is that she starts to be truthful about who she is or she's found out about who she is, but learns to love and accept herself and maybe find a new version of herself at the end of this. So it's called the Love Haters by Katherine center. It comes out May 20th.
- [43:14]
Erin
I mean, she's definitely gonna have to get rescued at some point.
- [43:16]
Olivia
Oh, for sure. For sure.
- [43:19]
Annie Jones
Somebody that swimmer's gonna have to come save the day. I like Katherine Center. I do. You know, she's reliable to me, and we do really sell a lot of her books. She's another one who I think would be fun in person.
- [43:33]
Olivia
Yeah. And her last two books, like romcommers, came out with these gorgeous pink sprayed edges. And this one, it will have gorgeous blue sprayed edges to sort of match the. So this is, they're really. It's fun that they're doing that now for those editions.
- [43:48]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I'll probably read that one, too. I'm just mentally making my list of.
- [43:52]
Olivia
Things that you're adding to your own tbr.
- [43:55]
Annie Jones
Yeah, to my own tbr. Okay, so those are some of the books. And I will say some because even while we were just sitting here, I was like, why am I not talking about the Annie Hartnett book? I don't know, y' all. I don't, I don't know why I.
- [44:07]
Olivia
Didn'T talk about that book.
- [44:08]
Annie Jones
But there was just too many to feature and I kind of wanted to feature the poetry book, like, as an unsung kind of book book. So anyway, these aren't all of the books coming out in May, but these are some that we think you might really be interested in. As I said at the top of the episode, you can go to bookshelfthomasville.com, type episode 528 into the search bar and you'll see all of these books listed. You can pre order or purchase, and you can get 10% off by using the code. New release, please. This week I'm reading Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Olivia, what are you reading?
- [44:42]
Erin
I'm reading the King of ashes by S.A. cosby and Erin.
- [44:46]
Annie Jones
What are you reading this week?
- [44:48]
Olivia
I'm listening finally to the Small and the mighty by Sharon McMahon.
- [44:53]
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, ookshelftville and all. 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 producer of today's episode are Kami Tidwell, Jamie Treadwell, Linda Lee Drost, Jean Queens Martha Stephanie Dean, Beth Ashley Farrell, Amanda Wickham, Nicole Marcy Wendy Jenkins. 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, 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 to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to patreon.com forward/from the front Porch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
- [46:44]
Podcast Host
When's the last time you read a great book? Maybe a book that changed your life or changed your perspective? Well, if you need a recommendation or two, I'd suggest you move over to the McConnell center podcast, where we're dropping weekly recommendations from academics and authors on books that just might be what you need. Search for the McConnell center podcast wherever it is you get your podcasts, and give us a listen today.