Episode 532 || June 2025 New Release Rundown

Summary

From the Front Porch

Episode 532 || June 2025 New Release Rundown

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Introduction and Podcast Schedule Update

Annie Jones, the owner of The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia, opens the episode with an important announcement about the podcast's schedule. Due to multiple team members, including herself and Olivia, going on maternity leave, they have pre-recorded several episodes to ensure continuity. Annie explains, "multiple people here are going on maternity leave, and so I am recording a bunch of episodes early so that I can take a little bit of time off" (02:26). She assures listeners that while the "New Release Rundown" will pause until September, the podcast will continue with other engaging content over the summer.

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June New Releases Overview

The trio—Annie Jones, Olivia (Operations Manager), and Erin (Online Sales Manager)—delve into their top picks for June’s book releases. Erin facilitates the selection process, making it easy for listeners to browse and purchase the featured books through their website, bookshelfthomasville.com, using the promo code "NewReleasePlease" for a 10% discount.

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1. Flashlight by Susan Choi

Overview:
Annie introduces Flashlight as a captivating blend of mystery and historical fiction. The story revolves around Luisa and her father vacationing in Japan, where a mysterious event leads to Luisa being found barely alive and her father missing.

Insights:
Annie praises Susan Choi's storytelling prowess, highlighting the novel's intricate narrative structure that weaves between different timeframes and perspectives. She remarks, "I fully understand Susan Choi's genius" (08:53), appreciating how the book delves into the history of Japan and the dynamics of trauma within a family.

Notable Quote:
"For a mind given to buzzing, anxious distraction, a clear sense of desire was like the edge of a pool, a thing off which she could push" (00:24).

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2. The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

Overview:
Hal Ebbitt discusses The Ghostwriter, a thrilling tale about Olivia Dumont, a ghostwriter who becomes entangled in a dangerous situation when she is hired to write the memoirs of Vincent Taylor, an infamous horror writer with a dark past.

Insights:
Hal emphasizes the book's fast pace and compelling character development, noting, "I loved every second of it... It's all from Olivia's book point of view" (09:16). The narrative explores themes of identity, secrecy, and familial ties, especially as Olivia discovers she is Vincent's daughter.

Notable Quote:
"He's about to lose his house, and he's essentially been blacklisted from the market because he used her voice and called out another writer." (09:50).

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3. A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

Overview:
Erin introduces A Family Matter, a dual-timeline novel set in 1980s Britain and 2022, focusing on Dawn and her journey through love, betrayal, and family secrets.

Insights:
The book explores the complexities of sibling relationships and societal expectations, especially concerning same-sex relationships in the 1980s. Annie comments on the historical context, saying, "the author even goes into it in a very interesting author's note at the end about like the legal system in Britain at the time" (17:15).

Notable Quote:
"This book is about like the shelf life of love. Like, how long of a shelf life does love have?" (19:00).

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4. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Overview:
Annie presents Atmosphere, a novel centered on Joan Godwin, an astronomer recruited by NASA, balancing high-stakes space missions with personal relationships and character development.

Insights:
The book is praised for its concise storytelling and engaging plot, blending elements of space adventure with romance. Annie notes, "There is a lot of character development... There are also some really lovely familial relationships" (23:35).

Notable Quote:
"This book is really Joan's story to tell. The subtitle I believe in this book is a love story." (24:05).

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5. The King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

Overview:
Hal introduces The King of Ashes, a gripping narrative about the Carruthers siblings dealing with their father's coma following a suspicious car accident and their youngest brother Dante's entanglement with a ruthless gang.

Insights:
The novel is highlighted for its intense plot and complex characters, drawing comparisons to classic mafia tales. Hal shares, "If the Godfather had been more like this, I would have loved that movie... it's really well done" (33:04).

Notable Quote:
"Roman's like, I'm going to get in there, make an in with them, and then just kill them all." (31:50).

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6. Category Summer by Emily Atami

Overview:
Erin discusses Category Summer, a story of three Japanese sisters reuniting in a small village to support their pop star sister, Ayana, who faces public scandal.

Insights:
The novel delves into family dynamics, societal pressures, and personal growth, set against the backdrop of traditional Japanese culture. Annie expresses excitement about the book’s exploration of sisterly bonds, "If you love family dynamics, especially three sisters. I always love a sister dynamic." (35:35).

Notable Quote:
"It's a Japanese shaved ice dessert... it's like a snow cone summer or something like that." (35:35).

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7. Among Friends by Hal Ebbitt

Overview:
Hal discusses his debut novel, Among Friends, which follows lifelong friends Emerson and Amos navigating tensions during Emerson's 50th birthday weekend at a country house.

Insights:
The book is described as a slow burn with simmering intensity, perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven narratives and suspense. Hal remarks, "It's a simmering intensity that I really enjoyed... it's a slow burn that kept me turning the page." (33:52).

Notable Quote:
"It's a simmering intensity that I really enjoyed. Again, mostly set over the course of one weekend in the country for Emerson's 50th birthday." (33:52).

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8. Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlich

Overview:
Erin covers Poppy Fields, a novel about a controversial treatment center that uses induced comas to alleviate grief, following three individuals on their journey to the center.

Insights:
The story explores ethical dilemmas surrounding grief management and personal healing, interwoven with the characters' backstories and motivations. Erin highlights, "I didn't want three people who are just grieving on a road trip... but that is not what Nikki Erlich did." (48:48).

Notable Quote:
"They are struggling with deep grief of any kind and go to this treatment center where they enter an induced coma to lessen their grief." (48:48).

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9. Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Duchess

Overview:
Erin introduces Welcome to Murder Week, a cozy murder mystery set in the Peak District of England, where Cath embarks on an immersive murder mystery experience to cope with her mother's recent passing.

Insights:
The novel combines elements of mystery and personal healing, offering a heartwarming and engaging read. Erin notes, "It's a truly heartwarming book. But it's also the mystery, the murder mystery aspect of it" (51:48).

Notable Quote:
"Cath calls, she can't get a refund for the trip, so she decides, like, what the heck, like, I might as well go." (51:57).

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Closing Remarks

Annie encourages listeners to purchase the featured books through their website using the provided promo code and reminds them of the upcoming schedule changes. She also shares her current reading choice, Audition by Katie Kitamura, while Hal and Erin mention their own reads, fostering a sense of community and ongoing engagement with their audience.

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Support and Further Information

For more details on the books discussed, including purchasing options and additional recommendations, visit bookshelfthomasville.com. To support the podcast, listeners are encouraged to leave reviews on Apple Podcasts and consider supporting through Patreon for exclusive benefits.

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Note: Advertisements, sponsor messages, and non-content sections have been excluded from this summary as per the request.

Transcript

[Annie Jones]

Welcome to from the Front Porch, a.

[Olivia]

Conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South.

[Annie Jones]

For a mind given to buzzing, anxious distraction, a clear sense of desire was like the edge of a pool, a thing off which she could push. Hal Ebbitt among 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 releasing in June. If you are a new or newish listener, you might not realize that from the Front Porch is a production of the Bookshelf, which is a small, independently owned bookstore in rural South Georgia. By listening to our show and recommending it to your friends, you're 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, you might know we read the classic American novel Lonesome Dove with over a thousand Patreon supporters. And this year we kicked off our reading of don Quixote. For $5 a month, you can access those monthly Conquer A Classic recap episodes 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 Patreon tiers and Benefits, just visit patreon.com from the FrontPorch. Now back to the show. Hey, guys.

[Erin]

Hi.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Hey.

[Annie Jones]

Welcome. Welcome to June. Happy summer. It's so hot.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Sweating in my office. Yep, we have air conditioning and it works.

[Annie Jones]

Listen, we could pretend that we're recording this in June, but I'm going to go ahead and give you a peek behind the curtain, dear listener, and tell you that for all kinds of reasons, we're recording this episode quite early. And also to let you know that this is the last new release rundown roundup. Why do I never know?

[Hal Ebbitt]

Okay, we're going down.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah. New release rundown. This is the last one of these you will hear for a couple of months. We will be back in September, early September. I don't know who knows this, but multiple people here are going on maternity leave, and so I am recording a bunch of episodes early so that I can take a little bit of time off and so Olivia can take some time off when she also gives birth later this year. So, so exciting. Yeah, we're going to be mia. The podcast will not be mia. I'm doing a bunch of prep work to pre record some episodes. But new release rundown, it was one thing when it was going to be one person gone and then, I mean, no offense, Erin.

[Erin]

None taken.

[Annie Jones]

I feel like the banter is part of the charm and you'd be banterless.

[Erin]

Nobody wants to hear this voice for 45min. It's okay.

[Hal Ebbitt]

So when we hire people here, we always tell them that everything happens at one time and we're just trying to stay as true to that as possible with our pregnancy plans as well.

[Annie Jones]

Yes, we're really on brand with what we tell our new staffers. So Aaron and I will be back in September with a new release episode. But then the three of us, I think the plan is to be back together in October for a new release rundown episode. So in the meantime, you'll be hearing all kinds of fun episodes this summer. Again, we did some prep work in advance and I did for a minute have like new release rundown episodes because we can record these early. Like these are preview episodes. But it was like record five in a day. I just, it just became too much for staff. I mean, we got other stuff going on also, so I know this is shocking to people. We don't just do a podcast. We don't just record episodes. In fact, off air, we were talking about we're already prepping advent boxes. Like we are really working hard to get some of this work done before some absences are taken this summer. So as with our other episodes, we are going through our June new release books that we are most excited about. You can keep in mind that Erin has made browsing the podcast book selections so easy. You can go to bookshelfthomasville.com and type episode 532 into the search bar. You'll see all of today's books listed there ready for you to pre order or purchase. And as usual, you can use the code New releaseplease at checkout to get 10% off your order of today's titles. So we are here with June titles that we want to talk about. I will kick us off. My first book I want to talk about is Flashlight. This is by author Susan Choi, who most people will be familiar with because she is a prolific writer. Most recently she wrote the book Trust Exercise which I read but did not love, but I was kind of in the minority. It was one of those award winning literary fiction book that I liked but didn't love. As I recall, Hunter maybe really enjoyed it, but I was intrigued by the premise of Flashlight. So the premise of Flashlight as it was presented by the Publisher is Luisa and her father are vacationing with their. With her mother, with Luisa's mother on the coast of Japan. And they are walking along the coast one night and the next morning Louisa is found barely alive and her father is missing. And thus begins this story that is not maybe the suspense story that it sounds like. It could be based on that premise, but instead what unfolded was like, now I fully understand Susan Choi's genius because what unfolded was, yes, a little bit of mystery, like where did this father go? Like, did he drown? What happened to him? What happened to the little girl? It also becomes this historical fiction about the history of Japan and North and South Korea, which is something I did not know I was interested in, but I was completely interested in once the book began. The book kind of goes back and forth in not only time, but in perspective. So we get Louisa as she is a child, but also growing up and into herself. We get her mother who is an American woman who married her father and her father is an ethnic born Korean who is raised in Japan. And so that's why you kind of get this history of north and South Korea and then Japanese culture as well. I loved this and here's what I will say. I don't really want to say much more because I found it so delightful to keep reading and to not know kind of what was unfolding next. I thought I was maybe getting. And I knew with Susan Choi I wasn't going to get like a murder suspense story. But I thought I might get like this suspenseful narrative almost like Angie Kim, maybe Angie Kim's latest. But instead I got this really well written literary fiction, historical fiction, telling the story of these three different people in this family and learning about how trauma maybe affected each of them. It kind of is reminiscent of the Many Daughters of a Fong Moi in that way. I adored this book. Listen, this book is long and typically. So I read this electronically. Typically I read books on my Kindle or an audiobook format that are a little shorter because I just feel like I get a little bogged down in the Kindle. I forget I'm reading the book on the. On the Kindle and I devoured this on my Kindle and I think it's going to clock in. I don't know, I've not seen the physical copy, but I think it's going to clock in at around 500 pages. And so it never felt that long to me. Like I was completely hooked. I trusted her to take me wherever she wanted me to go and I really loved it. So if you're a literary fiction fan, this is easily going to be for you. But if you like a little bit more plot driven fiction, I still think this is going to work because of the hook of where did the dad Go? I think that will keep you kind of reading where Susan Choi takes you. So I love this book. It's called Flashlight. It's out this week by Susan Choi.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I feel like you always kind of get me at the start with your books. You're just like, so this person died and disappeared. But then we go into historical study and a character's psychoanalysis of where this all came from.

[Annie Jones]

It starts off, you think it's an Olivia pick, but it's not.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I was like, oh, no.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

We're so close.

[Annie Jones]

So close.

[Hal Ebbitt]

My first book is the Ghostwriter by Julie Clark. This is out June 3rd. She's written two other books that I think were really big, like the Last Flight and the Lies I Tell. I believe they were. I hadn't read either of them, but after reading this one, I would trust her to write a good thriller. I read this in one sitting because it was just short chapters and the plot just kept going and going and going, and I loved it. This is about Olivia Dumont, you know, also, because.

[Annie Jones]

Already sold.

[Erin]

She's.

[Hal Ebbitt]

She's great, right? She is a ghostwriter and she specifically chooses, like, underrepresented women's voices, like famous women who she will ghost write their memoirs for. And she's kind of in some hot water because she went on, I was like, either a podcast or some sort of, like, radio talk show. And she called out a male counterpart for not always being truthful in the ghost writings that he does for the male sector of the world. And so then he sued her, and now she's going broke because she owes him a ton of money. She's about to lose her house, and she's essentially been blacklisted from the market because she used her voice and called out another writer. But then her agent calls her because there is a famous, like an infamous horror writer, Vincent Taylor, who has requested her specifically to write his memoir. He's up there in age, and so the assumption is that this is about his life as a writer, but Vincent's past. And we. We know this going in. So, like, this isn't a spoiler at all. When he was growing up, I think he was like, 13 or 14, he came home from, like, the fair at the last day of school and found his brother and sister both murdered in his house.

[Erin]

Oh, no.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah. And the Town's general assumption was that Vincent killed them because he had always been edgy to the point of possible violence, but nothing was ever proved. And so people just kind of moved on. They kept their assumptions about him. And then he became this infamous horror writer.

[Annie Jones]

Because, of course.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yes. As one does when you supposedly murder your brother and sister. And now Olivia's been asked to write his memoir. And we know, but nobody else knows, except for Vincent and Olivia, that Olivia is actually Vincent's daughter. Oh, yes. And so when she gets there, she's assuming she's writing his memoir, and he lets her know that actually he wants to write about the night that everything happened. Almost like a tell all. And so from there, it just escalates and escalates. But it was so good. I loved every second of it. Again, short chapters you just, like, fly through. It's all from Olivia's book point of view. And she wasn't unreliable in any way, shape or form. I did really like that as a character. And Vincent was way more complicated of a character than I thought he was going to be, which was also kind of refreshing. But it was very well done.

[Annie Jones]

I like the sounds of this almost. It feels like there's a whole genre of books that's like, who was Maude Dixon? Like these, you know, writers writing about a magpie murders.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah, yeah. Yes. I do really like that as well. You don't get, like, his book in there at all, like the book that she's writing about. But you do get the diary excerpts and the point of view from his deceased sister.

[Erin]

Oh, wow.

[Hal Ebbitt]

The days leading up to the murder, which was really cool because you're following it as Olivia's also uncovering stuff while talking to her father.

[Erin]

Wow.

[Hal Ebbitt]

So, yeah. Sometimes you know more than Olivia.

[Annie Jones]

Physical format or. How'd you read it?

[Hal Ebbitt]

Why can't I remember? This is this past weekend.

[Annie Jones]

I just curious for my own. I'm just like, do I need to.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I read it on my Kindle.

[Annie Jones]

Okay. I was like, where do I need? Can I download it? Or whatever. Because that sounds good for a reading slump too.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really fast and I think it'll have, like, special sprayed edges as well, so if you're into that. Yeah.

[Erin]

The father daughter relationship complicates it too. A little bit.

[Hal Ebbitt]

A little bit. Very much so, actually. Very much.

[Annie Jones]

How long do you guys think sprayed edges are going to last with tariffs?

[Erin]

Wait, are the tariffs on paint, especially.

[Hal Ebbitt]

The Internet could have seen our faces during that time. I give it 2026. And then we're done, like into 20, 26, and then we're done.

[Annie Jones]

I just think the. I'm just thinking the cost of production is rising and so how long are we going to spray edges? Or maybe we keep spraying edges, but we're not doing intricate designs.

[Erin]

Right.

[Annie Jones]

I just wonder.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Annie Jones]

I don't know. As the price, as we just keep watching hardback. I keep watching hardback books get closer and closer to $35.

[Erin]

Yeah.

[Annie Jones]

And I'm like, how long do you think this.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Well, I think it's too soon for them to stop.

[Annie Jones]

Yes.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Because it's just become a trend now and the publishers like to push things until like, four to six months after they've gone out of fad.

[Annie Jones]

Yes, that's right. It takes them a minute.

[Hal Ebbitt]

They're like, oh, wait, no, wait.

[Annie Jones]

Taylor Swift is a big deal. Let's put out some books about her in two years.

[Erin]

Well, I do think the sprayed edges are about. People find, like the whole thing about the beauty of books. Right. Like displaying them, showing them off, the beauty of them. And that never. That's timeless. That never goes away. So maybe it'll. Maybe it will continue. Maybe people will still be looking for beauty in the midst of tariffs and taxes.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, it depends. Depends on how much. Depends on how much.

[Erin]

How much they want to pay.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, that's right. But you're right, I do think books are a beautiful object, which is helpful.

[Erin]

And it makes them a collector's item, which makes them more valuable. So maybe they'll just keep doing it. I don't know. I like it. I like the trend. I'm here for it.

[Annie Jones]

What's that rom com like? It's so striking on the shelf right now by the time this comes out, but it's like that Summer in the Big Apple or.

[Erin]

I think it's Summer in the City.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, in the city.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Alex Aster.

[Annie Jones]

Yes. It's got this really great. Like, I don't even care that much about sprayed edges, but I almost took it home the other day because I was like, well, this one's fun.

[Erin]

Like.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah, they just catch your eye.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, they do.

[Erin]

Okay, well, this book, I don't think it's going to have sprayed edges, but it's okay. We still worth. Still worth reading. It's called A Family Matter by Claire Lynch. It's out already, came out June 3. It we meet dawn, who is a young mother in Britain in 1982, and she is happy. She's married. She has a small daughter named Maggie. But she feels like she never got the chance to find out who she was. She got married young. I think she's like 23, 22. She got married young, had a child young, and is just sort of looking, is just now sort of trying to come into herself and find out kind of who she is. So she's just at a jumble sale, which I think that must be a British thing. We don't call them jumble sales here. It's like a community yard sale sale. Yeah, like a yard sale where everybody.

[Annie Jones]

Brings, I don't know, a junk sale. A bazaar.

[Erin]

Yeah, a bazaar. I think you, like, everyone brings their stuff and they own. They sell their own stuff at their own table, you know, so, yeah, jumble.

[Annie Jones]

I know.

[Erin]

I like the visual that gives us. But she meets a fun woman named Hazel, and they strike up just a great conversation. They start doing things together, going to the movies, you know, just hanging out. And it becomes. In one sort of fraught moment, it becomes a romantic relationship. And so she ends up having an affair. And she decides right away, like, I don't really love my husband. That's. That was kind of obvious. And so I'm just going to tell him, and we're going to get a divorce, and, you know, I'll go on my way with Hazel and everything will be fine. Well, it's not fine. Spoiler alert. It's not fine. She tells her husband, and I don't even really know that her husband is so upset about it, but I think when he starts to tell other people about it, they start telling him, you should be very upset about this. You should be very worried about your child, and you should fight her for custody. She should not have custody. So that's sort of unfolding in one timeline, and then the other timeline is in 2022, where meet a man named Heron. Like the bird Heron. You're learning about him and come to find out he was Dawn's husband. So we're learning about him. It's just him. It's his daughter, and he's just learned he has terminal cancer. So he's going through some stuff in his home, trying to get rid of things, all while trying to sort of hide this cancer from his daughter Maggie, who cares a lot about him. And so as these secrets are coming out, when they're literally, like, unpacking stuff from the attic, getting ready for his impending death, in a way, secrets start to come out about what happened with dawn back in 1982. Like, where did she go? We don't know. Like, did she die? Did she leave? Did what happened? And so you're getting like one chapter and then the other. You're kind of going back and forth between why Don is not a part of Maggie and Heron's life right now. Why is she not in touch with them? To me, it was a little bit about historical fiction about Britain in the 1980s, and you would think, oh, 1980s. People didn't have a problem with like, you know, a lesbian or gay relationships then. But they did. They very much did still. And the author even goes into it in an. In a very interesting author's note at the end about like the legal system in Britain at that time and, and how long it really took for same sick marriages to be approved and things like that. So that was interesting to me, the historical aspect of it, but really it's just this family dealing with secrets. And one, as one reviewer said, this book is about like the shelf life of love. Like, how long of a shelf life does love have? And I thought that's a great way to describe it because it's like, how can you take that love that Maggie's been holding for her mom this whole time, mixed with the anger and the betrayal and the frustration and what can happen at the end? And it's very. It has a very redemptive ending. So I'll just leave it at that. So it's called A Family Matter by Claire lynch on June 3rd.

[Annie Jones]

That sounds. I saw that in the publisher catalog and was curious about it.

[Erin]

I think it might only be like 240 pages. It's a very quick read.

[Annie Jones]

Love that. Hi friends, it's Annie. If you're looking for the perfect companion to our show, check out the Webby Award winning daily podcast, Totally Booked with Zibby. It's hosted by my friend and fellow independent bookstore owner Zibby Owens, who's been dubbed New York City's most powerful book fluencer by Vulture. Every weekday on Totally Booked, Zibby sits down with the best and buzziest authors to share work that is truly worth your time. If you're looking for a place to start, I recently stopped by to discuss my new book, Ordinary Time. And I had an amazing time discussing small town life and lit. So follow Totally Booked with Zibby on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now.

[Karen Duchess]

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[Unknown]

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[Annie Jones]

Okay, my next one is one that is highly anticipated and I read it so that I could talk to you about it. So it is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid came out this week. Chances are one is on its way to your mailbox now because you were so excited you pre ordered Listen, it's great. It's not my favorite Taylor Jenkins read, but it is really good. And I think one thing Kendall on staff and I were talking about is Taylor Jenkins Reid is to me a reliable author in the same vein as for example like Emily Henry where I could rank my favorite, you know, Emily Henry novels but the truth is I like them all. Like they're reliable. I enjoy them and I think Taylor Jenkins Reid does such a good job of storytelling. She's just a really good storyteller and she chooses subject matter that I am naturally interested in. So one of I really loved Carrie Soto is tennis my thing not necessarily are sports. Yes. Or sports adjacent things. Yes. And so this one actually Olivia. This is another book that I feel like has an Olivia.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Kendall has been trying to get me.

[Annie Jones]

To read this little hard.

[Erin]

She's been trying. She even left the arc. She left the arc upstairs for you on the table. You just gotta grab it.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I'm so scared.

[Annie Jones]

Well, truthfully, I don't know that it's for you, but of all the Taylor Jenkins Reid books, this is the one I would put in your hands.

[Hal Ebbitt]

This would be closest. Yeah.

[Annie Jones]

Yes, this would be closest. But this book is about space and space travel. And so we meet Joan Godwin, really, in one of the most tense moments of her career because she is down on the ground. Mission control, like I pictured. I have watched a lot of space movies, but I pictured like the Apollo 13 movie, like all the crew, like.

[Erin]

On the ground, like, guiding.

[Annie Jones]

Yes, guiding the people who are in the shuttle. So that is kind of Joan's. That's where we first meet. Joan is during this high intensity moment of her being mission control kind of on the ground. And then we go back, I think, just a couple of years to the summer of 1980, when Joan, an astronomer, finally gets recruited by NASA. She's been applying for years, never kind of made it. And she finally gets recruited by them. And she, along with a team of other people, go through the process of training to become astronauts. So it's very summary because it's set in the heat of Texas, you know, essentially camp, while they're trying to prep for their mission and just training to become astronauts. It's not necessarily about a particular mission at that point. This is Joan's book. This is a book about Joan, the other characters. I will say there are so many other characters. It took me a minute to fully get into it because I couldn't figure out who was important to care about because there were just so many people. But now, like, as I'm considering how I would hand sell it, I think there's a top gun element to this book where it feels very much like, oh, you're getting used to all these people and how they interact and their different personalities and how they would work on a shuttle together or on a mission together. So I even think, oh, gosh, I think the movie was called, like, Fly Me to the Moon. It was pretty good, actually. It was like Channing Tatum, weirdly, and Scarlett Johansson. Anyway, that was a really fun movie last year that came out about space. If you like anything like that. I do think you will like this. And once I got accustomed, it took me about 50 pages to figure out who was Who? And once I got that down, I really did love it. And I discovered, oh, this book is really Joan's story to tell. The subtitle I believe in this book is a love story. And there are a few different things at play that I won't spoil for you here. But I will say there is a romantic relationship that certainly plays a really big role in this book. There's also some really lovely familial relationships. Actually, some relationships I might have liked to have seen more of. But I respect Taylor Jenkins Reid for keeping it short and sweet. I mean, her books always are about, I think, a little bit fewer than 300 pages. And so she tells a pretty concise story. This is a great summer book. Again, if I were ranking my Taylor Jenkins Reid books, I don't think this one would be at the top. However, much like the book Erin was just talking about, there is a fantastic author's note that I hope stays from the arc to the physical copy because there's this really. She does a beautiful job of writing about why she wanted to write about space and why she wanted to write a book like this. That really elevated the experience for me after I read it. I really liked it. And I think if you're looking for a summer adventure romance, this will be for you. It's a great. It's a great summer book. So that is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid out this week. I think if you're a fan of hers, you won't be disappointed.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I'm so scared that it would be like a Ministry of Time situation for me, where I'm like, I'm going into this for the time travel or the space. And what I'm getting is a rom com.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah. I will say that is what Ministry of Time became. This is not a romance novel. There is a lot of character development. But because of the pacing and this. Maybe this is where Kendall is coming from for you. Like, because of the pacing. The mission is really important and feels like she did a lot of research on what it would be like to space travel and then to be down on the ground kind of helping control that mission. That part is super intense and really good writing. Really good. And then you would just have to deal with the chapters that are also about Joan as a person developing.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Do we need it? Do we need to know Joan that well?

[Annie Jones]

Right. That's what you would have to decide. How attached are you to Joan and. And to her personal growth?

[Erin]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

If Libby doesn't face versus personal growth, it's always going to be space.

[Erin]

If you don't grab the arc soon, I'll probably just snatch it, read it, bring it back to you.

[Hal Ebbitt]

So you snatch that, read it, bring it back. I. I think I'm trying to save a bunch of reads for, like, maternity leave where I'm just like, I need something that I don't have to worry I think too hard about. Yeah.

[Annie Jones]

Yes.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Okay. My next book I am also super excited about and I do think is highly anticipated in very specific circles.

[Erin]

In a circle of one, Olivia.

[Hal Ebbitt]

This is the King of Ashes by S.A. cosby, out June 10th.

[Annie Jones]

We do love him.

[Hal Ebbitt]

He is amazing. And every time I find someone who has also read him, they have loved his books just as much as I have.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, he's a great writer.

[Hal Ebbitt]

So this is about a trio of siblings. The Carthurs, the Carruthers. I say Carthurs. I just cut the U out in the middle. But this is. Roman is the eldest. He is finally coming home after a long stint of just being away and needing to be away because of the complicated family history. He has left his next eldest sister, Navia, and Don, his youngest brother Dante, there to kind of take care of the family crematorium alongside their father. And a crematorium that you note in an essay Cosby novel will be used exactly how you think it will be used.

[Erin]

For revenge. I'm just kidding.

[Hal Ebbitt]

If you know, you know. So he's coming home because his father was just ended up in a coma after a very suspicious car accident that he got into, and they're worried that he won't wake up. So Roman is kind of coming home not only to take care of his siblings, but also to possibly say goodbye to his father. When he gets there, he finds out that his brother Dante has kind of. Not kind of. He definitely did this. He tried to wrangle himself into the local notorious gang that is absolutely cutthroat and ruthless, and now he owes them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Annie Jones]

Oh, dear.

[Hal Ebbitt]

And these are the type of people that you do not want to owe money to. I mean, dare I say, you probably don't want to owe money to any gang but this gang specifically.

[Erin]

But if we're ranking the gangs.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah, I would say, number one, least want to owe money to, you know, and so Roman is now handling all of this as the eldest sibling does. Thank you to your eldest siblings. Oh, I'm. Am I the only youngest here?

[Erin]

Yeah, I'm a middle. So, yeah.

[Annie Jones]

All of us are represented here. Wow. What a diversity.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Look at that. Can you tell from the personalities everybody but Roman has to get Dante out of this mess, and his way of doing that is he's hired this guy Roman went to school for, like, financial stuff. So basically, he's going to work his way into the gang and kind of destroy them from within. Because if you've read a lot of gang or mafia things, if you cut the top head off, another one resurges.

[Annie Jones]

Correct. The Sopranos taught me that.

[Hal Ebbitt]

There you go. And so Roman's like, I'm going to get in there, make an in with them, and then just kill them all.

[Erin]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

And so he hires his buddy to help him do this, and they get started. And in true essay Cosby fashion, this book is gratuitously gruesome. But what I will say, I was just talking to a customer about this. It's not overly gratuitous in that, like, that wasn't unnecessary. Of the gruesome acts that are in this book, how many times can I say gruesome while describing the book? They're necessary to the plot because you. You need to understand the dire situation that they are in while owing money to these people and the stress that this has placed on the family and the weight that this is on Roman and especially Dante, who. Poor Dante.

[Erin]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

The book is so well done. I loved all three of the characters. I was actually nervous to start this one because the publishers comped it to the Godfather, which I don't know if I've. I know I've told you guys, but I don't know if I've told the podcast listeners. I tried to do a movie poster last year. I failed. And one of those. Yeah. Yeah.

[Erin]

I wondered how that was going.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah. I hate to say that. I hate to say that, but, yeah, we watched the Godfather because it was one of the movie things. The movies that you were supposed to watch. I did not like it. That was way too long and really boring. And the lines that people picked out in the Godfather to repeat are not the standout moments. It was really weird. And so going into this book, knowing that they comped it to the Godfather, I was like, oh, I don't think I'm gonna like this, but I loved it. If the Godfather had been more like.

[Annie Jones]

This, if you, Crosby, had written the.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Godfather, I would have loved that movie. All three to four hours of it. And then sequels. Is it necessary? No. But I'd read a sequel of this one.

[Annie Jones]

Okay.

[Erin]

Is this like the Departed? Would you say, like, it's got the undercover aspect? No.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Just because there's no Leo in this. I'm so sorry.

[Erin]

Okay.

[Hal Ebbitt]

But I'm only a Leo Stan in the Departed. I feel like I need to.

[Erin]

Understood. Understood there.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I don't think there's a Leo character in this for me. That. And I'm not good at picturing things in my head, so that's. That's a hard comp. But. But it was really well done. That's the King of Ashes by Sa Cosby.

[Erin]

I've also heard from people who have heard Sa Cosby speak in person that he is just a nice. A good person. Like, just a nice, good person. And you love to hear that about authors. Makes you. Makes me like their work even more, you know?

[Annie Jones]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah.

[Erin]

Well, from murder to Japan, here we go. No, it's okay. There's no murder in this one that I know of. But this is called. This is one of my. Again, we're talking about circles of anticipation. I'm in the middle of this one. It's called Category Summer by Emily Atami. Emily Atami, for me, is an author that I'm like, why don't I hear about her more? I love her book. She wrote Fault Lines probably three years ago, four years ago, and it was one of my favorite books of the year of that year. And so I. I hand sell it to people. I love her books. I've told people about them. And now she's coming out with another one, and I am so excited. I have not finished this one yet, but I am eagerly working my way through it. It's called. It's about three sisters. It is their Japanese names. So I'm sorry if I'm messing up the pronunciation, but I think it's I. It's a I. That's how it's spelled.

[Annie Jones]

I.

[Erin]

Re. And Kiki. And I is. This is the youngest sister, and she is a talented Japanese, like, pop star. And she was caught, like, by paparazzi with the married manager of her record label. So she's single. She. She was caught kissing him. And it's all over the tabloids. It's all over the news. Japan. And she's being sort of shamed for it because they talk about how in Japan, if you're like a pop star, you're supposed to be like this. Not saint necessarily, but you're supposed to be considered this sort of pure standalone person so that all your fans can, like, imagine themselves with you, you know? So, like, they don't want to. They don't want you to be in a relationship. They don't want you to have a boyfriend. They definitely don't want you to be kissing a married man. So she's sort of a hiding out from all the paparazzi and from all this bad publicity. And her sister Ray is an investment banker in London. She's the oldest sister, and Kiki is a middle sister. She is a single mother who's, like, working in a nursing home in Japan. And so Ray and Kiki decide, all right, we've got to be good sisters. We've got to go get her, and we're going to take her to this small little village where their great grandmother lives. And she's like a super strict, very traditional great grandmother. And so they take her to this remote village called Ikemura. And this is a place that holds Hard's memories for them because this is a place their mother died a long time ago. And so they've sort of grown up under their great grandmother's care. This is a really small town, so a lot of people knew them and knew their mom. And so it's a hard place to go back to, but they go and spend the summer there, as the book. Book is called, and it allows them time to sort of work through what they're all. What they're all going through personally and what they've been through as sisters sort of in this peaceful place. And I had to look up what a category is because I was like, what is this book about? But it's a Japanese shaved ice dessert. And so it's sort of like, if you could put it in American terms, it would be like a snow cone summer or something like that. Not to minimalize how delicious I'm sure a Japanese category is. But I'm looking forward to this. If you love family dynamics, especially three sisters. I always love a sister dynamic. So I'm really, really excited to get through this one and see what Emily Atami has written this time. This comes out June 10th.

[Annie Jones]

That sounds good.

[Erin]

Yeah.

[Annie Jones]

I think I am discovering. I'm just looking at my list and Yalls lists, but when I am short of attention span, I just think back to the pandemic. Summer books were my favorite, and I think it's because so many of them are either shorter or they're more propulsive or, like, it's like they anticipate that our attention span is gonna be different in the summer. I don't know. And so there's so many books coming out this summer that I'm like, oh, that sounds really good. Yeah, I think that's where my headspace. Yeah, I think that's where my head is at. Right now is that's the kind of book I need. So my last book is again, one that I'm really looking forward to hand selling. It's called Among Friends. This is by Hal Ebbitt. It's a debut novel put out by Riverhead. And I will say as. As much as E reading is not necessarily my preferred way of reading or processing books. I saw this book on Riverhead's Instagram and immediately was drawn in by the COVID I went to Edelweiss. Yes, I requested a physical arc, but it was just an immediate gratification kind of thing where like, I went to Edelweiss. I downloaded the copy and there is something to be said for that momentum, like that of I saw it and now I got to read it. So I downloaded it to my Kindle and I read this in E reader format. It's out on June 24th. This is a nanny book through and through. Basically, we have Emerson and amos. They are two men in their late 40s, early 50s. They've been best friends since at least college. You kind of get a sense of their history the more the novel progresses. But you can tell how very close they are because immediately you see these two men communicating more with each other than they do with their respective wives. And so you just get a sense that, like, oh, these two men have a deep history. They really love each other, love each other platonically. There's not necessarily a hint of romantic love. It's just like these men have known each other since they were kids, since they were younger, and they have secrets and a history. So EMERSON is turning 50 and Amos and his family join them at their country house in, I think, upstate New York. So already, again, there's certain tropes I love when I'm reading a summer book. Maybe it's a summer house in Maine. Maybe we're dealing with a lake in Michigan. Upstate New York will take it. Anything that's built around a house or a weekend together. So Amos and his wife and daughter come and join Emerson and his wife and daughter. And you can tell not only are Emerson and Amos close, but over the years, these families have just developed a close dynamic. They clearly do this all the time. This is not unusual. However, there is some tension immediately. You, the reader, know, well, something's off here. And you don't know, is it maybe an issue of class or money? Like, Emerson's family has a country home. We don't get the sense that Amos and his family have that maybe Emerson comes from money. Maybe Amos didn't So there's some underlying tension. And you don't know if it's because, oh, 50th birthday is, like, lots of feelings, or is there marital trouble? Like, what is going on? This book is, was, in my mind, a delicious slow burn where you're just waiting to find out why. Why? Like, as a reader, I felt tense reading it. I was like, what is going on here? It almost reminded me of the Dinner by Herman Coe. I just kept waiting over the course of this country weekend when everything was gonna blow, because you just kind of got the sense that something was going to happen. And it does. Listen, this book is so good. If you liked the Paper Palace, I think you'll like this. If you liked the Dinner, I think you'll like this. It is a simmering intensity that I really enjoyed. Again, mostly set over the course of one weekend in the country for Emerson's 50th birthday. So this is called Among Friends by Hal Ebbott. I can't believe it's a debut. I think it was really smart, well written. A slow burn that kept me turning the page. So, yeah, I hope people will give it a go.

[Erin]

Yeah, there's a lot of buzz around it. I see it a lot. I see it everywhere. I see people talking about it.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, well. And it does. I mean, I loved the COVID It's got a great cover. It's one. I don't know if y' all feel this way, but when I read on my Kindle, I think we might have talked about this on a recent episode, but, like, it's hard for me to remember what I'm reading because it's not laying on my nightstand. I don't see it all the time, but sometimes I also finish a book on my Kindle and I really want the physical copy because I want the representation that I finished it. And this is a cover that I really like, and I'd like to have it on my shelf. I really. I really liked it.

[Hal Ebbitt]

This is probably a really good podcast to, like, go on hiatus because there's so many highly anticipated titles.

[Annie Jones]

Yes. Go ahead and stock up. Stock up for summer.

[Erin]

Read them all summer. Just all of them.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Just buy all nine?

[Erin]

Yeah, exactly.

[Hal Ebbitt]

And you're.

[Annie Jones]

And you'll be covered. You'll be covered till September.

[Hal Ebbitt]

You get a range of genres. They're all great summer reads.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah, genius.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Because my next one is also highly anticipated. But I actually think you two might also like this book as well.

[Annie Jones]

I'm curious about this. I was wondering about this.

[Hal Ebbitt]

This is the Newest book by Nikki Ehrlich, who wrote the Measure that I thought was absolutely incredible. That came out two years ago. I think they kept it in hardcover for a very long time.

[Erin]

They did. I know. That's why I was confused.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Which should just be the tribute to how well done that book was. She's very good at highly realistic fiction. In the Measure it was, everyone got a box with a piece of string that correlates to the length of their life and you followed five characters through it. This one is called Poppy fields. It's out June 17th. And this is about a highly controversial treatment center out in California that's called the Poppy Fields. And people who have experienced, experienced deep grief of any kind can apply to go to this treatment center where they then go into like an induced coma sort of sleep for either a month to two months. And when they wake up, their grief is basically lessened. It's like the overwhelming grief that was prohibiting them from living their daily lives the way they wanted to is no longer there. They'll still love that person, they still feel their feelings for that person, but it's not hindering them any longer. And a lot of people needed that. I think the treatment center, in the book they talked about, they had 100,000 people go through the treatment center in two to three years. But obviously with a treatment like that, there's, there's also groups of people who do not think this is safe, do not think it's okay that you should feel your feelings, that this is almost like cheating your way out of a situation. But also there is a known side effect that has caused controversy as well, where it's like you have a 20% chance of when you wake up, you will no longer feel grief. Your memories of that person don't really contain love anymore. They just contain, like you remember being friends with them, like at a friend level. And so for some people that that's fine. But if you think about like a parent who lost a child, if they wake up with that symptom and now their child to them is just like, oh, a memory of a, an acquaintance or a friend, that's highly detrimental to not only their well being, but like the people around them who are also experiencing that same grief but didn't go to sleep. So we follow three people who met actually by coincidence in the Kansas City airport. One that I'm very familiar with because Mr.

[Erin]

Lives in there.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah. And they met because the tornado struck like a couple miles, like 20 minutes away from the airport. So everyone went into lockdown. The Two women met in the bathroom because it's the tornado shelter. And they were talking and they both realized they're going to Poppy Field Fields. And then they had to rent a car because all of the planes were grounded for like 24 to 48 hours. And they met this guy Ray, who was also going to Poppy Fields. And that kicks off their road trip in this, like, yellow minivan. And they're driving from Kansas City all the way to California to Poppy Fields. I was nervous about this part because I was like, I don't want three people who are just grieving on a road trip and I have to hear sad stories that doesn't sound fun to you? Maybe somebody else's book. Not. Not the one I'm looking for. And that is not what Nikki Ehrlich did. I'm not going to tell you all the reasons for going to Poppy Field because you do slowly get glimpses into what's going on. And I do really enjoy that slowly figuring out why Ava's going, why Ray is going to. One of them is going to sleep. Going there to go to sleep. I will say that. And then the other two are going there for other reasons. And so they have their own conversations going because obviously they all know why they're going there. And now there's a lot to talk about, especially with the controversies surrounding the treatment center throughout their chapters. You also get side chapters of the woman who started the treatment center. Her name's Ellis, and she obviously has a lot of thoughts on it as well. But she's also a very down to earth and grounded person. She doesn't take this side effect for granted. Like, she knows the name of every single person who has experienced that side effect and, and feels pain for what they're going through. She has a lot of hesitations moving forward because everyone wants a second treatment center. She only wants it if it can be done the right way. And so there's a lot going on in her life as well. But it's kind of nice that you get to see that, like, this treatment center isn't run by just this billionaire who wants to make money. You go there for free. She vets all of the applications. You get some of the applications throughout the chapters as well. And she does really care for all the people who are going to her treatment center. And she wants to. She wants to make the world a better place. And she feels like this is how she can do it. Nikki Ehrlich is just really great. Her writing is just really well done. And the chapters in this book are, like, anywhere from three to six pages. They are so short, and they're so concise, and they're just done really well. I will probably read whatever she writes. She's just really, really good at this.

[Annie Jones]

I'd like to go back and reread. Kind of like you, Olivia. I mean, maybe I'm being Pie in the sky, probably. What else is new? But I just keep thinking it will be nice to maybe read some things for fun this summer.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah.

[Annie Jones]

You know, who's to say if that actually will happen? But I would like to go back and read the Measure. And this one sounds really good too.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah, it is. It's so well done. I think both of you would like it.

[Erin]

I am looking forward to that. I didn't know that she was coming out with another one. I do like how she writes. I feel like her books, especially the Measure, I guess, was one that everybody wanted to talk about because it's like, would you want to know? Right. It's one of those. It's a great book club book. It's a great book that we all talked about, you know, once we have read it. So I have a feeling this one will be the same as well.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Yeah. She's a great book club choice.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah.

[Erin]

Okay. My last book is. It's called welcome to Murder Week by Karen Duchess. It sounds much more gory.

[Annie Jones]

Sounds like an Olivia book.

[Erin]

Yeah.

[Hal Ebbitt]

I have the Arc.

[Erin]

It's coming out June 10th. This one is on my radar because Annabelle Monahan is a big fan of Karen's, and I think they are friends, and she keeps promoting this. And I was like, I've. I've got to read this because not only I think Kirk. I think it got a Kirkus review, maybe a starred one. I'm not sure. But anyway, it's gonna. It's a great book, guys. I've just started it. I said, it's the coziest of murder mysteries. It is cozy. It's about Cath. And we meet her when her mother has just passed away. And listen, her mother was not, like, there for her. Her mother was not in her life. I think she was mostly raised by her grandfather. Her mother has not been there in her life as a constant presence. But her mother has just died, and she's going through her things, and she finds a pamphlet, a brochure for a immersive experience in England that her mother bought two tickets for. And it's basically an immersive, like, murder mystery. So you go. And this whole town puts it on. So they. They choose the suspects, they choose the victim, they. They set up the clues, all that to attract tourists to come. And it's in the Peak District of England, which is one of the places I want to visit the most. It's like a lot of land, obviously, it's a huge area. But inside the Peak District is that cliff where Keira Knightley filmed the scene where she's on the cliff in Pride and Prejudice and the wind is blowing there. That's really the only reason I want to go there. But this, this being set there gives it a. Gives it an up in my perspective. But Kath calls, she can't get a refund for the trip, so she decides, like, what the heck, like, I might as well go. So she decides to go after all. She decides to go to England. She ends up. Her mom had bought like a. Like a cottage for the two of them, but the company said, well, we can't refund you the whole thing, but we'll refund you part of it, if you don't mind having roommates, mates, like if you come and you sort of stay in like a more bunk bed situation. So she goes and has.

[Annie Jones]

Not worth it, Cath.

[Erin]

Adults should not stay in bunk beds.

[Annie Jones]

Not have to sleep in a bunk bed.

[Erin]

Poor choice. But I think it lends itself well to this plot fine, where she meets Wyatt and Amity. Wyatt works in like a. A flower shop, I think, and Amity is a rom com writer and she's just there to get content for her next novel. So the town, you know, puts this on and they end up gathering clues, interviewing suspects, and trying to actually solve the murder over this week. And as you can imagine, you can probably predict in the middle of it, there's a little bit of a romance. I don't know that this, that this is the highlight of the book, but there is a little romance with a local man for Kath. And obviously Amity, Wyatt and Kath all learn more about themselves and about each other and about why they're. And in the meantime, actually, Kath finds out more about her mom. Like, why was her mom drawn to this place? Why did her mom buy these tickets for them when she's not even been a part of Kath's life for her whole life. So it's a truly, I think, heartwarming book. But also you've got the mystery, the murder mystery aspect of it, but it's poignant. It's about a daughter dealing with grief, grieving, someone who really wasn't even there to begin with, you know, so. But it's. It's. It's so sweet, and I can't wait to finish it. It's called welcome to Murder Week by Karen Ducasse. It comes out June 10th.

[Annie Jones]

Well, that's so different from what I was expecting.

[Erin]

Exactly.

[Annie Jones]

When you said the title. Yeah.

[Erin]

Welcome to Murder Week sounds like.

[Hal Ebbitt]

When I read the title of the.

[Erin]

Arc, it sounds like a bad. Like. Like a sort like a fraternity thing gone wrong.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah. You know, it sounds like a sorority killer story.

[Erin]

It's not bad at all. It's very sweet and heartwarming.

[Annie Jones]

I'd be interested.

[Erin]

And he's like, write that book.

[Annie Jones]

Yeah. Although I am curious. And.

[Hal Ebbitt]

Does anyone get murdered?

[Erin]

Sorry, I don't think anyone actually gets murdered. I will let you know once I finish it.

[Annie Jones]

But what else? What did Karen Duchess write? Did she write the other.

[Erin]

She's read other things, and I don't have it written down, but she had. This is not her first book, because.

[Annie Jones]

I feel like maybe Nancy. Yeah. The last book party. That was a Nancy kiss.

[Erin]

That's right.

[Annie Jones]

A while ago. A couple years ago, I think. Think. Well, those. I will say. I will echo Olivia's sentiment. I think all nine of those books could get you through the summer and cover a wide range of genres and could be really enjoyable reading experiences. So if you'd like to buy the books we've talked about today, you can go to bookshelfthomasville.com, type episode 532 into the search bar, and you'll see all of the books we've talked about today listed where you can pre order or purchase. We will be back with a new release rundown episode in September. But don't worry, the podcast is not going on hiatus. We will have other episodes throughout the summer for you. Just no new release rundown episodes for July and August, which really isn't that much now that I'm saying it out loud. You'll be fine.

[Hal Ebbitt]

No, it's not bad.

[Erin]

That's right.

[Annie Jones]

You find your own new releases. You'll be okay. This week I'm reading Audition by Katie Kitamura. Olivia, what are you reading?

[Hal Ebbitt]

I'm reading the Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell.

[Erin]

I'm actually started listening to Audition by Katie Kitamura.

[Olivia]

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 at Bookshelf Tville. 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 Producer the producers of today's episode are Kami Tidwell, Jamie Treadwell, Linda Lee Drost, Jean Queens Martha Stephanie Dean.

[Annie Jones]

Beth Ashley Farrell, Amanda Wickham, Nicole Marcy Wendy Jenkins.

[Olivia]

Thank you all for your support of.

[Annie Jones]

From the Front Porch.

[Olivia]

If you'd like to support from the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your in person 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.