← From the Front Porch
Loading summary
Transcript485 lines
- [00:02]
A
Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. Today we're bringing you a live episode of from the Front Porch. We recorded this episode at our recent fall reader retreat. Our special guests were Hunter McClendon, Ashley Sherlock, and author Amy Popel. I have loved Amy's books for quite some time, so it was a joy to have her at Read a retreat. If you've never read her books, my favorite might be musical chairs, although certainly that could be affected by the fact.
- [00:56]
B
That I read it during the.
- [00:57]
A
During peak pandemic. It was an immense comfort to me during a very stressful time. But Amy's books have been a light and, yeah, a comfort. And it was a wonderful treat to have her at Reader retreat and to interview her and then to have her on the podcast. When it came time to decide how we wanted to do the format of our live show, we stuck with the fantasy draft format that we've used in previous episodes. And this time we talked about the feeling of home, and specifically homes in pop culture. Books, literature, movies, TV, etc. And we had a blast with this one. I think it was also really meaningful to have Amy, who has homes in a couple of different states, different countries, even Hunter, who's recently moved to Philly, and Ashley, who's recently moved to North Carolina, and then me, someone who stays quite notoriously. And so it was really fun to talk through the idea of home and then what homes in pop culture we find ourselves drawn towards. So I hope you enjoy this live podcast recording. I know the audio might be a little. Perhaps not what we're accustomed to in terms of quality, but I hope the content and subject matter helps you stick around. Thanks for listening and we'll see y' all next week.
- [02:18]
B
Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. I always forget to do that when we do this live, and it's fairly important. As Ashley mentioned, I am joined tonight by Amy and Hunter. We are going to have a conversation around some of the themes of Amy's most recent book, Far and Away. And so what we do, you know, normally I'm from the front porch, it's me in my house alone. And sometimes Hunter will join, sometimes Ashley will join. But having essentially kind of a panel of four is new and different. So for the past couple of live podcasts, what we have done is a fantasy draft. Also now that I'm in fantasy football. This means even more. I'm very into fantasy football, but don't ask me what ranking I am. It's not good. So we decided we would do a fantasy draft about homes. And so we're gonna have, I think, a fun time discussing pop culture and literary homes. But before we do that, a little bit about the theme of home, because that's what comes up in Far and Away over and over again. If you have have not read it yet, one of perhaps the major plot point is this house swamp, like in maybe the movie the Holiday or something like that, between two homes, one in Texas and one in Germany, and chaos ensues. And so I want to talk about finding home, wherever we are. I want to ask our lovely guests tonight, what is home to you? Hunter, I think about you moving from the deep south to now Philly, which is not only up north, but it is a much bigger city than where you grew up. And so I want to talk about what places feel like home to you, especially now that maybe you're a transplant.
- [03:57]
C
Yeah, it's funny. Like, so I was calculating it in my head, and I've lived in over 30, like, home, houses, apartments, whatever in my life, which feels significant for somebody who's only 32.
- [04:09]
B
It is a lot.
- [04:10]
C
Yeah. But I think that it's so funny because you all know how it's, like, haunting. Home was where the hardest type thing. But, yes, for me, home is people. I know that's so cheesy. But home is when Annie and I record for Conqueror Classic. I have this moment where my brain kind of locks and goes, oh, this is home. Or every morning, whenever I talk to my granny on the phone and she prays for me to have a good day, I'm like, oh, this is home. It's these moments that kind of tell my brain that I'm in this safe space of what is comforting to me. And so that is what is, for.
- [04:44]
B
Me, less geographical and more emotional. And then, Amy, when I was reading about you and getting ready to have this conversation, like we talked about earlier today, you have homes in a couple of different places, and you travel a lot. So what is home to you?
- [05:00]
D
So home is definitely. I agree with you completely. It's my people, it's my family, it's my friends. My problem is that I go places and I picture myself there, like, almost to, like. It's almost like a psychological problem that I have, you know? And often they're nice places, but, like, even here, I could walk around town And I'm. Oh, I could just have, like, a.
- [05:23]
B
Little house with a little porch.
- [05:25]
D
I'd be so happy here. And then I go, you know, to anywhere in Germany, and I'm like, oh, I could learn German. Doesn't. It doesn't work. We all figured that out. But I see places and I can just see myself there. And I build this little life for myself in my head. And I remember there.
- [05:41]
B
A lot of us do. I mean, I do that. Is that normal? Oh, good.
- [05:44]
D
I have friends in my.
- [05:46]
B
Maybe it's the reader in us a little bit in that. That you can picture.
- [05:49]
D
Yes. So there's a few places where I've been. Mill Valley, California, is one of them, where I just remember saying to my husband, you could just leave me here.
- [05:58]
B
I'll be.
- [05:59]
D
Just. Because I can just imagine the whole life. So my problem is that I like.
- [06:04]
B
A lot of different places.
- [06:06]
D
And it's not enough for me necessarily just to spend three days there. I want to settle in and get comfortable.
- [06:11]
C
Well, I think it's also this thing where I know that when I went to Montreal a couple years ago, I.
- [06:16]
D
Can see myself there.
- [06:17]
C
Well, I think part of it is that if you think about it, I went to a coffee shop and I got pastries and I got whatever. And I think that there's these little things that you do, these habits that you build up in your life of going to a coffee shop or going to a bookstore or whatever. And those things are things you register doing at home. And so when you do it somewhere else, that familiarity kind of maybe locks in and makes you feel like, I don't know.
- [06:39]
D
Definitely.
- [06:40]
B
No, I think that. And even we went to New England last weekend for a wedding. And I very much do this, like, everywhere my husband and I travel, I'm like, should we move? Yes. And then I wrote this book about staying, and I was like, should our next book be about leave it? And so I do this all the time. But recently, what I thought is, well, what if this is home base? But when I went to New England, I was like, oh, I had great memories of Ashley and I going there a couple of falls ago and how important that trip was to me. I went to the same coffee shop we went to. And so it felt like, oh, I get to return to these kind of. They're almost sacred places to me, like, where maybe I had a really fun conversation. There was a sports bar that you and I went to that I think about all the time. And so. Which may not be what your memory of that Trip is. I remember it, but I loved it so much. It's Surge Coke, and I was like, getting a Coca Cola, and I was like. And so there are these places where I think, well, if Thomasville is my home base, maybe there are other places. And then there is a quote. It's hanging in our son's nursery, and it's the brave find a home in every land. And I love that. I like the feeling that you could be comfortable and in multiple places. If you're comfortable here, maybe you can be comfortable anywhere. Far and away, I think will naturally draw comparisons to maybe the most famous bit of house swap pop culture, which is the holiday. So I do. I feel like we need to just talk a little bit about the holiday, because I hate the holiday. Drop the table. She play Shock. It's one of my mom's favorite movies. I don't know. It's not for me. But I like the house swap idea. I've even got. Is it houseswap.com? there's something you can do where you can swap your house. Yeah. And I have really been tempted by that idea.
- [08:33]
C
Is it, like, because of Jack Black?
- [08:35]
B
No.
- [08:36]
D
Is it because of Cameron Diaz? Jude Law Chemistry. And you don't believe it?
- [08:41]
A
Yes.
- [08:42]
B
And I listen, this might be an unpopular opinion, and I think she's probably a lovely person. I don't love camera views.
- [08:49]
C
Okay. Did you watch Being John Malkovich?
- [08:51]
D
No.
- [08:52]
C
See, that's. You have to watch the one where she actually was good.
- [08:54]
B
Okay. Right. I missed that one. I don't. I think I do like Jude Law's glasses. I like the napkin face. He does. I think that's cute.
- [09:03]
D
I was mint on the napkin face.
- [09:05]
B
It was a little cringe.
- [09:06]
D
Napkin face was a little.
- [09:08]
B
I don't know. To me, it's not. It's also not a good rom com, in my opinion. Maybe it's a fine movie. It's not a good rom com.
- [09:14]
C
I love how I acted so shocked. But I've only watched it once, and I was kind of like, meh about it.
- [09:21]
B
It's not a comfort movie for me. It's a comfort movie for my mom. But it is not. So when you. What made you decide to do a house swap? What made you decide to tackle that bit of, like, trope. Of that trope or that pop culture?
- [09:34]
D
Because I think what I did like about the movie, I had problems with the movie too. I didn't buy the chemistry between those. And that's a big problem because that's a huge part.
- [09:41]
B
It's a Huge part of the movie.
- [09:43]
D
I thought he was kind of adorable. And I think I liked her storyline, but I simply didn't buy it that they were actually.
- [09:51]
B
And it had nothing to do with how they look. It had everything to do with their actual, like, banter chemistry.
- [09:56]
D
So totally with you. But what I loved was the contrast in places. And the second thing that I loved was the getting accidentally super entwined in somebody else's life. Their neighbors, the packages that come. So the idea in meeting somebody that the other person has a completely different relationship with, that was what I loved about it.
- [10:23]
B
And that's in. To be fair, then that is.
- [10:25]
A
You find that.
- [10:26]
B
I find that in Far Away. You totally get this.
- [10:29]
A
Texas.
- [10:29]
B
We talked about it earlier today in our book conversation. This fish out of water element. Like, this Texas woman finds herself in Germany. This German woman finds herself in this sprawling Texas home. Yeah, yeah.
- [10:41]
D
Just even, like, the idea of, like, a swimming pool in every backyard in Texas. And just thinking to myself, wow, that would be weird for them to go from apartment life to, like, a pool in your backyard. And which character would love that and which character would somehow not adapt to it. Well, we were also talking earlier about how travel can be so eye opening and it can make you grow so much, I think, to just be a fish out of water, to be in a place that you're uncomfortable. And I just thought it would be a lot of fun to see what would happen to these characters in these completely different places.
- [11:18]
B
Have you ever felt or when is a moment when you have felt most.
- [11:22]
D
Of fish out of water in living in Germany with my kids in a school where I didn't feel like I fed it. When you have kids, you have your parent group. You meet the parents at the school, and I didn't think they liked me, and I didn't know how to win them over. I'm a people pleaser, and I'm like, man, these women. Tough audience. I just had a really hard time. So, yeah, that was tricky. And then just weird things. Like, I was in my apartment, I dropped the kids off at school, and I'm back in the apartment and the doorbell rings and I open the door and it's my kid.
- [11:57]
B
And.
- [11:58]
D
And I'm like, what are you doing here? And how did you get here? Well, they canceled school today because the teacher was sick. So school's still happening, but my class was canceled, so I came home. I'm like, by yourself? He was like 6 and he just walked home and stuff like that. I'd stopped a kid on the street when we first moved there because it was this little itty bitty four year old with a big backpack walking down the street alone. I was like, oh, my gosh, Lost child. I roll down the window, he ignores me.
- [12:26]
B
I get out of the car. I'm like, excuse me, I probably thought you were terrified. He was.
- [12:30]
D
I was the problem.
- [12:32]
B
I freaked him out.
- [12:33]
D
He started running down the sidewalk.
- [12:35]
B
I'm like, are you okay?
- [12:39]
D
So there were a lot of moments where I just felt like I'm doing the wrong thing, I'm saying the wrong thing. My jokes aren't landing, you know, that. Just that awful feeling. But I think it enriches. Even the discomfort is enriching. I think we should all be uncomfortable sometimes.
- [12:56]
B
I think it is good for us. I think, you know, I talked to you, Hunter, about your move. But Ashley, you also moved recently and it's still in the south, like, but Florida, North Carolina, those are different things. Do you. When have you most felt as a fish out of water? Is it in your move or you travel a lot too? Do you find yourself feeling like that when you travel? I feel less like that when I travel, but more like that when I moved because there was pressure when I moved. Like I needed to find my people. Whereas if I'm traveling, I can just make it up. I'm never gonna see any of these people again. Right. You know, of course. That's a version of yourself. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
- [13:36]
C
It's so funny that you said that because, like, I. So I'm really bad at traveling because I always think, like, what if I become really good friends with these people and then they like start to judge me and then they don't be my friend whenever I once they live here. And like, Hank and I traveled to. We traveled to Tennessee for his birthday and I didn't know where we would find our luggage because it had gone somewhere. And he goes, oh, let's just go ask. And I was like, ask somebody. Like, why would you do that? I was like, shocked that somebody would ask somebody something that they would never see again. So. Yeah.
- [14:07]
B
So travel. Is travel more anxiety inducing for you than it is? Yeah, yeah.
- [14:13]
A
I love it.
- [14:13]
B
I'm curious, would you swap houses with somebody you wrote a book about Yogi. You both would. Both big nods. Would you?
- [14:20]
D
No.
- [14:23]
B
I'm trying to think. I think I would. I think I would.
- [14:27]
D
First of all, I can't stand the idea of somebody being in my house. Oh, yeah, like, that's a huge problem. I would have to literally pack up so so much Stuff that would be hard for me. And I do. I don't mind, though, so much that not knowing what I'm getting myself into, I'm okay.
- [14:41]
B
Really.
- [14:41]
D
The other way around.
- [14:42]
B
Yeah. Having me in your space. Well, that's interesting because even though we were talking about home being like an emotional center or something like that, I agree with that. And it's kind of about who your people are. I will say I also really love my home. I love my place. Tonight when I go home, oh, it's gonna feel so good. So good. When I go to my house.
- [15:02]
C
If I lived in your house, it would also be my favorite place.
- [15:06]
B
So it does. It feels like we were talking earlier today.
- [15:09]
A
It does.
- [15:09]
B
It feels like my. Like, it feels like my place, I guess. And I'm very much a. Like, I don't know, classy tchotchkes. Like, meaning it's got all my little stuff for my travels and my.
- [15:22]
C
You're a good nester.
- [15:23]
B
Thank you. Thank you so much.
- [15:25]
D
That's such a. I always tell my kids they're not allowed to even form an opinion about a place until they've.
- [15:30]
B
Been there for a year.
- [15:31]
D
That's like my rule for them. I'm like, you can't even say I hate it here. Just wait a year. At the end of the year, then you can start saying, how is this sitting with me? Am I fitting in here? Is this a good thing for me or is this not working?
- [15:43]
B
You have that rule. Yeah. First year does not count.
- [15:45]
D
First year does not count.
- [15:46]
B
I agree. Yeah.
- [15:47]
A
You're into.
- [15:48]
B
It's too much in flux. There's too much uncertainty. Yes.
- [15:53]
D
Too much that's new. And you just can't judge it yet because you're not used to it. So you have to live there for a year. And then also I think it's really important to leave and come back. Leave the new place for a weekend and come and return to it and then see, do I feel like I'm going home or do I not want to be here anymore? Like, it's telling.
- [16:12]
B
You have lived in Philly now for about a year. A little over a year.
- [16:16]
A
Yeah.
- [16:17]
B
Do you agree that the first year doesn't count?
- [16:19]
C
Oh, yeah, my first year definitely didn't count.
- [16:21]
B
I was like.
- [16:22]
C
Like everything was influx. I do think that. I do think that at this point, I think, like, I've traveled back here several times now for, like, always end up to see you and. And like. And it's funny cuz, like, I. I feel like I'm coming home to like, to see, like, you, my family. But then I. I do think that, yeah, the first year I would have. I just cried every time.
- [16:41]
A
Yeah.
- [16:41]
C
But, like, now that it's been a little over a year, I'm like, okay, like, I'm starting to feel settled. I'm starting to, like, I know what restaurants I like. I know, like, which. Which venues I enjoy going to, which bookstores I like.
- [16:51]
B
And so it's like, your spots. You found your places.
- [16:54]
C
Yeah. You, like, settle in.
- [16:55]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [16:55]
D
And your routines.
- [16:57]
B
Right.
- [16:57]
C
I think if you don't have a routine, then, like, no. Like, nothing's gonna feel great.
- [17:00]
B
Like you.
- [17:00]
C
But it takes a long time to, like, establish that.
- [17:02]
B
Yeah. Establish who you are in this new. In this new spot. So before we go into our fantasy draft, I am curious. I made this list. These were pop culture homes that I. And I ran it by the bookshelf staffers. But this was definitely Annie B. Jones, like, wish list of places she could pick up, you know, if she lived in these pop culture houses. But when you think of homes in books, in movies and TV shows, what is, like, the home that comes to mind? Like, whether it's. I think about Hunter, when you and I read Middlemarch, and maybe just even the community in that book. But what are. What. When I say, like, a famous literary home or a pop culture house, what. What pops up in your brain?
- [17:43]
D
So I will say two pop up in my brain. And of course, these two, because they are totally related. The brownstone and Moonstruck.
- [17:52]
B
Oh, yes.
- [17:53]
D
I love that brownstone. I mean, it needs. I need to renovate it, but I love the fact that it's a corner brownstone and it's just kind of spacious and lots of molding and awesome stuff. And then the house in Pineapple Street. The brownstone and Pineapple street, you know, and that intrigued me because it's the idea of a place, a home, and maybe you want to renovate it, but you can't. I don't know if you remember, the main character was like, oh, I think I'll change the curtains. And the mother in law who had given them the house was like, oh, darling, you can change anything you want, but not the curtains. Like, don't touch the curtains. Like, everything she wanted to do, it was like. But not that. So having to live with someone else's stuff, I just think is really interesting.
- [18:35]
B
And you then wrote about a brownstone. Sweet spot. Yes. Yeah, yeah. What about you? What possibly comes to mind?
- [18:42]
C
When I first thought I was like. I was like, oh, I was like, I love the different places that that foster child went to in water. But, like, I don't think that counts. But I guess that, like. Like, what is something that I like? It's a family. I don't even know if I, like, think about houses.
- [18:57]
A
Interesting.
- [18:57]
B
Maybe it's because you've moved so many. I mean, truly.
- [18:59]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do think that there have been places, like, there have been, like, things in my. Oh, I will say, when I read Swamplandia, like, a decade ago. Oh, my gosh, I love that book. But I think that I grew up, like, around here, and I think that my family, a lot of my family who, like, lived in, like, where. Oh, my gosh, where is it at? It's not Tallahassee. Mark's, who lived in St. Mark's a lot of them lived in these, like, houses on stilts that were, like, crumbling and, like, there was, like, snakes would fall in. And it felt like. It felt very similar. And so when I read Swamplande, I was like, ah, yes, this is what I like.
- [19:34]
B
Yeah, well, it's not familiar. And she wrote about Florida, so. Well, which not everybody does.
- [19:39]
C
Yeah.
- [19:39]
B
So what about you, Pop culture house? Did not think this question was gonna come to me, but why can I only think of Little House on the Prairie? That's miserable.
- [19:50]
A
Does that count?
- [19:50]
B
Yeah, it does.
- [19:52]
D
Really does.
- [19:53]
B
I think about. And listen, we should have said Hunter and I are barely here because we are really. Morning. Dying in Keaton.
- [20:00]
A
Yeah.
- [20:01]
B
Like, we're having a hard time. But I do immediately think of the father of the bride house, which we got to see in person a couple summers ago when we went to la, and it's just as wonderful in person. And there's a house here in Council that looks like the father of the bride house.
- [20:14]
A
And I just.
- [20:15]
B
Every time I drive by it or walk by it, I think I. Oh, Annie and her dad playing basketball. Like, I don't know.
- [20:20]
D
I just.
- [20:20]
B
That house, to me and Nancy Myers, just does a great job.
- [20:23]
D
Something's gotta give.
- [20:24]
A
Yes.
- [20:24]
B
On the beach. Yes.
- [20:26]
C
It's complicated. The kitchen.
- [20:27]
D
Oh, my God.
- [20:29]
C
I'm gonna be a cook now.
- [20:31]
B
Right? That's the thing houses can do. They feel aspirational. You think if I had a kitchen, I would cook, but you feel like you would. Okay, so that brings us to the list. Okay, listen. All right, so Ashley is going to be our moderator. Can you tell us how? Can you remind us how the snake draft works? So we're going to be doing a snake draft. We will start with Whoever's birthday is next. And then. Well, whose birthday is next? You just had yours.
- [21:00]
A
Yeah.
- [21:01]
B
When is your birthday? Oh, sweet. So, okay, so Annie's going to be first. So that means we will go in order of Annie, Amy, Hunter, and then back to Amy and then Annie. We're just going to keep sending it back and forth, right? I don't remember.
- [21:12]
A
Yes. Sure. Close enough. Okay.
- [21:15]
B
And then. Do you want me to read off the list? Yes, read the list. Here are the houses. So they're going to be choosing from a specific list of houses. And y' all gotta pay attention because you vote at the end of this. You vote for whose. Whose lineup is the best. Yep. Okay, so we have the Orchard House from Little Women. The Father of the Bride house. The Home Alone House. Kathleen Kelly's apartment. And you've Got Mail. The house in the Family Stone. Monica's apartment and friends. The cousin's beach house in the Summer I Turned Pretty. The cottage from the Holiday. Nick Parker's NACA vineyard in the Parent Trap. Lorelei's house in Gilmore Girls. Green Gables from Anne of Green Gables. And Emily Cooper's Parisian apartment. Okay, and how many do we each get?
- [21:56]
A
I made this up.
- [21:56]
B
You should each get three. Okay. You each get four.
- [22:01]
C
Sorry.
- [22:01]
B
Oh, we each get more. Okay. All right. And I go first. You go first.
- [22:05]
A
Okay. Amy.
- [22:06]
B
And then Hunter. Well, as it should be. I am taking Kathleen Kelly's apartment. And you've got me. I couldn't not. I couldn't not listen. That is. I saw that movie when I was 13. It's what made me want to own my own bookstore. But also, it's the daisies. It's the piano with the sign when she closes her store and she brings home the Shop around the Corner signs laying on the piano. It's the quilt on the bed. It's the fact that she rearranges her furniture after she sells her store. I don't know if you've noticed that, but she does. Her bedroom's totally different. It's the little kitchen and the bases, the bottom. The vase at the top of the refrigerator. I love it. And all I ever want is for my. I mean, I feel that way about Monica's apartment, too. But all I ever want is for my home to look as lived in and as comfortable. I am not a fan of Stark. I want it to look like, I think you mentioned earlier. Like, you want to walk into somebody's house and be like, oh, this thing is house. Oh, this is Amy's house. Like, I want you to Walk in and you knew that was Kathleen Kelly's apartment. And I love it so much. I wish I could live in it. So that's my. That's my draft pick.
- [23:07]
D
Okay, well, I'm gonna throw a curveball here.
- [23:11]
B
Throw it.
- [23:12]
D
Because I'm gonna go. I mean, are you kidding? I'm gonna go with the Napa Valley. The Napa Vineyard.
- [23:18]
B
Like, does it come with Nick Parker and Chassis?
- [23:23]
A
Yeah.
- [23:23]
B
And Chazzy. What, importantly?
- [23:25]
D
Yeah, no, I definitely want the big.
- [23:30]
A
Hey. This is Annie, and I'm taking a quick break from this episode to tell you about Discover Thomasville. Gracefully tucked within the storied red hills of South Georgia, Thomasville curates a distinguished downtown experience that meanders along several blocks of our iconic red brick streets. Here, bespoke boutiques, master craftsmen, coveted antique art purveyors, and celebrated culinary artisans converge in harmony with the cultural richness of the Pebble Hill Plantation Art Tour and the tranquil allure of Birdsong Nature Center. Here, you discover the soul of the South. Here, you discover Thomasville. Learn more by visiting thomasvillega.com news.
- [24:22]
D
Property with. I can make my own wine and great weather all the time, and I can just see myself there, because that's what I do.
- [24:32]
A
Yeah.
- [24:33]
D
A little stark. It's a little unlimited, but I'm.
- [24:37]
B
It's bachelor. Yeah.
- [24:38]
D
I'm gonna mess it up.
- [24:39]
B
It'll be right. That's a good pick.
- [24:42]
C
Well, now that my pick was taken, that's fine. I'm not feeling attacked. I'll go with Lorelai's house in Gilmore Girls, because I love how it just. I. I can tell that it probably sounds, like, a little bit creaky when they go up and down the stairs. I'm sure that it, like, smells lovely with, like, the different perfumes that they probably spray on, but also the food that they keep on, like, warming up. It's like, I. I just. The textures are just very there for me, and I love that it feels like a home that two people who really love each other to have a really complicated relationship live. I just can feel their relationship is just kind of hooked into the house.
- [25:24]
B
Well, I think that's even why in the later seasons, I don't remember what season it is, but where Luke moves. Poor guy, Luke moves in and they renovate, and the house is never the same. No.
- [25:32]
A
Yeah.
- [25:33]
B
I prefer it pre rental.
- [25:34]
C
Well, yeah, we should clarify.
- [25:35]
B
Yeah.
- [25:36]
C
Like, this is like, Lars had, like, three. Yeah. Like, yeah, so that's fine.
- [25:41]
B
I actually think Hunter gets to go twice, if I remember right. Great. Yep.
- [25:44]
C
Do.
- [25:45]
B
Oh, good. I think that's the perk. I think that's the perk. Between last I remember.
- [25:49]
C
That's right as it should be. Let me take.
- [25:53]
D
He said take mine. He said take my pick.
- [25:55]
C
Let me see.
- [25:56]
B
Ooh, you know what?
- [25:59]
C
Wait, I'm taking too long. Okay, okay, okay. You know what? Actually, I'll do Monica's apartment in Friends.
- [26:04]
B
Because you're trying to spite me. I should never have said it. I.
- [26:12]
C
No, because the thing is, I do. I thought that's a really cute apartment. And I remember watching Friends when I was very little and I thought that that was what it. Like I didn't realize that the big city existed outside of that apartment. I just assumed that was what the big city was.
- [26:26]
B
Yeah.
- [26:27]
C
And so I thought that like everyone went to frequent there would confidence all the. It was.
- [26:30]
B
Yeah.
- [26:30]
C
And so I remember like whenever I first dreamed of like I'm gonna go do Broadway at 7. I thought I cannot wait to live in New York. And I thought New York was that apartment. That apartment specifically.
- [26:40]
A
Yeah.
- [26:40]
C
And I. And I don't know, like, I don't have friends and I don't like socialize. But I used to dream of basically being like the Phoebe under the table. And so like that's like. So like that is how I. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, I think that's like it's a place where unexpected friendships, like, don't make sense.
- [27:00]
D
Yeah.
- [27:00]
B
Phoebe and Monica don't make sense.
- [27:02]
A
But then.
- [27:02]
B
And I love that that apartment is the home base. Like, that is where they all come to congregate. It was always the mismatched dining chairs. For me, that is what. When we got married, I painted all of our chairs different colors because I was like, this is what adulthood looks like. It's mismatched dining room chairs. Yeah. Yeah. And it was. I loved it. Fine. You get it. Amy, your turn.
- [27:27]
D
Oh my gosh. Okay, well, this is a no brainer for me because I am going to go with the Parisian apartment.
- [27:34]
B
Oh, is it the Parisian location that.
- [27:37]
D
No, it's the apartment too.
- [27:38]
B
Just because I don't need much.
- [27:40]
D
You know, just a cool walk up. Because this is going to go so well with my Napa vineyard. You know, just my parents and I just don't need much. I just need a little staircase to.
- [27:51]
B
Climb up and I have my bed.
- [27:52]
D
And my kitchen and my kooky friends who stop by.
- [27:56]
B
You don't need much.
- [27:57]
D
No, we just go out and have croissant.
- [28:00]
C
This is Emily in Paris, right?
- [28:01]
B
Yes.
- [28:02]
A
Okay.
- [28:02]
B
Okay.
- [28:02]
C
Yeah, I thought so.
- [28:04]
B
Yeah. You don't know her last name? Because she rarely. Yeah, she's just Emily.
- [28:08]
A
Emily. Yeah.
- [28:10]
B
Okay. I will take the house and the family stone. So speaking of Diane.
- [28:13]
D
Yes.
- [28:14]
B
I love the house. In my heart, I do feel like I was made for New England. Why? I live in the Deep South. It's so hot. It's so hot. This weekend was lovely, but we rarely get seasons or it feels like our seasons are so short except for summer, which lasts forever and just again going back to the lived in. I don't know, the lived in quality of that house and how it looks in the snow and all the adult children coming back and celebrating. And the kitchen and the coffee pot. Like, who wouldn't fill the coffee pot? Like, who wouldn't refill a coffee pot? And the sister having the attic bedroom. I don't know. I love it all. They've got a great front porch. It's a perfect house for Christmas.
- [28:59]
D
Winter. It was great.
- [29:00]
B
Yeah. Yeah, that's right.
- [29:01]
D
Yeah.
- [29:02]
B
This is just really great. In my mind. She did. Spoiler. Yeah, Spoiler. Yes, she did. But I watch it every Christmas. I love that movie.
- [29:12]
D
Oh, it's so good. It's so good.
- [29:13]
B
Yeah, yeah. So that would be mine.
- [29:15]
D
You get to go again.
- [29:16]
B
Oh, that's right. Oh, okay. All right. Wait a minute. Oh, okay. I'm going to take Green Gables from Anne of Green Gables. And I'm going. This is one that I'm picking for the location. So we got to visit Prince Edward Island a few years ago. And Jordan, I think, planned that trip as a gift to me, like, thinking that it would. And it was. It was for me. I'd wanted to go there since I was a kid. I loved the Ann books. But then I will never forget when we finally got there and we were driving around, Jordan was like, this is the most beautiful place I've ever been. And he fell in love with it because it's just this beautiful melding of beach and farmland. And interestingly, it's. I mean, it's way up in Canada and Nova Scotia, but it's got the same red clay dirt that I feel like we have down here. I adored it up there.
- [30:03]
D
And great lobster. I love a lobster.
- [30:06]
B
You hate lobster. I love lobster. And so I would. That would be. And you think it's too much work.
- [30:11]
D
It's too much work.
- [30:12]
B
Oh, I love it. I. I think I would have. I think in another life, maybe I wouldn't own a bookstore and I could.
- [30:20]
D
Just, like, tind my land.
- [30:24]
B
I don't know, like, if I. If I. I didn't have, you know, if I threw my phone into the ocean and just minded my own business, work with my hands in Canada, I.
- [30:35]
A
Think I could do that.
- [30:36]
B
That sounds fun. It doesn't care for this.
- [30:39]
D
It does.
- [30:41]
B
That would be mine.
- [30:43]
D
Okay.
- [30:43]
B
All right. So.
- [30:44]
D
Okay, where are we? What is left? I am going to go with. I'm trying to think of what's going to go well with.
- [30:51]
B
I know you're doing a smart job of, like, strategically. My houses are all over the place. You can't even fly to them.
- [30:57]
D
I think I'm just gonna go with my gut here. Wait, did someone take the father of the bride? No, I'll take the father of the bride.
- [31:06]
B
It's right there. Near that. It's right near Napa, right?
- [31:08]
D
Yeah, but it's not too much in the same part. Neck of the woods.
- [31:12]
B
Where were they? They were in Pasadena or Palisades.
- [31:17]
D
Where is that?
- [31:18]
B
Palisades. Pasadena. It's where the Rose bowl is. Did I already say it?
- [31:22]
D
If I said it, does it mean it's too late if I already said it?
- [31:26]
B
No, you can do whatever you want. The rules are last.
- [31:28]
D
No, I'm taking the father of the bride house. I'm going to have. I'm going to do Taylor Swift with the basketball hoop.
- [31:34]
B
And what else?
- [31:35]
D
And the husband. It's a beautiful house.
- [31:41]
B
Yeah, it is a beautiful house.
- [31:42]
D
It's a really beautiful. I was thinking we could just pick a up and put it in New.
- [31:45]
B
England, but that's okay.
- [31:46]
D
I'll just go heavy on California.
- [31:48]
B
It's a matter of life, like you said. Yeah. And then again, there is that weather out there. Like it never.
- [31:54]
D
It's wonderful.
- [31:54]
B
Always. Yeah. You never worry about it.
- [31:57]
D
Perfect. I'm very happy with my real estate choices.
- [31:59]
C
I do, like, it's so funny, though, because I feel like having the Taylor Swift comparison can be really polarizing depending on from people's, like, perspective of the album.
- [32:06]
B
They're like, yeah, that's what we're really about to find out.
- [32:09]
C
Okay, so I think that I'm going to go with the Orchard house from the.
- [32:15]
B
Dang it. I think you're just picking stuff despite me. I'm not.
- [32:18]
C
I think you and I are just like, listen, I got the sticker that says like, I'm an Amy reader. But I'm also like, you know, I always aspire to be you.
- [32:26]
B
So, like, so fine. If one else is.
- [32:28]
C
I can't help but listen. I also, like, you and I both love. Listen you and I both love little women. Like, we have, like. Yeah. You love it more than I. Like. I do love the movie, though. I love the Greta Gerwig. But anyway. But I think that that place is so gorgeous.
- [32:45]
B
It is gorgeous.
- [32:46]
C
And it makes me, like. I don't know, like, what I would do there, except for, like, I guess, die. In a good way.
- [32:53]
B
You could write. I could write. You don't have to die.
- [32:57]
C
Here's the thing. I would love to write in, like, a joke kind of way. And then, Dot. I won't say, hula dies. Somebody dies. Someone dies. And I would die there kind of bed.
- [33:07]
A
You know what I mean?
- [33:08]
C
I'd live out two lives. So.
- [33:10]
B
Yes. No. Okay, wait. Okay, you get up to go again. Oh.
- [33:14]
C
Oh, yes. Okay.
- [33:15]
B
You've got a pin over there. I'm losing shit.
- [33:17]
A
Sorry.
- [33:17]
D
I am, too.
- [33:18]
C
Okay, then what's left is the home alone house, the cousin's beach house, and the summer I turn pretty. And the cottage for the holiday. And I will go with the cottage from the holiday because I think that that place, it is so cute and cozy.
- [33:33]
B
I feel like I've done this wrong. I feel like I've just picked my favorite houses and you've been more strategic and that was smart. She's done parish and you have two. And my houses are weird.
- [33:44]
C
No, no. You're making such good choices.
- [33:48]
D
We will all visit Annie in her houses.
- [33:51]
B
Right? I can't. I should not be trusted. Fine. Okay, so you got the cottage.
- [33:58]
C
I got the cottage.
- [33:59]
B
That's in England, right? I'm coming to visit.
- [34:02]
C
Yeah, yeah.
- [34:04]
D
He doesn't have much room for guests, but that's okay.
- [34:08]
B
You're gonna hit your head on the stairs. That's okay, though.
- [34:10]
C
Listen, I have those leads.
- [34:12]
B
Yeah, the leads.
- [34:14]
C
You know, the leads outside. Like, I've always loved you, Joe. Like, I have it all.
- [34:19]
B
No, you just picked. Is that.
- [34:21]
C
Oh, I'm sorry. I stole the last one.
- [34:23]
D
I stole the last one.
- [34:24]
B
We're worried about your fight and it's hot cottage you're gonna buy.
- [34:27]
C
That's right. Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry, I. Like, I already got lost. Where I was at the cottage.
- [34:30]
B
Yes.
- [34:31]
C
I have so many houses. It's so hard to keep up.
- [34:33]
B
That's why you said workhouse isn't in London. No, I know.
- [34:36]
C
That's why I got confused. I was like, okay, yes, I love London. Cup of tea like family.
- [34:44]
D
You're gonna have the little dog. You can walk to town. Drive on the wrong side of the road.
- [34:48]
C
Could you imagine you Know, I could take two ball. I. I think. Could you imagine?
- [34:53]
B
Wait, hold on.
- [34:54]
C
Could you imagine?
- [34:56]
B
Yeah, I can picture it right there.
- [34:57]
C
I love it. Oh, my God. I think he and I would just do so well together. And I have children in this life that, like, I will have. I'll find them and like, I will have a cozy. I'll have a fire and I'll have the throw. And I'll just be like, brr, where's.
- [35:12]
B
My lover and my children?
- [35:14]
C
Like, it's great. This is a really solid house, by the way.
- [35:17]
D
You're getting two houses. Because Jude Law's house in that way is outstanding. He has a great house.
- [35:22]
B
So you, you just, you just sport.
- [35:24]
D
Nice, Nice.
- [35:27]
B
I know what you're going to pick.
- [35:28]
D
I know you do.
- [35:29]
B
Dang it. I almost felt a lone house.
- [35:33]
D
I feel like being like the character in the book I'm reading right now just gives up everything to the other person always. That's like part of his. I'm reading. I don't know the name of it. It's by somebody. Isaac.
- [35:46]
A
Robert.
- [35:47]
D
Isaac.
- [35:47]
B
Okay. It hasn't come out yet.
- [35:48]
D
Comes out like next year. But his personality trait is that he just. If he thinks you're gonna maybe want that seat, he will go sit in that seat. Cause he just doesn't want. So I'm really tempted to just. I'm really tempted. I'm gonna take the home alone. But I want a budget to redecorate.
- [36:05]
B
Okay. Very 90s in it.
- [36:07]
D
It's so 90s, it's gonna need a lot of money. I'm gonna have to do pretty much a full gut.
- [36:12]
B
But listen, if you're in Chicago, which is fun. Sure. Yeah. Right there in the Midwest. Yeah, I like Chicago.
- [36:18]
D
I lived there for one year. And at the end of the year, I decided that I really liked it. No, I left for other.
- [36:24]
B
Just.
- [36:25]
D
It was a one year gig, but I really liked it. And I can entertain and I can set up characters in the windows and go like this. And y' all will think I have so many friends because I want you to.
- [36:40]
B
To have the beach house. That's really generous. I really want you. I don't know if any author has ever allowed me to have something. I will take the cousin to be chow because it is the best part of the summer I turn pretty. It is. And I will fight you on that. It is not Belly and Conrad.
- [36:55]
D
It is.
- [36:55]
B
It is the beach house.
- [36:56]
C
I do love it.
- [36:57]
B
Like, you're like.
- [36:57]
C
You're giving me like dagger eyes. As you say.
- [37:01]
B
You Know why? Because did you guys see there was a great edit. I don't know if it was a YouTube or a TikTok or what, but it was. It was that final scene of the summer I turned pretty. But it was to the tune of succession. And it was like. It was really about Belly wanting the beach house. Yeah, listen, she got it. She did what she needed to do. But I do that. There is something about that. Again, it's New England. It's Nancy Meyers. It's hydrangeas in the yard.
- [37:28]
D
It's.
- [37:29]
B
You walk outside the beach. Just you. I've been convinced. I'm convinced that I would be such a healthy person, like physically, emotionally, if I could just look out my window and see that. I think I would just. It would immediately drop my blood pressure. I would be the. I would be the most Zen Ringo version of myself if I got something.
- [37:48]
D
I'm just saying though, a nor' easter is coming.
- [37:51]
B
Okay, but you do think I could handle it? Because I feel like back down the hatches. Like I could do that. Like I said, knives again. We don't need power, just cozy blankets. Like.
- [37:59]
A
It'll be fine.
- [38:00]
B
Yeah. Goals. It'll be fine. Yeah. Thank you.
- [38:04]
D
You're welcome.
- [38:06]
A
Okay.
- [38:06]
B
Did we get them all? I think that's gonna catch em all. Yep. Okay, so now should we each. Do you wanna recap, Ashley? Yep, I'll recap. And then after that we can vote, basically. So be listening up. Cause you're gonna vote for your favorite ensemble. Yes, that's right. All right, so Hunter has the Orchard house from Little Women. Monica's apartment in Friends, the cottage from the Holiday, and Lorelei's house in Gilmore Girls. Wow, you scored. Look, you're swaying the crowd.
- [38:33]
A
I'm sorry.
- [38:34]
D
I didn't do too bad either.
- [38:36]
B
Okay, Amy, I got a lot of.
- [38:38]
D
Head shakes on the homeowner.
- [38:41]
B
If you can afford the Home Alone house, you can afford to renovate it.
- [38:44]
D
Sell it and buy something.
- [38:46]
B
Not the game. That's not the game. All right, Amy's picks are. The father of the Bride house, the Home Alone House, Nick Parker's Napa Vineyard and the Parent Trap and Emily Cooper's Parisian apartment.
- [38:57]
D
I mean, yeah, I mean, your locations are great, good locations.
- [39:01]
B
All right. And Annie's choices are Kathleen Kelly's apartment and you've got mail. The house in the Family Stone, the cousin's beach house in the Summer I turned Pretty. And Green Gables from Anna. Frankly, that's not bad. Not bad? That's actually pretty good. There's no losers no. Who picked these houses? She did a great job. Okay, so please vote with your applause for Hunter. Okay. Amy. Oh, Amy Jones. Okay.
- [39:39]
C
Jordan is like half of this.
- [39:42]
B
Turning all the way down. Listen, wait, who was it though? I hear a tie. It feels like a three way tie. Do we need to. How can we break this? Should we do it again?
- [39:54]
D
We can each select now one from our set that we already have and.
- [39:59]
B
Make things a little unknown. Oh, like in just one house to rule them all. Okay. All right.
- [40:08]
D
I forgot what I got.
- [40:08]
A
I know.
- [40:09]
B
Okay, I'll start. I'm just going at Kathleen Kelly's apartment. That's what I'm going with. That's what I would take.
- [40:15]
D
I'm gonna go with the Napa vineyard.
- [40:17]
B
Okay.
- [40:21]
C
I'm gonna go with. I'll go with Lorelai's house and Gilmore Girls.
- [40:24]
B
Okay. Okay, let's try this again. Lorelai's house and Gilmore Girls.
- [40:29]
C
I knew. I knew this was gonna be a good day.
- [40:33]
B
Two people for Hunter. Nick Parker's Napa vineyard. Kathleen Kelly's apartment.
- [40:46]
D
It's Nick Parker. You are all invited.
- [40:50]
A
My new.
- [40:52]
B
What do you call it? My new Year. Yeah, your new wine.
- [40:55]
D
My new wine will be out and.
- [40:57]
B
You are all welcome to. Okay, thank you. That was delightful.
- [41:05]
A
If only.
- [41:05]
B
If only any of that could come true, I would feel so good about my life decision.
- [41:09]
D
This wasn't real.
- [41:10]
B
We didn't get real estate. I did think it would be a funny, like little thing to put in reader retreaters. Tote bags would be like Zillow listings for Thomas Hill Houses. A partner with a local real estate agent. I feel good about that. Okay, so it's time for questions. And if you've got some here in person, I have some to read off. But before that, if anybody would like to raise your hand, we have something special for the first one to two people. Yeah, one to two brave people. If you would like to ask any of our panelists, ask a question. Let's start. Amy, I read your first book, Far and Away. I've been here and met you and you were on my to be read listen for years. But when Far and Away came out, I read it and I loved it. And I recently went back and read Small Admissions and I loved it too. So now you're my new favorite author. What should I read next and what order should I read them in?
- [42:08]
D
I think you should read Musical Chairs next. Just because it's kind of closest to my heart. I really. That's my favorite. It's about the hometown that I live In. And the house in that book is my house. The castle in that book, we call it the Castle is my friend's house. And it's just. It's about adult children moving back home. And that seems to be happening a lot these days. So.
- [42:33]
A
Yeah, that's.
- [42:34]
D
And it's about music, but it's really about people.
- [42:37]
B
Thank you.
- [42:40]
D
Oh, and after that. Wait, so you. Did you read this one?
- [42:43]
B
Sweet Spot. No.
- [42:44]
A
No.
- [42:44]
D
Read the Sweet Spot.
- [42:45]
B
Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [42:48]
D
And the Sweet Spot is maybe going to be a motion picture. We shall see. Fingers crossed. But it's been. The script has been written. Amazon has bought it. Now we're just waiting to see if they actually approve moving on to the next step. So that would be really fun.
- [43:06]
B
Yeah.
- [43:08]
D
So you did leave Far and Away, right?
- [43:11]
B
Yes, she read Far and Away. Thank you. And we provided our prizes, which was so nice. What a. What a hostess. Okay, well, you have a house like.
- [43:23]
D
Mine in Napa Valley.
- [43:28]
B
Sorry, did I.
- [43:29]
A
No, no, no.
- [43:30]
B
You're all good. Okay. Any other questions before I move on to what you guys have already asked on our little Lopez up.
- [43:39]
A
Hey, friends, it's Annie. If you're looking for another bookish show to add to your listening cue, check out the Webby Award winning daily podcast, Totally Booked with Zibby. It's hosted by my 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, she sits down with the best and buzziest authors to share work that's truly worth your time. And that's not all. Season two of Totally Booked Live is here. This time around, you're invited to be part of the live studio audience in New York for 16 incredible interviews with stars like Danny Shapiro and Susan Orlean. Every conversation will be released on the podcast feed after, so don't miss out. Follow Totally Booked with Zibby wherever you're listening. Now.
- [44:34]
B
We have another prize. We do have another prize. Oh, there we go.
- [44:43]
D
Where's Wendy?
- [44:45]
B
She's watching the Georgia game.
- [44:47]
D
Can you believe, though, that I noticed who was missing?
- [44:50]
B
Yeah, that's impressive. Sorry. Go ahead, Lisa. So, thinking about homes and the different.
- [45:00]
D
Homes you've been in, I kind of thought, like, well, what's your favorite home then? Maybe I don't apply to people who.
- [45:06]
B
Live 13 years like I do, but.
- [45:08]
D
Like, what's your favorite part of your favorite home? Like when you think about in real life.
- [45:13]
B
Yes. Like where we've lived. Like, what's our favorite part of our Home.
- [45:17]
D
What's your home?
- [45:18]
B
Okay, I'll start. And I wrote about it in an ordinary time. But it's my parents from porch swing. The house that my parents still own is where we moved when I was 10. And I love that house. I will be very sad when my parents decide to move, but it's really the porch and the swing. And when I was having a bad day or when a girl had been mean or, I don't know, life felt hard or heavy, my mom, we would sit on the front porch swing. And the creak of that swing, there's something about it. So that to me is the homiest of homes in my brain. Yeah.
- [45:56]
D
Kent, Connecticut, which is crazy because I got shipped off to boarding school there and I hated it. And then I sort of accidentally ended up in the same town like 30 years later, which is just crazy. But I moved there from Texas. I went to boarding school there from Texas. And I'd never seen leaves and hills like that, you know, I mean, Texas is really flat. And I just remember thinking in my teenage misery, I hate my life the way teenagers think. And I love this place. I really love this place. And my screened in porch, like especially like in the spring when the peepers come out and these noises that are just like, as I mentioned in musical chairs. It's just every horny amphibian out there. And I just, I just. That's my happy place.
- [46:45]
A
Yeah.
- [46:45]
D
Especially if my kids are around.
- [46:49]
C
I think this is gonna be like, very revealing of me as a person. But like, I.
- [46:52]
B
The.
- [46:53]
C
When I was very little, the first place I ever lived in was with my granny. We lived in this little trailer in Wigan. And at one point, like, she had to like rent it out for different reasons. And when we came back, it had been like destroyed. But when we came back, my granny had always been this person who knew how to make everything a little bit magical and kind of like hide all of the bad thoughts. And they taken out the bathtub. And so we had this large little container that I typically put toys in. And she would boil water on the stove and bring it and fill up this tub for me to take a bath in. And I like, I don't know why, but like, that is something that like I. Every time I think about like feeling like really tough, like sometimes I like baths and I'll kind of get back into this moment of like, touch. My angel would be playing in the bedroom, like right outside. I can hear that. And so it's like this thing where like I would just be like, in this. In my toy bin. Like, kind of like taking these baths. And it sounds like, so, like, hokey pokey, but it was, like, such a very, like, special thing to like. And even now I think about it, like, it takes a lot of work to boil enough water to, like, carry it back and forth in the kitchen, to, like, what's an act of love? And it is. And that's something, I think.
- [48:03]
B
Yeah.
- [48:04]
C
And that's. That, like, brings me a lot of comfort. Makes me think it's, like, a very beautiful part of, like, my child.
- [48:07]
D
In my mind, you were cared for. That was being cared for.
- [48:11]
B
Yeah, that was a good question.
- [48:13]
D
Great question.
- [48:14]
B
So sweet. Oh, she gets a prize. Yep. We've got a few lightning round questions. Annie, we'll start with you. What literary home would you want to live in, either from our list tonight or otherwise? I think it really is. I mean, I'll cheat a little bit, but it's either Green Gables or Orchard House. Like, to me, those. And I think that's because I read them as a child. Like, I read, like, it's those books that you read when you're a kid. But there was something about, I think, too, just Green Gables and the description of the house and the neighbors and the community there that kind of helped raise Ann. And they were so proud of her. As she grew up and older, she kind of won them over. So I guess it really is Green Gables or Orchard House of Little Women.
- [49:12]
D
I'm going to go with Beach House and Sandwich. Just because it was so homey and not fancy and just perfect for family and the dinners on the porch. And I just. I love that feeling. I just love that. But I. I will also take Mr. Rochester's mansion. What was it called again? Or Last night I Dreamt I went to Mandarin.
- [49:40]
A
Was on here.
- [49:41]
B
And then I was like, is that creepy? Mandra Lee is like, you.
- [49:44]
D
But either of them. Those two big stone houses. Like, I wouldn't mind one of those either.
- [49:49]
A
Yeah.
- [49:50]
B
Wait, what was your. What was your first.
- [49:52]
D
The beach house from Sandwich.
- [49:53]
B
The beach house. Okay. What I was going to say about that. So one of my favorite. I'm losing my voice. One of my favorite things in literature is when there's, like, a family house. Like, I think about the paper palace. Like, this house that they return to. I think one of my favorite details in Sandwich is that that's a house they rent every year.
- [50:08]
A
Every year.
- [50:09]
B
It's not a house. They don't own it.
- [50:10]
D
No.
- [50:11]
B
And that for. I finally was like, oh, something attainable Like I could rent the same house every year I don't own. You know, it's too late for me. I. We don't have a family compound on Martha's Vineyard, but I could rent the same beach house every year at St. George Island.
- [50:24]
D
And then you don't have to worry about the Nor Eastern.
- [50:26]
B
Exactly.
- [50:27]
D
It's not your problem.
- [50:27]
B
That's right. Not my problem.
- [50:29]
A
Yeah.
- [50:30]
C
Like this is not going to make any sense because I know it's not accurate. But like every time I read Telltale Heart, I always imagine my grand great grandma's house. And so like I like in my head, this is like the first thing that always comes to mind. I'm like, oh, yes, I love that. I love the home.
- [50:46]
B
And toast that house with that heart beating.
- [50:49]
A
Yeah.
- [50:50]
B
Yeah. Okay, this one is a two part question. Amy, we'll start with you since you haven't gone first yet tonight. What book?
- [50:57]
D
I'm going second.
- [50:59]
B
What book best describes your childhood and your current adult life?
- [51:04]
D
Oh my gosh.
- [51:05]
B
So I think we're asking for two different books.
- [51:09]
D
Yikes. Okay. So the best describes my childhood.
- [51:15]
B
Lord of the Flies. No.
- [51:28]
D
Something Southern. I feel like I'm trying to think of what southern story.
- [51:35]
A
I know.
- [51:38]
D
I mean, when I think of my. The little house books were so central. That was when I was a re reader. I reread those books so many times that when I think of like my childhood, that's what I associate with my childhood because I read them as I aged and then I just would start over and read them again. And in terms of my adult, I feel like sandwich is sort of that.
- [52:01]
A
Sandwich.
- [52:02]
D
I've lived that. Right. Like taking care of kids and taking care of parents like at the same time. And so yeah, maybe I would pick those.
- [52:10]
B
Great. Well, that's tough. I think I would do for adulthood. I would do. I miss you when I blink by Mary Laura Philhot. That essay collection again. I just read it and felt so seen and understood for childhood. I'm looking. We live childhood together. Like that's so I'm just trying to think what would be a book that has a. Well, okay, Harriet the Spy. Somebody mentioned her earlier today, but my brother and I would play stuff like that all the time where like we would spy on people. I would keep it in my little journal, that kind of stuff. So maybe Harriet the Spy. Yeah, that's so funny.
- [52:48]
C
No, no, it's not like it's so funny. I was thinking like, I feel like mine are like, I think my current. My adult life right now there's this book that just came out called Middle Spoon by Alejandra Barela. And I feel like that's a very accurate depiction of, like, my life where it's been at the last year and throughout adulthood. And, like, the way that, like, whenever I used to, like, try to explain my childhood to people, I tended to get them two books. One was one Oleander by Janet Fitch, and the other was A Little Lie by Hagi Yadigihara. And I feel like probably the two most like, accurate depictions, but yeah, so that's like. I think that Middle Spoon is. Middle Spoon is much lighter and funnier and more rom com y. And I definitely think that's, like, a really good one to, like, end on for my, like, choices. Okay.
- [53:36]
B
Similarly, I guess, Hunter, we'll start with you. When you reflect on your reading life, what books shaped you?
- [53:41]
C
Oh, well, one only interdependently. I also think that I'm trying to think, like, what all I wrote. Mary Poppins definitely made me assume that I would have, like, some, like, fairy godmother esque type thing come down and, like, teach me a lesson. I also think that Anna Green Gables was definitely something else. A lot of these, like, Ellen Hopkins books about, like, these children, these, like, teenagers doing, like, terrible things, like. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like, so, like, I think that, like, everything that was dealing with, like, either spirited, like, Little Women or, like, Anna Rick Gables, anything like that was definitely one side of it. And the other half was, like, people doing really illegal things at very young ages. And I think that's really shaped by.
- [54:29]
B
What was the question again? When you reflect on your reading life, what books shaped you?
- [54:36]
D
I mean, I. First, I'll say that rather than a book, there was a summer that I spent where I just. It was my reading summer. It was like a summer where I literally remember being in a house with my family, and everybody had brought books, and they kind of all ended up on the coffee table. And that was sort of like the library for the summer. And I remember thinking, wow, I'm reading a lot and reading very mature books. Like, I think I was maybe 13 or 14, and I remember reading the Slave by Isaac Balch Singer. I just remember, like, really pushing myself to read the stuff my parents were reading. Certainly books, like, forever, like, ending. Judy Blume turned me into a reader. But then I read a book by Kay Gibbons, North Carolina author who has just kind of disappeared. She had some sort of a mental health crisis. She was winning awards when she was, like, first writing books. And she's Written a bunch. And I recommend literally every single one of her books. Kay Gibbons, but she wrote a book called Ellen Foster that has stuck with me. The voice in that book has stuck with me through my entire life. Have any of you read it? Isn't it beautiful? It's this tiny book and it's this very voicey book from the perspective of a young girl.
- [55:54]
B
And.
- [55:54]
D
And that's another book I've read like so many times and recommended to so many people. You'll read it in a day and it will stay with you.
- [56:03]
B
I'm going to add that one to my. Yeah, I think for me it's so. I frequently say I love Little Women, but it's actually an old fashioned girl by Louise May Alcott. That was a book that I just loved as a kid and I have reread it since and I definitely think it shaped. Sometimes when you go back and read books from your childhood, don't you think, oh, did I borrow that from like, I thought that was my personality trait, but I did I copy that from. We read like in the last couple years, Jordan and I read together from the mixed up files of. This is basically. And all of a sudden I was, that's a book where there's an older sister to a younger brother, I believe. And I thought, oh, did I accidentally become her? Like, I thought that was a unique personality trait. Maybe I was just copying these characters. And then in adulthood it's the work of Marilynne Robinson. I think that just is completely. I mean it's what I wouldn't give to write like her. But how she writes about people similar to maybe Elizabeth Strout. I think those are the two.
- [57:01]
C
But I have to say, and I think I said this to you whenever I was reading your first, like the first round of your essays when you're doing your proposal. Like, there are so many moments where I feel like you do kind of reach that like, level. I'm telling you, like I. The essay about like when staying means leaving. Like, that one was a moment where I thought I was like, oh, I always like basking your wisdom. Like, you know, this, this is something I enjoy. That's why I love being your friend. But like, that was a moment where I've read that essay 11 or 12 times now. And every single time I like, I'm like, oh my gosh, genius.
- [57:31]
B
Like, yeah, let's high praise. That's the dream.
- [57:35]
C
Anyway.
- [57:37]
B
Okay, two questions left. Annie and Hunter, I think this one is more for you, Amy, feel free to jump in. What is your Favorite of the Concord classics.
- [57:45]
C
Oh, what's. Yeah, I already know what yours is.
- [57:48]
B
Lonesomed up. Yeah. Okay. Did you hear the thing for a second? Lonesome Dub.
- [57:53]
C
Like, okay, so here's the. Like, I. Lonesome Dub is definitely, like. It's probably my number one. However, if. If Anna Karenina had ended on Books seven, I think I'd have been like, number one. Love it. But then all of a sudden, it's like, what are we doing? Levin's here again.
- [58:11]
B
Like, what? Math.
- [58:12]
C
Like, I don't get it.
- [58:13]
B
I love him, though. Listen, that was one of the most fun experiences because we did that one in 2020. Yeah.
- [58:20]
A
The world.
- [58:20]
B
We did not understand what was happening.
- [58:22]
D
Which one?
- [58:23]
B
We did Anacren. That was our first one. So we did. And we didn't know when we decided to conquer a classic that year that the Pandemic was forthcoming. Yeah. And so. And that was like, my bucket list. White Whale o'.
- [58:34]
A
Rourke.
- [58:35]
B
And so I do have fond memories of that experience.
- [58:37]
C
Well, and we also, like, I, like, spent the entire time trying to, like, be like, oh, Anna Karena is definitely Carrie Bradshaw. Like, that was. And then, like. And you kept making the point about how Kitty and Levin were Jim and Pam from the office. And I feel like that is, like, a really accurate description of that book.
- [58:52]
B
It is. That's all you need to know about Anna Karenina.
- [58:55]
C
Do you have a favorite classic that you've Beloved? Oh, yeah.
- [58:59]
D
That was a book I was scared to read because I'm not smart enough to read this book. And I not only had to read it, I had to teach it. So I was teaching 12th grade AP Lit. And I remember they were like, okay, we're gonna do Beloved. I remember just thinking, I'm not equipped. I can't do it. And I ended up loving that book, loving the language, just being so excited to make sure students love that book as much as I did. And it just. It's. Yeah. It has just stayed with me for favor. It is so painful. I mean, it's a painful book, but it's so beautiful.
- [59:34]
C
Yeah. Love that book.
- [59:36]
B
Okay, last question. And I'm gonna tell you something after I ask it. If you were an English professor, what three books would you definitely have on the curriculum? Fun fact. I was homeschooled for, like, two years, and Annie was my English teacher, so she actually did this.
- [59:58]
D
Oh, my gosh. Can we do 1, 2, 3? You said 3 books.
- [60:01]
A
This.
- [60:01]
B
Yeah. The question is, can we do 1, 2, 3?
- [60:03]
D
1, 2, 3.
- [60:04]
B
Okay, I'll start. I'll say Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Moore. I would put that on the curriculum for sure.
- [60:10]
D
Okay. And I'm just gonna put Beloved for sure on the curriculum.
- [60:16]
C
I feel.
- [60:17]
B
Oh, I've got mine.
- [60:20]
C
Oh, do it, do it.
- [60:21]
B
Yeah, I got it.
- [60:22]
D
Oh, wow.
- [60:23]
B
Got it going.
- [60:24]
C
Yeah, you go. No, you go. I like the best.
- [60:26]
B
Gilead by Marilyn Robinson and Complete Stories by Clary o'. Connor.
- [60:32]
C
Okay.
- [60:34]
D
I'll add. I'm gonna add A Streetcar Named Desire.
- [60:39]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [60:39]
D
By Tennessee Williams. Just because I think you gotta get a play in there. And I would. I would. I would put in one of Kay Gibbons books or Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, but.
- [60:54]
B
Yeah.
- [60:54]
D
Yeah.
- [60:55]
C
Oh, God, it's so funny because I. When I first saw this, I actually thought about Savage, the Bones and Gilead and like, I was. I knew. I knew inside you're getting K back. That's true. No, I do think. I know this is like Novice. I think that I would include Fates and Fury's. I just think Lauren Groff is such a genius to me, and I think that book is something that would be.
- [61:17]
B
Fun to talk about in a class. Yeah.
- [61:19]
C
And I think I don't want to steal Beloved, so I think that I might go with sula, which I think is such a. Such a fun book. It is a really interesting book to read. And I think maybe my third book might be an. This is like more current stuff, I guess. But I think that my third one would be Edinburgh by Alexander Chee, because I think that is a nearly perfect book. And it is like, there is not a single sentence in there that is not just imaginable.
- [61:44]
B
That was a good question. Good question. Great question.
- [61:46]
C
Yeah.
- [61:46]
B
That's everything I have. Thank you guys so much. Thank you to my wonderful co host this evening. Thank you. Thank you everybody for coming to Front Porch Live. We have copies of Amy Popel's books and she will sign them for you. And so if you want to stick around and grab a copy of the book and get them signed, we'd love that. Caroline. Any other announcements will be on the part.
- [62:10]
A
Okay. From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the Bookshelf Daily happenings on Instagram, Bookshelf T Bills and all the bookstore from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, bookshelf thomasville.com a full transcript of today's podcast episode can be found at from the frontporchpodcast.com Special thanks to Studio D podcast production for production of from the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. Our executive producers of today's episode are Cami Tidwell, 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 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 from the FrontPorch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.