← From the Front Porch
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- [00:02]
Annie Jones
Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. You want to know who did it, but that was never the question. Or it was never the right one. Women are rarely in receipt of what they are owed. T Kira Madden Whidby I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. Today, I'm joined by the Bookshelf's operations manager, Olivia and Bookshelf floor manager Erin, to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in March. Do you like hearing from Olivia and Erin each month? Well, what if I told you there was a way to have book selections by Bookshelf staffers like Olivia and Erin delivered to your door? Each month, our shelf subscription program offers just that. Each month, members of our team select their favorite book of the month to mail out to shelf subscribers. There's a local pickup option, too, for those closer to home in downtown Thomasville. This year we're offering two adult shelf subscription options. There's the Annie Lots of Literary fiction and nonfiction, and the Revolver Revolving Shelf Subscription, perfect for the adventurous, eclectic reader. Revolving Shelf subscribers will receive books chosen by Olivia, Shop Mom, Susie, Shop Dad, Chris and Nancy. And this year, if you are more of an audiobook listener, we have you covered with our audiobook subscription offered in partnership with our friends at Libro fm. You'll receive digital audiobooks selected each month by Bookshelf floor manager Erin. For more information about our shelf subscription program, including kid lit options selected each month by me and my son Isaac, you can visit bookshelfthomasville.com pages shelf subscriptions or simply click Shelf Subscriptions at the top of our homepage. There's a link in the show notes, too. This year is the 10th anniversary of our shelf subscription service, and we're so proud of what literature we send out into the world each month. If you love our tastes here, I suspect you would love them delivered to your mailbox, too. And it's a great, consistent way to support our indie bookstore. Now back to the show. Hi guys.
- [02:36]
Olivia
Hello.
- [02:37]
Erin
Good morning.
- [02:40]
Annie Jones
Only when reading that copy do I realize what a tongue twister shelf subscriptions is. To really enunciate, yes, the multiple S's and sh sounds is
- [02:55]
Erin
a test.
- [02:56]
Annie Jones
Yeah, it feels. It reminds me. Yesterday I was doing story time and I was just trying to riff until like one group had arrived, but the other group was like a block and a half behind and I was like, okay, what do I need to do? So we just sang the Alphabet song. And I find myself, especially now that I sing it to Isaac, being very L, M, N, O, P like that. You can tend to really do that all together. And I find myself really enunciating. Lmnop just kind of goes all together. And yesterday I was like, I wonder if these kids notice how I'm really enunciating this for them.
- [03:28]
Erin
That feels like a theater thing to do. Like L, M, N, O, P. That's what I felt like.
- [03:33]
Annie Jones
I was like, wow, I'm really leaning in.
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Olivia
In their head, they're like, wow, she's really good at the Alphabet song.
- [03:38]
Annie Jones
Yeah. I bet they. That's about they. I bet that's what they're thinking.
- [03:41]
Olivia
100%.
- [03:42]
Annie Jones
Okay, so we are here to talk about books releasing in March. As we go through these new releases, you can keep in mind that Olivia and our new online sal sales manager, Perry, every month is something new. They have made browsing our podcast book selections so easy. You can go to bookshelfthomasville.com, type episode571 into the search bar, and you'll see all of today's books listed ready for you to pre order or purchase. You can use the code New release, please at checkout to get 10% off your order of today's titles. Okay, I'll get us started with a book that actually. Olivia, have you finished this one yet?
- [04:24]
Olivia
No, but I just got to the last section. Okay, now it's really picking up.
- [04:28]
Annie Jones
Okay, so I am gonna talk a little bit about Whidbey. This is by T. Kira Madden. It releases next week on March 10th. I really liked this book a lot. This is for fans of Fox and notes on an execution. Olivia and I debated via gchat last week about who was gonna talk about this one. I do. I'll be Olivia. To get your perspective, this does feel more literary than traditional suspense thriller. I don't know if that's just in my head.
- [04:58]
Olivia
No, for sure. Agreed. There's no parentheses.
- [05:01]
Erin
Yeah.
- [05:02]
Annie Jones
There's no quotation mark. Oh, quotation mark. There's no quotation. She was doing Punctuation mark.
- [05:07]
Erin
She's doing it.
- [05:09]
Annie Jones
She was doing it. This is video recorded, so they know now that you're.
- [05:12]
Olivia
I am very tired. Just want to point that out.
- [05:16]
Annie Jones
Oh, yeah, there's no quotation marks, which I forgot. Once you get the rhythm of it, you forget that. But it was the first thing another reader mentioned to me, and I was
- [05:24]
Olivia
like, oh, you're right.
- [05:25]
Annie Jones
There's no quotation marks. It's also just Slower paced in my mind than a typical. For me what would what I would consider a typical genre, suspense or thriller if you're not familiar. So this is a book, it is told in 3ish different perspectives. You have Birdie, Lindsay and Mary Beth. Birdie is kind of, at first, at least kind of our main protagonist. She's a young woman moving to Whidbey, which is an island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, I think off the state of Washington. And she is going, and you get the sense she's going to kind of retreat, hide for a bit. Turns out she is the victim of childhood sexual abuse and assault and she definitely has some PTSD and some issues from that childhood trauma. She also recently has discovered a new best selling memoir by the woman we know as Lindsay. Lindsay was also a victim of childhood sexual abuse and assault. The same perpetrator of those crimes abused both Birdie and Lindsay. But Lindsay has written like this best selling tell all memoir about it. And so Birdie is kind of surrounded by Lindsay's perspective. Lindsay was also an older victim, which kind of is an interesting thing that maybe I had never thought about before, but kind of to unpack. And so Birdie feels like she needs to retreat because everywhere she goes is Lindsay being interviewed, Lindsay's book on the airport shelves, et cetera. And then while we get those victims perspectives and then both of them dealing with that in very different ways, which I appreciated, we also get the perspective of Mary Beth. And Mary Beth's son is the perpetrator of the crimes against Bertie and Lindsay. And so certainly you get, you feel, I think some, I won't quite say camaraderie, that's not there. But I do think you try, you're trying to understand Mary Beth's perspective as she grapples with what her son has done. Can she admit what her son has done? Can she understand the victims, etc. So we get these three pretty unique perspectives and then maybe underlying it, the truest part that is, or the part that is most suspenseful to me or that kind of propels the plot because it's really quite character driven. But what's propelling the plot is that Mary Beth's son has been found dead after a hit and run and he's been living at kind of this halfway house, but he's been found dead and they're trying to figure out was it an accident, was it like a victim of his crimes, etc. I liked that a lot because anytime I felt bogged down in the details of this book and to me, this book was very heavy. You know, Olivia and I talked in person last week, I guess, you know, to read this at the same time as the release of the Epstein Files. And like, it was very heavy and weighed on me far more than Fox did, which I think was interesting. The Joyce Carol Oates novel that came out last year. So this one was really heavy and it took me a long time to get through it because it was so heavy. It wasn't a book. I was like, ooh, can't wait to get home and read that. Like, that is not how I felt. But that underlying mystery element did help kind of propel the novel forward. I do think this novel is beautifully written. I also think it would be a great book club conversation in that you're kind of unpacking the criminal justice system. Is rehabilitation possible? I mean, those are some questions this novel is grappling with. And then what are the effects of trauma on different people? Is one reaction to trauma fairer than the other? Anyway, lots of kind of heavy questions at the root and heart of this book. But I really did like it. That is Whidby by T. Kira Madden. It came out. It comes out next week, I will say.
- [09:14]
Olivia
Along with figuring out who actually killed Calvin. What's keeping me going too is the Marybeth storyline. Cause at first I think I was a little nervous about it. Cause I was like, I don't wanna feel bad for her. I mean, she lost a human that' but like, that human, that's also hard.
- [09:33]
Annie Jones
Yes.
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Olivia
And so you're waiting for her to just make some sort of acknowledgement of what her son has done. And I currently am still waiting.
- [09:44]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I think I'm not done. Well, I mean, I think that's what's so interesting. And it is weird to read now. I have not noticed my reading life change very much post Isaac. But it is interesting to be reading this book now as the mother of a son and to think how far would my love extend like, or understanding. Perhaps it's not even love, but understanding. Like, at what point would you acknowledge, oh, my son is in the wrong, like he did something wrong. And to what extent are you responsible for that? Which I think this novel does deal with. I don't know that Mary Beth is dealing with it, but the novel deals with it well.
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Olivia
And she's clearly very close with her son.
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Annie Jones
Yes, still they are.
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Olivia
Yes, they are very close. Which is also super interesting because I don't know, I just would have removed myself a little bit maybe.
- [10:35]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I'll also Say the Calvin. Calvin doesn't so much get a storyline, but you get his storyline through Mary Beth, more or less. But even, like, the criminal justice aspects, I did kind of fact check. I think I said this maybe in store, but I fact checked some of this with Jordan because there are places and names referenced that I wondered, is this a fictional name? Is this a fictional halfway house? Is this a, you know. And Jordan was like, oh, no, all of that is real. Like, Jordan doesn't. Doesn't deal a ton with the criminal justice system. He more deals with civil justice in the work that he does. But he was like, oh, no, that's a recognizable name. That person lobbies the legislature. That, like, he, like, he recognized that. And I appreciated that level of detail because there were a couple of times where I was like, is this true? Like, do. Do sex offenders really live under a bridge in Miami? And the answer is yes. Yes, they do. And anyway, I found that to be really interesting, especially as it relates to Mary Beth. And we also get some from Mary Beth's sister's perspective, which I thought, I think is interesting a little bit later in the book.
- [11:39]
Olivia
So I want to know if the gas station that's Christmas themed that Mary Beth works at is real.
- [11:47]
Erin
She dresses like an elf every day.
- [11:50]
Annie Jones
It is such a weird detail. Do that detail's in there just to lighten the mood.
- [11:55]
Olivia
Did it lighten it enough?
- [11:56]
Annie Jones
No, it did not. This book is so. This book is so dark.
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Olivia
It's real dark. It's real dark.
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Annie Jones
It's so dark.
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Olivia
But is it real?
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Annie Jones
I don't know. I don't know. Now I'm curious. No, that's the one detail, Olivia, I didn't fact check.
- [12:09]
Olivia
All right, well, if you could get on that, that would be great.
- [12:11]
Erin
Yeah, I'll let you know.
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Annie Jones
I'll report back.
- [12:15]
Olivia
Okay. We'll take the sharpest turn we can. My first book is middle grade already, so different. If we're going by release order, this is the one that I have to do first. I am so sorry for this turnaround, but this is Phoenix by Kimberly Brubaker. Bad Bradley.
- [12:36]
Annie Jones
Also a tongue twister.
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Erin
Yeah,
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Olivia
you guys might know her, though. She's the war that saved my life. Oh, yeah, yeah. And she's written. She wrote another one that I read, too. She does a lot in, like, World War II era. This is not that. This is a horse girl series, which you might be like, Olivia, are you a horse girl?
- [13:01]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Were you ever.
- [13:02]
Olivia
No, no, still not. I, I, I have no strong opinion about horses whatsoever. But I thought I'd give this a try in the vein of like Saddle Club and like Horse Diaries. I was just like, why not? I mean, kids love this stuff. And it was so good because I also trust this author. So it was really good. This is about an 11 year old girl named Harper. And I'm gonna preface with this middle grade book is probably 10 and up just because of the plotline that I'm about to tell you. But she had a semi traumatic experience at school where she went to school one day and found out that her dad was having an affair with her best friend's mom.
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Annie Jones
Oh, no, no.
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Olivia
Who lives across the street from her.
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Annie Jones
Oh no.
- [13:47]
Olivia
And she's pretty sure it was her best friend. That's that told everybody. Cause her best friend is like completely avoiding eye contact. Won't sit near her, won't engage at all. And so it was a pretty horrendous day for her. And she goes home to her mother and was just like, I can't go back to school. And her mom was like, okay. So they pack a couple bags and they go rent this little tiny house that's right on the cusp of a horse stable where this woman does like horse riding lessons. And she trains horses and raises them and whatnot. And so her mom and her just kind of retreat a little bit. They'll like sit on their back porch and watch the horse lessons with the kids while eating. Sounds delightful, right?
- [14:32]
Annie Jones
Sounds ideal.
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Olivia
Honestly, she has always claimed she didn't like horses because her best friend didn't like horses. And now she's finding out that she actually does like horses. And then a horse is dropped off on the farm when everyone's away for this competition and she starts to like. She claims that it's hers now. Cause she's very headstrong about certain things. You can tell that she needs some sort of control in her life. And this horse that was just dropped off because it was like on the verge of dying is now hers. She literally had the men in the truck who dropped off the horse, she had them write a note that was saying, this horse is hers.
- [15:12]
Annie Jones
Spunky.
- [15:13]
Olivia
Yes, exactly. We like Harper a lot. And so now she's like trying to rehabilitate this horse while also like cautiously making friendships because she's not sure if she's gonna stay here. And she's a little bit nervous about just getting hurt again by other people. And she hasn't really told anybody what's going on. And so a lot of things come to head at the end of the book, like, a new girl comes to the horse stable, which I can tell, like, that's gonna be the next book, is, like, her story. Oh, yeah, yeah. But it was really well done because it was dealing with such deep themes, and you just feel for Harper, but she's such a real kid in that. Like, she makes mistakes. She says some hurtful things occasionally, but she knows how to go back and be like, that wasn't the best form of me. Let me take that back. It was really, really good. And it was so short. It went by so fast, which was both fun and sad because I would have had more of that. But there's more to come. It's the first in a new series, so.
- [16:17]
Erin
Okay.
- [16:18]
Olivia
Yeah, it was very fun. It was called Phoenix by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and it's out March 3rd.
- [16:24]
Erin
Was Phoenix the name of the horse, or do we have to read it to find out?
- [16:28]
Olivia
No, I'll spoil it.
- [16:29]
Erin
Spoil it for us.
- [16:30]
Olivia
Yes. She named the horse that because phoenixes get reborn, and the horse is, like, on the verge of dying when she finds it, and so she wants to, like, give it a new life.
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Erin
I love that.
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Olivia
Yeah.
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Erin
Do you think a horse girl is a personality, or does it really have to involve horses? What do we think? Like, you think it literally has to be a girl, that.
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Olivia
I think it has to involve horses.
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Erin
Okay.
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Annie Jones
I think it has to involve horses, too. I think what's interesting is, like, I read Saddle Club, and like, sometimes I'm like, oh, was I a horse girl? And, like, I definitely liked horses. Like, I. My. I don't know. My dad. My grandparents were from Kentucky. Like, I was interested in that. But then, like, in high school or middle school, I wasn't anymore. And, like, there was a girl who really was a horse girl.
- [17:18]
Erin
Right.
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Annie Jones
Who owned a horse, rode horses, and, like, wore her cowboy boots to school. Like, that's horse girl. Right.
- [17:27]
Olivia
Well, and, like, if. To be fair, too, if you own a horse, it's a lot of work.
- [17:31]
Annie Jones
Like, you have to be a horse. You have to be a horse girl. Yeah.
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Olivia
Yeah.
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Annie Jones
But, like, she really.
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Olivia
Saddle Club was like, we were there for the drama.
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Annie Jones
Yeah. Or, like, not the horses.
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Erin
Yeah.
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Olivia
Or we were just.
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Annie Jones
I. I was there to, like, it was like, Babysitters Club, where it was like, there are four different girls with each with a distinct personality type. I'm a Stevie. Like, that's what it felt like. Like, it was like, which one are you?
- [17:54]
Olivia
I can't believe you remember the name Stevie.
- [17:57]
Annie Jones
Totally, totally known.
- [18:00]
Olivia
Everyone remembers their childhood so well.
- [18:02]
Annie Jones
Here,
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Erin
Stev. Uh, I've just always wondered, like, could I be a horse girl? Even though I. We did have a horse growing up. But I don't think I. I don't think I could be a horse girl. Where did you find her horse? It was my sister's. We had a little stable thing for it out in the backyard.
- [18:23]
Olivia
What.
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Annie Jones
Why have I always pictured, even childhood Aaron living in her current house? Like, it never occurred to me that she's lived anywhere else in Thomasville. Just.
- [18:31]
Erin
We lived a lot of places. But I know my. When I was a teenager and my sister was like a tween, we had a horse and it was really my sister sisters, but it was there. So I'm like, does that make me a horse girl? I don't. I don't think so.
- [18:41]
Olivia
Did you take care of it?
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Erin
No, not.
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Annie Jones
Did you write it?
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Erin
I mean, someone took care of it. It just.
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Olivia
Maybe you were like horse girl adjacent.
- [18:48]
Erin
I was horse girl adjacent. Yeah.
- [18:50]
Olivia
Yeah.
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Erin
But I don't even think my sister was a horse girl and it was her horse.
- [18:54]
Annie Jones
So, I mean, I do think that's the thing. Right. It's a very specific person.
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Erin
It's like a lifestyle.
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Olivia
Right?
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Annie Jones
I think it's a lifestyle.
- [19:01]
Erin
Lifestyle, yeah. Not just because you have a horse. Anyway,
- [19:06]
Annie Jones
just throw that out there.
- [19:09]
Erin
Okay. My first book is called Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hawkhouser. It comes out. It's actually out already. March 3rd. This is. Honestly, I didn't realize that this is what it was until I was about a fourth of the way in, and then I felt stupid. I didn't see it before, but it's a reinventive imagining of, like the Cinderella wicked stepmother story. But it's from the point of view of the wicked stepmother. Who is Lady Tremaine. Her full name is Lady Ethel Dreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley. She has had. I know. So talk about tongue twisters. She's had a wonderful life. She had a wonderful upbringing. She was married to her first love and they had two beautiful daughters. And then he passed away. And of course, being, you know, the time period that it was. They don't give the time period, but it's like sort of understood. It's just when women had no rights and were basically just only had titles and names if they were married to, you know, to someone who had those. A man who had them himself, but when he passes away, they're sort of left with all these bills and his parents are like, hey, you can't stay here. You know, you've got to go basically leave this house and go fend for yourself, because he didn't leave you any money and all this stuff. And so she, in a moment of both, you know, care for her daughters and desperation, finds another man to fall in love with. Doesn't really love him, but she realizes this is just for money and protection. But he has a young daughter about the same age as her daughters. And then, of course, as the Cinderella story goes, he passes away and she's left with her own daughters and then a stepdaughter who doesn't like her. And we meet her when the girls are all teenagers and are coming of age and are of marriageable age. So she's determined to help them find, you know, good husbands, but. And one of her daughters meets the prince, and it's all looking great, like, yay, she met the prince. This is gonna be their salvation. But in a very weird and bizarre turn of events, he just forgets that daughter and then starts to court her stepdaughter, which is. The stepdaughter is, like, awkward and weird, and no one understands why he all of a sudden is, like, falling in love so deeply with the stepdaughter. So she becomes suspicious. This is Lady Tremaine. She becomes suspicious and starts to investigate by asking around and putting clues together why this prince might have fallen so quickly and so hard for this girl. And it turns out that she goes to see the queen, who is actually someone that Lady Tremaine has known her whole life. It's a girl who she sort of had to compete with for the love of her first husband and Lady Tremaine. 1. But the girl who then becomes queen has never forgotten it. And they sort of have this big beef between them. But she goes to see the queen, and it turns out that there are. And I won't spoil it, but there are some really dark sort of family secrets that the queen is trying to cover up by specifically having the prince married to the stepdaughter. So, again, that's all the story I'll tell. But it. You know, the tale itself, like I said, it's as old as time. It's the wicked stepmother. But you. It's not the typical scheming. We're not. You don't. Cinderella in this. The stepdaughter in this story is not the star. It's Lady Tremaine. She is. She's resilient. They really, you know, fully fledged her out as a character, and she is someone that you can see truly cares for her daughters and just Wants the best for them. Not in like, I've got to get you married off scheming kind of way, but just like, I truly want you to find love and to be safe and to be happy. And she'll do whatever it takes to make sure that that happens for them. Even if it ends up not being that they don't marry someone, she wants them to be happy. So she's bold. She know what she wants. And it was just really good. The. I will say the end. I've talked to a lot of people about this since I posted about it and I read it. A lot of people were like, the ending was kind of cuckoo. Like it. The ending is a little bit crazy. It's like this whole story. Then at the end there's like a lot of stuff that happens that you're kind of like, whoa, what just happened there? But I listened to it on audiobook. It's a great audio. Um, and this book got a Kirkus starred review. So kudos to Rachel for writing this story in an inventive way that's subtle enough that you could read it and maybe not even see it as a Cinderella retelling. But if you do see that, then I think you can see how different it is from that type of story and enjoy it for what it is. So that's Lady Tremaine. Rachel Hothouser. It's out already.
- [23:46]
Annie Jones
I'm so glad you talked about this one because I've been seeing it a lot of places, but I honestly couldn't tell what it was about. Like, I couldn't tell, is this like a British royalty story? Like, what is this?
- [23:56]
Erin
I went into a very low expectations too, not knowing what it was about.
- [24:00]
Annie Jones
And I think because weirdly, like Laura Tremaine, the author, like, that's who I kept thinking, like, weird. I was like, what is the connection here? And obviously there's not one, but I was very curious about it. So I'm glad to know and could be fun for people. I'm about to. Well, what. I guess by the time this comes out, I will have finished Bridgerton Season four.
- [24:17]
Erin
Oh, I just finished last night the first four episodes.
- [24:20]
Annie Jones
Yes, I loved it. I'm loving it. I don't think critics are liking it, but I love it. So. Okay. My next book is also one Olivia. I don't know yet because I haven't read it. But I do wonder if this one will be for you as well. I can't tell.
- [24:34]
Olivia
I know what one you're gonna talk about and I already have the Arc. Cause I pulled it. Cause I was like space.
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Annie Jones
Okay. Yeah. So I pulled this as well. The publisher must have sent a couple of copies cause I think I got a physical arc as well. So this is Celestial Lights by Cecile Penn. This releases on March 24th. It looks fantastic. I'm going to tell you about it, but I will say I do not understand how this author packed all this in under 300 pages. Part of the reason it was appealing to me is because it is so short looking. And this has gotten. I don't remember if they're starred reviews, but it has gotten positive reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. And then she was the author. Cecile Penn was long listed for the women's prize for wandering souls. So The Challenger exploded January 28, 1986. That was a few days before I was born. And so soon after that launch, the Challenger falls into the sky. I mean, it was this devastating event. Children everywhere were watching it live on tv and it is the day that Oliver is born. So Celestial Lights really is all about Ollie. Ollie spends his childhood in England. He kind of feels like. Because the challenge. I mean this is kind of odd, but honestly, I think it's how kids brains work. The Challenger exploded on his birthday and he now is obsessed with space. And that is his personality. He almost feels fated for it. So his room is covered in glow in the dark planets and stars. And he becomes an astronaut. And then a billionaire asks him to lead a mission to a distant moon. And so Ollie has to make this choice that not only affects him, but could affect the whole world as he kind of trains for this mission. And then it goes back. My understanding is that the story then kind of goes back into his past, follows him on his trajectory to becoming an astronaut. And so I don't know, part of me, I've been seeing a lot of previews for project Hail Mary, which I'm very excited about. So part of me was like, oh, is this gonna be. I don't know that it is gonna be full suspense, like sci fi vibes. I can't tell from the book's description if it's skews more literary fiction because it's about Ollie himself. But I wonder if it'll be like Asia Gable Lightbreakers, where there's like a sci fi component at the heart of the novel. But then the novel is kind of about this character and the decisions that he makes. I am super intrigued by this. Again, I do not understand. I think I looked it up and I mean, I pulled it off my shelf it's not long. It's like 280 pages, which is. This is a lot to cover in that span of time.
- [27:09]
Olivia
And it's small. Like, it's not a trade paperback size. Like, it's a small book. Yeah.
- [27:15]
Annie Jones
So I will be interested to see kind of how she does this. But I was like, oh, my gosh. I think this could be potentially an Annie and Olivia and Erin, maybe. There are some books that, like, all three of us, I think really like. And the Asia Gable comp was at least what I came up with based on what I'm reading about this book. But I've pulled it. I will report back on what I think that is. Celestial Lights by Cecile Penny.
- [27:37]
Olivia
It's one of those that I'm like, I'm worried. Is there enough space for me? I don't know. That's how I felt about Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I was like, I don't know that there is enough space.
- [27:48]
Annie Jones
Yes. Yeah.
- [27:50]
Olivia
And that's okay. Not every book is for me, but this next one is. It's Everyone in this bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson.
- [28:00]
Erin
I've been waiting for this.
- [28:01]
Olivia
I know. This is Ernest Cunningham, number four.
- [28:05]
Annie Jones
Oh, my gosh.
- [28:06]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [28:06]
Annie Jones
That was fast.
- [28:07]
Olivia
Yes. Well, because there's Everyone in my family has killed somebody. Everyone on this train is a suspect. And then I think it's everyone this Christmas has a Secret.
- [28:17]
Annie Jones
Oh, right.
- [28:19]
Olivia
Yeah. It is a Christmas novella. But Benjamin makes a note that, like, it is still technically the third in the series, even though you don't normally count a Christmas novella.
- [28:30]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [28:31]
Olivia
This, just like the other ones, has that, like, fourth wall break, which I just think is so well done in this particular series because it's so clever and it's hilarious. There were moments where I was laughing out loud in this one. Ernest is going to a bank because he's trying to get a loan from the owner of. It's a small bank. He's trying to get a loan from the owner of the bank to start his own detective agency, which he's there with his wife. And we're all kind of like, is that a great idea, Ernest? Because you almost die every time you
- [29:03]
Annie Jones
try to solve every case. Every case.
- [29:06]
Olivia
And while he is there, the owner of the bank is basically like, okay, we'll talk more about this loan if you can solve the mystery of where my brother went. Because he's been gone for, like, a couple of days now, and Earnest can't resist.
- [29:21]
Erin
Convenient.
- [29:22]
Olivia
Convenient. A lot of things in this book are convenient. And Ernest does Note that shortly after that conversation, a bank robbery starts and everyone is held hostage. And Ernest, in his true earnest self, is like, there's something at hand here. And there is multiple things at hand here. This is one of those. And also, Ernest is writing this book from a safe that he is currently locked in and, like, slowly running out of air.
- [29:53]
Erin
No. Yeah.
- [29:55]
Olivia
So he's writing this to also help him process and figure out what's going on and who did what. So you're figuring it out yet again at the same time as Ernest, who is an honest and reliable narrator. And it's just so much fun. Again, I laughed out loud at multiple times there were two cases of spontaneous
- [30:16]
Annie Jones
combustion, like in Bleak House.
- [30:24]
Erin
I didn't know there was spontaneous combustion of bleakout.
- [30:26]
Olivia
I'll leave it there, everybody, because I think from here on, you're gonna want to read this book.
- [30:31]
Annie Jones
That enough. That's your. That's your hope.
- [30:33]
Olivia
The only downfall that I could find with this book is that Uncle Andy, who you might know from the first two books, was nowhere to be found here. And I love Uncle Andy so much. I would read an Uncle Andy book.
- [30:46]
Annie Jones
I think maybe he'll do a spin off.
- [30:48]
Erin
Yeah, yeah.
- [30:49]
Olivia
Benjamin, if you're listening,
- [30:55]
Erin
I'm. I just love when the whole premise of these books is that it's a locked room mystery, right? So you just gotta keep figuring out places that people can be stuck in together. So I'm always just like, where will it be next?
- [31:06]
Olivia
Yes.
- [31:07]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [31:07]
Erin
The grocery. Grocery store, the dentist office.
- [31:09]
Olivia
He does address that. He's like, this is wild that this has continued to happen.
- [31:13]
Annie Jones
It keeps happening to me. That's what I like. It's very tongue in cheek. Like, it's like an acknowledgment of the tropes of the genre.
- [31:20]
Olivia
Yes, exactly.
- [31:22]
Erin
Isn't it like. Like Murder, She Wrote, which I never watched, but it's like all these murders keep happening in this very, very small town that she's got to solve. And you're like, why are there so many murders per capita? You ever thought that she lives. Yeah. Okay. I can't wait to read that one. I. If you have the arc, when I have time, you can share with me and I'll read it. No. No arc. All right, I'll find it myself.
- [31:45]
Annie Jones
Publishers, if you're listening to Desperation, the
- [31:49]
Olivia
In Our Voices sold so many of those books.
- [31:54]
Erin
Okay, this. My next book is called Once and Again by Rebecca Searle. It comes out March 10th. I loved her previous two books, which were expiration dates and One Italian summer. She has other books, but those. That's where I started with my Rebecca Searle journey. I love her books. They always involve some sort of magical element. And that's also what you get with this book but in a new way. Like expiration dates was. The story was like she has this, these papers that tell her when she meets a new man, whether that how long their relationship is going to last. So that's like magical. One Italian summer, a girl travels to Italy with her mom and then ends up like going back in time and meets her mom as her, as her younger self. So I loved that book too. But this is about Lauren. She's a 37 year old wife to Leo. She works as an accountant and they're struggling with infertility. But the thing about Lauren is that her and her mother and her grandmother all have this secret which is when they're born, they receive a little box and it has a silver ticket in it. And they are allowed to use it once in their life to go back and change anything they want. Like they can, they can use it for anything they want. They can just use it once to go back and change something. So we know pretty quickly at the beginning of the book that, that Leah. Sorry. That Lauren's mom used it to save Lauren's dad. Lauren's dad died in a car accident and her mom used the ticket to go back change the day where he stayed home safe. And the only people that know about that are Lauren's mom, Lauren's grandmother and now Lauren now that she knows about the secret. So she's been holding the secret her whole life that her dad really wasn't supposed to be there, but he is because of this ticket. And so now she's got the same burden on her which is when do I use this and why do I use this? And so it is a, there is a little bit of a romance. Her husband Leo works in film and he gets this job in New York. So he moves there and while he's there she moves in with her parents and her grandmother. And while she's there she makes some questionable decisions with an ex boyfriend of hers who lives there. I think they're, they're living on the California or like the west coast somewhere. But again she is, she's grieving the infertility so it causes her to kind of not be the person she wants to be while she's there. But I love, what I love about this book is it's. I'm only about halfway through, but it's A fast read. And it is short. I think it's about 250 pages. 200, maybe 260. But it is. There is a romance plot line. So if you are someone who likes a romance plot line but you don't want it to just be romance, or you're someone who likes magical realism, but you don't want just. Just that this is a great combination where you get a little bit of both. You get a lot of character development while also getting a pretty heavy plot as well. So it just, it could just have gone into the genre of just, oh, they have this ticket. And isn't that a fun plot line? But it is really about how does that feel when you've. When you. And it kind of shows the point of view from her grandmother, her mother, and now Lauren, how they've all had to deal with this weight, the joy, but the weight of having this ability to go back and change things that could change their world and also change the world at large. So it's really, it's really a good book. I can't wait to finish reading it. It's called Once and Again by Rebecca Searle.
- [35:21]
Annie Jones
I like the sound of that. It almost feels like, well, like some of her other books where there's like. It's almost like the Measure or something. There's some. Because then you can ask yourself, well, what would you do? Like what? Like, it's a good kind of book club hook too.
- [35:33]
Erin
It feels like sort of like in the vein of like the Measure by Nikki Ehrlich, but like without being as science, as sci fi as that one is.
- [35:43]
Annie Jones
Okay. My next book, I loved this book releases on March 31st. It is called Upward Bound by Woody Brown. I started this months ago and loved it. I loved the first chapter so much that I put it down because I was like, I'm gonna read this closer to the release date so I can talk about it accurately. First of all, I think what's important for you to know is that Woody Brown, the author, is the first non speaking autistic graduate from ucla. And so this book, Upward Bound is all about. It's fiction all about an adult daycare center and it houses Los Angeles's disabled community. It is for most of the inhabitants, not a place they really want to be. Like some other books I've read this year, which. This is interesting. I don't know if this is a publishing trend or what, but this is a collection of connected short stories. So it's a novel about Upward Bound, but each chapter is told either from One of the client's perspectives or one of the caregivers perspectives. And I loved it. Oh, I just was so kind of intrigued and curious and then in awe of some of these characters. There is a non speaking character. And so I think Woody Brown is really trying to let you know what it's like to inhabit and to have that experience where you definitely can communicate, you definitely can think for yourself, you can make decisions for yourself, but you're not able to speak it. And that was something I had not really given much thought to. And so this is my favorite kind of fiction where it kind of makes you put yourself in another person's shoes and makes you think, oh, what would that be? Like? You also, you know, the. The center itself, this upward bound facility is kind of dreary, kind of drab, but you also get the perspective of. It's almost like reservation, right where you get this perspective of, okay, like, who's running the ship? Why is it kind of this way? Oh, right, they're beholden to, you know, financial burdens or whatever. Like, so you get, you get a variety of perspectives and thoughts and feelings. There's a wonderful character named Tom who has cerebral palsy. And he also like has all these beautiful thoughts and feelings, but he cannot kind of articulate them in the traditional ways we articulate things. And he kind of has a crush on Anne, who's this new summer lifeguard at the facility. Ultimately, you get Anne's perspective. I thought this was so beautifully written first of all, and then just opened my eyes to a community and a world that I don't think gets a lot of attention or, and at least doesn't maybe get a ton of literature where you get a variety of different perspectives. I think sometimes like the book the Made or something where you get one character's perspective. But this was fascinating because you get a look at it at some different disabilities and what they mean for communication, emotions, emotional depth. This, I will say this is a gut punch of a book. There are some things that happened where I was startled because it is a feel good novel. But there are also tragic components. There are comedic components. So I felt a lot of things while reading this book, so I'm not gonna spoil any of it. But there is a lot to unpack in a pretty, again, pretty short novel told from all these different perspectives in the short story collection. And I loved reading about Woody Brown. I kind of went on a. Not a full deep dive, but like I googled about him because I was like, this is fascinating. And his ACKNOWLEDGMENTS were really interesting, like how he wrote the book and kind of the teachers that paid him attention and kind of helped him hone his craft. Anyway, Upward Bound by Woody Brown. This releases on March 31st. I loved it.
- [39:36]
Olivia
That sounds good. I'm glad you talked about it, because I had just glimpsed the COVID like, a couple of times now, and I honestly thought it was nonfiction.
- [39:43]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Yes, Short stories, fiction. But I think probably maybe at least slightly autobiographical, particularly in the case of one of the characters I definitely think is perhaps supposed to be a stand in for Woody himself.
- [39:54]
Olivia
So short stories that all relate to each other.
- [39:58]
Annie Jones
Yep. I loved it.
- [40:00]
Olivia
Okay. You might like the next one that I talk about.
- [40:03]
Annie Jones
I'm curious about this. I saw this.
- [40:05]
Olivia
It's for sure literary, and it is character driven. But I will say I didn't notice that it was character driven until the very end of the book, and I will get to that point. But this is called the Fountain by Casey Shezka. I did look up how to pronounce that name because the spelling is.
- [40:22]
Annie Jones
Spelling is hard.
- [40:23]
Olivia
There's a lot of consonants, not a lot of vowels.
- [40:27]
Erin
Yes.
- [40:28]
Olivia
But this is about a girl, a woman. A woman named Vera. And she is immortal, along with her brother and her mother. They are all immortal. And that's about as far into, like, fantasy as this book goes. Just the fact that they are immortal. It happened at some point in their lives. They don't know when they're born in, like, the late 1800s, but one of them, they would get injured and immediately heal. And they were like, how far does this go? And things happen for them to find out that they could die and not die. But essentially now we're in the present day, and Vera is basically like, I'm ready for this to be over. It's been too long.
- [41:11]
Annie Jones
I'm tired.
- [41:12]
Olivia
Yeah. When you have to move around so much and she's not making permanent connections with people. Their mother went MIA like, a long time ago. And at this point, her and her brother live such separate lives. They only. They have one day a year that they call each other and catch up on what's been going on. So Vera decides that she's going to return back to the town where she was born and figure out what made her immortal. Like, they think that it was some sort of, like, creek or spring that they either, like, bathed in or drank from, that it was just the three of them that this happened. So she's going around and testing all of this water to see if it makes her Mortal again, basically, if she ingests it. But while she's there, she also like finds home with these people. She lives in a small house that's connected to her childhood home, which this couple now lives in. And they're very nice. They're. This is like upstate New York. They're from the city. They're starting a cidery and they befriend her. She befriends like a lot of the locals. Like Janet is the postal service woman. Like that. It's. It's really. It's really fun. Like, this is very like small town antics. The point in which I realized that this was literary fiction was when I.
- [42:32]
Erin
You. You were too late gone by that point.
- [42:34]
Annie Jones
Too far gone.
- [42:35]
Olivia
Too far gone and too far invested and care. So I. I am like three chapters, maybe two chapters away from the end of this book. And they are still talking about starting this cidery. They have been building it, this whole book. And I am like, this has nothing to do with her being immortal. Why are we still not compare? And it's because it's character driven. And we're looking at the lives of small town people and how she found home with them. And it is beautiful. Like it is very intriguing, very well done. When she moves to town, the big momentous plot point is that this company has moved in as well. And they're starting to buy up land and housing areas and they're called the fountain of youth. And so now she's like, this obviously has something to do with what happened to me.
- [43:30]
Erin
Yeah.
- [43:31]
Olivia
And she's also trying to stay like covert about what's going on and who she is and that she's actually from here and that she's immortal as well. And so stuff starts happening with that. But it is. It is so good and so intriguing. And again, it doesn't feel fantasy at all. It feels highly literary. But in a way that I am able to understand what's happening. I am not lost. I am there for it. I'm having a great time. Even though I am pretty sure that this book is going to have some sort of ambiguous ending. And I'm okay with that.
- [44:06]
Annie Jones
The true bark of literary fiction. It just leaves you right there.
- [44:09]
Olivia
Exactly. And I will be okay with that because I have enjoyed this book so thoroughly.
- [44:15]
Erin
Wow.
- [44:15]
Annie Jones
Okay. I think I have the arc of this one, so I'm gonna. Thank you. I will move it up my list. Cause I was curious about it, but I didn't know if it. The COVID is kind of odd and it made me think it wasn't for me.
- [44:26]
Olivia
But yeah, the COVID looks dark, and I don't think that this book is very dark.
- [44:30]
Erin
As dark as that. Yeah.
- [44:31]
Olivia
Yeah. Because it's not that she wants to immediately die. It's that she just wants to live out the rest of her life, as it were.
- [44:39]
Erin
Right. In a normal fashion.
- [44:41]
Olivia
Yeah. Just like everybody else.
- [44:43]
Annie Jones
I know that we are. I know that this isn't the conversation to have at 45 minutes in, but I do. I do just want to say that one of my questions about the genre like this, like the Tuck Everlasting genre, if you will, is if you can't die, can you age?
- [44:58]
Olivia
She does not age.
- [45:00]
Annie Jones
So it's the point at which she bathed in this or whatever. Like, that's the point at which she stopped.
- [45:06]
Olivia
Yes, correct.
- [45:07]
Annie Jones
Oh, interesting.
- [45:08]
Erin
Okay, Think about Edward Cullen. You know, I mean, certain things.
- [45:11]
Olivia
Like, her mother was dealing with some sort of, like, arthritis when this happened to her. And all of that went away because her body. So, like, they can't even get tattoos because their skin just heals itself.
- [45:23]
Annie Jones
Fascinating. Okay.
- [45:25]
Olivia
Yeah. So would you do it? I would.
- [45:28]
Annie Jones
No.
- [45:28]
Erin
No.
- [45:29]
Olivia
Okay. All right. That's fine. And that's their own. That's all right.
- [45:35]
Erin
Again, maybe not a conversation at 45 minutes, but I. I don't. I don't. I think I would be like her. I think I'd be like, this is not fun anymore. Like, it's fun for a little bit. Like, if you're a kid and you're like, your parents say you can eat as much candy as you want, and then you do, and then you're like, I immediately regret that.
- [45:50]
Annie Jones
So I think what would be hard is watching everyone else die, which I'm sure is what she talks about. But, like, I would be like, where. Where are my people? They're gone also.
- [46:02]
Erin
Right. She is.
- [46:04]
Annie Jones
I don't want to meet new people.
- [46:08]
Erin
Well, like Olivia said, you have to
- [46:09]
Olivia
move the amount of lives that you could live.
- [46:12]
Annie Jones
That's true. You could live a lot of lives. You could make a lot of different decisions, which. That would be the plus. But I. I mean, again, as Erin alluded, like, maybe just sitting here today, would I want to keep living forever? Not after the week I've had guys,
- [46:30]
Olivia
and that's there.
- [46:34]
Annie Jones
Well, I will. Okay, I'm gonna move this one up my list. It does sound really good.
- [46:37]
Erin
I know. What I love, too is that you say, olivia, you're not a character driven person. But I do feel like the middle grade and chapter books you read are usually highly character driven. And you really enjoy those. So, you know, give yourself credit for being more of a character driven person than you think.
- [46:52]
Olivia
That's very fair. Thank you, Erin.
- [46:53]
Erin
That's right.
- [46:55]
Annie Jones
Therapy. Therapy with Aaron.
- [46:58]
Erin
Okay. My last book is one Annie's also read, too. It's called this Story Might Save youe Life by Tiffany Crumb. To be fair, I had another book I was gonna talk about, and I just could not get through it. I won't mention what it is because it's a highly popular author. I had to pivot back to this one. But because I love this one so much, I. I will say what format. I listened to it at the end because the story itself is still good. This is about longtime best friends Joy Moore and Benny Abbott. They've. They've been, like, platonic, you know, sort of will they, won't they? But they've been platonic friends and decided to start this podcast together. It's a podcast with the same name. This story might save your life. It's like a comedy survivalist podcast. Like, they talk about different scenarios. Like, how would you survive if you were locked in a safe in a bank where there was a.
- [47:49]
Annie Jones
When you. When you listened to this or read this, didn't you think. Think, oh, my gosh, this is a podcast that was made in Olivia's, like, Fever Dreams.
- [47:56]
Erin
Like, I listen to it for sure. It's got the flavor of, like, how to do everything. Like, the ones that you like to listen to. And so it does it. They probably get into the nitty gritty of, like, how would you survive being, you know, eaten by a bear or whatever? So you wouldn't survive that, but you know what I mean? But things start to happen. They're on the brink of signing a deal with this major podcasting network. They're, like, right at the cusp of. Cusp of their popularity, and Joy comes to Benny and says, I need to take a break from podcasting. Like, like, suddenly. And then the next day, she's missing. And so Benny is obviously, like, okay, something is up here. This is not like her. And her husband is also missing, too. And so he starts to investigate. Police get involved. And so you get this story as it unfolds from Benny's current point of view, like, from the point that Joy goes missing and Ford. And then you get Joy's point of view from these chapters of this yet unpublished memoir that she's writing with Benny about their rise to, you know, podcasting fame and how they've dealt with it and all that. So you're Getting a little. A lot of backstory about their friendship and their relationship through those. Through those chapters. So it is a. I hate to cut. It's not like a murder mystery, but there is a mystery aspect to it where you don't know where Joy went. You don't know who's responsible for it. There's a lot of clues and Benny's trying to unravel it. There was also a. Joy had a stalker at one point, so there's like multiple suspects about who it could be. But I really. I really enjoyed the twists and turns. You know, at the end of the day, I think Annie would agree. Like, it sort of. They sort of have to wrap it up quickly at the end. And some things kind of feel like. Like, like really that's how you wanted to finish it. But I will say that I listened to this on audiobook and now, friends, we are a print bookstore, so I do want you to buy this book, but if you get the chance and go to our friends at Libro FM and. And purchase this on audiobook too. Because it is the audiobook experience for this. Because it is a podcast based storyline. They have X excerpts from like, as if there really is a podcast that they're doing. And I. Their vocal chemistry was so good that I believed that these were two people literally who were friends, who had a will they won't they who, you know, really genuinely liked each other. And it was a podcast I would listen to. I was like, make this podcast. I'll listen to this with these two people. I think it's Julia. Am I wrong? Was it Julia Whelan?
- [50:36]
Annie Jones
It's Julia Whalen.
- [50:37]
Erin
Female. And then the guy. The guy also was sounded. It was pretty recognizable voice.
- [50:42]
Annie Jones
His voice was recognizable too.
- [50:44]
Olivia
Yeah.
- [50:44]
Erin
Yeah, he had a really great voice. But it's a great audiobook. Again, it's not like probably going to win any sort of awards, but it's. But it kept me reading and to me that's the mark of a good book. So it kept me wanting to know what's going to happen. Where is Joy? Are she and Benny ever gonna get together? Like, you know, it's sort of that there's a little bit of romance, but it's. I wouldn't call it a romance book.
- [51:06]
Annie Jones
I would either.
- [51:07]
Erin
It's really more about the podcasting and their friendship and then of course, the disappearance. So I really enjoyed it. It makes a great audiobook. And it comes out March 10th.
- [51:18]
Annie Jones
I thought it was great. It reminded me in some ways of that one didn't we all three do listen for the lie. Yeah, it reminded me a little bit of that. I loved this one. I had some qualms with the ending, sure, but the reading it experience was fun. Like I was hooked. Like I wanted to know what happened. I really liked it. Yeah, okay. Those are some good books. And as usual, I'm walking away. You'll both be pleased to know after last month's episode, I read Warning Signs, which was an Olivia pick. And I read Good People, which was an Aaron pick. And so this month I'm like, oh, I think I'm gonna read the Fountain and once and again. So stay tuned. Stay tuned. As we said at the top of the episode, if you are interested in any of these March new releases, you can go to bookshelfthomasville.com and type episode571 into the search bar and you'll see all of today's books listed. You can use code newreleaseplease at checkout to get 10% off your order of any of today's titles. This week I'm reading Look what yout Made Me do by John Winchester. Olivia, what are you reading?
- [52:25]
Olivia
I am reading Devious Prey by Scott
- [52:27]
Annie Jones
Rankin and Erin what are you reading this week?
- [52:31]
Erin
I'm listening to Escape by Stephen Fishback.
- [52:39]
Annie Jones
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the Bookshelf's daily habits happenings on Instagram, ookshelftville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website bookshelf thomasville.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, Beth Martha Linda, Lee Drost, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Farrell, Jean Queens, Jamie Treadwell, Joseph Shorter iv, Nicole, Marcy, Wendy Jenkins, and Kimberly. Thank you all for your support of from the Front Porch. If you'd like to support from the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and helps us reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for from the Front Porch, scroll down until you see, write a review and tell us what you think. Or if you're so inclined, support us. Over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support, each level has an amazing number of benefits, like bonus content, access to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to patreon.com from the front porch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.