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Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South. I don't know why I think I'll get extra points on my deathbed for going without. I want Gus to say what he wants to know. It's okay to want everything he can imagine. Annabelle Monahan, Dolly all the Time I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week I'm recapping the books I read in March. If you like my book reviews here on the podcast, you might be interested in joining my private, private Instagram account, Annie's Five Star Books. For $50 for the year, you can become a part of my bookish community online. Through the private Instagram account, you'll get access to my book reviews, both backlist and front list titles. I host monthly Instagram story Q&As and share about the books I start but never finish. If you follow me personally online, you've seen my reviews for years. And of course, from the Front Porch listeners will always have access to these free monthly Reading Recap episodes. The private Instagram is just a place separate from the Bookshelf where I get to be more detailed with my reviews, and Five Star Book Club members can also choose if they want to order my five Star reads each month from the store. There's a quarterly newsletter option as well for the social media averse, and that newsletter goes out at the end of this month. For more information or to sign up for the 2026 group visit, Annie B. Jones writes Five Star Book Club. There's a link in the show Notes. Now back to the show. Reading Recap episodes are some of my very favorite episodes to record. Each month I review the books I read that month I have been reviewing. Gosh, I've been doing monthly book reviews on the Internet in some form or fashion I think since like, I don't know, 2010. A long time. A long time. So these are some of my favorite episodes to record. I'm also having a really good reading year. I've had a little bit of, I wouldn't call it a slump, but I've had a little bit of maybe not reading as many books, maybe not as many books that I love. I've had a slight dip in March, But I read 12 books in January, 12 books in February and I as of this recording am on track to read, I think between 10 and 12 books for March. I don't know, we'll see, but I've just had a really good reading rhythm this year. And I had somebody at a literary lunch in person, in store, ask me how I am reading this many books or, you know, what my reading life looks like. And of course, reading is a part of my job. I mean, recording these episodes is a part of my job. Hand selling books is a part of my job. So reading is certainly work to me, but also it is a lifeline. And this quarter of the year, I have really done a good job. I think, intentionally and unintentionally, of reading in multiple formats. So I've read a lot of E galleys on my Kindle. I've read physical copies, which is, of course, my preferred way to read. And then I've listened to audiobooks as well. And I think by having at least one book going in each of those formats, I think I've been able to maintain a pretty steady reading rhythm. Like I said, March, I had a little bit of a dip, but I think that's also to be expected. I mean, life kind of picks up in March. It feels like we're coming out of hibernation. And so having to refind my rhythm makes a lot of sense. Anyway, let's get started with some of the books I finished this month. One book that you've probably heard me talk a lot about at this point is Upward Bound. This is by Woody Brown. I started this book in late November, early December of last year. Liked it so much that I didn't want to read it in December. And so I put it down and picked it back up again late February, early March. It releases on March 31st. It's a collection of connected short stories, though, honestly, as I have discussed with some, I think some staff members and maybe some in person readers, I'm not sure how accurate that is. I mean, it's a novel, and so is. So is the book that I loved earlier this year called this Is Not About Us. That is a book that is connected short stories technically. But it also reads like a novel. And I do wonder if some people, you know, are turned off by the short story concept. So if that's you, if you're a reader who is like, short stories aren't for me, try this one anyway, because it is. It's a novel. It's just told in different perspectives. So Upward Bound is about a home for disabled adults called Upward Bound. It's set in, I believe, Los Angeles, California. And the setting is great. And this home is not necessarily an overnight, like a place where people live, but it is where they come during the day and each chapter of this book is a different perspective. There is this really memorable character named Tom. Tom is like movie star handsome but he has cerebral palsy and he cannot talk and so he has to communicate in other ways. There's a chapter about the lifeguard at the facility. There's another chapter about one of the caregivers at the facility. So you get a variety of different perspectives. The other thing I think is important to note about this book is the author, Woody Brown. This is his debut and he is the first non speaking autistic graduate from ucla. I was just really impressed with Brown's storytelling capabilities. I loved a lot of these characters. I also appreciated that they are flawed, complicated, interesting, and the story. The book took a couple of turns that I wasn't expecting. And so it's not just that's why I'm like it's a short story collection. But also it's not. Also it's a novel. And so I think this one is going to get a lot of well deserved buzz when it releases next Tuesday. It wouldn't shock me if it was some kind of, I don't know, book club selection through GMA or Jenna Bush Hager or Rhys. Just wouldn't surprise me if it was selected for one of those. I do think it would make a great book club conversation. It opened my eyes to a lot of different types of people who you may interact with, I interact with on a daily basis. And so I loved this one. This is Upward Bound by Woody Brown. It release releases on Tuesday. You've heard me talk about this one in summer. I'm sorry, in spring. Literary first. Look, if you attended that event, I also believe I featured it in the new release episode for March. So you heard me talk about this one, but let me just put another plug in for it. I really liked it. I suspect it could be in my top 10 books of the year, though of course it's early. But I do think this one could be in my top 10 by year's end. Next up, I downloaded the digital copy of Dolly all the Time by Annabelle Monahan. This doesn't release until May 26, so bear with me. But it totally is worth pre ordering. You know, if you're a longtime listener of this podcast, how much I like Annabelle Monaghan, how much I love and appreciate her romance novels, her romantic comedies. I fell in love with her when I first read Nora Goes Off Script and I'd like to think we've been a champion of her work ever since. Annabel was also our guest author at our March reader retreat. So we have. I think we have a friendship, a kinship. She was kind enough to blurb my book. All that being said, I am entirely biased. And yet Dolly all the Time is so good. And I think I felt this way about last year's It's a Love Story, where a couple of these romances have really given Nora Goes off Script a run for its money. Like, that was always my favorite Annabel Monaghan book. I reread that one. I loved it. But a couple of these. It's a love story from last year. And then Dolly all the Time. I really have enjoyed. Have enjoyed her work so much, and I actually read quite a few romance novels and romantic comedies over the last few weeks. And Annabelle Monaghan's work stands above the rest, in my opinion. She's scratching all of my metaphorical itches, which is gross but true. So the main character in this book is obviously named Dolly. Dolly is a single mom who takes care of everyone. In fact, I specifically finished this book and texted one of my eldest daughter friends. I'm an eldest daughter, an elder daughter. And I texted my friend, who is also an elder daughter, elder sister. And I was like, hey, have you read Dolly all the Time yet? And she hadn't. And I said, please, just tell me when you do. And so she texted me when she was done, and I said, did you not think this was the best ode to eldest daughters and to big sisters everywhere? I just felt so seen by this book because Dolly moves back to Whitfield, Rhode island, for the summer. Whitfield is where she spent a lot of time growing up. It's where her dad still lives, her dad and her brother and her sister, kind of in of course, Dolly's opinion, gets to kind of live her life free of expectation or family obligation, Whereas Dolly wants winds up having to intervene quite a bit in her dad's life. Her dad owns a seafood restaurant in Whitfield. And so when kind of something goes wrong at the house, Dolly and her son Gus move back for the summer, and they take care of her dad, the house, the restaurant, her brother. And while they are there, Dolly runs into Stuart. And let me tell you something about Annabelle Monahan. A few books ago, her protagonist was, like, this blonde guitar player. And that is not my type on any level. Any level. Any level at all. And yet Annabelle Monaghan made me like him. Not love him, but like him. When I was first reading this book, I came across Dolly and Stuart's kind of meeting. And I thought to myself, well, surely this cannot be the male lead. Like, this cannot be the romantic love interest, because his name is Stuart. And I just thought, there is no way I am going to be able to fall in love with a character named Stuart. And lo and behold, I did. So Stuart and Dolly knew each other when they were kids. And what happens next is Dolly needs financial help to help fix her dad's repair, her dad's house, her childhood home. And Stuart is. His last name's Whitfield. He. Whitfield, of the same name as the town. And so. And so Stuart needs Dolly's help, kind of. They enter into this fake dating type pact because of course they do. And Stuart's like, I'll pay you. We'll get your roof fixed if you will just help me go on these dates. And so that. That is the plot of Dolly all the Time. I loved the summertime setting. I loved the Rhode island of it all. I loved the seafood restaurant. I especially loved. And this is what Annabelle Monaghan, I think is really, really good at. Not only is there a convincing romantic plot line that obviously drives the whole story, but the book is filled with side characters. The relationship between Dolly and her son Gus, I just adored. I just adored it as a new mom of a boy. And I've often wondered what kind of mom I will be to a little boy. I loved Dolly and Gus's relationship. I also loved Dolly's relationship with her dad. I loved the small town, small business aspect of the book. There are a lot of side characters, a lot of side plot lines that I find really realistic in Annabelle Monaghan's books. And I think they add a lot of depth to an already pretty fun romance. But they add an element of realism to her books that I really like. So it would be tough for me at this point to rank Annabel Monaghan's books. But I loved this one. I loved this. I will reread it probably this summer because it is a very summertime book. I was honestly just desperate for something to read and I didn't want to break my reading rhythm. And I saw that this was available as a digital galley, and so I immediately downloaded it and I was going to save it. And this is what often happens with me. I was going to save it until a better season came along. But alas, I could not. I did not have any self control. I do not have any self control when it comes to Annabelle Monaghan books. And I loved this. It is Dolly all the time releases on May 26th. I do think there is some overlap between Nora. Nora goes off script. And this one because Nora is also a single mom. And maybe it's just because my own age is increasing, but I also love a love story with an older protagonist. And that is not to say that Dolly is old, But Dolly is 40, 39, turning 40. And I have found myself reading a lot of 39 year old turning 40 books. And I am grateful, I am grateful to see myself represented in literature. So Dolly all the Time by Annabelle Monaghan releases on May 26th. I loved it. Around the same time I was listening to another romance novel called One and Only by Maureen Goo. This is narrated by Gina Yee and it is a fantastic audiobook. So I really liked this in audiobook format. In particular, it was Jenna Bush Hager's pick for February. I would never have picked this up. Full disclosure, I would never pick this up. It's got a slight magical realism element we're going to talk about in a second. But I did pick it up because my friend recommended it particularly as an audiobook. She said if you're looking for an audiobook, the narrator of this one is great. So I downloaded it. And she was right. This is a book about Cassia. Cassia. Also, guys, this is another Los Angeles book. I think Upward Bound is set in LA as well. I love an LA setting. LA is one of my favorite places Jordan and I have ever visited. And I love being taken back there in books. So that was one of my favorite parts about this book. So Cassia lives in LA where she runs a business with her grandmother and her great aunt. They have this family matchmaking business. And the magical realism element to all this is that Cassia's family has always been able to see past loves and to determine someone's fated. So Cassia and her family have this matchmaking business where they act like they read people's faces and that is how they help put you with your great match. But really what they do is they kind of go back in time and they find who you were in love with in the past and they find that person in the present to find your fated. And Cassia has been told that her fated is this man named Daniel. And Cassia is speaking of protagonists who are turning 40. Cassia is turning 40 and she has yet to meet her fated. She knows his. She knows that his name is Daniel, but she has not come across him. She has. They have not crossed paths yet. And so I think on like the eve of her 40th birthday, Cassio winds up having this romantic encounter with a guy Young guy named Ellis. He's many years her junior, but they really hit it off. They have great chemistry. But she knows this is just a fling because she is waiting for her kind of one true love. Her one and only, if you will, named Daniel. Well, lo and behold, Ellis and Cassia are out one day and they see this guy who is Ellis's boss and his name is Daniel. And sure enough, he is Cassius Fated. So there's this love triangle. I would argue it's not the world's most convincing love triangle. And what I will say about this book, I love the LA setting. There's actually some really great food writing in this book. Cassia's family is really lovely. I struggle to care about the romantic triangle. Like to me it's just very clear. One of these men is more interesting than the other. That's what I will say. One of these men is more interesting than the other. And so I did not find the love triangle super convincing. But this kind of magical realism plot that I normally would not be interested in, I was very interested in it and I really liked it. So I liked that part about it. And then I loved 75% of this book. And then the last 25%, I was a little bit like, did we need this? And I would argue we didn't. But still very enjoyable four star book for me. If you need a good audiobook, I think it's great in audiobook format. I think Erin at the Bookshelf would also like this book. It is one and only by Maureen Goofy. If you're a Rebecca Searle fan, I definitely think there's some overlap here. And boy, guys, was I on a rom com kick. I was just. I don't know what was going on. I guess it was into February, going into early March. I was just reading a lot of romance, a lot of romance novels. And Annabelle Monahan is the goat as far as I'm concerned. However, we've got a debut summery rom com coming out July 27th. Okay, yes, I know, July 27th. It is called the Mashup. It's by Laura Marie Myers. Something that occurred to me as I finished this E galley. So I read this in digital format was I saw Laura Marie Meyers picture and I thought, I'm pretty sure I read her blog back in the day. And so I was very charmed to realize that. I'm like 90% sure Laura Marie Myers and I, I don't know if that's always been her name, but I think we followed each other online years and years ago. But I did not know she was still a person writing things. And lo and behold, this is her debut romance novel. It's called the Mashup and mash, all capital letters, M A S H. Because Laura Marie Myers is a millennial. And MASH refers to the game MASH that a lot of us played. Mansion, apartment, shack, or house. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Surely you do. And so our main character is Ruby. Ruby is on the cusp of a milestone birthday. I believe it's 30. But now I'm like, did I read another book about a 40 year old? I think she's 30. I think she's younger than Dolly is in the Monahan book. So, Ruby, it's the night of her 30th birthday. She's out with friends, and her twin brother and her best friend gives her this MASH game that Ruby played when she was like 13. And of course, it's kind of this great nostalgia trip. They're laughing over it. They think it's hilarious. And then the next morning, Ruby wakes up and she is in her MASH game. She's. She's living her MASH game. So if you liked 13 going on 30 or the Barbie movie, this will be so fun for you. Like, you will love this book because it is just. It is. You just read the whole thing with a grin on your face. Because Ruby is living in a mansion. She has a tie, dyed jeep, and she is dating or in a relationship with Pennsylvania. Pen is her twin brother's best friend. In real life, Ruby and Pen do not get along. She cannot believe his name was even on the game. But sure enough, he is in this. In this version of her life, he is who she should have wound up with. And so what unfolds is Ruby trying to get out of the game and get back to her normal life. And also maybe falling in love with Pen. I mean, you know, maybe. And so I can't tell you how fun this was. Romp is the perfect word. This will be great tucked in your beach bag this summer. Now, if you are not a millennial, if MASH to you and this is no shade, I want you to know there is, I mean, no shade here. But if MASH to you is a TV show that you watched while growing up, if I say the word mash and what comes to your mind is a television show set during the Korean War, this book is not for you. Now, I say it with love. I mean, I mean this without any malice. This book is not for you. But if I say the word MASH and you think mansion, apartment, shack, house, this is for you. It was made for you. It's fun. There is not a ton of depth here. There's a little bit like Ruby and Pen have some things that they have to overcome together. And there was a point in this book where I did wonder, is she ever going to get out of this game? Like, there was a point where I thought, when does the game end? But it does end, and that's not a spoiler. I just want you to know you're not going to be stuck in a MASH game forever. The whole thing is just a delightful ride and kind of unexpected and fun out of a rom com I feel like I read a lot of romances, partly because I'm not a huge magical realism kind of fan. I read a lot of rom coms. They all have similar plot lines and I want to give a shout out to Laura Marie Myers because this is very original and very fun. And if you liked the movie 13 going on 30, I think you will love this. The COVID is delightful. It is called the Mashup by Laura Marie Myers. Okay then I picked up the book Joyful. Anyway, this is by Kate Bowler. It releases on April 7th, so you don't have too long to wait for this one. The other one you will have to pre order. It releases in July. I'm so sorry, but this book releases in April. You might know Kate Bowler from her work online, her work on her podcast, her book that was a New York Times bestseller called Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved. If you're not familiar with her, Kate Bowler is a theologian, a professor at Duke University, and when she was in her 30s she was diagnosed with colon cancer and she was not expected to survive. She is alive and and doing very well. But that premise, that diagnosis, was the basis of her book. Everything Happens for a Reason. And I would argue, even though she's written some books in between now and then, Joyful, anyway, is kind of her unpacking what happens when you survive something. But now you know, the world is painful and the world is full of grief and the world is hard. How are you supposed to be joyful? Halfway through this book I did again, and I don't know, maybe it was my headspace. But halfway through this book I wondered, is this necessary? Did we need this book? And then I just want to tell you that yes, as I kept reading, I really wound up enjoying it and appreciating it and needing it. It is a little bit of a memoir, but to me it is probably more self help personal growth, which is maybe why I struggled a little bit, especially in those initial few chapters. It's more like the book Wintering by Catherine May, maybe, but maybe less nonfiction. Does that make sense if I say that? Certainly there is a lot about her personal life, there's a lot about her friendship. And I do have I. I did have some qualms with this book, however, the premise, this idea that what happens when you realize life is hard and painful and how every day are you supposed to find joy? I did appreciate that because I do think the older you get, the more things happen to you and the more you do wonder how to wonder and how to find joy. And I liked her honesty about that. I'll tell you what else I really liked. Much like the Dolly all the time mother son relationship. She writes a little bit. She doesn't write a ton, but she writes a little bit about her relationship with her son and her role as a mother and I loved that. I'm finding myself not necessarily drawn to parenting books, much like I'm not drawn to business books, but I am finding little nuggets of wisdom about motherhood in other kinds of books. And this is one where I weirdly walked away with some truths I think, about mothering, which was not something I at all expected. I think this will for sure be a Susie read, though I think Susie and I would agree it's weird to call my mom Susie mom and I would agree that not a ton of this information is groundbreaking, but is it helpful? Is it good to hear it articulated? Yes. And I think the back half, I'm thinking if this is true. I do think it is true. I think the back half is stronger than the first half. I liked this one and maybe like a lot of books and movies right now, it's a little long, but overall enjoyed. I think it'll be really good to read this spring as maybe you're turning a page like I said earlier, coming out of Hibernation, this is Joyful Anyway by Kate Bowler. It releases on April 7th. Next up, another book that I think you're going to hear me talk about next week on from the Front Porch, but I also featured it in Spring Literary First Look Cleo Dong Would Rather Be Dead. This is by Mai Gwyn. She wrote the book Sunshine Nails, which came out of a couple of years ago. A few years ago and I really liked that book. It didn't get a ton of buzz, but I liked it this is her newest book out on April 14th. This is going to be a hard hand sell and you'll know why in just a second. But I really loved this book and I think it is beautiful and redemptive and it is very hard to read. It was very hard for me to read but I really loved it and I'd love for you to read it too. So the main character is Cleo. Cleo goes to give birth to her first little girl named Daisy and Daisy dies shortly after being born. At the same time, Cleo's best friend is giving birth across the hall and of course her child survives. So not only has Cleo faced this horrific reality, this horrific tragedy, but she now pretty regularly comes face to face with her best friend who has the thing she thought she'd have. The book is very sad. There's no getting around that there is this horrible tragedy at the center of this book. However, the publisher is billing it as darkly funny and I will agree there are some very funny parts. Cleo goes to her daughter Daisy's funeral and while she is there, the funeral director approaches her and lets her know there's a job opening at the funeral home. And of course, a few days later, Cleo, in the depths of despair and not quite sure what to do next, feeling aimless, purposeless, she decides she's going to apply for the job and go to work at the funeral home, much to the dismay, I think, of her husband. And working at the funeral home is Cleo's way of attempting to get back into the world. You get Cleo's grief, you get the grief of her husband, you also get the grief of her parents. And I really think Mai Gwyn did such a good job of showing how different people and different personality types cope with loss. The funeral home aspect of this book is funny. Cleo meets, of course, this quirky cast of characters. It almost. There are some chapters that almost feel like a workplace comedy. In particular her boss, Kenneth, who very much reminds me of the boss from Kerry Winfrey's Faking Christmas. Kenneth is kind of an oddball and he has assembled this very quirky group of people who all work at the fun home. And those parts of the book are the funniest parts of the book. Mai Gwyn did base this book on her own loss and her own grief. There's a really beautiful author's note in the back of the book and I will say I had moments where I was reading this one where I thought, should I keep reading this? You know, I'm relatively I'M only nine months postpartum. I did sob at my dining room table reading this book. Certainly Mai Gwyn is articulating and she herself lived through what would be most of our worst nightmares. And by the end, I was just so glad I had read it. I was so glad I read it. The writing is outstanding. The storytelling is profound. I think it's beautiful. It's tough subject matter, so I don't know what kind of buzz it's gonna get. I don't know who's going to buy this one, but I wish you would. I wish you would. I really think it's worth and again, there are redemptive stories in this book. Like there are redemptive plot lines. You don't just sit in the heaviness forever. And so I really liked this one. It is Cleo Dong Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Gwyn. It releases in a couple of weeks on April 14th.