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- [00:02]
A
Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South. The men were fighting a losing battle unless sea pressure on the sub was decreased and the only way to do that was to be closer to the surface. It was a rock and a hard place decision for o'. Kane. Risk being destroyed by depth charges or drown Tom Klavan Running Deep I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf and Independent Bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week I'm chatting with Shop dad and Literal dad Chris about his favorite recent reads and books for your own fathers and father figures. Do you love listening to from the Front Porch every week? Spread the word by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. 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, then tell us what you think. Here's a recent review. I love this podcast and how Annie manages to address the book needs in an ageless manner. There is something here for people in various life stages, and that's not always the case with book reviewers. What I'd like to see coming up is some narrative nonfiction choices. For example, I loved Seabiscuit, the Boys in the Boat, and Destiny of the Republic. Truth is sometimes more illuminating and entertaining than fiction. Well, I hope this listener is here today. Or maybe the reviewer was my own father, because I bet we'll have some nonfiction recs for you today. Thank you so much to all of the reviewers who've left kind words and thoughtful reviews of our show. We're so grateful anytime you share from the Front Porch with your friends. Thanks for spreading the word about our podcast and our book bookstore too. Shop dad is actually my literal dad, and for the last couple of years he's been picking books as part of our shelf subscription program. He doesn't appear on the podcast quite as often as shopmom, but we like to do these annual episodes in honor of Father's Day, which can be a tough holiday for book buying if our in Store customers are any indication. Welcome back to the show, dad.
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B
Well, thank you very much.
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A
I'm so glad you're here. Last time you were here you said we didn't laugh enough.
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B
Well, maybe so, but I would like to know how much do I have to pay in order to get on the podcast? As much as Shop Mom.
- [02:37]
A
Well, listen, you're in good company because Jordan also only comes on once a year, so you really just leave the people wanting more this way.
- [02:44]
B
Well, I probably can't come more often than I do because my reading is not nearly as prolific as Shop Mom.
- [02:53]
A
She has become quite the reader. You read a lot too, though. You read and now. So a couple years ago, you were reading every month for shelf subscriptions.
- [03:04]
B
That was a job.
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A
It is.
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B
I didn't get paid enough for that.
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A
It is a job. It is a job, people. You know what? Thank you. Say that a little louder for the people in the back. It is a job to pick a book every month for listeners, for long distance customers and readers. So now you pick what, once a quarter.
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B
Once a quarter. Except Dad's Day came along.
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A
Yes.
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B
And so I had to read another one.
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A
Father's Day kind of messes with the schedule, so. But you select four times a year now. But you read beyond four books a year and that's really why you wanted to stop reading one book every month.
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B
Right. It's helped me expand and read some things that I just want to read. So by not having to do a show subscription every month.
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A
Yeah, I'm sure that has been helpful. Okay, so if you had to describe maybe not just your shelf subscriptions, but your personal reading tastes like. When we talk about Shop mom, we know she likes. She hates the phrase PG books. She doesn't like that. She's offended. She says she likes redemptive stories. So stories that are.
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B
Did you come up with that or did you.
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A
I don't remember. I don't remember. So how would you describe your books and the books that you like? Your reading tastes non redemptive. Terrible people doing terrible stuff.
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B
No, I'm just kidding. We're trying to laugh.
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A
Yes, we're trying to laugh more.
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B
The studio audience is laughing along with us.
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A
I'm sure they are in their cars.
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B
I do a lot, kind of, I guess an equal balance between nonfiction and fiction. I love historical nonfiction. Historical fiction. We got one on our list for this time that is a kind of a historical fiction. That's probably the genres that I tend to nest in.
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A
I think you actually read more fiction than other men I know. So Jordan mostly reads nonfiction and Chet reads mostly nonfiction.
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B
Doesn't read much fiction, to my dismay, because I wish he just read some for yes. But yeah, I do read quite a bit of fiction. I find it fascinating that people can. That authors can come up with these wild stories that entertain us.
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A
Yeah. All from their imagination. I think for men fiction generally. I'm speaking generally because of the customers we see in the store. But generally men gravitate towards historical nonfiction history, which is great. And fine. But I do think there's something to be said for fiction for all of us, and I wish men read a little bit more of it.
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B
Yes. And we'll have some fiction books on today's list too, that will be of interest, I think, to some of your listeners.
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A
Okay, so let's get started. Where do you want to start today? What book do you want to start with?
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B
Well, I just want to start with this because you loaned me this book
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A
you and Mom I do love. Listen, I. They have to tell listeners mom and dad are the only podcast guests who come armed with props. They bring their physical books as if there's anybody to show that we'll be
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B
able to show it to the studio audience.
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A
And you and mom, if you can't
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B
see in the back, just raise your hand.
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A
You and mom bring us literal book stack. It's. We used to have a preacher at our old church who would pull stuff out of brown paper bags and his name was Jim Hollingsworth. And it does feel like we're paying homage to Jim Hollingsworth.
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B
My paper bag.
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A
Yeah, your paper bag. Oh, that's a great title for a podcast, actually. Okay, so you're showing us a copy.
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B
I'm showing you Pastoral Song by James Rebanks.
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A
Okay.
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B
I guess it's been a new book. It's been for a long time, but you loaned me this book and I never got around to really reading it until this past year.
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A
Oh, you've had that a long time.
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B
Yeah, I. I love this book and
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A
I knew you would.
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B
And this is another one of those non fiction. It's almost like a memoir of his time as a farmer in the uk.
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A
Right?
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B
In the United Kingdom. Yes. And he focuses a lot on the antithesis to industrial farming. And he doesn't lay claim to the fact that industrial farming is something we just got to completely get rid of because we're not going to be able to do that.
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A
Right. You can't put the genie back in
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B
the bottle for people who. And for farmers and landowners who can grow things, grow food and other things, even animals on their land more sustainably. He's all for that. And he does a great job providing you with such a great language of the picture that you just imagine his farm looking like. And those around him. And so it's. It was a very good read.
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A
And you just read it this year. I did loan this to you forever ago.
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B
Yeah, it's a long time.
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A
May 2021.
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B
Yeah. And it was just kind of sit on my. To be read list for a long time.
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A
But you liked it.
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B
And so, as a matter of fact, since I don't have to read a shelf subscription per month, it opened up this possibility.
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A
I do wish. I do wish this was a show and tell podcast, because my trademark of marking books by tearing pages is now something my whole family does. Which people hate, by the way.
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B
Yeah, I know they probably hate that. But it's a great way to do it because, you know, you don't.
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A
You can't find.
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B
When the book is closed, you can't see underline.
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A
That's correct.
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B
But I can look on that edge and say, oh, I was impressed by that sentence or that paragraph.
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A
And you marked quite a few in this book.
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B
I did. I did.
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A
But I see that you and I treat our books similarly. Cause you've got torn pages. And I think I also saw a coffee stain in there.
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B
Yeah. Does mom. Does she tear her pages?
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A
She does tear her pages. You're welcome, everyone. The chaos. Look, but see, Hunter hates Hunter doesn't even crack the spines of his book. So when he sees my books that have water stains and yours had a coffee stain, he hates that.
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B
Oh, come on, Hunter. I know you're gonna listen to this. Tear your book pages.
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A
Yeah, I think he'll feel good when he does. Okay, so that was Pastoral Song by James Rebanks. All right, that was nonfiction.
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B
Nonfiction.
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A
What you got next?
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B
Okay, so another nonfiction. The man no One Believed.
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A
Okay. Oh, I was curious about this book.
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B
Yeah. This is the untold story of the Georgia Church murders. The author is Joshua Sharp. And this occurred. These murders occurred in Georgia, 1985. The couple that was murdered's name was Harold and Thelma Swain at a black church in Camden County, Georgia. And a person by the name of Dennis Perry was arrested and convicted on just little to no evidence. And this book is about that injustice and how this author, through investigative journalism, really brought about the over turning of his conviction.
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A
Oh, okay.
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B
So Dennis Perry was. Was eventually released. And as recently as, I think in December 2024, a. Another suspect was arrested.
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A
Oh, really? Yeah. Okay, so the. Because the book. I mean, this isn't an old. This came out just recently. Ish. And so it sounds like maybe the case is then ongoing, like after the overturning. So I can trace my interest in the Innocence Project, that kind of thing, back to my work at the Florida Bar and being able to witness. I attended a claims bill hearing where one of these wrongfully convicted men was trying to get money from the state to kind of reimburse him for his time spent behind bars. And so I then became really interested in the Innocence Project. We read Picking Cotton as a Thomas county one book program. So did you have an interest in this kind of thing?
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B
I don't know. Maybe it's because of the influence of my children as much as anything. But I have also kind of picked up on a number of things that have occurred in. In our history. And I'm talking about pre civil rights time, 1950s, maybe even before the 1950s through now, where people have been wrongfully accused, wrongfully convicted. And thank goodness for the journalists that want to take up these. These stories, some of which are just providing the information that has already occurred, you know, in book form.
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A
Yeah.
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B
But some, like this gentleman, Joshua Sharp, actually was instrumental in changing the outcome. Fascinating for that wrongfully accused person. But this happened in South Georgia. Camden County's over there somewhere, I think, near Brunswick.
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A
Oh, okay. I wondered where this was.
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B
And the couple that was killed was black. The Dennis Perry. The person accused was white. They depicted it as a racist crime. And I think that the person that had. Has been arrested for it after Dennis Perry was released is also white. So it's a fascinating story. And it's interesting about, you know, that it talks about the Good Old Boy network.
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A
Oh, yeah.
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B
In the law enforcement in that area, and how they just picked up on a person that they felt like couldn't properly justify himself for whatever reason. They said, okay, this is our guy.
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A
They just need a fall guy.
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B
And we can get this one off the books pretty quick. But the inner workings and as I recall the story, and this one goes. I actually read this one. This was the first one that I read after the last time I appeared.
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A
Okay, so you read this a long
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B
time ago on the. On the podcast. So, yeah, this is a long time ago. So I'm just re remembering some things. There was a. They brought in somebody from the outside FBI or somebody who was not part of the Good Old Boy. And in spite of his efforts, they were able to convict wrongfully this other person.
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A
Interesting.
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B
But this guy, this. This person who was brought in and the author worked very closely together to bring some information to light that just reversed everything.
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A
This sounds great. And I'm a little surprised it didn't do better for us locally because of
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B
the setting, because of it, and because of the geographical location.
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A
Yeah. So that is the man no one believed. The Untold Story of the Georgia Church Murders by Joshua Sharp. What's up next? What you got next?
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B
Okay, the next one is a fiction book Entitled the Killer Wedding. Wedding. A Killer Wedding by Joan o'. Leary. This is a mystery novel. This is another one that goes back to actually in late 2025. Christine, the protagonist in this book, is a. A journalist, and she has been assigned to cover a lavish wedding at an Irish castle. And the mother of the groom was found dead prior to the actual wedding. And this kind of forced Christine, along with a local law enforcement person who developed attractions for each other. They work together to eventually solve. Solve the murder. This book really blends humor with suspense, and some people have compared it to the Devil Wears Prada and the White Lotus. Anyway, this released in late 2025. A really, really good fiction.
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A
This was a little bit outside your genre.
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B
Oh, so much.
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A
So why did you pick this one up? Were you picking for shelf subscription or was. Did Olivia read this?
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B
This was not a shelf subscription. This one is. My recollection is that it appeared in my bag of arcs.
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A
Okay.
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B
That probably was given to me to pick for future shelf subscription. And I picked it up and I have read it following the. The man who no One Believed. Just because I needed something to read.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And. Yeah, this one grabbed me because. And I. It's not one that you'd think that I would.
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A
No, I wouldn't have guessed it, really. But I do like a thriller when I'm in a reading slump or something because they're fast and you can kind of get through them pretty quickly. But that one sounds fun for a murder.
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B
Yeah, I really enjoyed it. And I would encourage all septuagenarian men out there to broaden your horizons if you're not a fiction writer and order a fiction book from your favorite independent bookstore.
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A
Yeah. Well, if not your favorite, at least the bookshelf. At least order them from us. Yeah. Okay. That sounds good. What was up next?
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B
Okay. Okay. Another fiction, really fascinating fiction by Samuel Hawley entitled, I believe it's pronounced Daikon.
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A
Okay.
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B
D A I K O, N. All right. And this is a historical fiction set in the final days of World War II. The story explores an alternate history where Japan recovers a third undetonated US Atomic bomb.
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A
Okay, that's interesting.
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B
It's really. The story is really fascinating and it's very historically accurate. If I remember the details correctly, there actually was a third atomic bomb, but it never was transported. I see anywhere. This author here kind of picks up on that actual historic fact.
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A
That's fun.
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B
And makes it part of a fascinating story. So the premise is that a B29 carrying a third atomic bomb crashes in Japan. Actually has, you know, crashes into the country of Japan and the Japanese military recovers it and taking. They grab this physicist to figure out how that they can use. They can use it. But a lot of the protagonists and a lot of the characters are Japanese type people. They have Japanese names. It was spellbounding for me.
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A
Okay.
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B
I would highly recommend.
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A
Well, that does sound really good. And I do like an alternate history. I do like to imagine different possibilities if one thing had gone differently or something like that. So that sounds good.
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B
So, you know, it explores honor and duty and love and survival in the face of war. And it kind of contrasts Japanese and American perspectives.
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A
Yes. Which I think would be valuable.
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B
That's very interesting.
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A
Yeah. Okay, that sounds great. That sounds like one I would be interested in, actually.
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B
Okay. A really, really good non fiction. Running Deep by Tom Clavin.
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A
This was the episode. This was the quote.
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B
This was from. That quote was from this book.
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A
Okay.
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B
This was for a shelf subscription, I believe. And as a matter of fact.
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A
Wait, we have it, ladies and gentlemen.
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B
Okay. I'm showing the book.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Running Deep. I loaned this book to my brother in law.
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A
Oh, Uncle Keith.
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B
Uncle Keith. And he loved it. Matter of fact, he started it. We met in Savannah. Not Savannah. We had met in Mississippi.
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A
Oh, yeah, yeah. Laurel.
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B
Laurel, Mississippi. And I gave it to him there and he started there and he said he had a hard time putting it down as well.
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A
Oh, that's good.
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B
So I couldn't help but pick up this book because Tom Clavin, I read another one of his books. Oh, yeah. Bandit Heaven.
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A
Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember that.
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B
Oh, boy. It was really such a good. Also nonfiction. But I think he's got to be one of the foremost writers of nonfiction currently.
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A
I'll have to remember that when we sell in store.
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B
Yeah. So I immediately knew that Running Deep would be my November shelf subscription.
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A
Okay. So this was from last year.
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B
Yeah. And I found it fascinating because there's so many facts in this book about World War II submarines. This is a setting World War II. And learned that when you served on a submarine during this time period, and it may still be this way, I'm not sure, but. But when you served on a submarine, it was called the Silent Service. The focus, though, in this particular narrative is on the most successful of all submarines in World War II. And the name of that boat was the USS Tang. And of course, the captain is the primary figure. His name was Richard o'. Kane. Captain Richard H. O'. Kane. And he was the captain of this. They called the submarines boats not Ships.
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A
Okay.
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B
So the captain of the USS Tang was the captain from the time it left where it was built at Mare island, in the Mare island shipyard in Viejo, California. And it was put into service in January 1943. And he was the captain of that boat until its fateful end, October 25, 1944. I'm not going to give any spoilers here, because if you know about the history of the USS Tang, then it's unbelievable, because this was the deadliest submarine in World War II. It put down more tonnage of enemy ships than any other U.S. submarine. But its end is a story in itself.
- [22:25]
A
Okay, this sounds really. I just finished a book that comes out in July called the Half Life, and it's about post Vietnam. No, I think Vietnam is like, slowly coming to an end. But it's set on the island of Sardinia, outside of Italy. But it's all about submarine, this naval base that had submarine warfare. And I learned a lot about submarine. It's fascinating. I could never.
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B
Can you imagine?
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A
No, I could never have done it. I could. I absolutely could not. It gives me the heebie jeebs just to think about.
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B
Yeah. It's an extraordinary read. And without giving anything away, the crew, many of the crew survived.
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A
Okay.
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B
But they were picked up by the Japanese and placed in prisoner of war camps.
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A
Oh, wow.
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B
And so the author was able to interview some familiar and survivors. And I don't know which would be worse, trying to live on a submarine, you know, underwater and unbelievable amounts of time or having to survive prisoner of war camp. Yeah, I'm sure that would be worse.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Anyway, it's a. It's a really, really great nonfiction. Running Deep by Tom Clavam.
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A
Great. That sounds really good. Good Father's Day book. He's got a literal list.
- [23:47]
B
He's checking out another book that you gave me.
- [23:49]
A
Yes. James by Percival Everett.
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B
When I. When I shut this book up, at the very end, I took it. Mom was on the front porch, in the front porch swing. I took it out there, threw it on the bench, and I said, best book of all time. I love this book.
- [24:10]
A
It's so good.
- [24:11]
B
This is what is just. What would you call it? Kind of a reimagining of the Tom Sawyer book from the standpoint of Jim Slave.
- [24:19]
A
Yes.
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B
And, oh, man, the way the books ends with him just saying. Finally somebody asking him his name.
- [24:29]
A
Yes.
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B
And he just says, James.
- [24:32]
A
Yeah. It's so good. It's so good. And the. I like the Huckleberry. I like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I read it in school. I do wish now, though, they would ask students to read both because I think it would be really something to read. I did not reread Huckleberry Finn before reading James, but I think if you're in high school, it would be so good to read Huckleberry Finn and then to read James. I like these books that kind of reimagine the characters that are pushed to the side or we only get a glimpse of. I loved this book. I knew you would. I'm glad you did.
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B
Yeah, I really did. And I don't know what else Percival ever has written, but I'd be drawn to it.
- [25:16]
A
Oh, he's written a lot. And I would be, too. This is the only one of his I've read. Hunter has read a lot of him, but I would like to read more as well because he's a great storyteller.
- [25:24]
B
Maybe you can get your school teacher Brother.
- [25:26]
A
Yeah.
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B
To see if he couldn't influence the administration to say, we need to get kids to read these books side by side.
- [25:34]
A
Yes, maybe. Maybe I can. We'll see what happens.
- [25:37]
B
You have influence with it.
- [25:38]
A
Well, I don't know. I don't know anymore. Okay.
- [25:43]
B
Ready to move on?
- [25:44]
A
Ready to move on.
- [25:45]
B
Okay. Another great nonfiction, Bone Valley. This is a book by Gilbert King, another really good nonfiction writer. Maybe he's written some other. Some novels. I'm not sure.
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A
I think he mostly sticks to nonfiction.
- [26:01]
B
If I'm not mistaken, the research. Bone Valley, a true story of injustice and redemption in the heart of Florida. And that's what drew me to this book. Number one, because of the name Gilbert King. Number two, Central Florida, where I grew up. This takes place pretty much in Polk County. And it's not one of those books about racial injustice. This is all about white crime. Right on.
- [26:29]
A
White crime, which is a little different. Gilbert King has written other books that focus on racial injustice. Yes. Devil in the Grove, which is so good. But this was so. I have listened to half of this book. I've listened to half of it, and I feel like I just need to finish it. I wish I'd read the physical copy, and I think I would have finished more. It is so, so well researched.
- [26:49]
B
So this is about the wrongful conviction of. Again, it's fascinating. How many wrongful.
- [26:57]
A
Terrifying.
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B
It's terrifying.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Wrongful Conviction of Leo Schofield for his wife's murder in 1987. So explores judicial corruption, systemic flaws, and the search for justice. I mean, this takes place over three decades. This guy was imprisoned for 30 some odd years. And the amount of corruption within the judicial system in that particular circuit, in that particular county.
- [27:32]
A
Infuriating.
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B
It's hard. It's. To start. I mean, I had to put it down sometimes to just to take a walk or two or to go. If I had a punching bag, I'd probably. Because it's just so infuriating.
- [27:54]
A
I think that's why I stopped. It's really good. It's excellent reporting. I didn't realize he had had a podcast, so I guess he turned it into a podcast and the podcast became a book. Or I don't know if it was vice versa, but anyway, I'm listening to the audiobook, but I think I made it halfway through. And I just. You are bogged down by the depths of corruption and incompetence. And, I mean, you're glad for people like him. Yes.
- [28:21]
B
The whole idea of retaining some. Some supposed amount of power, personal power, whatever it was in this case, this attorney that can. The state attorney that can be. It was about personal power and, you know, just no regard for the life of another person.
- [28:45]
A
This was excellent. I wish it had again, kind of wish it had done better for us in store. It's a great book.
- [28:52]
B
Yeah, it was a. It. It was apparently an expansion of his podcast.
- [28:56]
A
Okay.
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B
So he. But he really dives deep into the case. And I'm not sure whether or not when the book ended, if they had another suspect in.
- [29:12]
A
I do think they had another suspect, but I don't know if they had him in custody or. I can't remember. Well, I haven't. And I haven't finished, but they did have another suspect who sounded like he really was a good fit for the crime. But I don't know if he's been tried or not.
- [29:24]
B
Right. I think the other aspect of a lot of these kinds of books is that it's the economically deprived kinds of people that end up being, in many cases, the focus and they get the blame.
- [29:44]
A
And they don't have the money for the type of lawyer, the type of legal attention they need. Okay.
- [29:53]
B
I'd recommend Bone Valley.
- [29:55]
A
All right.
- [29:56]
B
Somebody you said you read on your opening that wanted some.
- [30:00]
A
Yeah, I think.
- [30:01]
B
Recommendations.
- [30:01]
A
I think we're getting them. They're narrative, non fiction, but back to fiction. Okay.
- [30:05]
B
For Beartown.
- [30:07]
A
I love Beartown.
- [30:08]
B
Did you.
- [30:09]
A
I did. I gave this. I loaned this to you. I think.
- [30:11]
B
I think you did.
- [30:12]
A
Yeah. Because you read Frederick Bachman, My friends.
- [30:18]
B
I did.
- [30:18]
A
Okay, so you read. That was a shelf subscription.
- [30:21]
B
That was in our previous. My last time on the Podcast. We talked about my friends.
- [30:25]
A
Yes. So I think after knowing you liked that one I loaned you Beartown.
- [30:29]
B
Beartown came before my friends.
- [30:32]
A
Yes.
- [30:33]
B
Yeah. Frederick Bachmann. This one was. This was another one of those. Sometimes you just kind of just cringe.
- [30:41]
A
Yeah.
- [30:42]
B
And get aggravated and.
- [30:45]
A
Because all about this hockey team and this. That makes a big difference in their town and in their community.
- [30:51]
B
Yeah. Not only the team, but the parents of the team members and how they wanted to keep things close. And for, you know, it's the rape of a young girl basically is part of the story. And just he did a very, very good job with imagination of the. And describing. I couldn't ever totally figure out where this was set, but. But sometimes I was came to the conclusion that it was set somewhere over in maybe northern Europe.
- [31:30]
A
Yes. Because he is right. He's Swedish. Yeah. So he's Swedish. So all of his books, I'm trying to think if they're translated or if he also writes in English. I should know that and I don't. But anyway, I think that's what I thought was interesting was that even in a different part of the world, sports. And I love sports. I love sports teams. But that culture of protection over prized players and their behavior getting ignored, their wrong behavior getting ignored. I was intrigued that that could happen elsewhere as well. You know, we fear that in the south all the.
- [32:10]
B
I think that the part of the issue that led up to this culture of protecting the identity and the futures of these hockey players in this particular culture, this was kind of like a minor league setting. And some of these kids would have the opportunity to go to a more glamorous thing. And it just. I think justice was served in the end.
- [32:42]
A
Yeah. And so this is the start. There's either a pair of novels or a trilogy. And I've not read the other ones. So if you liked Beartown. Yes. So you might want to read those other ones too. Oh, I can't wait to hear about this next one. Because we could not keep this in stock at Christmas. Really could. Oh my gosh. We sold out all the time. It was. It was the Non Fiction Book of Christmas.
- [33:09]
B
Well, I can see why we're talking about the gales of November. The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John Hugh Bacon. But most people know of the Edmund Fitzgerald by some other way.
- [33:27]
A
A song.
- [33:27]
B
A song.
- [33:28]
A
Yeah.
- [33:29]
B
1975, I believe it was. Hit song.
- [33:34]
A
Which is weird to think about that there was a hit song about a shipwreck. What. What were you guys doing in the 70s? Seems Like a weird.
- [33:46]
B
I was in college.
- [33:47]
A
It seems like a weird subject for a hit song. Who sang the song?
- [33:54]
B
Gordon Lightfoot, 1975. The story around how this song. I mean, Gordon Lightfoot apparently was really struggling at the time. Struggling in more ways than one. And I won't give any spoiler alerts here because you want to read this book, but he developed an interest in the story of. Of this ship. You know, all kinds of. And many, many, many ships sailed the Great Lakes because of the industrial ports throughout much of the. Throughout all of the Great Lakes. And these were very large vessels. And these lakes. The Great Lakes are very large lakes. And so when they have storms, they are very terrible storms. And the idea, again, trying the almighty dollar, was the primary reason why this particular accident happened and why many, many more happened on the Great Lakes. It's not. It's not just this one, but this one became very famous. Maybe it's because of Gordon Lightfoot's song, I don't know. But the story about how it became a hit is equally.
- [35:30]
A
And it's in the book, too.
- [35:31]
B
Yes.
- [35:31]
A
Oh, okay.
- [35:32]
B
It's in the book. I will just share this, that he wrote this song and it's. It's just a bunch of verses. There's a chorus.
- [35:41]
A
Okay.
- [35:42]
B
It's just telling the story. And. And it's. And it's fairly long song, so. So he didn't think that it would ever become a hit because it's just. It's too long for a typical hit. And so he brought his musicians together and they were in a recording studio and they were set to record an album for him. But he says. He says, before we get started, I just want to. I just want to do this. And these guys had not practiced. They hadn't practiced it at all. But they turned on the recording. He started singing his song. They joined in with him, of course, with just basses and guitars and strumming the chords and whatever. And that very first recording was what became the hit.
- [36:35]
A
Oh, I didn't know that.
- [36:36]
B
They tried it over and over and over again several times to see if they could get it better. But the very first recording, without any rehearsal at all, was the recording that became the hit.
- [36:48]
A
Oh, I had no idea.
- [36:49]
B
For Gordon Lightfoot. So that. That's almost. I don't know, just kind of spiritual. Yeah, that. That happened that way.
- [36:59]
A
I would really like to read this one. So it became a New York Times bestseller almost instantly. And we sold. I was. Sometimes a book like this comes out, and I naively. It's a Norton Press. So I just kind of thought, oh, the only people who will be interested in this are people who live up near the Great Lakes. And I was wrong about that. I mean, it, it probably because of the song. Yeah, yeah.
- [37:23]
B
And these, these ships are just so big and it goes into the design of these kind of stuff. This one, when it came off shipbuilding, it was supposed to be unbreakable.
- [37:39]
A
Oh. Like the Titanic or something.
- [37:41]
B
So I think that it's a good read for anybody. But if you're my age, you'll find this fascinating because you know the song.
- [37:53]
A
Good. Good recommendation. Okay, what's next?
- [37:59]
B
Okay, maybe you can help me with this one.
- [38:02]
A
Okay.
- [38:02]
B
Because I don't know what happened to my copy. So Far Gone.
- [38:06]
A
Oh, I loved this book.
- [38:07]
B
Yeah, I do remember that. I loved it. I couldn't put it down. Jest. Walter.
- [38:13]
A
Yeah. I wonder if you read this first or if I read this first.
- [38:17]
B
I think you read it first.
- [38:18]
A
So, yeah. This one was about a man kind of living estranged from his family, living on his own, like out in the woods. And then his daughter's kids show up because his daughter has like married a kind of right wing, neo Nazi esque, maybe survivalist kind of person. And somehow his grandkids show up on his doorstep. He doesn't really even know he has grandkids. And now he wants to go find and save his daughter. It's something like that. But it was a short. It wasn't long, it was a short book. And it felt like it was dealing maybe with our political moment, but also about family dynamics. And it felt like there was almost a road trip element because he's trying to go find his daughter and he's trying to interact with his grandkids. I liked this.
- [39:09]
B
And they ended up on this compound.
- [39:11]
A
Yes.
- [39:11]
B
To try to recover the kids because they had been taken by their stepfather.
- [39:15]
A
That's what it was. His daughter shows. That's what it is. I think. His daughter shows up on his doorstep and asks him to help her get her kids. I think that's right. I liked this one a lot. I thought it never felt too heavy handed. And a good story about a father. Daughter, I think.
- [39:31]
B
Yeah. He was the grandfather of the kids.
- [39:33]
A
Yes.
- [39:35]
B
Yeah. Fiction book. That's really good. I wish I had it. My copy. I must have given the book.
- [39:42]
A
Yeah. Maybe I have it. I don't know.
- [39:44]
B
Maybe I gave it back to you. I don't remember. But I couldn't go back and review that one for the podcast. But I do remember. I really Liked it.
- [39:51]
A
Yeah, I did, too. And that was another book that didn't get the praise I thought it deserved. So that was so far gone. Okay, next up. What'd you read?
- [39:59]
B
Okay, I. I picked this book up kind of between reads, too, called Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra. It's fiction.
- [40:08]
A
This is an Olivia favorite.
- [40:10]
B
She was the one that recommended it to me, and it was a very good, very good read. This book takes place in some very wintry mountain area where there's lots and lots of snow. There's a father who is so involved in his attempt to earn prestige and money and power that he's kind of ignored, to some degree, his son. But the guy's wife, the child's mother, she had trained him because of trips into the backwoods during the winter. She trained him to survive.
- [41:01]
A
Yes.
- [41:01]
B
In case he ever needed it. And did need it.
- [41:06]
A
He needs it. Yep.
- [41:08]
B
So there's murder involved. There's murder of more than one person. There's the idea of landslides, you know, snow.
- [41:19]
A
Yeah. There's a big avalanche. I felt like I learned. I read this too, and I felt like I learned a lot about kind of. Yeah. Backwoods survival in the winter. And you've got, like, a spunky kid protagonist. He's not spunky, but he's. He's a kid, but he's probably older than his age would suggest from the things he's mother taught him.
- [41:41]
B
Well, he wants a relationship with his father so badly, and that's why he's on this trek with him. But the father has also invited these business people along, and so he's more concerned about impressing the business people than he is about. But you get glimpses of how much the son wants a relationship with his father, but the son eventually is the hero and finds out that his dad has got a bad side.
- [42:17]
A
Yeah. I loved this book.
- [42:18]
B
You read it, too?
- [42:19]
A
Yeah, I liked it a lot because I liked her first book, Tracy Sierra. She wrote a thriller that I loved that was, like, about a burglary in the middle of the night. She's a great writer, and this was her new one, and so Olivia Rhett it and liked it. So then I did, too.
- [42:35]
B
Okay.
- [42:35]
A
All right, last one.
- [42:37]
B
Next to last one.
- [42:38]
A
Oh, next to last one.
- [42:39]
B
Unless you want me to talk about my shelf subscription. I just finished, and it. I don't know that people have actually. They haven't received these yet, right?
- [42:47]
A
No, but you can talk about it.
- [42:48]
B
Okay.
- [42:49]
A
Okay.
- [42:49]
B
So next to last.
- [42:50]
A
Next to last one.
- [42:51]
B
So this was a shelf subscription? Yes, the entitled of the book, the title of the book is All Carry by Gene.
- [43:01]
A
Did you look that up?
- [43:02]
B
And I probably didn't pronounce it, but I knew when I picked this. This must have been. This must have been a book that was just in of several that you had given me to choose from.
- [43:18]
A
Yes, it was for April, but I
- [43:20]
B
knew for the April. But maybe you knew. I don't know. But this is certainly the one that. That. That drew me because of the title. And I knew exactly. I knew immediately what all carry means. Of course, the title has it also on a golf tee, but in golf, there's a term called all carry that means that, hey, if you're going to hit this shot and you're thinking that it's 150 yards, well, 150 yards is all carry. In other words, don't hit it short. You're going to be in the water, you're going to be in the sand. You know, in other words, there's some sort of. Of danger as far as it relates to your score between you and your target, and that that distance is called All Carry. Don't. Don't hit it short.
- [44:11]
A
Okay, interesting.
- [44:13]
B
So this book is a. Is fiction, and it is fascinating imagination of what could happen if a set of clubs that had been designed and built for one of the world's greatest golfers, Jack Nicklaus, somehow ended up in a garage sale somewhere. And a young man decides to buy them because the guy that lives at the house is recommending them so strongly to him. He says, these clubs will change your life. Okay, well, the clubs didn't end up changing the young man's life from a golf perspective, but they ended up changing the young man's life from the perspective of his relationship with his father.
- [45:01]
A
Oh.
- [45:02]
B
Who actually ended up using the clubs, and indeed, they had magical powers.
- [45:08]
A
Oh, okay.
- [45:09]
B
So, long story short, the guy that's the father that starts using his clubs ends up playing so well that he got an invitation to the Masters.
- [45:21]
A
Oh, wow.
- [45:22]
B
At the end. So the whole last third of the book, I guess, is about his invitation to the Masters. He had. He had entered another tournament previous to that. He was a. He was basically a journalist. He was like a. A TV golf show.
- [45:38]
A
Okay.
- [45:38]
B
Host or. He was one of those people that interviewed people, interviewed players at golf courses. Well, he was a fair golfer in his own right. But when he picked these clubs up, he became unbelievable fun. And these were old clubs. And can I read the quote that I chose?
- [45:58]
A
Yes.
- [46:03]
B
Riley teed up the second ball, took a practice swing, the McGregor club head looked ridiculously small compared to the pings. And then he found the same target line as before. The breeze freshened gently toward him. When the club connected with the ball, Hardway flinched involuntarily. There was cracking, thunderous sound to it. Moments earlier, the ball had laid inert in the palm of a tree, and then in a matter of seconds, and it was transported 400 yards away.
- [46:37]
A
That's so good.
- [46:39]
B
Now, a couple of explanations. McGregor was a golf brand back in the day, and these clubs were so old. The club head, the driver. The club head of the driver was pretty small. Nowadays, you know, they're up around that big studio audience. Can you see I'm raising up these fingers? And then the term hard way is. Hardway was the caddy's nickname.
- [47:04]
A
Oh, okay. So he's who flinched.
- [47:08]
B
So great, great book about golf. And I'm telling you, if you're not a golfer, don't. It doesn't matter. You will enjoy this book. I lent it to a guy that I play golf with.
- [47:21]
A
Oh, did you?
- [47:22]
B
And as a matter of fact, he's the guy that took me to the Masters this year.
- [47:27]
A
Oh, fun.
- [47:27]
B
He goes. He's got tickets. Been going to the Masters for 50 years. He grew up in Augusta. Geor a great person to host you to go to the Master. So I got to go to the first round of the Masters this year. A bucket list experience. Well, anyway, I'd loaned this book to him and he's got a Master's memorabilia room that would rival pretty much any Master's museum.
- [47:58]
A
Oh, wow.
- [47:59]
B
That's how long he's been going and looking. He worked at the Masters as a kid.
- [48:03]
A
Oh.
- [48:04]
B
You know, when I, when we went to the Masters, I saw all these high school age kids. They in, they employ high school. They're not volunteers. They're actually paid to work at the Masters. Well, he was one of those.
- [48:15]
A
Oh, cool.
- [48:16]
B
Back in the day. And so anyway, loaning this book, I knew that either he'd think all the references to the Masters was bogus or silly, but no, he said I could not put this book down.
- [48:30]
A
Oh, good. Well, and we. I think this is the book. Isn't this the one that you got the postcard from the listener?
- [48:36]
B
Yes, I got a postcard.
- [48:37]
A
And so even if you think this isn't for you, it's just really good storytelling.
- [48:43]
B
Yeah. So you can see how much more detailed I can give a description of a book when I've just.
- [48:50]
A
When you've read it recently, maybe we
- [48:52]
B
need to do this weekly.
- [48:53]
A
Weekly.
- [48:54]
B
Monthly.
- [48:55]
A
Monthly. How many books do you read a month? We'll see.
- [48:57]
B
One.
- [48:58]
A
No. There you go. Okay. And your last book that you just
- [49:02]
B
finished, bringing that to mind. Your aunt Nina, she has read like what, 56000 pages already?
- [49:10]
A
Yeah, she keeps track of her pages, which I think is fun.
- [49:13]
B
You need to have her own.
- [49:14]
A
Well, that'd be hilarious. I should, I should. It'd be very fun.
- [49:20]
B
Last one I just read because it's also a. A shelf subscription for Father's Day. It's called the Fourth Branch. A non fiction read about this is by Don Daniel Squadron. He is a former New York state legislator and his premise is that people should be paying much more attention to their state elections, especially as it relates to the state legislatures. That this is where many of the things happen in the state legislatures that eventually are going to happen or affect what goes on at the federal level. So it's a really good read. He goes in a lot of detail about why he believes this, but he also goes into detail about the structure of state legislatures. And yeah, every state in the union, except one, has a bicameral legislature. Two houses, a senate and a house. They may be called something different, but there's two. Two houses except for one. You know which one it is?
- [50:38]
A
Minnesota?
- [50:39]
B
Nope. One more guess.
- [50:42]
A
Alaska.
- [50:43]
B
No.
- [50:44]
A
What is it?
- [50:44]
B
Nebraska.
- [50:45]
A
Nebraska.
- [50:46]
B
Nebraska has a unicameral legislature.
- [50:49]
A
Oh, so what does that mean? No Senate, no house. They just have just one. Huh, I did not know that.
- [50:56]
B
So anyway, the details here gives you some look at how states are set up differently. And even though they may have a bicameral legislature, they're also set up differently in terms of how business is conducted and how things get passed. So anyway, as a state legislator from New York, he has a lot of background and he is also the co founder of the States Project, which he eventually started devoting full time to, which is kind of one of those groups that helps people with their elections, with their funding, with their developing of campaign issues and things. So I enjoyed it. I didn't think I would like it that much, but of the ones that I was given as a possibility for
- [51:45]
A
shelf subscriptions for June.
- [51:47]
B
Yeah, this is for June.
- [51:48]
A
Yeah,
- [51:50]
B
they will like this one very much. Sarah Jessica Parker wrote the Fold.
- [51:54]
A
I am fascinated by that. I like Sarah Jessica Parker, but that is wild.
- [51:59]
B
I thought, wait a minute, is this a Sarah Jessica Parker that I'm familiar with?
- [52:03]
A
Yeah, and it is.
- [52:04]
B
And it is.
- [52:04]
A
I am curious about this one. I think it could be good too. A lot of publishers are putting out a lot of books for the 250th anniversary of America and so America's founding. So I do think this could be one. And you know, we grew up in Tallahassee or I grew up in Tallahassee and the state legislature is a big deal there. I mean, Jordan now works there, but it was a part of our lives growing up, the cycles of the legislature.
- [52:31]
B
I'd be interested in knowing what Jordan would think of this book. I'd like to. He listens to a lot of books. I don't know if it's available in.
- [52:37]
A
It will be.
- [52:38]
B
It will be. So I definitely would like to know what he thinks of this book.
- [52:43]
A
Okay. That was a lot of books. Good job.
- [52:46]
B
Was a lot of books.
- [52:47]
A
So if you want to Shop Dad's selection, we have two ways that you can read more like Shop Dad. First, his reads have their own home. On our store website. You can go to bookshelfthomasol.com collections/shop dad reads. Or you can just go to the homepage and click Featured and you can see Shop Dad's page. Did you know that?
- [53:10]
B
I did not know that.
- [53:11]
A
Oh well, there you go. You can also purchase our revolving shelf subscription and receive selections from Shop Dad, Shop Mom, Nancy and Olivia. You heard dad talk about multiple of his self shelf subscription selections today, including the upcoming the Fourth Branch. It's great for the adventurous or eclectic reader. Just visit bookshelfthomasville.com, click shelf subscriptions at the top of the page. You can also search for today's Episode number in the search bar of the store website. Today's episode is 585 and find all of the books dad talked about listed there today. This week I'm reading this book Made Me Think of youf by Libbie Page. Dad, what are you reading?
- [53:52]
B
Oh, I'm reading Homeschool by Stephon Merrill Black. I just started it and I think it's going to be a good read.
- [53:59]
A
It is good. I liked it. I read it too. From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram ookshelftville and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store 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, Beth Oliver, Linda Lee Drost, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Farrell, Jean Queens, Jamie Treadwell, Joseph Shorter iv, Martha Linares, 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 the Front Porch we're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.