Episode 341 || October New Release Rundown
In this week’s episode, Annie talks with Olivia and Lucy about the new releases you don’t want to miss this month!
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website:
My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey
Hill House Living by Paula Sutton
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library, edited by Glory Edim
The Deep Places by Ross Douthat
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
Our Table by Peter H Reynolds
Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird, illustrated by David Small
Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman
Clarice the Brave by Lisa McMann
Murder at Mallowan Hall by Collen Cambridge
Bookshop of Dust and Dreams by Mindy Thompson
Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Smile: The Story of a Face by Sarah Ruhl
The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness by Gregory Boyle
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams
The Taking of Jemima Boone: The True Story of the Kidnap and Rescue That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Thank you again to this week’s sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are passing through, I hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia: www.thomasvillega.com.
This week, Annie is reading Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King. Olivia is reading Thursday’s Child by Noel Streatfield. Lucy is reading These Precious Days by Ann Patchett.
If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
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Episode Transcript:
Annie Jones [00:00:02] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the south.
“With really good literature you’re allowed to take multiple journeys as your perspective shifts over time. It continues to resonate, as you find different ways of entering and engaging with the narrative.”
- Glory Edim, Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia.
Annie Jones [00:00:51] And today, Olivia, Lucy and I are back with October's new release roundup. We're discussing our favorite newly released titles of the month, highlighting new books without overwhelming. You're probably already daunting TBR list. Welcome back, guys.
Olivia Schaffer [00:01:07] Hello.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:01:07] Hey.
Annie Jones [00:01:09] OK. We have a lot of books to cover, so we're going to dove right in. But if you're new to this series, Olivia is our floor manager. Lucy is our online sales coordinator. I'm the owner of The Bookshelf and we are discussing our favorite new release titles kind of geared toward our respective genre preferences. Olivia will also probably, yes, highlight some children's literature because she is our kids book buyer. Yes, OK.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:01:36] I do. I do just want to say also that this is probably a good listen for like if you were an early Christmas gift buyer.
Annie Jones [00:01:45] Yes,.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:01:46] Like thinking about people you need to buy for.
Annie Jones [00:01:49] Yes. One of my things to do this week is to write our MailChimp newsletter. Mary Catherine's been doing that most of the time, but this week is my essay to right and I already I'm going to have to tell people October is the new December again, and you need to buy things now if you want them. And that includes books like I think people are thinking about that in terms of, I don't know, stuff like electronics and toys, but it's true about books too. So order early, do your Christmas shopping early. And I, yeah, I've got a couple of books on my list that I think would be good Christmas gifts.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:02:23] And the busier we are, the sloppier the gift wrapping. So like right now, you'll get the best gift.
Annie Jones [00:02:31] So true, it's so true right now we are slow and steady wins the race. OK. So I will start with mine. My personal preferences lean toward literary fiction and nonfiction. My first book is My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. This releases on October 5th. It is a debut short story collection. You may have seen a couple of these stories be published before I had not, but it includes two or three short stories, plus the novella My Monticello. All of them are set in Virginia. The author is Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. This is her debut. I loved every story in this collection. My Monticello is especially compelling. It's where the title of the book comes from, but I also really love the short story that I think the collection opens with. I think called Control Negro. This is being blurbs by Roxane Gay by Colson Whitehead. Colson Whitehead, to me, is the best comp like a lot of the stories, and the storytelling reminds me a lot of Colson Whitehead. And I mean that obviously with the utmost praise, she is writing a lot about complicated feelings about home and legacy and identity. She's obviously also talking about racial identity, particularly growing up in Virginia. So this is a great short story collection. Great for this time of year. If your life is starting to feel hectic, I think short story collections and essay collections are great for picking up and putting down reading. So this is My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson comes out on October 5th.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:04:05] Who's next? Oh yeah, yeah, you're here. It's you. OK?
Olivia Schaffer [00:04:15] My first book, coming out October 5th as well is Our Table by Peter H Reynolds, who's written a bunch of kids books. This is going to be a kid's picture book that I think is actually perfect for Thanksgiving, not Christmas, although it could be great for Christmas too, but Thanksgiving, because this is about a family that started a tradition to meet at the dinner table every night and talk over their dinner, how their day went and everything. And then little by little, the family starts to get more and more distracted by technology and news on TV and all this other thing that doesn't correlate to their family. And they don't notice that as they're more distracted, the table gets smaller and smaller and smaller. And there's one little girl in the family who rises to the occasion to help out and save the table. It's adorable. Highly recommended.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:05:10] That made me kind of sad.
Olivia Schaffer [00:05:14] It ends on a happy note, I promise.
Annie Jones [00:05:18] It sounds so good.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:05:19] But her mom should have noticed.
Annie Jones [00:05:24] This book sounds... This sounds Chris and Susie approved. Chris and Susie, the Butterworth family cared deeply about the table, and so this book sounds delightful to me.
Olivia Schaffer [00:05:37] It's adorable. The illustrations are great.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:05:39] My first book is The Lincoln Highway, my Amor Towles. Towles? Amor? What am I, what am I saying?
Annie Jones [00:05:49] I think it's Amor Towles. I think Amor Towles. I think that's right.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:05:54] It comes out October 5th and this is the author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and others. So you probably, if you're a fan of those, will have known that this is coming out. It is just a beautiful novel set in the fifties about a pair of brothers who are now alone that they've lost their home and their father and one of them, the main character, has been imprisoned for a while for a murder that is was like, sorry, it's not a murder killing that was out of self-defense. And he gets involved with these two other criminals who kind of hitch a ride with him back home and then and escaping the prison and then steal his car. And so he and his brother have to go track them down. It's just like adventure story. It's beautifully written. The characters are really beautifully and deeply written, especially the brother who has kind of OCD tendencies and is obsessed with this particular book. I just thought it was wonderful. I think you would love it, Danny, and anybody who love A Gentlemen in Moscow will love it.
Annie Jones [00:07:14] I was actually even curious as you were describing it, so it's I'm looking at it right now, it's like on my book cart here because it is one that I've put off reading just because it's little longer. And so I've hesitated. But I know you said you thought I would like it, but as you were describing it, would Olivia like it because it sounds adventure tale as well?
Olivia Schaffer [00:07:32] That's what I was wondering.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:07:34] I think she could. Yeah, I do think she could. I don't think she would rave.
Annie Jones [00:07:39] Mm-Hmm. OK.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:07:41] It's a possibility. You know, T.J. Klune.
Olivia Schaffer [00:07:48] No one is T.J Klune, just so we're clear.
Annie Jones [00:07:54] I just wondered if The Lincoln Highway was like where all of the Annie Olivia Lucy Venn diagram like could potentially collide.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:08:02] Yes, it could do.
Annie Jones [00:08:04] OK, OK, my next one. Actually, a couple of my books are reminiscent of Lucy picks, which maybe is why that was on my brain. So my my next book is Where the Light Fell. This is my Philip Yancey. It comes out October 5th. Philip Yancey is, for me, a familiar voice in Christian nonfiction. I grew up with my parents having his books on our shelves. I don't even know if I have read Philip Yancey. He just like is up there in my brain somewhere as somebody that my parents kept on our bookshelves. So I saw this one was coming out and I was really curious because it seems to be more mainstream rather than specifically like Christian nonfiction. So this is his memoir about growing up in the south to very strict Christian fundamentalist parents. I think it is going to get definite comparisons to educated and Nancy. Read this book and all Nancy would say was she handed it back to me because I was like, Nancy, you read this like in case she needed it for a shelf subscription and she handed it back to me and she said, I need you to read this book. And so I am very curious. I think Nancy liked it, but I think it was super thought provoking and interesting because of the ways Philip Yancey was raised and maybe the ways in which he grew up and became different from his parents, while also retaining some of the aspects of the faith he inherited from them. So I love books that deal with faith and doubt. I loved educated, but I feel like that's getting comped. A lot is like, This is the new educate. I think publishers just want everything to be as popular as educated was, so I don't know. But the description does sound very reminiscent of educated, but for the southern, maybe evangelical or fundamentalist community. So I will probably be reading this again, looking at it right now on my book cart, it is Where the Light Fell comes out October 5th by Philip Yancey.
Olivia Schaffer [00:10:03] OK, my next one again, coming out October 5th. This is going to be middle grade novel with pictures in it, though, which might misconstrue as maybe a chapter book. Although I think it I think with certain children, this could be a great read aloud. It's called Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird, and it's illustrated by David Small, who, if anyone remembers he illustrated, imagines Antlers, a big hit in my household as a child and a sequel got published, I think like two years ago or something. But this is set in the 1920s in Michigan, and it's all about this little girl, Susie B, who in the very first chapter you learn Susie B is like one of the younger siblings and came out with the strongest hand grip yet. She grabbed her mom's hand and just like no one could pry it apart. So like, that's what she's known for. But Susie also just wants to get out of her small town that nobody ever gets out of. And so she follows her sneaky uncle one day and finds that he's working at this like the centric, like infamous Woman's House madam Marion Tetteh, and she owns an ostrich farm and Susie B gets it in her head that she is going to tame and learn how to ride the ostrich gaucho, who is the grumpy one on the farm. It was delightful.
Annie Jones [00:11:28] It sounds so pleasant.
Olivia Schaffer [00:11:32] It would be Susie B. Approved.
Annie Jones [00:11:34] Yeah, yeah, it really does. You've you've sold me.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:11:37] I think I already know some little girls who need that book for Christmas.
Annie Jones [00:11:42] Yeah.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:11:43] OK, my next one is Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci. This is also out at the beginning of the month, October 1st, which I guess is next week. Sorry, I felt now that happened. So, yeah, this is a food memoir in the vein of Ruth Reichl. What was that one of plums? Save me. Save me the club. Maybe, right? Yeah, that's like, I think, right when I started working at The Bookshelf, this one that came out. So it has aspects of memoir. He talks about his childhood. He talks about his film career. He talks about his two of his wives and his family. And he also interweave stories about food. And so that was important to him and then those recipes as well throughout. So I'm a big Tucci fan. I don't know. Have you? I'm assuming you're to Tucci fan. Have you been following him on Instagram?
Annie Jones [00:12:51] I do not follow him on Instagram. In the words of Aaron Moon, there are some handsome men that I just should not be allowed to follow on Instagram. So I think Stanley Tucci is too tempting. You may call those cocktails. I'm like, No. Only Jordan Jones allowed.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:13:08] OK, OK, there's something with, OK, I thought you were maybe saying, like, you didn't want to know too much. You wanted to keep that mystique alive.
Annie Jones [00:13:17] Well, that is also true. I don't follow a lot of celebrities on Instagram. I follow Chris Evans and I shouldn't that I shouldn't follow him on Instagram. He played the piano the other day and I was like, Oh no. But then I screen, but then I screen recorded the piano playing just for a rainy day.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:13:33] Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I was sure Stanley Tucci plays an instrument.
Annie Jones [00:13:39] Yeah, absolutely.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:13:41] Probably piano.
Annie Jones [00:13:42] His show is so great, and I want to be a part of his family because he's like brothers in law with John, Chris and John. Sucha fun gang.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:13:51] Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I have watched that show as well and loved it. So yeah. This would make a great gift for anybody who loves food or loves Stanley Tucci. He talks about Julie and Julia, which is just one of my very favorite. Such a good movie. I loved it.
Olivia Schaffer [00:14:07] I will say, though, when you said he talks about his two wives, at first it was like, Is he a polygamist? Sorry. And then it occurred to me that like, no, you can get married before and then divorced. And you know?
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:14:22] Yeah. I get it now, let's or whatever. When you're a celebrity, you know, his first wife died of, I think she died of cancer, and then he married Emily Blunt's sister. And they are just delightful together,.
Annie Jones [00:14:37] Olivia's face when she realized his first wife died and he did not divorce her. I wish you guys would screen shot that moment.
Annie Jones [00:14:43] Sorry, sorry, Olivia.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:14:45] We all know the emoji.
Annie Jones [00:14:50] Well, OK, my next book is Hill House Living. This is by Paula Sutton. It comes out October 19th. Speaking of Instagram. I really enjoy following Paula on Instagram. Her handle there is at Hillhouse Vintage. She 10 years ago left the fashion industry. I think she worked in the fashion industry in London, and she decided to move to Norfolk and like, Buy this big country home, like this manor kind of thing. And she just the I follow the Instagram account because it's just so cozy. Like, it's just another. It feels otherworldly to me, like she lives in the countryside, in England, and she's always the photography is beautiful. So this is her new book that is mostly I would qualify it or classify it as coffee table book. But I do think there are some memoir elements kind of woven in. It would make a great gift book. I love it because the price point is also great. I think if I recall, it's like a hardback full color book, but for thirty dollars. So this is kind of about her big life change. I love stories like this where people I don't know, I don't know why. I don't like hallmark movies because these these are the plots of Hallmark films, but like where people leave their high powered jobs and they try to make it like renovating these homes or living out in the country. I follow a couple of writers who are doing this right now, and I just am so intrigued by their lives, and so I really recommend Paula's Instagram account. But I also very excited about this book. The cover is really fun and gorgeous. I can think of people who should get this as a Christmas present. Maybe they will be getting it as a Christmas present for me. So it is called Hill House Living by Paula Sutton. It comes out on October 19th and you should follow Paul on Instagram at Hillhouse Vintage.
Olivia Schaffer [00:16:37] OK. My next one is also again out October 5th. It's called Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman, who I know her from writing a bunch of young adult things. This is going to be middle grade 10 and up for this one. And everyone stay with me as I go through this plot because I know what you think. This is set in L.A. in nineteen eighty seven and it's about Bugg, who is a younger sister. I forget her older brother's name, you'll them. And every summer, her and her older brother spend it on the beach just all day on the beach. And it's bug's favorite thing. Like she knows every summer she's going to get to stay out all day on the beach with her brother. But now her brother's a little bit older and he wants to do his own thing over the summer. And their mom is kind of like, Yeah, it's time. So Bugg has to stay with some of her neighbors for a while, and then Frankie comes and Frankie is the nephew to one of her neighbors. But Frankie doesn't like the beach and Frankie and. Stead wants to track down the current serial killer that is in L.A. So together, Frankie & Bug developed this friendship and tried their best to track down the serial killer. But it is. This book about their friendship is amazing. It's about Alicia, about found family. I love this book so much. I'm pretty sure I read it in one sitting on my vacation this past August. It was just so great, and if she writes anything else with Frankie & Bug in it, I will for sure. Read it.
Annie Jones [00:18:24] That sounds great. Is there a real sillier serial killer in the book? I just want to know, like, is it because it's set in the 80s? Is like it a real serial killer?
Olivia Schaffer [00:18:35] I mean, I don't know if the serial killer was like from a historical standpoint, but like in the book, yes, the serial killer was actually killing people. They were not imagining things. But it's like appearance. I understand that's scary. It's not all about the serial killer. OK, totally fine. It's totally fine. Just just a little serial killers.
Annie Jones [00:18:59] I mean, and look, that turned out my Spidey sense is like, I'm here for it now. Like at first I was like, Oh yeah, that sounds good. You are a serial killer. Now I'm in.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:19:11] Yeah. OK, my next book, I hesitated to even put it on my list. And part of the reason for that is it's one of those books where you probably already know if you're going to read it or not, just like if you're the person that this is for, you already know about it, but I will just say that it's coming out the second, I think, installment of David Sedaris Diaries, this coming out on October 4th. It's called the Carnival of Knackery, and it starts in 2003 and goes till twenty twenty. So if you're a David Sedaris fan, you'll like it. If you're not what you think you could be, you should read something else first. It's pretty long. Very long. And I mean, he does really slap you in the face with his personality. So you would find out pretty quick if you like him or not. I have read some people saying that they they once liked him, and now they don't like this book.
Annie Jones [00:20:20] No, interesting.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:20:21] I think partly because he's kind of like. Straddling almost the slight political divide between being a politically progressive but also being really sick of having to be politically correct and so like he wants to be able to tell offensive jokes again, like when will offensive jokes come back? And so, you know, that's kind of like a weird group of people that would respond to that, but that all of that being said, so many qualifications. It's very funny. There are some really funny entries. And then also what's interesting about it is imagine going back to your diary in 2003 and remembering what was going on then, you know, there's a certain historical aspect to it that's quite interesting as well. So I recommend that to you. If you think you would like it, a Carnivale snack or eating by David Sedaris,
Annie Jones [00:21:20] I will be reading it. I've also so I read the first first diary entries, though I would agree with you, Lucy, that like, if you're new to David Sedaris, I wouldn't start with these diaries. Like, that's not where I would start your David Sedaris journey. But the audiobook book I mean, he's a fantastic audiobook narrator, so it'd be fun to try an audio book format. I think Ashley did his last diaries in audiobook format, and I think there's a whole generation. Is it Gen-X? There's a whole generation of comedians that I think falls into that category of their politically progressive, but I think they almost like in what they're dealing with as censorship or something, which is at least....
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:22:03] Like Norm MacDonald.
Annie Jones [00:22:04] Yeah, yeah.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:22:05] Who just passed away kind of falls into that.
Annie Jones [00:22:07] Yes. So I think it is an interesting thing to think about and to read about. So I will probably be picking that one up.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:22:14] And if you don't know about David Sedaris, it's not diaries like Dear Diary. I felt sad today. It's like I saw this man trip on the subway or, you know, just this like about weird or funny things that he's seen or experienced other people doing mostly.
Annie Jones [00:22:33] It's fant... Is a fantastic and fascinating look at a writer's in her mind like, Oh yeah, because what he journals about is so different from what like you or I might journal about. So I think it's interesting just from a literary perspective to like to see. I don't know how his brain works.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:22:50] And if you have never listened to him, his impression of Billie Holiday, just like almost stop this podcast right now and go try and like Google it, because that is one of the funniest things I've ever heard in my life.
Annie Jones [00:23:04] He inspired me to pick up trash I on a litter stick because of David Sedaris. So thanks. Thanks David Sedaris for that. OK. My next one is also familiar author and I kind of agree that like, if you are not familiar with this author, I'm not sure this is where I would start, but it is what I am looking forward to. Very much so it's Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. This book comes out October 19th. Elizabeth Strout is doing this really interesting thing that normally I think I would be not interested in, but because of the success of Olive again, I'm very interested. She basically is returning to some of her former stories and writing books that deal with these same characters. So Olive Again functioned as a sequel to Olive Kitteridge. Although I loved Olive Again so much more than I loved the book Olive Kitteridge. This is kind of sort of a follow up sequel. I hesitate to use those terms, but she is addressing the same characters as in the book. My name is Lucy Barton. This is actually her third book where she deals with We See the character, and I really liked my name is Lucy Barton. And this is Lucy talking about her first husband, William, who if you've read Lucy Barton, you know that she she had another husband, but this is her first husband, who she's still on good terms with. William and William discovers this family secrets, and he asks, because we see is so close to them. He asks Lucy to come with him on like this road trip to Maine, interestingly enough. And they figure out kind of. They unpack some family secrets, also some just of their own dysfunction and drama, and they unpack their relationship. I've not read this one. I am so envious of the bookstore Graham community that somehow got their hands on this book. I did not. So I'm anxiously awaiting it like everybody else, and I really love Elizabeth Strout. I trust her a lot. Not all of her books have I loved, but her writing is always really good and her storytelling, even if it's not your favorite. Her storytelling is always really powerful, too. So I'm very much looking forward to this one. It is Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. The covers beautiful its blurb and Patchett. It comes out October 19th. I will be reading it in. Hopes that it might even make my top 10 of the year, but I don't want my expectations to be too high. So fingers crossed.
Olivia Schaffer [00:25:30] OK, my next one is again another middle grade novel out October 12 by Lisa McMann, who did the unwanted series. Now I will say this is like 10 and up, but the cover is very deceiving because it's a mouse looking at a ship that's moving away. And so you're like, Oh, this will be a great chapter, but do not be mistaken, because that is what I thought when I jumped spoke, I was rudely awakened. It's so good, though. This is a survival story about Clarice, a little mouse and her brother, who gets split apart. They get separated when the ship that they're on has a mutiny, and so Clarice ends up in the little. What is it called the little lifeboat lifeboat? They call it a lifeboat. Cleary. Clarice ends up in the lifeboat. Her brother gets stuck on the actual ship and together in two different chapters. They try to make their way back to each other and have some harrowing experiences and then some heartwarming experiences as well. It was so great. I highly recommend it. It is like a survival story, though, but it reads like a Disney movie like it starts out with this intense scene and then you get this like epic adventure where, like at some points you're laughing. At some points you're I mean, OK, I didn't cry, but like you could be. It was very well done. Yeah, lovely.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:27:13] How many serial killers?
Olivia Schaffer [00:27:17] If you count a cat as a serial killer?
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:27:22] If I'm a mouse, then yes I do.
Olivia Schaffer [00:27:28] One of the cats, minor spoiler alert, does become friends with Clarice. So. Yeah, but the cat did also kill Clarice's sister.
Annie Jones [00:27:42] So this is is some dark elements in there as well.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:27:47] Why can you laugh at that if it's happening to a mouse, but definitely not a human girl? OK, my next book is called Smile: The Story of a Face. Annie, have you read this?
Annie Jones [00:28:00] I started it. I love it. So far.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:28:02] I've only started it as well. This is my Sarah Ruhl. It comes out again October 5th. She is a playwright. I think she's been a Pulitzer Prize finalist a couple of times, and she's a MacArthur Genius Grant grantee and she. But this is her memoir. This is not a play or anything, and it's about her experience. After having her, I think it's her first child. She developed Bell's palsy and her face, so she was one side of her face became paralyzed. She was told that that she would get better. I think maybe like 10 percent of people don't get better, and she was one of the 10 percent. So it's exploring the ideas of the face and the ability to express emotion through your face, especially as somebody who's so involved in the theater. And also about her experience as a mother and wife and woman in the health care system. There's a couple of books actually coming about out soon about women in the health care system, but I think this is an extremely personal one. And yes, I love it so far. I can't wait to keep reading.
Annie Jones [00:29:17] I really like it too. OK. My next one comes out on October 26. It is called On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library, edited by Gloria Adam. She is the quote. The quote I talked about at the start of the episode is from her previous work. This is a collection of stories. It's an anthology collected and edited by glory. She has kind of founded this well read Black Girl movement, and now I think it's daunting. I hope, gosh, I hope I'm right about that. Norton Publishers has been putting out different collections. This is the one of fiction, so it's called On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library. It's going to be like the first in a Black Girl Library series, and the next one's going to be nonfiction. So I kind of love that there will be these collections that you could buy. It's an anthology of short fiction. It's divided into four sections in a sense belonging, love and self-discovery, and all the stories have to do with girls and their girlhood and coming of age. So. And then they fall into those four categories. So there are works by Rita Dove, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and it's I don't know. I love anthologies because you can get a sense of an author and you can decide if you want to kind of deep dove into them even further. So it's got different short stories or also poems or excerpts from longer works. All kind of in this beautiful little, I say, give double size and price because it's I think it's twenty four dollars, so feels pretty inexpensive for a hardback and the size is one of those kind of debatable sizes. And if you are trying to familiarize yourself with more black authors or BIPOC authors, I think this could be a fun place to start because you get them all in this little collection. Glory has great experience kind of collecting these works together. She already has written her own collection that was published a couple of years ago, so I think this could be a fun gift, the whole book, and also one to kind of grow your own reading list from. So it's called On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library by Gloria Adam.
Olivia Schaffer [00:31:34] OK. My next one is finally an adult book. It's out October 26th and it's called Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge. This is a fun whodunit that takes place at a fictional Agatha Christie's house. Obviously, it's fictional, but Agatha Christie isn't the main detective. It's actually her head maid who is the main detective, which I also found really fun because you only just get like little snippets of moments with Agatha. It's mostly just those really cool made, but basically the murder is that this guy shows up. So Agatha has these guests over at our house already. But after Agatha retires asleep one night, this mysterious man shows up at her house asking to speak to her, but she's already in bed. They're like, You'll have to wait till morning. It was raining outside, so they just let you stay in one of the spare bedrooms. And then the next day, the maid finds him murdered with a fountain pen in the library buried clue. And then from there. She solves this mystery, and it's the first in a series, it's super fun. I think it's going to be great for the holidays because I think I think it'll be a fun gift book on this one. Well, I feel like my sisters in law would love that. OK, my next book is called The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. This is Gregory Boyle. I think I might have said on last month's podcast that that's what I was reading. So this is the author of Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir. He is a Jesuit priest in L.A. and has made his career ministering to gang members. And so this book particularly is about the concept of tenderness and acceptance and teaching the people in his ministry how to cultivate those qualities in their own lives. There's a lot of stories of people who have had to overcome a whole lot or have had to forgive themselves for a whole lot. Honestly, it made me a little bit ashamed because of how lacking I feel like I am and that quality and how little I've had to overcome in comparison. But it is exceptionally beautiful. I mean, all of his books are and inspiring. So. I think it would also make a great guest book as well for the right person. So that's the whole language by Gregory Boyle, and I believe that. So let's see, October 19th.
Annie Jones [00:34:22] I think I will buy that for Chris Butterworth. He loves Gregory Boyle.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:34:27] I guess he doesn't listen to the podcast.
Annie Jones [00:34:31] He does not. No Spoilers for that. OK. My next one is a book that I wondered if Lucy, you would put on your list. So this is the Deep Places by Ross, and I am so sorry. I do not know how to pronounce his last name. I tried looking people up the places by Ross Douthat. It is October 26. You might be familiar with Ross because he is a columnist for The New York Times generally, and he's written some other books. Generally, he writes a lot about politics, particularly from perhaps a more conservative point of view and perspective. Here's why I'm interested in this one. This is his first memoir, and he is writing about when he and his family moved from D.C. to Connecticut and they bought a farmhouse and they started to renovate it and kind of restart their life with their young kids. And he became gravely ill. But in a way the doctors could not identify, like they could not help him figure out what was wrong. And ultimately, he realized that he had chronic Lyme disease, which I didn't realize this. But the CDC doesn't even recognize chronic Lyme disease like I think it recognizes Lyme disease, but not the chronic Lyme that you live with for the rest of your life. And so he it's basically losing, I think you were talking about in smile. It's this almost medical memoir about doctors and patients and patient advocacy and trying to advocate for yourself when you know you feel bad. But there's no real diagnosis. And then when there is a diagnosis, there's no support. And it's also about taking care of yourself while you're also taking care of your family and your home and your marriage. It sounds really good. I have read a few of Ross Douthat's New York Times columns, so I think he's a good writer. This is a departure for him. This is not about politics. This is not a social commentary. This is more just about his life and how he learned. I think one of the things he talks about is sickness, and this is hard to talk about, but like sickness as a gift and like what we can learn from sickness and how it exposes our weakness in a way that he found really valuable. So anyway, it sounds really interesting. It is called The Deep pPlaces by Ross Douthat, and it comes out October 26.
Olivia Schaffer [00:36:58] My next middle grade book, I actually think both of you would really enjoy it as well could be could be a little Venn diagram thing for all of us. But this one is called the Bookshop of Dust and Dreams by Mindy Thompson and it's out October 26. It's very much for like the kids who loved pages and cow, but maybe one a little bit more depth an hour, maybe a little bit more mature. Now, after reading that series. So this is about a magical bookstore that it appears for anyone who's in need of a book. And so it'll just impure in any time, any place it'll show up and my customers can come in and whatnot. And it's set in 1944 in New York. So like wartime scenario here happening and like first chapter right off the bat, the family who runs the bookstore is very close to the family who lives next door. And they grew up together with the boy who who goes there and then unfortunately, he passes away in the war. And so the little girl her older brother starts to try to see if he can use the bookstore is magic to go back in time to save his friend. But what he doesn't realize is that he starts triggering all of the dark magic that had been held down by the good magic of the bookstore to come back up and spark a whole bunch of craziness. It was really good because it had that emotional component to it, but also still had this like, beautifully written magical bookstore in it, which is what I really loved. And so I just thought it was great.
Annie Jones [00:38:41] Sounds good.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:38:42] It does sound good. My next book is the Book of Hope: a Survival Guide for Trying Times. This is by Douglas Abrahams, who wrote the Book of Joy. I believe it was with the Dalai Lama and who else was at first? I can't remember. Desmond Nelson. Yeah. Desmond Tutu. Thank you. So he writes this. Douglas Abrahams writes this with Jane Goodall. This is the Book of Hope, and I believe that he has plans to do more in this series. And so it's basically a conversation between them. She's now, I think, in her 80s, but still sharp and just talks about. How we can still have hope, which I feel like it's really timely. And she talks about her four reasons for still having hope. The human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of young people and the indomitable human spirit. And many of her stories are about nature and the environment, but it's broader than that as well. And what I've read of it has been really inspiring and refreshing when we have so many depressing things to read about all the time. So the Book of Hope by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrahams, and that comes out October 19th.
Annie Jones [00:40:11] That sounds very timely and important for right now.
Olivia Schaffer [00:40:14] I love Jane Goodall.
Annie Jones [00:40:16] She's so great.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:40:17] She is.
Annie Jones [00:40:18] I feel like I should have been taking notes all these years talking because those four points are really good. Oh, OK. Last one for me. My last book is The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan. This comes out October twenty six. Does it feel too early to have Christmas books? It does, but it's not. They start publishing in October and early November because so little publishes in December and this year, especially with publishing delays and all that. So it's not too early to buy your hallmark holiday Christmas e-books. This one, I just have to say my mom, I give this to my mom. And she chose a different book for her subscription, but she took a picture of it and she was like, I love this one and I want you to read it. So she thinks I would like it. I think probably because it is set at a bookstore, it is. Susie approved, set in Scotland. It's a paperback original and it's the main character is Carmen, and she's kind of down on her luck. I feel like she's lost her job or something like that, and she goes to live with her sister, who kind of has her life together. But she's about to have maybe her second or third child. And so Carmen moves in. So it's a sister story. And then Carmen gets a job at the local bookstore right before the holiday season and is trying to help the bookstore hit sales goals to get it through and help it survive to the next year, which is a concept so many of us are familiar with, like the stressors of the last quarter of the year. So it sounds really lovely. There's a love story involved. Of course there is. The cover reminds me a little bit of country Baker's guide to city living like it very much looks like if you like Gilmore Girls or if you like cozy things like you will like this, I think I am going to read it. I have been trying every year for the past couple years to read at least one like holiday themed book to kind of get me in the spirit. And so I'll probably read this one. It looks, it looks very cute and quaint. It is called The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan comes out October 26.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:42:25] Is there romance involved?
Annie Jones [00:42:27] There is a romance. There's like a love triangle situation. Get this. I think it's between. It's between Carmen and the two love interest. The two male love interest. One is like a young Quaker. Very interesting And then the other is an elitist like literary fiction writer.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:42:46] Oh okay.
Annie Jones [00:42:49] Sounds very cute.
Olivia Schaffer [00:42:50] Yes, that actually sounds really fun. And that's me saying that.
Annie Jones [00:42:54] Doesn't it?
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:42:55] Yeah.
Olivia Schaffer [00:42:56] OK, my next book is called Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest, and this is out October twenty six. This is absolutely for fans of anyone who love Billy Donovan is killing it. This is like murder mystery rom com happening, but less on the rom com or on the street, but also with just like weird settings. So you guys love how I describe books every of the. I do love it. So this is about a woman who is a psychic travel agent, but she calls herself in inconsequential psychic because she generally gets premonitions about stuff that do not matter like her and her best friend will be on their way to go eat at their favorite restaurant, and she gets a vision of like they don't have the one thing that she wanted to get there. And then, sure enough, they get there and it's sold out like so things that just don't matter. So she becomes this travel agent, and she had booked this flight for a cop. And right before he gets on his connecting flight, she calls him to let him know that she switched his flight purely because she had a bad feeling about this flight, and she is really upset in the moment. He's just like, I don't get why you're doing this. Like, I am literally right here ready to get on this plane. And then the plane starts to head down the runway and a fire catches. No one gets hurt, but the plane catches on fire and it's evacuated and. Then he starts like put two and two together, and he was just like, this travel agent somehow just saved my life. And so then they team up to solve a couple of cold cases, which is really fun, but also just a side note. She does this thing where she does psychic karaoke Typekit what she calls it, but it was really catchy clairvoyant karaoke. And she'll, like, have an audience member come up and give them something personal of theirs. And then she like from that item, she picks a song that is associated with that person of the item and nails it every time, which I just thought was so fun. It was great, and I think it's going to be a series that is to be. There needs to be a reality television show, not the book, just the clairvoyant karaoke. Yeah, yeah. Oh, it was so much fun.
Annie Jones [00:45:24] It sounds delightful. Do you have the ARC of this?
Olivia Schaffer [00:45:29] I read it on my Kindle.
Annie Jones [00:45:33] Dang it. OK, I'll just wait you.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:45:36] Annie's being dramatic.
Annie Jones [00:45:39] I'll just wait. It's fine.
Lucy Stoltzfus [00:45:43] I feel so sad for you, Annie. Okay. So my last book on the last book is The Taking of Jemima Boone: The True Story of the Kidnap and Rescue That Shaped America. This is by Matthew Pearl and it comes out October 5th. This is for your dad, for Christmas or your brother in law or whoever likes American history. Early American history. It is narrative nonfiction. I believe it's his first work nonfiction. He's written other historical fiction before, but it is about Daniel Boone's daughter, Jemima Boon, who was kidnaped along with a couple of other girls by a set of rate Native American leaders. So their town, which I think it was called Boone's Town or Brownsville or something like that. And so she is kidnaped, and then they realize that she is Daniel Boone's daughter and that she will probably be useful for negotiations. And so Daniel Boone goes to try and get her back, and she devises a bunch of clues to leave for him so that he can find her, and he eventually does find her. So the story is it's really fascinating. We told and written. It's good for narrative nonfiction and just interesting that she becomes this character with like agency in her own right. She participates in her own saving. So, yes, really good. The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl out Tuesday, October 5th,
Annie Jones [00:47:23] What a great list of lots of genres of literature. Lots of variety here. Hopefully, people might find something for their Christmas list for their holiday shopping. OK, thank you guys so much.
Olivia Schaffer [00:47:39] Thanks.
[00:47:43] From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website:
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at:
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
[00:48:23] This week, what I'm reading is brought to you by Visit Thomasville. I know that it's only October, but if you work in retail, you know the last quarter of the year flies by and you have to start prepping for the holiday season early. For me, the time feels like it has already arrived and maybe even past. Maybe you feel that way too inundated with emails and social media posts about supply chain issues and shipping snafus. So one way to start and finish your holiday shopping early is, of course, by shopping small and one fun way to check all that shopping off your list might be by visiting Thomasville for one of their first Friday Sip and Shops. If you've never participated in one of these very fun, low key events, let me encourage you to try. The next first Friday on the schedule is, of course, Friday, November 5th. Shops that are participating will have extended hours beginning at six p.m., with many bars and restaurants open until 10 p.m. There is music, often a concert at our local amphitheater, depending on COVID cases in our community. But there are also local musicians scattered throughout the downtown. Picture Stars Hollow's troubadours, if you will, and it just is a really fun and festive atmosphere to knock out some of that shopping or to window shop and then come back on a Saturday when even more shops are open to get some of that actual gift buying done and off your holiday To-Do list. October is the new December. This is our mantra and a great way to go ahead and check things off your holiday shopping list is to attend a first Friday in downtown Thomasville. To find out more about how you can visit Thomasville and attend one of our first Friday events, go to Thomasville, G.A. dot com.
Annie Jones [00:50:02] This week, I'm reading five Tuesdays in Winter by Lilly King, Olivia is reading Thursday's Child by Noelle Strathfield. Yes, that Noelle, Strathfield and Lucy is reading these precious days by Ann Patchett.
Annie Jones [00:50:16] If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us for $5 a month on Patreon, where you can follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic and participate in live video Q&As in our monthly lunch break sessions. Just go to:
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.