Episode 347 || Books You Might Have Missed
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie is talking with frequent guest and friend Hunter Mclendon (you might know him as @shelfbyshelf on Instagram). They are evaluating their reading year and sharing some favorite titles that might have gotten lost in the 2021 chaos.
Before we get started, this is your friendly reminder that From the Front Porch is a production of The Bookshelf, an indie bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. We’re in the throes of our second holiday shopping season held during a pandemic, and remarkably, our spirits are high. As you support indies like ours this holiday season, please remember to shop early, to be open to our suggestions when your first book preference might already be back-ordered, and to trust our deadlines. This year, December 1 is the deadline to purchase something from us and have it arrive by Christmas.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website:
Shoutin’ in the Fire by Dante Stewart
Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu
Cheat Day by Liv Stratman
Love Like That by Emma Duffy-Comparone (Currently back-ordered)
Prayers for the People by Terry Stokes
With Teeth by Krista Arnett
The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clement and Onjuli Datta
Revival Season by Monica West
Palm Beach by Mary Adkins
The Survivors by Alex Schulman
Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch
Virtue by Hermione Hoby
All’s Well by Mona Awad (Currently back-ordered)
Image Control by Patrick Nathan
The Natural Mother of The Child by Krys Malcom Belc
Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks Ramage
Sarahland by Sam Cohen
Let’s Get Back To The Party by Zak Salih
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 Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans.
If you liked what you heard in 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 and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. 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 [00:00:02] [squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
[as music fades out]
“Our lives are not just resistance. Our lives are not just lessons. We are not heroes. We are not villains. We are human — as beautiful as we are terrible.”
― Dante Stewart, Shoutin’ in the Fire
I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m joined by frequent guest and friend Hunter Mclendon (you might know him as @shelfbyshelf on Instagram). Hunter and I are evaluating our reading year and sharing some favorite titles we think might have gotten lost in the 2021 chaos.
Before we get started, this is your friendly reminder that From the Front Porch is a production of The Bookshelf, an indie bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. We’re in the throes of our second holiday shopping season held during a pandemic, and remarkably, our spirits are high. As you support indies like ours this holiday season, please remember to shop early, to be open to our suggestions when your first book preference might already be backordered, and to trust our deadlines. This year, December 1 is the deadline to purchase something from us and have it arrive by Christmas. We think this is early enough to work around the postal service’s issues, but also late enough to allow you some shopping time. Thanks for supporting our small business -- and others like us -- when you shop this holiday season.
Annie [00:01:50] Hi Hunter.
Hunter [00:01:51] Hello.
Annie [00:01:52] Welcome back to the show.
Hunter [00:01:54] It's a funny like, even though we do that well because we I don't know, because I haven't been on here as much this year as I've been on the Conquer a Classic on Patreon.
Annie [00:02:03] Yes,.
Hunter [00:02:04] But because it's every month, I still feel like it's, you know...
Annie [00:02:09] Yes, we do this. This feels this feels like old hat by now because we close out, believe it or not, as we close out twenty twenty one. It's hard to believe so. We last spoke this summer about like our top ten of the year. And if you are listening and you want to hear my and Hunter's legitimate in the moment reactions to our top ten of the year, you can find that conversation on Patreon. But today, what I really wanted to talk about is what books you think people might have missed in 2021 because we're closing out the year and it feels like people are already making their top ten list, which is fine and legitimate. We are doing the same thing, but it's also a time to look back and think, Oh my gosh, that book came out this year, or, Oh, I forgot about that book. And especially as people are holiday shopping or as they're rounding out their own list, I guess I wanted to touch base and see about like the forgotten books.
Hunter [00:03:05] Yeah, I feel like, you know what? I think that with the pandemic, it has been so easy to just kind of like, miss a majority of them because there's no real there's a lot of book events happening, still just not. So yeah, I think it's and also, I don't know. I think that because our brains are so preoccupied with everything else.
Annie [00:03:25] And because time is like a time, does it make sense anymore? So it's even I had to go back through my Instagram to kind of see what even came out this year, right? Yeah, well, even was released. OK, so we have about eight books a piece that we're going to talk about. So I thought we could go back and forth. Why don't you kick us off?
Hunter [00:03:48] OK, so the first one on my list is a book called Let's Get Back to the Party by Zack Salih, I believe. And I read it like really early in the year, and it's about it's kind of about like the old and the new generation of gay men kind of these ideas kind of interacting with each other and also about, I guess, being kind of like, you know, a gay man in your thirties and forties kind of around now. And it was just really there's there's a lot of references to this one art piece about the book, and I thought that the way he tied it into the narrative was just so, so well done. And it's one of those books that it's kind of quiet. It's kind of understated. And so it was just it was just gonna get overlooked naturally because of the nature of it. But I it's still on my mind even all these months later.
Annie [00:04:42] I'm glad you brought this one up because they released so early in the year. I honestly thought this was a 2020 title. Like I have, I can picture the cover of this book because I think it's got a pretty standout cover. So I'm glad you mentioned it because already it had gotten conflated with 2020 in my mind. OK, my first one is the book that I led with the quote with at the top of the episode, so it's a new release called Shoutin’ in the Fire by Dante Stewart. This is a debut. He is a southern black writer who is writing specifically to and about the, I would say, evangelical church. Others outside the Evangelical Church might still be interested in what he has to say. He also played football for Clemson, which I did not realize. The reason I'm mentioning it here is because there are a couple of really good excerpts of the book floating around on the internet. One is about his time at Clemson and one I think was even featured maybe in the New York Times, because he talks about what it was like to be a black man playing football on a campus that, yes, definitely is integrated, but also in white spaces. And he talks a lot about moving from this black church where he really felt seen and he felt like a huge part of the spirit that was moving in that church and then finding himself temporarily drawn to a white church culture. And what that transition was like for him. So there's a lot about black church culture and then white church culture, and he became a pastor like right around twenty sixteen for a predominantly white congregation and what that experience like for him. So it's all very deeply personal. A lot of memoir, but it also he he must be an avid reader because he references really in beautiful ways, the writings of Toni Morrison, the writings of gosh, I'm thinking of James Cone, who wrote a book I really I really loved. I thought I had read it last year, but I read this year called the Cross and the Lynching Tree. And so he references a lot of black writers, a lot of black theologians. He mentions James Baldwin a lot. So he does a really beautiful job of weaving in the work of other black artists that if you are a reader, I think you will really appreciate how much time he spends talking about how different works influenced him and in particular, how those authors made him appreciate and be aware of his blackness even after living and existing in predominantly white spaces. So I really appreciated it. I thought the writing was really good. I can't wait to kind of see what he does next. I especially appreciated it as a white Christian living in the South and trying to think, I hope more mindfully and thoughtfully about racial justice and what that looks like in our churches. So that is called Shoutin’ in the Fire by Dante Stewart.
Hunter [00:07:39] That sounds so good.
Annie [00:07:41] I actually OK. I actually think you would like it because of how he talks about these different church spaces, some of which I think you would be familiar with. And then because of his clear admiration and love for James Baldwin and I don't know, there are some things I think you'd really like about it.
Hunter [00:07:58] I'm excited. So the next book on my list was a short story collection, and I feel like short story collections in general don't really get enough hype. But there's this one called Sarahland by Sam Cohen. And I, you know, it's so funny because I think that it won me over immediately because there's a lot of references to the movie Heathers.
Annie [00:08:22] Yes.
Hunter [00:08:22] And I'm a big fan of of high school mean girls like I love that, and I love that dynamic, and it also in some ways reminded me of another book that kind of referenced that which was Bunny by Mona Awad that came out a year or two ago. And but yeah, it's sort of like it's it plays a lot with with identity and and also it kind of is sort of like Cli-Fi or would you know that climate fiction type such we're dealing a lot with landscape, which Sarahland, but like a lot with landscape in ways that is really interesting and unexpected. And it also surprised me with the ways that it navigates... Where she writes the story kind of deals in some ways with a certain aspect of trauma in a way that it's happening in the moment. So it's like it's not. It's hard to talk about trauma in a way where it's not trauma yet, but it's like it is an act that is going to be traumatizing to women. So traumatic acts, I guess, is a better way to say it. But so, yeah, I don't know. I just find it very interesting and compelling in the voice of like, she has such a great, distinct, strong voice and such clarity in what she's trying to say. And I love that.
Annie [00:09:35] I have a short story collection as well. I can't remember if you read this one or not, so it is called Love Like That by Emma Duffy-Comparone. It has a really striking cover. It's got like a cake, like a cake with a knife in the front.
Hunter [00:09:48] Yes, yes.
Annie [00:09:50] So I read this earlier this year, and I knew I wanted to include a short story collection because you are absolutely right in the land of bookselling. Short story collections are like the redheaded stepchild. Like, I feel like they don't often get bought for whatever reason. They don't have to get read. People are maybe intimidated or disinterested or whatever. But I really like this one. I was very tempted to put Lily King's in here, and then I was like, No, Lily King is probably not going to be overlooked, but this debut collection probably was overlooked. And so I really, really like this series of stories now. Here's what is fascinating to me about a short story. I do not know how an author can not only tell a pretty complete narrative in a few amount of words and pages, but you talked about trauma and there there are traumatic moments or very stressful instances, I think. And look, I read this months ago, but I remember there was a story that dealt with sexual assault and violence, and I remember finishing that story. And then it's almost like a like whiplash to then go to the next story because you're still kind of grieving and recovering from the gut punch of the previous previous story. But this is also I really like short story collections for this time of year because I feel like you might not be able to handle a short story collection other times. But right now, when our lives are fairly disjointed and all over the place, you could pick up and put down a short story collection. I love this one. I also really liked the title story called Love Like That. I actually think you could read that and really get a sense of Emma as a writer and decide if the rest of the work was for you. But I really like this one. It's a debut short story collection in joy feels like the wrong word because there are, like I said, moments that felt like a gut punch, but I really appreciated it a lot.
Hunter [00:11:45] Well, it's actually it's I forgot and I've read that, but in some ways, and I felt like I don't want to. I hate doing comp title sometimes because I feel like it's like I'm selling it wrong. But like in some small ways, it kind of reminded me of the Paper Palace.
Annie [00:11:57] Yes. Yes. No. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I think the Paper Palace meets. Did you ever read Katherine Haney's collection Single, Carefree and Mellow? There were elements in that.
Hunter [00:12:09] Yes, I completely agree. That's a good. That's a good scene We're on the same page.
Annie [00:12:14] I love it.
Hunter [00:12:15] The next book I listed was one that was actually in my like, midyear top 10.
Annie [00:12:20] OK.
Hunter [00:12:20] But I thought would get a lot more high, but it didn't, which was Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks Ramage. OK, which I can see. This is not a book for everyone because this book, one it deals with a lot of trauma and it kind of deals with a look at something along the line. It discusses the MeToo movement, but it's talks a lot about sexual trauma as like as a gay man and the way that like men dealing with sexual trauma, how they have to navigate that. That was really interesting. But also it's interesting the way that the way he structures it like the first half is this kind of hot, steamy, almost thrilling. Like, I won't say romance, but it's just it just feels just very hot and steamy for the first half. And then all of a sudden, there is just this shift in the tone that I think works really well with how it's how it's written. And it happens over the course of one scene with the total shifts, and it's supposedly smart. And I also it's one of those books that. I found really it's repulsive, and I finished it, and I think like one or two sittings and yeah, and I don't know if it's one of those books where I think that if you're looking for a fast read, that is exciting, but also deals with like heavier themes and it deals a lot with because he's he's I think I believe he's like, maybe from the south. The main character is and he has to deal a little bit with, like the Christian guilt kind of thing too. And that was really interesting to me. But yeah, but I don't know. I sounds like a really fun, fast read that also dealt with some heavier themes.
Annie [00:13:55] OK, tell me if I'm wrong about this, but I feel like 2021 was the year in which all the Fleabag comps, publishers laid them all at our feet and were like, Choose your favorite.
Hunter [00:14:10] Pretty much, yeah.
Annie [00:14:12] And I don't know why that is because Fleabag is now a couple of years old, right? Maybe that's the time it took to get these works published. I'm not sure, but it feels like almost every other book I was given by a publisher was comp to Fleabag, which you and I adore Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge. But I think I liked a lot of those books. I did not always understand the the comparison. Yeah, but here is one that I do think actually lives up to that comp and that is Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin. So this is actually recommended to me by Olivia. Olivia and I have a sliver of a Venn diagram that overlaps, and it often has to do with a well-written, atmospheric thriller. This was a total, she admits. This was a total outlier for her very much in my wheelhouse, but she somehow read it first. And anyway, she passed it along to me, and I'm so glad she did, because the main character is this gay woman who is lost and confused and alone, and she is headed into a kind of group meeting at this Catholic Church. And instead, the priest greets her at the door and thinks she's there to apply for the secretarial position. And so she winds up becoming the secretary of this Catholic Church. And what unfolds is part like Eleanor Oliphant like curmudgeon lit, but is also and I think partly the reason Olivia picked it up is there is this slight mystery element because the former secretary of the church has died, and she was like this little only league picture, a church secretary in your head, and that's what she was. And she's died. And now the main character kind of is filling her shoes, and she's also still keeping up the pretense of being being the secretary and like, you know, refuses to say that the secretary has died and said she tries to befriend this woman's friends. And so it's very convoluted and messy and laugh out loud, funny, but also dark because we're dealing with we're dealing yes, with issues of faith and doubt, belief, identity. Also, we're dealing with what it's like to be an LGBTQ person in a church situation where she does not feel cared for or safe. And so anyway, lots of different things at play here, but that same like, darkly funny tongue in cheek dialog that I think Phoebe Waller-Bridge does so well in Fleabag is here, and I feel like this is the book where that comp makes a lot of sense. It's Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin.
Hunter [00:16:55] That is one that was on my list because because we've talked a lot about how that that Fleabag comp is a little bit overused. But that is what I have been looking forward to.
Annie [00:17:09] Yes, and I get it right because. But you and I were talking like Fleabag. Also, you like Fleabag for different reasons, like do you like it because of the sexy priest? Do you like it because of the grief? Do you like it because of the sister relationship? And then that will lend itself to why you like a book, Sorrow and Bliss is another one that I do think lives up to that. But I felt like that one was properly hyped, whereas Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead, I just didn't see a ton of people talking about it.
Hunter [00:17:35] I know that that's I think it was. Yeah, it was you and Olivia who which I also Olivia's the reading a lot of outside of her.
Annie [00:17:41] Yes.
Hunter [00:17:42] Yeah. It was because she recommended books to me, and I was like, That doesn't sound like what you would read.
Annie [00:17:46] Yes, I think all of us are going back to our pandemic reading episode are reading Tastes are a little all over the place!.
Hunter [00:17:53] It's true. So the next book on my list is a memoir that I hardly see anyone read, and I really hope they pick it up, which is The Natural Mother of The Child by Krys Malcom Belc. And it is about this trans mask person who they use like, the anti Pronouns that but they end up getting pregnant. Like, I can't remember I can't remember the full details of it, but I just remember they're pregnant. I think maybe it's by choice, I think it was by choice to get pregnant because then their partner want to have a kid. But it's a lot about being like a trans masked person who has navigates being pregnant and what that looks like and what kind of discrimination they have and and also their relationship to their son, who gets to have this boyhood that they never got to have versus also being able to carry their son, which is experience the son will never have. And so there's a lot.
Annie [00:18:54] But it's interesting.
Hunter [00:18:55] Yeah, there's a lot at play there that's really beautifully explored. And and it's it's one of those books that's like really honest in ways that. I always appreciate whenever a writer is not afraid of showing the worst of themselves, you know, if it's in service of the greater story, and I think that that's what Krys does in the book and I think I just think it's I don't know, and it made me see parenting queer parenting in a really in a way that kind of helped me understand what my own approach could be and also what other people might be doing in their own households.
Annie [00:19:29] I love how our lists, like ever so slightly. They're lending themselves to perfect segue ways, because so my next one is a book that you and I both read and I think loved, and that is With Teeth by Krista Arnett. So this one also deals with queer parenting. And what, oh my gosh, and what happens when your kid isn't what you wanted them to be. Olivia and I, at the start of this year, read a really intense book called The Push, and there are elements of The Push in With Teeth, but I didn't feel like With Teeth was talked about as much like the push felt like it had a big marketing campaign, maybe was even a big like morning show book club, I can't remember. But to me, Krista Arnett writes so well and this is weird, but she writes really well about Florida. Like, I just don't think a lot of authors do like you can tell that she actually lives there, that she understands the culture and the people. And so she's writing about this woman who has this child, who she just does not understand it throughout the book. You cannot decide, is the mother trustworthy or is the child trustworthy? Like, who is the person in whom the reader should place their goodwill? And I was, first of all, blown away by the writing. This was my first work to read by her, but I definitely want to go into the back list because I really just liked her writing a lot. So her storytelling is great, but there are scenes that I think will forever. I'm pointing to my brain people can't see, but like they will be forever ingrained in my brain. There's this very awkward, powerful scene of like her on a field trip with her kids swim team and the kids in the back seat. And that scene is just seared in my brain. And then there's another scene. And one of the, well, one of the things I love, there's a scene where she's like sitting on a porch. She's frustrated. And anyway, I think about I think about this character often, but there's also just a lot about. Yeah. About narration, I think, and like the one of the things that Kristen Krista does in the book is she puts every chapter or so a perspective from an outsider into the narrative. And so that's when you, the reader, start to see, Oh, maybe this narrator is a little bit unreliable. Maybe my goodwill and my trust should not be put in the mother. Maybe I should start thinking about the child. And it kind of plays with narrative and with narration. And who? Yeah, which voice? Which voice do we listen to when we read a book? Like, we only get so many perspectives in a work of literature? And so anyway, I love how she's playing with voice in the book. It's called With Teeth by Krista Arnett.
Hunter [00:22:17] Yeah, I love With Teeth. And there is a scene like, I don't think this is give anything away this. So there is a scene where both the mother and son bite each other. Yes. And like that it lives rent free in my head.
Annie [00:22:33] Yes it is. I remember reading that and gasping. I was like, Oh my God, like you just and neither you nor I are parents yet, but I suspect you could be like me where I'm constantly thinking about it. Like, I think about what kind of parent would I be? What will I look like? Like, how will I change? What will my kid think of me? And that scene both gave me a lot of hope that I could potentially do better, but also was like, Oh crap.
Hunter [00:23:01] Like, is this the worst case scenario? Is this where we're going to be?
Annie [00:23:04] Yes, it was very startling. There were, there were many. There were many scenes in that book where I was startled.
Hunter [00:23:11] Yeah, same. So the next book that's on my list is Image Control by Patrick Nathan, which is a nonfiction book that explores art and the media and and fascism and all these things. And it really is one of those. It's one of the books that really kind of changed the way I viewed. Social media and and the way the images are presented to me and there's something in the book where it talks about how. Like we talk about an image is worth a thousand words, whatever. But we are being told like image like these images that are be included in a lot of these articles and essays and stuff, they're telling us what to think of like they're presenting an idea to us along with the text. And so it feels almost like what's going on outside of the frame. Almost kind of like there's there's a lot of conversations being had about how the images that we're like because you also think about how clickbait stuff, right, how you just see a little image and then these article names and that's all you're getting because no one's reading the full thing anymore. And there's like a whole lot that this book explores, but it really does change the way that I viewed, and also that he talks a lot about how art art is not an artist, not a human art. We put so much reliance on art to save us and to make us better humans when that's not that's not enough.
Annie [00:24:36] Yeah, reading reading a book isn't everything.
Hunter [00:24:39] Right? You know, like, I think that, yes, that is a great place to start. But if that is all you're doing, then right? Yeah. And so I think that it really kind of it. It's a challenging read in that it's pushing you to reform your ideas of how you navigate, how you're engaging with art and with and with social media, too. But it's also really beautiful and and respectful of of of everything. It's explore everything it's going to include, especially art. So I don't know about that.
Annie [00:25:10] Do I want to read that?
Hunter [00:25:12] I think, you know what? Even if you don't want to read the whole thing, I think there are some chapters that like, honestly, the final chapter is so good. I think even that that would give you a good idea of like...
Annie [00:25:22] Because that sounds like an an Annie book to me. It's not like just just thinking about the role that art plays and what we're what we're attributing or what we're forcing art to do like.
Hunter [00:25:36] Yeah, I think I think you'd like it.
Annie [00:25:39] OK, OK. Here is a book. Now I'm wondering if you've read it or not. OK, well, I'm going to go ahead and flip Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu. Have you read this yet?
Hunter [00:25:49] I haven't yet, but I want to go ahead.
Annie [00:25:51] OK, because I think this is a book you will really like. So SJ Sindu actually, I'm familiar with her work because of her graduate work at Florida State University. And so we are familiar with SJ at The Bookshelf. But this is, I believe, her sophomore work and I loved it. I especially love the first three quarters. The last quarter I was a little less sure of. However, I think the entire thing is worth your time. It is very reminiscent. I think a good title would be a burning, which came out last year and was one of my top 10. Blue-Skinned Gods is about a young man growing up in India whose parents have raised him and told him like he is a reincarnated Vishnu. And so he is a God. And he was born with blue skin. And so he, before his 10th birthday, has, like certain things have to happen to prove his divinity and the whole idea. There's even a great line in the book that I actually think is almost the thesis statement for the work, which is kind of like, there are a lot of books about religion, and there are a lot of books about the role religion plays in people's lives. But there are very few books about what it's like to be raised as a god. And what does that do to you? And so we watch this character from the age of 10 until he is in early adulthood. And how does this being raised as this divine, godlike person? How does it affect who he is? How does it shape his familial relationships? Each section of the book is, is it's all kind of from his perspective, but you get a different look at one of his relationships. So like the first section is more about his childhood and his relationship with his cousin. One of the sections is that his relationship with his mom and his dad is another section anyway. So the way she has kind of divided the book up is also really interesting structurally. But the writing is great. The storytelling is fascinating. I certainly learned a lot about Hinduism and about Hindu gods and the role that religion plays in that culture. But I also just think it's a really good book about, yeah, what happens when it's not just about a belief in God, but what happens when you believe you are the God? It was fascinating. I loved it.
Hunter [00:28:10] That does sound amazing. And I think her first book was A Marriage of a Thousand Lies.
Annie [00:28:16] Yes, that's right.
Hunter [00:28:17] Yeah. And I want to. I haven't read that one either, but I do want to read it. This is like before I say my next one, quickly make a little. I like, Well, I don't know why I had this thought like very quickly, but I was thinking about all these, all these books that we want to read. But how also you and I both know a lot of what we do, like me for like books, examine you for legitimate. Your work is where we have to keep up with all these new releases. And in some ways, I was imagining us as Andy in The Devil Wears Prada and how, you know, like like throwing the phone and moving on with our lives and how like one day we'll be able to...
Annie [00:28:53] One day we could read whatever we want.
Hunter [00:28:57] But I just had to make the observation because I was like, Oh my gosh, that's that's yeah.
Annie [00:29:02] Can I tell you the, I'm sorry, but I do want to talk about the part of The Devil Wears Prada that I think about all the time. And it's the scene where Stanley Tucci's character, like, looks at Anne Hathaway and he's like, I hold on. I've got the exact quote, but it's like, Oh, your personal life or your working life is great, that means your personal life is about to go up in flames. And I think about that constantly. Because despite what the internet tells you, you cannot have it all, everybody. You can't do it, Stanley Tucci tried to tell you. He tried to tell us we can't have it all.
Hunter [00:29:37] We should listen to the wise Stanley Tucci. But instead, we believe no.
Annie [00:29:44] So I think about that scene constantly.
Hunter [00:29:46] I think that whole movie tells you that there's not one person in there who is entirely happy.
Annie [00:29:50] No, no. All those people are so miserable. Even that weird little chef. You know, what's his name? He was such a poor excuse for a boyfriend. I can't remember his name.
Hunter [00:30:03] You know, I like. He was in Tallahassee.
Annie [00:30:07] That guy?
Hunter [00:30:08] Yeah. Yeah. OK. Yeah, side that. Just a little side note. But I like I met him. Like, I really like, like sort of met him. Like I talked to his dog. And.
Annie [00:30:18] I do remember this.
Hunter [00:30:20] Yeah. And basically, I think that he thought there was something wrong with me, but it's like, we're over it.
Annie [00:30:25] What is it? Do you know his name? Adrian?
Hunter [00:30:28] Yeah, Adrian, something. Whatever. He's one of the Adrian's. OK, so my next my next book was All’s Well by Mona Awad. And I mentioned this.
Annie [00:30:43] I wanted to read this.
Hunter [00:30:44] It's a good audio book.
Annie [00:30:46] Oh, good. I'm looking for one.
Hunter [00:30:47] Yeah. So I loved Bunny. And I've I've now read because I also this year, I read her book 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, which I thought was such a fun, fast read. I read it while at a board meeting and I tip it down. But All’s Well is about this woman who talks a lot about chronic pain and disability, and this woman who is directing this show. This is All’s Well that ends well, the Shakespeare play. That is apparently because people think this is worth one, and it's very like her work is very weird. Very. And it's not. I don't think it's like unapproachable or weird, but it is kind of there's a lot of like magical realism type things going on like she it's hard to explain without giving anything away because there's so many twists and turns in the book. But I just find her. She has such a strong voice and I find the ways that she. She's very respectful at how she approaches her subject matter, and I find her very funny. And and I hate to use it in some small ways. This feels like if I won't say this, I won't say Fleabag-esque, but I feel like it would. It could exist in the world of Fleabag as somebody else who is there.
Annie [00:32:14] OK, I so I'm very curious about this, and I think what has been hard for me is that magical realism component, because sometimes those words I hate this about myself, by the way. But like sometimes I hear those words and I'm like, OK, disregard. Like, I don't have to read that because it won't be for me. But I did read the description of this one and was very intrigued. So maybe I'll try the audiobook.
Hunter [00:32:33] I definitely like and I will say this. I read the first three chapters I like, just like, physically read them, and I wasn't sure how where I stood on it. And then I listened to the audio just to kind of get in the rhythm.
Annie [00:32:45] OK.
Hunter [00:32:46] And once I was like, Oh, I'm there and I can't stop. So.
Annie [00:32:50] OK, yeah. OK, good. OK. So I feel like a lot of my books have been on the heavier side of things in terms of subject matter. So now I'm here to present to you what I think is some of the some of the really greatest like fluffy. Is it the greatest? It's it just felt like just what I needed. If you just if you just like JLO and Ben.
Hunter [00:33:13] Okay.
Annie [00:33:14] If you just. If you just are trying to understand JLO and Ben Affleck, I think I have the book for you, which is The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clement and Onjuli Datta. So I read this. I do not know why I picked it up. I don't know what possessed me, except I think on a new release Tuesday, I read the back and I thought, This sounds like JLO and Ben. So I will read this and then I don't know if it's because I went in completely low expectations like didn't know anything. Didn't hadn't read a Kirkus review. Hadn't read it a Publishers Weekly review just picked it up on a whim. Read it on a plane, which is exactly where I wanted to be while reading this book. But it is about it's an actress and I don't think he's an actor, but it's about an actress who she and this guy are basically in a relationship. But it's pretend it's for the media, it's for her career, and he's kind of this socialite kind of guy. So like high powered money, like trust fund guy. And they met and kind of had this fling. But ever since the media and the paparazzi have loved them, and so they just any time their careers are about to go up in flames, they get back together. But they don't really get together. They're just fake together for the media. OK. It is. It reminded me of like seven days in June in terms of like steamy romance. I do think, as I recall, there were sexy times in this book, but it's also just really fun. Like I and I again, I don't I have not ever looked at the Kirkus review. I don't know what good read thought. I don't really care. I just really liked this book, and I liked it because there is some fluff that is too fluffy. And I think you know what I mean. Like, I read a rom com the other day that I was like, This is the equivalent of a hallmark movie, and that is not for me. Yeah, but this felt like, Oh, there's a little bit of depth here. Like, the characters were really interesting and I thought, well drawn out. I could not believe it was written by two people because sometimes I feel like you can tell when a book is written by two authors and they're trying to, you know, bring these characters to life. And I think that's hard to do, but I really felt like the whole thing was seamless. The story is interesting. The characters are well drawn out, very complete, interesting nuance to people. I really like this one. I don't know if I'm alone in that again I do not care.
Hunter [00:35:41] That sounds perfect because I. Listen, I know that Ben Affleck has like, you know, like, like he has like, apparently he pursues women on the apps.
Annie [00:35:54] Oh, unlike Raya or something, do you follow demure? That's where I get all of my information.
Hunter [00:35:59] No, but I should now.
Annie [00:36:00] You should.
Hunter [00:36:02] Yeah. But that's just a guess because apparently like he like he like heart at somebody and they were like, Oh, it's not really Ben Affleck. And then he said a video, it's like you. Yeah.
Annie [00:36:09] Yes.
Hunter [00:36:11] I know that people are like ew. If he did that to me. Oh, I would be like, I'm sorry, Tyler. But Ben Affleck called.
Annie [00:36:20] I mean, honestly, don't you think Tyler would be amused and or supportive like I?
Hunter [00:36:24] Yes, I honestly, I think the role would it be OK with that? But and also and I love Jennifer Lopez because how do you not?
Annie [00:36:35] Right? And look, I have questions about them as a couple because I just I'm not. I kind of feel like JLO's too good for Ben Affleck. Yeah. But at the same time, yes, my 90s like early 2000s loving heart nostalgia, my millennial ness. I'm here for it.
Hunter [00:36:52] And she makes him better. Like, he's like, yes, really fit. Like you said, like, just do it. All the things like, so yeah,
Annie [00:36:58] He's not drunk. He's not dropping Dunkin Donuts, you know, all over the ground. Like, I feel like she's helped him get his life a little bit back together.
Hunter [00:37:05] So, yeah, so you know, so the next book that's on my list is a book that, like I was, I thought would like, get a lot of heat in that it didn't, which is Virtue by Hermione Hoby.
Annie [00:37:17] Oh, I wanted to read this because you love this.
Hunter [00:37:20] I I don't know what it it just, you know what? I think I had a really great reading rhythm where you know what this is like. Were you like you were like three or four really good books in a row? And this kind of happened in that in that sequence of just like, Oh, it's right, whenever I read Mona Awad 13 ways of looking at a fat girl. And then I immediately started Virtue, but it it deals a lot with. It's one of the first books that I've read that deals a lot with white people, like a white writer examining white privilege, really like really examining it and what that looks like and what happens when we choose our own white comfort over being, I guess, quote unquote an ally to somebody else. And and it's interesting because it does it. The narrative does it in such a smart way because you and this is pretty much the premise. So I don't think it's giving anything away to say that this this white guy has a black friend who's a coworker and he kind of immediately pushes her to the side whenever this rich couple invites him to have like a summer at their place in some type of Martha's Vineyard type situation. And it is just really, I don't know. It's I just thought it was so smart and well-written and compelling, and I think I told you it kind of reminded me in some small ways of such a fun age and how it's literary, but it's also a page turner. And and it really deals with some themes that like, I don't and it deals with it in ways that you don't really see. Handled it in a way, like in a story that's so compelling normally. you know what I mean?
Annie [00:38:58] Yes, they did do like, yeah. You know, in a way that is maybe accessible.
Hunter [00:39:04] Yes.
Annie [00:39:05] Yeah. Mm hmm. OK. So where do I want to go from here. OK, I think I want to talk about this book because it just came out. And again, I think here toward the end of the year, we're getting a lot of books that are just kind of going to go by the wayside. I think it always happens. It's almost like when you're too late, your movie's too late for Oscar season. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. And so and look, I don't think this is an award winning book per se. I'm just saying a lot of books come out in November, December that kind of just get lost in the shuffle. And one of them is this book I've been looking forward to for quite some time, it is called Prayers for the People by Terry Stokes. I have followed Terry Stokes prayers for prayers from Terry. I followed him on the internet for a long time. He writes lovely like liturgy inspired prayers, but often dealing with pop culture. And he reminds me of our Eric Thomas. And I mean that with the highest praise. I just love. I love Terry so much, and I am so excited about this book. It came out last week and I immediately held a compy for myself. Did I over order for The Bookshelf? Time will tell. Like, I just really believe in these prayers because I think they're silly and sweet and tongue in cheek, but also extremely genuine and devout and thoughtful. I think even Mary Catherine was laughing at one of the prayers because it was it was like prayers for the 90s child and it started like Lord from the window to the wall. Like, it's the references are very fun, but again, there's still a sanctity to them and it's about them. And I love that we can be. We can be serious and saintly and silly, all at the same time. And I like a book that's doing that and I want to support his work. I have followed him on Instagram for a long time, and so I want to support his work financially through this book. So it is called Prayers for the People by Terry Stokes. It's the perfect little gift of all sides, too, so I'm really excited about it.
Annie [00:41:07] That sounds really good, and I'm going to have to ask my friend, our Eric Thomas, if he's read it.
Annie [00:41:15] You should please name drop our EricThomas all the time, and please just name drop. I love when people do that because it makes me feel like six degrees of separation, I'm three degrees. I'm just three degrees from our Eric Thomas now.
Hunter [00:41:30] I don't know how people don't namedrop, but like or don't like name droppers. I love it.
Annie [00:41:34] I love it. Stanley Tucci namedrop so much in his book Taste and every time I was like, Oh my gosh. Ryan Reynolds took you to the hospital when you were ill. Please tell me more.
Hunter [00:41:44] Like, I'm tell it like, my favorite thing ever is watching any Mary Karr interview because she's like my friend Donna Tartt.
Annie [00:41:53] OK? Yeah, that's how I'm going to be. When you're a famous writer, I'll be like, Oh my friend Hunter, you know Hunter Mclendon, you know?
Hunter [00:42:02] Oh, OK. Are we doing one more?
Annie [00:42:05] Yeah, do one more.
Hunter [00:42:07] OK, so my last one was Embassy Wife by Katie Crouch. I just really like her as a writer. You actually sold me her book before this Abroad.
Annie [00:42:16] Yes.
Hunter [00:42:16] Do you remember? Yeah, OK.
Annie [00:42:17] I forgot all about that.
Hunter [00:42:19] Yeah. And it was like this book about like that one was like about the girl. It's inspired by the girl who went abroad and then she got like, yeah, but this one is about these white women who are living in, I believe, South Africa and the it's this is another book that deals with white privilege and also like being like and the problems sometimes with being white and entering into a space that's not yours and and not and not knowing that you're not being respectful and not knowing, you know, and just some of the clumsiness of that. And but it is also very like rich white people problems, which I, you know, this is our job I love.
Annie [00:43:03] I love rich white people problem.
Hunter [00:43:04] Yeah, like, it's just fun to read about. And so that's so this is just one of those books where if that's the kind of book you like, I think if you like Annie books, I think that's one you'd like.
Annie [00:43:13] OK, OK. My last one, I think I will go. I will keep going with rich white people problems, and I will talk about Cheat Day by Liv Stratman. I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it because I like angsty white ladies trying to make up their mind. I just you just do, partly because that's actually not who I am as a person. And so I am highly entertained. I would like to be clear. One thing I did not know about this book going in is that it is dealing. I should have known from the title, but I am nothing, if not naive. This book is about infidelity. So if that is something that you do not enjoy reading about, then please, this book would not be for you. But it is about this woman who has been I'm using air quotes, happily married for a certain period of time. And then all of a sudden, lo and behold, she starts to find herself attracted to somebody else. But I think this book is so. Look, I like to read about angsty white ladies when it is well-written, and I think that is the key here. Like, this book is very well written. The characters again, as I discussed in previous work, like very well drawn out, very thoughtful, very nuanced, even though you don't understand, like I personally did not understand why this woman was making the decision, she. Making and I was on my couch like physically viscerally having a response, like why are you doing, why are you doing this? I was also so invested that I read it on in one sitting in one of my Mondays off, like I remember where I was when I read it because I was just completely enmeshed and wrapped up in the story. And so if you are looking for a book that will hold your attention from start to finish and that will make you like, want to scream into your pillow but also give somebody a hug? I highly recommend Cheat Day by Liv Stratman.
Hunter [00:45:05] See, I really want to read this because I haven't seen a lot of people read it, but the people who did were had very strong reactions. And I will just say, you know, like, yes, I love a cougar, but more than anything, I love a cheetah. (Both Laugh) As you were talking. I was like, oh, I have to hold it inside.
Annie [00:45:31] Oh, it's perfect. Yeah. Look, these are books I had. I had like three others that I was tempted to talk about, but I really wanted to pick books that I just feel like. I haven't seen a lot and I haven't seen reviewed a lot. And so anyway, Hunter, thank you for like delving into the books that you read this year. And I am looking at your list because I think I'm going to take a couple and try them myself before the end of the year. So thank you for joining me on this journey.
Hunter [00:45:56] Thank you for having me, as always.
Annie [00:46:04] [with faint music playing] 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 at www.fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Annie [00:46:42] This week, what I am reading is brought to you by Visit Thomasville. So last week I attended a committee meeting. I am a member of the Victorian Christmas committee in downtown Thomasville. Very exciting, and we talked all about Victorian Christmas, set for December 9th and 10th in Thomasville. We're talking carriage rides, tasteful turkey legs. I say tasteful because not tacky but tasteful turkey. We're talking snow globes that are life size. You can go in and get your picture taken. Live reindeer, a Victorian inspired Santa of just really fun. I know I always use the phrase Stars Hollow, but it's what I frequently think of, like Stars Hollow feeling. Christmas Festival in Thomasville, Georgia It is an event that the city of Thomasville has put on for decades, I'm sure. Hunter, you probably remember some Victorian Christmases of your childhood, and it holds a lot of fond memories for me, too as a shop owner. It is one of our busiest nights of the year. The two nights festival. And so it is two nights that are just really fun. The spirit of Christmas is alive and well. The lights are hanging in the trees. There is so much to look forward to about this time of year, and Victorian Christmas really is something magical and something special. If you see pictures of Thomasville on Instagram or in Southern Living, probably they are featuring Victorian Christmas, and so it's the perfect time of year to pay Thomasville a visit. To find out more about how you can visit Thomasville for Victorian Christmas, go to www.thomasvillega.com
Annie [00:48:15] This week, I'm reading Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans. Hunter, what are you reading?
Hunter [00:48:20] This week I'm reading It's a Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara.
Annie [00:48:25] Thank you again to our sponsor Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are passing through, I really do believe you would enjoy a visit to beautiful Thomasville, Georgia. 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 patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.