Episode 394 || Spooky Book Flights
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie, Olivia, and Keila are back to create Spooky Book Flights! They’re pairing books with eerie vibes for your spooky season enjoyment.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our website:
Purchase Annie's bundle:
The Likeness by Tana French
We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Berry
Purchase Olivia's bundle:
Devolution by Max Brooks
Hide by Kirsten White
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
Purchase Keila's bundle:
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
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 or @thomasvillega on Instagram.
This week Annie is reading Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. Olivia is reading Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger. Keila is reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
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.
Our Executive Producers are... Donna Hetchler, Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle C, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, and Kate Johnston Tucker.
Transcript:
Annie Jones [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.
[00:00:24] It's like looking through a time machine at ourselves 30 years ago. While the hair is smaller, the hunger is still outsized. Hunger is what gets anything done. Stay hungry, ladies, we think.". Quan Barry. We Ride Upon Sticks.
[00:00:43] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week, we're back with a new episode format we started last month, but this time we're talking about spooky book flights. I'm joined in conversation by bookshelf retail floor manager Olivia Schaffer and bookseller Keila Cone.
[00:01:03] Before we get started, as most of you know, one of our main goals for 2022 has been to grow the show to 10,000 listeners and to reach a thousand ratings on Apple Podcasts. Those numbers are terrifying to me, but we're excited. Right now we are a community of almost 9000 and we're up to over 800 ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts. One way to help grow the show and reach these goals is for you to leave your own review on Apple Podcasts. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see, 'Write a Review' and tell us what you think.
[00:01:38] This week I read this review from Min D NC. "Remember how it felt to read Anne of Green Gables and know not just Anne but her specific environment and cast of characters? That's how I feel about Annie, The Bookshelf Thomasville and her guests. I just love the opportunity to spend a little time with her in Georgia every Thursday.".
[00:01:57] That is the highest and best praise. Thank you, Min D NC, and thank you to all of our listeners who have left reviews for the show over the last few months. We can see a difference really and truly. We can see a difference in the show's reach. And with every new listener, we get closer to reaching those very important numeric goals. But even more importantly, we are able to grow our small business in Thomasville. So, thank you.
[00:02:21] Now back to the show. This week, we are talking book flights where we pair three or more books together around certain themes and topics. In September, we tackled back to school titles, but this month, of course, we're moving on to one of our favorite subjects: Spooky Reads. It's spooky season. Floor manager Olivia and bookseller Keila are back to share their preferred book flights for the season. Hi, guys.
Olivia [00:02:45] Hey.
Keila [00:02:45] Hi.
Annie Jones [00:02:46] Welcome back, Keila.
Keila [00:02:47] I'm excited. This is my favorite time of year.
Annie Jones [00:02:51] This is really tailor made for you. Before we launch into our individual book flights, we've all created spooky book flights, all of which you can find for sale on the bookshop website, why don't we talk about what we love about this reading season? I'm curious. I know, Olivia, you kind of read some of these throughout the year, but I'm curious if that changes for you in October. But, Keila, this is really your favorite topic. So why don't you tell us about how much you love spooky season.
Keila [00:03:19] It's all year for me. I wait all year for this. And I read spooky books all year, but in the month of October it is just spooky books non stop. Spooky movies. I'm here for a good scare.
Annie Jones [00:03:37] Well, you read widely outside of this month, but this month you think more focused on spooky reads. Do you read anything outside that genre this month?
Keila [00:03:44] Not unless there's something that really is going to catch my attention more than a spooky book.
Annie Jones [00:03:52] Do you plan your spooky reads in advance for this month? Like I've seen some people post their spooky read stacks. Like, do you have a stack of books you're working your way through or are you reading by serendipity this month?
Keila [00:04:02] I have some that I want to read but I just go with the flow, whatever I'm in the mood for at that moment.
Annie Jones [00:04:11] Okay. Olivia, what about you? I'm very curious because your reading life looks different because it is often led by Bookshelf reading. So I'm curious, do you indulge in spooky reading season?
Olivia [00:04:22] No, I don't, actually. No, I don't read seasonally at all. That has never been a concept that has attracted me or pulled me in. I think because I'm such a mood reader, I have to be in the right mood to pick up a certain book. So I always attempt to plan out what I want to read for the weekend or for the month and whatnot, but it will never end up what I put down on paper.
Annie Jones [00:04:48] So was this a hard task for you or not because of how you read normally?
Olivia [00:04:54] No, because I already had like a whole backlist of book titles to pull from for this. So this is actually really fun and hard to choose because they are so many.
Annie Jones [00:05:01] Hard to narrow it down. Yeah. So I think I'm like, this is not shocking. I think I'm right in the middle between Olivia and Keila because I do like spooky season. Jordan and I watch scary movies this time of year. I like to indulge in a spooky book or two, and I do like to read seasonally. However, I'm also a bookstore owner. I have shelf subscriptions to read for. I am so proud of past Annie for picking 2022 shelf subscriptions so far in advance that now I think in order to appease future Annie, I need to go ahead and be reading for 2023 and I know there won't be time for that in December really. So I'm trying to balance it out. Like, what does this month look like? But one thing I did do-- Keila, I think you would have been really proud-- is I went to the Thomas County Public Library where I had not been in a long time. I normally just go there for meetings, but because I own The Bookstore, I don't often go to the library anymore. And I love the library. So I went to the library and I thought, I'm just going to browse for, I don't know, 30 minutes, an hour and I'm going to leave with three or four spooky books to try to guide my season. Doesn't mean I'm going to be able to read them all, doesn't mean I'm going to check all of them off the list. But if I pick one up, great. And in fact, I did pick one up and I'm really liking it so far. So, anyway, I left with like a stack of four spooky books to help guide my reading, though I probably will also read for shelf subscriptions or podcast episodes or whatever. But this was a fun task. Despite how much I love books set in boarding schools or academia, I found this to be an easier task. I'm curious if you all did as well.
Keila [00:06:39] Yeah.
Olivia [00:06:40] Yeah. I had fun grouping them together as I was pulling titles.
Annie Jones [00:06:49] I told Olivia my titles the other day and she looked at me and she was, like, what theme is this?
Annie Jones [00:06:55] But I did have a theme and I do have an answer that I was intentional about. But, yeah, I had a really fun time because like you all, I think I have read this a lot. And so to narrow down to three was kind of hard and to think, okay, what are some backlist titles? What are some things that could maybe beep things people haven't read before? So I'm excited. Let's dive in. We're going to go in order. So I'll kick us off, then Olivia, and then Keila. Then at the very end, we'll kind of regroup, we'll share our overarching book flights again so listeners can know. So my spooky book flight, I would like to start with The Likeness. This is by Tana French. Have either of you read Tana French?
Keila [00:07:38] No.
Annie Jones [00:07:39] Olivia, before we started recording, I thought, my dream is for one day when Olivia Schaffer doesn't have the pressure of The Bookshelf or a bookstore that she could read Tana French. I think you'd really like her.
Olivia [00:07:52] I think I would, too.
Annie Jones [00:07:54] Yeah, I think it's right up your alley. It's just a matter of life at the shelf not really leaving room for this, but I really do think you'd like her a lot. So if you are not familiar with Tana French, she is an Irish author. She writes a lot of maybe more crime stories or I would call them suspense stories, some of them verge into Thriller. They're not hauntings. Hauntings are not my particular specialty. Perhaps Keila will take us into that, but my preference tends to be the suspense novel. And I think Tana French did such a wonderful job of writing these really well-crafted stories. They're all set in Ireland. I also like that you do not have to read them in order, so you certainly can read them in order. The first one is called In the Woods. This is technically the second book. The Likeness is technically the second book, but I have read them out of order because they take a secondary character from a previous novel, a member of this Dublin Murder squad, these detectives in Dublin, and then she makes them the main character of the next book. So they're connected. But much like Elizabeth Strout, I don't think you have to read Tana French in order. And I picked this one for a specific reason. So I think I have read all of these and all of the books by her that I have read, I have loved. Some of them are quieter than others, and I know quiet isn't always for everyone, particularly this time of year when maybe we want a big page turner. So I think the likeness is perhaps the most page turning. The most compulsively readable of the Dublin Murder squad books. So this story follows an undercover detective named Cassie Maddox. Cassie is really good at her job. She's been a detective for years, but she's on the younger side of things, and she goes to investigate the murder of a woman named Lexie Madison.
[00:09:38] And, gosh, one of the things I loved about this book was the setting. So not only is it in Ireland, but it's set in this ramshackle house where these housemates all live together. It's almost secret history-esque minus the academic setting, just where you've got this group of friends who really love each other and they kind of all gone in on living together, living in community together. And Lexie has been murdered. She's gone missing. They have found her body and they realize she is a doppelganger for Cassie. And so Cassie goes undercover as Lexie because her roommates, her housemates, only know that she's missing. They don't know they found her body. And the detectives think that one of the housemates might have had something to do with it. So Cassie goes in as Lexie and tries to find out what happens to Lexie. I thought this was so good, so suspenseful. The setting is great, the writing of Tana French I really love. And I like reading these around this time of year because of the cold setting. I've talked about this before. I don't like reading cold books in summertime. We're too sweaty here for that. And so it's very fun to cozy up with a book set in Ireland. I found the story of Cassie as a protagonist really believable. And then I found the story of Lexie and her housemates really intriguing and interesting. So this is called The Likeness. It's the second in the Dublin Murder Squad series. I feel like I should also plug something that I discovered during the pandemic, which is they turned the Dublin Murder Squad books into a series and you can find them streaming. I think they're a little trickier to find because I think they were like a British TV show adaptation. But Jordan and I watched them during the pandemic and we really liked them. So The Likeness by Tana French. And then you can watch the TV series if you want.
Olivia [00:11:27] See, I like it a lot that she uses the secondary characters in the books because I think sometimes in series you're just, like, but how far can we take this character? How many high jinks can really ensue to one person?
Annie Jones [00:11:39] Yeah. And then you still get the previous main character. You might see a glimpse of them, but it's like just enough. I like Cassie Maddox to have one book devoted to her and then she's like a minor character in a future work. I love it. I love the world Tana French has built here.
Olivia [00:11:55] She must have a fun head to live in.
Annie Jones [00:11:57] Oh, yeah.
Olivia [00:11:58] Or a terrifying hood to live in. However you may see it. My first book is one that I would actually really love to reread and I don't have the want to reread many books, but this is one that if I have time to reread this in my later years, I will for sure. This is Devolution by Max Brooks. He's the author of World War Z, which I haven't read, but I know I would like. And this one is written as a first hand account, which makes it hyper realistic. There were several times when I had to put down this book and be, like, "But did this happen?" So this is about this group of people who they go to live in this community that's like very small knit. I think there's like seven or eight houses around this one main building and the whole thing is they're living off the grid. It's very eco friendly, but they're off the edge of Mt. Rainier in Washington. One day Mt. Rainier erupts. And what they don't realize is the aftermath of this is that there were Sasquatches that were living up by Mt. Rainier that no one ever knew about, that now have been displaced by this volcanic explosion eruption. And so they start to attack that community that lives off the grid, which they have no way to contact anybody else to help them or anything. But it happens so slowly. And it's just like diary writing. It's these people recounting their day or just like in the moment, they just have to document what's happening. The Sasquatches I think they start banging trees together just to warn the people that they're surrounding their habitat. It was so interesting, first off, because I'm not going to say I'm obsessed, but I am fascinated by the possible existence or nonexistence of Sasquatch. So this one was truly right up my alley. And I read it right after I listened to a Stuff You Should Know podcast about Bigfoot which was so well done, everybody. If you just want to listen to something real quick and just know, is it true? Is it not? That's a great podcast because you can't disprove it and you can't prove it. And they did a great job of showing both sides. And then you read this book and you're, like, oh my gosh. I did have to look up. I was, like, "Did Mt. Rainier explode?" [Inaudible].
Annie Jones [00:14:44] I love that, though. I love that kind of book where you're kind of, like, "Wait a minute, was this real?"
Olivia [00:14:49] Yeah. It took me a minute, but it was so good. I don't think I could put it down as soon as I started because it's short chapters you fly through, but you just have to know what happens and the characters in it also really draw you in because the different personality types that you find living in an off the grid existence is very interesting. So it was excellent.
Annie Jones [00:15:11] Was this a shelf subscription of yours? Did you pick that? I just remember you reading this and I remember you talking about it, but I can't remember if you picked it as a shelf subscription a while ago or not.
Olivia [00:15:20] I honestly can't remember. [Crosstalk]
Annie Jones [00:15:22] I just remember you talking about it. It sounds really good.
Olivia [00:15:27] It is. It is very good.
Annie Jones [00:15:29] It sounds like it'd make a good TV show, too, actually. TV series.
Olivia [00:15:32] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:15:34] Keila, what's your first book?
Keila [00:15:35] Okay. First of all, Olivia, you would love World War Z. It's very good. I love it.
Olivia [00:15:41] I know. I think you told me that before.
Keila [00:15:46] Yeah it's so good. So my first book is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. And I just need more people to read it because it is so good. I've read it twice. It's about Noemi. She is this glamorous debutante, and she gets this frantic letter from her cousin who has been married to this handsome English man. And so she goes to this house, this mansion that he lives in with his family. And some crazy stuff starts happening. The house is like infiltrating her dreams. She doesn't know what's real and what's not. The patriarch of the family is this really old dude. He's like 100 or something. And it's crazy. Just so much stuff starts happening. The atmosphere in this book is what really gets you because you look up from the book and you're, like, I thought I was in the moldy library in the mansion, but you're not. And it's just crazy. You think you know where it's going, but then it takes this turn and you're a whole different story. And it's one of those books where you will want to read it again. And it's just creepy.
Annie Jones [00:17:10] Keila, did you ever read Rebecca the Daphne du Maurier book?
Keila [00:17:16] No, but it is on my list.
Annie Jones [00:17:18] Okay. First of all, I think when I read Mexican Gothic and Rebecca, I started to realize maybe gothic literature is not my vibe. But, to me, if you like Rebecca, you will like Mexican Gothic. And no spoiler alerts, but I do think that one common thread in Keila Spooky Reads, whether you talk about them on this podcast or not, you love a creepy house.
Keila [00:17:44] I love a creepy house. I love creepy house. I wish I lived in a creepy house.
Olivia [00:17:50] Oh, do you?.
Keila [00:17:53] Maybe. Well, maybe. Yeah. I'd pray a lot more.
Olivia [00:18:03] Well, I would not want a creepy house.
Annie Jones [00:18:06] But I feel like that is a common thread. And in the book, Mexican Gothic, that house is a character all on its own.
Keila [00:18:14] Yeah, that's what I love when the house or the setting is its own character. And that house-- love it.
Annie Jones [00:18:23] Okay. My next book is decidedly different and different from my first selection. So my second recommendation is We Keep the Dead Close. This is by Becky Cooper. This is unique. I don't want to capitalize on true crime during spooky season. That feels slightly like icky because true crimes have real victims, and we want to be careful about that. But I do think this work of journalistic nonfiction actually handles true crime really well. And I read this, I believe, in November of 2020, and I loved it and was glad I read it when I did. So I wanted to include it here as kind of a different type of true crime book. So Becky Cooper is a Harvard grad, and while she was at Harvard, she heard rumors of this archeology student who had been murdered while she was a student at Harvard. And you know how colleges are, she heard all of these rumors about maybe her professor did it, maybe her boyfriend did it. There was all of these rumors because Harvard has a lot of secret societies and mysteries, but not often is a student murdered on campus in their on campus apartment. And so this was a big deal that kind of infiltrated the Harvard rumor mill, despite it being decades old. So when Becky Cooper returned to Harvard, she decided to investigate and do some research on what happened, and particularly then also just investigate the culture of Harvard and what happens when institutions try to protect themselves. And that's why I'm recommending it, because it is a very good, diligent, well-researched, well plotted, true crime book about the woman who was murdered. Jane Britton was her name. She was murdered in 1969 at Harvard. But it also then is a kind of modern investigation of academic life.
[00:20:25] I kept thinking it's really dark academia but make it true, and kind of what happens when you have this culture of secrecy and this culture of cliques and tight knit academic groups, and who Harvard chooses to protect versus who they don't. I hesitate to say that I like tales of institutional wrongdoing, but I do like when people shed light on institutional wrongdoing so that we can fix our institutions. That, to me, is the goal. And I think Becky Cooper does a really good job of that. I thought the writing in this was outstanding. It is long and I remember picking it up and being a little worried about that, that it would be a bit of a slog. But I was never bored. It's very well done, well-researched, well thought out. And I really respected the work that she did. And to me, it is more than a true crime. It's a journalistic investigation of academic culture and what happens on academic campuses. So it's called We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper. It's got a really great cover. And I think it'd be a good thing to dive into this time of year when I do think true crime is at the forefront of people's minds this time of year. We've got the questionable new Netflix Dahmer show. I feel like we've got a lot kind of spinning in the ether. And so maybe it would be good to ground ourselves in some well researched nuanced, true crime, journalistic nonfiction.
Olivia [00:21:48] I did listen to that whole recap of [Inaudible]. It sounds great. But mostly I was thinking in my head, if I went to Harvard, would I have been asked to join a secret society? And if I had been asked would I'd say, yes? I don't know. I think it would depend on the society. But part of me hopes I would.
Annie Jones [00:22:12] Look, because there are a lot of them, they're not all just skulls or whatever. Gilmore Girls taught me that I don't know that I have the wealth needed to be in a secret society.
Olivia [00:22:30] I mean, let alone I didn't have the wealth to got to...
Annie Jones [00:22:33] For sure.
Olivia [00:22:36] Or the smarts. But if that all lined up for you to be asked to be in a secret society.
Annie Jones [00:22:46] I think you would do it if it wasn't against your conscience.
Olivia [00:22:50] I think so.
Annie Jones [00:22:51] Yeah. I think you would do it.
Olivia [00:22:52] I think I would be hurt if I didn't get asked, to be honest with you.
Annie Jones [00:22:56] I was going to say, and I can't decide about myself. I'm afraid I'd be a little bit like holier than thou.
Olivia [00:23:02] I don't think you would. I was going to say that.
Annie Jones [00:23:03] I think I'd be like, no, I'm not joining your little secret society. Thank you so much.
Olivia [00:23:10] Thanks, but no thanks.
Annie Jones [00:23:14] I'm afraid I'd be a little perturbed. And I would want to read the expose. You know what I would do? I would be the editor of the school paper and write an expose
Olivia [00:23:27] You would expose everything. You would expose the secret society that I finally got accepted to. And I would have been so upset with you in this fictional world that I have now created.
Annie Jones [00:23:41] Should I write this book? I feel like I should write this book. I just got a list of book idea.
Olivia [00:23:49] Here's the author of the secret society.
Annie Jones [00:23:50] [Crosstalk] mastermind. Welcome.
Olivia [00:23:57] Anyhoo.
Annie Jones [00:23:57] It's a good thought exercise. I'm going to ask Jordan when he gets home, "Would you join a secret society?"
Olivia [00:24:02] Yeah, I would be interested in Jordan answers on that.
Annie Jones [00:24:05] Yeah, I think you would.
Olivia [00:24:08] Well, on to something very different. My next book is Hide by Kierstin White. This was my Shelf Subscription. I do remember that because it was just a couple of months ago.
Annie Jones [00:24:19] Okay.
Olivia [00:24:23] But this one really had me at the whole concept of it. And then I just dove right in. This is about a game of like extreme hide and seek in an amusement park. And you meet this girl, the main girl's Mack. You meet her, she's living at this homeless shelter. You understand that there is a dark past there that starts to get revealed as you get into the book. But there's a dark past that led her to be in this homeless shelter and to be this person who is extremely good at hiding. And the homeless shelter that she frequents, the woman working there told her about this game. If you win this game of hide and seek in this amusement park, you get like 20 grand or something. And so Mack was like, yeah, I could use that and I could easily win that. So she sets off to go play this hide and seek game. And, for me, it was right after they finished day one that I was just in this 100% because you realize that they have to be outdoors the entire day. The only time that they can retreat back to safety is when the amusement lights turn on after the dark happens. After sundown. And if the people who are found that day don't get to return back to the safety of the tent, you're not sure where they go. It was so good. It was really gripping. I think Kendel just read it and loved it. Keila, did you read it?
Keila [00:25:58] Yeah, that was the one book I read in June and July.
Olivia [00:26:06] That's right. Yeah. It just really had you. I like a good set up. And this was perfect because it was just, like, how could you go wrong in an old amusement park playing hide and seek? Because this is another thing where I was just, like, if I were in this game, how would I do? And I actually think I could do pretty well. To be perfectly fair, I think I'd be great at hiding.
Annie Jones [00:26:27] You may have sold me on this because now I'm... Did you guys read Fierce Kingdom? Now, this was dark. This was like a mother and son, as I recall. And there's a shooter in the zoo and they hide.
Olivia [00:26:44] I did not, but that sounds good.
Keila [00:26:44] That kind of sounds good.
Annie Jones [00:26:44] It's intense. But it was really well written. But it sounds like that mixed with-- did y'all ever watch Squid Game?
Keila [00:26:53] Yes, I watched Squid Game.
Annie Jones [00:26:54] Yeah. Did you Olivia, did you watch Squid Game?
Olivia [00:27:00] No.
Annie Jones [00:27:00] I watched two episodes during my COVID time. My brain during COVID time was not a fun place to be.
Olivia [00:27:11] When you had it, or when you were just living?
Annie Jones [00:27:13] No, when I had it. Still my brain is not in one place. By COVID time, I mean when I had COVID. I cried watching Squid Game. And that is intense. But the concept sounds kind of similar where it's these people desperate for money and they're competing in 'childhood games'. So I think if people like squid games, they might like this book.
Olivia [00:27:38] Yeah, I think that's a great combi.
Annie Jones [00:27:40] Keila, what's next for you?
Keila [00:27:41] Okay, this is one that I just finished last night and, surprise, it's a creepy house. It's These Fleeting Shadows by Katie Alice Marshall. It's like The Haunting of Hill House with knives out. And there's some of the characters that remind me of, like, the Haunting of Bly Manor. And so this is about a girl named Helen, and she has something's up with her. We don't exactly know what it is at the beginning. And she's got a history. And so her and her mother have fled this house years ago when she was little. And it could be because of what's up with her. I don't know. Might have to find out. So they leave this house and then years later they have to go back because the patriarch of the family, the grandfather, passes away. And they they're, like, we don't want to go back, but we have to for the funeral. They get there and Helen realizes that she has been left the entire state of this place called Harrow Stone and they call it Harrow. If she accepts it, she has to stay at this estate for a whole year. And if she stays there, she can't leave the grounds or anything. If she stays and the house chooses her, then she gets to keep it. So she's just hanging out. She decides that, yeah, she's going to stay there and while she's there, she's going to figure out the secrets of Harrow Stone. Why it's built like a labyrinth? Who are all these people? Why are there random holes in the woods? And it is a good, creepy house. And I read it because one of our customers came in and she was talking about it and was, like, "I don't know how I feel about it. It was creepy." And I was, like, "All right, sign me up. I'm ready for it."
Annie Jones [00:29:40] Is this a backlist title or a new book?
Keila [00:29:42] It's not that old. It came out a few months ago.
Olivia [00:29:46] Probably like a month or two ago.
Annie Jones [00:29:48] Okay. Interesting.
Keila [00:29:50] It's a young adult. So it was good.
Annie Jones [00:29:56] I was going to look up what else Katie Alice Marshall has written.
Olivia [00:30:02] I've read several of her books and they're all excellent the ones that I've read.
Annie Jones [00:30:08] Yeah. Maybe Rules for Vanishing. I feel like I might have read that.
Olivia [00:30:12] Rules of Vanishing. Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:30:13] Okay. I'm going from Irish Crime Squad, to journalistic nonfiction, to witchcraft. I just feel like I wanted to give people a wide variety to choose from. So I'm next going to talk about We Ride Upon Sticks. This is by Quan Barry. Now, this is not traditionally spooky per say, unless you are me and occasionally witchcraft is scary and so I'm in both equal parts intrigued and then also just curious about what it would involve. And so I during high school-- I think I've talked before about my Nathaniel Hawthorne phase, inside that phase, wrapped in that phase was a real obsession with the Salem witch trials. I read The Crucible, watched the great film adaptation with Winona Ryder, went down that whole path anyway and became kind of enamored and interested in the Salem witch trials. We Ride Upon Sticks is set in the eighties in Danver, Massachusetts. According to this book, the site of some witch trials à la the Salem witch trials. And so Danver, Massachusetts is kind of known for being the birthplace of this horrible thing. And it's 1989, and the Danvers High Women's Field hockey team is terrible. And they're so terrible that they decide to go into the woods one night, maybe there's some alcohol involved, and they open up a notebook with Amelia Estevez's face as the face on the front, and they sign a pact with the Dark Lord to be better at field hockey. And it's kind of a joke. Like, they call upon the witches who went before them, but it's like they're a little bit inebriated, they're high school students-- whatever. But then they start to win, and then they start to wonder, "What have we done?" And so let me tell you, first of all, this is a sports book. This is about field hockey. And I loved learning about field hockey. I loved this team.
[00:32:19] I think in my heart, I'm really sad I never got to be a jock. I realized the other day that Ezmy [sp] was a jock and I was, like, oh man, which isn't surprising, but I was also a little jealous. Like, dang it. I wanted that for myself and I just don't have the skills. Anyway, so it's got sports, which I love. It's got kind of this rich setting that's loosely based in reality. And then things that really happen happened historical record. And then it's also got this not Sabrina, the teenage witch like what we all watched with Melissa Joan Hart, more the Sabrina of Netflix that is a little darker, little spookier because of the witchcraft element. So plus 1980s pop culture reference, when they pulled out that Emilio Estevez notebook, I died laughing. I loved this so much. I think the setting is really fun. Olivia, we talked about this. I'm listening to Killers of a Certain Age, and I'm loving it so much. But those characters almost remind me of these characters on this field hockey team. But this field hockey team is young, they're high schoolers. But I don't know. I just I'm really loving it. If you like the show Yellowjackets, I think you might enjoy this as well. This book is a great hang. This is a good time and is just spooky enough because it does have those spooky witchy elements, but it's also about friendship and feminism. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. So that's We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry.
Olivia [00:33:53] I like in this book about field hockey players turned into witches. You're just, like, man, I wish I could have been a field hockey player. [Inaudible] So I just take a notebook out into the woods? That's all I have to do.
Annie Jones [00:34:08] Yes. I do not want to sign a pact with the Dark Lord. I'd rather just be on an award winning field hockey team.
Olivia [00:34:15] [Inaudible] the magic. Oh, man.
Keila [00:34:19] I think it has to be Emilio Estevez notebook.
Annie Jones [00:34:23] Yes. Olivia, don't forget.
Olivia [00:34:24] I will not lie to you guys. I do not know who that is.
Keila [00:34:29] Okay.
Annie Jones [00:34:30] From Mighty Ducks.
Keila [00:34:32] The Breakfast Club.
Olivia [00:34:33] Okay, but what one?
Keila [00:34:37] The jock. No, is that him.
Annie Jones [00:34:39] That's the jock. He's Martin Sheen's son.
Keila [00:34:42] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:34:43] Martin Sheen from the West Wing.
Olivia [00:34:44] I don't have a strong picture in my head right now.
Annie Jones [00:34:48] I think some people thought he was a heartthrob. I did not. Keila, do you think he's attractive?
Keila [00:34:54] Well, no.
Annie Jones [00:34:55] No, I really didn't.
Olivia [00:34:59] [Crosstalk].
Annie Jones [00:35:01] You're not going to offend anyone here. I did not think he was a heartthrob, but I did not come of age-- I was born in the '80s, but I did not come of age in the '80s, so that might have something to do with it. You and Walt should watch Mighty Ducks.
Olivia [00:35:12] Yeah. No, I think it's like one of those, like, I know I've seen as a child, but it didn't really pull me in.
Annie Jones [00:35:20] I feel like for a while you and Walt were rewatching Disney classics and I'm just here to say that that's one of them.
Olivia [00:35:26] We did like a solid three and then stopped that trend because, again, I am not really a movie person.
Annie Jones [00:35:31] Oh, that's right.We forget that.
Olivia [00:35:32] We thought that that was going to work, but-- yeah.
Annie Jones [00:35:37] Yeah. So moving on from Emilio...
Olivia [00:35:47] Segue. My next book is Reprieve by James Han Mattson. I read this book and then I think I immediately was just, like, can someone else read it? I think I just need to digest with somebody else what happened. It's about this house, the Wrigley house, which I guess Keila told me might have been a real house in a place.
Keila [00:36:07] There's McKamey Manor, which is very similar to that. But we'll go there.
Olivia [00:36:15] Haunted houses are things I do not do. I don't do scares. I only do scares in books because I can't picture things in my head, so I don't have to...
Annie Jones [00:36:24] Oh, this is interesting.
Keila [00:36:26] Yeah.
Olivia [00:36:27] It's also why I don't watch scary movies and such. But this is about the Wrigley house, which I think was up in Minnesota. And this is a haunted house escape room situation. And when I say haunted house, I mean horror haunted house. But the beauty--
Annie Jones [00:36:49] Oh, no.
Olivia [00:36:49] Did you say oh no?
Annie Jones [00:36:49] I'm just thinking, well, I think I would read this book. But I just have Olivia in my head going, but would I do this? And I am, like, absolutely not.
Olivia [00:36:59] I wouldn't. That's the theme of all of my books. This is so hard [Inaudible] really. So this haunted house, 14 members go in and you have to make it through-- I think there's five rooms you make it through, and in each one, there's a different task for you to complete in that room. But there are actors who work in this haunted house who actively, like, they're allowed to touch you. And at some point they hit people. Now they don't hurt or maim or kill, but it is more aggressive than any other haunted house I've ever read about. And so if the 14 members make it all the way through to the final room and complete the task without saying the word 'Reprieve', they win $20,000 to split among each other. But it's been years since anyone has finished this house because of how terrifying it is. Like they have cars ready to just usher people to a safe hotel after they exit this house.
Annie Jones [00:38:03] Okay.
Olivia [00:38:03] And so you know going into this book, right off the bat, first chapter, that somebody has died in this haunted house, but you don't know who and you don't know why. And you start to get pieces put together from all these different characters. Sometimes it's in a courtroom setting because they are on trial for the murder of this person. But then interspersed between learning about all these different characters that have a different part to play in this house and in this world is like the scenes from each of the haunted house rooms. So there is horror and gore in it, but it is really like a few select chapters of it. And then the rest of it really just felt like this intense, like, character study. But the characters were so interesting and so well done. You left and you were just, like, I don't know how this man created this world so intricately weaved together, but so realistically done. He did a great job. It was crazy. But there is a gore warning to this book. For sure a gore warning to this book. But that is Reprieved by James Han Mattson.
Annie Jones [00:39:17] And this really begs the question, which for Bookshelf staffers could make it through an escape room? Not maybe of this caliber, but I'm just thinking, like, which four Bookshelf staffers could go through a haunted house style escape room.
Keila [00:39:33] That's me.
Olivia [00:39:34] Has to be Keila, Nancy, Kendal?
Keila [00:39:36] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:39:38] As in Keila, Nancy Kendal?
Olivia [00:39:40] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:39:41] Yes. I might sub out Nancy for you, Olivia.
Olivia [00:39:44] Oh, no, Annie. I don't do jump scares.
Annie Jones [00:39:49] Yeah, but I think you would be a good puzzle solver.
Olivia [00:39:52] You know what? I was pretty good in an escape room situation with my family. I will say that.
Annie Jones [00:39:57] Yeah. I just think you need at least one person who's got some rationale. Keila, I think you could do that too. [Crosstalk].
Keila [00:40:06] We need you, Olivia.
Annie Jones [00:40:07] Yeah. But I immediately thought as me as well.
Olivia [00:40:10] Yeah.
Keila [00:40:11] We need you, Olivia. [Inaudible].
Annie Jones [00:40:17] Okay. Keila, your last book.
Keila [00:40:19] Okay. I can't talk about haunted houses and not talk about my favorite, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I mean, wow, if you loved the show, The Haunting of Hill House, do not go into the book thinking it's going to be the same because they're very different. Both very great book and show. Amazing. But the book is about Hill House. That is the same. And so it takes four people. They show up to this house. You've got Dr. Montague and his assistant, Theodora, and they're looking for solid evidence of a haunting. Then you have Eleanor, who is a fragile young woman who has had so many things happen in her life, and she's had her fair share of ghosts experiences. And then you have Luke, who is the heir to Hill House. And at first, when they get to Hill House, their stay just seems like there might be a few little spooks and stuff, but the house basically comes alive and it's going to choose which one it's going to own. It ends up choosing one that it basically devours. Kind of like in the show. There's the house comes alive, basically. There's a lot going on. But, yeah, it's so good. Very creepy. I had to get Nancy to read it. She was not vibing with it. That's okay. But, yeah, it's great. And then the show, I mean, the Haunting of Hill House Show, I don't even want to admit how many times I've watched it. Mike Flanagan did an amazing job with it. It's amazing.
Annie Jones [00:42:08] Keila, is this your favorite? Have you read other Shirley Jackson? Is this your favorite?
Keila [00:42:14] I think I've read a few. I can't remember what I've read because she's has short stories. I think I read one in school. But, yeah, so far, this is my favorite.
Annie Jones [00:42:25] Do you reread it?
Keila [00:42:26] Yes, I'm probably going to reread it next.
Annie Jones [00:42:31] I love that. It's almost like a-- yeah, it's a tradition. It's really fun.
Keila [00:42:35] And it's got one of the best opening lines paragraphs of any book.
Annie Jones [00:42:41] What is it?
Keila [00:42:42] Okay. Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:42:43] Do you have it memorized?
Keila [00:42:44] I don't know. I don't have it memorized. [Crosstalk].
Annie Jones [00:42:50] It just immediately hooks you?
Keila [00:42:51] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:42:53] Okay.
Keila [00:42:54] If I was the Flash, I'd run downstairs, grab it, and let you know. But just trust me, it's one of the greatest openers ever.
Annie Jones [00:43:03] Okay. Those are our book flight. So my book flight, truly the theme I picked, I wanted something that would be eclectic, spooky books. So The Likeness by Tana French. We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper. And We Ride Upon sticks by Quan Berry. Those are my three. Olivia, yours?
Olivia [00:43:21] Mine is would not survive. This is Devolution by Max Brooks. Hide by Kiersten White. And Reprieve by James Han Mattson.
Annie Jones [00:43:33] Yours could also be titled What Would You Do for $20,000?
Olivia [00:43:38] That's true.
Annie Jones [00:43:40] What would you do for a cash prize?
Olivia [00:43:43] I don't know that I would do any of these things. I think I could do hide and seek, but not with the twist that happens in Hide. Would not survive Sasquatch, and certainly not an escape from a haunted house.
Annie Jones [00:43:56] Fascinating. Keila, yours?
Keila [00:44:01] Mine is haunted houses. The Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. These Fleeting Shadows by Katie Alice Marshall, and the Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
Annie Jones [00:44:15] So all of our spooky book fights can be found on our store website. That's Bookshelfthomasville.com. Our selections will be on the home page and you can also find them under podcast picks. You can purchase the entire flight to make for super easy fall reading, or you can design your own book flight by picking and choosing from our various selections. Thank you guys so much.
Olivia [00:44:35] Thank you.
Keila [00:44:35] Thank you.
Annie Jones [00:44:39] This week, what I'm reading is brought to you by Visit Thomasville. Everyone loves Fall in Thomasville, Georgia! When it's time to get away, our small town has exactly what you need! Find romance, explore historical sites, dine out, shop, and make time to relax and unwind. There's no better getaway than a Thomasville getaway. Really, truly fall is my favorite time in Thomasville. We've talked about this many times as a staff that quarter four is my favorite time of year at the bookshelf. It feels like it kicks off with Sidewalk Sale, which was held in September, but we already have a lot of fun things on the calendar. The city of Thomasville has trick or treating planned for Saturday, October 29th, where kids can trick or treat downtown. There's a hocus pocus outdoor movie night. Did you know about that, Keila?
Keila [00:45:22] I'm so excited. It's been on my calendar.
Annie Jones [00:45:26] It's so fun. So it's going to be an outdoor movie night at the Thomasville Amphitheater. And those are just some of the upcoming offerings. But really, it's just the time of year when you like being downtown. The weather is nice. I know other people have cooler weather than we do, but I am thrilled with these like lows in the fifties, highs in the eighties. It just feels like, okay, we're doing it. Like, we can wear sweatshirts and it's not the end of the world. And so this is my favorite time of year in Thomasville, and it would be a really great time to come visit and I hope that you do. This week I am listening on Libro Fm to Killers of a Certain Age. Olivia, what are you reading?
Olivia [00:46:00] I am reading The Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger.
Annie Jones [00:46:04] Keila, what are you reading?
Keila [00:46:06] Probably the Haunting of Hill House since I just finished the last one, These Fleeting Shadows.
Annie Jones [00:46:13] Well, thank you again to our sponsor Visit Thomasville. To find out more about how you can visit Thomasville this fall, go to Thomasvillega.com. And don't forget, it's not too early to start planning your Victorian Christmas trip as well. So go to (Thomasvillega.com).
[00:46:31] From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram @Bookshelftville and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website: Bookshelfthomasville.com.
[00:46:48] A full transcript of today's episode can be found at From the Frontporchpodcast.com. Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music which sets the perfect, warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
[00:47:02] Our executive producers of today's episode are Donna Hetchler, Cami Tidwell. Chantalle Carl.
Executive Producers (Read their own names) [00:47:08] Nicole Marsee. Wendy Jenkins. Laurie Johnson. Kate Johnston Tucker.
Annie Jones [00:47:14] Thank you all for your support of From the Front Porch. If you'd like to support From the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see, 'Write a Review' and tell us what you think.
[00:47:32] Or, if you're so inclined, you can support us over on Patreon, where we have three levels of support. Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to Patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.