Episode 397 || New Release Rundown

This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie, Olivia, and Erin are sharing the November releases they’re excited about to help you build your TBR.

Don’t forget, if you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, you can enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10 percent off your order.

To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our website:

Annie's books:

Olivia's books:

Erin's books:

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. Everyone loves fall in Thomasville, Georgia! When it’s time to getaway, we have 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! 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 Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. Olivia is reading Snow Foal by Susanna Bailey. Erin is reading Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng.

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] You're okay, she says out loud, as if saying is the same as being. She says it because she knows, for now, she is. Lynn Steger Strong, Flight.  

[00:00:39] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf and independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week, we're hosting another New Release Rundown with retail floor manager Olivia Schaffer and online sales manager Erin Fielding. If you're a regular listener, you probably know that one of our main goals this year has been to grow the show to 10,000 listeners. We are getting so close and we're at about 9000 listeners per episode, which is more than I could ever have fathomed or imagined. A lot of that is thanks to everyone who has left a review. We are already at over 800 reviews on Apple Podcasts and here is one of my recent favorites from Manta707.  

[00:01:18] "Whether recommending an upcoming new release book or sharing an old favorite, listening to Annie B. Jones and her rotating cast of cozy and brilliant friends is the perfect way to build your TBR list. It's always a joy to hear what's new in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and to catch up with staffers, friends and family. Shout out to the kids table. Please keep putting your heart out there for us. We all need to live in your magical, bookish world for an hour a week.".  

[00:01:44] That was so nice. If you have not left a review, 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 then tell us what you think. Don't forget too, as we chat about these titles today, if you purchase or pre order any of the books we talk about, you can enter a NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order. Just go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and scroll down our home page to see this week's titles or click Podcast Picks and then New Release Rundown. Hi, Olivia.  

Olivia [00:02:17] Hey.  

Annie Jones [00:02:18] Hi, Erin.  

Erin [00:02:20] Hello.  

Annie Jones [00:02:21] Welcome back.  

Erin [00:02:22] Thank you. I love these. Thanks for letting me. Come on.  

Annie Jones [00:02:25] Yes. Well, we are thrilled to have you. It's always nice to have another reader and somebody who listens. Although sometimes I'm like, oh, Erin is like Olivia and Annie's tastes combined. Like, that's a little bit what if feels like.  

Erin [00:02:37]  Your literary taste had a baby and it was me.  

Olivia [00:02:41] You're our Venn diagram.  

Erin [00:02:43] Guys, come to life.  

Annie Jones [00:02:46] Yeah. Then you also have genres you read that I feel like I don't read at all and that Olivia doesn't read, so it's very nice to have another reader to add to the mix. So November is still a big release month. I wasn't sure it would be because as we dwindle to the end of the year, it just feels like it's a lot of cookbooks and maybe that's about it. That's what it feels like. We won't do one of these in November. This is our last one of these of the year. Can you believe it?   

Olivia [00:03:16] It's pretty wild.  

Annie Jones [00:03:17] Yeah, it's wild. I cannot believe we're doing it. But, anyway, so we close out the year with November New Releases and there are actually quite a few big titles that are coming out this month. So we've limited ourselves to about six a piece and we're just going to do this round robin like we normally do. I'll kick us off. Well, the first book I want to talk about released this past Tuesday on November 1st, it is Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, a memoir by Matthew Perry. Yes, that Matthew Perry. I wouldn't normally include a celebrity memoir, but I'm very curious about this one for a couple of reasons. Pretty notoriously, this book has not been ghostwritten. So he actually wrote this himself, which I think is fascinating. I read, I think in The New York Times,  his agent or the publisher rep who kind of helped him navigate the publishing process was, like, he's the only celebrity who's ever turned in their book on time, which I also find just really like a lovely detail. And this book, as much as I think people want it to be like a celebrity tell-all, I think it's going to be a lot about friends, of course, and kind of what made him Chandler Bing. But I think it's a lot about addiction and recovery. And my understanding is the foreword is written by Lisa Kudrow and she says in the foreword the number one question the Friends cast members get asked is how's Chandler? How's Matthew Perry? Because I think it was pretty obvious just watching that show, the kind of trajectory he took. And you could see the physical ramifications of his addiction and his struggle with addiction. And so I think the world cares about this guy. I think we care about what happens to him. And I think some of what he details is pretty harrowing.  

[00:05:05] I remember I loved the Friends Reunion. I may be alone in that category, but I really loved it. It did exactly what I needed it to do. But he was really quiet on that in that reunion special. And then I realized he had lost his front teeth from struggles with addiction. And so he had to go to the dentist and get his all all his front teeth like reimplanted or replaced. And it's just harrowing some of the stuff that he has endured. And it's heartbreaking how much of his life he has spent kind of navigating the system. And he talks about, I think, all the resources he had at his fingertips that a lot of people obviously don't have. So, anyway, I'm very curious about this one. I don't think it's going to be maybe a typical memoir, and I'm not sure how feel good it's going to be. I think it'll be feel good in the fact that Matthew Perry is still here and still with us. And I think that's pretty miraculous. But I think it's also going to be a pretty unflinching look at addiction and the recovery process. So I'm very curious about it. Obviously, we did not get the ARCS of this, but I will be reading this. I think I've loved every book about friends that I have read, and I really  like I'm rooting for him to be somebody who can be healthy and whole. And so, anyway, that is Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible thing by Matthew Perry out this week.  

Olivia [00:06:23] That sounds really good. Also sometimes when I say stuff at home, I say it in a way that I guess sounds like Chandler and Walt will be just be, like, "All right, Bing"  So I do have a little soft spot in my heart for him. I think we all do. Okay. My first one out November 1st is-- I think you guys both are going to be excited about this one.  

Annie Jones [00:06:47] Because look at the title.  

Olivia [00:06:50] It's a graphic novel adaptation of Sweet Valley Twins best friends. I read it all yesterday in one sitting. It was amazing. Like, if you read the series by Francine Pascal or any part of that series, because it is pretty long, you'll just love the adaptation of Jessica and Elizabeth going to school and getting into sibling rivalry. I can say is it. It's delightful. Also, if you enjoyed like rereading the Baby-Sitters Club with us-- was that two years ago?  

Annie Jones [00:07:32] Yeah, it was. It definitely was.  

Olivia [00:07:36] Okay. If you enjoyed that two years ago, here's this-- this year. It's great.  

Annie Jones [00:07:44] This is so fun. I had no idea this was coming out. I was a big Sweet Valley because I'm the oldest child, but I do have some older cousins and I had an older cousin where I inherited her books and so I devoured these as a preteen-- I think probably pre-teen. I wanted to be a twin so bad. I really did. I'm really glad now that I'm not, but I really wanted to be there for a long time between the Olsens and the Sweet Valley twins. I was, like, what happened? Why didn't I have a twin.  

Olivia [00:08:17] Twins are fascinating. This one was really fun. I highly recommend.  

Erin [00:08:23] I have to admit, I have never read that series. Does that make me a bad ninety child or no?  

Annie Jones [00:08:29] Erin, I think you would have had so much fun with these blond girls and their blond people problems, you know what I'm saying?  

Erin [00:08:35]  I wouldn't about the [Inaudible] problems.  

Olivia [00:08:40] I would actually think that would be a turn off to you for this series.  

Erin [00:08:45] That'd be a turnoff thank you.  

Annie Jones [00:08:45] That's why it was fun? Because I'm, like, these girls are nothing like me.  

Erin [00:08:49] Right. That's true.  

Annie Jones [00:08:51] But it was kind of the typical-- don't you think this was how twins were presented to us as children?  If you're a twin, reach out. But I don't think this is really how twindom works. But we were told that one twin was like girly and kind of prissy and popular and one twin was kind of the tomboy. That's how the Olsen twins played it. That's how the Sweet Valley High twins played it. I just think that that's what I was taught that twins work. Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan or Hayley Mills. You choose. But my point is, we were taught that twins were like two things and they weren't. Are you okay?  

Olivia [00:09:28] I'm following. [Inaudible].  

Annie Jones [00:09:30]  [Inaudible] and Lindsay Lohan are not actually twins, but they played twins on TV. Yeah. Anyway. I feel like I can do a whole podcast on twins.  

Erin [00:09:42] Well, there you go. 2022.  

Olivia [00:09:44] I read this sci-fi book that was like this one twin goes to like a whole nother solar system, and the other twin stays here and they're able to telepathy like talk to each other.  It was so good. It was like from like the eighties. I loved it. Walt bought it so he could read it and then I read it in one sitting and he never read it.  

Annie Jones [00:10:04] That's so fun  

Erin [00:10:06] It was so good. I wish I remembered the title.  

Annie Jones [00:10:08] That's what's weird about twins. I tried to get Ashley all the time for us to practice our ESP because I think we have it, but it's not the same as twins.  

Olivia [00:10:17] Ashley, sit down. Let's practice our ESP.  

Erin [00:10:20] What am I thinking of?  

Annie Jones [00:10:22] What do you think we literally do at the Literal Kids Table? It's me looking at her, like, do you know what I'm saying?  

Olivia [00:10:28] Deep eye contact.  

Annie Jones [00:10:31] Yes, she loves it. I promise. Should we move on.  

Erin [00:10:40] My first title is called My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings. It's edited by Zosia mamet. It's coming out November the first. This book is really a complete-- talking about Venn Diagrams, it's humorous essays, food and celebrity. It's like if you put all of this together. So some of the stories they're all pretty short. They're very short. So this is like the perfect pick it up, read an essay, put it back down. Some of them are funny. Some of them are cringe worthy. Some of them are sad. They even have a disclaimer in the beginning. They said some of these will be about disordered eating and about people's relationship with food that is not a great thing. But most of them have some sort of heartwarming story behind them. A lot of them actually have recipes. You'll read the story about someone's grandmother's meatballs, and then there's like a recipe for the meatball in the story. So some of the celebrities are like Ted Danson, David Sedaris, Ruth Reichl, Katie Holmes, Kaley Cuoco, Patti LuPone and Sloane Crosley all have essays in this collection. So I found it just delightful, really. I mean, even in the parts that were hard, the whole premise is we all have a memory around food that we could sit down and I thought this is perfect. If you're a writer or you want to be writing, I think this is even a perfect book to jog your-- it's kind of like a writing exercise. We could all sit down and write an essay about food-- like a food we love, a food we have a memory about. So it's just a great small book to pick up, to read about, maybe get inspired to make a new recipe or write your own essay about food. So it's out now on November 1st.  

Annie Jones [00:12:39] Oh, that sounds so good. Olivia, what was the name of that book that came out a few years ago, My Voracious Life, or My Voracious Reader? What was that?  

Olivia [00:12:48] I have that. I think it's called my veracious life. I think that might be what it is. I have it at home. I have a copy of it because it was so good.  

Annie Jones [00:12:55] And it was so pretty. I have a copy too and I loved it. But this sounds like that. And I remember I took the Voracious book Home for Christmas. That's what I took to read because you do need something that you can kind of pick up and put down during the holidays because of the chaos of everything. This sounds delightful.  

Erin [00:13:12] It is. And it's about food. So, yeah, you can't go wrong.   

Annie Jones [00:13:18]  I love that. Okay. My next one is actually one that I'm pretty sure Erin also read and loved. It's Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson. It's out next week, November eight. I feel like I've been waiting a long time for this book to come out. I feel like I read it months ago. And interestingly, the book is set in the summer, so it kind of breaks my seasonal reading rule. Now, I read it during the summer, but it obviously is releasing here in the heart of fall. It is a book about a pair of friends who meet in the nineties and they're artists. Okay, I'm sorry. This is coming to the as I'm talking. It actually reminds me a little bit of the Book of Goose. I think there's some overlap there because this book is about a guy and a girl who befriend each other over one summer in 1990s, Tennessee. And they create this really odd kind of work of art, and they photocopy it a bunch of times and then they've like plastered all over town. And it's got this really odd quote that goes with it. And so the whole town goes into satanic panic kind of stuff, lthinks, oh my gosh, there's a cult in town. What has happened? And the whole time the guy and the girl who are friends kind of keep it a secret. And they don't tell anybody that they're the ones who made this art. But there are positive and negative consequences to this thing that they created. And it kind of took on a life of its own and became a little bit famous and made their town a little bit famous. And so I'm realizing those are kind of very similar themes to what happens in the Book of Ghosts. I think I just love books about art and creativity and friendship. So anyway, this book is so good. I am always amazed. I love a tome just like anybody, but I am always amazed by an artist or an author who can tell a complete, whole beautiful story in a few pages. And this is a pretty short book that tells a very complete, interesting, thoughtful story that I think people are going to fly through. I think you're going to sit down with it. I'm pretty sure that's what I did, is I sat down with it and then I could not stop. I loved these characters. I wanted desperately to know what happened to them, wanted to know how the adult versions of themselves kind of dealt with this thing from their past-- this kind of weird thing from their past. And there's an author's note that in the ARC it was at the front of the book, and I hope that's the case for the actual printing. But the author's note, much like the author's note in Afong Moy. I think the author's note is crucial to kind of reading and understanding Kevin Wilson and why he wrote this particular book. It feels like it might maybe be his most personal work. I loved this book so much and I cannot wait for it to be in people's hands. It's so good.  

Erin [00:16:06] Yeah, I would say if people it kind of reminds me of the central relationship in tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. That sort of. Yes, I girl creativity sort of. Will they, won't they? But like they're just such good friends that you kind of are rooting for them no matter what. It's oh so good.  

Annie Jones [00:16:24] And you're right that Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a great comp and there is something I love I love kind of the will they won't they but I really love the platonic relationship like I just love these guy girl relationships that don't really become romantic. They just are creative and interesting and they really love each other in like the truest sense of that word. Anyway, I love this book. It's called Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson out next week on November eight.  

Olivia [00:16:52] You had me intrigued when you mentioned Colt.  

Annie Jones [00:16:56] Yes.  

Olivia [00:16:56] Would I like this book?  

Annie Jones [00:16:59] Yes. I do think you would like this book. Actually, it's not. There's no suspense, really. But I think  because of the house you grew up in and like the work your mom did, I think you would appreciate the artistic elements and the friendship between the two. I think you'd like it.  

Olivia [00:17:16] Okay. On a different note, more suspenseful, my next book out November 8th is Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger. This one not only try to say that title six times fast, but it was really good and it was a great read while sitting like staring out into the forest in my backyard because it is mostly set in this cabin that's like almost entirely off the grid. And I think it's like North Georgia area, if I'm correct. But this starts out with this Christmas and it ends with the next year's Christmas, which I also really liked. If you're trying to do seasonal  reading, this is pretty good. But it's this family where this brother and sister, Hannah and Mako are all sitting at the Christmas table. Their parents are driving them insane. You're noticing the family dynamic with the in-laws and everything, and then there's one last set of gifts underneath the Christmas tree and there are these DNA tests and no one knows who gifted them these DNA tests, which later on will come into play. And then the brother Mako has organized this trip for him, his sister, their spouses and they're childhood best friend and her new boyfriend. And he's super excited about this, but everyone's really confused why he is so excited? But it's like just them in this off the grid cabin and things start going wrong as things do in thrillers. It was really good, very suspenseful. If you just want a fun, easy thriller for like the Christmas season, I think this is perfect for that. It has the right setting. It has that feel of like I maybe can guess the end, but I don't want to because this is more fun just to keep reading and leave it hanging. Yeah. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six. I Highly recommend it. It was a fun read.  

Annie Jones [00:19:19] That sounds fun. I would think I would like to pick that up. Did you get the ARC?  

Olivia [00:19:24]  I do have the ARC, yeah.  

Annie Jones [00:19:27] Will you save it for me?  

Olivia [00:19:28] Yeah.  

Erin [00:19:30] Just for my personal, what's the gore level? Does anyone die? Is it pretty gory?  

Olivia [00:19:41] Yes, Erin. Someone dies.  

Erin [00:19:47] It's not the dying, it's the how.   

Olivia [00:19:56] It's the how. Okay. I mean, they're stabbed.  

Erin [00:19:59] Okay. Okay, that's fine. I can do stabbing.  

Olivia [00:20:03] I don't think it's like super graphic. I don't think so. Although, I say that and I thought Razor Blade Tears was real good, and then Annie came and was, like, this is extremely violent.  

Annie Jones [00:20:15] That book is good, but it's so violent. I think I told Olivia this, my book club read Killers of a Certain Age. Erin, did you read that?  

Erin [00:20:25] No, not yet. It's on my list to read.  

Annie Jones [00:20:28] Well, it's very fun. But in that book there are a lot of hits. It's about assassins, not hits like song hits, they kill people. And there are some really intense ones. And it's only when you start talking about them in a book club that you're, like, oh, I guess that was a little intense. When you're, like, oh, they slathered him in nicotine, and you're like, oh, I guess that is pretty intense.  

Olivia [00:20:55] See, I think that's the thing. I don't really talk about the thrillers. I read with other people. And so I'm just, like, yeah,  of course there's death and dying and involved with that, there will be the word blood. It just goes over my head these days.  

Annie Jones [00:21:13] Yeah.  

Erin [00:21:15] Oh, my goodness. Well, going from stabbings to another historical fiction here, my next one is The Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning. It came out November 1st. For all of you here looking  for your next historical fiction read, this is probably a great one for you. It's set in the early 1900s in Colorado. There is a young woman named Sylvie Pelletier, who her family lives there and they're kind of poor. She leaves home and goes into town and works for a really rich family that owns the mines there in Colorado. And as she starts to work with them, she realizes that what they're saying and what they're doing as mine owners are not the same thing. And so she is kind of stuck between these two worlds of her loyalty to this family and also her desire to see  true justice and true good working conditions for the miners in that town, of which I think her father is one. So, yeah, it's just for anyone who's a fan of like the Gilded Age, this sort of like Robber Baron idea, where there's the super rich people who are getting rich off the industry like mining and railroads, things like that. And then there's the workers who are really taking the brunt and doing the actual work and at that time were not being treated fairly or paid fairly. I think this would be a perfect-- again, it's fiction, but it is based on some true stories that actually happened in Colorado at that time. So if you're like that, if that's right up your alley, then this would be a great release for you. Again, that's The Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning.  

Annie Jones [00:22:57] The cover of that book is gorgeous.  

Erin [00:22:59] It's so pretty.  

Annie Jones [00:23:00] It's very pretty. Okay. My next one is actually an Annie/Olivia book, I think, it's called The Resemblance by Lauren Nossett. It comes out next week. Y'all I'm so mad. I read this book and then never reviewed it and now I feel like it's too late. Like, it's not in my account for the end of the year. I'm so annoyed. It occurred to me that I read it and then I never posted about it to Instagram, which doesn't mean anything. Just for my own count, I'm like, oh, I'm off a book. Because I read this book and I really liked it. I read it over the course of a weekend and it just happens to release now. So it's actually set at the University of Georgia. It's a debut novel by Lauren Nossett. And it is a detective story. It reminded me in some ways of Long Bright River. So long Bright River is to the opioid crisis as The Resemblance is to sexual assault. Does that  make sense? So in this book, we have a detective who's kind of investigating something that goes on at UGA's campus, but it takes her back to her own kind of memories of some things she experienced at UGA and in the culture of college campuses and sororities and fraternities. I thought it was really well-done, very suspenseful, not so much thriller as suspense. It felt like a detective story where you're trying to solve the end of the crime or solve the crime together, but you're also dealing with trauma and with the after effects of trauma and things that happen in your life and how do you kind of overcome them and move forward? I really like this book a lot.  

[00:24:40] And then I did some research. And I always love reading acknowledgments. I love finding out about the author, especially debut authors, and how did this happen for you? What work did it take to get here? And Lauren has her own really interesting story. Her husband died pretty unexpectedly a couple of years ago. She's maybe probably around my age. So I find her own story really interesting in kind of how she was writing this book and her husband had read it and it was going to be this big, exciting thing. And now it's something that she is still excited about, but she's not really getting to celebrate with the person she originally shared it with, which I thought was beautiful and sad. And so, anyway, I really like this book. I like the setting. The setting felt very realistic. I've been to UGA campus, and so that was kind of fun to have that tell. And she also, I believe, is from Georgia. I think she lives in Atlanta because I don't really always like authors who write about places where you can tell they've never been. But I think Lauren has actually been to UGA campus and I thought this was fascinating. If I'm not mistaken, I read it months ago, but there's like a scene where she hit somebody with her car or she almost hit somebody with her car and she realizes he looks like someone from the past. And so there's elements, I think, of a little bit of Tana French here, a little bit along Bright River. I really liked it. It's called The Resemblance by Lauren Nossette out next week, November 8th.  

Olivia [00:26:06] I always forget about Long Bright River and then I remember that book is so good.  

Annie Jones [00:26:10] It's so good and great. Good backlist reading for right now.  A cold weather book.  

Olivia [00:26:16] Yeah. And also extremely strong setting.  

Annie Jones [00:26:19] Yes.  

Olivia [00:26:20] Someone who knew that setting very well. Okay. My book is coming out. This book is really good. It's out November 8th. It's Mihi Ever After by Tae Keller. And this is about a little girl, Mihi, who she and her best friend during recess-- I don't know if they still call it recess.  

Erin [00:26:43] Yes, they do.  

Annie Jones [00:26:43] I think they do.   

Olivia [00:26:46]  I don't think I saw that word in the book, but it was clearly recess. But her and her best friend used to always play like fairy tales together, and then her best friend started growing out of it and Mihi was kind of like left alone. And an incident happened where she tried to climb a tree and fell off. And then she was, like, the next recess you have to stay at the library as your punishment. And so Mihi meets these two girls, Savannah and Rhys, who also choose to have the recess in the library because they enjoy reading fairy tales. And so the three girls wind up sneaking into the librarian's office because she always hands out these amazing candies. And they open her fridge to get the candies and it's like Lion the Witch and the wardrobe. Like, it goes into this whole other rainbow forest, it's how they describe it. But the girls meet the three blind mice and the three blind mice give them this preposition where they put them in competition. Whoever wins gets to play out their fairy tale. But then they realize that there are more sinister things afoot here. They meet Sleeping Beauty in this one, but then they start to realize that they're all being groomed for a very specific fairy tale. So Mihi is having lessons that are very clearly built for Mulan, and then like Rhyse who is black she is being groomed to be like Tiana, and then Savanna, who is white with like light hair, she is being groomed to be Cinderella. And so each of them have like their own fairy tales that they're supposed to follow, but neither of them want to follow that fairy tale character. They want their own fairy tale. And so they set off to go try to get home. They end up meeting the three bears from Goldilocks. It was just very fun. There were drawings throughout the book and it's going to be the first of a series. I think they got out at the end, but I think they're going to go back in because there are problems to solve.  

Annie Jones [00:28:53] Cute. 

Olivia [00:28:53] It was very cute. Very fun start of a new series.  

Erin [00:28:56] What's the age range for that one?  

Olivia [00:28:59] This is like a chapter book. So I would say anywhere from like 8 to 10. I would say it's below-- oh, my gosh. I'm not like blinking [Crosstalk].  

Annie Jones [00:29:11] The page Pages and Co?  

Olivia [00:29:13] No, I'm thinking the Chris Colfer one.  

Annie Jones [00:29:15] Yes. I can't remember the name of that. [Crosstalk].   

Olivia [00:29:18] This is wild. Land of Stories. This is one step below that reading-wise because I don't think Land of Stories has pictures in it and there are a lot longer than this one was.  

Annie Jones [00:29:37] They're bigger.  

Olivia [00:29:37] Yeah, but it was a lot of fun.  

Erin [00:29:39] That sounds like a lot of fun, especially for kids who already love fairy tales. It's already woven in there.  

Olivia [00:29:45] Yes. And I think as the series goes, you'll get to meet more fairy tale characters within it as well.  

Erin [00:29:50]  All right. My next one that I'm going to talk about is actually four books. I'm cheating here a little bit, but I just had to bring this up because I am personally so excited about them. These are-- I don't know what you would call them-- reprinting versions of books that you've probably already read. Their the Harper. Like they're actually called like printed book or painted editions of these books that are coming out. They are Jane Eyre, Persuasion, Little Women and The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I wanted to bring this up because I think unless you work at a bookstore or you frequent bookstores, you might not know that these are being released. And I think they are perfect. We got four releases about six months ago. And so we've had them in stock like Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, The Return of Sherlock Holmes and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And now these four are coming out. They're gorgeous. They have gold edge pages. They have a ribbon bookmark inside of them. They have illustrated quotes throughout the book. I'm very excited about Little Women. I already know I'm going to purchase that one.   

Annie Jones [00:31:08] I ordered a lot of those because I thought, I know I'm buying one.  

Erin [00:31:11]  Yeah, one's going to my house for sure. But I think they're perfect for a couple of people. I was thinking as a parent, I love to have classics around in my home for the kids to pick up and read, and I think these are the kind of classics you'd want to buy and then honestly it could be passed down from your kids to their kids. They're just truly gorgeous. They're very high quality, very well made. Or if you are someone who knows that someone in your life is a reader, but you don't know exactly what to get them for Christmas, or you know that they love the classic (maybe one of these books is their favorite, but they just don't have this this beautiful version) I think these would make great gifts. Which is another reason I wanted to bring them up now because they're coming out November the eighth. So next week. So you still have time to preorder them. But they're just lovely. And I just want to take them all home, but I'm going to limit myself. But they are coming out. And so they're great gifts or just great to collect if you want to have them in your home.  

Annie Jones [00:32:16]  I feel like as booksellers we see all the time a special edition or a new version of these classics.  I think this is true. I think these are my favorites. They're so pretty, but they're also readable. So I bought-- and I love it, it's on my shelf-- The Seasons. Do you know like with the paper cutting, those are beautiful. Those books are precious. Like I just.  

Erin [00:32:43] You don't get them out and read them.  

Annie Jones [00:32:45] Yes. Because it's a work of art. The cut out laser cut. The cover is laser cut and it's gorgeous. ButI'm not going to get that book out and flip through it very much. What I do like about these is you could read them. They're not so precious that you couldn't read them, but they do feel like little works of art and little collectibles in and of themselves. I love these editions.  

Erin [00:33:08] I can't wait to see what the next four are going to be maybe six months from now.  

Annie Jones [00:33:13] Yeah, very fun. Okay. My next book is Flight by Lynn Steger Strong. It also comes out on November 8th. And this is another book that I was really impressed by the length. I think it's perfect for reading at this time of year. Sometimes it's hard to find like a holiday set book that isn't a romcom or a romance. And I like that this book is set to very much at Christmas during the holiday season. You are immediately introduced through a series of vignettes to the siblings and in some cases sibling sets, like where it's a sibling and a spouse or whatever. So you're introduced to them through little vignettes of them driving, and you can tell that they're driving to a Christmas locale like a family gathering. And as the book starts, you realize that the matriarch has passed away. And rather than get together down in Florida, where their mom has a home or had a home, they are now gathering at the home of a sister in law in upstate New York. And so you get this really fun, snowy Christmas setting, but you also immediately feel the tension of Mom's not here. Mom's not hosting. Sister in law is hosting. What does that feel like? Why does this feel different and what are the different tensions among the family? It reminded me a lot of the Family Stone, which is a movie I watch faithfully every Christmas-- not every Christmas Day, but every Christmas season. And I faithfully cry every Christmas season. I love that movie so much. It also reminded me of  Knives Out without the murder, because this is also about the matriarch has left her home in Florida and the siblings have to decide who gets it, which this is just a reminder from a lawyer's life to have a will and testament, I think, is really important. This is just like your PSA. That if you don't have a will, you really should have one. I don't understand people who don't. So this is just me telling you-- Erin...  

Erin [00:35:23] I have four kids and we do not have a well, please feel free to hit judgment on me.  

Annie Jones [00:35:29] Let Jordan help you write your will?  

Erin [00:35:32] It's legal coroner with Annie B. Jones.  

Annie Jones [00:35:37] Please let me help you.  

Olivia [00:35:37] There'll be a new segment.  

Annie Jones [00:35:40] Get your living will and testament and make sure you know we know-- I'm so sorry, this has now turned horrific. But, like, we know who pulls the plug and who doesn't. It just is so important. A living will and. testament is [Inaudible] .  

Olivia [00:35:55] I hate thrillers, but even I don't want to think about that.  

Annie Jones [00:36:00] It's just important, y'all.  I don't think even you grew up in Florida, but if you grew up in Florida with the Terri Schiavo case-- you guys can Google it, figure it out. But my point is, in my current events classes in high school, I was learning about Terri Schiavo and I was watching that play on the news. And basically there was arguments between her husband and her parents about what should happen to her because she was in this coma situation. Anyway, my point is, I think a living will testament is very important. That has almost nothing to do with this book, except that these siblings then have to decide and tensions arise because they need to figure out what happens to their mom's house and which sibling gets it, or do any of them get it? Is it that they sell the house and they split the money? Whatever. And so I really like this book because there are tensions and there are crackling moments of intensity and sibling rivalry or sibling frustrations. But it's also very much a holiday book. So this doesn't reach like knives out levels of suspense. They don't hate each other.  One time I said that I love dysfunctional family stories and Kate either was talking about her own taste or was asking me about mine, but she basically was like, well, dysfunctional family stories but we're the people who like each other. And that is what this is. This is a dysfunctional family story. They definitely have a hard time with one another, but ultimately they like and love each other. And I love how Lynn Steger Strong was able to tell a really lovely family story in a pretty succinct way. This is set over the course of a holiday weekend together. And I also love that snowy setting and that limited time frame, kind of a snapshot into the lives of a family at the holidays. If you get together with your dysfunctional families this holiday season, I think this will be a fun one to tuck in the suitcase just to let you know you're not alone. It is called Flight by Lynn Steger Strong, out November eight. Write your wills. The end.  

Olivia [00:38:09] I was going to say stories about that many siblings stress me out, and I have that many siblings.  

Annie Jones [00:38:17] Maybe they feel too close to home for you.   

Olivia [00:38:22] Even if it comes like perfectly resolved at the end I'm just, like, but it's not in real life. Like, it's never resolved in real life.  

Annie Jones [00:38:30] Yeah.  

Olivia [00:38:32] Anywho my next story features maybe like three or four characters. This is Extinction by Bradley Summer, and this is out November 22nd. And this is about this-- I don't really know what his job title is. Ranger maybe. Wildlife saver  

Annie Jones [00:38:55] That's a job. Sounds good.  

Olivia [00:38:58] Technically, I think it's in like a post-apocalyptic setting, but I actually like the way it was described on the cover where it just said the world is exhausted of all of its resources, of its animals and everything. Where extinctions are real and there is one last living bear on North America. And this guy, Ben, has been tasked to follow this bear with a tracker and just make sure this bear gets to live out the remainder of its natural born life because they want to respect nature. And this whole job is just following this bear. And so while he's following this bear, he runs into these three people. I don't know if Annie's frozen or if she's just in shock right now, but your eyes are so wide.  

Annie Jones [00:39:44] I started thinking, do you see my eyeballs?  

Olivia [00:39:49] I don't think this is that surprising.  

Annie Jones [00:39:51] No, I think you got me at the world was exhausted. And ever since then I've been, like, hmm, aren't we though?  

Erin [00:39:58] Yeah. I was, like, same world. Same.   

Annie Jones [00:40:02] I just have been thinking ever since I wonder how long we have.  

Olivia [00:40:06] And now I'm just second guessing myself. Is this more scary than I thought it was? I don't know.  

Annie Jones [00:40:13] We've gone from talking about living wills to extinction, and this is a great uplifting episode [Crosstalk].  

Olivia [00:40:21] November is going to be a great month. So Ben runs into these three poachers who kind of try to trick him at first just saying that they just want to see the bear. They've never seen a bear in their life and they just want to set their eyes on one before they go away. But Ben sees right through this and realizes that they're trying to kill the bear and sell it because at this point it would be worth a lot of money. And so they get into this slowly building, fast paced race to get to the bear. It was so good. The nature writing it was beautiful. I just really loved the respect for nature and animals that Ben held through all of this and not just putting their life before his, but just that they do need to be respected. And if this is his job, this is his duty. And as the world is exhausted, maybe this is what's important sort of thing. I think it's a perfect dad Christmas book. I think this is like right up the alley of like Peter Heller, like The River and the Guide. If they liked Tim Johnston's The Current and the Descent, this is the perfect book for them because it has that great setting, but then it slowly builds faster and faster towards the end. It was really good.  

Erin [00:41:49] Okay. Mine is one I have talked about previously, but I'm excited about it. It's another celebrity memoir essay collection. It's called Have I Told You This Already by Lauren Graham. Our beloved Lauren Graham coming out November the 15th. I love Lauren Graham. I love her as a Gilmore. I love her as a Braverman.  I think she's on a new rendition of The Mighty Ducks. I haven't seen her on that one, but I'm sure she's fantastic. But what I love is this, she had a previous memoir called Talking as Fast As I Can. And that really was, as the title suggests, very fast paced and sort of just thought she was trying to get a lot of information in there. This one is, I think, reflective of how she's aging. I hate to say that, but she will admit she's aging. She's not the young Aunjanue anymore. She's getting the mom roles and the aunt roles and things like that in Hollywood. But she has such a sense of humor about it that it just it's so self-deprecating and just genuine that it doesn't come across as like someone being bitter, that they're being passed over for these roles. It comes across as someone just, like, this is where I'm at, I'm happy, I'm comfortable. I've lived that part of my life. Now I'm living this part of my life. She tells a lot of great stories about obviously behind the scenes and Hollywood and her becoming an actor and what a struggle that was. She tells a lot of stories about her current life, her relationships, her roles and things that she's doing now. So I don't know.  When you read this, it just feels like you're sitting down with her and she's just telling you all about her life. And I just think she's one of those few celebrities that has yet to be touched by scandal, as far as I know. Lauren, please keep it up.  You're doing a great job. She's fantastic and I just like her so much. And to me this is sort of in the vein of  a Mindy Kaling or a Tina Fey. If you like those kind of celebrity memoirs where it's not tell all, let's spill the tea, let's give the gossip. This is more just funny observations about living life in Hollywood as a woman, as an actress. So I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy to have in my house.  

Annie Jones [00:44:28] I think she's a good writer. She wrote a fiction book called Someday Someday Maybe. And I loved it. I thought it was really good. I think I'd like to read this. Okay. My next one is the World Record Book of Racist Stories. This is by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar. Amber Ruffin is on Seth Meyers show. She also has her own show. I think she is hilarious. And I listened to the audiobook of Amber and her sister Lacey's first book called You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, which I thought was hilarious and heartbreaking and frustrating because it's essentially Lacey who lives in the Midwest, where she and Amber both grew up, kind of talking about all the racist things that have happened to her. And it is a wake up call to a white American and to think about the things that I say or the things that the people around me say, and I loved listening to it. I think I will like listening to this as well, because both of them narrated the first book and it was just so funny because you could really hear-- I think a physical book would have been great-- but you can hear their actual voices and their banter because they're actual sisters. And I just love their relationship because it seems like Lacey is the sister who stayed and Amber is the sister who moved and is living in New York City. But they both are still experiencing different forms of racism. It just looks a little different in both places that they are. And so I love the sibling dynamic. The stories are funny. They have a remarkable sense of humor about all of it. So this is just kind of the continued story.  I watched Amber be interviewed for like a booksellers conference-- I don't know what it was-- but she was previewing this book and she was like, oh, Lacey had so many racist stories that we decided to just do another one. And so I just thought that was very funny, heartbreaking, irritating. I hate that they are writing these, but I get why they're writing these. I hate that they have to, I guess, but they are very funny and I think a good primer into what black Americans experience everyday in the workplace. In the workplace especially, in social settings, things like that, the things that they are asked and the things that are expected of them. I like this book a lot. I like Amber Ruffin a lot. It is the World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar out on November eight.  

Olivia [00:47:04] It's a great title, too. 

Annie Jones [00:47:06] Yeah, I think so, too. It's just immediately eye catching and funny.  

Olivia [00:47:10] Yeah. Okay. My next one is a middle grade novel. This is probably going to be like 10 and up. I would think, actually, eight could read this too. But the writing is very clever, which is why I say 10 and up. This is Oscar from Elsewhere by Jacqueline Moriarty and it's out November 29. This is, I guess, the fourth book set in this world by her. But they can be read as standalone books, which I really enjoy because they each feature different characters from this world. So you don't necessarily have to read them in order at all. I have not read this world before, but I am enjoying Oscar from elsewhere so much right now. Oscar is from our world and the first time we meet him, he is getting in trouble with  I think it's like his principal because he missed school for a whole week and no one knows why or where he was. And so his principal is making him write an essay about where he was for all the five days he missed last week of school. And Oscar doesn't mind joking on his principal and like twisting her words around, which was just hilarious to watch. But the book is his account of where he was Monday through Friday of the following week. And he has help from this girl that he met because part of it he was "dead for" which I just laugh at because my family has a joke that if we forgot something, we just say, "Well, I was dead at the time." So I appreciated that part a lot. To be clear, he was not. He was not dead, but just a great excuse all around. But Oscar ends up skipping school one morning just because he went to the skate park instead. And he met these kids at the skate park where they were using this mirror to try to get to another world because they heard a rumor that if you shined it a certain part in the skate park, you'd be transported into the other world. And Oscar was like, okay. And so they left and Oscar picks up this mirror, and sure enough he flips it over and he ends up in this city of elves, which is where he, "dies" and then wakes up in this inn with these five magically gifted children above him just kind of, like, who are you? It's very quirky. It's very fun. I am enjoying the characters so much and the chapters are super short, which is also really fun. But the writing is just so clever and out there. I love it so much. I might just go back and read the other in this series because it's just a lot of fun.  

Erin [00:49:55] So as a reader, is he an unreliable narrator? Are you supposed to be, like, I don't know; did that really happen? Or does he do a good job of convincing you that it actually did happen?  

Olivia [00:50:06] Oh, no. I think he is being very honest about what happened to him. Because he's just, like, "Sure, you want to hear what happened to me? I will give you a play by play of my entire week. And here it is."  

Erin [00:50:21] That sounds really good and fun.  

Olivia [00:50:23] Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Oscar From Elsewhere.  

Erin [00:50:26] Okay. My next one it's a cookbook, guys, but I have a reason for picking it. And I'm sure cookbooks don't come up a lot on these New Release Episodes, but it's called Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman is coming out November 15th. I love her. I've been a fan of hers ever since she was just a blog. I know that sounds like a very old person thing to say, but back when she was just a blog, when I found her she was a like fairly new mom and she was writing a blog and she was living in this tiny (I mean tiny) New York City apartment. She was just making these recipes that I was, like, if she can make those in a tiny New York apartment-- I was also living in a house with a tiny kitchen and I had small children. It was just so inspiring and so accessible. If she can do it, I can do it. It wasn't aspirational. It was more just like this lady is doing the best she can with what she's got. Now, of course, she has multiple cookbooks. She has a huge following on Instagram. I'm one of them. But she changed my life. And let me tell you why, and then I want to know if you guys also do this. I love to bake. I've loved to bake my entire life. But she introduced me to the concept of using grams and a food scale when you bake. Everyone's sort of like, duh, that's-- because I think everyone in the whole world uses the gram and food scale system except for America. We love our cups and our teaspoons over here. But it was life changing. You just put a bowl on a food scale and then you just weigh things and you don't have to use all the cups and everything and everything is perfect. Like as you just measure a cup of flour, it can be a different amount. And they're based on whether they're flour is compressed or  fluffy. But if you know exactly how much a cup of flour is, just the way you get it right every single time. So this is just another PSA. Go to the gram scale and find recipes that have grams. I'm always so excited. She does her cookbooks and I think she may also use like American measurements, but she does give the weights for things like that. So I just love her. I'm so excited about this coming out. Again, it's recipes that are fancy that you can take them to a fancy party and feel very cool that you did it. Or they're just super accessible things because she has two kids, so she's not out there cooking like foie gras every night of the week, she's cooking maybe a fancy grilled cheese. And that might make you feel like a really good chef. So, again, this is a great gift. This is great. Just gift to yourself for this time of year if you're going to a lot of holiday parties and you just need a new recipe or something fun to whip out and feel like an accomplished chef. This is the perfect cookbook for it.  

Annie Jones [00:53:23] I like her a lot. And this cookbook looks really good.  

Erin [00:53:25] Yes.  

Annie Jones [00:53:26] Okay. My last book is We All Want Impossible Things. This is by Katherine Newman. It comes out next week on November 8th. This book is so good. It's so sad. It's so good, but it's so sad. This is a book about two women who have been lifelong friends and one of them is diagnosed with cancer and moves into a hospice house. And the closest hospice house happens to be kind of removed from where she lives in the city with her husband and son. And instead, the best hospice care is like in the city where her best friend lives, her lifelong friend. And so she moves into this hospice house and the best friend really becomes her primary caregiver. And the book is about really the best friend. It's a little bit about the woman who is essentially on her deathbed, but it's a lot about their relationship. And it's about this woman who because she is watching her friend die, she is having her own thoughts about death, about grieving, about losing this person who knows her best, who has known her longest, longer than herself, longer than her kids. And so it's really a beautiful tribute to female friendship. They are laugh out loud funny parts just because there are things that only friends can really understand about each other. But it is also brutal. I read it and was just deeply sad because you know how it's going to end. Like, there's no surprise ending here. You know what's going to happen. And so I do highly recommend this.  I will borrow Kathleen Kelly's phrase like you need to read with a box of tissues. It is deeply moving. It's just really about, I think, how women care for each other and the ways in which it feels like-- I don't think this is always true, but it can feel like only women really know how to be present in those really awful moments of our lives. And I don't know if that's because we've just been doing it for so long, like, for generations. But I just found this book to be for fans of Katherine Heiny or Amy Poeppel where it's about these characters that you really love, even though they might make their mistakes or say frustrating things or be irritating, sometimes you really love them. I love the characters in Katherine Heiny's work. I felt the same way about Katherine Newman's characters. The best friend is making some poor choices, but you know why she's making poor choices? She's making poor choices because she's watching her friend die and she's waking up to phone calls in the middle of the night and she's trying to get her friend to eat. And it's very moving. I loved it. I thought it was very good, weirdly funny and poignant. We All Want Impossible Things by Katherine Newman out next week on November 8th. It's also got a really good cover. I love this book a lot.  

Olivia [00:56:26] This reminds me just because you mentioned Kathleen Kelly. I had a dream the other night that I met Meg Ryan on an escalator in a mall and I told her about the Bookshelf and I was, like, "We're closed right now, but you should come in tomorrow. We're open 10 to 6. And my owner would love to meet you. And she's so nice and amazing." And I was, like, I've always looked up to you because you're tall and I'm tall. I was out of there and then I woke up before Saturday and so I don't know if she came in or not. But I woke up and I was just, like, oh my gosh, did I actually meet Meg Ryan. 

Annie Jones [00:57:07] Did I meet Meg Ryan on the escalator in a mall?  

Olivia [00:57:10] Yeah.  

Annie Jones [00:57:10] That's amazing. What a great dream.  

Olivia [00:57:13] It was a great dream. I also took a yoga class, and I hate yoga, but there were, like, hundreds-- I don't know. No one needs to know anything about that part of the story. My next book is another middle grade novel, and this is Snow Foal by Susanna Bailey out November 29th. This feels like a cross between maybe a Little Princess meets  Heidi, I'll say. But this is about a little girl, Addie, who her mother gets sick and she is taking care of her. And I think the town starts to realize that her mother's not doing well. And so social services comes over and they're just, like, "Hey, you're just going to come stay with this family until your mother's feeling better." But what Addie doesn't realize is no one really expects her mom to get better. And so Addie refuses to unpack her things, does not want to make herself feel at home because she thinks, like, I'm about to go home to take care of my mother again, which is what she really wants. But, meanwhile, this huge snowstorm hits, so everything is kind of put on pause. Even if she were to be able to go home, she couldn't because no one can drive on the roads. But at this house it's like a farm. And so there's a baby foal that was just born, but the mother passed away. And so they have to take care of this foal. This pony is scared of everyone because it has no mother anymore. And so they were kind of like, "Hey, Addy, maybe you can help this pony." So Addy goes and sits with the pony and the pony obviously takes to her more than anybody else, and she starts to have this kindred friendship with this pony. I am not that far into the book, so I don't know how this ends, but I think it will be happy regardless of whether or not she goes home because now she has a friend in this pony and she's like the friend in the family as well. So that is Snow Foal. I guess a snow pony wouldn't have a great ring to it.  

Annie Jones [01:00:07] No, because the more you say pony, the weirder that sounds too. I'm not going to lie to you.  

Erin [01:00:13] [Inaudible] Now, pony sounds weird. Okay. This is my last book. And, listen, I wrote I'm not a psychic, but I want to put this out in the world that I think almost a month away from this book's release, (it's coming out November 29) that you're going to be hearing all about this book. I think it's going to be somebody's pick for a book club or a famous person. I don't know. I'm just putting that out there in the world. It's called A Quiet Life by Ethan. Joella. I believe this is his second novel. This is another work of fiction from him.  I was going to say, you're going to hear all about this book and 90% of it is probably going to be from my mouth. So I will hype this book up. I loved it so much.  I don't have time to read a lot of print books. And this is one I have not been able to put down. Every time I'm sitting around with my kids, I have it actually on my phone. And I'm just picking it up and just reading and reading and reading. It is so good. It is set in a little suburb of Pennsylvania. I'm not sure if they actually specify a particular town, but it follows the lives of these three characters and they all intersect. They don't know each other, but they do all intersect and in ways that are like poignant and hurtful. And  I know everyone likes the movie Crash. I feel like it came out like almost 20 years ago. I loved that movie and I think it was because it was the first time I was introduced to a concept of these concurrent storylines that all sort of like you sort of see how they interact with each other.   

Olivia [01:01:58] I didn't know people didn't like that movie.   

Erin [01:02:00] Yeah. I've heard that people think it's kind of schmaltzy like a little too over the top. But I don't care. I love it. It's one of my favorite movies. This is the same idea, but less dark. There's less crime and stuff. There's the main character is Chuck. He's an older gentleman whose wife has passed away and was kind of unexpected. And every summer they would go to Hilton Head and stay there for the winter. And he's coming up on this trip and he's wondering should I go and honor her or cannot even do that without her? Like, it just seems like he can't move forward. He  doesn't want to clean out her closet. He's just really stuck, which I think is a central pattern to this book. There's another character, young woman named Ella. The main storyline of her is that her ex-husband has kidnaped her daughter and they don't know where her ex-husband is and they don't know where her daughter is. And so every day she's sort of waiting by the phone to hear about what happened to her daughter. She's always looking into new leads. She's working like two or three jobs just to try to keep her mind busy and also just to pay the bills. But she's also stuck. She's just stuck waiting. She can't move forward without her daughter. And then there's another character named Kirsten. Her dad also passed away and he was like her compass her best friend and now she doesn't know how to move forward without him. She wants to travel, she wants to find love, but she just feels like she can't. She doesn't know where to go. Her dad's death is sort of upended her life and she doesn't know what to do. And all that sounds really sad. It's like two deaths and a kidnaping, but it's just so compelling. And they start to interact. Like Ella one of the jobs she works is she delivers newspapers in the morning. So she delivers the newspaper to Chuck, the widower, every morning and they start to interact. And Ella is the neighbor of a guy that Kirsten is starting to like. So it all kind of comes together. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout in that it's not like these huge things are happening. It's just these quiet moments where people are dealing with what's been dealt to them and how are they responding to it. And so, to me, it was just so compelling. It's got a lot of character development, which I always appreciate in a story, but I think this is going to be one that is going to be kind of one of the bigger releases of November. I'm just putting that out in the world right now.  

Annie Jones [01:04:49] I think I'm going to add that to my list. I would like to read that. It sounds really good. So those were the books. Not all the books, guys. Not all the books that were coming out in November, but we've narrowed it down for you. And so if any of those were appealing or seemed like books you want to give this holiday season or you want to gift yourself this holiday season. If you purchase or preorder any of the books we talked about today from the Bookshelf, you can enter your NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and get 10% off your order. Just go to Bookshelfthomasville.com, click or tap Podcast, then Shop Fromthefrontporch to see today's titles.  

[01:05:27] 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. We are officially in November, which means like it or not, we are in the holiday season. And my favorite thing that kind of sets the tone and guides the holiday season is the holiday open house in downtown Thomasville. So this is on Sunday, November 20th. Normally, if you are in downtown Thomasville on a Sunday, too bad for you because there's nothing open and it's very quiet. You can eat lunch at Empire, Bagel or Sass, and that's about it. And, look, normally that's okay with me because I like that we're closed. I like that my brain doesn't have to think about The Bookshelf on a Sunday. However, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving,  I'm pretty sure all of the shops, most of the shops in downtown Thomasville are open. Restaurants are open. We're generally open from 12 to 4 or 1 to 5, depending on if you're trying to catch the after church crowd or not.  

[01:06:40] And it is so festive and fun. I cannot describe what it is like except to say that Thomasville is a small town and the Sunday before Thanksgiving, nothing brings me greater joy than like seeing families reconnect. And people have come in from out of town. Kids are home from college because they're all getting ready for Thanksgiving. And a lot of local Thomasville folks, I think, use Holiday Open House to kind of kick off the week of celebration of being off from school. It is one of my most favorite days to work. I typically work it with my cousin Ashley. It's like a family tradition now. I don't know. She might hate it. She's never said so. So she does it with me out of the kindness of her heart. And I just love it because I feel like it kicks off what can be a fun but stressful week.There's Thanksgiving, there's Black Friday, there's Small Business Saturday, but there's just something fun and festive about this particular day. It's like when all the stores kind of showcase their new holiday decor, their holiday products. I love it so very much. And so if you are planning a trip to Thomasville, I love Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. I really do. They're very busy days in the store. We would love to see you. But you might want to consider making a trip for the weekend before Thanksgiving or maybe on your way to Thanksgiving out of town. Maybe Thomasville is on your way, I think this would be a lovely day to visit. So it's Sunday, November 20th. It's Holiday Open House in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And I think you will love it. It is one of my very favorite things.  

[01:08:16] This week I'm reading Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. Olivia, what are you reading?  

Olivia [01:08:21] I am reading Snow Foal by Susanna Bailey.  

Annie Jones [01:08:27] Erin, what are you reading?  

Erin [01:08:28] I'm reading our Missing Hearts via Celeste Ng.  

Annie Jones [01:08:32] Thank you again to our sponsor Visit Thomasville. To find out more about how you can visit Thomasville, go to Thomasvillega.com.  

[01:08:39]  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. A full transcript of today's episode can be found at Fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.  

[01:09:03] Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music which sets the perfect, warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. Our executive producers of today's episode are Donna Hechler, Cami Tidwell, Chantalle C.  

Executive Producers (Read their own names) [01:09:20] Nicole Marsee. Wendy Jenkins. Laurie Johnson. Kate Johnston Tucker.  

Annie Jones [01:09:24] 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.  

[01:09:42] 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.co/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.  

Caroline Weeks

a weekly conversational podcast on books, small business, and life in the South