Episode 361 || February Reading Recap
In this episode of From the Front Porch, Annie is recapping all of the books she read in February. Shorter versions of these reviews can be found on Annie’s personal Instagram page. The books mentioned in today’s episode are available for purchase at The Bookshelf’s website and there’s a Reading Recap bundle featuring Annie’s three favorite titles from this month’s readings, available at a discounted price.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website:
Going There by Katie Couric on Libro.Fm
Recitatif by Toni Morrison on Libro.Fm
What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
Nobody’s Magic by Destiny O. Birdsong
Good Morning, Love by Ashley M. Coleman
South to America by Imani Perry on Libro.Fm
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.
This week, Annie is reading Hope and Glory by Jendella Benson.
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Transcript:
Annie [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.
[00:00:24] If you've ever been happy before, I reckon you can be again. If you've never been happy, right now is a good time to start trying. And the faster you can do that, the better. Not the being -- that's a process but the trying. Because real happiness is like trouble. You look for it long enough, it'll find you. Destiny O BirdSong, Nobody's Magic.
[00:00:48] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week I'm recapping the books I read in February. If you're a new listener of From the Front Porch, welcome. Each month I recap the books I read here on the podcast, and then shorter versions of these reviews can be found on my personal Instagram @anniebjones05. So if you prefer written reviews, you can find this on Instagram, but I put all of that information and kind of go into each book on a deeper level here on From the Front Porch. All the books I'll be sharing about today are available for purchase on The Bookshelf website. That's www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
[00:01:29] And as we did in January, there is a reading recap bundle featuring my three favorite titles from this month's readings available at a discounted price. You can learn more details at the end of today's episode. Okay, let's get started. I finished listening to Going There by Katie Couric. I listen to this book in audiobook format through Libro FM, and I finished it as kind of we wrapped up the month of January and started the month of February, so I wanted to include it in my reviews here. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm very glad I did the audiobook experience. I'm sure I would have enjoyed or appreciated the physical book format, but there was something about hearing it in Katie Couric's voice. She is the narrator of the audiobook, and then the audiobook also included actual snippets from the interviews that she conducted on the Today Show or her other television programing.
[00:02:26] And so I really appreciated the full audio experience. It almost was like having things reenacted in front of me. I just loved hearing actual interviews she did or listening to her talk to her fellow co-hosts. I just really loved the audiobook experience, so I would highly recommend that. Although, again, I'm sure the physical book experience would be enjoyable as well. Look, I don't know if you know about this. Surely you do, you've listened to this podcast, perhaps, you know. I love reading about and learning about television news. I love it. I loved Barbara Walters memoir that she published a few years ago, several years ago, now called Audition. I love deep dives that the New York Times or the Atlantic might do into morning TV programing like back when there was kind of this race and this competition among the big three in TV news.
[00:03:27] And I just devour anything about television news. In fact, before recording this podcast, I was reading an in-depth article about the recent resignation flash firing of Jeff Zucker from CNN. If you read Katie Couric's book, you probably also are very intrigued by this new story. And so I just love reading anything about that. So that's part of the reason I picked up Katie Couric's book. My personal favorite co-host of the Today Show was always Meredith Vieira, which was a very short lived era of the Today Show. But Katie Couric was ever so slightly -- I feel like before my time, she was what I would observe my mom watching in the mornings. And so I loved this book for its personal reflections. I was aware of Katie Couric's personal history. I was aware of her first husband's death.
[00:04:15] And getting to hear Katie Couric kind of talk through that and write her way through that was really interesting and really touching. I was really moved by certain parts of this book. I appreciated her reflections on motherhood and kind of juggling motherhood with her career. And I obviously loved the career portions, really loved some insight into the Today Show, and then also some insight into what Katie Couric's career has done since then. I never quite understood why she left the Today show. She explains that in detail in the book. And I just really liked hearing her struggles of finding her place and figuring out what to do after the Today Show Wasn't this easy thing for her, which I think we knew from observing how short lived her stint was at CBS, et cetera.
[00:05:03] So if you, like me, are obsessed with any of that, I think this book will scratch that curiosity and will really offer some insight into Katie Couric's career and background. And, look, if you're also here for the tea on Matt Lauer, I think Katie Couric does that pretty well. And the reason I say pretty well is because this is someone who admittedly was quite close with Matt Lauer, maybe not the BFF persona that we were fed through the performance that they did on the Today Show. But certainly he was her coworker and her friend. And I think you can hear in Katie's voice again the perk of listening to this. You can kind of hear her grapple with that. And how do you understand the sins and mistakes and the really dark underbelly underside of this friend that you thought you knew? How do you wrap your brain around that? And in what ways are you complicit in that?
[00:05:59] And so I really appreciated. I felt like she was pretty honest about those things. And, look, she also name drops, and I love a name drop. I want to know that you dated Larry King. I want to know what that looked like. So I also found my way, kind of, giggling and laughing through portions of this book. Ashley listened to this -- my cousin, Ashley. We listened to this a little bit on the way home from New York, like, on our drive home from Atlanta. And we were in the middle of the book and I asked Ashley, like,"Is it okay if we listen to this because I'm almost done?" And Ashley just sat there mouth agape because it did feel like at certain points Katie Couric was just dropping kind of these bombs. And I respect it. I thought it was fascinating. And I really liked this one. I'm glad I read it. It is Going There by Katie Couric. It is her memoir that was released earlier this fall or last fall, as the case may be. And I thoroughly enjoyed my audiobook listening experience.
[00:06:52] On a completely different note, but also in audio book format, I listened to Toni Morrison's short story, Recitatif. This is gorgeous. This is my first foray into Toni Morrison. If you've been listening to the podcast, you know that it is one of my reading resolutions, reading intentions, this year to read Toni Morrison. I feel like I read snippets of her work throughout high school and college, but never got to read or never fully embraced her work. And so last year was my Jane Austen year, this year is my Toni Morrison year. To kind of dip my toe into the water, I stumbled across the audiobook format of this short story. It is the only short story Toni Morrison ever wrote, which I did not know, and it was just released as kind of a stand alone book. A really beautiful book, actually. So I stumbled across this while scrolling through Libro FM trying to find what I wanted to listen to next. And because it was written by Toni Morrison, I thought, oh, well, here, let me try this. And it was super short. It's a short story.
[00:07:54] So, essentially, the introduction, which is written by Zadie Smith, takes up about 45 minutes and then the short story takes up about 45 minutes. So if you are looking for some beautiful literature but the same length as some of your favorite podcasts, this would be a really good lesson for you. I've already recommended it and pass it along to Jordan because I think he would also really appreciate it. The narration is excellent. Zadie Smith actually narrates the introductory essay herself, and that was all I had going into this book. So I'm going to tell a little bit about it, but I would kind of encourage you to just read it or listen to it either, one, without too much background. I'm really glad I did. So I listened to the introduction by Zadie Smith, and I'm grateful I had that information. But, otherwise, I didn't go in with much, and I recommend that. I will break down a little bit of the plot for you here, because that's what we do hear on from the front porch.
[00:08:49] But if you're going to listen to this, I might go in armed with little information and then either come back or after the fact. I really did do some Googling and do some cursory kind of introductory level research because I was so curious about this work. So you can find the physical copy I'm sure at your local bookstore. We'll talk about it more at the end of this episode because the physical copy is really beautiful, but I love the audiobook experience. This short story is about Twyla and Roberta. They are two women who we know one is black and one is white. So we know they have this kind of interracial friendship. But we are not told by Toni Morrison who is whom. We are not told which woman is black and which woman is white, and that is on purpose. Toni Morrison said in interviews that she wanted to remove racial coding from the language of this short story.
[00:09:44] And so that is what a lot of people have obviously written think pieces and theses and diatribes about because it is certainly worth kind of unpacking the reasons behind that. And it's also very much unpacking what you as the reader find yourself doing, even though you know. I knew because I had listened to Zadie Smith introduction. I knew. I was not going to be told which of these characters was black and which was white. And yet it was like I could not help myself in trying. It was like I had to give it my best shot to kind of solve this mystery, to listen to the language, to figure out what words meant. And then you as the reader -- I as the reader, kind of caught myself and realized, wait, I'm trying to solve something that is unsolvable and that is not supposed to be solved. Toni Morrison wrote this story with so many other things in mind, and so it was fascinating to also just analyze myself and to then listen to this, the short story, with maybe a different lens and to really try to understand the friendship between Twyla and Roberta.
[00:10:56] So we meet them as young women. And then the short story kind of introduces us to them at different points in their adulthood and how their paths kind of continue to cross. Their perhaps no longer best friends, but their paths cross a few times over the years and we are privy to that. And I feel like there are other books I've read recently that kind of do this. Where you're introduced to a relationship, and then as is often the case with many of our relationships, especially the friends we make in our younger earlier years, we only interact with them in little moments throughout the rest of our lives. And I I don't know if this is a trope, but I certainly think it is common enough in literature where I have grown to really love it. This idea that somebody kind of comes into our lives just bit by bit. And so I really loved this. Really loved this.
[00:11:50] So it is Recitatif. You can buy the stand-alone short story in this new stand-alone format with the introduction by Zadie Smith, or you can listen to it on Libra FM. I loved my listening experience, and I'm so excited to have been introduced to my year of Toni Morrison with the short story and now to dive into her greater works, her larger works. But I will also say I can't believe this was the first time I'd read the short story. I continue to be frustrated in a kind way because I love them. But with some of my English teachers from my earlier years, I just don't understand why this wasn't part of the curriculum. It just feels like something that I would have loved to have unpacked in a classroom setting. I would have loved to have been guided through this story with a professor or a teacher, and I would have loved to have been in conversation about this work.
[00:12:37] And anyway, if you're an English teacher and you're listening to this, I think this would be a great story to read with your high school or with your English classes in college. And maybe you are. Maybe you are doing that, and I commend you. I'm sad that this is the first time this story came across my path. And if you're like me, I want to introduce it to you. I want to put it in your hands. Once I finished it, I immediately posted to my Instagram Story. I texted Hunter, like, I texted my friends who I thought would really like it because I just knew, and I told Jordan, this is something that I really think is worth reading and having a conversation about, which is why I love books. So Recitatif by Toni Morrison. The title, by the way, excuse, I hope my pronunciation is pretty good. I listened to the audio book, but that is, I believe, a French term. And so I hope I'm doing it justice.
[00:13:32] Next, I picked up a physical book, What the Fireflies Knew. This Is by Kai Harris. This is a debut novel. I had an ARC of this, but I put off reading it because I love listening or reading things. I love reading things seasonally, and this book is set in the summer. And so I just was kind of like, oh, I'm not really ready to read this yet, but then it released and I really want this book to do well. And so because it sounded really interesting and it sounded almost reminiscent -- we're going to talk about this a little bit. It sounded a little bit Where the Crawdads Sing adjacent. And so I wanted to read it so that I could sell it, honestly. And so I picked it up off the Bookshelf shelves, and I loved it.
[00:14:13] So our narrator is an 11 year old named KB. She is sent with her sister to live with her grandfather for a summer. We at first are not quite sure why, and we see most things through KB's eyes. So the book immediately reminded me of actually another great audiobook experience, The Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett. I adore that book so very much, and I loved the audiobook. That book is narrated by an 11, 12, 13 year old, a young girl. And so the voice of what the fireflies knew felt reminiscent of that, where it's written by an adult, but you are getting it through the lens of a child. And in fact, I actually shared a DM conversation with another bookstore owner, and she said, "Oh, this book reminded me of my favorite well-written children's literature." And I totally can see that because the narration is from the voice of a child, from the mind of a child, but the book definitely has adult sensibilities.
[00:15:13] And there are some adult things that happen in this book. In fact, that took me back a little bit because I was so enamored with and so in all of the narrative voice, that when something tragic or scary happens, I was a little bit surprised because I thought, wait, this is a children's book. But it is not. It is an adult book and sometimes adult things happen to children. And so I fell in love with KB and with her grandfather and with her sister. So I won't spoil kind of the circumstances that lead to this summer. But I will tell you that 11 year old KB is trying desperately to understand her sister, who is older than she is, and who she loves and adores and admires. But who is really going through some teen angst and who often ignores KB. KB also develops a friendship with the white neighbors across the street.
[00:16:08] KB is black. And her trying to understand why or why not these children might play with her or might not play with her, then her relationship with her grandfather, which she previously did not have a relationship with her grandfather and KB kind of does all of this. Not only is it the mind of a child, it's the mind of a reader. So we immediately learn about KB, that she is a fan of Anne Shirley and of Anne of Green Gables. And there are little hints to that throughout the book. And in particular, this relationship with her grandfather, she just continually tells herself, "Oh, he's just being a Marilla. He's just a Marilla". And then throughout the novel you kind of think, well, maybe he's a Matthew. And you hear KB articulating these things. Which if you were a reader growing up, you did this. I did this. I compared so much in my real life to the life of my favorite character. Like, I made those comparisons. And that's what KB is doing, and it felt so very familiar to me.
[00:17:07] Yes, the book is very summer centric. I felt like I could hear the sounds of summer. I felt like I could see the lightning bugs. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, even while reading it in February. So this is a debut novel set at a Michigan summer, 11 year-old KB is the narrator. The reason it reminded me a little bit of Where the Crawdads Sing is because of some of the nature writing, the way Kai Harris sets the stage for where this novel takes place, it just felt really familiar and beautifully wrought much like the natural setting of Where the Crawdads Sing. There isn't this mash up of genres, which I think is what occurs in Where the Crawdads Sing and what made it so popular. There's not this courtroom drama, plus mystery, plus love story. There's not quite that happening, but there is a coming of age. There is a slight mystery to knowing where is KBs mom.
[00:18:05] There is certainly an element of grief and trauma to this book. There are some really tense moments and situations. I am not a sensitive reader and I don't frequently offer content warnings because I am not always aware of them, to be quite honest with you. As a reader, I'm not always super aware of what content I should perhaps be warning sensitive readers of. But I will tell you that there is a moment in this book that did kind of take me back because I was so in the head of an 11 year-old that it was a little shocking to me, which I think is the point that this moment in the book was shocking. But I do feel like it was handled really well and handled quite honestly because of who our narrator is and who the characters are in the book. So I really loved this book a lot. It's what the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris.
[00:19:00] Then I picked up another book that I had been dying to read, but I did not receive ARC, and so I read it in real time with the rest of the reading world. This is Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. And, of course, Jenna Bush Hager Picked this as her kind of monthly -- I think it's like her Today Show, Book Club. Her book club pick. Jenna and I continue to be on the same page in terms of the genres that we enjoy and that we like because I suspected I would like this when I read the description, and then I did like it when I read the book. So this is another debut novel. I am in awe of the debuts that I read this month. Like, I cannot believe the talent of these writers, where this is their first work they're putting it into the world and it is so beautiful and so well-written.
[00:19:44] So this is a debut book about Byron and Bennie. Well, I say it's about Byron and Bennie. It's really about Eleanor. So their mother, Eleanor, dies, and that happens at the very start of the book because then what happens is Byron and Bennie, who are very close siblings, but they are estranged, they come together to kind of sit for the reading of their mother's will. So this reminded me -- I mean, visually, I just pictured Knives Out, but that is not what this book is. This book reminded me a little bit of This is Where I Leave You. This matriarch of the family has died, and her children, who are kind of at odds with one another, have to come together and not only grieve her loss, but also sit through this will reading or find out what she left them. And what she left them is two fold. So she left them an audio recording that she wants them to listen to together, that she requires that they listen to together. And then she also left them a black cake, which is where the book obviously gets its title.
[00:20:54] So the black cake is a Caribbean desert. And it's this famous kind of family recipe, but also this very traditional recipe in their culture. So Byron and Benny come to California, they sit at the feet of the attorney and they listen to their mother's story unfold. So the pacing of this book is really, really, well done. In fact, I had to think before I explained because I thought, does this book go back and forth? But it definitely does. So we obviously get Byron and his sister Benny and their reactions to their mother's story. But you're also getting Eleanor's story. And so in that way, it's a little bit of historical fiction as well. And the story that unfolds, it's kind of hidden, but it is very understood that the story that unfolds belongs to Eleanor. And she begins to tell this story of a young woman who flees her island home after maybe being accused of murder. And the stage is set. That's all you know, and that's all you need to know because it is a dysfunctional family story.
[00:22:11] It is a story of grief. It is a love story. It is secrets and family history and drama, and it's all so well crafted. Like, I think that's what I couldn't get over is that there's a lot happening in this book because you've got this sibling relationship between Benny and Byron. You've also got the story of Eleanor and her coming of age and her figuring out who she is and then becoming a mother. And so you've got a lot of different things going on in this book, but I never felt overwhelmed. I was never confused. I just think this is really great storytelling. It's really good storytelling. If you are in a book club, I think this would be an excellent book club selection. I highly, highly, recommend it. Really like this book a lot. It is Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. It's out now.
[00:23:08] Then I picked up a backlist titles. So here's the thing, disregarding Katie Couric, so I read Recitatif, What the Fireflies Knew and Black Cake. And at this point, I was about midway through the month and I thought, oh, I've mostly read black authors this month. So I kind of wanted to try to continue that trend. So I picked up a backless title that I had been very curious about, but for whatever reason, it missed me when it originally debuted. And so I thought, well, now's my chance to read this backlist title. So I picked up the Confessions of Franny Langton by Sara Collins. This is also a debut which I had to look that up because, many of these, I would never have been able to guess were debuts. But I don't know. For some reason, I thought that this author might have written something else. Anyway, she had not. It's a debut novel. It came out in 2019. It's out in paperback now.
[00:24:07] I am pretty sure a friend of mine had recommended this to me, which is why it was kind of on my radar. But, otherwise, it felt like it was pretty quiet when it released. If you feel differently, shoot me a DM or an email because I just feel like I didn't hear a ton about this book. And now, after reading it, I am stunned. I am stunned why this didn't make more of a splash when it released. So this is, I said, historical fiction. It's really a historical thriller or suspense novel. Honestly, it's about Franny. The title character Franny Langdon. She is accused of a double murder of her employers, the scientist George and his very kind of mysterious, eccentric French wife, Marguerite. And the book immediately opens at, I believe, at Franny's trial. And then we get glimpses. Franny narrates her whole story. We don't just get glimpses. She kind of narrates her whole story, as told to her lawyer, which I thought was really creative and interesting plot device.
[00:25:09] So the story unfolds in Franny's words, through Franny's eyes, as she tells her lawyer why she may or may not be innocent. And so this book is set in a variety of places, on a Jamaican plantation, but also in London, England. And you really get some historical context for the slave trade, for the treatment of enslaved people, of what England was like, my understanding of the abolition movement and kind of how it took root in England. It was just interesting to read this story and to kind of put some meat on those bones instead of, I think, what we are often want to do, what I am often want to do is to make heroes and villains, right? And, you know, to make some heroes out of obviously these abolitionists who wanted to end the slave trade. But what did they work toward, how hard did they work for it?
[00:26:17] It was interesting to get some historical context for things that I did not know, honestly, very much about. Gosh, that's why I love books. Because I loved getting some more historical context about something that I really don't know enough about. So, anyway, this book reminded me of a couple of things. So one of my practices I've been doing on my Instagram reviews is trying to come up with at least two books that a book reminds me of. Like, the concept of books maybe. For lack of a better term. Like, this book would be the combination of these two titles. So in that way, this book reminds me of Liberty, which is a book I read last year, which was very quiet, but I really did like it. Probably a Four-Star read for me. I liked this better, simply because this is more plot driven. If you are a plot driven reader. This is for you. I really think this is for you. Liberty is more character driven.
[00:27:12] The other book it reminded me of was The Second Mrs. Hockaday, which came out a few years ago. And another book that just did not get a ton of buzz, but that I really liked. And you know me, I don't remember a ton about it except how it made me feel. But it is, as I recall, set during and after the Civil War. Set in America about the wife of a Civil War veteran, I believe. And there is a, for sure, a suspense mystery element there. And so that is why these remind me of each other. But the other thing that kind of came to mind because we are, as Franny tells her story, we are also inching closer and closer to her trial, enter her, perhaps, her conviction and perhaps her punishment. We don't know, but we're leading up to those events. In those ways, it reminded me a little bit of the Crucible, which is one of my favorite things I read in high school. And so Frannie's story, Frannies voice is so strong. This is a plot driven book, like you are never bored.
[00:28:19] I don't even love a ton of historical fiction, or at least I say that I don't, but I really liked this. I really liked the setting. I liked what I was learning about. Again, I am not a sensitive reader. This is a tough book. Like, as I said, it is set on a Jamaican plantation. It's also set and about these slave trade. And so the author, Sara Collins, does not shy away from details. I appreciated that, but I do want to mention that here. I love this book. I thought it was outstanding. Thought it was one of the best historical fiction books I've read in a long time. I really liked it a lot. I'd love to know if you read it. Again, I do not understand. I'm sitting here literally scratching my head why aren't we talking about this? And maybe we did in 2019. And 2019 is just a blur to me and feels like 20 years ago. Maybe that's it, but I really liked this one. It is historical fiction paperback. Great combination. If you're a historical fiction reader, but you're also maybe a suspense writer, I think there's a lot to like for both of his readers here. So The Confessions of Franny Langton by Sara Collins.
[00:29:30] Then I picked up Nobody's Magic. This is by destiny O. Birdsong. I led the episode with a quote from this book. This book is beautifully written, I think, because it is written by Destiny O. Birdsong, who is a poet. So this is her first novel, but she has written works of poetry, and I think you can definitely tell. One of the books that came to mind as I was reading this book is the book Priestdaddy, which is not a book for everyone. And there is some sexual content in this book that might also, if you liked Priestdaddy, good news, you're going to like this. But if Priestdaddy made you uncomfortable, then this might also make you uncomfortable. So Priestdaddy is a memoir written by Patricia Lockwood and she is a poet. And, to me, you could tell that throughout that entire memoir. A.
[00:30:18] Nd Nobody's Magic is a novel. It's told in three parts, and the entire time I feel like I flipped back to the author page, and when I realized she was a poet, I was like, "Oh, of course, it's just the way it's written." I think the way poets write is so unique and different, and they put those sensibilities into even their fiction work. So this is told in three parts. I feel like it's three novellas or I would say short stories, but they are pretty long for short stories. But, to me, three novellas, they are very much standalone. Like, I could see a world in which you read one of these, but I also think you would miss -- the beauty of this book is the three voices and the three different women at the heart of the book. So you've got Suzette, Maple and Agnes, each one of them gets their own section of the book.
[00:31:10] And these are three southern black women, all who have albinism. You hear how that affects their family lives, their love lives, their careers, their ambitions, their growing up. And it's all similar and yet vastly different, which is why I think you should read the whole book and not just one of them. So Suzette is the first story, the first novella, and she is this kind of overprotected only child. Suzette story was the most in my mind kind of page turning of them. Like, I don't know why, but I just found her to be fascinating and really relatable. Even though Suzette and I probably are not anything alike, but for some reason, her story just felt very familiar to me. She's in her late teens, early 20s. She should be in college -- I say should be. She wants to be in college, but her father has kind of deterred her from that.
[00:32:13] Her father and her mother are upper middle class. I would say maybe even wealthy. And they have been very protective since Suzette's childhood, when she had a childhood encounter because of her albinism. I found this story so fascinating. It's also a very romantic story. Suzette and one of her father's employees kind of fall in love and have a love story. And Suzette father is one of the most interesting, complicated. All of the characters Birdsong treats with such care because all of the characters are very nuanced and there's a world in which Suzette's father would be a caricature, and would be just kind of the stereotypical, overbearing, overprotective father and controlling dad. And he certainly is those things. And yet there is more to him than that, which I really appreciated.
[00:33:10] So I love Suzette's story. That's the first section of the book. The second section is about Maple. Actually, now that I think about it, one of the things that connects all these women is their identities as daughters. So the second story is about Maple. This story is told really about Maples relationship with her mother, who within the first couple of pages dies and Maple is left reeling from her mother's death. Her mother was killed in a drive-by shooting. And so there's kind of a a desire for vengeance, but also kind of this resignation and a loss of wondering what to do. And this story to me is really about grief, so Maples story is really about the loss of her mother and what she's supposed to do, what you're supposed to do after. What do you do after? So that's what the second story is about.
[00:34:04] And then the third story is about Agnes. And Agnes is, to me, the most ambitious of the three women. She wants desperately to have this career. When we begin the story, we learned that she is waiting to find out if she's gotten this job at a university. And in the meantime, she is spending the week acting as a reader. She took this job. She's broke and she took this job to read essays and to grade essays. Also sounded like a pretty fun gig to me, which may be uncovering and revealing my nerdom to you. But, anyway, she spends the week in Utah at a hotel, and every day she goes to the conference room and grades papers, essentially. And she is desperate, desperate for cash, desperate for the job. Just so desperate is the best word I could use to describe Agnes.
[00:35:01] And she meets a man. All of these three women, there is a romantic and sexual element to each of these stories. And so Agnes kind of gets into a relationship with this man who's a security guard at the hotel. And just chaos ensues. I say Suzette story, the first story, is the most kind of compulsively readable, the most page turner of the three, but actually Agnes's story is pretty compulsively readable because there's a moment of action that then just there's absolute fallout and catastrophe. And so anyway, Agnes just makes questionable decisions, and then she has to face the consequences of those decisions. Now that I'm talking about it, I actually really liked all three of these stories, which I thought that I did.
[00:35:53] I think I give this book four and a half stars. Like, I really liked it and now that I'm talking about it, I think I like it even more. Because it's just brilliant to me to be able to tell three unique stories that have three distinct unique voices all come together in one novel. The uniting thread is not just that these are black women, it's not just that these women have albinism, it's not just that they are southern. It's that they are daughters, that they are lovers, that they are coping with loss of different kinds in each story. Gosh, this book is really good. This book is really good, guys. So it is Nobody's Magic by Destiny O. Birdsong and it is out now.
[00:36:42] Then I picked up the book -- This is the only preorder. Like, this is the only book that's not out yet, which is pretty fun. I feel like I'm reading in real time for the first time in a very long time. I obviously need to be reading some preorders and some ARCs, but this month I really got to read kind of alongside everybody else, which was nice. So the book is Good Morning, Love. This is by Ashley M. Coleman. This is out in June. I think it's on June 21st. It's a paperback original. It definitely has the appearance of a romantic comedy or a romance novel. I am going to get better this year at trying to describe what is a romantic comedy versus what is a romance novel. This, to me, I believe, is a romance novel. It is about Carly and Tao. I hope that's how you pronounce his name. I physically read this. I did not listen to this, and so I'm not sure, but that's what we're going to go with. Carly and Tao.
[00:37:36] So Carly is a young woman who works in the music industry in New York City. She works for a music executive, and she's really good at her job. But what I found was interesting is that what she really wants to do is write music. And so she is constantly at war within herself to does she lean into her ambition and work and become a music executive? And is that the way she kind of makes her way in the music world? Or does she lean into her writerly tendencies and kind of pave her own way and become a writer of music? And what does that look like, and what do those two different career paths look like? So this is a love story, but I actually think to me the most compelling parts of this book are Carly's love affair with her writing and the insight that you get into the music industry.
[00:38:33] I feel like Daisy Jones and The Six, Opal and Nev, like, we're getting some music -- I'm reading, I have read some books that are kind of music adjacent, but nothing about the executive, maybe side of things. Anyway, so I really like those parts of the book. So that's Carly story. Tao is this kind of Hip-Hop Usher type figure. I feel like he's the -- I want to say he's the young lead in for Usher one night at like a music event. I think that's right. Anyway, but he's this young kind of Hip-Hop artist, and he's really up and coming and really making a lot of noise. He's pretty famous. And so he becomes a client at Carly's music company. I read this whole book about the music industry and I'm like, I don't know, a company?
[00:39:29] Anyway, at this kind of PR firm or whatever, and he becomes their client. So here's the thing, I think the romance is fun. I had some questions as I think I do a lot with some romance novels, because sometimes I just can't figure out -- well, wait, but he's a client. Is this appropriate? And that definitely plays a part in the book. Like, the author definitely addresses those things. But it's a little bit hard for me to suspend belief. And so I think that's part of the reason I really love the music parts the most. And I also really loved -- look, the best parts of a romcom or a romance novel to me are the close friends. And so Carly has a best friend, her roommate Talia, who I adored. And actually, I really do hope that Ashley Coleman has like another book in the works, perhaps about Talia, the best friend, who is in law school. And it just feels like in some of these novels, the side characters often become main characters in their own right. And so I kind of am wishing that and hoping that for Talia.
[00:40:38] But anyway, so I like Carly and Tao together, but I had some questions. And they are, for the most part, addressed in different ways throughout the book. This book is closed door for the most part. I'm trying to think, but I'm pretty sure it is mostly closed door. And so if you're a closed door reader, I think this would be for you. I, again, am learning what I would classify as a romcom versus a romance novel. And I just think this one is more romantic than comedic, and there's nothing wrong with that. Like, I really liked it. I read this book in a couple of sittings. It did not take me long, and it was really enjoyable. Carly is a really fun main character, and I say fun because she felt very real and relatable. She is ambitious. She is torn and confused about what to do. And I think Coleman writes about that really well.
[00:41:33] Also, after reading the book, I saw that Ashley Coleman, the author, works in the music industry, and perhaps that is why those parts of the book came alive so much for me was because that is her literal area of expertise. Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed this one, would highly recommend it to you. It comes out in June, June 21st in paperback. It is Good Morning, Love by Ashley M. Coleman. And then throughout the month of February, I decided to listen to the book South to America by Imani Perry. This is a book I was curious about. I had received an ARC and I had started it and liked it in physical book format, but because it is nonfiction and I tend to like audiobook nonfiction, I decided to try it in that format. I'm really glad I did because I was able then to listen to it in sections throughout the month.
[00:42:22] It is narrated by Imani Perry, which I also really liked. Not always because not every author is a good narrator, but I often like an audio book with the author as the narrator because I think they fully understand how they want their book to sound and what they were trying to say. And so I really appreciated Imani Perry as the narrator. If you're not familiar, this is part nonfiction like journalistic nonfiction, part history lesson, part anthropological study, part travel writing, part memoir, so all very good things. And it is about the modern south. And I wanted to read this because Imani Perry is a black woman who is from Alabama. She works and teaches at Princeton, but she is from Alabama. And so that's a voice then I trust to write about the complications that there are in the south and in southern culture.
[00:43:29] I learned so much while listening to this book. Like I said, it was like a history lesson. And yet there were many things that felt very familiar to me. Because she currently lives and works in the Northeast, she talked a lot about the assumptions made about southern culture, and each chapter of the book is devoted to a different part of the South. So, for example, the book opens with a chapter about Appalachia, then there's another chapter about Birmingham, which is where she's from. There's another chapter about Louisville. And so I appreciated that because by doing that, she shows how really wide ranging and diverse the South is, and the ways in which southern culture is even different from other parts of southern culture. So I really like that, and that felt very familiar because I went to school in Alabama.
[00:44:27] I grew up in North Florida, and I now live in South Georgia. And I can tell you those three places are so different. They're so different. And yet, to somebody who lives in, I don't know, Chicago or Massachusetts, you might think, well, those are all the same, and they are really not. And so I really appreciated somebody much wiser and smarter than I am describing that and describing why that is. The first chapter was about Appalachia, and I think then was followed by the chapter on Louisville. And those sections I learned so much because I'm a little bit less familiar with those stories and with those histories. Even though my dad's family is from Kentucky, much of that was new information to me, and so I really love how Imani Perry kind of set up this book.
[00:45:20] And the format, it's not just the format, it's the storytelling here because it is definitely journalistic nonfiction. It's definitely how it reads to me, but it's also memoir because she is from the South, and she's talking about her upbringing, and she's talking about what her life looks like now. And then it's also kind of anthropological because she a little bit is on the outside, looking in now to the south. And I don't know, there's something about it that I feel like if it had just been journalistic nonfiction or if it had just been a memoir or if it had just been a travel book, I don't think it would have been as good. But it's all those things. And then add, of course, the racial elements that she's writing about. And I just found it to be really stunning, a really wonderful work of literature.
[00:46:07] So this is called South to America by Imani Perry. I listen to the audio book on Libro FM. You might be familiar with this. I feel like if you're a southern reader, you've probably seen this one. But also you might be familiar with it because our beloved Jamie B. Golden from the Popcast, she greenlit this book a few weeks ago, which is, I think, what kind of pushed me over the edge to to begin listening to it. So South to America by Imani Perry. It is out now, and that is what I read this month. That's a lot of books and all really, really, good. So I hope I inspired you to maybe pick one up.
[00:46:43] Also, would love to know what you are reading this month. Be sure to find us on Instagram at @bookshelftville, where Mary Catherine will have posted a picture about today's episode. And I'd love for you to comment what you've been reading this month and tell me if you already had read Franny Langton. Speaking of Franny Langton, this month we are selling our February Reading Recap bundle. It's going to be $54 and you can find the bundle online through the link in our show notes. Or just go to bookshelfthomasville.com, then click or tap podcast and shop from the front porch. This month's bundle includes these three books. It includes Recitatif, which has a beautiful new hardcover edition, the debut novel What the Fireflies Knew, and the backlist historical fiction The Confessions of Franny Langton. So you get Recitatif, What the Fireflies Knew and Confessions of Franny Langton. Those are the three in this month's bundle. So go to theookshelfthomasville.com to find those.
[00:47:39] 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 at @bookshelftville.
[00:47:50] And all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website:
[00:47:55] thebookshelf.com.
[00:47:58] A full transcript of today's episode can be found at, fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
[00:48:04] 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.
[00:48:17] This week, I'm reading Hope and Glory by Jendella Benson.
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[00:48:56] We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.