Episode 365 || March Madness
This week on From the Front Porch, we’re talking books and basketball. That’s right: it’s time for our annual March Madness episode. Annie is joined in this annual tradition by her husband and friend Jordan Jones.
We’re debating 16 of The Bookshelf’s 2021 bestsellers to decide which one lands at the top. These were seeded, as always, by retail floor manager Olivia, who determines which books match up with which opponent.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website:
Brood by Jackie Polzin
Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner
Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer
Palm Beach by Mary Adkins
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida (back-ordered)
Revival Season by Monica West
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington
Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First by Laura Tremaine
What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer
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, The 101st annual Rose Show and Festival, here in Thomasville, Georgia. If you want to come for the weekend and experience the flowers, fun, food, and shopping in beautiful Thomasville GA, plan your visit at thomasvillega.com.
This week Annie is reading Beloved by Toni Morrison.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
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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] "Maybe to those who possess it, ambition is an instinct as natural and unconscious as any other. The same kind of winnowing characteristic that led one ancient organism to crawl out of the water while another stayed behind awaiting extinction." Ed Tarkington, The Fortunate Ones.
[00:00:46] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. Before we get started today, one of our main goals for 2022 is to grow the show to 10,000 listeners. That is really hard for me to say out loud, but that's the goal. Right now, we are a community of about 7000, which is truly amazing to me. The best way to grow the show is to have all of you lovely listeners leave a review on Apple Podcasts. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for From the Front Porch. Scroll down until you see, 'Write a Review' and tell us what you think. Super easy and a great way to spread the love about From the Front Porch and The Bookshelf. This week on From the Front Porch, we're talking books and basketball. That's right. I can hardly believe it, but it is time for our annual March Madness episode. I'm joined for this annual tradition by my husband and friend, Jordan Jones. Welcome back to the show, Jordan.
Jordan [00:01:42] Very glad to be here. It feels like we did this about two months ago.
Annie [00:01:46] I can't decide if it feels like two months ago or two years ago.
Jordan [00:01:50] Maybe a little bit of both.
Annie [00:01:51] Yeah, it feels like a little bit of both. So for new listeners, and there might be some since you were last on the show because you really only come on the show annually, let's tell people why we do this.
Jordan [00:02:04] I guess about 18 or 19 years ago or so, we started filling out March Madness Brackets when we were in college and competing against each other. And the bet was whoever had the better bracket got to watch the other one eat only fruits and vegetables and drink water for two days, And then eventually, you know, the bet changed over time, but it's something that we've been doing ever since.
Annie [00:02:35] The bet is now money.
Jordan [00:02:36] The bet is now money. It is fun money.
Annie [00:02:39] We grew up and the bet is now money. But our our March Madness Bracket challenge is still called Eat your Vegetables.
Jordan [00:02:48] That's right. It' called Eat Your Vegetables. And we put the brackets on the wall in the living room. I still have a couple of friends from college that do it with us, and we put their brackets on the walls and we have friends elsewhere and they do it. And it's a fun time of the year.
Annie [00:03:00] And we do it at The Bookshelf. All of the stuff fills out brackets.
Jordan [00:03:02] Yeah, that's right.
Annie [00:03:03] So it's really fun. We have a history of doing this as a couple. My family had a history of doing this growing up. My dad was a huge college basketball fan. He had some history with the FSU basketball team in the 70s. And so it's something my family has always paid attention to. And then it was really fun to bring that tradition into college with my friends, with Jordan, and now it is part of our marriage. And so we record this episode. And lest you think it's all basketball heavy, this episode is really book heavy. But we kind of debate the bookshelves best sellers and kind of argue our way through them until one champion book remains. And so Olivia, our retail floor manager at The Bookshelf graciously every year compiles a list of the top 16 best sellers. She did the best sellers of 2021.
[00:04:02] So she picked the 2021 best sellers top 16. She also seeded them. So she is the equivalent of the selection committee and she has seeded these. She did an excellent job. I know exactly her logic really behind each of these seedings. So she seeded these books, we literally have a bracket that we're looking at that we are going to debate our way through 16 narrowed down to one book. You want to know a bookstore that's doing something very fun with this, and I'm jealous they thought of that first?
Jordan [00:04:34] Okay.
Annie [00:04:34] Books are Magic, which is that bookstore in New York. They're doing a March Madness, and they're pitting all of their like old T-shirt designs and stuff against each other, and then the top one that wins, they'll reprint.
Jordan [00:04:46] Oh, that's good.
Annie [00:04:47] Oh, I thought that was so cute.
Jordan [00:04:48] It's kind of like how Mountain Dew lets you vote and then the thing that wins gets to be the forever Mountain Dew... Yeah.
Annie [00:04:52] thought it was such a good idea. It's such a good idea. I'm so jealous. Go vote in Books are Magic's March Madness. I thought that was so clever. So this is our version of March Madness. We're glad you're here. Are you ready to debate these 16 books?
Jordan [00:05:04] I'm ready to debate these 16 books.
Annie [00:05:06] I think we should also say as much as I love and adore you, you're not really on this podcast because you are an avid reader.
Jordan [00:05:15] Well, that is a low blow, but also correct.
Annie [00:05:18] So we like to say that law school ruined Jordan's reading life. Jordan is still an avid audiobook listener. I mean, that is certainly fair to say.
Jordan [00:05:28] Yes, that's right.
Annie [00:05:28] He listens to a lot of audiobooks, but they are not often The Bookshelf bestsellers.
Jordan [00:05:32] Right.
Annie [00:05:33] So how we did this last year, and how we're going to do this this year, is I am going to present the two books. I'm going to kind of tell you what each of them is about, and then Jordan is going to kind of pick which one moves forward. And if I take issue with it, I will.
Jordan [00:05:46] Under Annie's guiding hand, I'm going to try to exercise some agency, and if I make the wrong decision, she'll kind of help me quietly realize that wasn't the right choice and then steer me to the correct choice.
Annie [00:06:00] Sometimes I'll let you in.
Jordan [00:06:02] Sometimes you let me in. That's right. I know a little bit more about the basketball than, well, quite a lot more than I do about the books. So if you're out there listening, thinking that you don't even know what the basketball deal is like, is this basketball? Is it football or soccer? That's kind of how I am with the books.
Annie [00:06:20] Kyla is one of our booksellers, and I was explaining like how the brackets worked. And she did it last year. But she presented me with a very good question. I mean, it was wrongly worded, but it was a good question which was, why do we not do a WNBA bracket? And I said, "Well, unfortunately, I think you mean women's collegiate basketball bracket." And that is absolutely fair. And I said it's because of the patriarchy. However, the WNBA is a totally different thing.
Jordan [00:06:46] That is a good answer. I think my favorite Bookshelf law, you know, piece of law that you ever told is when you explained this to Olivia one year and she said, "How is that fair that the one seed plays the 16 seed?" And you said, "Well, you know, it's a reward for the good teams." Well, I don't think that's fair. And so, you know, Olivia and I have had follow up conversations on that. But this always is a good conversation starter.
Annie [00:07:11] You know, most of our staff -- not all, because Nancy knows what she's doing. Most of the staff, we just do this for fun. I certainly am competitive about it because of our competition that we do with each other and with our friends. But for the staff, it is something they really do genuinely look forward to. Like, Kyla was reminiscing that that's when she started last year, and it was like the first thing she got to do as a new bookseller. Laura, who does our shelf subscriptions, who's our shelf subscription coordinator, she is notoriously terrible at March Madness. And I just have this indelible memory of her. She came in last year.
Jordan [00:07:51] Oh, I saw the video. Yeah.
Annie [00:07:52] And there was a video of like Caroline hugging Laura and comforting her in her loss.
Jordan [00:07:57] And breaking the news, right? Breaking the news that her bracket was burst. And, like, I don't even know if the tournament had even started yet. That's how bad it was.
Annie [00:08:05] It was so funny. We just have a really good time together. The Bookshelf is a fun crew, but I will also say it is a serious crew. Like, these are people who really take their jobs very seriously, and I'm so grateful for that. This institute's an element of fun at The Bookshelf that is outside of books. So books are fun and we love books, but incorporating this thing that really nobody cares that much about, like nobody in our staff really loves basketball or anything except for me and maybe Nancy. And so it's very fun to just have this kind of neutral thing that we all of a sudden care about for about a month. And it has really become a lovely tradition at The Bookshelf. So hence this episode that is the primordial ooze from which this podcast episode is from.
Jordan [00:08:51] Yeah, great. To think about that.
Annie [00:08:54] I'm fairly certain that's a line from Gilmore Girls or something, I don't think I made it up.
Jordan [00:08:58] Okay.
Annie [00:08:58] No, don't give me credit. So I'm going to present the 16 books. You can find these in your show notes if you're listening at home, you don't have to write them down or anything. So the 16 books, and I'm going to name them by pairs, these are the seeds in which they're competing. So first up, we have Brood vs. Crying in H-Mart. Five Tuesdays in Winter vs. These Precious Days The Hill We Climb vs. I Hope This Finds You Well. Palm Beach vs. the Paper Palace. Fennelly Donovan is Killing It vs. Who Is Matt Dixon? We Run The Tides vs. Revival Season. Beautiful World where Are You? Vs. The Fortunate Ones. Share your stuff, I'll go First. vs. What Kind of Woman. So these are 16 seeds. Olivia has seeded them. I can absolutely see her logic here. It's very fun. It's always a surprise to me how she seeds them. But these were the 16 best selling books I think of 2021, and now she's seeded them and put them in order. So are you ready to start?
Jordan [00:10:04] I'm ready to start.
Annie [00:10:05] Okay. So first up, we have Brood by Jackie Polzin vs. Crying in H-Mark by Michelle Zauner. Do you want me tell you about them?
Jordan [00:10:11] I want you to tell me about them.
Annie [00:10:13] Brood, you will remember me reading, I'm pretty sure, because this was a best selling book of 2021, but I actually read it in 2020. I sat in this chair, in this great chair and wept at the end.
Jordan [00:10:25] It doesn't narrow it down.
Annie [00:10:26] It was a book about an unnamed narrator who could not have children. Only we don't really fully know that she can't have children, but she struggles with her fertility and she decides to take care of some chickens.
Jordan [00:10:42] Oh, I remember this.
Annie [00:10:43] Yeah, I knew you would because I talked to you about it. So, anyway, this woman winds up caring for these chickens, and you, as the reader, become very invested in the survival of these five chickens, this brood of chickens. It is an incredibly well-written book. It was a debut novel, and it is being pitted against Crying in H-Mart, which was a debut memoir. So this is nonfiction memoir written by Michelle Zauner. I learned while reading the book that Michelle is a musician, and she plays in a band, and this book is about the loss and the grief over losing her mother. And it's about her kind of very complicated, interesting relationship with her mom. The title comes from a title essay that she wrote, I believe, gosh, I want to say it's from The Atlantic or The New Yorker, where she wrote about being in an H-Mart in a, I believe, Korean grocery store, and she's standing in the grocery store and she begins to weep because the smells remind her of her mother's cooking.
[00:11:45] And so the book is a lot about grief. It's also just a lot about Michelle being a child of immigrants and feeling this pull of an American identity versus the identity of her family's homeland. And it is gorgeous food writing. So I can see why Olivia kind of pit these against one another, because these are books where at first glance you think they're about one thing and then underneath they're about other things. And they're also debut writers, which is unbelievable to me given both of these works. I loved both of these books. They were both shelf subscriptions of mine in 2021.
Jordan [00:12:20] Do you enjoy a book where you think it's going to be one thing when you first start and then it's a switch? It's like a switcheroo, but then it's a good switcheroo.
Annie [00:12:28] I don't know that I felt like this was a switcheroo because like you always do. This is about more. I love books where they're about more.
Jordan [00:12:37] Layers.
Annie [00:12:38] Layers. I love... Yes.
Jordan [00:12:39] So I've got a question about the seeding here. Is this like one versus 16, or is this just Olivia putting the two best books together and kind of...
Annie [00:12:48] I think it is Olivia not putting the two best books together.Like, I couldn't tell you any more of staff meeting about 2021. It was so long ago. I forget what our bestselling title of the year was. But I think what she has done is paired these by themes like and by match ups.
Jordan [00:13:05] Okay, that makes sense.
Annie [00:13:06] So it's not one versus 16, but it's also not one versus two.
Jordan [00:13:12] Got you. She's trying to narrow the field down each game to where, like, if books are similar, one of them wins and we move on.
Annie [00:13:17] That's right.
Jordan [00:13:17] Got it.
Annie [00:13:18] Yes.
Jordan [00:13:18] All right. That makes sense.
Annie [00:13:20] Do you have a winner for this round or for this game?
Jordan [00:13:24] I remember you talking about both of these books. And I know what Crying in H-Mart looks like because I've seen it on the shelf so much. But I want to say from how much you talked about them, you liked Brood more. That seemed like kind of a funny, interesting way to present something that's otherwise sad. Like, I'm going to take care of chickens.
Annie [00:13:45] Yeah, it was really profound and quite beautiful. I loved both of these books a lot, but it doesn't surprise me that Brood sticks out in your memory. What is interesting about these two reading situations, not that anybody needs to know this, but Brood was one of those books that I finished in one or two sittings. I might have finished it in one sitting, sitting in this chair. But Crying in H-Mart, I had to read over a span of months because it was not because I didn't like it, I loved it. But we were at the time, and still I guess to some extent, living through a period of grief as a country, as a people, as a family. And so it just was hard to read in parts. And so this Crying in H-Mart was equally profound and equally beautiful, but it did take me longer just through sheer, I think, familiarity with the subject matter almost.
Jordan [00:14:36] Got you. I would have a tendency then to advance Brood, because when you read a book in one sitting, it's a big deal.
Annie [00:14:44] So, Brood moves on.
Jordan [00:14:45] Right, Brood moves on.
Annie [00:14:46] Brood wins that game. Next up, we have Five Tuesdays in Winter, which is a short story collection by Lily King and These Precious Days, which is an essay collection by Ann Patchett. These books, again, I see exactly why Olivia paired them together. I actually think they have quite similar covers as well. Five Tuesdays in Winter was one of my favorite books I read in 2021 because I don't often come across a short story collection that I love so much because short stories are, I think, a really difficult art form for some reason. And, anyway, I like consuming them, but only when they're really well done, and I thought this was really well done. I like Lily King. She's a prolific writer, and I really loved especially the title story from this short story collection.
[00:15:30] These Precious Days is written by equally prolific writer Ann Patchett. She is the owner, as you know, of Parnassus Books, and this was her essay collection. The title comes from an essay that she wrote during the pandemic that was published in Harper's Magazine about a woman she befriended who happened to be Tom Hanks's assistant, and the woman suffered with and struggled through cancer. And so the essay was just about These Precious Days kind of as Ann befriended and took care of and just had this beautiful relationship with this woman. I love both of these. I am on the record as saying I adore Ann Patchett fiction, particularly Commonwealth and the Dutch House, but I prefer Ann Patchett nonfiction. And I don't know if that's a popular or an unpopular opinion, but I really love her nonfiction.
[00:16:20] I find myself rereading parts of her nonfiction essay collections, and I find myself really seen in her essays, and that could just be because she lives in the South. She owns a bookstore. She doesn't have children. So there are definitely some similarities there, but she's also very different for me and I love that too. So, anyway, I really loved both of these books. It's a short story collection versus an essay collection.
Jordan [00:16:47] My first impulse when you were describing These Precious Days was When Breath Becomes Air.
Annie [00:16:52] Oh yeah, there are definitely some similarities, especially in that title story, for sure. And, again, there was something about essays reading them. Here's something unique about this book. I did not read These Precious Days as an advanced reader copy. I did not receive an advance reader copy. I bought this book and brought it home. So I own the hardback of this book and I read it in the bathtub. I always have very distinct memory.
Jordan [00:17:19] You bought the hardback book and read it in the bath.
Annie [00:17:22] Yes, what a life.
Jordan [00:17:25] Yeah.
Annie [00:17:25] So I read this book and found myself weeping because some of it was very timely pandemic related, and some of it wound up being timely despite it had nothing to do with the pandemic. But I just found something really comforting about essays. And hers was not the only essay collection I found comforting, but hers was probably the one I found most comforting in 2021.
Jordan [00:17:47] You should do a podcast episode about how the pandemic shaped your reading mood.
Annie [00:17:52] I believe we did.
Jordan [00:17:54] You know what, I knew when I said that there was a possibility you did it like yesterday.
Annie [00:17:58] I believe so that we did. Not yesterday, but I believe we did it either during 2020 or during 2021, because it totally did change my reading life and my reading mood for sure.
Jordan [00:18:05] Yeah, the lens.
Annie [00:18:07] What's it going to be?
Jordan [00:18:07] But the way that Olivia has seeded this is very...
Annie [00:18:10] She did that on purpose. She wanted you to struggle.
Jordan [00:18:13] Yeah. But, see, I should be able to turn on the TV and know that the two seeds are going to win.
Annie [00:18:17] Here's what you need to know. We didn't have 32 of these, and so we had to start at the next round, essentially.
Jordan [00:18:24] All right.
Annie [00:18:24] So that's what you need to get over.
Jordan [00:18:25] Well, so what I'm leaning towards is These precious Days.
Annie [00:18:28] That's the correct answer.
Jordan [00:18:29] All right. Good. See, I knew there was a correct answer.
Annie [00:18:31] Next up, The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman. You'll recognize Amanda Gorman as the inaugural poet. She presented this poem at the inauguration in 2021. Was that only 2021? My gosh.
Jordan [00:18:49] Wait, when was it?
Annie [00:18:51] When was it?
Jordan [00:18:51] 2020?
Annie [00:18:53] The inauguration?
Jordan [00:18:53] 2021, right. Yeah. The pandemic really throws... yeah.
Annie [00:18:57] What is time?
Jordan [00:19:00] I'm supposed to understand the constitution.
Annie [00:19:01] I say what is time all the time now. I'm irritated at myself. Okay, so the Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman vs. I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer. Now, this is kind of unusual because Kate Baer has two books on this list, which is very unique, and it's because she had a poetry collection come out in 2020 called What kind of woman, that continue to be a bestseller for us throughout 2020 and 2021. And then she released a follow up poetry collection called I Hope This Finds You Well that released in 2021. So she is here twice her. I don't know what that would look like in basketball, because it would be like maybe the male and female teams getting to play in the tournament. But, basically, she's got two books in this bracket. The Hill We Climb, at the moment that Amanda Gorman presented that poem, I think the next day one of our major one of the major publishers announced that she had a book coming out that was going to just be this poem and a couple of others.
[00:20:06] And that collection immediately drew -- we had so many special orders the next day for that book. And it's kind of a little giftable book. And that poem is beautiful. I went back and reread it today actually in preparation for the podcast, and it still resonates. And she is just an amazingly talented young woman. I Hope This Finds You Well is the second collection of poetry by Kate Baer. I began following Kate on Instagram -- actually, I think I read her blog years ago, so I've been following her for a very long time. And it's been really wonderful to watch her career and watch her writing career grow. This collection of poems you will be familiar with because it is a racial poetry, so she takes the DMs or the emails And she blacks out certain things until she creates art out of rage.
Jordan [00:20:57] Yeah, that's really cool. You've shown me some of those before.
Annie [00:21:00] Yes. So that's Kate Baer.
Jordan [00:21:02] Yeah, I'm definitely not an expert on poetry, but I do love me some John Don and some William Shakespeare stuff. That's from a specific period in time. But I think both of those selections here are interesting. One, because of the platform, you know, from which it came during the inauguration.
Annie [00:21:26] We needed it. She was a great reminder that we need poets. And, I don't know. I'm going to be a stereotype. I'm going to talk about stereotypes here. But Americans I think stereotypically are so practical and we forget, I think, how much we need art.
Jordan [00:21:41] Agreed.
Annie [00:21:42] And I think poetry is something a lot of us don't always understand very well and so we kind of turn our noses at it. And I think many nonreaders and even readers are kind of overwhelmed and intimidated by poetry. And I liked that Amanda Gorman in her performance that day, everybody could tell, everyone watching knew this is something special. Everybody, whether you're a poetry reader or not.
Jordan [00:22:09] Yeah, I think there's also something about poetry in the United States. Maybe it's just in the South or the Midwest where, you know, men don't read a lot of poetry. A lot of times I think it's seen as not being masculine, but it is. You know, historically it is. And then I was going to say, I Hope This Finds You Well, just the creativity of how that's written baffles me. Every time you show me one, my jaw drops. So that's hard. I don't know. I need you to nudge me.
Annie [00:22:43] So here's the thing I will tell you. And you can keep this in mind as we continue. My favorite collection of Kate Baer so far is What Kind of Woman which was her first collection. I love the originality and the creativity and the concept of turning anger into something beautiful, anger into art. I love that. But there was something so powerful about her debut collection that I'm inclined to move forward The Hill We Climb here.
Jordan [00:23:16] I wondered if that would factor in. I mean, it's almost like, you know, in intramurals -- you were an intramural basketball star.
Annie [00:23:25] Thank you.
Jordan [00:23:26] I was thinking, you know how Finland had like an A team and a B team but they were both Finland?
Annie [00:23:30] Yes.
Jordan [00:23:30] And so if the A team and the B team met, it would be like, wow, we're so good that our B team beats everyone else as A team. Like, that's what it would be. So I think putting The Hill We Climb Fourth is probably feasible.
Annie [00:23:42] And I like it because I feel like it's representative of the year.
Jordan [00:23:45] I agree with that.
Annie [00:23:47] I like that. Next up, Palm Beach by Mary Adkins vs. the Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller.
Jordan [00:23:57] So is this in any way related to Paper Towns?
Annie [00:23:59] It is not, but look at you.
Jordan [00:24:01] But isn't that funny because I thought like paper location, right?
Annie [00:24:05] True. That could be the title of your book paper. Paper locations.
Jordan [00:24:07] Yeah, paper locations.
Annie [00:24:10] So Palm Beach was a book I read in the spring of last year, I believe. I really love this book. It is more commercial fiction. I think it could have really commercial appeal, and so does The Paper Palace. We'll talk about that one in a second. But Palm Beach, I remember talking to you about because it's about a couple who moved from Manhattan to Palm Beach Florida fiction, and they move because her husband has lost his job, he's works as an actor, I believe, because he's lost his voice. And so he no longer really has a way to earn a living. And so while he waits for his voice to kind of recuperate, they moved to Palm Beach and he becomes the house manager for an exceedingly wealthy person living in Palm Beach.
[00:24:56] And meanwhile, she is a writer for -- I think she's a freelancer. But she writes a lot about wealth disparity. And here they are really benefiting from this wealthy man. And in fact, as the book progresses, their child has some health issues and they have every opportunity to help improve their child's health because of their access to wealth. And she constantly kind of feels guilty about it because of her own writings about wealth disparity. Anyway, I found it to be really fascinating.
Jordan [00:25:34] Very interesting. It sounds like a book that would resonate with you.
Annie [00:25:35] My book club read it as well, and I thought it was a lovely book club conversation. It would make a great book club book just because there's a lot to unpack, while at the same time just being really compelling kind of commercial fiction. Really liked it. And then The Paper Palace was a book I adored last year, but it is not for everyone. So I just talked to a customer recently about this, a podcast listener, actually. And the Paper Palace is at first glance, quite frankly, a book about an affair. Like, the book opens where these two couples are vacationing, I want to stay off the coast of Massachusetts or Maine. It's in the Northeast somewhere. I love the setting so much, and they have always vacationed together, and the husband's from one cabin meets up with the wife, who is the main character of the other cabin, and they have an illicit romantic encounter in the woods. And then the book what the book does from that point is this, goes into this woman's point of view and state of mind, and tries to figure out why she did that, what made her act.
[00:26:44] And so the book kind of goes back and forth in time over the next few days where she decides if she's going to stay married to her husband or she's going to end her marriage. The reason I say this book is not for everyone is because I know books about infidelity are not for everyone. And at its root, this book is at first glance anyway about infidelity. But much like Brood, I think it's about more than that. And it really becomes a book about the aftereffects of trauma. And the book is all about why this woman has made the decisions that she makes, and there is twist and turn after twist and turn just because of how much this character has endured or experienced. I don't know if Olivia knows this because she has not read either of these, but she did a great job pearing these because these are both books with complicated female protagonists.
[00:27:32] Not every reader is going to like these women. Not every reader is going to like these books. In fact, not everybody in my book club liked Palm Beach.The Paper Palace was one of my shelf subscriptions. Not every customer liked like The Paper Palace. But the Paper Palace was very, very, popular. I think it was a Reese Witherspoon pick. So those are Palm Beach and the Paper Palace.
Jordan [00:27:55] Okay, very interesting. So when you read The Paper Palace, so it starts off with this bad act, but then once you get inside her brain, do you become more sympathetic towards her or do you like her less? Does it like mitigate?
Annie [00:28:09] I mean, like, I certainly did have more empathy for her. Also, I am notoriously a reader who does not need my characters to be likable.
Jordan [00:28:20] Right. Of course, you almost prefer them unlikeable because it is more real.
Annie [00:28:21] Yes. I just don't need -- you can be messy.
Jordan [00:28:25] You can be messy. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, both of those is interesting to me. I like the idea of seeing someone doing something wrong that is not really excusable, but then getting a view on the rationale. And then sometimes that will mitigate or aggravate the culpability. I guess I'm talking like a lawyer or something, But what caused them to think through it, it won't necessarily excuse it, but it might make you at least sympathize and say, "Ooh, I'm not far from doing something bad, either I have done bad things.
Annie [00:29:00] Oh, I love learning about people's motivations.
Jordan [00:29:02] Yeah. So I kind of am inclined to advance that, notwithstanding the fact that Palm Beach was a life changing experience when we went.
Annie [00:29:11] Just driving through through.
Jordan [00:29:12] Yeah, just driving through.
Annie [00:29:15] Just driving through all the houses we couldn't see.
Jordan [00:29:17] We drove through a lot of wealthy parts of Florida, but then we got to Palm Beach and it was like its wealth had wealth. It's like its muscle has muscle.
Annie [00:29:24] Yeah, so true.
Jordan [00:29:25] It was very interesting. It's like culture shock. So is that the correct one to advance?
Annie [00:29:31] I think The Paper Palace is the correct one to advance, although I do think Palm Beach was an unsung book of 2021. Next up, Finlay Donovan is killing it vs. Who is Maud Dixon? Finlay Donovan is Killing it was written by Elle Cosimano. It was actually the start of a series. This is another book that I did not read as an ARC, but I read when it came out. So it kind of is a fond reading memory for me. I read it at the beach. This book is a super good time, super fun time. And it's the only time, in recent memory, that I've ever been compelled or interested in reading the sequel or the follow up book. So in this book, Finlay Donovan is a single mom trying to raise her kid, and she is a mystery writer. And she meets with her editor at a Panera Bread, and someone overhears her describing the premise of her mystery suspense book and mistakes her for a hit woman.
Jordan [00:30:29] Oh, that's funny. I like that.
Annie [00:30:31] And so the premise is super original because then Finlay has basically a piece of paper with a hit on it, and she has to decide. And it's a lot of money, and her publishing contract is tenuous at best. And so she really does have a moment of should I do this hit? But, of course, she doesn't. And yet does she? Because she is another messy character who can't quite figure out -- she's an accidental hit woman is what she is. And this book is just a rollicking good time. On the other hand is Who is Maud Dixson? By the way, these are both books Olivia read and recommended to me. Who is Maud Dixson is one she and I read, I believe, at the start of last year, and we loved this book. Again, I kind of think it was an unsung book of 2021.
[00:31:22] This is about a young woman who works in publishing, and she gets a job as the assistant to a writer whose real name is not known. So I kind of pictured like the woman who wrote My Brilliant Friend, so a woman who is famous in pen name only, and hence the title Who is Maud Dixson? And We Don't know who Maud Dixon is. And so this young assistant goes to work for Maud and then maybe Maud dies, we don't know. Something maybe happens. The assistant is kind of at the heart of it. Chaos ensues. It's far more serious than Finlay Donovan, but the similarities are certainly there. These are both big page turners. You're not going to start these and want to put them down. Very enjoyable suspense books.
Jordan [00:32:10] Got you. Well, I'm inclined to advance Finlay Donovan just because that's so funny.
Annie [00:32:15] The reaction on your face, I wish I had been recording.
Jordan [00:32:17] That's great. I mean, in college we played like hit man or whatever where everybody bought a Nerf gun and you had like somebody's name.
Annie [00:32:25] I think it's called mafia.
Jordan [00:32:26] Mafia. Some people call it hitman, but you know what it was. Mafia, that's right.
Annie [00:32:29] I think it was called Mafia. I feel like there's a TV show where the characters played Mafia.
Jordan [00:32:35] Yeah.
Annie [00:32:35] New Girl. I don't remember.
Jordan [00:32:37] And the fact that like you could be an accidental -- I love misunderstanding. I think those are funny.
Annie [00:32:42] I was going to say I just thought the premise -- I remember when Olivia told me about this book, I just remember thinking that the premise was so funny that a writer could be in a Panera Bread talking to her editor about, like, this murder mystery she's writing and somebody overhears that and thinks, oh, she kills people for a living. I think that is very funny.
Jordan [00:33:01] Yeah. It kind of Sounds like a plot line from I love Lucy.
Annie [00:33:04] Yes.
Jordan [00:33:04] I love I love Lucy. And like half of those episodes have to do with the wives mishearing their husbands or their husbands mishearing their wives and it's like, "What? Who did I marry?
Annie [00:33:15] Finlay and Lucy have a lot in common. And, honestly, I know this book is primarily being targeted to women. There are ways in which you would really enjoy this book.
Jordan [00:33:23] All right, I'll take that under advisement.
Annie [00:33:26] So Finlay Donovan is Killing It is moving forward. All right. We got to pick up speed here a little bit.
Jordan [00:33:31] This always happens.
Annie [00:33:32] It does always happens. We Run the Tides vs. Revival Season. We run the tides by Vindela Vida was my January shelf subscription in 2021. It is about young women in California, I believe, in the 80s early 90s. One of the friends, one of the young women, goes missing and her friend doesn't know what to do. But this is not a thriller suspense book, it reminds me of a book called The Gunners by Rebecca Kaufman. This is really a book about friendships and coming of age. It's not really about the kidnaping. So if you're getting caught up in the kidnaping because of the mystery or suspense element, this book is not that. This is not an Olivia book. This is more of an Annie book about growing up in California and this kind of complicated friendship and complicated girl friendships.
Jordan [00:34:23] Got you.
Annie [00:34:23] Okay. Then Revival Season is by Monica West. This is also about a young woman, but in a very different location, really more in the South and the Midwest about a young black girl whose dad is a revival preacher. And it is set in the modern era. So it's set like in today where she travels with her parents and they do these tent revival meetings and she witnesses her dad not do the healing he has said he has done. And so, from that point forward, she is grappling then with issues of faith and belief and also with whether or not she can trust her family. So Olivia, I'm sure, pitted these against one another because the protagonist in these books are younger. Even though these are adult books, these are young characters kind of coming of age and figuring out who they are. And there are inciting incidents in each of these books. So a kidnaping. And then this this girl witnessing her father perhaps not do what he says he's capable of doing. I loved both of these books. I picked them both for shelf subscriptions. For what it's worth, I believe Revival Season is a debut novel as well.
Jordan [00:35:32] Okay, let's get a quick inbound and a quick score because the time's running down. I'm going to go with Revival Season, it sounds Flannery O'Connor esque.
Annie [00:35:39] Oh, yeah, that's absolutely true. And I will say of those two books you would prefer Revival Season.
Jordan [00:35:46] I'm a Flannery O'Connor fan. That's a quick score.
Annie [00:35:49] Okay. Beautiful World, Where are You? by Sally Rooney vs. The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington? Beautiful World, Where are You? it was written by the author of Conversation With Friends. And Normal People. She's written Conversation With Friends, Normal People and now Beautiful World, Where are You? Sally Rooney is like in her late 20s and is an absolute genius. She's an Irish author. Normal People is that Hulu TV show that we started to watch the other... I adore her books. I adore her writing. I love her characters. They're complicated people. Beautiful World, Where are You? was written in letter format, a kind of an epistolary novel. And I read a lot of it to you out loud by the pool because it was about these four friends, two of whom write letters back and forth to one another. And they're just people in their 20s and 30s trying to make decisions about life and love.
Jordan [00:36:46] I remember that now.
Annie [00:36:47] And I read pieces loud to you and you really liked it.
Jordan [00:36:50] Yeah.
Annie [00:36:50] And then The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington was also a book I loved. I picked it as a shelf subscription. This might have been my January, actually, and we run the tides by February. So The Fortunate Ones is set in Tennessee, and Tarkington is from Tennessee. And it's about male friendship, which is something , you know, I'm very interested in. And so it is about these two young men who meet at boarding school, one is from the haves and one is from the have nots. And then it watches them as they grow up and grow older and one of them becomes a politician in Tennessee. It's a lot about politics, which I also really like. Lots of kind of standard themes that I really enjoy in both of these books. They're just kind of my sweet spot.
Jordan [00:37:28] I think you ought to write a book about me and my male friends and the wild successes that we've had and some of our misadventures. And so, you know who you are. Be careful what you do because Annie is very into male friendships.
Annie [00:37:39] They don't listen to this.
Jordan [00:37:40] I know they don't. Who knows? Some of them are very supportive.
Annie [00:37:43] They don't listen to this. They're very supportive, but they don't listen to this.
Jordan [00:37:45] I'm going to go with Beautiful World, Where are You? because for you to vet something and then say it out loud to me, that means you hate saying something that you think I'm not going to like or that is not properly vetted or that's going to sound dumb. And every time you recommend a book to me, it ends up being fantastic. Every time you quote a book, it is fantastic. So I'm going to go with that.
Annie [00:38:07] I only read aloud things that I think are valuable.
Jordan [00:38:10] Yeah. You vet them.
Annie [00:38:12] Next up, Share Your Stuff, I'll Go First. This is by Laura Tremaine vs. What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer. So Share Your Stuff, I'll Go First is part memoir, part nonfiction. Mind, body, spirit, I think, is where it would be shelved. But, basically, it is a series of essays where Laura, the author, kind of offers up a story from her life and then her whole encouragement and her whole premise is that when you share your stuff, it's easier for people to share their stuff. And so it's her opening the door for conversations for you to then have with the people in your life, who you love and who you trust, and also for you to have in a safe space like in a journal or in a therapist's office or whatever.
[00:38:59] So it's really these kind of prompts that then she graciously writes about first and then she encourages you to write or have conversations around as well. I thought the format was really creative and actually loved this book. And, you know, I do follow Laura on Instagram. I was able to interview her for From the Front Porch. I'm pretty sure we did a podcast episode last year. So there are probably some biases there, but I would not keep recommending the book if I did not like it. I really did like it. It was the book that we gave out as part of Galentine's Day last year, and I just think book clubs and friend groups could really. I mean, this is, to me, is a really valuable tool and also really generous of Laura Tremaine to share her story so openly. So I love that book.
Jordan [00:39:45] Yeah, it's risky.
Annie [00:39:45] It is risky. Then What Kind of Woman we've kind of talked about already. This was Kate Baer debut poetry collection. I adore this book. I still flip through it on occasion. It is just gorgeous, but what I would call accessible poetry. I think some people have called her like Instagram's poet, and I find that a little derogatory, honestly, because I think she's extremely talented. Just because she's accessible doesn't mean we have to call her the Instagram poet. But that's probably just me getting hung up on terms. But I love this collection. I gave it to a few people as Christmas gifts. It's another very giftable book.
Jordan [00:40:23] So both books you gave out.
Annie [00:40:24] Yes, because What Kind of Woman really addresses all the different stages of a woman's life. Like, she sets it up in sections, and each is a different stage of a woman's life. I just really loved this book. I think this one would go into overtime.
Jordan [00:40:41] Yeah. I also think you've already kind of given a little hint that you're going to go with What Kind of Woman because previously you said --
Annie [00:40:48] That's true. We did, we did say.
Jordan [00:40:51] So over time What Kind of Woman.
Annie [00:40:54] Okay. So now who do we have? This will go faster now.
Jordan [00:40:58] Yeah. We're down to the Elite Eight. OK, So the first match in the Elite Eight to seat at the table for the final four is Brood vs. These Precious Days.
Annie [00:41:08] Oh, gosh.
Jordan [00:41:10] Yeah, this is what happens in the tournament, you're like, oh, no, it's all the blue bloods.
Annie [00:41:15] You know what? I adore Ann Patchett and I loved that collection, and I honestly don't know anybody who didn't. But I'm going to pick Brood because I like to champion unsung books, and I think that's one that didn't get enough praise.
Jordan [00:41:27] This is like the Loyola Chicago of the Final Four. Sister Jean.
Annie [00:41:32] Sister Jean.
Jordan [00:41:32] She's still alive.
Annie [00:41:33] I know.
Jordan [00:41:34] You know that?
Annie [00:41:34] I Googled it.
Jordan [00:41:34] I know you're worried every year that she's going to die. She's been granted a long life to watch her team and pray for them. Okay. The next one is The Hill We Climb vs. Paper Palace.
Annie [00:41:47] That's tough because those are two wildly different books.
Jordan [00:41:50] Yeah, just like an offensive team versus like a really slow team defensive team.
Annie [00:41:58] Yeah. Gosh, should I pick the like typical fiction fare, like, that is a typical Annie book, The Paper Palace or should I pick the book that represented the year?
Jordan [00:42:08] I think represented the year. I think that's kind of like the surprise.
Annie [00:42:13] The Hill We Climb. I think that'd be a surprise win.
Jordan [00:42:16] Yeah. All right. So we've got. That's going to be an interesting final four matchup. On the other side of the bracket trying to get to the final four, Finlay Donovan and Revival Season. Intriguing.
Annie [00:42:30] Wow. Those are also two very wildly different books, because one of those books spoke to me a lot about faith and feminism and the hardships I think women face in church environments, religious environments, especially young women. I found it particularly heartbreaking, but then Finlay Donovan was probably the most fun I had reading last year.
Jordan [00:42:53] So Finlay Donovan comes out on the court. They're loose. They're like hanging out.
Annie [00:42:56] Yeah, they're having a good time.
Jordan [00:42:58] They're dancing. They're can't dance, but they are dancing nonetheless. And I think that loose attitude [Crosstalk].
Annie [00:43:06] Especially in the tournament. Agreed.
Jordan [00:43:08] Yeah.That's what you need. You need to not, you know, it's not fair.
Annie [00:43:10] Sometimes discipline doesn't win.
Jordan [00:43:12] That's right.
Annie [00:43:13] But sometimes it does.
Jordan [00:43:14] That's right. But on this one, the less uptight team advances the final four.
Annie [00:43:18] B Ringo.
Jordan [00:43:19] B Ringo. Hashtag...
Annie [00:43:22] B Finlay.
Jordan [00:43:23] All right. Beautiful world, Where are you? vs. What Kind of Woman.
Annie [00:43:26] Beautiful World, Where are you?
Jordan [00:43:28] All right?
Annie [00:43:29] That's interesting because I think Sally Rooney and Kate Baer could be friends in real life.
Jordan [00:43:33] That's would be another way to do this. All right, we have four in the final.
Annie [00:43:39] In the final four are?
Jordan [00:43:40] We have Brood, which I feel like is a relatively higher C or better team C.
Annie [00:43:45] Yeah.
Jordan [00:43:45] And then we have The Hill we Climb. So it's Brood vs. The Hill We Climb.
Annie [00:43:49] Wait, who are the other two?
Jordan [00:43:51] The other two are Finley Donovan versus Beautiful World, Where are you? But we're talking about Brood and The Hill We Climb, head to head. They're going to get out on the court together. The brood of chickens running around.
Annie [00:44:07] I really would like your opinion here. Do you think the debut fiction like deeper than it first appears little compact story, do you think that precedes? Or do you think this poem and poetry collection written by this, like, 19 year old genius, do you think that moves forward?
Jordan [00:44:27] The former. Because sometimes in March Madness, the young teen can't get there. But then what does it take to win? Succinctness.
Annie [00:44:38] Right, experience.
Jordan [00:44:38] So Brood.
Annie [00:44:39] All right, so Brood moves forward.
Jordan [00:44:41] And everybody's going to say The Hill We Climb overachieved. It made the final four. No shame. No shame in losing.
Annie [00:44:48] No, they went out at the perfect place. Yeah.
Jordan [00:44:51] That's what happened with Loyola Chicago.
Annie [00:44:52] Sure.
Jordan [00:44:53] They didn't advance past the final four, but everybody said that was miraculous, right?
Annie [00:44:58] Okay.
Jordan [00:44:58] The next one is Finlay Donovan vs. Beautiful World, Where are you?
Annie [00:45:02] Again, I think we just talked about this loose, but loose only carries you so far. Being Ringo only carries you so far. You do need Paul McCartney. So I am going to go with Beautiful World, Where are you?
Jordan [00:45:14] All right. So in the final, it's been a long, fun ride. This Brood vs. Beautiful World, Where are You? How does this game go?
Annie [00:45:24] Okay. So on the one hand, you've got a debut.
Jordan [00:45:26] Who's happier to be here?
Annie [00:45:28] Brood.
Jordan [00:45:28] Okay, so Brood's like we're here. We did it.
Annie [00:45:29] Brood can't believe they're there.
Jordan [00:45:31] Can't believe it.
Annie [00:45:31] Because it's a debut. It's a book about chickens. Beautiful World, Where are you? is the third book by an Irish genius. Like, she's a genius writer. She's young.
Jordan [00:45:41] It's more trying to be the Oscar. Is that fair? It takes [Inaudible] more seriously.
Annie [00:45:47] Yeah, I would say so. I'll tell you what, the literary world takes her more seriously.
Jordan [00:45:53] There we go.
Annie [00:45:54] I think Sally Rooney sometimes wishes they wouldn't. But I think the literary world has Sally Rooney on a pedestal where she probably belongs.
Jordan [00:46:01] It's the blue blood. It's the Kansas or the Kentucky.
Annie [00:46:03] Yeah, except she's young. That's what's bonkers about it. She's in her like late 20s, and she's churning out these really powerful works of literature. So I hesitate to say that it would even be like a duke or something. Like, I don't know that that's what Sally Rooney is. But I will say, I think Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You? wins out.
Jordan [00:46:23] All right. Here we go.
Annie [00:46:26] I really do because Brood is, again, just really happy to be here.
Jordan [00:46:29] Tears are shed, but at the end of the day it was a win.
Annie [00:46:31] Oh, they're so glad.
Jordan [00:46:33] It was a win.
Annie [00:46:33] Yeah.
Jordan [00:46:33] That's one of the beautiful things about March Madness. For those of you who have never watched, is that it is true there's only one winner, but it's different from other sports in that if you had a Final Four run, you get to hang a banner and you get to say, that was fantastic. I'm an Auburn fan. Auburn made it a few years ago, made it to the Final Four. That's a big deal, you know, just making it to the Final Four. So those four made it, but Beautiful World, Where Are You? clinches the crown.
Annie [00:46:58] I'm good with that because I also think we talked about The Hill We Climb being representative of 2021. There are ways in which Beautiful World, Where Are You? is a really encapsulating title for a 2021 winner, right?
Jordan [00:47:10] Right. Well, and all the books danced. That's the other great thing about March Madness. Everyone's happy to be there. It's an accomplishment to get there, to get on the bracket.
Annie [00:47:18] Yeah. All right, Jordan Jones, thank you.
Jordan [00:47:22] You're welcome. I enjoyed it.
Annie [00:47:24] I'm glad you're here.
Jordan [00:47:25] Me too!
Annie [00:47:27] This week, what I'm reading is brought to you by the 101st Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia.
This week, someone came in the shop, a good friend and customer from Tallahassee, nearby Tallahassee, Florida, and they came in and told me they had bought a house in Thomasville. And I couldn't believe it. These are lifelong Tallahasseeans and I was a little bit shocked. And then I thought, that's not shocking at all. Thomasville is a wonderful place to move, particularly if you're a Tallahassee transplant. And we immediately began waxing philosophical and eloquent about how walkable Thomasville is as a city and how you can come downtown, walk downtown to the various festivals and festivities happening and going on.
You can walk to local restaurants. Last week, I went to a dance performance right across the park from my house, and then I joined friends at Sweet Grass Dairy all within, like, a mile of my home. And if you can't live in a big city with public transport or, you know, walkability, the next best thing is to live in a small, quaint southern town with walkability. And so it was really special to hear about this Tallahassee customer who's chosen to make her home in Thomasville.
This week, I'm reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. Jordan, what are you reading this week?
Jordan [00:49:13] I am reading the Power of Regret by Daniel Pink.
Annie [00:49:17] Thank you again to our sponsor, the 101st Annual Road Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. If you want to come for the weekend and experience the flowers, fun, food and shopping in beautiful Thomasville, Georgia, plan your visit at ThomasvilleGA.com.
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram @Bookshelftville. And all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website: Bookshelfthomasville.com.
[00:47:43] A full transcript of today's episode can be found at Fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
[00:47:47] 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.
[00:49:32] Our executive producers of today's episode are Donna Hechler, Angie Erickson, Cami Tidwell, Chantale Carls.
Executive Producers (Read their own names) [00:49:40] Nichole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, Kate Johnston Tucker.
Annie [00:49:45] Thank you all for your support of From the Front Porch. If you'd like to support From the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see "Write a Review" and tell us what you think.
[00:50:03] 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 life events, discounts and giveaways. Just go to Patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
[00:50:22] We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.