Episode 366 || March Reading Recap
In this episode of From the Front Porch, Annie is recapping all of the books she read in March. 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:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
Kings of B’More by R. Eric Thomas
Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron
The Last Suspicious Holdout by Ladee Hubbard
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn
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 Another Marvelous Thing by Laurie Colwin (unavailable)
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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.
[00:00:25] I think it's interesting how they, some people, some time ago decided that this was all there was. Well, they didn't decide. They just acknowledged. But then later there was more. I guess it can be useful to have geographic lines so that we can tell each other where we are and how to reach each other. But we're always bigger than boundaries. R. Eric Thomas, Kings of B'More.
[00:00:51] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. Before we get started, a reminder, we have added more levels of support over on our Patreon page. If you already support From the Front Porch through Patreon and our $5 Front Porch Friends level remains exactly the same. And, in fact, we are churning right along in our Conquer a Classic challenge where we are reading The Count of Monte Cristo. But now for $20 a month, you can become a Book Club Companion. This includes all the benefits of From the Front Porch friends, plus access to our quarterly book club and one month of Libro FM for free. Our quarterly book club starts in April and we are reading The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka, and I really hope you will join us. For $50 a month, you can also become a bookshelf benefactor, someone who supports From the Front Porch and The Bookshelf, our independent bookstore that believes in the power of books to shape communities and foster conversations.
[00:01:50] This includes all the benefits of the From the Front Porch friends and Book Club Companions levels, plus an executive producer shout out on each episode From the Front Porch discounted and first access to virtual store events and discounted shelf subscriptions. On top of all that, this month in March, we're giving away one year free of Libra FM to anyone who supports us through Patreon on any level. That's $5, $20 or $50 a month. Whether you're new or have been supporting us for years, you'll be entered to win. We'll announce the winner at the end of March. Now, this week on From the Front Porch, I'm recapping the books I read in March. I also feel like I should just disclose that I do have a head cold. Have you ever watched like episodes of your favorite shows and you think to yourself, they sound different? And you know, it's because the actor or actress has a head cold, but they, like, can't acknowledge it. So I'm here to tell you I do. I do, in fact, have a head cold and we're going to get through this together. So I'm recapping the books I read in March, and this was a month full of literary surprises, including one of my absolute favorite novels of the year, a collection of short stories, a silly sequel and yes, a novel inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, but set in the New York City swingers scene. Heaven help it all. So lots to discuss. Lots to talk about.
[00:03:07] Let's get started. The first book I finished in March was Lessons in Chemistry. This is a debut novel by Bonnie Garmus, and it is, gosh, I'm just thinking either one of or my favorite novel of the year so far. It always feels a little early to make that pronouncement, especially when last year I did not read Matrix until towards the end of the year. So obviously there's room for competition. But I adored this book and it is really hard to explain and I think the US cover makes it a little difficult. I never want to disparage the artists who create beautiful covers. But the UK cover in this case, I think does tell a little bit more about lessons in chemistry. So if you're not familiar, this book is out on April 5th and this is a book about Elizabeth Zott. Elizabeth Zott is a fictional character. She is one of the most memorable protagonists I've encountered in literature since Maeve, I think from the Dutch House. So Elizabeth is a scientist. She's a chemist. She's brilliant, but it is the 60s and she is a woman. And so she finds herself through a series of somewhat unfortunate events. She finds herself as the host of a cooking show. I picture like a PBS kind of cooking show that quickly gains in popularity because of Elizabeth's hosting capabilities and her scientific sensibilities.
[00:04:32] So, Elizabeth, is this really wonderful, deeply thought out, deeply complicated, interesting character and then surrounding her are all of these really equally interesting, equally complicated side characters including and I never thought I'd say this, including a really memorable dog like, I don't need animals in my literature. I like them okay but I don't need that. Turns out I do. There is a dog in this book named Six-Thirty. The reasons for which will be revealed, but Six-Thirty is just truly, truly one of the most lovable characters I've encountered. I love all of the people and the animals in this book. Elizabeth is a strong feminist character. This book deals a lot with feminism and faith and science, and the 60s setting is really realistic and fun. There will be some readers, I think, who want to compare this to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I definitely would understand that although Elisabeth and Midge to me are very different types of women, but I think that's kind of what's so lovely about that comparison. This book is fabulous. It's well-written. It is plot driven like a lot happens in this book to keep you turning the page. And yet it's also deeply character driven. It's a love story in parts, and it is a mother-daughter story in other parts, and it is a found family story in still other parts.
[00:06:03] Again, love this. I have a hard time kind of comparing it to anything. But I guess if we're going to take that Marvelous Mrs. Maisel comp and maybe add it to a Katherine Heiny cast of characters, then you might have some amalgamation of what lessons in chemistry is. I cannot say enough good things about this book. And if you're like, Annie, did you pick it as your shelf subscription? I did not. I already had my shelf subscription picked. So if that has you hesitating, then this is just a reminder that you should buy it. You should preorder this. Your future self will be so grateful to your past self. You can also check it out from your local library. You can order it through Libra FM. But I love this book enough that I feel confident suggesting that you purchase it because I only buy books that I really love and this is a book I would buy. So that is Lessons in chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Next up, the unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, Jennifer E. Smith is the writer of some young adult literature that I really liked. In particular, a book called Windfall. The Unsinkable Greta James is her first foray into adult fiction, and I really liked it. This is your life, Harriet Chance meets kind of sort of Daisy Jones and the six.
[00:07:24] Greta is a 36 year old musician, a kind of rock musician. She is very popular, but her mother has died, and this is no spoilers. She has a breakdown on stage after her mother's death, and she takes this opportunity, this post breakdown moment to go on an Alaskan cruise with her dad. It's a trip that her dad and mom had planned to have together. But instead, Greta joins her dad and her mom's friends. There are three couples and they all go on this cruise together. I loved all of the side characters in this book. Greta's dad in particular, is really interesting and their relationship is really interesting. There were parts where I found it to be ever so slightly unrealistic, but I think that's just my own familial relationships kind of playing at the forefront of my brain. There were times when Greta did not seem her 36 years, like she seemed really young. But if you think about what grief can do to a person, I think that makes a little bit more sense than I was willing to have a little bit more grace for her. This is at its core, a father daughter story, and in fact, in some ways, a mother daughter story, even though the mother is deceased. There are parts where you can just tell Greta's love and appreciation for her mom.
[00:08:40] But there is a slight romantic element to this book actually. Just enough, in my opinion. So Greta joins this cruise and then there's a professor on the cruise who talks about Call of the Wild and like, that's kind of his character. So he's this history professor, writer, and I appreciated the little love story that exists between him and Greta. But this is definitely Greta and her dad's story, and it is an Alaskan story. So even if nothing that I have said has just appealed to you, although I think that it should, the setting of this story is really rich and fun, and it will make you want to go on an Alaskan cruise, even though I am anti-cruise just in general, just not a cruise person. However, reading this book might have changed my mind, so the setting is really, really wonderful and realistic and fun. And even though the story is dealing with some heavier things, this is to me a fun, hopeful story and I think will also resonate with more sensitive PG readers because there is a way in which, although this is definitely an adult novel, you can tell that Jennifer has written for young adult audiences in the past, and I actually think that's really great and really lovely. And so this would appeal then to a wide range of readers, particularly those who might be a little more sensitive, like, I think my mom would really probably have enjoyed this book.
[00:09:59] So this is The Unsinkable Greta James. It's out now in hardback. I really did enjoy this book, and I think it make a really fun spring break read as well. Then speaking of young adult literature, I did read a YA novel this is called Kings of B'more by R. Eric Thomas. I picked this one up solely because of R. Eric Thomas. So one of my favorite essay collections a couple of years ago was a book called Here for It. It is a collection of essays by our Eric Thomas. And ever since I have been a faithful reader and supporter of his work, so I love his, I don't know that it's Patreon, I think it's Substack. I love his newsletter on Substack. I love following him in various places on the internet. I just think he's a really wonderful, vibrant, colorful writer like I love everything he writes, even his tweets are good, you know what I mean, and I'm not even on Twitter anymore. So I picked this up solely because of the R. Eric Thomas thing, because I was so intrigued how one could go from an essay collection to a young adult novel. And in fact, I know from following R. Eric Thomas's work that he also has written a couple of plays and a couple of TV shows like I find his career really interesting and his career choices really interesting.
[00:11:19] So Kings of B'more is his first young adult novel, his first novel, and it features Harrison and Linus and their friendship, and it is really a tribute and a send off to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. So Harrison and Linus are dear friends. They are members of the LGBTQ community, and they truly have this deep felt friendship and love for one another. And their relationship is kind of odd, couple-esque. Just they're very different people, and I think readers will find themselves identifying to one friend or the other. I personally identified with Harrison, so Harrison and Linus are friends. Their friendship is beautifully platonic, and Linus announces that he's moving, and Harrison takes it upon himself to show Linus a really wonderful goodbye. And he does this after seeing the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and he plans like a day's worth of events to show Linus how much he cares about him and what ensues is absolute chaos. Harrison is just delightful. Both Harrison and Linus, it should be said, are really fun characters. But there's something about Harrison and his appreciation for theater and his love of pop culture that I just found really interesting. And I also think the book deals really honestly with romantic relationships, but also with friend relationships and really, almost more importantly, with friend relationships.
[00:12:46] And it also deals with some body image issues, which I thought were handled really well in a way that you don't often see with male characters. And again, you don't often get, I love male friendship so much, and the friendship between Linus and Harrison is so pure and so delightful. And what Harrison is trying to do for his friend is so loving, and the whole thing is just so pure and the attention paid to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and so the connections between that and this book are really fun, especially if you like that movie, which I do. And so anyway, our R. Thomas's handiwork is all over this book, which obviously makes sense. He wrote it. But if you were worried, perhaps like I was that what you loved about his essays would not find itself in young adult lit. You're going to be proven wrong because all of these great pop culture references and this kind of witty banter kind of rat a tat banter is all still in Kings of B' More, and it's got this great speaking of settings from our previous books. Baltimore, is this really, you can tell R. Eric Thomas loves Baltimore. We'll put it that way.
[00:13:57] It plays a prominent role in the book, and I really like this one, and I wanted to talk about it too, because I want to encourage adult readers to pick this one up. So again, I probably would not have read this one without knowing who R. Eric Thomas is and how much I really liked his previous work, but I really hope adult readers pick this one up. It is entirely appropriate for the young adult audience. It is a YA book at its heart, but I think adult readers will really like this one too. So this is kings of B'More by R. Eric Thomas, even if you typically stay away from young adult literature. I think you will like it, particularly if you like theater. If you like stories about friendship and if you like pop culture references like if you're an adult reader who does not typically dip their toe in Y.A., those are the reasons you should try it. If you don't like any of those three things, then this book is not going to be for you. But if you are normally an adult reader and you are curious, but you aren't sure about this one, if you like pop culture, theater and friendship novels, this will be for you.
[00:15:01] Then I finished Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron, so I started this one two months ago while Ashley, my cousin and I were in New York together. I brought this was the book I brought with me and I loved it, but I put it down. I think, honestly, I don't know to read for subscriptions. I'm not sure. Anyway, I put it down and I picked it back up. It just as a, this is just kind of a fun aside. You can hear, like at the end of every episode, I tell what I'm reading, and most of the time, I hope I'm finishing those books. But if I'm not, it's like if you don't hear it in a reading recap, it's because I either put it down and kind of gave up on it, or it's because I put it down and I'm going to pick it up, and it's going to be featured in a later episode. And that was the case with Left on Tenth. So this is by Delia Ephron. Delia is, yes, Nora's sister. Also, yes, I've been pronouncing Ephron wrong, I guess this entire time. Who knew? I heard Delia on the audiobook. Pronounce her name this way and so that is how I will be pronouncing it. So Delia Ephron has written this beautiful memoir about grief and sickness and love. And I think it's really going to be pitched as kind of this love memoir because it's about Delia's, the death of her first husband and then her almost immediately falling in love with someone new and love after a certain age. I think that's how this is going to be pitched, and I totally understand that.
[00:16:24] And I think that's valid. And certainly the love story is one of the things to love and appreciate about this book. But I'll tell you what I really appreciated was I really appreciated the friendship elements of this book. So Delia is chronicling the death of her husband and falling in love all over again. And you can tell perhaps she was even writing that story like that was the story she was going to write, but instead about a third or half way through the book. Delia is diagnosed with a similar form of cancer that her sister Nora died from. And so the back half or the back portion of the memoir really becomes about Delia fighting this sickness and this illness, and how this new love reacts in the face of mortality and death and the people who come to her aid. And she really does this beautiful job of kind of juxtaposing her relationship to her sister and how Nora dealt with illness and how Nora dealt with grief and how Delia deals with illness and grief. And I thought the way she handled that while respecting Nora and clearly idolizing Nora, but also over and over again telling in the book and to herself, I think you're not your sister, I'm not my sister. This story isn't my sister's story, I found that to be so well-done and so beautifully wrought.
[00:17:56] I have tried Delia as fiction, so she's written some novels, you've probably seen them on the shelf. Or I think, like in Good Housekeeping or something like that, like I've seen them in magazines before and I've tried them and I liked them. But I do not think I finished them, and if I finished them, I cannot remember them. This book is great. This memoir somehow manages to be, yes, a novel or a memoir about one's journey through cancer. And yes, a memoir about grief, but it's also very much about Delia's friendships and the women who get her through this really traumatic time. And it's also, of course, as to be expected from an Ephron. It's a tribute to New York, and I adored it. I know Ashley, listened to this one on audiobook and loved it. I listened to a sample and really liked it, but I chose to finish in print format. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Also, I really liked reading a book by someone older about her life like I want to always be reading books by people who are older and wiser than I am so that I can know what comes next. So that I can know how to face what lies ahead. And Delia writes with such hope. I really liked this book a lot, so this is Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron.
[00:19:24] Then I picked up The Last Suspicious Holdout. This is a short story collection by Lady Hubbard. You may recognize Lady Hubbard from her debut novel, The Rip King, which I started one of those books that I started and did not finish, but I really liked what I read. It reminded me of Deacon King Kong by James McBride. This is her short story collection, and several of these short stories were published previously. Not all of them, but several of them. And so you may be able to Google around. I'll tell you kind of some of my favorites in a second here, but there are 12 stories in this collection, and they are all set between 1992 and 2007. So they kind of span a couple of decades and it's all set in the same neighborhood of this unnamed city, or at least if not in the same neighborhood in the same city. Although you can see many of the characters moving in and out of these different stories. So a little bit like Olive Kitteridge or 145th Street like this is a book about a place and then the characters just kind of exist in this fictional place. It is an unnamed fictional location, although for me, and I think I even googled this to look this up, it felt very much like New Orleans to me, is the vibe that I got. And there is one story that addresses I can't remember if it addresses it by name or not, but it's clearly addressing Hurricane Katrina.
[00:20:46] And so for that reason, I kind of pictured New Orleans as the setting, and I really liked this book. Short stories can be hit or miss for me, and I would not recommend a collection that I did not enjoy, but I really liked this one. I think because of the connectivity and because I was so intrigued and excited to see what had changed in the community or what people had changed over the span of time covered. So like I said, the first story starts in 1992, and I think the last story is set in 2007. So you really get to see the politics change, you get to see what doesn't change, which I also thought was really interesting. So like some of the issues that this community faces, don't go away. And then there are some local politics that I found really interesting and some of the characters and how their characters changed and developed over the course of decades. I love this book two of the stories that I liked the best. So if you kind of want to get a sense of, if you would like this, Five People who Crave Sauce I thought was such a great standalone story, and I'm pretty sure it was first published in the Oxford American, so I feel like you might still be able to find it online.
[00:21:57] And then my other favorite story is the title story The Last Suspicious Hold Out, which I don't know if that was published previously. But if you want to get a sense of Lady Hubbard's work to see if this collection would be for you, Google Five People Who Crave Sauce andsee what you think. I really liked this one. I don't finish short story collections that I don't like because to me, they're so easy to pick up and put down, and you could just read a couple. But I really like this whole thing, particularly if you gosh. Actually, if you liked the book that came out earlier this year called Brown Girls, Brown Girls meets a Hundred and Forty Fifth Street, and you have the Last Suspicious Hold Out by Lady Hubbard. Next, I finally got to dive into a book that Olivia has been recommending, and I meant to read it earlier than this, like I fully intended to take it with me on the plane to New York. And then, you know, life happened and we had to leave in a hurry, and I didn't get to grab any of the books I was originally intending to bring. So I finally got to pick up the appeal. This was kind my reward for for making it through some prep work for our spring literary lunch.
[00:23:02] A lot of the books I've talked about today, we talked about in the Spring Literary lunch. And so that's what a lot of my late February, early March reading was devoted to. So once I finished that, I rewarded myself with Olivia's recommendation. The Appeal by Janice Hallett. This book is fantastic. I want to see its praises, particularly because I think it is being overlooked now. Several readers I know had read this and also loved it like I have really only heard. I think one reader response that she didn't love this one, and I think it's because of the format. Let me tell you about it. So this was an Olivia recommendation, and I do think the less you know about it, the better. So I'm going to try to speak in real generalities here. But this book is told in emails, texts and even like the occasional Post-It note. And I know that that unconventional format is not for everyone. I think when it is done well, so I think about the book Hey Ladies, which I like continue to talk about. I love that book so much. I think when it is done well, it is really fun and really actually can show an author's intelligence in how they can tell a complete story. Something about the attachments by rainbow roll.
[00:24:16] Like, it is unfathomable to me how you could tell a complete story through texts and emails. And yet the books I've just named do that, and The Appeal definitely does this. So this is told in emails, texts and the occasional Post-it note. It is a mystery suspense book about a theater troupe like a local theater troupe who is putting on a play. And you know, from the get go that something went wrong, if not with the play, then with one of the characters. And sure enough, like you ultimately kind of figure out that one of the characters has died, but you don't know who and you don't know how and you don't know why, and you just know it was kind of suspicious. And so it just unfolds. Again, I don't want to tell very much. It just unfolds through texts and through emails and somehow, the entire story is told very cleanly and very intelligently. And that is a testament to Janice Hallett like, I don't know how she did it. Olivia told me, Janice Hallet did not have like a spreadsheet or anything for this, for this book, which once you read it, it is truly, I mean, I do not know how she did this.
[00:25:35] This is like Agatha Christie esque, like I'm thinking the Guest List by Lucy Foley. So it's kind of not And Then There Were None. But you've got this wide cast of characters, almost. You almost get a little bit lost in how many characters there are and you're trying to figure out it's like Clue. It's like Clue. It's like the book and movie Clue. It's like the movie Clue. If you like Clue, you will like this book because it's got this really unruly cast of characters kind of unwieldy and you, the reader, are trying to like, read between the lines and you're trying to read through the texts and emails, and you're trying to read, what's not there? Do you know what I mean? So you become, in a sense, an investigator of this crime. You become the detective. And I loved it. I read this and kept thinking truly with every page I just had the biggest grin on my face, which there's a murder. So that might be surprising, but I just was having such a great time. It's such a good time. It's Clue meets Finley Donovan in the sense that Finley Donovan was the last time I read a book like this and just felt like, wow, this is a blast. Like, this is so fun. I finished it, and that's the first thing I thought. I think that's the first thing I posted to Instagram Story. Like this was a blast. This was super fun.
[00:26:53] So this is The Appeal by Janice Hallet. I have only known people who have read the physical copy of this, so check it out from your local library, buy it from your local bookstore. I don't think it would. I think it could be really good on audio because you probably have a lot of different narrators, but I think it could also potentially be confusing on audio. So I'll say that for the audio book format now, other people may disagree, but for somebody like me who's a real visual learner and who I was like trying to solve the crime along with the book, I needed the physical book. So you might you might be able to try the audio book. But this is a book that I kind of think you should have the physical copy of. So that is The Appeal by Janice Hallett. Once again, just a fantastic Olivia recommendation. I loved it. Then I picked up a book that I had seen my friend Marcy posted about on Instagram. This is the roughest draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, co-written by those two authors. This is your standard Rom Com like I picked it up. I think I actually picked it up much earlier this year, but finally kind of got it round to it and decided to read it as a reward, much like I did with The Appeal.
[00:28:04] It is about Katrina and Nathan. They are bestselling authors who co-wrote like this award winning New York Times best selling book together. And then they split ways, and nobody kind of knows why they split ways and picturing like a Civil Wars esque. Not the Civil War historic, the Civil Wars music like, did you guys listen to the Civil War is just me? Anyway, their breakup was bizarre and sad, and I miss their work so much. And so that's what I was kind of picturing where these two two writers had written this great work together but split up and nobody really knew why and their subsequent work was just not as not as good. Although for the record, I do really like Joy Williams solo work. Anyway, so it's about Katrina and Nathan. To me, this is very reminiscent of Beach Read. Like, I know you're going to get that comparison a lot because Beach Read was like this bestselling rom com and so publishers are going to want to make that comparison. And I get that, but I'm here to tell you, no, no, no, this really is. This really is reminiscent of Beach Read. If you liked Beach Read, you will like this book. I have been very hit or miss with the romantic comedy literary genre lately, and that is because I am not really. I think the reality is I'm not a romance reader.
[00:29:23] I have many friends and book lovers who are. And so their reviews of rom coms are probably better to the genre. I find that I love a handful and the rest they don't really enjoy. And that's what I'm discovering about myself as a reader. This is fairly new development. I'm still testing this theory out. I'm here to tell you, I really enjoyed The Roughest Draft. Like, I really liked it. It is definitely steamy. I'm no longer doing speed ratings, but like, it is steamy and, but not overwhelmingly so. Like, there are a couple of scenes, but mostly we're dealing with buildup, which is my that is my preferred romance read I. I like the build up I really actually could do without the culmination of everything. I really don't need that. I like the sexual tension best and the roughest draft is full of that. So I had a blast reading this again, much like The Appeal like this was just a really good time and a really good hang. These two writers discover, of course, that they or they remember that they have signed a contract, and so they've got this bestselling work that they've done. But they split ways and now they realize that their solo careers are not really going as as successfully as they might have wanted, and their publishers are begging them and really forcing them.
[00:30:45] They're reminding them of their contract to write their second book or their third book, I can't remember. Anyway, so to do this, they go back to the place where they wrote their first book and they go to the Florida Keys and they stay in a rental house together and they hunker down and write for themselves to write this next book. Obviously, sexual tension ensues, but I've talked several of the books I read this month have these really great settings. This is another one where the whole book you could just feel the heat and humidity of the Florida Keys like it made me want to rent a beach house at the Florida Keys, and I really liked these characters a lot. Like, I liked Katrina and I liked Nathan, and I think that is where I've struggled recently with some rom coms where I just didn't like the people involved. But I really liked these characters and I was rooting for them. I wanted them to write their book. I wanted them to finish what they'd started. And that's another thing. That that's another reason I'm comparing it to Beach Read is because if you are a book lover or a literary lover, then I think you will appreciate and like this kind of behind the scenes look into deadlines and what it's like to co-write a book together. And that I found really, really wonderful.
[00:31:57] And in fact, I loved it even more so I finished it and thought, that was really great. Like, I really liked it. That was really enjoyable. Kind of redeemed some of the sub par. Not they weren't even subpar, I think, to the rom com world. But for me, the subpar reading experience I had had with some previous rom coms. And then I realized, yeah, this book was co-written, which that was delightful. I thought, they really know what they're talking about, like they co-wrote a book as well. And then did a little Googling and realized they were husband and wife. And so that made the book to me even more charming was that these two, this husband and wife writing duo, had co-written this rom com together about these people co-writing a book together. It was very meta. Very wonderful, very charming. Loved it all. It is The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. That book is out now. Here is where I just briefly plug that I reread a book this month called Nora Goes Off Script that is a book I read in January and reread a Gosh did I read it in January? Maybe I read it in February. Anyway, the point is I reread it, which I never do, especially not one that I just read. I don't have time, I don't have the capacity. I really don't have the desire until now.
[00:33:11] Turns out, I really liked those people, and it's not just because it was a really sweet rom com, because that book to me is way more than a romantic comedy. Like that book is about Nora and about her personal growth and development. I loved that book and love that family and loved those people so much that I reread it. And so this is just your plug that I reread that book and I never reread. Certainly not, less than four or five weeks after reading a book for the first time. But I did. I reread it and I loved it. So that is Nora Goes Off Script. I'm just going to give a little plug for that book. Then I read Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance. This is by Allison Espach. She has written a previous book that I had not read, I believe called The Adults. I have not read this. However, I picked this one up, it's an ARC this book releases on May 17th, and I pick this up because all the blurbs looked so good and normally I don't judge a book by the blurbs anymore. However, it does kind of help me decide if I should pick up an ARC or not like it just helps me to know, what is this being compared to? Who liked this? Did authors I trust blurb this? Like, Why should I pick this one up? And it is so good.
[00:34:23] So this is like Yonahlossee Writing Camp for Girls Meets Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng kind of sort of meets The House on Fripp Island. So the cover, I totally get the cover and I totally know why it's there. But the cover makes it seem like this might be kind of a mysterious domestic thriller beach read. It is not that there is a lot happening here. Our main character is Sally. Sally is the younger sister of Kathy, and Sally spends her whole life idolizing her sister, Kathy, and there's a second. I think its second person. I feel like I'm going to sound kind of like a Dumbo here. But its second person narration, which does not always work for me, but it really works here. So Sally is narrating and, but it's not first person, and she's kind of telling. She's talking to her sister. And there's this underlying, you know, as the reader, there must be a reason she's telling her sister these stories and this story. But you don't really know why. So there's definitely this kind of sense of foreboding underneath this, this book, and I won't I don't want to spoil anything, so I will just say that there is this deep sense of foreboding and you know, something has gone wrong, but you're not quite sure what.
[00:35:46] So Sally and Kathy have this really lovely sister relationship, and that, to me, is the heart of the book. I feel like this book is going to be pitched a couple of different directions, which is totally fine. Marketing teams have to do what they're going to have to do, but this, to me, is a sister story. And Sally idolizes Cathy, and Cathy falls in love like you kind of watch Sally and Kathy grow up together a little bit and Kathy's in high school, and she falls in love with Billy Barnes, which I feel like all we need to say is Billy Barnes, and we all have a picture of who Billy is in our heads like I immediately. He's just kind of the stereotypical high school crush. Billy Barnes is just a great, it's a great crush name, I feel like. Anyway, so Billy Barnes and Kathy start to date and Sally starts to feel a little resentment, a little bit of bitterness. And the book unfolds from there, and you can tell that the narrator is older, Sally looking back on her youth and her sister's youth. And the book at one point or another becomes Sally, and even, to some extent, Billy's story. So Sally is certainly our protagonist, but Billy plays an important role here, too. And I got it almost has atonement vibes. Do you guys remember atonement?
[00:37:06] Gosh, I loved this book so much because I think it will be a great by the pool beach read. It releases on May 17th, so I can imagine it in beach bags. I could imagine it even being like a Good Morning America pick or something like that. Nobody, by the way, no one has told me that I actually like to be clear. No one has said that that is the case for this book. I just feel like it could be like, I think it's one of those books that will have people talking, but it is also so fast paced like, I finished this one of my ideal reading scenarios. So I prefer reading outside. But if I can't be outside, I like to read on my couch with sports in the background. And so I read this book with basketball in the background, and I think I finished this in one sitting and when I finished it, I felt emotionally drained. And yet I could not put it down, which is why I say I think it'll be prevalent at pools and beaches and airports this summer because there's a lot happening and you will want to finish it. And then at the end, you'll want to talk about it. And that is why I'm not going to tell you anymore because I really don't want to ruin anything. And honestly, so much happens in this book that is worth unpacking in detail and in book clubs. And so go forth and recommend this to your book clubs. It is Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach. E-S-P-A-C-H. I'm not quite sure how to pronounce it.
[00:38:26] And it's Yonahlosse Writing Camp For Girls meets Everything I Never Told You. There are definitely Celeste Ng vibes here, there are even some ways in which it reminds me of Little Fires Everywhere. I love this book. It is definitely family drama. More than a love story and more than a suspense book, like there are definitely suspenseful elements, but this is a family drama and I think a lot of the blurbs referenced asked again, yes, I can see that I get why. Yes, I get that. That's not what I would compare it to, but I get it. I do think that's a fairly realistic comp. This is a family drama. This is a family story. And as much as it's about high school crushes, it's also about Sally and Kathy. It's about sisterhood. And I love that part. Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance by Allison Espach. Then I picked up again. Lots of reward reading. Lots of treat yourself reading this this month. I picked up Finley Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead. This is by Elle Cosimano. I had wanted to read this. I had said multiple times like I finished. Finley Donovan Is Killing It and immediately wanted to read the sequel and was relieved to know there was a sequel.
[00:39:37] I do not read sequels. I do not read series. Honestly, that's not even like a rule or anything. It's just a time. It's a time thing. So I'm not typically drawn to series or to sequels, but I pick this one up and I liked it. I think there will be nothing that replaces or captures the like magic of reading Finley Donovan Is Killing It for me for the first time because that book was a book I did not read as an ARC. Olivia had told me about it, but. And she is a great hand seller, but I really just picked this one up because I went to the beach and needed something to read, and therefore I went in with super low expectations. And I loved it. I went into Finley Knocks 'Em Dead with high expectations, and therefore I think my reading experience also, I don't read sequels. I think that definitely affected that mindset definitely affected my reading of this book. However, if you're here for a good time, like and if you're here just to read a sequel, this is great. Like, this is a continuation of the story. You get more Finley, you get more Varo, which I really like. I really like Varo. She's the kind of sidekick character, but she definitely is much larger than a sidekick. I really, really like her, and she was given a lot more story.
[00:40:53] This book, however, and look, this is why I don't read these like it's you could just tell there is so much more to come for that character. And so some of her storylines did not play out in the ways that I wanted them to. They did not get fully fleshed out because they're probably going to get fleshed out in book three or book four. And so this isn't even like a sequel, and it ends like this is a sequel. This is clearly going to be a series. And so I think if you like Finley Donovan, keep reading the series like this is thoroughly enjoyable. But if you have not read Finley Donovan, please do not read the sequel. Read Finley Donovan Is Killing It. Read that one first, and then if you liked it, continue on to the sequel or leave it as a standalone. I think you could certainly do that, too. I don't know if I will read the third one of these, but I really liked being back in Finlay's world. It took me a minute to readjust. I'll be honest. It took me a minute to readjust and to remind myself I read that book almost a year ago. I read that book last June, and now I was reading the sequel. And again, I think that is my own fault for not quite knowing how to read a sequel. Do you know what I mean? I just wasn't quite sure. I kind of felt lost the first couple of chapters. I was like, wait, what happened in the last one of these?
[00:42:02] And now there's like a Russian mob element, and really, I think I could have just read. Finley doing accidental hits, she's an accidental hit woman, if you're not familiar, if you didn't read the first one, she's an accidental hit woman. She's a mystery writer and somebody overhears her in a Panera Bread and thinks she's a hit woman. And I could have read about Vero and Finley Lucy and Ethalene murders for the rest of my like I could have read those books forever. And kudos to Elle Casimano because she's not doing that. She's being creative and she's being intelligent with how she tells the story. I'm just saying I would have been content just to read about Finley and Vero being bad at murdering people. But here we are. That book is not this, and that's fine. So this was Finley Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead, a thoroughly satisfying sequel. If you've read the first one, you might try this one. And then I closed out the month. I really am not sure why I picked this up. So we're going to talk about it. It's The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn, and perhaps you immediately know what a book called The Lifestyle would be about. I really did not. I will be honest what I saw.
[00:43:14] This is an ARC that I received. This book comes out on June 7th. So I have the ARC. So the reason I picked this one up is because the blurbs talk about this being the most fun Emma adaptation since Clueless. That's kind of how it's being built. And so I was like, that sounds like a good time and a good way to kind of finish out my month. And I had just read Finley Donovan, so I thought, let's just read something fun, and then we'll move on because I'm also reading Beloved by Toni Morrison, which we're going to be talking about in an April episode From The Front Porch. Hunter and I are going to be talking about it in about two weeks, so I've been reading Beloved, which is very heavy. And so I was like, let's read this very fun book called The Life Style. Well, The Lifestyle is about swingers, and once I got in, I just couldn't stop. And that is who I am as a person. And you should just know that that like, it takes a lot for me to putdown a book because and it's often because I have to read something else. So if I'm reading a book that I don't really like, I'll put it down. But often that is because I have pressure to read something else. Well, I do not have pressure to read anything else.
[00:44:20] I've read my shelf subscriptions for the next several months, so I was just like, why not finish this? But you should go into this knowing that this is about the New York City swingers scene and therefore the subject matter reflects that. So like, that's going to be my, that's my caveat. That's my warning that this book Jane Austen, I'm not sure would know quite what to do with this book that is about the New York City swingers scene that has scenes at swingers clubs. And yeah, so you should go into this knowing that you should be armed with that information. So the main character is Georgina. Georgina is our Emma like character. You know, this is being billed as an Emma retelling. I get it. I'm not sure. Georgina felt like Emma, she felt like Emma Woodhouse, like she felt like Emma beyond that this book does not follow the Emma trajectory. Do you know what I mean? So so a few years ago, I read a really wonderful book, I think, by Curtis Sittenfeld, and it was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and it was called Eligible and it was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and it was hilarious. Laugh out loud funny, I loved it. It's a great backless title if you're interested.
[00:45:42] This to me the comparisons to like Clueless is more of an adaptation of Emma than the lifestyle is. However, Georgina is clearly inspired by Emma Woodhouse, and she is this character who's in this perfect marriage. She has the perfect career. She's a lawyer, her husband's a lawyer. They've been married for a few years. She's like has this picture perfect life. She has beautiful friends. She's beautiful, and she's always trying to make things better. She's always trying to like she takes on a mentee at her law firm. She tries to make her marriage better. She's concerned about her friends marriages like she's a meddler. She's a world class meddler, which so as Emma. So like Georgina is very much that, and Georgina is a really likable, fun character. And Georgina, like within the first few pages, walks in on her husband, having an affair, having a sexual encounter with her mentee, which there are so many things then that happened in this book that I'm like, why? Why Georgina? Why? And so maybe that is also Emma, like. Like, there were just parts of this that I wanted better for Georgina. So, nevertheless, Georgina walks in on this encounter. She doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know whether her marriage deserves or needs to be saved.
[00:47:01] And then she thinks, why not become a swinger? Because sure. And so Emma and her best for all of her friends, decide to become swingers together, which immediately sounded like a horrible idea to me. But what do I know? And so they all join this swingers group together, all of their friends and their husbands, and like their significant others again, absolute disaster sounds like a terrible idea, but it is interesting, and it does make for interesting, very funny scenes. I read a book a few years ago again accidentally. I do seem to stumble upon these books about swingers. So I read the book called The Arrangement, where I thought I was going to be reading one book, and instead I was reading this really funny book by Sarah Dunn about an open marriage. I wound up actually loving that book the lifestyle I did not wind up loving, but there were laugh out loud parts to it and a lot of cringy parts. Lots of cringe. Just because, again, Georgina and her husband Nathan become swingers with all of their best friends. So there's going to be a lot of cringe. And of course, while there swinging, is that the proper phrase? While they're embarking upon the lifestyle together georgina encounters her college love interest like her boyfriend from college because, of course, and I guess he is supposed to be Mr. Knightley, I will be honest, this was where the Emma parts.
[00:48:35] I mean, I think at swingers is when it kind of fell apart, but like, that's where this kind of fell apart for me. However, compelling, definitely compelling. Finish this in a day. Compelling laugh out loud, funny, cringy and parts enjoyable deals with a swingers lifestyle. So like, this is not a PG book. This is not a PG book, and that's The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn. It's out on June 7th. If you like The Arrangement, you might like this, although this is even more. The Arrangement is about an open marriage and and kind of the consequences of that. There were scenes in this book that I was like, yeah, I feel like I recognize this from that time. Stabler and Benson went undercover during Law and Order SVU. So there are some really interesting scenes that I think other readers like also, not sensitive readers are not prudish readers will probably love this like I need to be upfront yet again with my prudishness, and so you just need to know where I'm coming from. And then the Emma comparison, I just again almost wish hadn't been made, except if it hadn't been made, you would have made it as the reader with Georgina.
[00:49:47] Georgina is very much Emma. The other parts of this were hit or miss for me, but I really did like Georgina, and I appreciated the intensity with which she was dealing with her life and she was very funny. The book is very funny and well written, and I will say I will be on a lookout for what Taylor Hahn writes next. Like, even though this did not scratch all of my metaphorical itches. So sorry, I did like the writing and I thought she can weave a tale like Taylor Hahn there's something here. This might not have been a hundred percent for me, but future works could be so. And it's called The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn. It is out on June 7th. What a wild ride, am I, right? That was a lot of books and a wide range, a wide range of literature this month. So as usual as we've been doing this year, we're offering the March Reading Recap bundle for sixty six dollars. So that's how much this bundle cost. That gets you like a 10 percent discount. So it's the March Reading Recap bundle, and it's going to include Lessons In Chemistry, The Appeal and The Roughest Draft. So it gets you bordering on some literary fiction. Lessons In Chemistry to me, has a lot of commercial appeal, but some literary fiction, a mystery thriller and a romcom, two hardback and a paperback. $66. You can find the bundle online through the link in our show notes, or just go thebookshelfthomasville.com, then click or tap podcast and shop From The Front Porch. So this month's bundle again includes lessons in chemistry, the appeal and the roughest draft. A really good, a really good bundle, if I do say so myself.
[00:51:21] This week, what I am reading is brought to you by the 101st Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. We are just about a month away. Maybe a little less from the Annual Road Show and festival. And you can tell because there is something going on like every weekend, every night here in Thomasville, there is something this evening after I finish recording this, I am headed to the Thomasville Entertainment Foundation's concert. They brought to town the swing time Jive Aces and Ashley and I have season tickets to the TF performances, and so we're headed to that tonight. Later this week, there is a movie being filmed at The Bookshelf like in downtown Thomasville. Yes, but at The Bookshelf, we're going to be closed so that they can film this movie. Earlier last week, I went to a performance put on by the local ballet studio South Georgia Ballet. This coming weekend, there is a Shakespeare performance outside like there is something all the time, and that's how you know, it's spring in Thomasville. It's the allergies which you can hear in my voice today, and it is the fact that there is something on the calendar for almost every night or weekend leading up to Rose Show and Rose Festival, which kind of to me, is the culmination of spring events. It's like the demarcation between spring and summer in Thomasville.
[00:52:39] So I hope you will make plans to join us in a few weeks at the Rose show and Festival or come to town early and enjoy any of the events that I've just mentioned. Like all the different things going on in Thomasville, again, something every weekend. Most of it within walking distance of my house of a hotel like all of it, kind of in downtown Thomasville, so that you can experience the walkability and the small town vibes available in Thomasville.
[00:53:05] This week, I'm reading Another Marvelous Thing, by Lori Colwin. Thank you again to our sponsor, the 101st Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. If you want to come for the weekend and experience the flowers, fine 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 daily happenings on Instagram @bookshelftville. And all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website: bookshelfthomasville.com.
[00:53:45] A full transcript of today's episode can be found at fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
[00:53:50] 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.
[00:53:59] Our executive producers of today's episode are Donna Hechler, Angie Erickson, Cami Tidwell, Chantal Carls.
Executive Producers (Read their own names) [00:54:06] Nicole Marcy, Wendy Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, Kate Johnston Tucker.
[00:54:13] Thank you all for your support 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.
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[00:54:50] We're so grateful for you and we look forward to meeting back here next week.