Episode 448 || October Reading Recap
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie recaps the books she read and loved in October. You get 10% off your books when you order your October Reading Recap bundle! Each month, we offer a Reading Recap bundle, which features Annie’s three favorite books she read that month. Get your bundle here.
You can get the books mentioned in this episode on our website (type “Episode 448” into the search bar and tap enter to easily find the books mentioned in this episode):
Cross everyone off your holiday shopping list at The Bookshelf’s super-popular virtual holiday literary previews, plus our Holiday Market for bookish gift items! Tickets are $15. Each event takes place online via Zoom. If you can’t join us live, you’ll have access to a recording after the event. Get your tickets to the virtual events here:
Adult Holiday Literary First Look ticket – Annie will walk you through the best books to give to everyone on your list: from your hard-to-buy-for dad, to your best friend who’s read everything, to your mother-in-law.
Kid's Holiday Literary First Look ticket – Olivia will walk you through the best books to give the young readers in your life, from board book readers to middle grade readers. Plus, you’ll get an exclusive sneak-peek at our Countdown to Christmas kids picture book bundles!
Holiday Market ticket – Annie will walk you through the delightful, bookish gift items The Bookshelf has in store this season. Plus, you’ll get an exclusive sneak-peek at our Bookshelf Advent Calendar for adults!
Annie's October Reading Recap Bundle - $47
Empire Falls by Richard Russo (paperback)
My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine (paperback)
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (paperback)
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey (releases 11/28/23)
Heirloom Rooms by Erin Napier
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
Leaving by Roxana Robinson (releases 2/13/24)
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Thank you to this week’s sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Fall is a wonderful time to see Thomasville, Georgia! If it’s time to hit the road for a quick getaway, we’re exactly what you’re looking for! You can rekindle your spark, explore historical sites, indulge in dining out, shop at amazing independent stores, and finally relax and unwind. There’s no better getaway than Thomasville! Whether you live close by or are passing through, we hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia – it’s worth the trip! Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGa.com.
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
This week, Annie is reading A Very Inconvenient Scandal by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
Our Executive Producers are...Ashley Ferrell, Cammy Tidwell, Chanta Combs, Chantalle C, Kate O’Connell, Kristin May, Laurie Johnson, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Stacy Laue, Stephanie Dean, Susan Hulings, and Wendi Jenkins.
Transcript:
[squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
“It comes to me now that when we remember the homes we grew up in, we are really remembering the ways we felt in them, the people who lived in them, and the ways they cared for us.” - Erin Napier, Heirloom Rooms
[as music fades out] I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m recapping the books I read in October. Wondering what books The Bookshelf is recommending for gift-giving this holiday season? We have two upcoming virtual events designed to help you prep for the holidays. On Wednesday, November 8, we’re hosting our Holiday Literary First Look. I’ll walk you through my favorite books for giving as gifts in this hour-long webinar; the event can be watched live at noon on November 8, and will also be recorded for viewing later. Tickets include a PDF of the titles we discuss, as well as a discount code for purchasing. If you’ve got little ones in your life, Olivia will be hosting a kid-centric Literary First Look on Thursday, November 9, at noon. Tickets to both events are $15 a piece and can be purchased through the link in our shownotes, or by clicking EVENTS on The Bookshelf website.
[00:01:37] Now back to the show. Okay, you know what? October was a delightful reading month. I'm not even going to try to wax philosophical about it. It was a good reading month for me. I was able to read a lot of backlist titles. I think the pressure is a little bit off on Shelf Subscriptions, even though I'm still looking for a December book. And so it just felt like a time when I got to read kind of what I wanted to read, which is really refreshing. So the first book that I finished was The Last Love Note. This is a debut novel by Emma Grey. It's being released simultaneously on November 28th in paperback and hardcover, which I guess we as booksellers are a little confused by it. But either way, you can choose your own adventure, paperback or hardback. The cover of this definitely would categorize it as women's fiction, for lack of a better phrase. I really don't know a better phrase, but women's fiction. You might get into this and think it's a little bit of a romance and there is a romantic element to it. But the book is mostly about Kate. And Kate is a young woman about my age. She's approaching middle age and she's a recent widow. And she and her husband were happily married for years and he became ill. I won't spoil too much for you, but you do get glimpses into her marriage to him and what their marriage looks like and the raising of their little boy. And then he dies. And that's not a spoiler. You know it's happened pretty immediately.
[00:03:05] And the book kind of flashes back and forth in various points in time. So you get to see what Kate's marriage look like, what her caregiving looked like. And I found those parts of the novel particularly poignant. Anything to do with life after loss and Kate's grieving felt visceral, realistic and nuanced. So the premise of the book, like the blurb that's given on the back of the book, is that Kate and her boss, Hugh, who she has really a friendly relationship with, they are going on a business trip and through a series of unfortunate events, they kind of wind up stranded and just the two of them away from home. And this is where the romantic elements come in. I don't know how we feel. I don't know the temperature in the room regarding bosses and employees. I have feelings about it, I guess. I don't know. What I will say is Emigre I think has done her best to show that these are two adult people, two consenting adults. Hugh is wonderful. He's a lovely character. He's extremely thoughtful and kind and charming. And he definitely becomes a love interest for Kate. I think that's fairly obvious from the back of the book. And their romance is really sweet. I just did have some questions just because I'm a boss. I think because I'm a boss, so I had questions. But overall, their relationship feels so natural. And because they're both coming to the table with some things, I found it refreshing and a very adult love story.
[00:04:41] So if you read a lot of romcoms and a lot of the romantic comedies we read, maybe have people in their early twenties. This is a different take because it's people who have lived full lives and they're in their late thirties, early forties. And so I also liked that part of it. The book cover is really fun and makes it seem like this is going to be a light fun book. And there are parts of it that are and they're very funny. Oh, I laughed out loud at some parts. But this is also very much a book about grief and a book about loss. I kept coming back to the movie-- and maybe I read the book. I honestly don't know. But the movie, P.S. I Love You, just because it's so poignant in really going into detail about Kate's marriage and Anne's widowhood. Anyway, I really liked this book. I had some qualms with it, but overall I did find it to be charming. I really thought Hugh and Kate were lovable, lovely characters, characters that I think you will find yourself rooting for. So this book comes out at the end of November. It is called The Last Love Note by Emma Grey.
[00:05:51] Then I brought home-- and I've been talking about this book for ages, but I picked up Heirloom Rooms by Erin Napier. I think I mentioned this back in our October new release podcast. I had not seen hide nor hair of this book until it came to the store and I immediately brought home a copy. It's got a gorgeous cover. It's very much coffee table book. But as I said in the October New Release Rundown Episode, I felt like it had the potential to be more than a coffee table book. And I am pleased to tell you I was correct. It is very much more than a coffee table book. It is a real keepsake. You can sense while you're holding it that it could become something really special. So the book is a traditional coffee table book in that it is filled with beautiful photographs of houses and rooms-- I say houses, but I really should say homes. With homes and rooms, and I'm sure they are all styled, but they feel like rooms you could live in, homes you could live in. They feel like realistically styled rooms and completely unpretentious. Just really beautiful. This may be a niche reference, but if anybody here follows Elise Cripe on Instagram, her handle is Elise Joy I believe-- I have followed her for years. Probably, I think we're around the same age. I have followed her since her blogging days, and she sometimes will post these really fun reels to Instagram that are what she has learned from old decor books that she's seen at the library. This feels like one of those books. Elise, if you're listening, you should read this book because a lot of the design and decor in this book just feels timeless and it just feels like things that I will find inspirational for years to come. And then the other part of this book is intermixed with the photographs and the beautiful homes, which are all on map paper, which I also really like. A lot of coffee table books are glossy paper and fingerprints, etc. This is all map paper.
[00:07:47] But Erin Napier of HGTV Hometown Fame, she has written beautiful essays about every room in her family's house. And I was deeply moved. I was reading this in bed one night before Jordan got home, and I was tearful at her talks about her front porch. Partly because of the front porch I grew up on. I got tearful when she talked about turning guestrooms into nurseries. I felt moved by her memories of her childhood home and then the memories she's creating for her children and what lessons she learned from her mother that she now is bringing into her own home. I just loved this book. I think the essays are fantastic, much like Elise Cripe. I actually followed Erin Napier years ago when she had a stationery company and she had a blog, and I think her first book was really based on the concept of the blog. I think it was like make good things happen or make something happen today or something like that. Anyway, this is just delightful. It's a wonderful keepsake, great for gift giving this holiday season. Truly, I can automatically think of I don't know who listens to this podcast, but I can automatically think of women in my life who I think have beautiful homes, and I think they should have this book. So it is Heirloom Rooms by Erin Napier. Whether you are familiar with her work, whether you watch her show on HGTV or not, I actually think this is a really great book. And for me it got five stars. And maybe that feels weird because it's a coffee table book, but it's more than that. It reminds me a lot of Health Lessons by Erica Baumeister, a novel I read a few years ago called 40 Rooms. It's just a beautiful homage to home. So Heirloom Rooms by Erin Napier.
[00:09:28] And then this is so fun. I read a backlist titled The Pulitzer winner Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Now, I read this not even knowing it was a Pulitzer winner. I read this because a few weeks ago when we were doing our Patreon Porch Visit, our question and answer session, somebody asked for books like Gilmore Girls, and I had my list already. I was really proud of it. And then I thought, well, let me Google because I'm sure there is a blog post or a book riot or something about this very topic. And sure enough, I mean, pages of results. And I clicked on one and one of the books this particular blogger recommended was Empire Falls, and she categorized it as literary fiction. And a lot of the book racks that were coming up were romcoms or kind of lighter fare. And so I thought, well, this sounds interesting. And so I had Esme order for me at The Bookshelf, and then I took a trip to Barnes Noble and it was on the shelf there and I flipped through it and I thought, oh, no, I'm not going to want to read this because so many-- and maybe this sounds odd to you, but so many of the sections-- and there were long chapters, first of all-- but so many of the sections were written in italics and in italicized font. And I think italics are fine for emphasis, but I find them really distracting in large blocks of text. I think they're hard to read. There may even be sites about that, I'm not sure, but I find them hard to read. And it was narrow margins and I just thought, ugh, Esme has ordered me this book and now I'm not going I want to read it.
[00:11:02] But it came in to The Bookshelf, I brought it home and I sat down one night because it opens with a large chapter in italicized font. And I just thought, I'm just going to read this chapter and see what I think. And y'all, this is a beautiful book. It is so beautiful. And I loved it so much that Hunter and I have an upcoming episode of this podcast called Bookmarked with Annie and Hunter. We've been reading Pulitzer winners and we had a book already picked out, and I wrote Hunter, and I said, "Can we please talk about this instead?" I did not realize it was a Pulitzer winner. He already had a copy. So you have time to read along with us. Empire Falls by Richard Russo. This book is about Miles Roby. He is very Luke Danes-esq he is in the middle of a divorce, lives in this tiny town of Empire Falls, Maine, and he is the operator of Empire Grill. I would say he's the owner, except he's not. The Empire Grill is owned by kind of this matriarch figure in this tiny town. And her husband's family has run the town for generations. And everybody is kind of at the beck and call of this woman. There are parts of this book that reminded me maybe not quite as schmaltzy-- I love this movie, but not quite as schmaltzy as It's a Wonderful Life. But there were ways in which she reminded me of Mr. Potter, if you are familiar with that classic holiday story. So this book's setting is, oh, chef's kiss perfection. Perfect for fall reading. It's set in fall in Maine. What I will say is that the book I started is not the book I finished. Okay? And that's all I'm going to say about that until Hunter and I deep dive it with spoilers in a future episode. But I don't want to spoil for anybody. I will just say the book that I started with is not the book I ended with. I loved both, but the book is so layered. That's what I want to say. It's so layered.
[00:13:05] There are so many elements at play in this story, and that's partly because we're introduced to a really wide cast of characters. I assume that's why the Gilmore Girls comparison kind of came up, because there are so many characters in this book. I knew them all. It felt like I knew them all. I loved them all, even the obnoxious ones. And all of them have different kind of storylines throughout the book, and you get to know each of them. And there is kind of this overarching storyline of Myles and him ultimately wanting to take over and own the Empire Grill, which is kind of what he's been promised, but it's not what he's yet received. I mean, I hesitate to use a word like this, but it's pretty masterful. I think it's kind of a masterpiece just because of how much is happening here, like how many threads of storytelling are at play. I think that's really hard to do without being confused or bogged down. I say that because I finished Bleak House this month and I felt bogged down by some of it. I never felt bogged down by what was happening here. So I think Richard Russo is really a master of his work, and maybe some of you are listening and you're like, duh, of course. But this was my first Richard Russo book. I hope it won't be my last. I don't think it's too late for Fall reading. November, I think, would be a perfect time to hunker down with this one. It's a little thick. The chapters are long. None of it bothered me. Not one thing. Y'all, the italicized font didn't even bother me. I loved it. That is Empire Falls by Richard Russo. We will talk about it in a November episode of Bookmarked with Annie and Hunter. Probably I think early to middle of November.
[00:14:39] Very big departure, but another kind of paperback book. The reason I say this is because I loved these reading experiences. I loved the physical books that I was holding. They were books, not ARCs if that makes sense. It may not make sense unless you read a ton of advance reader copies, but I was holding finished books in my hands. And I really loved that. It felt like I was holding miniature works of art. So the next book I read was My Roommate is a Vampire. This is by Jenna Levine. This was a Keila recommendation. And if you don't know anything about bookseller Keila, it's that she's going to tell you about a book, and then she's going to expect you to read it. And you know what? That's why she's good at her job. That's why she is a staffer at The Bookshelf. And she kept talking about this book and she was like, "Annie, I think you're really going to like it. I think it'd be a fun, spooky book for you this season." And last year I had read My Best Friend is An Exorcist. I think I read that last year, and that was another Keila recommendation. Keila is an expert at Halloween, so I thought, I'll give this one to go. And you know what? She was right. This book is delightful. It is a romcom that I loved for two thirds, and then the back third I thought things kind of fell apart. You might feel differently. I am not super familiar with vampiric culture, and so I toward the back half of the book, really felt like I had to suspend disbelief. But this is a charming book.
[00:16:03] The title is exactly what the book is, where there's a woman named Cassie. She is down on her luck. She decides to rent a room off of Craigslist in Chicago, and she winds up becoming the roommate of a Frederick J. Fitzwilliam, who has very old fashioned tendencies, leaves her notes that are sealed with wax. He has beautiful handwriting. His manners are very odd. And obviously, we all know from the title he is a vampire, but he doesn't tell Cassie that at first. And, of course, romantic feelings ensue. If you're if you're thinking, okay, Annie, on a scale of 1 to 10, how PG is this? I don't know. On a scale of 1 to 10, I feel like my picker is broken ever since Fourth Wing. I feel like I can't tell how much is too much sexual content. I really don't know. What I will tell you is that this has one chapter that is entirely a sex scene. And so if you're uncomfortable with that, you can skim it and move on with your life. If that offends you, you can skip this. If you love that and eat it up with a spoon, well, good for you; there's a whole chapter of it. So that's what I will say about sexual content. So it's steamy for a chapter. Otherwise, I actually found it pretty PG because Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is such an old fashioned character. This was delightful. I had qualms with the back third that I don't really want to discuss because then I'd have to discuss spoilers. But for the most part, very fun Fall book. Another hit by Keila. This is My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine.
[00:17:44] Okay. And then next I read Leaving. This is a book by Roxana Robinson. This is my first book to read by her, but she has written several. Now, look, this does not release until February 13th, and I'm sorry about it, but I'm telling you about it because I finished it this month. And those are the rules. I finished that book in October, so we're going to talk about it in October. This is a five star book for me. I absolutely adored this book. I read it because my Norton rep-- it's a Norton book. My Norton rep told me, hey, I think you'd really like this one. But really what she said was that the end was a gut punch. And I was like, all right, sometimes I like being punched in the gut. So when this one came in, I'm not really reading for 2024 yet, but I couldn't resist. I picked it up and I started it and was hooked immediately. So the book is about Sarah and Warren. They're in their sixties. And Sarah and Warren were college sweethearts and really were on a trajectory for marriage. But what we know is that Sarah broke Warren's heart and she has her reasons for that, that I found really interesting and kind of speaks to who Sarah is. But Sarah and Warren broke up and they wound up marrying other people. And the book opens one night at the Opera in New York, and Sarah sees Warren for the first time since their breakup 40 years before. And they immediately have chemistry. Sarah is divorced, Warren is not. Warren is married. And they proceeds to have a romantic affair. And this isn't just platonic emotional feelings. This is also sexual feelings. This is two people who probably never fell out of love with one another, but they did marry other people. And so I have some friends who don't like to read books about infidelity. Kimberly, if you're listening, don't read this book. This book is not for you.
[00:19:45] This book reminded me-- I know I've talked a lot about Fire Sermon and it's sexual contents and it getting mailed back to me and all this stuff. But to me, this is a book that is really similar in tone and in tonality to Fire Sermon, not as sexually explicit. I'll say that. This is really a book about love in later life and the consequences to our behavior. So as much as I loved Sarah and Warren, the whole time I kind of had a stomach ache because I was like, "You guys, you're making a mistake." Because I kept thinking about Warren's wife and Warren kept thinking about his wife. And the way that Roxana Robinson somehow paints all of these characters so tenderly and so beautifully, but also doesn't shy away from the fact that these characters are making decisions that aren't exactly wise and aren't exactly charitable and aren't exactly loving. It was so refreshing to read a book where people are making bad decisions and there are consequences for those bad decisions. And I read it and my heart just broke throughout the whole book. And I'm saying this to you and you're in your car thinking, why would I want to read this? Well, you'd want to read it because it's beautiful. The writing is stunning. The storytelling is expert level. I don't have a ton of notes in front of me, but I do have in my notes "Read with a box of tissues," she said. So this is a deeply moving book. I found it deeply sad. It's a little bit about unrequited love, regrets, the decisions we make in early life that affect our later lives. But I thought it was just beautiful. So this is leaving by Roxana Robinson. And it releases in February of 2024. But don't worry, I'll tell you about it when it releases because it's stunning.
[00:21:40] Okay. And then another backlist titles. If you're asking what I read for my seasonal reading, I'm going to keep reading fall books because I think I actually have the bandwidth for it this year. But Empire Falls, My Roommate is a Vampire and Bluebird Bluebird, which incidentally is going to be the book, bundle that I talk about at the end of the episode. But Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke, I picked this book up because I was at Barnes and Noble again. I don't know why I went up there twice in the span of a month. That is rare. One time I was with Jordan and one time I was without. Anyway, I did buy this book from Barnes and Noble. And if that causes you pain, I'm sorry. But I was on the way back home and just thought I would go in and browse for a minute. And I kind of did think I might buy something because I love The Bookshelf, but it is also my place of work. And so I just kind of wanted to go somewhere where nobody knew me and I could just shop. And I bought Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke. This is the start of a series which I knew but didn't know. I had seen Bluebird Bluebird, I am pretty sure years ago when it first released, I want to say 2018, maybe 2019-- but I think 2018. And I think Anne Bogle was actually who I saw talking about it the most. And we stocked at The Bookshelf and I made a mental note, but I didn't do anything about it. I didn't read it myself.
[00:22:55] And so when I was looking for seasonal suspense mysteries, I thought I would try this one as a detective novel. So it is about Darren Mathews. He is a black Texas Ranger, and he is in a little bit of trouble, potentially going to be suspended temporarily. And his friend at the FBI tells him about this case out in a small town in Texas, and he wants Darren to investigate it, in part because of the racial element. So a black man has appeared to be a drowning. He's appeared on the edge of this river. His body has kind of been found there. But then two days later, a white woman's body is also found. And so the small town in Texas doesn't, of course, want the Texas Rangers or any higher ups in law enforcement to come investigate. They claim they don't have issues of race, that there's no way this could be a race crime. And Darren Mathews goes there, tries to be discreet, but it's a small town. It's hard to be discreet. And he investigates these murders. I found this extremely compelling without being totally bingeable. So here's what I mean. I like a mystery that I can take my time with. As much as I love a suspenseful book I read at the end of September, a book called Anna O, which will release in January. And it was fantastic. But like I was desperate to finish, it was very bingeable like Girl on the Train kind of bingeable and those are great. There is a place for those. I also sometimes like not a slow burn because I think slow burn implies boring, but I like a book that I can spend some time with. And I liked spending time with Darren Mathews. He's a complicated character. And anyway, I like spending my time with this detective novel.
[00:24:43] So Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke. Did it bother me that it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger? Yes, because I really I'm not a huge series reader. But if you are a serious reader, I would highly encourage you to try this one. And then if you're not a serious reader, I still think you could really enjoy this one down the road. Maybe next October, November, maybe I'll pick up the sequel. But if you just want a standalone, I think this would be okay. But you should know that it does kind of end a little bit like a season finale of a television show that is going to have another episode in a year. Do you know what I mean? So just kind of prepare yourself for that. But I really like this book. I think Darren Mathews is a very memorable character. I will not soon forget him. And I think Attica Locke is a really good storyteller. I think Olivia would love this. I told her about this. Backlist is always hard for us as booksellers, but if you are an Olivia reader, I do think this would be Olivia approved. Now, she hasn't read it, but I do think she would really like it. So Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke And that book is already out.
[00:25:45] So those are the books I read in October. I also finished Bleak House, but we're going to talk about that later. I conquered a classic. I finished Bleak House by Charles Dickens. I'm so proud of us, but I want to talk about that at a later date. So those are the books I read in October. As usual, with our Reading Recap episodes, we are offering a Reading Recap bundle for this month. Our October Reading Recap bundle is $47 and I think it's perfect quintessential fall reading. It includes Empire Falls. That's the Richard Russo Pulitzer winner. My Roommate is A Vampire, the kind of fantasy Halloween spooky book, but isn't so spooky that you can't read it in November. And Bluebird Bluebird, a great Texas book that is actually set in the Fall in Texas, which I also liked because Texas Fall looks a lot like Georgia Fall. So I felt like it was a fun one to read. It all felt very familiar to me. So Empire Falls, My Roommate is A Vampire and Bluebird Bluebird. You can find more details and the October bundle online through the link in our Shownotes or go to.
[00:26:54] This week, what I am reading is brought to you by Visit Thomasville. Fall is a wonderful time to see Thomasville, Georgia. If it's time to hit the road for a quick getaway, we are exactly what you're looking for. You can rekindle your spark, explore historical sites, indulge in dining out, shop at amazing independent stores, and finally relax and unwind. There's no better getaway than Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are just passing through, we hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia. It's worth the trip. Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGa.com. This is my favorite time of year. Even though things are starting to pick up at The Bookshelf and Soup Night is on the horizon and we have lots of festivities in the works, including a new Pen to Plate Dinner for our local listeners, local customers. I went for a walk yesterday and this time last year I was in New England and I was at Cheer Her On Weekend in the North Shore of Massachusetts. And it was beautiful and autumnal. And the leaves, I'll never forget just the sight of all those beautiful leaves. But yesterday on my little walk in Thomasville, I stumbled upon some beautiful red leaves and I thought, you know what? Fall comes here, too. And it is beautiful weather. The humidity is down, the sky is blue. This is why people live here. In case you were like, "Annie, why do you live somewhere where your doors don't shut four months out of the year?" Because of this. Because of all the fun things going on, because of city wide downtown trick or treating, because of Chicken Perlow coming up, because of Thomasville Entertainment Foundation, because of the upcoming Black History Museum gala. Like all of these things is why I live here. And this time of year you just walk outside your door, you just breathe a sigh of relief, like, "Oh, here it is. Here's why we live here." So it's a great time to visit. I hope you'll come see us.
[00:28:46] This week, I'm reading A Very Inconvenient Scandal by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Thank you again to our sponsor Visit Thomasville. Planning your visit at ThomasvilleGa.com
Annie Jones: From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website: bookshelfthomasville.com A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at:
Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Our Executive Producers of today’s episode are…
Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle Carl, Kate O'Connell, Kristin May, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stacy Laue, Chanta Combs, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell.
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, Susan Hulings
Annie Jones: 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. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have 3 levels of support - Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions, and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts, and giveaways. Just go to: patreon.com/fromthefrontporch We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.