Episode 449 || New Release Rundown: November
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie and Olivia are sharing the November releases they’re excited about to help you build your TBR. When you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order!
Are you ready to get in the holiday spirit? Cross everyone off your holiday shopping list at The Bookshelf’s super-popular virtual holiday events! 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 – You’ll find the perfect books to give everyone on your holiday shopping list: from your hard-to-buy-for dad, to your best friend who’s read everything, to your mother-in-law. Whether you’re shopping for friends and fam or a treat for you, Annie has tried-and-true recommendations!
Kid's Holiday Literary First Look ticket – You’ll find the perfect books to give the kids in your life this holiday season at our virtual Holiday Literary First Look for kids! From board book readers to middle-grade readers, our resident kids’ lit expert, Olivia, has tried-and-true recommendations. Plus, you’ll get first dibs on our Countdown to Christmas kids’ picture book bundles!
Holiday Market ticket – You’ll find unique, bookish gifts items for everyone on your holiday shopping list at our virtual Holiday Market! Annie will walk you through the delightful gift items she selected with you and yours in mind. Plus, you’ll get first dibs our Bookshelf Advent Calendar for adults!
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our website (type “Episode 449” into the search bar and tap enter to easily find the books mentioned in this episode):
Annie's books:
The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan (releases 11/7)
Dolls of Our Lives by Mary Mahoney and Allison Horrocks (releases 11/7)
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey (releases 11/28)
Olivia's books:
15 Secrets to Survival by Natalie D. Richards (releases 11/7)
The Professor by Lauren Nossett (releases 11/14)
The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell (releases 11/21)
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 Play for Me by Libby Hubscher. Olivia is reading Masters of Death by Olivie Blake.
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:
Annie Jones [00:00:01] [squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South. [music plays out].
[00:00:25] “And when you've spent a few minutes with a body that no longer houses a soul, so still and lifeless and empty, you really see it for what it is and how incredible it has been, no matter how it looks.” – Emma Grey, The Last Love Note
[00:00:41] [as music fades out]
I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf and Independent Bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week, I'm joined by Bookshelf Operations Manager Olivia to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in November. 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 8th, 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 8th, but it will also be recorded for viewing later. Tickets to the event include a PDF of the titles we discuss as well as the 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 9th at noon. Tickets to both of these events include the PDF as well as a discount code, and they're $15 a piece. They can be purchased through the link in our shownotes or by clicking events on the homepage of the Bookshelf's website. That's Bookshelfthomasville.com. Now, back to the show. Hi, Olivia.
Olivia [00:01:50] Hello.
Annie Jones [00:01:51] Welcome back. This is our last one of these. Not forever, just for the year.
Olivia [00:01:55] Don't scare the people, Annie.
Annie Jones [00:01:58] This is our farewell. JK.
Olivia [00:02:03] And we're out. End of 2023, everybody.
Annie Jones [00:02:09] This is our last new release. I still don't know. Rundown?
Olivia [00:02:14] I think it's rundown.
Annie Jones [00:02:15] Okay, This is our last New Release Rundown of the year. Because if you are a new listener or even if you're an old listener, maybe you just forgot, December is kind of a weird month for publishing. Where really nothing's happening because publishers want you to buy books they've already published and just kind of a nothing burger of a month, if that's okay to say.
Olivia [00:02:39] Yes, that is more than okay to say. A nothing burger.
Annie Jones [00:02:42] Yeah. You know, just kind of nothing.
Olivia [00:02:45] Two buns and maybe some ketchup.
Annie Jones [00:02:47] Actually, that is how I prefer my burger. No ketchup, though.
Olivia [00:02:51] I don't eat ketchup either.
Annie Jones [00:02:53] Nothing on it. How do you eat your burger?
Olivia [00:02:55] Well, I'll put lettuce and cheese on it.
Annie Jones [00:02:57] Okay. I don't do that.
Olivia [00:02:58] Okay.
Annie Jones [00:03:00] Meat and bread. When I go to Whataburger, it is-- what do they call it, plain?
Olivia [00:03:05] Do they do that? Because I feel like they always mess that up.
Annie Jones [00:03:08] No. You have to know what to say. Plain and dry.
Olivia [00:03:12] Okay. My bad. That's on me.
Annie Jones [00:03:15] Plain and dry. At Whataburger. Look, as we go through today's new release titles, a couple of things to keep in mind if you're a listener. First of all, November is also a slower publishing month, right? I think a lot of the big books are coming out on October, though.
Olivia [00:03:32] I feel like they're all coming out on October. There's a couple big hits in maybe at the very start of November.
Annie Jones [00:03:40] Yeah, but it's kind of a quiet month in and of itself. So November, December are just kind of unique months in publishing. It actually makes it really tricky. I don't know about you, but I am struggling to find a December Shelf Subscription this year.
Olivia [00:03:53] I got one.
Annie Jones [00:03:54] Oh crap. You got one?
Olivia [00:03:55] For the first time I'm ahead of you on this.
Annie Jones [00:03:59] Well, dang it. That's okay. I found one for February 2024.
Olivia [00:04:01] Are you kidding?
Annie Jones [00:04:04] No, I'm not. I am so excited. I also have one for July of 2024.
Olivia [00:04:08] Annie.
Annie Jones [00:04:10] But not the ones in between.
Olivia [00:04:12] Well, good luck with December.
Annie Jones [00:04:14] Yeah, I'm having a hard time with December. So listeners keep that in mind. That November and December are just different types of publishing months. But as with our other episodes, as we go through our November new releases, you can keep in mind that Erin has made browsing our podcast book selections super easy. You can go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and then type Episode 449 into the search bar and you'll see all of today's books that we've talked about, listed, ready for purchase or preorder. You can use the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and you'll get 10 percent off your order of any of today's titles. Okay. We are going to talk at the end of this episode about a very big release-- two big releases. We have thoughts and feelings about Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, and so we're going to talk about that at the end because both of us just have a couple of books to talk about really going back to just November being a unique publishing month. Okay. So I'll kick us off with a book called The Happy Couple. This is by Naoise Dolan. It's out next week on November 7th. This is a book that I have started to read. I've not finished it yet, but it was an Esme favorite. Esme is our full time inventory coordinator at The Bookshelf. Most of our in-store customers are very familiar with Esme. But Esme and I have a lot of taste overlap, honestly, just because Esme reads a lot of books y'all. Olivia, would you say she's our most prolific reader?
Olivia [00:05:46] Yes. She's also a sneaky reader.
Annie Jones [00:05:48] Yeah.
Olivia [00:05:48] She'll come back from the weekend and be like, "Oh, I read that." I'm just like, "When? But when did you read that? Because you also did like a home improvement project and went hiking."
Annie Jones [00:05:58] It must be because I watch exorbitant amounts of television and Esme is productive with her time. Because you're right, I asked her what she did this week and she was like, "Oh, I worked around the house, I did yard work." And then it's like she also finished three books. She's an audio book listener like Erin, but she also reads a physical copy. Does she read digitally? I've never asked her.
Olivia [00:06:21] No, she does not.
Annie Jones [00:06:23] Okay, then I have no excuse except I'm rewatching Gilmore Girls for the 11,000 time.
Olivia [00:06:28] Me too. And I have so many thoughts. I was actually talking to Lucy about them last night.
Annie Jones [00:06:33] Is Walt [sp] still watching?
Olivia [00:06:35] No. He has picked up in his busy season, and so it is just me now.
Annie Jones [00:06:40] Okay. That's why you're watching it so much probably.
Olivia [00:06:42] Lorelei, Rory, Jess, Luke, Christopher.
Annie Jones [00:06:45] Jess is back. I just texted Ashley and Caroline, they're who I texted about Gilmore Girls, and I said, "Just at your annual reminder," because I rewatch it almost annually, I said, "This your annual reminder that Dave Rygalski is the best Gilmore Girls boyfriend that existed, and this show did Lane wrong." I don't. They did Lane so wrong. Lane's boyfriend, Dave Rygalski.
Olivia [00:07:07] From the band?
Annie Jones [00:07:09] Yeah. Before she dated Zach, who I think is a giant loser. I'm sorry. No offense to Zach.
Olivia [00:07:15] An enormous loser.
Annie Jones [00:07:18] No offense. I just feel like that show did Lane so wrong, and then I'm not going to be weird about it. But I also texted my cousins and I was like, I just think just is the best kisser. I'm sorry I said what I said.
Olivia [00:07:30] I think so too. His angst is what gets me. I love his angstiness. But also I was talking to Lucy because I think the two unsung heroes of the show are Kirk and Sookie.
Annie Jones [00:07:42] Sookie I 100 percent agree. Kirk is very funny, but I think especially now knowing what we know maybe about Melissa McCarthy, but rewatching it, I just love Sookie and I want a Sookie. If anybody is listening locally and just wants to [inaudible]. We talked about this on the podcast didn't we? I used to just walk by the Paxton house thinking, don't you want to give me breakfast? And no one ever gave me breakfast.
Olivia [00:08:07] Weird that that never popped into anyone's head.
Annie Jones [00:08:10] Honestly, you know who's my Sookie? Walt. Walt Sookie. Only Walt brings ribs, and that's even better.
Olivia [00:08:18] He's going to love that. I just feel like they pop in with the perfect amount of quirkiness in the perfect time frame. Like you always are wanting more of them, and that's what you should get. I don't want more of Lorelai or Rory. I actually just want more of Sookie and Kirk.
Annie Jones [00:08:35] I don't know that I want more of Kirk. I have just enough Kirk.
Olivia [00:08:39] I want more of.
Annie Jones [00:08:40] I have just enough Kirk. But what I will say is Kirk is an icon, because any time I see a pedicab, I think of Kirk. Like, he does it all.
Olivia [00:08:49] He does it all.
Annie Jones [00:08:50] Everybody knows somebody. Like, if you live in a small town or even a neighbor, I just feel like you know somebody like Kirk, who has all the odd jobs, they do all the things. And then I think Sookie is a character with a lot of depth. It's an angsty episode, but I love the episode where she and Lorelai kind of get into a fight because they're trying to own this business together. And Sookie is like, I thought I was your maestro. I thought I was a chef. And Lorelai is mad at her because she's kind of flighty. And I love it. It feels very realistic to me.
Olivia [00:09:22] Kind of flighty.
Annie Jones [00:09:24] Yeah. I'm sorry. This isn't a Gilmore Girls Breakdown podcast.
Olivia [00:09:28] Barely
Annie Jones [00:09:29] I'm so sorry, but we could talk about this forever. I'm sorry, everybody. The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan. This is an Esme favorite. It might be for you if you like Irish wedding dysfunction. So if you like an Irish novel-- that seems very specific-- but if you like an Irish novel like Sally Rooney, and then you also like dysfunctional family drama. I think you could like this. Her first book, her debut, I believe, was Exciting Times, which I immediately was like, oh, yes, the toothbrush book. Like, the book with the two toothbrushes in the cup. But this book is about I think it's like five people. It's the groom, the bride, the best man, the sister of the bride and a wedding guest. I think that's it. And the chapters are each-- like the first chapter is the bride, the second chapter is the groom. So I already love the structure of it. But what is going to happen, it sounds like, is just a lot of we're not really sure the bride and groom are actually made for each other, like maybe they're just getting married. And this is immediately in the first couple of pages, you're like, why are these people getting married? It might just be that they feel like they should be getting married. And then you find out the groom's best man has a crush on him. The wedding guest had a former relationship with the bride, and so there's just a lot of drama. Olivia's eyeballs just got real big. There's a lot of drama.
Olivia [00:10:57] They're still big.
Annie Jones [00:10:58] And so I'm very intrigued. It's early days in this book for me, but I'm liking what I'm reading so far. Here's what I will say. So far, the characters aren't the most likable people I've ever met. So if you are looking for likable characters, I'm not sure this book will be for you. But if you're looking for like, confused-- I know we keep using the word angsty. Thank you, Jess. But like, angsty, lots of feelings and complications and a lot of dysfunction. I think this will be for you. So this is the Happy couple by Naoise Dolan. It's out next week on November 7th.
Olivia [00:11:34] Okay. In a very different turn of events, my next book is called Fifteen Secrets to Survival by Natalie D. Richards.
Annie Jones [00:11:43] Yeah, it is.
Olivia [00:11:46] Yeah. And this is a middle grade book, but it don't read into the title too much. This is about a group of these four kids who are best friends since they were babies. Well, their parents assumed they were best friends since they were babies. They were all in the same classes and everything. But the group grew apart and in a I think it was like a debate competition or a trivia competition that they were grouped together in, they got into a fight over a chat room that a teacher could see. And so they all got in trouble and their parents decided to send them to this eccentric uncle's house up in the mountains to learn survival skills to bring them together. But the uncle has decided that he's just going to leave them these clues, and if they can figure it out and get to the next location, like go over here and like set up a fire and you have to hike this mountain to do this. And he's like nearby the whole time. But then the clues kind of stop, and they were just like, here is our uncle, actually? And it turns out the uncle's in trouble. And now they have to figure out, like, follow the clues to get to the uncle's last location.
Annie Jones [00:12:58] That's cool.
Olivia [00:12:59] It was really fun. And not, like, super serious survival skills. More like funny-- I don't know what the word is. Funny skills.
Annie Jones [00:13:09] High jinks ensued.
Olivia [00:13:11] Thank you. There goes all the words in my head. It'd be great for the next two books.
Annie Jones [00:13:18] Well, you know what I like about that? Is it sounds original. Because you talk about a lot of middle grade books, and honestly even adult books where you start to feel like, oh, my gosh. And they're good books, but they do sound like the book I read last month. You know what I mean? This one sounds original.
Olivia [00:13:33] Yes. And you're never worried about the children. You're just like, oh, they'll make it. They'll make it. They'll be fine. And this uncle is a trip, so it was great.
Annie Jones [00:13:44] Well, that sounds delightful. What age?
Olivia [00:13:46] I would say eight and up. Yeah, it was great.
Annie Jones [00:13:49] Okay, listen, this is the book I'm most excited about, but I haven't read it. It is called Dolls of Our Lives by Mary Mahoney and Alison Horrocks. Hello, elder millennials. Get excited. This is a book about the American Girl Dolls. That's it. That's what this book is about. The publisher is describing it, and boy, do I hope it lives up to this blurb. The publisher is describing it as a book that combines history, travelogue, and memoir. And, wow, that's expecting a lot out of a book about American Girl dolls.
Annie Jones [00:14:20] But I'm here for it. The authors of this book are the hosts of the podcast Dolls of Our Lives, which, believe it or not, I have not listened to, though maybe now I will. But the book is about the impact of the American girl dolls on a generation of women. But not just the dolls, also really the culture of American Girl. American Girl Magazine. I follow a fantastic Instagram account called American Girl Women because I was a devoted American Girl subscriber for probably a decade of my life. And so it's very fun to see old pictures of the magazine covers and that kind of thing. But it talks about each doll, what their personality is, why we care, who we are. Meaning each woman identifies with an American Girl doll. I like to say I am a Molly wing Felicity. Anyway, were you into American Girls or you're too young? I don't know.
Olivia [00:15:18] No, I was going to say that's an all millennial thing. I had Molly.
Annie Jones [00:15:23] Okay. Love Molly. When I go to bed with my hair wet, I think about her.
Olivia [00:15:31] Yeah, me too.
Annie Jones [00:15:33] Do you remember where she, like, pinned up her curls? She was going to be in that competition.
Olivia [00:15:39] She had the two braids, yeah.
Annie Jones [00:15:39] Yeah, she had braids and she always wore braids. And for this competition, she was going to curl her hair. And so she put it up with bobby pins. I think about it all the time.
Olivia [00:15:47] Okay.
Annie Jones [00:15:48] Every time my hair's wet and I go to bed. Anyway, yeah, I loved the American Girl dolls and American Girl magazine in that culture. And so I think partly the travelogue comes from these women paid a visit to Colonial Williamsburg to see the roots of Felicity's character. I want to know if they do a deep dive into Pleasant Roland who ran Pleasant Company, like started and owned the company before Mattel bought American Girls. I have a lot of questions about that, and so I hope they go into that. But I am so excited about this book. It releases next week. If you are looking for a gift to give this holiday season, if you listen to this podcast and there's a woman in your life here, you're like, they remind me of Annie or they remind me of Olivia, I just think anybody would be happy to get this book under their tree. I think it sounds so fun to revisit something from our childhoods. So that's called Dolls of Our Lives by Mary Mahoney and Elizabeth and Allison Horrocks.
Olivia [00:16:42] For a second, I thought you were going to tell people to go buy an American Girl doll. And then I forgot we were on a book podcast. For the second time today, I forgot we were on a book podcast.
Annie Jones [00:16:53] Should we start a Gilmore Girls/American Girl podcast? Honestly, the content would be so easy to come up with.
Olivia [00:16:58] Oh, yeah. Wait, who did you have? Molly and Felicity?
Annie Jones [00:17:02] Okay, what I'm going to say is going to make me sound like I was a Samantha. But I want you to know that my parents worked very, very hard. And it was my Santa present. But people are going to hate me now. Kirsten was my first one.
Olivia [00:17:20] That was my sisters.
Annie Jones [00:17:23] See, I didn't have sisters also, y'all. I only had a brother, so I had Kiersten, Molly and Samantha, Felicity and Josefina. I had those five. Also, I played with dolls until I was 15, okay?
Olivia [00:17:39] Okay. All right. It's a different kind of person.
Annie Jones [00:17:43] Olivia's face! I don't know that I played with them until I was 15, but I did not pack them away till I was 15. I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. And my mom and I packed them up together while I cried because it was like the end of my childhood. And I felt it deeply. I had the American girl doll that looked like me.
Olivia [00:18:04] The list is still going.
Annie Jones [00:18:06] That was the last one I got, was the one that looks like me. I was not spoiled, believe it or not. It was my hard working middle class parents. They did so much for me. Anyway.
Olivia [00:18:21] So you were going into like a round two.
Annie Jones [00:18:24] No. The one that was like me was the last one I got. But I named her Annie Ruth, because that was my grandmother's name. And my grandmother made us matching outfits that looked just like the ones in the magazine. And it was very exciting. I have pictures. I have the sunflower hat. Do you remember the sunflower hat?
Olivia [00:18:40] Yeah, I do. I really do.
Annie Jones [00:18:41] Yeah, I had that. I didn't wear it, but my grandmother made it. I mean, my grandmother made stuff all the time, and you had to wear what your grandmother made you?
Olivia [00:18:49] Yeah. You want to hear how different our doll life was?
Annie Jones [00:18:54] How old were you when you packed yours up? Did you also cry?
Olivia [00:18:57] I honestly don't remember. But I do remember very shortly after getting my Molly doll, I was tossing her up and catching her by her arm, and her arm popped out, and we had to send her--
Annie Jones [00:19:09] Did you send her to American Girl Hospital?
Olivia [00:19:11] Yeah, but we didn't have a box big enough, so my mom folded her in half into those little box so that when they opened, it's just...
Annie Jones [00:19:18] Like a horror film like Chucky?
Olivia [00:19:21] I also cut her hair at one point.
Annie Jones [00:19:23] Did you really?
Olivia [00:19:24] I did. I'm so sorry. I regretted it.
Annie Jones [00:19:28] Yeah, it doesn't grow back.
Olivia [00:19:30] It doesn't grow back. Yeah. And like Barbie, you also shouldn't wash it.
Annie Jones [00:19:35] Did you wash your American Girl dolls hair? Oh, my gosh.
Olivia [00:19:39] Annie, I was a destructive little child.
Annie Jones [00:19:44] Oh, my gosh. I cannot. They were not collectibles to me. I definitely played with them. We played school with them. My brother was the principal. I was the teacher. I had a little doll bedroom in my bottom of my closet, like my uncle made a bed.
Olivia [00:20:02] How did you play school with him being the principal and you were the teacher? What interactions did you guys have?
Annie Jones [00:20:07] He just sat at his desk and I would come bring bad children to him to reprimand. Let me tell you something, when you have a brother-- you know you have brothers too.
Olivia [00:20:19] So much [inaudible].
Annie Jones [00:20:22] When you have brothers, you have to be creative about how we're going to play together. And he was willing to be the principal. We would play church and he was the preacher.
Olivia [00:20:35] I know.
Annie Jones [00:20:35] Anyway, it was fine. But what I will say, I do think American Girl Dolls just created such imaginations because I got the dolls, I assume we were fairly similar, like all the accessories and stuff we could not do. The Butterworth family did not really do. And so I would pine away at these catalogs, but then my grandmother would make the clothes or my uncle made my doll bed. And so with the girl that looked like me, they sold like instruments, like she could play an instrument. And and so, well, we couldn't afford that. It wasn't even just that we couldn't afford that, it was just like a no. Do you know what I mean? Like, no, we're not going to buy a clarinet for your doll.
Olivia [00:21:16] Because all this stuff was crazy expensive, like their outfits and stuff were ridiculous.
Annie Jones [00:21:21] Yes. Now, if you're listening to this and you had American Girl doll outfits, no shade to you because--
Olivia [00:21:26] No, honestly, props to you.
Annie Jones [00:21:28] Good for you. But I broke a Crayola black pencil in half and turned it into a clarinet and put it in a Clinique lipstick case was her clarinet case that she put in her backpack. And I was so proud of it that I designed a clarinet too.
Olivia [00:21:49] I mean, that's creative.
Annie Jones [00:21:52] It's the kind of problem solving that led to entrepreneurship for me, I believe.
Olivia [00:21:59] I one time attempted to make clothes for my Barbie dolls because we had a sewing machine up where we would do Barbies.
Annie Jones [00:22:08] Because you can sew.
Olivia [00:22:08] I can sew. Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:22:10] I think that's amazing. Olivia, that's amazing.
Olivia [00:22:14] Weirdly, a ballet life skill that was given to me.
Annie Jones [00:22:17] Yeah. I think that's so great. I sewed a little bit with my grandmother. I sewed a little quilt, but I don't think I could do it now without help. But, yeah, I think sewing clothes that's so important. What a valuable life skill you learned.
Olivia [00:22:32] Yeah. I mean, the clothes on a real sized human body is a very different thing.
Annie Jones [00:22:38] That's true. Barbie clothes are different.
Olivia [00:22:40] My senior project in high school was to make a leotard. And I presented a project where I gave them three failed samples and was like, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Annie Jones [00:22:52] Here you can see my progression. Here are my three attempts.
Olivia [00:22:56] Here are the steps you should take.
Annie Jones [00:23:01] These are my results.
Olivia [00:23:02] I passed, but...
Annie Jones [00:23:04] Well, good for you.
Olivia [00:23:05] Thank you.
Annie Jones [00:23:06] All right. Well, okay, before you go to your next book, what doll are you and wing?
Olivia [00:23:11] I still feel sure that I am a molly.
Annie Jones [00:23:15] I think that's true.
Olivia [00:23:16] Yeah. I don't know what my wing would be.
Annie Jones [00:23:19] I'm going to tell an Erin story without her being here. Did you know she dressed up and was Samantha during Victorian Christmas one year when she was young?
Olivia [00:23:27] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:23:27] Yes, because doesn't she look like Samantha? She's got that really dark hair. She and Lucy. Lucy looks like Samantha to me. I'm not saying they were Samantha's, but that's who they look like.
Olivia [00:23:37] Yes, I did like Samantha's outfit.
Annie Jones [00:23:39] Samantha had great outfits in the 1900s baby.
Olivia [00:23:42] Yeah, but my favorite part of Molly was that leather strap that carried her books.
Annie Jones [00:23:48] Oh, that was so cool.
Olivia [00:23:49] I know.
Annie Jones [00:23:51] That was so cool.
Olivia [00:23:52] I think a lot of my reasoning for picking Molly.
Annie Jones [00:23:54] We had JanSport backpacks.
Olivia [00:23:56] And her glasses.
Annie Jones [00:23:57] The glasses were really-- because it was like a whole extra accessory that just came with her.
Olivia [00:24:04] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:24:04] And Josefina came with earrings and it was like...
Olivia [00:24:06] That's right.
Annie Jones [00:24:07] And Josephine had really great hair.
Olivia [00:24:09] She did. I did like my sister's doll Kirsten. I got really jealous of because I liked the blond hair a lot.
Annie Jones [00:24:17] Yeah. You have Kirsten hair.
Olivia [00:24:20] Yeah. Well, and it was blonder when I was younger.
Annie Jones [00:24:23] Okay.
Olivia [00:24:24] Linley's stayed blonde, so good for her.
Annie Jones [00:24:29] I could talk about this for hours, but I suppose the people want us to talk about books. We'll continue. Please go on.
Olivia [00:24:38] All right. Round two of books. You did your second. That was your second.
Annie Jones [00:24:42] Yeah, I did.
Olivia [00:24:43] Okay. My next one is out October 17th. And this is The Professor by Lauren Nossett. I think this is just like a good academia novel for like winter season. It's set in Athens, Georgia, which I really liked. I don't know that the setting was a huge part of it, but it was just kind of fun knowing it was semi local. But it was about this student, Ethan, who was found dead in his apartment. And at first they thought it was just a straight overdose, but then there were clues to suggest that maybe it was homicide. And so they started looking at his teacher, Verena. I can't remember her last name. Because several students started talking about how Ethan and Verena were very close. And so they started looking at what was happening between them. The very first chapter is from Verena first day at that school. And you can tell she's like this very timid person who doesn't ever want to overstep. She never closes her office door because she knows that things like personal boundaries can get really mixed up in an academic setting. And so she's always been very careful about this. So then when it all comes out that Verena was taken in for questioning over Ethan's death, you're kind of confused because you're like, I actually don't think she did it. In walks this former detective, Marlitt, who has a pretty rough past with several detectives that she works with, and the is why she left. You kind of find out towards the end. But her mom works with Verena and asked Marlitt to start investigating this because she's sure that Verena is not responsible for this. So Marlitt essentially rents Ethan's old apartment in order to get close to his roommates and start investigating this whole murder mystery. It was pretty good.
Annie Jones [00:26:34] That part sounds like The Likeness, which is one of my favorite french novels.
Olivia [00:26:37] Oh, okay.
Annie Jones [00:26:39] Did you read this author's first book? Lauren Nossett's first book.
Olivia [00:26:43] No, I think I did.
Annie Jones [00:26:44] I did and I liked it. It's a satisfying detective book. And so I just downloaded this audiobook. I think I'm going to give it a go.
Olivia [00:26:53] Okay. Well, let me know what you think. The whole middle of it was so fun and so good. I loved her detective part of it. Yeah, it was great.
Annie Jones [00:27:03] All right. I'm going to report back on that one. Okay. My last book is the book that I led the episode with. It is The Last Love Note by Emma Grey. This is out at the end of the month, November 28th. This is a book published by Zibby Books. I feel like I've just been pointing out their books because they're a new publishing imprint. And so I'm interested to see their trajectory. But this is one of those simultaneous paperback and hardcover releases. We have feelings about those as booksellers, but I guess if you prefer paperback or prefer hardback, lucky you, you get to choose. This book is the front very much looks like women's fiction. You maybe might think, is this a romcom? This is not. This is this women's fiction/romance/drama about a woman named Kate. Kate is about my age. And immediately you know she was married and her husband died. And now she has a young son and she and her boss, Hugh, are going on a business trip. This is all on the blurb in the back of the book. I would argue it takes us a while to get to this point in the book itself. But the blurb describes this where she and Hugh were going on a business trip and there are a series of unfortunate events that means Hugh and Kate are kind of stranded away from home. And the whole book you definitely know, well, Hugh is probably going to be a love interest of some kind.
[00:28:34] And I would like to state how much I loved Hugh and also how complicated my feelings were about a boss and an employee thing. I just had some questions that mostly Emma Grey answers fairly satisfactorily. But just as a heads up, that's going on here. Mostly though, as much as I loved Hugh and I appreciated their sweet, slow romance, really this is a book about grief. The front of the book makes it seem like you're getting a fun Australian vacation novel. And I'm just here to say that this book is beautiful and deeply sad about loss and life after loss. And Kate in the book adored her husband. They had a wonderful marriage. It was not without its issues. I don't think this is spoiling it, but I'll just say Kate's husband had an illness and I won't tell what it is, but that was deeply moving and Kate's caregiving was deeply moving. And then you get to the author's note, because, of course, there's an author's note and you realize that Emma Grey has her own story that's a little bit similar to Kate's story, and that adds a really personal element to this book. So I really liked this book. I just feel like you should know what you're getting and what you're getting is more a P.S I Love You situation, if you're familiar with that book or movie than, for example, 50 First Dates or something. I want the people to know what they're getting. And I think this book is lovely, but it is really bittersweet. It's a really bittersweet book. So it's called The Last Love Note by Emma Grey, and it is out at the end of the month on November 28th.
Olivia [00:30:19] Okay. My last book I'm very excited about. It's called The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell. And this one is out October 21st.
Annie Jones [00:30:28] November 21st. I'm so sorry. I think you said October before.
Olivia [00:30:34] I was going to say I'm pretty sure that I did.
Annie Jones [00:30:38] Sorry everybody, it's November.
Olivia [00:30:41] This is news to Olivia. This is going to be a jarring month. This is like the epitome of rich people behaving badly. Murder mystery. I loved. I thought it was great. And it starts out lighter and then ends up on a fairly dark note, but that's okay. I think Annabel Monaghan was talking about how she loves a novel about rich people behaving badly. And I actually think she would love this one.
Annie Jones [00:31:05] Yes. Okay, Annabel, if you're listening.
Olivia [00:31:09] Annabel, if you're here, it's called The Other half by Charlotte Vassell. It has so many just great characters, and it starts out with this guy Rupert. And you kind of learn from the people around Rupert that no one really likes Rupert. When you meet him, he is organizing his own birthday party, and he goes into a McDonald's and rents out the entire upstairs, the entire McDonald's essentially for a black tie event to celebrate his birthday. Because he thought it would be funny to have all of these rich people black tie in a McDonald's.
Annie Jones [00:31:43] Honestly, Rupert, I kind of love it. Rupert invite me to your party.
Olivia [00:31:49] Right. But he's pretty rude to the waitstaff.
Annie Jones [00:31:52] Oh, okay. No, I don't now.
Olivia [00:31:54] We don't like Rupert, Annie.
Annie Jones [00:31:56] Okay.
Olivia [00:31:57] And so you meet two of his friends that show up who are kind of dating. But Rupert wants to get with the girl, and she's just kind of like, no, because bad things have happened between them before. And they keep being like, Rupert, where is your girlfriend? Because he has a girlfriend and she has decided just not to show up to this birthday party, which is a real statement in their world. And then we find out in the next chapter,, this is not a spoiler that she was found dead.
Annie Jones [00:32:25] Of course.
Olivia [00:32:26] Yes. In walks this Detective Caius, I believe his name is. I did look that up. I'm pretty sure that's the correct pronunciation.
Annie Jones [00:32:35] Okay.
Olivia [00:32:36] But we're really trying here. And Caius he just recently had this huge breakup with his girlfriend. Since then, he's turned into this health nut. He's on this health kick, and all the detectives that are working with him are kind of joking with him about it because they'll go out to get a burger and there's Caius with a green drink. And he's just really rubbing it in everyone's face and he's having a hard time. And so he starts investigating this murder and he is like one of the most likable characters I've met in a long time in a murder mystery where I was just like, honestly, if she continues, I don't think this is going to be a series. But as she continues with that detective, I will read it because I really liked him.
Annie Jones [00:33:22] Okay. You would follow him.
Olivia [00:33:22] I would follow him. He was great. But chaos ensues. And rich people do what rich people do. And it was a fun, as Annie would say, romp of a novel.
Annie Jones [00:33:37] I do love a romp. This sounds delightful. I think I might read this one too
Olivia [00:33:40] It was great. I thought it was great.
Annie Jones [00:33:42] Okay. And then, look, probably the biggest book in our corner of the world and probably yours too, though you may not realize it, is the release of Iron Flame which releases-- does it release on the seventh?
Olivia [00:33:54] It releases on the seventh.
Annie Jones [00:33:55] Release is on the seventh. This is the sequel to Fourth Wing. Since I talked about Fourth Wing however many months ago-- when was it, July? It was market? I read it at market.
Olivia [00:34:06] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:34:06] As a staff-- I'm trying to think. Has everybody but Esme read it? Esme and Nancy.
Olivia [00:34:11] Esme is currently reading it.
Annie Jones [00:34:12] Esme is reading it?
Olivia [00:34:14] Esme is currently reading it.
Annie Jones [00:34:15] Okay. So Nancy's the only one.
Olivia [00:34:17] Keila convinced her.
Annie Jones [00:34:18] Keila can convince. I told Keila I used to think Keila was the person who was most susceptible to a cult. And now I'm thinking that Keila is the most likely to start a cult because she can convince anybody of anything. I asked Esme one week ago. I said, "Are you going to read Fourth Wing?" Nah, I don't think I'm going to read it. That was a week ago, and now she's reading it.
Olivia [00:34:40] Apparently, Keila guilted her into it, so I don't know what was said. But she's listening to it, I think.
Annie Jones [00:34:48] Okay. So now everybody but Nancy, I think.
Olivia [00:34:51] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:34:51] So we've all read it. We all liked it. I think the consensus, like the Venn diagram, the middle of the Venn diagram, was this is fun.
Olivia [00:35:00] It was enjoyable.
Annie Jones [00:35:01] Yeah, this is fun. This is fun to read in a group or along with the masses. That's whether you liked the writing or didn't like the writing or liked the romance or didn't like the romance. The consensus seems to be this was fun. And so it was. It was fun. As a bookseller, would you describe the Fourth Wing and Iron Flame experiences as fun?
Olivia [00:35:25] Honestly, no. I think the first release of the first book started out as like, what's this? And then it was like, oh gosh, we don't have any and we can't get any. And then that was stressful and then we just kind of resigned to this is what we have because this is what everybody else says. And then the second one felt pretty straightforward.
Annie Jones [00:35:47] Yeah. We thought we were now ahead of the game, so we were behind the eight ball-- whatever the phrase is. We were behind in July, but we knew Iron Flame the sequel was releasing in November. We knew we needed to order special editions. It all has to do with these black spread edges, y'all. People love a special book. Which I get. Books are works of art, whatever. And so we were so proud. I was so proud. I was like, we're going to be prepared. And then what happened?
Olivia [00:36:19] Well.
Annie Jones [00:36:21] Well, we went viral on TikTok, first of all.
Olivia [00:36:24] We went viral on TikTok and then got shamed. It felt like.
Annie Jones [00:36:31] Yes. This is not my Michael Scott apology video. But there isn't an apology to make. We were fine, everybody. There was no affidavit. There was no embargo.
Olivia [00:36:41] Yeah, we didn't sign anything. No one told us we couldn't post anything. We did our jobs in a very timely manner.
Annie Jones [00:36:48] That's right. Olivia, Erin and Keila bused it. Keila saw it on TikTok. And then Olivia and Erin immediately said, "We got to put this online so people will buy it." And they did that.
Olivia [00:36:58] I immediately placed an order for them.
Annie Jones [00:37:00] Yeah, immediately placed an order. And this wasn't even for Iron Flame. I'm sorry, I should state. This is for Fourth Wing special edition, which also releases November 7th.
Olivia [00:37:14] Because why not?
Annie Jones [00:37:16] Which I just am like, y'all, why? What are you trying to do? Let us have something. So Iron Flame really is not a problem. We've ordered enough of those. We feel good about that.
Olivia [00:37:29] Yes, we have more than enough.
Annie Jones [00:37:31] Fourth Wing special edition has been a--
Olivia [00:37:35] Headache?
Annie Jones [00:37:35] Dragon of a problem.
Olivia [00:37:36] Okay. Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:37:40] Do you know the phrase I used for Lisa yesterday and I wrote it on this post it note was beautiful nightmare?
Olivia [00:37:50] I was going to say a mad cat battle.
Annie Jones [00:37:53] I said, "Lisa, this has been a beautiful nightmare, because on the one hand, proud of publishing. Good for you guys. You found a successful book and you're selling it. Proud of you. On the downside, you didn't print enough. And we're sitting here not knowing if we're going to get enough, quite frankly."
Olivia [00:38:10] Yeah. Which is terrifying, everyone. If you're wondering how we're feeling.
Annie Jones [00:38:15] It's the worst. I have already told the staff this, but I told Jordan, "How would you feel if you did your job correctly, but now your hands are tied behind your back and you might not be able to do the job you said you were going to do?" Like, only through no fault of your own. I mean, it would be awful, but it would almost be better if it was like, "Our bad, guys."
Olivia [00:38:35] Just to give the people a glimpse to of how much energy are we really putting into this? Like just a couple emails and phone calls? This was 16 hours of my week. Sixteen hours was trying to figure out if we're going to get books, which is crazy.
Annie Jones [00:38:57] Sixteen and counting, yeah. So if you ordered Fourth Week from us in the melee that was our brief-- we were Icarus. We flew too close to the sun. Our brief moment of TikTok fame. We hope we're going to get your book to you, but we're also still waiting. As of this recording, we are still waiting for information.
Olivia [00:39:19] As of this recording, we have two separate orders-- three. We have ordered them from three separate places in order to try to secure your lovely books.
Annie Jones [00:39:29] The books that you ordered and that we want you to get because we want you to know that small businesses can do a good job. What I will just say, and this is-- I don't know, are we spilling tea? I don't know. I don't want to spill any more tea. But I do just want to say that your favorite independent or small bookstore has no idea how many copies of this book they're getting.
Olivia [00:39:50] None of them do.
Annie Jones [00:39:51] No one we have talked to knows how many copies of this book they're getting. You know who I think is pretty confident of how many books they are getting or have already gotten? Amazon. That is what is infuriating to me. That's what's infuriating. That Amazon I think still has it up for preorder on their site as of this recording.
Olivia [00:40:09] Yeah, but we had to stop sales because we aren't sure of our copies but they are out there still selling at a 40 percent discount.
Annie Jones [00:40:19] At a 40 percent discount, which by the way y'all, that's wholesale. That's what we pay wholesale.
Olivia [00:40:24] My palms are sweaty. Also, I would also like to remind everybody, last note, is that this is book one of five.
Annie Jones [00:40:34] Do you think by book three, four or five, do you think they'll-- and, listen, I will say what our publisher told us is that the imprint responsible for Fourth Wing really had no idea that it was going to take off the way it did. Now, I would argue that book two they kind of knew.
Olivia [00:40:53] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:40:54] Because truly nobody can really predict what TikTok is going to love, what the masses are going to love. I read Where the Crawdads Sing a year before it released and could not have predicted the success of Where the Crawdads Sing. And you just don't know what's going to hit people just right. So I feel for the imprint. But for book two, I would have thought they know. And I think they did. I've not had issues. I don't think you've had issues with ordering Iron Flame.
Olivia [00:41:19] No. If anything, we've actually got offered more.
Annie Jones [00:41:22] Which is like who decided a special edition was necessary, would be my question.
Olivia [00:41:29] Capitalism. They stepped in and they were just like...
Annie Jones [00:41:34] And that's our podcast. Thank you so much to capitalism. Because that feels like where the mess has now come from. But it would be my hope that by the time books three or four or five come out, we'll have this down to a science. But we sure did think we were going to be in better shape in November, and I don't I don't know. I don't know if we are.
Olivia [00:41:56] Who's to say?
Annie Jones [00:41:58] Who's to say. So there's the Tea. Those are our November books. You can preorder any of those or order those from our website Bookshelfthomasville.com. Use code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10 percent off your order of today's titles. This week, what I'm 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 historic 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.
[00:42:47] So this week I showed Olivia my planner for in a couple of weeks, and she started to laugh. And I was like, "There's nothing even on here. What's you laughing at?" And I looked. And there taped to my planner were my Chicken Perlow tickets. Which is what I want to tell you all about today. One of my favorite fall things to do in Thomasville is Chicken Perlow. If you are not familiar, I assume it's like a French Cajun Southern tradition. I'm not sure of its origins. Am I making that up? It might not be French, don't answer that. I don't know. It's a Southern tradition. I grew up going to Chicken Perlow in a tiny little town in Florida, and now the Thomasville History Center does Chicken Perlow every election night. And I love this for two reasons. Chicken perlo is just chicken and rice cooked in like a big old cauldron. That's what it is. Outside with paddles. And I don't even love rice that much, but I love chicken perlo and I love the atmosphere and I love sitting outside and eating chicken and rice that's been cooked outside. The other reason I love it is because I think we all know now more than ever that election seasons are really divisive and intense and stressful. And I love that in our small town we have to sit next to somebody at Chicken Perlow who maybe we voted differently from and we're kind of forced into close proximity. And I love it.
[00:44:08] I love the grace that it requires to eat chicken and rice outside with people who think differently from you. And so if you're planning a trip to Thomasville, maybe you're nearby in Tallahassee or Albany or Valdosta, I would encourage you to buy a chicken perlo plate and to come to Thomasville on November 7th. There's also fun stuff happening with the Thomasville Entertainment Foundation that night, so it's just going to be a fun night in Thomasville and it's a fun Fall thing. So that's on November 7th. And I couldn't read an ad without talking about chicken perlo.
[00:44:37] This week I'm listening to Play for Me by Libby Hubscher. Olivia, what are you reading?
Olivia [00:44:43] I'm reading Masters of Death by Olivia Blake.
Annie Jones [00:44:47] Thank you again to our sponsor Visit Thomasville, 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 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:
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Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle Carl, Kate O'Connell, Kristin May, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stacy Laue, Chanta Combs, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell
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