Episode 414 || New Release Rundown: March
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie and Olivia are sharing March releases they’re excited about to help you build your TBR.
Don’t forget, if you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, you can enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our website:
Annie's picks:
Farewell Tour by Stephanie Clifford (March 7)
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson (March 7)
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez (March 7)
Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal (March 7)
Women are the Fiercest Creatures by Andrea Dunlop (March 7)
When in Rome by Liam Callanan (March 14)
Olivia's picks:
The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell (March 7)
My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron (March 7)
The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner (March 7)
Link + Hud by Jarrett & Jerome Pumphrey (March 7)
Leeva At Last by Sara Pennypacker (March 7)
Bea and the New Deal Horse by L M Elliott (March 28)
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 Annie is reading Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman (currently unavailable to order). Olivia is reading Leeva At Last by Sara Pennypacker.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
Our Executive Producers are...Donna Hetchler, Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle C, Kate O’Connell, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, and Laurie Johnson.
Transcript:
Annie Jones [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.
[00:00:25] "But here's the thing, Mullen pressed on. I loved you, but what I really saw was how loved you were, how you had this amazing family. Parents who would do anything for you. A mom who took you to buy the clothes you wanted for a dance. A dad who coached your softball team. You had friends. You had so much love surrounding you that it was easy for you to share it." Jenny Jackson, Pineapple Street.
[00:00:50] I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week, I'm joined by Bookshelf Floor manager, Olivia Schaffer to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in March. Do you love listening to From the Front Porch every week? Spread the word by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone. Look for from the front porch. Scroll down until you see 'Write a Review' and tell us what you think. Here's a recent review from Amanda from NOLA:
[00:01:25] “The foundation of my podcast library. I can't tell you the number of times I refer to this podcast monthly. I love Annie's vibe and have Thomasville on my short list of places to visit in 2023.”
[00:01:34] Thank you, Amanda. I hope you get to come visit Thomasville this year. And thank you to all of the reviewers who've left kind words and thoughtful reviews over the last few months. We're so grateful any time you share from the front porch with your friends. Thank you for spreading the word about our podcast and also our bookstore. Now, back to the show. Hi, Olivia.
Olivia [00:01:52] Hey.
Annie Jones [00:01:53] Welcome back. It's almost March. Can you believe it?
Olivia [00:01:56] No. But also, yes.
Annie Jones [00:02:01] Well, it's about it's going to be 80 degrees here today. So, in that sense, I'm like, might as well be March.
Olivia [00:02:06] I just feel like February as the shortest month has felt so long.
Annie Jones [00:02:11] It's felt so full. We were talking off air. There's just been so much crammed into February, I think.
Olivia [00:02:17] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:02:18] Reader Retreat. Sidewalk Sale. Little Women Book Club conclusion. It's just been a lot of stuff. And so, I am ready for March because for some reason I-- and I feel like I should knock on wood-- but I do feel like March feels like it should be calmer than January and February were. Is that true?
Olivia [00:02:37] Yes. I don't want to give you a warning, but you do have Literary Lunch at the end of that month. But other than that huge event...
Annie Jones [00:02:49] Other than that really big thing that you've got to read 25 books for, it's fine.
Olivia [00:02:53] I don't want to be that person. But yes, it should be calm. What do they say in like a storm out like a sunny day?
Annie Jones [00:03:04] Wait, what is that?
Olivia [00:03:05] In like a lion, out like a lamb.
Annie Jones [00:03:06] That's it. Except February was our lion, I feel like. Right?
Olivia [00:03:11] Yeah. I mean, January was really the lion.
Annie Jones [00:03:14] Yeah. January and February have been so full. All of those events, plus point of sale changes, website changes, inventory.
Olivia [00:03:23] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:03:24] When I say it out loud, I realized...
Olivia [00:03:28] That march will be a breeze.
Annie Jones [00:03:30] Right. I do think March is going to be easier. March Madness, which is super fun.
Olivia [00:03:33] Yes. Oh, I'm so looking forward to that! Yeah. I do think we're going to have a good time. Yes, I always forget about March Madness and I'm so happy when it's here and I don't watch basketball.
Annie Jones [00:03:45] I know, you don't even care. But it's so fun. We do care as a staff.
Olivia [00:03:50] Yes, that's the part I love, the camaraderie around it.
Annie Jones [00:03:53] Yes. I know this also sounds strange because we are a bookstore, but it's not affected by books or bookselling. We don't to order books for it. It's not an event. It's literally we print brackets, hang them up and compete. And it's delightful. I love it.
Olivia [00:04:10] I love it. And then I get to pick what you and Jordan battle out in that podcast. And that is also one of my favorite things that I get to do.
Annie Jones [00:04:19] Coming up, it's on my list of things to tell you we need. So...
Olivia [00:04:24] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:04:25] Good things are coming. March has a lot of books. The good news is I read a lot of these. I didn't even know I was reading a lot of March releases, but I guess I was. Before we go into the books we want to highlight releasing in March, I want listeners to keep in mind that online sales manager Erin has made browsing our podcast book selections so easy-- easier than ever. You can obviously use the search bar and you can type in the names of the books we talk about. You can use show note links, but you can also go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and just type Episode 414 into the search bar and then you'll see all of today's books listed right there ready for you to purchase. You can also use code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and that'll get you 10% off your order of today's titles. If you decide to preorder any of these things, use NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and that'll get you 10% off. Okay. I'm going to start off with a book that I have not read, but it is on my TBR and I have had the ARC for months. And I just have not gravitated towards it, but I'm going to now that I know it's really releasing on March. The release date changed a little bit. So now that I know it's coming out sooner rather than later, I'm going to dive in. It is Farewell Tour by Stephanie Clifford. This book releases on March 7th. The reason I really am highly anticipating this one is because years ago, I want to say, in a pre-2016 landscape Stephanie Clifford wrote a book called Everybody Rise and I adored it. It was such a good kind of fish out of water story about a young woman who had graduated from like a prestigious university. She moved to New York City to be with all of her friends. Only they all had a lot of money, came from money, came from privilege, and had no trouble affording rent in New York City and had no trouble affording the things that they wanted. And she didn't have those things, but was very much living above her means. It was wonderfully stressful. I read the book with my mouth agape about that character. And so, that's a great backlist title called Everybody Rise.
[00:06:32] Stephanie Clifford had not written anything in a long time. And so, when I saw that this was coming out, I got very excited. It is a big departure from Everybody Rise, in that this is about a former country music singer. I don't even know. When we read Davy Jones and the Six, a lot of people were like, oh, it's Stevie-esque. I don't know the equivalent of this because part of me is like, oh, is this a Dolly Parton-esque character? But it's really not because this woman who's at the heart of farewell tour is someone who has kind of fallen out of fame and fallen out of favor with the country music audience. And she's going on one last tour almost to try to rehabilitate her image, to bring her back in the forefront of the culture. She's kind of been on the outskirts for a while, and so she's almost trying to bring people back to her, almost like an aging rock star or aging musician kind of story. And so, I'm interested in the book with an older protagonist. I'm also interested in books. I think post Daisy Jones and the six, wondering what authors do with books like this. We got a book shortly after Daisy Jones called Opal and Nev. And so, I do think we're getting some books like this, but I'm curious, this one does look like it's going to be a little bit different kind of about this last tour, this farewell tour. And I have high hopes, and I think that's part of the reason. Remember when Vanishing Half came out and I put off reading it because I was, like, I loved the mother so much that I just didn't want to be disappointed by Brit Bennett. And then, good news, I was not disappointed by Brit Bennett. But I think that's why I've put off reading this one, because I loved Stephanie Clifford's first book so much that I've hesitated. But don't worry, everybody. Truly, after this podcast. And after I get done my work for the day, this is the book I'm going to pick up and try. So, this is Farewell Tour. It's by Stephanie Clifford, out on March 7th.
Olivia [00:08:30] I read this book awhile back, The Writing Retreat, which Esmie [sp] is reading right now and loving. And in it they have a group of women who all have to come up with a plot and they write it in a month. And the one woman writes about it's like a movie star or someone who is in the limelight at one point and now is going through this thriller esque plot happening. And the head of the retreat, if you will, the amount of times that we've talked about retreats with [crosstalk]. It's just like don't use that plot because people who are like famous are so hard to write about because it's so easy to make them 2D. It's so hard to add depth to their life. And I think about that all the time because there's a lot of plots with famous people in them, and it is really hard to make them a three dimensional character.
Annie Jones [00:09:24] Yes, it is. And I think some authors don't do a good job. I do think that's one of the reasons Daisy Jones stuck with people so much, because I think she was a really fully fleshed character that we also got in this oral history perspective, which I think helped. But a lot of romcoms right now are dealing with like a famous person dates a normal person. And so, we're getting that a lot. And I do think it is hard. I can think of a book that I read recently that did not do a great job of that. That made the celebrity character kind of this perfect seeming two dimensional. And I think it's one of the reasons I didn't enjoy the book.
Olivia [00:10:02] But this one sound like it would actually work because it sounds like a more serious plotline. Or it's like a romcom, or a mystery element would be harder because you're not going into a whole lot of character development.
Annie Jones [00:10:13] That's right. I think you're right. I think this book is about her, and so I'm excited for it.
Olivia [00:10:17] Yeah, this was a terrible segue into my next book. My next one is my first one, it's The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell. This is her debut novel, and it's out March 7th. And it was so much fun. It was about this woman who was like, not the Julia Child, but like maybe the Mary Berry of the baking world for America. And she owns this huge family mansion where she grew up. She was written so many cookbooks and now she started the show Bake Week, very similar to the Great British Baking Show. But it's just one week. I think the baking show is like four weeks or something.
Annie Jones [00:11:00] Yeah, it lasts a long time.
Olivia [00:11:01] Yeah, because they do by week. It's like bread week, cake week. Yeah. This one is bread day, cake day, pastry day. And the book is split up in that way too. So, you're, like, "All right, we're starting Bread Day."
Annie Jones [00:11:15] Okay, that's fun.
Olivia [00:11:16] And the very first thing you get is like these little blurbs about the six contestants that are in this show. And so, you get to pick through the contestants and you make your guesses off the bat of like, oh, who's going to die-- at least, I do.
Annie Jones [00:11:38] I was going to say, I don't know if people so far would have guessed that this was a mystery. But in case you're wondering, this is a mystery thriller. But we don't just go into the Great British Baking Show thinking people are going to die off.
Olivia [00:11:53] I heard it as I said it, but I couldn't stop it before it came out. This is a murder mystery. Sorry. Before you meet the contestants, you find out someone has died in the tent. And then you meet the contestants and you're like, oh, who's going to do it? Who is going to die?
Annie Jones [00:12:12] Yes.
Olivia [00:12:14] The format of this book, the way you split it up between the days, the baking days, and then each chapter is headed off by one of the contestants telling their day and the setting of it being in this mansion and then in this baking tent was just so fun. It's a light hearted mystery for sure. But it's so much fun because every day someone gets sabotaged, too. And I think one day they switched the salt and sugar. Another day some guy brought his orange sirup from home and they put vinegar in it or something.
Annie Jones [00:12:48] This is how we know it's an American baking show.
Olivia [00:12:52] In so many ways. They were out to win in the most hardcore way too.
Annie Jones [00:12:57] The American way.
Olivia [00:13:00] I was like there is no lighthearted camaraderie happening here, especially after a death occurs.
Annie Jones [00:13:06] You have read this. Erin has read this. Do I need to read this? This sounds like it would be fun to get out of a reading slump.
Olivia [00:13:14] Yes. This is a perfect reading slump book. I would say if you're just looking for something that you just need something fun and light that you can just lie through in the middle of reading maybe heavier things, this is that perfect book for you.
Annie Jones [00:13:27] Because a lot of the books I've read lately have just been heavier or issues heavy. And that's great. That's what I read a lot. But sometimes I would like to read something where somebody just gets murdered in a tent.
Olivia [00:13:43] Love it.
Annie Jones [00:13:44] It just would be fun.
Olivia [00:13:46] Yeah. It's a really good one. Fun, light read.
Annie Jones [00:13:49] Okay. My next book is Pineapple Street. This is by Jenny Jackson. It releases on March 7th. I read this book months ago because it sounded right up my alley, and it was. It's got a gorgeous cover. It's about a dysfunctional family. Years ago, there was this book called The Nest that I liked, but the world loved. It was super popular and I liked it, but I wanted a little bit more. And I think this does a good job of that. So, The Nest or the Sweet Spot which just came out by Amy Poeppel. If you like those kinds of books, here's the next one that you could read. I also think it's going to be-- is this a spoiler? I don't know. It's a Good Morning America book club pick, I believe. I think it's already been announced, so I feel comfortable saying that.
Olivia [00:14:37] [Crosstalk] by the time this comes out.
Annie Jones [00:14:40] It comes out a week, a few days later.
Olivia [00:14:42] Oh, well, sorry Jenna.
Annie Jones [00:14:46] It's not Jenna. That's my other thing.
Olivia [00:14:49] Oh, great.
Annie Jones [00:14:50] It's a book club that doesn't even have a name. And so, it feels like one of the lesser known book clubs. I feel fine about saying that. Anyway, basically, it's about this very wealthy family who lives in New York, I think maybe in Brooklyn Heights or something. Pineapple Street is a recognizable street in this part of the city. And I noticed, boy, y'all better get ready, because almost every book coming out in March that I'm going to talk about features three female characters and rotates among their narrations and storylines. And the same is true of Pineapple Street. You have Darley, Sasha and Georgiana Darley is the eldest child and she was the one who was born with money. Sasha married the middle son of this family, so she is the one who married into this money. And then Georgiana is like the millennial gen-z conscience of the family who wants to give all the money away. So, it's all about this super wealthy family, this home they own on Pineapple Street and who gets to live there, and all of their complicated relationships. Darley is the eldest. She was born with money, but she married an immigrant, I believe. And then they decided to kind of forfeit. Basically, her family told her if you marry this person, you're going to forfeit your trust. So, she forfeited her trust. Sasha married in to the family. She married the only son because he's the only son. He gets the house. She doesn't know if she even wants the house. She did not grow up with money, so that's complicated. And then Georgiana definitely has access to all of the privilege and things that money can buy, but also has a very idealistic view and wants to 'give away' all of her money. But does she really? Does she know what that would be like? It's really an interesting look at class dynamics. It's an interesting look at wealth. While at the same time, sometimes with a book like this, with super wealthy characters, it's hard to like anybody-- or at least maybe that's just me. But I actually found everybody to be really interesting and likable and complex, and all of their relationships were really interesting. I really liked this book. And I think if you liked Flight by Lynne Steger Strong that came out over Christmas, I think if you like books like that where it's these families trying to figure out new family dynamics because this middle son, only son, has moved into the family homestead and what are they all supposed to do with that? I don't know. I really liked it. I think people who like this kind of book will enjoy this. It's Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, and it comes out on March 7th.
Olivia [00:17:37] My next one is My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron. Again, out March 7th. These are almost all out March 7th, except the big ones. Huge release date.
Annie Jones [00:17:48] Big release day. Agreed.
Olivia [00:17:50] I think a lot of people know Kalynn Bayron from her young adult book, This Poison Heart. And then there's the second one, this Wicked Fate or something. And then I know her from the Vanquisher, which was that middle grade novel about the vampires in suburbia.
Annie Jones [00:18:07] Oh, yeah.
Olivia [00:18:07] Which I really loved because there is something about this author's writing that, like, it's so readable. And I was talking to Keila about this too, where you jump into the story and I think she's just very concise with her setting and her characters where you get to know them right off the bat from one sentence and you're just, like, all right, easy to picture. I'm already in this story. And she did the same thing with this. This is a part of McMillan's remixed classics, which I think you read The Little Women one.
Annie Jones [00:18:40] I did. I loved it.
Olivia [00:18:42] They have a ton of them. Well, this is the sixth one, so not like a ton but they're still doing them.
Annie Jones [00:18:47] Yes.
Olivia [00:18:49] And this one is a remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Which was a book that I also really enjoyed in high school. So, I was excited for this one. And she twists it. So, it starts with a boy, Henry, who's going to medical school, but he is black, entering this world where they don't think that he should be a doctor, and so the school tries to route him down to the morgue. I can't think of the name. The person who after they're dead does the--
Annie Jones [00:19:24] The caretaker? The person who does the autopsy? The medical examiner? I don't know.
Olivia [00:19:31] I got so far into that and then just completely blanked. But you were able to take that one over for me. Thank you.
Annie Jones [00:19:40] Here to help.
Olivia [00:19:41] But while staying at this house where a lot of other black kids stayed, who go to the school because they're not allowed to stay on campus, he meets-- I forgot his first name, but his last name is Jekyll. And they hit it off right off the bat. There's like a really cute little romance. And then all of a sudden, Jekyll just disappears. He gives him like a really quick I can't do this anymore and just disappear. Suddenly, this kid named Hyde comes out and he keeps going into Jekyll's house and all these weird things keep happening. It was so good. I just thought it was so great. And this was actually one of my first classic remixes that I read, which now is a shame because there's so many out, but I think there's a couple of really good ones coming out as well. I think they're doing a Secret Garden one this year. They're doing a Romeo and Juliet at some point, so there's a lot of good ones, but they've already done Withering Heights, Robin Hood, Treasure Island, all featuring diverse authors and characters. So, it's a really great series and I'm glad they picked this author for this particular classic.
Annie Jones [00:20:46] Yeah, that sounds really fun. Okay. Next up for me is What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez. This is out on March 7th. Again, all of them are on March 7th. I loved this book, but as I was typing up the descriptions for these, I again realized, oh, all of these books have three women as the central characters. And sure enough, there are three women in this book kind of primary characters and narrators. Jessica, Nina and Dolores. Basically, Ruthie Ramirez went missing when she was eight years old, and 12 years later there is still nothing known about where Ruthie went. What happened to her. The police never did a ton of investigating because they made assumptions about her because she was Hispanic, and they kind of assumed she was just a runaway. We get this look at the unfair treatment of brown girls versus white girls when somebody goes missing. Ruthy really is such a minor character, but I do think it's interesting that Claire-- and I'm so sorry. I'm never quite sure, I should look up how to pronounce that. But the author occasionally brings in the voice of Ruthie, which I found to be really powerful. You're getting the narration from Jessica and Nina, (Ruthie's two sister) and then Dolores, who is Ruthie's mother. But occasionally we get Ruthie's voice, and so she kind of rounds out the storytelling, which I thought was really well done. But Jessica and Nina and Dolores all have never been the same since Ruthie went missing. And this sounds like a super dire story, and it is, until the book takes a humorous turn where Jessica is watching this really trashy, fictional reality TV show called Catfight. Clearly kind of Real Housewives, Real Worlds kind of thing. And she's watching it and she sees a woman who she swears is Ruthie. She has a birthmark like Ruthie did, has a mole where Ruthie had one look. And she tells her younger sister, Nina, hey, I found Ruthie. And so, they start watching Catfight to analyze Ruthie and what might have happened to her and what maybe brought her to this reality show. And they keep it a secret from their mother. This is no spoilers, but eventually their mother finds out that they've been keeping this from her and she decides-- Dolores, who is a very religious woman who has spent like the 12 years since Ruthie's disappearance, trying to prove that she is a good mother because she was basically accused of not being a good mother because of Ruthie's disappearance.
[00:23:30] And so, she's really super religious, trying to convince people that she is a good mom. She's a complicated mom. And she tells her daughters we're going on a road trip. We're going to the set of Catfight and we're going to find Ruthie. It becomes a road trip story, but with Jessica, Nina, Dolores. And then Dolores's do-gooder, prim and proper church friend. And they all load up in a car and they go to the set of Catfight to try to find Ruthie. So, it is funny. It's bittersweet. You get to see the after effects of a trauma like this where it changed Dolores forever. Obviously, she's the mom, but it also affected Nina, who was the younger sister now kind of living in the shadow of her sister who disappeared. Jessica, who's the older sister who feels like maybe she failed Ruthie a little bit. So, you kind of get how it changed all of these women and it changed the trajectories of their lives. And then you also get Ruthie's occasional voice and perspective, and it's handled so beautifully. I think I read a review of this that said trigger warnings abound, and I am not a super sensitive reader, as I've said many times, but there are some allusions to sexual assault. And so, I do want to kind of warn readers that this does have heavier content, even though the way Claire Jimenez handles it, it's handled with a kind of darker sense of humor. You could go into it knowing that. I also will say I'm always on the lookout for an author who can stick a landing. And she did. I think that's part of the reason I wound up truly falling in love with this book, because I just thought the ending was pitch perfect. So, really liked this one. What happened to Ruthie Ramirez by Claire Jimenez. It'd be great for fans of How Not to Drown in A Glass of water.
Olivia [00:25:26] It also has a really great cover.
Annie Jones [00:25:27] It does have a really great cover.
Olivia [00:25:30] Okay. My next one also features three women as well.
Annie Jones [00:25:34] I'm noticing this a lot and I'm, like, is this the publishing trend or have I always been drawn to books like this? I'm so confused. I have seen it multiple times this season.
Olivia [00:25:44] Yeah. This is the London Science Society by Sarah Penner out March 7th. We can all start saying that together. She wrote The Lost Apothecary, which was a bestseller here at the Bookshelf because so many staff members had read it. But also, I think it just did really well in general because it was a great book. And this one is really great as well. I think a lot of people are going to like this, even though it does deal with sciences and maybe like talking to the dead, but it's totally fine. This is set in like the 1870s. London has this huge science society that's male dominated. But in that society is Vaudeline Delare-- which amazing name. But also, every time I say it, I think of it's one of the characters in a series of unfortunate events.
Olivia [00:26:39] It is, you're right. It is.
Olivia [00:26:43] Yes. Violet something.
Annie Jones [00:26:44] Yeah. The last name sounds. name sounds so much like--
Olivia [00:26:45] All I can think of every time I read this book. Honestly, not too far off, I guess.
Annie Jones [00:26:52] Yeah.
Olivia [00:26:53] But Vaudeline is known in this world as being one of the few science(er), if you will. Spiritualist.
Annie Jones [00:27:00] Okay. Good.
Olivia [00:27:03] She goes in to solve murder mysteries. So, people who are murdered, she will do a science for where they were murdered with or like family members present. And she channels that person who was murdered. So, she is known in the industry as one of the only people who doesn't ever use or try to manipulate any physical proof or have like aberrations happen. The other members of the society who are mostly male use a lot of like tricks and stuff to get people to believe what they're telling them is real. Vaudeline does none of that, which either works in her favor in some cases or really doesn't in other cases. People either think she's a complete fraud or they believe her and no one else. So, Vaudeline had been tutoring. She had been this mentor for-- I can't remember the younger sister's name, but her older sister's name is Lena. So, she had been tutoring Lena's sister into this art because Lena's sister was super into this stuff. And she got really far into the society and then was suddenly murdered one day. And so, Lena had no idea what happened. Does not believe in sciences at all or any of this. She always thought it was crazy that her sister was doing this. And now she finds herself in her sister's tracks because she is now training with Vaudeline so she can figure out what happened to her sister because she wants to be the one to hold that stance. But then while they're doing this, they find out that this male dominated society is super corrupt and they wind up in the middle of this whole tangled mess, if you will.
Annie Jones [00:28:46] Interesting.
Olivia [00:28:49] It was Great.
Annie Jones [00:28:50] It sounds like it would be a great follow up for fans of-- what was that book you read? I read it already. We did a book club about it.
Olivia [00:28:59] Acts of Violet.
Annie Jones [00:29:01] Yes.
Olivia [00:29:02] That's the modern day of this one. I also have recently just rewatched The Prestige.
Annie Jones [00:29:09] Oh, my gosh, Jordan loves that movie. Jordan Jones owns that on DVD. That's how much he loves it.
Olivia [00:29:18] I'm not shocked, honestly, but Jordan and I have that in common. But that gave me like the vibes with The Prestige and the vibes in this book are right on par. They'd be paired together really well. Jordan should make a Prestige cocktail and you guys can have a whole night.
Annie Jones [00:29:37] Perfect. He'll be so excited. Okay. Next up for me, Now You See Us. This is by Bali Kaur Jaswal. Releases on March 7th. She is the writer of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, which I did not read, but it was a Reese Witherspoon pick. It was a very popular book. I think it became a New York Times bestseller. This is her new book. And, once again, it has three women at the heart of this book: Corazon, Donita and Angel. These are all Filipino women who have moved and immigrated over to Singapore in order to become domestic workers, to become house cleaners, to become caretakers, caregivers. And this is apparently something that happens a lot. One of my favorite parts of the book was actually the author's note that I hope will be included in the final edition. Now I never know. But my version had this great author's note that was about how she got the idea for this book. Basically, there is a whole population of these people who immigrate over because Singapore is so wealthy. And so, these women move for better job opportunities. These three women, here's what I really loved about them there. It's very much a multigenerational storytelling because Corazon, Danita and Angel are all of varying ages, so they approach their work and maybe the classism that exists in their work very differently. I really liked that part. But they kind of all three know each other, but only because they are all immigrant women living in this community and serving this very wealthy clientele. One day one of their own is accused of murdering her employer. And so these three women can't believe that this woman they know, this acquaintance of theirs, would have murdered her employer. So, the three of them more or less kind of band together to try to figure out what really happened. I do want to preface that because that description makes it sound like it's a mystery thriller and it's really not. It did not read like that. There is a mystery element of these three women trying to figure out what happens and how to prove their acquaintances in a sense.
[00:31:54] But the book to me is really about these three women and their different experiences as domestic workers. The book is being advertised-- I've said this before multiple times on from the front porch. But the publisher blurb is billing this as Crazy Rich Asians meets The Help, which I do find to be an interesting descriptor. I didn't know we were still really advertising for the help, but I guess we are. I do understand that description because the vast wealth and the descriptions of wealth that we see in Singapore very much feels like the world of Crazy Rich Asians. And then these three domestic workers banding together, the missing element is the white savior element. So that's the good news, because these three women really band together to protect and care for one of their own. I found this to be fascinating. It was about a world I knew very little about. I don't read a ton of books set in that part of the world, and so that was interesting to me. And then when I read what had given Jaswal the idea for the book, that made me love it all the more because I love something that has this basis in reality or basis in true and real life. I really like this one. I know we've said it multiple times today, it has a gorgeous cover. It is a very fast read. You become immediately invested in these women and their varying perspectives. I feel like we get a lot of requests through From the Front Porch and through The Bookshelf for books with older female protagonists. I'd just like to say that these women are multigenerational and that I love that aspect of it. I just really liked this book. I think it'll be excellent, excellent reading for book clubs because there's just a lot to discuss, a lot you could unpack together. So that is Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal, out on March 7th.
Olivia [00:33:48] When you started with just that title, I thought we were going into a magic book. I was just going to ask you read a magic book and you didn't tell me?
Annie Jones [00:33:54] So sorry to disappoint you. It did have a mystery element.
Olivia [00:33:57] It did sound really good.
Annie Jones [00:33:58] It was fine. No magic, though.
Olivia [00:34:01] The waiting for the magician. My next two actually are going to be middle grade novels. I'm really excited about. The first one is Linc + Hud: Heroes by a Hair. And this is by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, out March 7th. You'll know them from the old truck and the old boat. And then he wrote-- I'm going to try my best to say this correctly. Somewhere in the bayou.
Annie Jones [00:34:28] Bayou.
Olivia [00:34:32] But why is it spelt that way. It's [inaudible] all over again? This is the first middle grade debut novel series. And it's a story about-- because they are literal brothers and they grew up just having a normal, everyday kid childhood shenanigans, you know? And so, it's part graphic novel and then it's part regular novel. And the way they did this was so well done because all of the graphic novel parts are every time the boys are using their imagination to go on these crazy escapades around the house. They're spies or they're climbing the mountain or they're breaking out of jail. They do all of these really fun activities. And then as soon as you hit the novel parts, it's an adult bringing them back to reality because they do tend to mess up the house whenever they get into their imaginative escapades ways. And their family, their father and mother own this hair beauty product that they keep in their garage. So, they're repeatedly told just please stay out of the garage because that's where all the merchandise is. And they repeatedly wind up in the garage, so much so that their parents were, like, you are too much trouble. They had to fire their teenage babysitter because she was not doing a great job watching them because they made it nearly impossible. And they had to hire this woman, Mrs. Joyce, who is way more strict and makes them do chores. So, kind of like-- what's that eighties movie where the babysitter dies? The babysitter doesn't die in this.
Annie Jones [00:36:15] Oh, the babysitter's dead. Is it, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead?
Olivia [00:36:18] Yes.
Olivia [00:36:19] I pictured that while I was reading this because it was just like kids against the babysitter style. Yes.
Annie Jones [00:36:24] Yes. How fun.
Olivia [00:36:25] No one dies in this book. This is truly eight and up. Very clean. First off, I think we are in a society that is printing a lot of female protagonist books, which is great because there was a lack of that for a while and there's a real lack of male protagonists in middle grade novels and chapter books. And this is one that does it so well. It has that energy that's perfect for them, the graphic novel format and the novel format. I think kids who like Mac B Kids Spy or Mr. Penguin and Locker 37 would love this series. It's just a lot of fun. And this is the first one out.
Annie Jones [00:37:07] Yay! So, it is going to be a series.
Olivia [00:37:10] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:37:11] That sounds so fun because I love their picture books. Their picture books are beautiful and how creative to do graphic novel and then more traditional novel, which I think then will make this fun because sometimes I think grandparents especially, but maybe other people too, hesitate to buy their grandkids graphic novels. I think there's kind of an anti-comic book sentiment. And I like that this does both. How delightful.
Olivia [00:37:37] Yeah. Well, I think comic books were very different when we were growing up. Now you have graphic novels which are telling much more in-depth stories than a comic book was. And I don't think people totally realize that. But this one's great too, because I always say, graphic novels are helpful for kids who maybe have trouble picturing the stories in their head. And that's why they don't want to make that leap to a story with no pictures.
Annie Jones [00:38:01] Yes. With all words, right?
Olivia [00:38:03] Yeah. And this is the perfect blend of both of those worlds.
Annie Jones [00:38:06] I think that's so great. I can't wait for that to come out. Okay, next up for me is Women are the Fiercest Creatures. This is by Andrea Dunlop. This comes out on March 7th. And you guessed it, three female protagonists. We get all three of their different perspectives. I don't know what is going on and I'm so sorry about it. It's just so weird. This is a book that is being published by Zibby Books, and I think listeners may be familiar with that publishing company because Zibby Owens is like host of a podcast. I think it was something to do with moms who don't have time to read-- or maybe it was called Moms Don't Have Time to Read or something like that. And obviously she's trying to prove that you do have time to read, that you can read. She also just opened alongside her colleagues a new bookstore out on the West Coast. So, you may be familiar with Zibby Owens, with her work, with her new bookstore, but she also has a new publishing [inaudible] that has started publishing books this year. And so, this is one of her new books. It is being released in both paperback and hardback out on March 7th, which I always think is so interesting when a publisher decides to do both. I read this. I really liked it. It has Anna, Samantha and Jessica. And to me it almost felt like if you read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and you loved the video game parts, I think you might like this only because and hear me out because it is not like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, but it's basically about a man named Jake who is the central figure around whom these three women, they all have been involved with him in one way or another, where it's whether it's professionally or personally, like Anna was once married to him. Jessica is his new wife. Samantha was his colleague while he was developing this almost like Facebook, Instagram, Metta style app.
[00:40:01] So, it's a lot about the tech world. That's what I mean by Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. If you liked learning about the video game world, you might like this because you learn a lot about the tech world. Jake is about to take his tech company and go public. A lot of money, like billions of dollars, are on the line. And while this is happening, the book opens and it reminds me a little bit of a book you mentioned earlier-- maybe the Golden Spoon-- but a book where something happens on the first page and then the rest of the book you're spent trying to figure out how did it get to that point? So, it reminds me of White Lotus or something like that where you start off where Jake is in his beautiful home along the coast of Washington, and he hears a piercing scream and he goes in to his new young wife who has just had his child and the baby is missing. And that's all we know. And then the book goes through Anna, Samantha and Jessica's different points of view. And they're different points of view about Jake and his company and it is very much compulsively readable. I just find any book that opens where it tells me something that happens, I'm going to read it whether I love it or not because I've got to find out what happened to create this incident. And so, you spend the rest of the book trying to figure that out. But it's also a lot about misogyny and sexism in the tech world and the tech industry. I found that to be fascinating. I feel like I've read a handful of books that deal with like a company going public, and I find that really weirdly interesting. I really liked this book. It reminded me a little bit of like a Celeste Ng Little Fires Everywhere kind of thing. I think people will breeze through this book, like, fly through this book. I liked it. I read it on a plane. And that, to me, is a plane book. Do you know what I mean by that?
Olivia [00:42:01] I know exactly what you mean by that.
Annie Jones [00:42:02] I just feel like it's great for the plane, maybe for the beach where if you just want to read something that is still thought provoking. I think it is well-written, but it's also like snappy, quick. You'll finish it in no time. I needed a book like that on the plane. I like to finish a book while I'm on the plane. Women Are the Fiercest Creatures by Andrea Dunlap. Releases on March 7th.
Olivia [00:42:26] Oh, so she had a pen name?
Annie Jones [00:42:27] No, I'm sorry. She didn't write it. Let me clarify that. Zibby didn't write it. She published it.
Olivia [00:42:32] Published it. Okay.
Annie Jones [00:42:35] Yes.
Olivia [00:42:36] Sorry for my confusion.
Annie Jones [00:42:38] That's okay.
Olivia [00:42:38] You had already said that.
Annie Jones [00:42:38] I clarified now for the listener as well.
Olivia [00:42:42] You're welcome, listener. Okay, my next one, I'm super excited about. This is Leeva at Last by Sarah Pennypacker out March 7th because-- of course. She was the author who wrote Pax.
Annie Jones [00:42:54] Oh, okay.
Olivia [00:42:55] This is like a chapter book, almost middle grade because it is a little bit longer. It's illustrated by Matthew Cordell, which he illustrated-- there was a beautiful children's picture book Hello Neighbor, about Mr. Rogers.
Annie Jones [00:43:09] Yes.
Olivia [00:43:10] Most recently he illustrated Evergreen, the novel I sent out for Shelf Subscription about a little squirrel. He does like a very classic sketch type illustration, and I love it. So this is about a little girl named Leeva Spayce Thornblossom. There's a whole backstory about her name because her parents are-- think like Matilda style parents. Don't really care about her. Really just brought her into this world because they thought she could bring them fame and money. And then quickly realized that was not the case because that's not what children do. It's a very quirky setting. The town is called Nutsmore and the mom is the mayor. She's very controlling. She's all about fame. She's like in the process of putting up a statue of 50 foot statue of herself in the middle of the town. Her father is the treasurer of Nutsmore and he is all about money. And that is like their world views. The mom is like people are there for fame and the dad is like people are there for money, and so he taxes everyone for every little thing. Just a very quirky, funny type setting to go into this story. But one day Leeva sneaks out the back because she's not allowed to leave the house. She has signed a contract with her parents as if her being their child is her job.
Annie Jones [00:44:40] Okay.
Olivia [00:44:43] She sneaks out and she stumbles upon the library, an establishment she has never seen before. And she meets the librarian's nephew who's running the library at the time. And she's out there seeking to answer the question of what are people for? Because her parents think it's fame and money, but she is clearly not bringing them fame or money. So, she's just like, what are we doing? The librarian gives her all these books like Charlotte's Web and Because of Winn-Dixie and A Wrinkle in Time, and she starts to learn her own definition of like what people are for, like friendship and love and to fight for lost dogs and all that good stuff. But then along the way she starts to meet all of these quirky townsmen, and they all hate her parents because her parents are just making their lives terrible. So, Leeva finally decides to take a stand in her own way. So, the first thing she does is this little boy saved a badger from the park because they had mowed down the badger's home to put up the statue of the mayor. And so, he's keeping this badger as a pet. But then his parents find out and he can't do it anymore. So, Leeva takes the badger knowing her parents are going to be like absolutely not. She was in the living room at one point and she's just like, "I really don't want a pet." And they're like, "Well, you're getting a pet." She's like, "Well, I mostly don't want a badger as a pet." They're like, "Go get yourself a badger." And so, now she has this badger as her pet.
Annie Jones [00:46:26] She uses reverse psychology on her parents. Adorable.
Olivia [00:46:30] It is absolutely delightful. I'm loving it so much. The characters are great. Leeva is amazing. The way she got her name was just so perfectly done. Her mom who is famous, and because she's famous doesn't want to do anything. So, she tells the nurse, "You pick the child's name." And the nurse is just like, "No, she already has a last name. Thornblossom." Which every time I think of Nigel Thornberry [sp].
Annie Jones [00:46:58] Yes. Oh, yeah. The Thornberrys.
Olivia [00:47:01] And then she was like, "All you have to do is first name. Leave a space. Last name." And her mom's like, "Perfect. There you go. Fill it in." The nurse felt so bad for this child, so she just spelled it nicely.
Annie Jones [00:47:18] It really does sound Matilda esque. It sounds delightful.
Olivia [00:47:21] Yes. I'm enjoying it a lot right now.
Annie Jones [00:47:25] Okay. My last book releases on March 14th, everybody, so a different release date. It is called When in Rome. This is by Leah Callanan. I have not read this book yet, but boy, am I going to because this is a book about Claire. She's 52-years-old. She's kind of having a midlife crisis and she decides to go to Rome. And when she goes to Rome, it's beautiful, it's wonderful. She stumbles upon this kind of-- I don't know if it is physically falling apart or if it is just that it has seen better years. But she stumbles upon this nunnery and not only does she kind of make it her midlife mission to breathe new life and maybe perhaps finances into this nunnery, but she also remembers when she was in her early twenties how she was going to join a nunnery. And then she kind of had a crisis of faith. I've read a lot of reviews because I want to read it so bad. But apparently it is not only this beautiful tribute to Rome and this really great setting, but also is a tribute to faith and doubt and happens when we stop believing, what we thought we once believed. And boy, it sounds great. I just want to read it so badly.
[00:48:48] Claire kind of befriends all the nuns in this convent and kind of begins to ask herself questions about what she experienced when she was younger. But then my understanding is there is also ka male character, and I don't know if there's going to be a romance of some kind. But maybe somebody who makes Claire question-- because I think she starts to consider maybe she should join a convent now. She's 52. Maybe it's not too late. It just sounds charming. Liam Callinan wrote Paris by the Book, which is a book I did not read, but I feel like we sold quite a bit of copies. Again, this great setting. Paris. I think if you like to travel with your books, if you like to feel like you're going places with your books, I think this will be good. What was that book that was narrated by Lorelai Gilmore slash Lauren Graham as her real name? And it was about a woman who goes to Italy and she winds up meeting her mother at a younger age in life. It came out recently. Someone's yelling the title to me right now.
Olivia [00:49:55] That's almost yelling.
Annie Jones [00:49:58] No, I know some listener is yelling in their car telling me the name. I don't know, 100 days of summer. What is that book?
Olivia [00:50:07] Is it the Rebecca Sorrel one?
Annie Jones [00:50:09] Yes.
Olivia [00:50:11] I can picture the cover.
Annie Jones [00:50:13] Yeah, I can too.
Olivia [00:50:13] Something about Italy.
Annie Jones [00:50:19] One Italian Summer.
Olivia [00:50:20] One Italian Summer.
Annie Jones [00:50:22] In five years I think it's her other one.
Olivia [00:50:24] Yes, I think so.
Annie Jones [00:50:25] Okay. One Italian Summer. I wonder if it's a little bit of like One Italian Summer. For some reason I thought of the book The Unsinkable Gretta James, just where these characters are going through a crisis and then they're trying to kind of investigate the younger version of themselves. So, this is called When in Rome by Liam Callanan, and it comes out on March 14th. I cannot wait to read it.
Olivia [00:50:46] It sounds like the perfect Annie book.
Annie Jones [00:50:48] Doesn't it?
Olivia [00:50:49] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:50:49] I want to read it.
Olivia [00:50:50] My last middle grade novel is Bea and the New Deal Horse by L.M. Elliot, and this is out March 28th. So, just rounding it off with the last release date in the month.
Annie Jones [00:51:02] Okay.
Olivia [00:51:02] And it's set in the Great Depression, I think, for calling all horse girls-- which is not me, but I did enjoy this book.
Annie Jones [00:51:10] I was a horse girl in childhood.
Olivia [00:51:12] Were you?
Annie Jones [00:51:13] Yeah. Can you be a horse girl if you don't own a horse?
Olivia [00:51:16] Yes. Absolutely
Annie Jones [00:51:17] I read a lot of horse books. I was really into the Saddle Club.
Olivia [00:51:21] Oh, okay. I've heard of them. I was not a horse girl. I don't totally understand the appeal of horses. They're huge and slightly scary to me. But I think it's an animal that you can create a very human connection with, so I do appreciate them in books. This one was about Bea and her little sister set in the Great Depression, and her father had just lost his huge bank job that he had. Their mom had gotten sick and passed away, so they were just traveling and staying wherever they could for the night. And one day that night was in a stable. I was going to say a horse saddle, and it was like, "No, no, stable." But when Bea wakes up with her little sister, their father is gone and he left them la note and supplies and some food. And, basically, the implication was, like, I'm not coming back, but I left you outside this house with this woman who lives there, Mrs. Scott, because she knew your mother. So, there's a good chance that if you tell her that, she'll let you stay here. But Bea is just like, okay, but a good chance is not 100%. And if she doesn't then we're going to be separated and put in this system and whatever. So, Bea and her sister stay there as long as they can undercover. And then finally they're found by like the stable hand and they convince Mrs. Scott that they'll be helpful there. Because this is the Great Depression, so she doesn't have much help for this huge farm anyways. And then Bea meets one of Mrs. Scott's horses that's this giant chestnut horse that's very rambunctious and does something where I guess he stops really quickly and it kicks riders off. And it's a really bad thing for horses to do. So, he's a very troublesome horse. But Bea grew up with horses with her mom and so she knows kind of how to handle horses. And she decides that she's going to learn how to ride this particular horse in a competition so that she can earn money to save the farm and keep the horse and everything. It was really, really well done. Again, I am not a horse person. I can appreciate them in books, but this one really found its way into my heart and I was pleasantly surprised.
Annie Jones [00:53:43] I don't know how else to word this, but it sounds like classic kid lit. Does that make sense?
Olivia [00:53:48] Yeah. I'm thinking like The War That Saved My Life.
Annie Jones [00:53:51] Yeah.
Olivia [00:53:52] Echo Mountain. Books like that where you're just, like, I want to see this protagonist through to the end because I like them so much.
Annie Jones [00:54:01] Well, that sounds really good. What a great slot of children's books that are coming out this month. This is what I was trying to say.
Olivia [00:54:14] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:54:14] Yes. So, if any of these books are of interest or appeal to you, once again, you can go to Bookshelfthomasville.com. You can type episode 414 into the search bar and you can see all of the books that we have talked about today. Don't forget, you can also use NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and get 10% off any of your orders or preorders.
[00:54:33] This week, I'm reading Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman. Olivia, what are you reading?
Olivia [00:54:38] I am finishing up Leeva at Last by Sarah Pennypacker.
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: fromthefrontporchpodcast.com 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 are…
Donna Hetchler Cammy Tidwell Chantalle C Kate O'Connell
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee Wendi Jenkins Laurie Johnson
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