Episode 418 || March Reading Recap
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie recaps the books she read and loved in March. As always, we’re offering a Reading Recap Bundle, which features Annie’s three favorite books she read this past month.
You can get the books mentioned in this episode on our website (type Episode 418 into the search bar to easily find the books mentioned in this episode).
All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore
All That Is Mine I Carry with Me by William Landay
If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook (out 5/2)
Love Buzz by Nelli Tubati Alexander (out 5/2)
This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs (out 4/4)
When in Rome by Liam Callanan
Paper Names by Susie Luo (out 4/11)
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee (out 4/11)
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway by Elisabeth Passarella (out 5/2)
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue (out 6/27)
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Thank you to this week’s sponsor, the 102nd Annual Rose Show and Festival in Thomasville, Georgia. Come visit us for the weekend of April 28th-29th and experience the flowers, fun, food, and shopping in Beautiful Thomasville. Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGa.com.
This week, Annie is reading Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry.
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Our Executive Producers are...Cammy Tidwell, Chanta Combs, Chantalle C, Donna Hetchler, Kate O’Connell, Kristin May, Laurie Johnson, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Stacy Laue, Stephanie Dean, Susan Hulings, and Wendi Jenkins.
Transcript:
[squeaky porch swing] Annie Jones: Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out] “It doesn't hurt to spend your life with people who see what's great about you in a way that you maybe never would have on your own. The people we love help teach us who we are.” - Katherine Center, The Bodyguard [as music fades out]
I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m recapping the books I read in March.
First, though, I want to make sure you are following the Bookshelf on Instagram. It's a great way to learn about upcoming events. To find out about all the new books that release each week-- and there are a lot. And it's where you can share your thoughts on this week's podcast episode. Hop over to Instagram and make sure you're following us @Bookshelftville. Okay, y'all. I read a lot of books in March. I sat down to start counting these, and I thought, "Oh, my. This was a heavy reading month." And I think that's pretty typical of me. Maybe it's just this year. Winter felt a little slower. I was busy, like I traveled a lot, and so it felt like my reading life didn't suffer at all. But maybe just was “hibernatory”. That's a word I made up. I just felt like I was a little bit in hibernation. Spring, I spent a lot of time this month reading for our Spring literary lunch that happened last week. Our literary first look that happened online. And so, I was doing a lot of reading, and I'm very glad that I read so much in March. But it also explains why, as I record this episode, I'm thinking "I think I might be done with reading for the month," which makes sense because I read a lot of things. There's a lot of prose swimming around in my head. I wanted to start, though, with two books that I finished at the very end of February. And if you'll recall, last month I had to record the reading recap episode a little earlier than typical, and so I left off a couple of titles that I just wanted to highlight because I think they're worth mentioning here.
[00:02:28] The first one is All My Knotted -Up Life by Beth Moore. If you run in evangelical Christian circles, you will be familiar with Beth Moore's name. She is a prolific Bible study writer, Christian author. In that space, she also is pretty well-known, I think, on Twitter. I don't spend any time on Twitter anymore, but she was somebody I followed diligently for a few years there back when I was on Twitter, and I really respected her there and respected some of the stances she took there, particularly in and after 2016. And I think I did not know what to expect out of her new memoir. So, All My Knotted Up Life is her new memoir. It was getting buzz, but to be honest my background with evangelical Christianity is probably more complicated than I've alluded to here. Anybody who's been in the American Christian space probably has a complicated relationship with evangelical Christianity. What I mean by complicated is I grew up with like a foot in that and a foot outside of that. My school that I went to certainly identified as evangelical Christian. I would argue that the church I attended did not. And so, sometimes when people start naming the names of, for example, famous pastors or camps or churches, I have no idea what they're talking about. Now, Beth Moore, I was familiar with because in adulthood I maybe did one of her Bible studies and I thought it was fine. And that was fine. I really liked her more, I think, on Twitter than I did in her written format. And so, I wasn't sure what to expect out of this book, but I picked it up and, y'all, part of the reason I wanted to mention it here is because it is beautiful. It is gorgeous, gorgeous writing, which I don't know. I'm so sorry. I just was not expecting that at all. I'm just being fully transparent here. I went into this really not knowing, and it is Southern Gothic literature. That's what it is. And I could not put it down.
[00:04:31] The back half of the book or the back third of the book is probably more what I was expecting, where I feel a kinship with Beth Moore because she wound up leaving the Southern Baptist Church, which is the church she was affiliated with. She wound up leaving that church over the last few years, and she kind of chronicles what that change has looked like for her. And I appreciated that because I left the church of my childhood about 10 years ago, and that was way more painful and full of grief and still is something I grieve. And I wondered if she might write in a way that would be comforting to me and would make me feel less alone. And she did. And so, that's what the back maybe third or half of the book is. But the first half of the book is really about her upbringing and her growing up in Arkansas, in Texas. And that is where I immediately began reading and thought, oh, this is in the same vein as Memorial Drive or The Glass Castle. If you like those kinds of memoirs, I think you should pick this up whether or not you identify or have sympathies with the evangelical Christian Church. I just feel like this book deserves some recognition beyond the boundaries of "Christian nonfiction". And that's part of the reason I wanted to mention it here. It's certainly a book I previously might have shelved, for example, in our Mind Body Spirit section at the Bookshelf. That's where we shelve a lot of religious books, a lot of spiritual books, and a lot of Christian books. Now, knowing what I know and having read it, I think I would shelve it in memoir. I just think it is a really well-written, well-crafted memoir by a woman who certainly is writing openly and honestly about her faith, but she's also writing openly and honestly about the whole of her life. And so, anyway, I loved it. I think it's well worth picking up and trying. Probably, especially if you are familiar with the evangelical Christian church. But even if you are not, you might want to give this one a go. Let me put it this way. I think if you're southern, this is a must read. It's just so but so true to the grittier aspects of Southern life. And the way she writes is so distinctly southern to me. So, that's All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore. It's out now.
[00:07:02] And then the other book that I finished at the tail end of February, I wanted to recommend, particularly for Thriller and suspense readers. So, I read All That Is Mine I Carry with Me. This is by William Landay. You might recognize him from the book Defending Jacob, which is a book I have mentioned many times on this podcast as kind of a backlist title that I really enjoyed. It's one Jordan read and loved, and so I feel like I mentioned it pretty frequently. It's great. I think the TV adaptation is actually really good, though. No one talks about it. It's available on Apple TV. He has written a new book called All That Is Mine I Carry with Me. And it is good. I think I preferred Defending Jacob. I think that the kind of shock and twist of that book is something that will always stick with me. Probably a little bit like Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. But if you like reliable, well-written suspense stories, I think you'll like this. So, it's about a woman who has gone missing. And she went missing in the seventies. She was the wife of a criminal defense attorney. I believe that's correct. And she went missing. And, of course, the first suspect is her husband. And this is no spoilers, but he is found-- they don't even know that they charge him or I think that if they do charge him, they perhaps find him not guilty. And so, he winds up raising his three children who then are forever doubtful of their father's innocence or guilt. They really don't know. They don't know if they're living with a monster or if they're living with a grieving man. And so, it's a lot about those children and how they grew up. And I think that's what William Landay is actually particularly good at. I think you can tell he's a former attorney, and I mean that in a good way. Or at least is familiar with the criminal justice system. I feel like the ways he writes about it are very realistic. A little bit John Grisham-esque. If you've been bored with John Grisham over the last few years, you might want to try William Landay. But not only does he write, I think, in a really informed way about the criminal justice process, the law process, the legal process, I also think he writes really, really well about family dynamics. I think that's one of the things I loved about Defending Jacob, and it's one of the things I really appreciated about this novel as well. The premise might sound like something we've read before, right? It might sound like maybe a plot that has already been written. But the way William Landay writes it, I think is unique and thoughtful and intelligent. And so, if you're looking for an intelligent, well done, quick thriller, suspense novel, I think you should try him, particularly this new one, but also some of his backlist. So, this book is called All That is Mind I Carry with Me, and it is out now as well.
[00:09:49] Okay. Now to my official March reading list. The first book I officially finished in March was If We're Being Honest. This is a debut novel by author Cat Shook. She is a Georgia writer. I believe she lives in New York now, but she's from Georgia. And you can tell, because this is a Southern novel that I absolutely loved. I've got a big old smile on my face while I'm talking about it. I really enjoyed this book. It does not come out until May 2nd, so you've got time to preorder. And basically, if you loved This Is Where I Leave You, I think you will like this book. The novel is about the Williams family, and they live in this small town in Georgia, and their patriarch, their grandfather, has died. And you get a look at a variety of characters, including Jerry (that's his name) including Jerry's wife, including his adult children and his adult grandchildren. And those adult grandchildren, those cousins, those people are who we, the reader, spend the most time with. Cat Shook does a really good job of painting all of these characters with a pretty good brush. It's a lot of characters, so I was afraid some of them might be too broadly painted. But I think she does a really good job of fleshing out the details of each of these characters. But we spend the most time with the youngest generation of the Williams family, which is these adult cousins. And let me tell you. Every character in this book, I know them. I know them personally. I have relationships with them. This is so true to the Southern experience. Perhaps that is true on an even broader level. In fact, I am sure it is true on an even broader level. But it was so refreshing to read a book about the South written by a Southerner who you can tell, oh, yeah, she knows what she's talking about. I know all of these people. I know their relationships. I thought this book was so great. I don't want to tell you too much. But what I will say is that the book takes place over a one week span. And it starts with the death of Jerry, the patriarch and the family gathering for his funeral. That's kind of why it reminds me of This Is Where I Leave You.
[00:12:04] The book spans a week, and at the end of the week, there is a wedding of a childhood best friend. So, I thought that was a great bookend and so reminiscence of actual life where one minute we're grieving and we're mourning, and the next minute we're called to celebrate. And so, I loved those bookended events in this novel. The funeral and the way that Cat Shook introduces us to all of the characters in this book I thought was really brilliant, because Jerry has died, the patriarch has died, and now the family has to figure out who's going to give the eulogy at his funeral. And so, Cat Shook kind of goes down the list and points out all the reasons why each of these characters is not well-suited to giving the eulogy. And it's just like a quick little character study almost of each of these characters all in service to this plot point of who is going to deliver the eulogy. And I thought it was such a great way to introduce the reader to all of the characters who are going to play a role in this story. The eulogy winds up being conducted by Jerry's best friend. And something happens in the funeral that kind of turns everything on its head. And I gasped. I laughed. I don't know if I cried. But I maybe did feel emotionally because I felt very attached to these characters. I will also say this. I think even if you're a non-Southern reader, there is a lot to enjoy about this book. So, I know I'm talking a lot about the southern nature of it, but I think non-Southern readers will have a blast with this one as well. If you are an Emma Straub fan, I think this is great. I feel like we've read a lot of really good books in the last five years about quirky, dysfunctional families, but it feels like all of them live in New York, right? And I love reading about New York. I love reading about the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side. I'm thinking about Pineapple Street. I'm thinking about the sweet spot. And I love all of those books. You know I love all of those books. I talk about them all of the time. But there was something so refreshing about finally reading a book about really quirky people in a southern town. And I really liked that. That if you liked the sensibilities of Emma Straub, of Amy Poeppel, but you're looking for maybe a different setting than you're typically reading, I think you should try If We're Being Honest by Cat Shook, it's a very fun debut. I can't wait to see what she does next. This is out on May 2nd.
[00:14:35] Then I picked up the book Love Buzz. This is by Nelli Tubati Alexander. This also releases on May 2nd as a paperback original. I have been careful and cautious with the romance lit or romantic comedy lit that I have been reading this year, mostly because when I looked at my reading stats from last year, I realized, oh, I read a lot of romantic comedies or I think perhaps even romance novels. And those many times were the books that I maybe gave the fewest number of stars to. And yet, some of my favorite books last year were also romantic comedies. I'm thinking, of course, of Nora Goes Off Script, of Funny You Should Ask. So, I clearly love the genre, but it was time to investigate what I loved about the genre, so it would help me to read books that I actually enjoyed this year. That is a long winded way of saying I chose to pick up Love Buzz and I thought, I'm going to give this a go, and if I don't like it in the first few pages, if I can tell that it's going to be more romance than romcom, then I'll put it down. But the book opened-- and it cracks me up the little things that may affect our reading of a work. Poor authors, sometimes I feel sorry for them because everything's going to land so differently with different readers. But when I opened Love Buzz and the opening, I believe it's the epigraph, like the opening quote to set the tone for the book was a quote from the movie Serendipity. And I thought, oh, okay, this is going to be fun because I really like the movie Serendipity. So, I thought, this is going to be great. It is about a woman who lives in Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, but she is down in New Orleans for a bachelorette weekend with her cousin and friend. And it's going fine. She feels a little out of place, but they're having a good time. And she sees, of course, this handsome stranger. They meet. They have a fun conversation, kind of this brief introduction to each other, but they really hit it off. They have a lot of great chemistry. And Nelli Tubati Alexander does a really good job, I think, actually, of creating that chemistry.
[00:16:47] And, anyway, of course, they are abruptly kind of interrupted by their various parties and so they go their separate ways that night. And she realizes that she doesn't have his number. Of course, right? She just knows that he too is actually from Washington, lives in her city, but she doesn't really know much more than that. And so, she goes back home and kind of makes it her mission to find him. And I just thought this was a lot of fun. One of the things that I really do look for in a romance novel or in a romantic comedy is really good characters and really good friend characters. And Love Buzz definitely has those. I thought that it had realistic conflict. Sometimes we can roll our eyes, I think at some of the conflict that can develop in a romantic comedy. And we have to kind of put our qualms aside and let the chips fall where they may, let the story go where it will. But I thought the conflict in this book was pretty realistic. I loved the two settings. I thought the fun kind of Mardi Gras New Orleans setting was fun in the beginning of the book. And then I loved the Pacific Northwest setting. I think that's where Nelly Tubati Alexander lives. And I think you can tell that she really loves where she lives. I thought she wrote about it in great detail. So, if you are looking for a good romance novel or something, maybe different from Emily Henry-- I think we all love Emily Henry, but if you're looking for something a little bit different, I think you'll like this story about Serena. That's our protagonist. And I'm not sure if I mentioned that-- Serena and her love story with Julia, and I thought it was really enjoyable, particularly that Serendipity quote, that kind of sets the tone for the novel. It is very much in line with the rest of the book. So, if you love the movie Serendipity, I do think you will really enjoy this book. It feels like it's kind of playing homage to that. So, that is Love Buzz by Nelli Tubati Alexander out on paperback on May 2nd, so it would be great for your Summer beach reads as well.
[00:18:59] Then I picked up This Bird Has flown. That's by Susanna Hoffs. Good luck not having that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Susanna Hoffs you probably already know. You may already know is a singer in the Bangles. She is alive. Are the Bangles still together? Yes, I believe they are. I actually believe that they do still. So, anyway, that is where you might recognize the name Susanna Hoffs. She has now written a book that is enjoyable, particularly if you liked I'm thinking Bridget Jones Diary. And this is going to sound weird, but it's the publisher marketing, and I actually agree with it. It's Bridget Jones Diary meets Jane Eyre, which may be why I struggled with it a little bit, because as many of you listeners know, I have not read Jane Eyre. Please don't come for me. I probably will read it one day. I really hesitate to say this, but I have seen the musical Jane Eyre, and so I am very familiar with the plot of Jane Eyre. I do not know that it is for me and that is part of the reason I have put off reading it, because I really don't want to read a classic and just absolutely hate it. And so, I've just been putting it off. Please don't come for me. Please don't try to convince me to read it. Especially if Hunter and I get to read it one day together, I definitely would be open to it. It is one of Olivia's favorite novels. I'm very respectful of it, but it is not a book that I have naturally gravitated toward, partly because I'm familiar with the story and I've got some questions. Anyway, that's really neither here nor there, except, as I was reading, I thought, this is taking a turn I was not expecting. And then because I was reading an advance reader copy, I flipped to the back and finally started looking at those blurbs and realized, oh, just like Love Buzz is in homage to Serendipity, I think This Bird Has Flown actually is in homage to some classic lit, including Jane Eyre. So, it takes some twists and turns I was not really expecting and that may be where it lost me, but I don't think it will lose everyone. I think a lot of people, including Kate at Bookmarks. Kate, former Bookshelf staffer, she read this and really enjoyed it.
[00:21:11] So, I do want to be clear that I think a lot of people are really going to love this book. Our main character is Jane. She is a rock star who has really fallen out of fame a little bit. And the hit song that she sang came out several years ago, and she's kind of having a hard time finding her place post that success. So, she winds up getting on a plane to fly to London, where she's going to potentially work on her next album and maybe even be in a reunion show of sorts with the man who wrote the song that kind of made her famous. So, she gets on a plane and of course, once on the plane, she meets this handsome stranger. They are seated next to each other. Interestingly, his name is Tom Hardy. There are lots of kind of things like that that make you do a double take that I do think are tongue in cheek and funny. But they also add it up. But, anyway, Tom Hardy is sitting next to her, he's an Oxford professor and they hit it off. And once they arrive in London, they continue their romance. Okay. That's really kind of the core plot of the book. I loved the parts about her musical journey because that definitely if you read or are watching Daisy Jones and the Six, and if you loved those parts about Daisy Jones and the Six, about the rock and roll side of things, I think you'll like those parts of this book. I certainly did. You can tell Susanna Hoffs is familiar with that subject matter and that made it enjoyable. If you like steamy romance, this is also going to be for you. So, again, this is where I'm noticing patterns in my reading behavior and in my reading tastes where I'm like, oh, I think that is just something I don't particularly enjoy, but I think other readers really will. So, if you like steamy romance and if you like some of the plot points and intricacies of Jane Eyre, I think you should try this. And I know that might sound a little odd, that this book by a member of the Bangles is inspired by Jane Eyre. But her author's note, her acknowledgments in the back really are quite charming. And she talks about how being a reader has shaped her life. And so, I certainly loved that and it made me appreciate the book even more. So, this book is a love story to music, but it's also a steamy, romance esq. novel. And then there are some really great side characters as well in her friendships and in her fellow musicians. I like this one. I suspect other people will love it, and I do think it would be good for spring and summer reading. This one releases on April 4th.
[00:24:03] Then I read When in Rome. This is by Liam Callanan. This is a book that I mentioned back on, I think, a new release round-up episode where I was so excited to read it. I had wished and hoped to read it in ARC format, but I didn't get a copy and so I read it in its printed version. It is out now and I liked it. I liked it and I immediately passed it along to Mom and I will be curious to see if she would enjoy it. I think it is a Susie type read. Liam Callanan wrote the book Paris by the Book, which you may be familiar with. So, this new book, what I really loved about it, was the Italian setting. I felt like I was in Rome. I wanted to plan my trip immediately. He does a great job of painting this really beautiful picture of Rome and all of its different neighborhoods. I loved that. The book is about Claire. Claire is in her early fifties. She's just attended a college reunion where she has been once again reminded that when she graduated high school and went on to college, she had every intention, every plan of taking vows and becoming a nun. And we, the reader, don't know why she didn't. But we see that there may be some regret there. We know she has a daughter. Her adult daughter plays a role in the book. And her best friend from college is also her boss at this real estate company where Claire as an adult really does a good job of finding former spiritual sites like churches or retreat centers, and she helps them sell these sites. So, that's the base premise of the book. And so, Claire has to go to Rome where she has to take a look at this convent that needs to go out for sale and she has to try to find a buyer for it. So, she goes over to Rome.
[00:26:03] But, of course, once she arrives, she falls in love with the convent. She falls in love with the nuns there, and she begins to consider perhaps, and reconsider her long ago decision. And I think she would even see it as a failure to not join a nunnery and kind of the point where her life changed, 30-some odd years ago. I loved Claire. I liked reading for me about an older protagonist. I think Claire is a well-rounded character and an interesting character. I think that's one of the reasons I loved Matrix by Lauren Groff. I think unless the book is explicitly Christian, like we were talking about the Beth Moore book earlier, I'm not sure we always get a look at people of faith who are interesting and well-rounded, and faith is just part of their life and it shapes who they are and it's part of their character. And so, I really liked that for Claire, that's part of who she is. It's not who her daughter is. It's not who her best friend is. She doesn't force those beliefs on other people, but it is a big part of her life. Even though she chose not to enter a convent when she was in her early twenties. So, I liked that part. I thought the writing was fine. And, for me, if we're talking star ratings, I think I gave this one about a three and a half or so. It was enjoyable. I finished it. My favorite parts were about the city of Rome and just the beauty of it. I think it would be well worth reading just for that. And then I also really liked Clair and I liked how she thought about things. Once she gets over to Rome and she starts befriending these nuns and investigating and kind of caring for this convent and trying to figure out if it's sellable. We also realize that Claire has a love interest or had a love interest when she was in college and is he going to play a role in her adult life? And so, I thought that was kind of sweet and fun as well. I think my mom would really like this. So, if you are a Susie reader, I think you might want to try picking this up if you're a Susie or a Nancy reader. But I liked it. It's called When in Rome by Liam Callanan in.
[00:28:21] Next, I picked up Paper Names. This is by Susie Luo. This comes out on April 11th. It is a debut novel and it is fabulous. It is fantastic. I loved this book. It is told, as so many books are-- we've talked about it before. I have a feeling we're going to talk about it again. But like a lot of books this year, it's told from three perspectives, three different voices. One is the voice of Toni. He, to me, is kind of our main character. Our main protagonist. Toni is a man who's immigrated from China. He was an engineer there and he's moved. He's brought his family to America, where he has now become a Manhattan doorman. Then the story is also narrated and told by his daughter Tami, and a young, white, handsome man who happens to live in the building that Toni is the doorman for. And so that's Oliver. So, Toni, Tammy and Oliver kind of take us through this story. The book is I would think around 200 pages. It's pretty thin, but it spans about three decades. I don't know how you are. I think some people it makes their heart sink to hear that a book spans three decades. My heart sinks a little bit less when I hear something like that, because words like epic make me wary. So, at first I thought, "Oh, I don't know, I'm going to like this spans three decades." No, the way Susie Luo does this is so well handled. I was never bored. I never wondered what decade we were in. I was never confused. She handles it so deftly that I barely noticed we were traversing decades. I thought it was so smart and well-crafted. This is her debut, which I was infuriated and charmed by. She works for Goldman Sachs. And she wrote this in her spare time. And I just loved it. So, basically, it reminded me a lot of, for example, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng or Signal Fires. It's unintentional that those titles both have fire in them. Signal Fires by Danny Shapiro where you get these varying perspectives and a couple of inciting incidents that set the course and reset the course of these people's lives. So, the book opens with Toni as a doorman in Manhattan. He makes a heroic decision that then ultimately impacts Oliver's life. Oliver is the young man who lives at the apartment building. And then also, of course, his daughter, Tammy's life. And then we see the effects of that on the family, on Tammy and Oliver, on Toni himself. And then we also kind of go back and forth in time so we know why Toni came to America, which I thought was really lovely. There's certainly some themes of the immigrant father who feels like he has sacrificed and he has sacrificed so much for his child. And then Tammy, who's really enmeshed in American culture and her ideology is different from her father's. So, there's some of that playing a role here. We also, because of the white character, get some class tensions and racial tension, somewhere Oliver doesn't fully understands what's happening in Toni and Tammy's lives because he's immune from the issues that they're facing. So, I just really like this book. I thought it was handled deftly. It would be a great book club book. I think it would really strike up a lot of different conversations. I cannot believe how much she was able to pack in to such a short number of pages. So, I mentioned Signal Fires. I mentioned Little Fires Everywhere. There were some ways in which it also reminded me of Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. So, if that was a book you really liked. I'm so glad I picked them up because I think that, weirdly, that phrase of spanning three decades was intimidating to me. And so, if you are like me as a reader, and that's normally something that might put you off, I would encourage you to pick this one up. I thought it was so great, so well-written. Can't wait to see what this author does next. This was another really outstanding debut to me this month. So, Paper Names by Susie Luo. Comes out on April 11th.
[00:32:33] Okay. I had been in a bit of an audiobook slump, I think, because I was listening to some nonfiction, which I really was liking, but I was also getting a little bit bogged down in it. That sometimes happens to me when I'm physically reading nonfiction as well, where I really like it, but I feel like I'm not accomplishing anything. It feels terrible to say out loud. I just like to finish things, and nonfiction takes me longer, and sometimes I feel like, oh, no, I'm failing at this because I haven't finished it. I think there's something psychologically happening there. But, anyway, I decided to put a pause button on my nonfiction that I was listening to, and I decided to download The Bodyguard. This is by Katherine Center, the book that came out last year, and was beloved, especially in staff. Nancy read this book and absolutely loved it. There may have been a couple of other readers who read it and loved it, but I saw my friend Jordan post about this on her Instagram and I DM'd her and said, "Should I try this?" She had given it, I think, five stars. And she said, oh, yes, you'll love it. So, I downloaded it before making a drive to Atlanta. I thought this will be great. I'll listen to it on the drive to Atlanta. I did listen to part of it on the drive to Atlanta, but I wound up listening to it before I even left because I just fell in love with the narration so much. I thought it was so great on audiobook. So, if you've been wanting a good fiction audiobook, I think you should try this. It's a romantic comedy. It's about a woman named Hannah who works as a bodyguard. When we meet Hannah, she has been dumped by her boyfriend, who's kind of a skeeze. He continues to be a skeeze throughout the novel, and Hannah really needs a new job. She needs a new adventure. She needs her boss to kind of send her out on a mission more or less.
[00:34:22] The parts about body guarding that were in this book reminded me a great deal of, for example, Killers of a Certain Age. So, I thought those details about this kind of career that I really don't know anything about were very fun. And so, she winds up being tasked with becoming the bodyguard for a Hollywood superstar who is home in Texas and needs protection. His name is Jack. So right away, I'm glad that I read The Bodyguard this year instead of last year. Because last year, as I've already mentioned, I read Nora Goes Off Script; Funny You Should Ask. I loved both books that were about this Hollywood guy falling in love with a normal girl, like an everyday literal girl next door. And I do love that trope, and I do not mind reading more of that trope that is enjoyable to me ever since Hugh Grant in Notting Hill. And so, I am here for that. But I also am glad I read this later because I think it enabled me to really enjoy it. So, if you have read Nora Goes Off Script and you've got like a Nora Goes Off Script shaped hole in your heart, I think this is charming and delightful. And, Hannah, just like Nora, was just this really great protagonist who I think I would have rooted for Whether I was reading a romantic comedy about her or not. Hannah was a really well-developed character who had struggles and nuance to her in a way that was really refreshing. I thought these characters were really refreshing. I read earlier this year the book Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, and one of the things I felt like was missing from that book was the depth to both of the characters. It felt like one character was more flawed than the other, maybe kind of over the top flawed. And then the other character was almost too perfect. And in The Bodyguard, I really liked Jack and Hannah both. I was charmed by them both. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them. The Texas ranch setting was fun and I'm so glad this was recommended to me. And for me it wound up becoming a five star book as well. I really liked it and I thought the audiobook in particular was great. So, if you've been looking for a good audiobook, I think this one would be worth trying. The Bodyguard by Katherine Center. It's out now.
[00:36:38] Then I picked up Pomegranate. This is by Helen Elaine Lee. Helen Elaine Lee has written books before, but this is her first book in about 20 years. It's about Renita. Renita Atwater has just been released from prison where she spent four years for opiate possession, and she is now out of prison and desperate to get her kids back. She lost custody of her children and is trying to get custody back. And the book goes back and forth between Renita's first person perspective, leaving prison and trying to build a new life for herself and kind of rebuild the life she lost. And then it goes back in time and we get Renita in the third person finding out how she became addicted to drugs, how she wound up in prison, things that saved her in prison, including her relationship with a woman who really kind of opened her eyes. And I immediately fell in love with Renita and just wanted desperately to root for Renita. She is a character worth rooting for. And when I read the acknowledgments in the back of the book, I as I had been reading, I wondered what relationship Helen Lee had with the prison system, and it looks like she had done a lot of work in the prison system, maybe doing even writing workshops or things like that in these women's prisons facilities. And so, I thought she brought such an authentic ante to that part of the storytelling. I really appreciated it. I felt like I was learning something while also rooting for and caring for this fictional character. The book, to me, is less plot driven than character driven. It is more about Renita, and will she be able to rebuild this life that she once had? Will she be able to build it back? What will it look like? What will she have to sacrifice for it? Will she earn the respect and trust of her children back? And I just was rooting so hard for her. It also opened my eyes to once someone is released from prison, what tools do they have at their disposal? What have they done without over the last few years that now they have to kind of get back? Like I said, I felt like I was learning something. I felt like my eyes were being opened to something that previously I did not know. And so, that is something I really appreciated about the book as well. Renita in the book has a really lovely and loving relationship with her father that I thought was really beautifully handled. I really liked this book a lot. I suspect readers will too. I think once you start it, you will immediately become hooked by Renita and her story of resilience and reconciliation. She has a lot of forgiving to do of herself and then also of other people. And she's just a really strong main character. I really loved reading about her. I thought she was fully formed and she was what made this book so great. It's Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee. It's out on April 11th and I loved it.
[00:39:51] After I finished The Bodyguard, I had to follow it up with something else on audiobook. I felt like I was on a roll. So, another friend Betsy recommended I Have Some Questions for You. This is the new book by Rebecca McKay, who we all probably know from The Great Believers, which I still have not read, but perhaps I now will go back and read it. And I had wondered about this when I had talked about it in our Winter Literary Lunch, where I wondered if I would enjoy this. It felt like a departure for Rebecca McKay. This is a book about a podcaster who goes back to her boarding school where she went to high school and one of her friends had been murdered. And she goes back to kind of teach a podcasting class at the school, and a group of students wants to do a true crime type of podcast about the murderer, because they believe the wrong person has been incarcerated for the last 20 some odd years. So, already lots of things I like. True Crime. A critique of true crime. Boarding school. Even podcasting. I don't always love reading books about podcasting, but I do think that's becoming more prevalent. Anyway, all things that I really like. Julia Whalen narrates the audiobook, and at first I wasn't sure I was going to be able to handle the audiobook. I feel like I just teeter on the edge of loving or hating an audiobook and it's nobody's fault but mine. I just feel like if it's too performative, it's too much for me. And then if it's not performative enough, I'm bored. Anyway, at first I wasn't sure how this was going to be, but Julie Whalen does a great job and I wound up really liking the narration. So, I listened to this one and I liked the audiobook experience quite a bit. My friend Betsy said this was like a fictional version of We Keep the Dead Close and I totally see what she meant. I loved, by the way, the book We Keep the Dead Close. If that's the nonfiction book you're interested in investigating, it is fantastic. But I thought Betsy was right.
[00:41:54] I thought it was a great comp title. I loved the suspense and boarding school elements of this book. I do think Rebecca McKay was trying to do a lot of cultural commentary. Some of it hit. Some of it felt slightly outdated because I think that's the price we pay when we write about cultural commentary, because the culture changes on a dime. And so, things that might have felt really relevant while she was writing it felt a little not less relevant, but maybe not quite as timely as they were in the book. I think she makes up for that by some of the books taking place in the recent past. And so, I think that's supposed to kind of help it not feel totally outdated. But some of the cultural commentary I felt like was just a little bit on the noose for lack of a better term. However, great writing, great plot, well-paced. I thought it was really well-paced. I think you come for the mystery suspense thriller and that's what you end up staying for. I mean, that's how it felt to me. Maybe thriller is too strong a word. It didn't read completely like a thriller to me, but very suspenseful and very much you wanted to know what happens. You wanted to know if these young Gen-z podcasters were going to be able to turn the tide for the guy who was in prison. Also, is this reliable? Maybe the guy in prison is the right guy. And so, I thought all of that was really well handled and fascinating and made up for the fact that maybe some of the cultural components I did not like as much, maybe some of those cultural critiques I just felt like occasionally like I was being beaten over the head with it. But that's okay because it wound up being a really great book and I really wound up enjoying it. So, that's I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai particularly good on audiobook. But I've had friends who've read the physical copy as well, and a lot of people are reading this right now and enjoying it. So, I don't think I'm the only one there.
[00:43:48] Okay. Next, I picked up what will be one of my favorite books of the year. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. I had a lot of people ask me on Instagram and DM and say, "Have you read this? I've seen a lot of buzz." I had not read it until it released. We did not receive an ARC and I don't read digitally. And so, I was patiently waiting just like all of you. I liked Ann Napolitano's previous book, Dear Edward. I liked it a lot. It was a book my mom and I both read and enjoyed, but this book I loved. I liked Dear Edward. I thought it was good. This book feels like the book she was meant to write. I also want you to know you may or may not know this about me, if you've listened to the podcast a long time, I can be hype averse. And so, I trust some celebrity readers. You've heard me talk about Jenna Bush Hager. I typically trust Oprah. Who doesn't trust Oprah? But when I found out this was Oprah's next book club pick, I was a little surprised, I think. And I wondered why. I don't know really why. But I wondered. I was like, well, I wonder if this is going to be any good. I mean, I knew it was going to be good. I like Ann Napolitano, but I also think I was hearing this kind of description of, "Oh, it's Little Women. It's a Little Women retelling." And I thought, oh, that's interesting. I've read some little women retellings. I don't know that I need them. And so, I don't know, I was hesitant, but whatever. When it came in the store, I was like, I need to read it especially now that it's an Oprah pick. Somebody on staff needs to read this. I like Ann Napolitano. Let me try. I could not put this down. I absolutely could not put this down. I wound up downloading the audiobook so I could supplement. So, when I had to put the book down to go to a meeting, I downloaded the audiobook so that I could listen to it while I drove to the meeting. I don't think the audiobook is as good, by the way. So, if you're trying to decide between audiobook reading or physical reading, I personally prefer the physical format of this book. I love this book so much I'm here to represent. If you also are hype averse, please read this anyway. Please read this even if you are hype averse. I love this so much and I think certainly we can see the inspiration of Little Women and of Alcott. And I don't know how else to say this except by page 50 or 100, you don't really care about the Little Women of it all because you're too invested in the part of Arnoult family. I love the Berkshire family, you know, I do. But this isn't Little Women. This is about the part of Arnoult’s, and it's really about a young man named William. And William is who I love the most. Obviously, I think he is supposed to be a Laurie type of stand in.
[00:46:37] Again, Hello Beautiful is not a Little Women retelling. It is about the part of Arnoult sisters. They live in Chicago. This is not though where this I kept looking at first for which sisters is supposed to be. Is this Jo? Is this Beth? And I think Ann Napolitano knew we were going to do that. And so, she kind of nips it pretty quickly and references Little Women. And then it's like she frees the reader to let these people be who they're supposed to be and to kind of let go of some of the Little Women similarities. William, though, I do think is supposed to be a Lori type of figure. He is raised by parents who are deeply broken and grieving. He's raised by them pretty loosely. He kind of raises himself and he is very tall and winds up becoming this great basketball player who goes to Northwestern University to pursue basketball. And that is where he meets the [inaudible] sisters. Look, did I know this book was about basketball? I did not. Is it about basketball? Yes. It's just as much about basketball as it is about Little Women. I don't know why we're not talking about it. Maybe because we think that would be a turnoff, but it is not. Especially right now, it's really fun to be reading about basketball during basketball season, during the NCAA finals. I loved those aspects of the book. I love that aspect of Williams' character. The sports writing is limited. Now I'm backtracking. This book isn't about basketball. Everybody calm down. But it is certainly paying respects to a really great sport, I think. And basketball plays a very large role in who William is and who he becomes. His teammates become his best friends. Those male friendships are so compelling in the book, and I think it's really something that Ann Napolitano created these sisters who have this really beautiful relationship, but also these male characters who have equally deep, meaningful relationships. I don't know that we see that very often in pop culture. Okay. That's all I want to tell you about this book, because I really just want you to read it. And I really kind of want you to go in not knowing much more than that. I didn't, and I think I was better for it. The only other thing I will say is if you're still a little bit on the fence, if you are an Ann Patchett fan, particularly of the Dutch House or Commonwealth, this is for readers of those books. If you loved either of those books, I think you will love this one. I had a customer in store this week tell me this is the first novel in a long time where by page 50 I was just completely enmeshed in this story. And that is how I felt too. So, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. Very much worth the hype.
[00:49:23] I'm going to move quickly. I read so many books this month. The next one was It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway. This is by Elizabeth Passarella. You may recognize her from the book Good Apple. I think I had her on the podcast a couple of years ago during pandemic times. This book releases on May 2nd. It is her second essay collection, and I think it's better than her first. I liked Good Apple, but I really liked it was an ugly couch anyway. And she writes a lot about moving, about life change, about the pandemic, about letting go of some relationships, about moving through grief. And all of those themes I think are familiar to a lot of us in 2023. And so, I felt like a lot of what I was reading felt familiar to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She lives in New York. The title of the collection gets its name from her having this really ugly couch, but it was her dad's and she doesn't want to get rid of it because it was her dad's. And there's a lot of nostalgia attached to it and kind of how she works through and around that grief and around that nostalgia. I laughed at a couple of parts. I marked a lot of pages and I teared up in parts. So, I really like this one. If you have liked Did I Say That Out Loud by Kristin Van Ogtrop, then I think you will like Elizabeth Passarella and her new book It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway. Out on May 2nd.
[00:50:49] Last but not least, I read the Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. This does not release until June 27th. I'm so sorry. You've got a lot of time. I love this. If you like Sally Rooney, then I think you will love this book. It's about a young woman named Rachel. Obviously, it's called The Rachel Incident. And she kind of falls in platonic love with her friend James. And James is this young gay guy. They meet at a bookstore. They wind up working there together. And one of the first things that happens and kind of brings them close is that Rachel has a crush on her professor. And Rachel confides this to James, her new best friend. And they kind of work together to put Rachel with her professor, to kind of get them together, even though her professor is married and obviously it's inappropriate. So, Rachel and James kind of work together on this illicit mission. And the professor does a book signing at their bookstore. And Rachel is tentative. She's not really sure she wants anything to happen now that it's actually potentially happening. She's kind of excited, but also terrified. And, anyway, she's restocking books and she walks into the stockroom. This is no spoilers, but she walks in and she sees her professor and James making out. And the plot unfolds from there. We get Rachel and James; their friendship is really wonderful to read about. We are being introduced to all of the story by Rachel at an older age, so she's kind of looking back on her early and mid-twenties and the people she met and the relationships that she had and how this relationship with James and this incident with the professor kind of changed their lives forever. Oh, I thought it was so smart. It took turns I wasn't expecting. I really loved the relationship. To me, the relationship at the heart of the book is between Rachel and James, and I loved their friendship together. I liked reading about bookstores. I liked reading about Ireland. It's very Irish. I really loved it, and I think readers are really going to love it, too. So, it is The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. I'm so sorry, it does not come out until June 27th, but go ahead and put it on your radar because it's fantastic.
[00:53:07] Those are the books I read in March. Maybe too many. As usual, with our Reading Recap episodes, we are offering a reading recap bundle for this month. Our March Reading Recap bundle is $76. It includes All My Knotted Up Life. That's the Southern Gothic memoir by Beth Moore. I Have Some Questions for You. That's the Rebecca Makkai,. And Hello Beautiful. The new book by Ann Napolitano. You can find more details and the March bundle online through the link in our show notes or just go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and type today's episode number that's 418 in the search bar.
[00:53:45] This week, what I'm reading is brought to you by the 102nd Annual Road show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Come visit us for the weekend of April 28th through 29th and experience the flowers, fun, food and shopping in beautiful Thomasville. Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGA.com Perhaps you are wondering what exactly a Rose Show and Festival is, which I would love to explain to you because I am not sure I fully knew until finally last year I had the opportunity to step outside the Bookshelf doors and experience some of what goes on at Road Show and Festival. So, our downtown is filled with different tents that are filled with roses and orchids and all kind of beautiful flowers that have been grown locally and regionally. So, it's a flower show in some case, as it says, Rose Show. I was able to walk through the rose tent, which is down near the Bookshelf, the orchid tent, and everything is just so beautiful. And the craft and care and curation, the time that is spent growing these beautiful plants, it was not lost on me. And it was such a joy to walk through these tents. There's also a street dance on the Saturday night of Rose Show. There is a parade. I got to be a judge for the Rose Show parade last year. It was so fun. So, there's all kinds of festivities even if walking through beautiful tents filled with gorgeous flowers is not your thing. There are lots of other things going on in downtown Thomasville that weekend. It's just a really celebratory atmosphere. There's a car show, there's the street dance. There's the parade. There's all kinds of things for people in your entire family. I think that's what makes Rose Show and Festival so special is there's kind of something for everybody. So, I hope you will join us for Rose Show and Festival.
[00:55:37] This week I'm reading Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. Thank you again to our sponsor, the 102nd Annual Road Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Plan your upcoming visit at ThomasvilleGA.com.
Annie Jones: From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website: bookshelfthomasville.com A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at: 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
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