Episode 423 || New Release Rundown: May
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie and Olivia are sharing the May 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 books
Super Bloom by Megan Tady (May 2)
Love Buzz by Neely Tubati-Alexander (May 2)
Paper Names by Susie Luo (May 2)
Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan (May 2)
Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane (May 30)
Olivia's books
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (May 2)
Absolutely, Positively Natty (May 9)
Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda (May 23)
No Perfect Places by Steven Salvatore (May 30)
Drowning by TJ Newman (May 30)
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 Pieces of Blue by Holly Goldberg Sloan (out 5/9). Olivia is reading The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt (out 5/23).
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...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 [00:00:02] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South.
[music plays out]
“I had thought that I didn’t need him. Was better than him, knew more, was smarter. But now, as I gazed at his face — soft and fallen — I could see everything I was, everything I could one day become was only possible because I was standing on his shoulders.”
- Susie Luo, Paper Names
[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 joined by Bookshelf floor manager Olivia Schaffer to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in May.
Do you love our Literary Therapy episodes? This May, we’re doing it live. I’ll be doing 15-minute literary therapy sessions on Tuesday, May 16, via Zoom. We can chat about reading ruts, book club dilemmas, and what titles to add to your TBR. To book an appointment, you’ll need to purchase a ticket from The Bookshelf website at www.bookshelfthomasville.com; there’s also a link in our show notes. Tickets are $30, and $5 goes toward your future Bookshelf purchase.
This would make a great Mother’s Day present or be a fun way to treat yourself this spring. Spots may go quickly, so book or gift your appointment today. I can’t wait to be your very own Fraser Crane live and kind of in-person or via Zoom anyway.
[00:01:52] Hi, Olivia.
Olivia [00:01:54] Hey.
Annie Jones [00:01:55] Welcome back.
Olivia [00:01:57] Thank you.
Annie Jones [00:01:58] Today we are talking about May new releases. Listeners, keep in mind that our online sales manager, Erin, has made browsing our podcast book selections super easy. Just go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and you can type today's episode number, that's 423, into our search bar and you'll see all of today's books listed ready for you to purchase. You can also use the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout, which will get you 10% off your order of any of today's titles. May is a big month.
Olivia [00:02:30] It's a big month. It's going to be a good month.
Annie Jones [00:02:32] I think so, too. April was a big one as well. As I'm reminded every week when I go downstairs and see the stack of new releases. April did not feel like just the first Tuesday of the month. It felt like every Tuesday had a big release.
Olivia [00:02:47] I mean, this past Tuesday, I had to help Erin carry out books yesterday and today for shipping. Thank you, everybody. I couldn't believe that. Like, we had so many preorders for April 18th, the middle of the month.
Annie Jones [00:03:01] Yeah, that's such a weird date because normally it's that first Tuesday, and you'll hear it at least in some of my selections today. That is a big release day, it's the first Tuesday of the month. But we had big titles that came out this week. And so, I don't know. I know Fall is always the big publisher season. As we eek into summer, it just feels like maybe spring and summer are the more commercially titles. I don't know. But it feels like there's a lot out every April and May.
Olivia [00:03:37] Yeah, I feel like a lot of, for me, the most fun books to read come out through like May because that's when you're picking up your summer grabs like take with you.
Annie Jones [00:03:51] Yeah. If this is your first time listening to these episodes, these are kind of our picks for books that we want to highlight and future that are coming out this month. We'll alternate selections, we'll tell you the release dates, kind of just gives you a preview of what is coming up. If you like previews of things, we're also doing our summer literary first look later this month. And so, you can find tickets for that on the website as well. So, if you like getting previews of upcoming titles, that would be a great event to attend. And it's virtual. There's an in-person version too, actually, now that we're living in that post-pandemic world. It's virtual. Most most listeners can listen virtually or can watch virtually. But if you're a local, we do an in-person version too.
Olivia [00:04:38] I like to see that hit your face. When I've been doing only in-person when I first worked here.
Annie Jones [00:04:44] Yeah, it's been a real pendulum swing, like only in-person, which were great and super fun. Well, then briefly, if you recall.
Olivia [00:04:53] Those were scary days.
Annie Jones [00:04:55] The days where we did in-person and virtual on the same day and they were like Facebook lives.
Olivia [00:05:02] I had a laptop set up precariously on a tall chair with boxes and made sure the link kept working.
Annie Jones [00:05:10] Yeah. That was so stressful. Do you know the Bill O'Reilly reference that I referenced at the top?
Olivia [00:05:16] I didn't. I am so sorry, I did not.
Annie Jones [00:05:20] Okay. I'm so sorry to distract you from your work today, but when we hang up from this episode, you have to google Bill O'Reilly going live. It was something I had never seen before until our manager (the manager before you, Magalie[sp]) one day we were talking about doing something live and she yelled-- and she was so petite and fairy-like, that's the only way I know how to describe her. She was very ethereal. She just kind of yelled. She was like, "We're doing it live!" And I was like, "What are you doing?" And she goes, "You guys haven't seen that?" And then she showed us this clip of Bill O'Reilly absolutely losing it because he had done prerecorded stuff, and then he was supposed to prerecord this segment, I guess, of his show. It's from years ago. Like, he's got a full head of hair and he yells at his production team, "I guess we're doing it live." And then he just loses it. But every time we do a live event, that's what I think. And I think of, yeah, you balancing a laptop on top of boxes while I just tried to talk about books and pretend like everything was fine.
Olivia [00:06:28] Yeah it was great.
Annie Jones [00:06:29] Anyway, now we do virtual and in-person, so you can come to our in-person literary lunch or you can watch our literary first look. So that being said, my first book of May is a release on May 2nd. It was released this week and it is called Super Bloom by Megan Tady. This is one of the books being published by the Zibby Books imprint, which I've mentioned a couple of times, because they've been quite good, to be frank. They've been quite good about sending us ARCs and it's this kind of new publishing arm, and a lot of their books feature strong female protagonist, female characters. I read a book under the Zibby Books imprint earlier this year called Women Are the Fiercest Creatures. It was a great plain book. I could (no pun intended) fly through it. It was fantastic. Super Bloom is similar in that it's a book that I think you will easily-- I love that it's releasing at this date because it's a book that you could easily fit in your beach bag. But I think this is crucial. It's like a feel good story that is not entirely a romcom. I think sometimes when we talk about feel good books, we often talk about romances. And as I recall, I read this a while ago, there is kind of a romantic-ish element. Maybe there is a love interest, but that's not really what the book is about. The book is about a massage therapist named Joan. She works at this high end spa in Vermont, this quaint little touristy town in Vermont, and she really does not like her work. She struggles with her work. She really wants to be a writer. And one of her massage clients is a woman named Carmen, who's a romance novelist. And Carmen's next book is going to be set at a spa. Carmen is kind of this more aggressive character. Carmen accosts Joan after her massage and she's like, "Hey, can you be a spy for me?" Can you kind of give me all the intel about what it's like to work at a spa like this, to be a massage therapist? Can you download all of your information to me so that I can put it in my romance novel? And Joan needs the money and agrees. None of this is spoilers. This all just happens in the first chapter too. And Joan agrees to help Carmen. And then as Joan's helping Carmen, she realizes maybe she should just write a book herself. And so, there is some intrigue. Really, the relationship with Joan and Carmen is the relationship really at the center of the book. Kind of this woman who seemingly has it all and who has the career that Joan wants. And then Joan feels like she's kind of in this no end, no way out job and how can she get out? But then maybe through writing and through creativity and through relationships, she realizes maybe there's more to this job and more she can do than she thinks. It's a great kind of feel good story. I love the setting. The Vermont setting is really fun. If you like a book where you feel like you're traveling, I think this would be fun. It's a paperback original, which I also think is great for beach bags. It is Super Bloom by Megan Tady, and it comes out on May 2nd.
Olivia [00:09:39] Okay. My book also came out May 2nd, but this is my only one that came out this past Tuesday.
Annie Jones [00:09:44] Interesting.
Olivia [00:09:46] I know. A lot of mine actually come out at the very end of May, and I don't know if that's because while reading for this, I was mostly reading for shelf subscription or what. But, yeah, a lot of mine come out at the end of the month, but I'm super excited about this book. The publisher sent me a finished copy at the time. I was so happy. This is The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. And he is a man who works on a ferry.
Annie Jones [00:10:24] Right. He's not like Peter Pan. He's not a fairy man. Was Peter Pan-- I don't know.
Olivia [00:10:33] Not as f-a-i- r- y. But f-e-r-r-y
Annie Jones [00:10:39] Okay. Incase you guys can't hear that difference. We've helped.
Olivia [00:10:41] He's not a fairy-man. He's a ferryman.
Annie Jones [00:10:45] That's right.
Olivia [00:10:47] Okay, so this is a book about a man named Proctor Bennett. And Proctor lives at this place called Prosperous and it's on earth. But this is after earth is dystopian. And if none of you have read Justin Cronin before, please go back and read the Passage Trilogy. It will take you a long time, they're very long books, but you will not regret it if you like dystopian. Is like what Donna Tartt is to dark academia, Justin Cronin is to dystopian.
Annie Jones [00:11:16] Okay, that's high praise.
Olivia [00:11:18] Extremely high praise. But this is in Prosperous and it's on earth. But it's a section that has been kind of like quarantined on their own, like they're in their own little bubble because earth has gone past of climate change crisis and it's at the point of no return. And so, these people have just kind of made their own place where they can thrive. But Prosperous does like iterations of people. So, you live your life and then when you get to old age, when you get to a point where your health isn't good anymore, you go into what's called retirement and you get on this ferry, you go to this little island, the nursery where basically your personality gets reconstructed into a younger body and you come back as a 16-year-old and live again. And so, these people just keep going through these iterations of themselves in different bodies and whatnot. And Proctor is the ferryman. He helps people when they decide to retire. He guides them gently. He takes them to the ferry and he sets them on their way, but in the most peaceful way possible so that they feel comforted in this process that can be kind of scary. So, Proctor is already going through a slump in his life. Everyone has this thing on their arm that gives them their like percentage of health and happiness. And his is slowly lowering. And his wife Elise is like so caught up in her business and everything that she just doesn't have like the emotional capacity to help Proctor figure out what's going on that's wrong. And so, Proctor one day gets a letter in the mail, like his next person who's going into retirement, and it's his father. And him and his father are kind of estranged at the time. And so, he goes to his father's house to help him through this process. He has to sit there and be like what do you want to give away? All this stuff. But as he takes his father to the ferry, his father just loses it. And it's like he's lost his mind and he keeps shouting this word. And Proctor has no idea what this means. And his father used to work for the government of Prosperous. And so, after he gets him on the ferry, which is this whole extremely traumatic event, Proctor just kind of walks away from this, like, what just happened? When he watched his dad have a meltdown and then had to send him off on his way. And the head of the government comes over to Proctor. He's like, hey, what did your father say? And so, he instantly knows that, okay, what his father said is something he should not have heard. And from there the story just evolves and just changes. And it's like you think this is like classic dystopian where the rich live on this island and the poor live on this little island called the Annex, and it's all about that. And then the rug gets pulled out from under you and nothing is what you thought it was.
Annie Jones [00:14:20] Oh, okay.
Olivia [00:14:20] It's so much bigger than you think it is. It was so well done, so well done.
Annie Jones [00:14:26] When you said he takes people across the river, it reminds me of like isn't it in Greek myth or something?
Olivia [00:14:31] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:14:32] Where somebody takes across the River Styx. Is that right?
Olivia [00:14:34] Yes. Some of it is tied into Greek mythology.
Annie Jones [00:14:41] Okay. I just thought, oh, that sounds really intriguing. Like, different than I thought it would be that I'm kind of curious about it now.
Olivia [00:14:47] It was so good. I gave Leslie a play by play the other day.
Annie Jones [00:14:53] I need to sign up for that. We should have like a sign up sheet where we can all be, like, we are going to take 10 minutes and sign up to listen to Olivia [inaudible]. Okay, well, my next book is not dystopian at all. It's called Love Buzz. Love Buzz is by Neely Tubati-Alexander. It came out this week. It is another paperback original which I think we're seeing more and more out of publishers. I have not read a ton of romantic comedies this year or romance novels this year. I've really tried to limit myself in hopes that the ones that I do read I'll really love. And this one, I really did enjoy it. I really loved it. And so, this is kind of this serendipity inspired. If you watched the great John Cusack-Kate Beckinsale movie, Serendipity, that is very much what this reminds me of. The book opens with a quote from that movie, and that's when I kind of was like, okay. It really sets the tone of what this book is about. The main character, Serena Con, she is on vacation on a bachelorette party in New Orleans. She is not having a great time, which I think you kind of fall into one of two camps. You either are the type of person who loves The Bachelorette and you're so excited to be there, or you're the person who's like, hope this ends quickly. And Serena hopes it ends quickly. And so, she is at a New Orleans bar. There's a great kind of New Orleans setting in the first part of this book. And Serena meets Julian, and they really hit it off and they kind of flirt in this bar and they have a great time. But of course, Serena is at a bachelorette. The bride calls her, distracts her. Something happens and Serena and Julian part ways. And the only thing she knows about Julian is that he is also, like her, from Seattle. And that's all she knows. And so, she gets on a plane and she flies back home to Seattle and she can't get Julian out of her mind. And she kind of embarks on a journey to find Julian. And the results are humorous. They're kind of over-the-top ridiculous, as is often the case in a romcom or a romance. One of my favorite parts about this book are the side characters. That's to me how I tell if I like a romantic comedy or not, is who are the side characters? Are they well fleshed out? Are they interesting, intriguing characters? And her friends really are. And she also develops a really fun relationship with an older woman who she meets on the plane. Anyway, I really fell in love with all of the side characters. Serena and Julian have great chemistry, and so if you are looking for a romantic comedy to try this summer, and as much as I'm looking forward to the Emily Henry book, I feel like we already all have Emily Henry preordered. And so, if you were looking maybe for a romance or romcom that you didn't know much about or that you weren't maybe first aware of, I'd really recommend this. It's called Love Buzz. It's by Neely Tubati-Alexander, and it came out this week.
Olivia [00:17:47] Coming out next Tuesday is a middle grade novel that I loved so much. This is Absolutely, Positively Natty. And it's by Lisa Greenwald. And I do have to preface this; I listen to this audiobook, but it was like an advanced listener copy and it was an AI robot reading it and it was-- the inflections were so long.
Annie Jones [00:18:12] Did they tell you?
Olivia [00:18:13] Yes. And they were like, this is not the finished audio version. This is just the ALC version of it. But Natty is super positive, as we gathered from the title, and so she goes like, "Oh, yeah!" a lot. The AI robot pronounces in ages. So it's like,"Ooh yeeaah" every time.
Annie Jones [00:18:42] You know what, we think we've come a long way. And, honestly, maybe this is for the best. This actually gives me hope because the AI stuff has been really disturbing to me.
Olivia [00:18:48] It's not going to work..
Annie Jones [00:18:50] The fact that this robot can't even get inflections right gives me hope for the world, honestly.
Olivia [00:18:55] Yeah. She goes, "Hi, Natty."
Annie Jones [00:19:02] I think voice actors everywhere are just filled with relief, like their jobs are safe.
Olivia [00:19:06] They are so happy.
Annie Jones [00:19:08] Julia Whalen is like, phew!
Olivia [00:19:09] Let me tell you, you guys, you're fine. Anyone can do better than this AI robot did for this book. And yet I still love this book heartedly.
Annie Jones [00:19:20] The mark of a true book. That you could enjoy it despite the AI narration.
Olivia [00:19:25] Yes, and I think multiple reasons. Natty is one of the most lovable characters I have come across in a middle grade novel, and mostly because I feel like we see so many kids in middle grade novels go through such traumatic events and come out at the end of it, just kind of seeing the negative in the world and not able to see the positive. And then by the end, they can start to see the positive and it's great and everything. Natty is the opposite. Natty's parents are in the middle of a divorce. She and her dad have just moved in with her grandparents in his hometown. She's started a new school. There's friend drama at home, and Natty is standing in the middle of all this just like, it's fine. Like, I love my family. I love my bedroom. I love my grandma, I love my new school. Like, it's fine. And everyone's looking at her, like, but is it? But Natty's always just like, positivity is going to be her way through everything. And we needed this character so badly. And then, of course, it does end up being a little bit of toxic positivity. Like when her friends are going through stuff, she's just like, "Well just be positive," and she's not acknowledging how they're feeling, which does like come to a big confrontation at the end. But it comes back around to like, but we still need positivity in our lives. And she like joins this new school and starts a pep squad.
Annie Jones [00:20:53] Of course.
Olivia [00:20:54] Because she winds up at one of their like baseball games accidentally just out for a walk, like her first day in town. She's like I'm going to go for a walk. And she does, and she starts cheering on her new school. She knows no one.
Annie Jones [00:21:08] So cute.
Olivia [00:21:10] Gets like all the parents to cheer along too. And she was just like, this is what I'm here for. And so, then she gets this group of like-- they never say the word emo, but it is very clear that these are the emo kids of the school. They have like vandalized the gym, so their punishment is to clean it up. And she was like, well, you guys should just join my pep squad instead. So, she gets group of emo kids to learn dances and cheer at all of these games.
Annie Jones [00:21:35] Oh my gosh.
Olivia [00:21:36] It is so great.
Annie Jones [00:21:38] How delightful.
Olivia [00:21:39] I loved every second of this AI robot reading this book.
Annie Jones [00:21:44] It sounds so fun. What was it called again?
Olivia [00:21:48] Absolutely, Positively Natty.
Annie Jones [00:21:50] Great. Perfect title too. I love it. Okay. My next book is Paper Names. This is by Susie Luo. This came out this week. This is a book that I have already talked about on the podcast a couple of times, I think. I read this book a couple of months ago and I just loved it. It did happen to be one of the books that I was reading where every book I read during that season had three narrators. So, this is one of those books with three different narrators. However, I really love how Susie Luo handled this. She is a debut novelist. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's one of a couple of writers that I read this year who works maybe in the legal or finance world, and this is just something she kind of wrote on the side, like after work, which I'm always in complete awe of. Our main character is Tony. He's a Chinese immigrant. He's come to America for a better life for his family. He moves to New York with his wife and his daughter, Tammy. His daughter, Tammy, is the other narrator in the book. And then the third voice that kind of rounds the whole thing out is their white neighbor-- not even neighbor. He's lives in the building where Tony gets a job as a doorman. So, Tony is a doorman and then in his previous life, he was an engineer. And so, Tony is filled with a lot of pride in his work, even though it's not at all what he was doing in China. And Tammy and her mom are a little bit maybe confused by the career path Tony's having to take because he's an immigrant in America. Really, what I want you to know is that the book opens with this inciting incident. So, in that way, it reminded me a lot of the book, Such a Fun Age, where within the first, I don't know, 20 to 30 pages, Tony is working as a doorman in New York and something happens and you as the reader think, oh, no, what's going to happen to Tony? But interestingly, Susie Luo kind of turns this incident on its head. And instead, it is the turning point for Tony and his family, specifically his daughter, Tammy. And their life in America.
[00:24:04] And the book goes back and forth in time. So, it's got three narrators and it also goes back and forth in time. I think the book ultimately spans about 30 years. You get to see Tammy as a young girl and then you also see her grow up. It reminds me a lot, yes, of such a fan age, but also of the book Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro that came out last year. Where there's this incident and then you kind of see how it affects everybody. I think the other book I maybe compared it to was the Celeste Ng book called Little Fires Everywhere. If you like Jenna Bush Hager Book Club Picks-- I don't know, I have no idea if this is going to be a book club selection by Jenna Bush Hager. I'm just putting that out there. But it reads like a book she might really enjoy. So, if you like Jenna Bush Hager book selections, I think you would love this book. It was incredibly well-written. The other thing that I kind of can't get over is it spans three decades and it's narrated by three different voices. But I was never confused by the plot or where I was in the book. And also it's told in, I think, fewer than 200 pages. Like it's just a short, really concise, well-told story. And the role that kind of Oliver plays in this family story is really interesting. I thought it was fascinating. I think it'd make a great book club book. There's a lot to talk about when you finish, and I really liked it. It's called Paper Names by Suzy Luo, and it came out this week.
Olivia [00:25:29] Okay. In a very different fashion from both that novel and my novel before this is Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda. I should have looked up that last name and how to pronounce it before I came on here. I really do. I forgot. But I think that's right. This is out May 23rd, and it's so good. Think like Thelma and Louise, but no one is good and no one is innocent. This is like feminine rage at its worst.
Annie Jones [00:25:58] Okay.
Olivia [00:25:59] Yeah. And that's why I got into this novel too. Because I was just like, I feel like you always see women who are, like, reacting to a situation that, like, was put on them. And so you're just like, yes, you are justified in every scene you are doing. And then you meet these two women and you're like, "No, wait a second. Every decision you made is poor."
Annie Jones [00:26:23] Yes. They're not the heroes.
Olivia [00:26:25] Yes, absolutely not. But this is a story, it's told like a classic Western tale. This is two women who are in prison and it starts with one of their cellmates describing the end of this book because their fallout ends at a gas station. And it was like immortalized by this mural on the gas station because it was like this epic shootout. So you learn this and then you jump into their point of view. And it's like I'm in it. I'm in it already. But this is about Dios and Florida. And Dios is really frustrated with Florida because she was imprisoned for being accomplice to murder. But Florida is this white woman who walks around acting like she is wrongly imprisoned. And it angers Dios to no end. And so when they both get out of prison due to like-- it was something involving the pandemic, I wasn't quite sure the legalities of it. But they were both able to leave. And Dios follows Florida and just instigates her to like bring out what Dios thinks is the real side of Florida, which is this murderous rage.
Annie Jones [00:27:36] Okay.
Olivia [00:27:38] And it starts this tale of them just doing all the worst things in all the worst ways. It was so good.
Annie Jones [00:27:49] I love that setup. I love the storytelling setup like that completely makes sense to me. That she would leave prison and be like, how can I get this woman to do what I know she's capable of doing?
Olivia [00:27:59] Yes. Because in prison they had an incident that, like-- I don't know if this is a spoiler or not. Sorry if it is, but together they ended up killing this one woman. And that was the end of them being cellmates. Florida then requested not to be Dios's cellmate, because Florida just pretended that Dios was the one who ended up killing her. She had nothing to do with it. And Dios is like, that's not true.
Annie Jones [00:28:26] Okay.
Olivia [00:28:27] But then in between these point of views between--- you get mostly Florida's point of view-- is their cell mate, and her piecing together these stories that she's hearing while still in jail after these two have been let out and have gone on this journey.
Annie Jones [00:28:42] How creative?
Olivia [00:28:42] It was so good.
Annie Jones [00:28:45] Do you have the ARC or did you electronically read it?
Olivia [00:28:47] No, I have the ARC somewhere. I'll find it.
Annie Jones [00:28:50] Find it because I think I would like to read that.
Olivia [00:28:52] Yeah, it was great.
Annie Jones [00:28:54] That sounds good and original. I think, especially because of your shelf subscriptions and stuff, you're always looking for an original thriller or suspense. And that can be hard. I mean, there are really good books that aren't original, but I think one of the things you're also looking for is something unique that you haven't read before and that can be hard.
Olivia [00:29:14] You don't read a lot of women doing wrong.
Annie Jones [00:29:18] Yeah. And just doing wrong. Not like not for a good reason.
Olivia [00:29:24] Just because they're bad people.
Annie Jones [00:29:26] Yes.
Olivia [00:29:27] There's no redeeming quality.
Annie Jones [00:29:29] It's kind of refreshing. I'm intrigued. Okay. My next book is one that is on my TBR. I have the book here in my home, but I've not read it. And it is called Late Bloomers. This is by Deepa Varadarajan. It came out this week, another paperback original. This just sounds right up my alley and somebody either an online customer, somebody on Instagram, somebody has read this and told me it was great. So, that's part of the reason I have it in my TBR stack. It looks really good. It's about an Indian-American family and the book is set over three weeks in August. So, I love a book with a succinct, specific timeline, like a book that's set over a weekend or a book that's then over a wedding week or whatever. This is set over three weeks in August. Suresh and Lata have been married for 36 years. They had an arranged marriage. And now that they have raised their children, they're getting divorced. And so, they are already separated. They're in the middle of divorce, maybe even have finished divorce proceedings. And Suresh, the father, the patriarch of the family, has started online dating. And that is going as well as you might imagine, an older gentleman trying to start over, never having dated before. He had an arranged marriage. And now he is online dating and trying to figure out what swiping means. That's Suresh and Lata. Their the matriarch and patriarch of the family. Then daughter Priya is kind of following along with her dad and realizing that he is dating online, and obviously she has opinions about that. But she also has embarked on her own kind of secret love affair that she's not telling her parents about. Her brother Nakash has the perfect marriage, the perfect life, the perfect kid. But really, of course, it's not perfect at all. And so, all of these family dramas and family secrets kind of come to a head during these three weeks when this family is together. And, as we all know, I like a dysfunctional family story, but I also like a dysfunctional family story with heart. And it sounds like these characters are not going to necessarily be at each other's throats. They just genuinely love each other. But they also have secrets that they've been holding back from one another. It sounds delightful. It sounds charming. I like that it's a paperback original. Again, one of those books that you can throw in your beach bag on spring break or a summer vacation, take on the plane. It is Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan, and I'm looking forward to reading it. I've got another one. You'll hear the next book I'm reading right now. But I'm looking forward to reading Late Bloomers next.
Olivia [00:32:13] Man, you got a couple paperback originals.
Annie Jones [00:32:17] Yes. Well, and part of the reason I put off reading Late Bloomers is because I picked it up and started to read it and really liked it. But I was considering it for a shelf subscription. And our shelf subscriptions are hardback. And so when I found out it was paperback, I had to put it down and focus on something else. Now that I have some time, I'll go back and read it. But even another book that I read and loved earlier this year became a paperback original. Like was supposed to be a hardback, but became a paperback. I find it fascinating because-- I know I've already mentioned her, but then Emily Henry's new book, I Forgot, is being released only in hardback.
Olivia [00:32:53] Yeah. I wonder if it's like hardback prices are going-- well, prices in general are going up, and so it makes it more affordable to print it in paperback than it does hardcover. But someone like Emily Henry, they're like, well, we know they're still going to buy it, so...
Annie Jones [00:33:08] Right. I think that's the thing. She's kind of proven herself. I'm a little bit like, oh, the whole point of Emily Henry's books is they're fun. Her first book was literally called Beach Read. Like, they're supposed to be fun that you can take in on the beach. I like a hardback book, but I think hardbacks are harder to take on vacation.
Olivia [00:33:28] What?
Annie Jones [00:33:28] I don't know. Maybe that's where they get their name. Beats me. I do think for some of maybe these debuts, maybe publishers are like, oh, it's lower risk for me to publish this in paperback.
Olivia [00:33:39] Yeah, that's a good point. Well, this one's coming out in hardcover. This is actually YA novel. I feel like I haven't read YA or talked about YA on the podcast in a while. Not that it hasn't been outstanding, it's just there's been other great books. But I love this one. If you like sibling dynamics, this is for you. This is No Perfect Places by Stephen Salvator. And it's out the very end of the month, May 30th. And this is about a set of twins, Ali and Alex. And they grew up in this small town with a big lake on it where a lot of people would vacation to this little resort that's there. Ali runs the boating trips and Alex cooks in the kitchen of this resort. And they've done this their whole lives. But right before this book starts where we find Ali and Alex, is they're driving to visit their dad who is in prison for embezzlement. And he has kind of screwed over several of the town's people. They lost their house. They lost a lot of their belongings. And it's really divided Ali and Alex because Ali, being the boy of the family, has had a lot put onto his shoulders by his dad and he's seen the kind of imperfect side to his father; whereas, Alex has just always remained and wanted to see only the good side of her dad and doesn't want to acknowledge that he's in the wrong in any way. So Ali and Alex go visit their dad. And at the visitation, Ali is like, hey, I need a minute with dad alone. Because before this, like a week before or something, this kid, Tyler, reached out to Ali through a letter saying that they share the same dad and wanted to meet up.
Annie Jones [00:35:28] Oh, no.
Olivia [00:35:28] Yeah. And so, Ali brings this up to his dad and his dad is basically like, that's not true. Don't tell your sister. Ali's put in this really hard position because he's super close with this twin. Who wouldn't be? But now his dad has just told him that he's not allowed to tell his sister because obviously it makes his dad look bad. They go back home. Ali keeps trying to start this conversation with Alex. But I think Alex knows that it's going to paint her dad in a bad light, so she just refuses to have it. And then a couple of weeks later, their dad died of a heart attack in prison. And then comes the real split because Ali has to kind of step up. His mom's working double shifts. He's kind of running the house and the family at this point and then still communicating with his brother and trying to figure out a way to tell Alex. And Alex has just gone off the deep end. Like drugs, alcohol, everything bad. Alex is just trying to cope in the only way she knows, and that's just to dumb herself. Which is why this book is not a YA subscription and I am still currently reading it. But then Tyler shows up at their summer camp and things go from there. It was so good. Again, I just love a book that like deep dives into sibling relationships, especially when they're in the center of turmoil, because I think that really brings out the best and worst in people. And this one was just really well done. So that's No Perfect Places by Steven Salvator.
Annie Jones [00:37:09] Okay. That's another one. You're really selling me on a couple of these. I'm looking at these titles like, okay, that sounds like one I think I might write. Okay. My last book also comes out at the very end of the month. It comes out on May 30th. This is called Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane.
Olivia [00:37:23] Great name.
Annie Jones [00:37:26] Great Title. Just tell what it is right there on the cover. Byron Lane, people might be familiar. He wrote a book which I did not read, but I loved the title and I remember us selling it at the store called A Star is Bored. Right. Is it not a good title.
Olivia [00:37:40] It's a great title.
Annie Jones [00:37:42] He was the former assistant to Carrie Fisher. Though he worked in Hollywood and worked in kind of celebrity culture.
Olivia [00:37:52] Star Wars.
Annie Jones [00:37:52] Yes. Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia. Good job. You did it.
Annie Jones [00:38:00] Big Gay Wedding is about a guy named Barnett. Barnett has a secret. No, it's not that he's gay. Everyone knows he's gay. But his mother, who lives in Louisiana, like deep Louisiana, knows that he's gay. But it's not something they advertise or talk about. So, his dad died a few years ago. His mom and dad have owned this farm with a lot of land, and now his mom owns it. And the book opens with his mom taking care of the farm. And it's the kind of farm where put out to pasture animals go to retire, like injured animals or whatever. The book opens with her greeting like a school bus of kids who's come to the farm to pet the animals, get to know the animals. And all she is thinking the whole time is the Barnett is about to come home and Barnett is going to finally tell her that he's ready to take over the farm. She's looking forward to her retirement. She can't wait to have her son home. Yes, he has this thing that's not really a secret, but they don't really talk about it. But she loves her son. She's confused by his identity, but she loves him. And she just desperately wants him to come home and take care of this farm. She's ready to retire. All the while we, as the reader, know that Barnett is coming home, not necessarily to take care of the family farm. He's coming home to tell his mom that he is engaged and that he wants to get married on the family farm to his husband. It's this kind of small town in Louisiana with a lot of bias and prejudice. And I think I've read the first 50/70 pages. It's very funny. I think what's going to happen is that because of the town's behavior and perhaps really awful behavior, the mom is going to wind up stepping up and really showing her pride and her love of her son, because I think we all know that we're allowed to be critical of our own families. But the moment someone else is, that's when we show up. And so, I think some of that is going to come into play here. The parts I read are very funny. It's very much claims to be exactly what it says on the cover. It's not meant to be some deeply tragic work of literary fiction. I think it is supposed to be very fun. Maybe if you like The Guncle, you would like this. I kept thinking weirdly because of the Louisiana setting and because of the societies colliding, like the worlds colliding, it reminds me of the movie which I did not really enjoy, but the movie Sweet Home Alabama. This is Sweet Home Alabama, but make it gay. It's what I just keep thinking as I'm reading it. I think I'm going to really love watching the worlds collide of this deep Louisiana farm family. And then Barnett and his fiancee and their really fabulous friends who come in from the big city. So, Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane comes out on May 30th.
Olivia [00:41:07] See, I kind of want to read that one now. That sounds fun.
Annie Jones [00:41:10] I can't wait to see how he wraps it up. But so far, the book is very fun.
Olivia [00:41:14] That sounds great. Well, we both read this next one, and so did Erin. This is an Annie, Olivia, Erin crossover. Of which, there aren't that many.
Annie Jones [00:41:26] No, there aren't.
Olivia [00:41:27] But maybe more than you think. But maybe not that many.
Annie Jones [00:41:30] It is weird. Truly Erin reads almost anything. She reminds me of Ezmy [sp]. They read all over the place. I'll ask Erin what she's reading. And I'm always like, oh, wow. It's because she just reads so many different. I feel like I'm always reading dysfunctional family lit or something tragic.
Olivia [00:41:52] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:41:53] But Erin and Ezmy I feel like read all over the place. And so, I do think it's hard to pin down an Annie, Olivia and Erin Ven diagram.
Olivia [00:42:01] Yes. Especially because after I read this book, I was like, listen, it's amazing. I don't know, you guys. It's intense.
Annie Jones [00:42:10] It's intense.
Olivia [00:42:11] It's super intense. Also, I just took home an ARC about this guy who gets swallowed by a whale.
Annie Jones [00:42:17] I think I requested that ARC for you. It looks so good.
Olivia [00:42:20] I'm so excited. But it reminds me of this one. Everyone, this is Drowning by TJ Newman out May 30th. This is her second novel. You may have read Falling by TJ Newman. And this is already being picked up to be a movie.
Annie Jones [00:42:37] Oh, I cannot wait.
Olivia [00:42:41] I'm so excited. She is awesome. She finally retired from being a flight attendant just to write books now.
Annie Jones [00:42:47] And for which we're all grateful.
Olivia [00:42:49] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:42:49] Good for you. I'm so proud of her.
Olivia [00:42:52] Yeah. She made it, everyone. She made it. But this is about this flight that takes off. I forget from where? Hawaii.
Annie Jones [00:43:00] I think that's right.
Olivia [00:43:02] Yes, that's right. They take off from Hawaii, and then 6 minutes into the flight, they crash into the Pacific Ocean. When this book opens, it's this dad and daughter duo and he's looking out in the window and he's like, "Is that smoke?"
Olivia [00:43:18] That's kind of what I love about her a little bit. Have you seen those memes that are like, I just want a recipe. Don't tell me how you came to your farm and learned to tell the land. I just want a recipe.
Olivia [00:43:33] I have not seen those, but yes.
Annie Jones [00:43:35] Okay. It's a funny kind of Internet thing. Okay. To me, sometimes suspense and thriller novels are the same way where we get all this background information. Now, sometimes I like that. Like, sometimes I want that, but sometimes I just want to dive into the action. And I think what TJ Newman does is just gives us the action. And I appreciate it.
Olivia [00:43:54] Right off the bat. She's not playing around. And she keeps you going somehow through this entire 300 page novel.
Annie Jones [00:43:59] There's never a break. You're breathless the whole time.
Olivia [00:44:04] Yes. But this is my favorite of any genre. It's like when you put people in a survivalist mode because, again, you see the best and the worst in folks. And this novel especially, you see the best and the worst in people. So they crash into the Pacific Ocean. The flight attendants do their job and they open those doors and they try to get as many people out as they can. And then they realize this is not a good situation. It is not safe on the water. They close the doors and 12 people slowly in this plane sink to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. You get this family that you kind of focus on. The father Will and his daughter Shannon, are on the plane. And then the ex-wife, Chris, which you do get their back story a little bit throughout the novel is back at home. But she is this engineer wizard who just inserts herself into the rescue mission of this to get her daughter and her husband out of the plane at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It was so good. There are probably several trigger warnings.
Annie Jones [00:45:17] If you are claustrophobic [crosstalk]
Olivia [00:45:23] There is a child death in this. Trigger warning on that. I did maybe forget to tell Erin that, although I could have sworn that I did. And then she came in and was like, "No one wanted to warn me?" Sorry.
Annie Jones [00:45:40] To be fair, so much happens in this book.
Olivia [00:45:42] Yeah. That's one of the last things on your mind.
Annie Jones [00:45:45] Yes. Honestly, what I like about TJ Newman is because of the pace at which she tells these stories, you kind of are also breathless and surviving along with the characters. I have a very distinct memory (I'm pointing to my chair over here), I read that book in one sitting in this chair. I was like, I must find out what happens. I have to know what happens to these people. And so, you just kind of forget some of the trauma in other parts of the book because you're too busy focusing on surviving.
Olivia [00:46:21] It's very true. I know exactly where I was as well while reading this book, because it's a one sit read. It's like if you did Silent Patient and you were absorbed in that book, this is that same kind of pace and plot twisting grip. Now, a lot of people didn't read Falling because they were worried about then being scared of plane crashes. What I'll say to that (because I read Falling on a plane ride) what are the odds of you reading this book and then this happening? I feel like I have reduced them at this point.
Annie Jones [00:46:54] Olivia almost read it as a protective measure.
Olivia [00:46:58] Yeah. Everyone, take a page from my book and read this on a plane. Really make it more exciting. Read this while crossing the ocean on a plane.
Annie Jones [00:47:11] Okay. Two things. One, is I made the observation on Instagram maybe, and because drowning involves the ocean and the ocean feels like space to me in how uninhabited and unknowable it is, this book also reminds me a little bit of Andy Weir. I think if readers liked Andy Weir-- now, obviously this doesn't have to do with space, but to me, the underwater element makes it feel otherworldly.
Olivia [00:47:42] Well, it's like Where is Andy Weir is to going into maybe the mathematics of survival. TJ is into the practicalities of it.
Annie Jones [00:47:51] Yes. Like, how are we going to do this?
Olivia [00:47:53] Yeah, exactly. And she clearly did a lot of research into what we have for deep diving as well, which was also really fascinating because I had no idea of some of this stuff. Obviously, I'm not in the military but...
Annie Jones [00:48:09] It was fascinating. You could tell she had researched.
Olivia [00:48:13] Yes. And no part of this was sluggish. Even going to the back story of that family where a part of me starting that chapter was, like, I don't need this. Just put me back in that plane with them, let me figure this out. And then I was reading and I was like, no, maybe you do need this. But it's short chapters, so you just you fly through it. It focuses on that main family, but there's so many other great characters stuck in that plane with them. It's just so good.
Annie Jones [00:48:43] My second observation is a hypothesis I will now present to you, which is Jordan and I went to the movies on Sunday and the sound wasn't working and somebody got up and went to tell the people like, hey, the sound isn't working. And I whispered to Jordan. I said, "It's always fascinating in a movie theater to me. If you look around the room, you can kind of predict who will be the person who will go ." I know I won't ever have to do that because somebody else in the movie theater is going to do that. And I whispered to Jordan that I think there's a correlation between the person who will get up and go make sure the sound is turned on and a person on a plane who will save your life. And I'm sorry to say that person is not me. But I think it's a little bit of the same personality type. Sometimes when I get on a plane, I look around and I'm like that finance bro might save my life.
Olivia [00:49:43] Okay. Glad you brought this up. I listen to a whole podcast about the manual of how to exit the plane, because there's a whole science behind that. If you'll notice on the sheets, there's no words because they know you're not reading. They know you're just looking.
Annie Jones [00:50:03] Yes.
Olivia [00:50:05] That part was fascinating. But then they also said that the first minute of the plane crash is like that is who will survive, who will do something in that first minute, because that's all it takes. And so, ever since listening to that podcasts, I do like to think that I could be that person because I now get onto planes and I'm just like, listen, it is flight or fight or freeze. And a lot of people freeze and that the danger. And so, you just have to go and you just have to push. You got to do what you got to do to get out of that plane in that first minute. And after listening to that podcast, I'm like, I think I now know that I have to do it, so I will do it. Now, stuck in the bottom of the ocean, I don't know the science behind what we should or should not do in this moment.
Annie Jones [00:50:54] Well, while I was reading, I kept thinking, "Would I be a person who insists on getting out?" Because I do think about myself and I think I might have thought if I can get out, my chance of surviving is higher. Because my rational brain I think would think that way. Would think, no, I got to do whatever I need to do to get out of this plane. That's the key to survival.
Olivia [00:51:17] Well, it sounds logical in the moment. And then she talks about why it wasn't and I'm just like, oh, yeah, of course.
Annie Jones [00:51:24] Yes. But I would not have known that in the moment. My logic would have failed me. And that's part of the reason I love books like this is because it makes you think, "Wait, what would I do?"
Olivia [00:51:33] Yeah, but I that's why I loved Cold People. I was just like, "How would I survive in the Antarctic?" Would I survive in the Antarctic? Like, what would you do? Would you be the hero or would you not?
Annie Jones [00:51:47] Because that's the other thing. I think there is a chance I would survive. I think there is a very small chance I would be the hero because it feels like the hero has to be the kind of person who will leave and go get the sound turned on in a movie theater. And I am not that person. I like to fly under the radar. I don't like to be in charge. I know that is hard.
Olivia [00:52:13] Literally our boss.
Annie Jones [00:52:14] I know that doesn't make sense. I like to be in charge when I know I'm capable. I don't want to be in charge when I don't know I'm capable.
Olivia [00:52:24] Well, I would like to point out the very two distinct happenings here. A plane is life or death. A movie theater with no sound is not life or death. So, being that person who gets up to say, hey, the sound isn't on, it might not be the same person. They might be that dumb guy who tried to barrel through the plane.
Annie Jones [00:52:44] Well, that is true. There is a correlation there as well.
Olivia [00:52:47] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:52:48] But I do think that take charge personality might save your life.
Olivia [00:52:55] Yeah. If you're rational and logical about it.
Annie Jones [00:53:01] Yeah. If you're not, yes. Agreed. Fascinating. We could do a whole podcast about surviving, I'm sure.
Olivia [00:53:08] Survivalist books. Bring me on.
Annie Jones [00:53:11] Yeah, we'll do a whole episode. Those are the May new releases that we are looking forward to. Keep in mind that you can go online and search episode 423 to find all of these titles. You can use NEWRELEASEPLEASE. That's the discount code. You can use that at checkout for 10% off your order of today's titles.
[00:53:32] This week, I'm reading Pieces of Blue by Holly Goldberg Sloan. Olivia, what are you reading?
Olivia [00:53:38] I am reading The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D Schmidt.
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:
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