Episode 427 || New Release Rundown: June

This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie, Olivia, and Erin are sharing the June releases they’re excited about to help you build your TBR.

When 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:

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan (6/6)

Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess (6/6)

Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris (6/13)

The Second Ending by Michelle Hoffman (6/13) 

Olivia's books: 

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (6/6)

Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni (6/13)

102 Days of Lying About Lauren by Maura Jortner (6/20)

Lay Your Body Down by Amy Suiter Clarke (6/27)

Erin's books: 

How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key (6/13)

You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza (6/13)

Never Give Up by Tom Brokaw (6/13) 

Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie (6/13)  

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 Excavations by Kate Myers. Olivia is reading Light Comes to Shadow Mountain by Toni Buzzeo. Erin is reading You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza.

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...Ashley Ferrell, Cammy Tidwell, Chanta Combs, Chantalle C, Kate O’Connell, Kristin May, Laurie Johnson, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Stacy Laue, Stephanie Dean, Susan Hulings, and Wendi Jenkins.

Thank you to this week’s sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Summer is a wonderful time to see Thomasville, Georgia!  If it’s time to hit the road for a quick getaway, we’re exactly what you’re looking for! You can rekindle your spark, explore historical sites, indulge in dining out, shop at amazing independent stores, and finally relax and unwind. There’s no better getaway than Thomasville!  Whether you live close by or are passing through, we hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia – it’s worth the trip! Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGa.com.

Transcript:

Annie Jones [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.

"When I'm searching for meaning, validation or a challenge, I'll often find it through an exchange between fictional characters or in the lyric of a transformative album."

- Aisha Harris, Wannabe: Reckonings With The Pop Culture That Shapes Me.

[00:00:42] 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 and online sales manager Erin Fielding to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in June. Do you love listening to From the Front Porch every week? Spread the word by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. All you have to do is open up the podcast app on your phone, look for from the front porch, scroll down until you see, 'Write a Review' and then tell us what you think. Here is a recent review from Meredith. "Love the book recaps. I love this podcast. I really appreciate the episodes where they recap what they read in the last month or the books to come in the next month. It usually gives me new books to check out or affirms my interest in books I'm excited about. Definitely recommend for any book or reading lover." Thank you, Meredith. And thank you to all of the reviewers who've left kind words and thoughtful reviews about the show. We are so grateful any time you share From the Front Porch with your friends. Thank you for spreading the word about not only our podcast, but also about our small, independently owned bookstore. Now back to the show. Hi, guys.

Olivia [00:01:52] Hey.

Erin [00:01:53] Hello.

Annie Jones [00:01:54] Welcome back. Are you all ready? Are you guys ready to get in the rhythm? Are you ready to talk about-- I hesitated when recording this because I thought the books we're looking forward to for June. Surely not. Surely, we're going to be talking about May. But no, it's May right now and we're going to be talking about June. Does the year feel like it has flown or it has dragged but somehow it's June? I can't decide.

Olivia [00:02:23] I keep getting lost in May. Now I know what date it is today and I know what date it's going to be this weekend. But next weekend I'm just like, is it still may or is it the second week of May or is it June? Where are we in May?

Annie Jones [00:02:43] We had so much going on in April, and I think I thought, oh, May will feel so different. No, ma'am. No. I was telling Erin I still have to read Bleak House. It doesn't matter how hard I have tried to perfectly schedule each day to accommodate the work I need to do in each day. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters. I just feel very behind.

Erin [00:03:10] It's a parenting meme going around, but I'm sure it applies to almost everyone that this is like May-cember, which is like it's just for parents. It's like all the end of the school year stuff, all of the end of the year recitals, all of the end of the year parties. And then I decided to be in a play on top of it. So it's like all of these things just all have to happen in May. And like Olivia said, for me, it's like, okay, if I can just get through next weekend, but then we still have a whole another week of May.

Olivia [00:03:44] And it still feels like mid-May next week, but it's not mid-May, next week.

Annie Jones [00:03:49] At some point I'm going on vacation and I think I've forgotten that too. And I'm like, I hope I don't regret taking my vacation in May, because then we have June and July. Like, do you know what I mean? I don't even know the right time to take a vacation anymore.

Olivia [00:04:06] But surely June will feel different.

Annie Jones [00:04:08] So we say every month.

Erin [00:04:11] I was just waiting for the laughter. But no...

Annie Jones [00:04:16] I do think it'll feel different. But then I look at the calendar and I'm like, oh, Retreat Retreat.

Olivia [00:04:20] Yeah.

Annie Jones [00:04:22] Which is planned. I mean, Caroline has done a beautiful job. I mean, knock on wood, but that feels like a pretty well-oiled machine at this point. But staffing is always weird in the summer. I don't know. It just feels like-- but you're right. It's May 17th, but feels like it might as well be May 30th.

Erin [00:04:39] Yeah.

Annie Jones [00:04:40] But also May 1st of the same month.

Erin [00:04:44] I was also going to say May 1st. Yeah, it's weird.

Annie Jones [00:04:45] Yeah, no matter what, we're talking about books for June.

Erin [00:04:48] Yeah, we're excited about June.

Olivia [00:04:50] Books for June are going to be great.

Annie Jones [00:04:51] I think it's going to be a good month. I can't decide what season of reading best suits you. I was talking to somebody during literary therapy yesterday and they were like, I really think fall is just my reading season. And I was like, what is my reading season? Statistically, it has always been spring. That's when I read the most. But when it comes to publishing and what books you like best, is it spring, summer or fall for you?

Olivia [00:05:23] I just know come fall, I burn out by December. I think I want it to be fall every year because there's such good titles coming out. But come like mid-November, December, I don't want to open a book.

Annie Jones [00:05:38] Well and we're reading fall releases in the summer, so maybe that's what's also weird is that you're reading fall titles but at the beach.

Olivia [00:05:48] But I've already read them. Yeah.

Annie Jones [00:05:50] Right.

Erin [00:05:51] I think for me reading in the summer is easier just because like when we've done the days tasks, there's not homework to check and projects to finish and all these things. It just feels like I actually have a little bit more of my time to myself during the summer. And, of course, there's vacations and when grandparents are helping out and things like that. I feel like I get a lot more reading done in the summer.

Annie Jones [00:06:17] Well, and maybe it's my imagination because we were just laughing about, is June going to look any different for May? But it does feel like Summer at the Bookshelf feels different. Maybe that's naive.

Erin [00:06:29] But it does.

Annie Jones [00:06:33] Doesn't it feel more laid back? Am I making that up?

Olivia [00:06:37] No, it for is.

Annie Jones [00:06:40] I think that also maybe that's why I like spring and summer reading as well. There are lots of good books coming out on June, we're going to talk about them. Don't forget listeners, as we go through June's new releases. Keep in mind that Erin has made browsing our podcast book selections easier than ever. You can go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and type episode for 427. You can just type 427 into the search bar and you'll see all of the books we're talking about today listed ready for you to purchase, and then you can use code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout and it'll get you 10% off your order up today's titles. Okay. We each have four books to talk about. Shall I kick us off?

Erin [00:07:20] Go for it.

Annie Jones [00:07:21] Okay. The first book I want to talk about releases on June 6th. It is called Same Time Next Summer. This is by Annabel Monaghan. This is a highly anticipated title for me because of how much I absolutely fell in love with Annabel Monaghan's debut novel, Nora Goes Off Script. It is still a book I reference frequently. I probably have hand sold it beyond its capacity. I feel like I keep on selling it, but surely everyone locally has read it. Because I feel like I've just have sung the praises of this book because it just felt like a romantic comedy with depth, which we don't always get. It also felt like more than a romantic comedy. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Evvie Drake Starts Over where you have a really compelling female protagonist who has this really full, wonderful life, but then it also pulls in one of my favorite romcom tropes, which is where the celebrity falls in love with a normal person. Anyway, I can talk about Nora Goes Off Script all day long. I loved it so much. But I think, as you both know, the pressure that comes with a sophomore novel when you love the debut. I have been a little nervous. I think I felt the same level of nervous to start this one as when I was reading Britt Bennett's Vanishing Half because I loved the mother so much. And so I just kept putting off reading it. I was aided in this procrastination because I had not received an ARC literally until yesterday as of this recording. So I have not had a chance to finish this book. However, I did start it in anticipation of recording this podcast. And despite some initial misgivings, because our male lead, who I think is going to be the main love interest, Wyatt, plays the guitar and I was immediately like, " Oh, dear, no."

Olivia [00:09:13] We don't do guitars.

Annie Jones [00:09:15] No. Much like blond haired men. I am not interested in a guitar playing male lead. So I had my own personal misgivings. However, I think and I want to be kind when I say this, but so far I think same time next summer is going to correct what I think-- what was the book? Oh, dear. Olivia, help me think. Or Erin, you might know too. Carly Fortune. Kendall.

Olivia [00:09:44] Every Summer After?

Annie Jones [00:09:46] Every Summer After. It was like the book of the summer last year, and I did not enjoy it. It is okay if you did. It's also okay that I didn't. This is a judgement free zone. But I think Same Time Next Summer deals with some of those same tropes where there's a boy from her past, they meet at their family beach homes off the Atlantic coast. The beach setting is arty perfect. I did not grow up going to the Atlantic like you did Olivia. But the way she describes running into the dunes and there's this scene where she's like, the beach for me is grabbing a Pop-Tart and heading down to the shore. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, that is exactly--

Olivia [00:10:33] Well, and to use the shore is a big difference.

Annie Jones [00:10:37] Yes. But I was like, oh, my gosh, yes. We used to just you got up in the morning immediately put on your bathing suit, which you wore all day, grabbed a Pop-Tart and headed out. And so I feel like I'm going to love the setting automatically. But the things that maybe I didn't love about Carly Fortune's debut, I think I am going to love because I really do think Annabel Monaghan is a talented author. And so, if you like that kind of-- I don't know if it really is technically second chance romance, but that kind of story where it's like your childhood sweetheart, your high school sweetheart, and you kind of rekindle that romance while at this family home. I think this is going to be for you and I think might actually be better than maybe the similar sounding romcom that came out last year. I'll also say this Nora Goes Off Script, came out in hardback. This is coming out as a paperback original, which my preference on the beach is always a paperback. So I think that's working in this book's favor. It just feels like the perfect beach read for the summer, and I'm very anxious to finish it. It's part of the reason I started it so that I could talk about on this podcast. But now I'm annoyed because today I definitely have to read Bleak House. But what I really want to go back to Same Time Next Summer. So this book comes out on Tuesday. It should be really delightful. If you've read Nora, I think you'll probably like this one. And I'll also give my friend Betsy a plug. Betsy did receive an advance copy of this and texted me and said, "If you're worried, don't be. This is excellent." I do think if you are like me and you love Nora so much and you've been a little hesitant, I think you can calm those fears, assuage those fears. I think this is going to be fine. So it's same time next summer by Annabelle Monaghan out on Tuesday.

Olivia [00:12:27] My next one, the complete opposite of a romcom is All the Centers Bleed by S.A. Cosby. And this is out June 6th There is a blurb on the back cover of it. And it was like this book grabs you by both ears and just yells in your face. And I was like, all right. Which sounds extremely aggressive. And to be honest, this book is extremely aggressive. Like pretty much every trigger warning possible I'm going to throw out this book, but I'm not going to tell you that because it spoils it. Just know that if you're a sensitive reader, I say Cosby doesn't hold back at all from anything plot or gruesome. So this is about Titus Crown, who is the first black cop in this small town in Virginia. And he's kind of like caught in a rock and a hard place, because on the one hand, he doesn't get any respect from the white community being the first black cop. And then on the other hand, he has lost respect from the black community because he's a part of the people that torment them and make their life harder. But he's just doing what he knows to be right, and that's what he's trying to tell people. So like a year to the date from when he was elected the sheriff, is a school shooting. Titus shows up and it is a young black man who is the shooter and he shoots a beloved white teacher. That's it. And then he runs out and Titus and I think a couple other deputies, two of them being white men, are there. And Titus tries to calm the situation, tries to get the young man, the shooter, to put down his gun because he's just talking gibberish and like it's clear he's not in his right mental state. And in doing so, the young man starts to run forward and the two white deputies shoot him. Then it's this big, huge uproar from both sides of the community. And Titus is kind of stuck in the middle. But what he realizes, there's a lot more to the story than what's given away. The white teacher that was killed might actually not be this beloved member of the society that everybody thinks. And there's a lot deeper. There's like a serial killer involved. But this book is so good. He wrote Razorblade Tears, which I loved. I thought it was incredible. I thought it slowed down a little bit in the middle. This book, I think I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. And it grabs you right from the start. And you get some of Titus' backstory and it's just so good. It for sure grabs you by both your ears and screaming in your face. So not for the faint of heart. And all of the trigger warnings apply. But please read this book.

Erin [00:15:42] Read it anyway.

Olivia [00:15:44] It's so worth it. It's so well-done.

Annie Jones [00:15:47] I'm curious about it myself because you got me to read Razorblade Tears, and I really did like it a lot. And now this just the protagonist, Titus, sounds like he's the reason to read the book.

Olivia [00:15:57] Yeah.

Annie Jones [00:15:58] Yeah, He just sounds compelling.

Olivia [00:16:00] Absolutely.

Erin [00:16:01] Okay. My first book, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to do this in my first one or my last one because I really wanted to give it its due. It's How to Stay Married: Most Insane Love Story Ever by Harrison Scott Key. It's coming out June the 13th. I have read all of Harrison's books. He's been writing for a while. He's what I would consider like a Southern humorist, writing about his family. And I'm used to his books, having a lot of humor, a little bit of emotional moments, and some of that good old Southern flavor. And then God and faith make a little bit of a cameo sometimes. That's what I'm used to about this book is it's insane. I will never forget this book. And Amy and I talked about this a lot in the office, and she also loved this book. She was kind enough to let me talk about it. This is not a spoiler to say that the book chronicles Harrison finding out that his wife, Lauren, has been having an affair with their neighbor for several years unbeknownest to him. I don't want to give any more of it away. That's really all the book blurb gives away. Is that he finds out his wife is having an affair and you're sort of left to wonder what happens. Like, how did it happen? What brought them to this point? And he goes through a lot of that. I mean, it is such a roller coaster. If I didn't know it was real life, I would think it was a fiction book because there's so many things that happen that you're like, no. No normal person would do that or whatever, but it is insane. I may have continued reading just to find out how their story ends, but what I will ultimately remember about this book is how he really owns his part in the infidelity. He sort of looks back and looks at what's led them to this point. And he grapples with his own inadequacies that have led them to this point. He wrestles a lot in this book with his faith in God. And sometimes his faith in God seems like a life vest to him. And sometimes it seems like a punctured life raft that he's so slowly sinking in. And so it's a savior to him at times and other times it's just like he wishes he could get out of faith as quick as possible.

[00:18:27] But it's about parenting. They have three children, and so it's about how do you parent children through this kind of thing? How do you love them? How do you set an example for them when you're going through this? It's about friendships, about who he thought was going to be there for him and who actually was there for him when this happened, and friendships he developed in the midst of this and because of this. And I wouldn't call this a fun book by any means. I mean, it's about a real life couple and their real life infidelity and how it ruined both of their lives, basically. But it is a book so worth reading. He made me laugh during it. I cried at the end of it. I want everyone to read this because I want to talk to people about it. It's so good. Annie has said too, you said, I know some people may want to be like, oh, I don't want to read about infidelity, that seems too private. It seems too personal. And there were definitely a lot of moments in this book when I thought, how did his wife let him write this book? How did she let him to go ahead with this? Because, honestly, it doesn't paint her in a great light for most of it. She obviously was the one that made the choice to to have the affair. But, man, it just is such a redemptive book. And I will just think about it for a really long time because of the way he deals with it, with the way they deal with it. And I would say, don't Google him, don't Google the situation, just go into it reading it not knowing what the end of their story is. And it kept me literally up at night reading this book just to see where it would go next.

Annie Jones [00:20:08] I couldn't put it down from the moment-- I think I took it to lunch with me one day, which what a fun book. Just highly recommend going to like a restaurant where people know you and like plopping down and reading a book called How to Stay Married. Just highly recommend the look that you're going to get. But I thought I'll read a few pages of this and just see what I think. I was immediately hooked. And the thing I guess I keep coming back to that Erin and I discussed off air was it doesn't feel voyeuristic. It doesn't feel like somebody's airing their dirty laundry. And, in fact, for a book about infidelity, it's really a book about marriage. It is really a book about what you choose when you choose marriage. And I loved it. I've talked Jordan's ear off about it, but I think I'm going to make him read it too.

Erin [00:20:58] Yeah. It's really good. It almost is a marriage manual in a way. It's sort of like, here's how we started, here are some mistakes that we made and then this happened. Here's how we dealt with it afterwards, but it doesn't feel like you are learning a lot about marriage. I learned a lot about my own marriage after reading it and just things that I want to work on and things that I want to do. And it was just so good, so good.

Annie Jones [00:21:22] I loved it. And it's one of those books that I think will stick with me for a really long time. Okay. My next one is a book that I think will be equally polarizing. This is called Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess. It comes out next week. I've talked about this book already on the podcast, so I'm not going to kind of belabor it, but I do know since first reviewing it-- oh, I think I reviewed it maybe back in February. And since then, this book has caused quite the social media fervor. Really divided readers on whether this book is even worth reading, perhaps whether it is even worth publishing. I certainly think it is worth of reading and worth publishing it, so I'm going to talk about it. But I do understand where those feelings come from. I think a lot of those feelings come from this book being mismarketed, and so here I am to try to correct that mistake, which is Everything's Fine is I think being misbilled or kind of misadvertised as a romance novel. That is certainly not the sense that I get from this book. The book is about a young woman named Jess, who is a black woman about to start a job at Goldman Sachs. She is going to work in the male dominated, white dominated fields of finance in New York. And once she gets there, she really only knows one other person, a white guy named Josh, who she went to college with. And she and Josh have a really kind of tense relationship. They weren't particularly friends in college. Josh in this book is extremely recognizable. He is a white conservative who had no problem debating Jess in college classrooms and things like that. So when they are in the same workplace, there is some tension there, but there's also some comfort there because he is somebody who is familiar to her. The book is kind of billed as a romance or a romantic comedy even between Jess, a black liberal, and Josh a white conservative. I would argue that's not what this book is at all. I would argue this book is a really well-done, well-crafted social commentary in the same vein as maybe Such a Fun Age. Or Olivia was that book called The Other Black Girl I think that you read?

Olivia [00:23:44] It was great. Yeah.

Annie Jones [00:23:44] Yeah. To me, just from the moment I started the book, I could not put it down. It's one that you could easily read, I think, in one sitting. But from the moment I started, there was just a sense of kind of foreboding to the book that definitely was reminiscent of like a Jordan Peele movie, like Get Out or something like that where you're just like, "Oh my gosh, what is going to happen?" And I, as a white reader, was just sitting with real discomfort through much of the book. Cecelia Rabess is a black author. I also find it fascinating. She too worked-- maybe even still works in finance. So I know she knows of which she writes. That added, I think, a real level of authenticity to Jess's experience in that workplace. The book starts in 2012, and I guess that leads to my point about the sense of foreboding because Jess and Josh begin to date, they have a relationship, but the whole time you, the reader, know. First of all, you're sitting with some of your own discomfort at some of their interactions, but then you, the reader, now well 2016 is coming and what is going to happen? What is going to happen then? And the book kind of builds to that. And I think it's done in an incredibly thought provoking way. Whether or not Cecilia Rabess handles all of those tensions and issues perfectly, I really can't speak to. But did I find it realistic? Yes. Did I find it incredibly compelling? Yes. Did I find it incredibly upsetting? Yes. I finished this book and was like, I mean, you'll know, I came to the store and I was like, I got to talk about this book with somebody. And part of that is because I think it is misbuilt. And then part of it is just because, guys, I think you're supposed to be uncomfortable when you read this book. But I think that's how you're supposed to feel. I have not talked to Cecelia Rabess, so I don't know, but I feel like that is how I was supposed to feel while reading this book. I really liked it. I know not everyone feels the same way. I know it will be divisive this summer, just next week when it releases. I think it has already been pretty divisive, but I think it is worth trying and picking up. I certainly appreciated Cecilia's and Jessi's perspectives and really just thought it was a pretty compelling story, so I really liked it. Jury's out on whether you, the listener, will. But it is called Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess and it comes out next week.

Olivia [00:26:12] Interesting. I'm going to read that one for sure.

Annie Jones [00:26:15] I can't wait to see. It's much like the Harrison Scott Key, it's one that you finish and you really do have to talk about. I think it'd be a good book club conversation because the best book club books, I think, tend to be a little bit controversial.

Olivia [00:26:29] My next book was very accurately marketed.

Annie Jones [00:26:35] What a relief.

Olivia [00:26:36] This is the Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni. And this is out June 13th. This one was marketed as like Da Vinci Code meets the Silent Patient, which is extremely accurate. I will just say it's not as fast paced as either of those books. I flew through Da Vinci Code. Silent Patient for a lot of people was a one sit read. This book is a little bit slower just because it goes a little bit more in depth into the situation, but still just as good. So this is about this guy, Mike Brink. And Mike was a high school football player and pretty sure he was like the quarterback. That's not super important. And one game he got hit really hard and he ended up with a concussion, like taken to the hospital. And it just changed the trajectory of his life, where he thought he was going to go become a professional football player. The next day he woke up and he was just seeing numbers and everything because his concussion turned him into like a math puzzle savant, which reading this, I was like, "How hard do I have to hit my head?"

Erin [00:27:46] What if it's just a light concussion?

Olivia [00:27:50] The chances are slim. Not that I would actually become a savant, so I won't do it. But he did. And his job is like creating the puzzles for New York Times or something big like that. But he's pretty famous for it because he's a savant. I think she even put like in the very beginning of the book, there's like maybe 300 savants in the world. Like, it's a really low number, but it's an actual thing. And then we meet Jess Price. Jess Price has been in prison for murder for the past five years, and she hasn't spoken a word. So no one really knows what happens. There's a lot of people out there that think, like, maybe she didn't actually do it. Prior to the murder, she was this famous literary fiction writer. She wrote a lot of essays. She got famous for them. There is a whole community of people that love her writing that were really thrown off when this murder happened, and then she was put in jail for it. And so, Jess is in prison. She creates this puzzle and they contact Mike because they're like, no one else can solve this puzzle. Maybe you can. And then they realize that she created that puzzle because she knew she would be able to reach Mike Brink because of this puzzle. It really did. Then kind of together they end up involved in like a lot deeper of a conspiracy than what's on the surface of this book that I can't go into because it will be a big spoiler. But it does have a feel of almost like the Cloisters, the Katie Hayes novel, where it's like touching into the supernatural. This is one goes a little bit deeper into it, but it also has a thick back story based in like realistic things.

Annie Jones [00:29:55] Is that the start of a series or just a standalone?

Olivia [00:29:58] Not just a standalone, which I really appreciated. And the characters were really, really good. I really liked Mike also. Why didn't I tell you guys this? He has this little dog. Her name is Conundrum. She's a daxie because they're conny and he brings her everywhere. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, it was excellent. I really liked it. Yeah, it was really good.

Erin [00:30:28] That sounds good. Thank you. Looking forward to that one too. My own TBR list. My next book is You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza. It's coming out June the 13th. I did try to read their first book, which was We Are Not Like Them, which did very well and everyone really enjoyed. I really liked what I read of their first book, but I never finished it. And I said it's not the book's fault because the book came out the same day my youngest child was born. So I think I just wasn't in the best headspace to be reading something. But this book I was excited to pick up and I wasn't disappointed. It follows the perspective of Daisy, a young white girl and Cinnamon, who was probably in her twenties, and she's a black woman. They meet by chance on a park bench. Like Cinnamon goes out there for her lunch break and Daisy just meets her, and they just kind of continue meeting every week at this bench. And one day Cinnamon goes out there and she finds an abandoned baby, which I don't know about y'all, but like I used to have dreams of finding abandoned babies. I just thought wouldn't that be so cool? Like, just to find a baby and then it would be mine.

Olivia [00:31:42] Have you Googled that?

Annie Jones [00:31:43] What do that dream mean?

Erin [00:31:48] I have lots of children, so it's not about wanting children. I just thought having a baby is so tough and then adopting a baby is so tough. I'm like, what if I just found the baby.

Annie Jones [00:31:59] I mean, I wish the stork was real all the time.

Olivia [00:32:06] Yeah, so many legalities. But that's covered in this book because she finds the baby and everyone's like, take it to the police. And for reasons that I won't go into, she doesn't take it to the police. And it's a white baby and she's a black woman, so she's sort of taking care of the baby and a lot of her life and her backstory and maybe lies that she has told people to get where she is today, they start to unravel as people start to ask questions and more people start to come into her life. She's also looking for Daisy who hasn't met up with her. And so she doesn't know where Daisy is. So we get chapters by Daisy, we get chapters by Cinnamon. And it just it reminds me a lot of like a Jodi Picoult book.

Annie Jones [00:32:52] It's what I was going to say.

[00:32:53] In fact, as I started to read about this, I thought, "Wait, who wrote this?" And I mean because I love Jodi Picoult too. It just reminds me of that kind of-- it deals with racism. It deals with motherhood. It deals with secrets and the lies that we tell ourselves and the lies that we tell others to get where we are today. So it's very good. I think anybody would like it. I have to say, I'm not quite finished with it yet, but what I have read of it, it's pretty PG. If you're a sensitive reader, then you just enjoy those types of books. This will be a really great pick. I'm also really fascinated when it's two authors that write a book together, always and I think they did a great job.

Annie Jones [00:33:37] I hope I didn't dream this. I know I read their first book. I am pretty sure I interviewed them for the podcasts. I'm pretty sure I talked to them as their writing process was fascinating to me. I'm always fascinated by authors who band together to write a book. I understand Google Docs are are a thing, but I'm like, how does that work? How does a cohesive novel come out of two people's viewpoints? But they were fascinating and I really did like their first book a lot, so I'm intrigued by this one too.

Erin [00:34:04] Yeah, this is really good.

Annie Jones [00:34:06] Okay, my next one is a work of nonfiction. It is called Wannabe: Reckonings With The Pop Culture That Shapes Me. This is by Aisha Harris. It comes out on June 13th. Aisha is one of the hosts of NPR's podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which is a podcast I listen to religiously, I think, pre-pandemic. And then during the pandemic I think I really narrowed down what I was listening to. I don't know. I stopped pursuing a ton of stuff, but I still will pop in to certain episodes of Pop Culture Happy Hour, like if it's a topic that interests me. Anyway, Aisha Harris is one of those co-hosts and she has written a book, an essay, collection kind of all about different pop culture that has shaped her life and both the beauty in that and then also some of the problematic parts of that. And I read this, this was a great plain book. It's part of the reason I wanted to mention it today. I read it earlier this year when I was going on a trip, and I love an essay collection. I suspect this would probably be a fantastic audio book because I would suspect that podcast host Aisha Harris narrates it if I had to guess. I think if you're wondering about which one of these books you could listen to on audio, I think this would be a really good one. I love the audiobook format. I also really liked that I think I went into this expecting it would almost be like a Jessi Klein, Tina Fey humorous essay collection. But instead it's really thoughtful and I'm about to use this adjective and I do not mean it in a negative way. It almost feels academic because she has put so much thought and effort into analyzing these different TV shows, this different type of music, different artists, different authors. So it almost works as a piece of cultural criticism. I'm coming off of just having read Monsters by Clair Dederer and so maybe that's on the forefront of my mind. But if Monsters by Clair Dederer is on one end super literary and super academic, I think Aisha is a little more centered than that, but it's just incredibly thought provoking and I think you will end the book maybe being maybe more critical or thoughtful about your culture that you consume. I really liked this one. It also was different from what I first thought it would be, but I enjoyed it. I think Aisha Harris is a really good writer and I think if you like her work on pop Culture Happy Hour, you will certainly like this book. It is Wannabe: Reckonings With The Pop Culture That Shakes Me out on June 13th.

Erin [00:36:38] And the cover is so bright and beautiful.

Annie Jones [00:36:40] It looks like a superhero movie.

Erin [00:36:43] Very summery. Yeah.

Annie Jones [00:36:46] Which I think she addresses in the book as well.

Erin [00:36:50] Okay going into middle grade because I feel like I always have to throw at least one in there because read so many. This next one is out June 20th. It's called 102 Days of Lying about Lauren by Maura Jortner.

Annie Jones [00:37:25] Maura.

Erin [00:37:27] I know. Like in the Sisters movie about Tina Fey and Amy Poehler when she's like Maura. This book was excellent and everyone's going to look at me like I'm a little bit crazy when I say the start of this book, but just hang in there. We meet this girl, Lauren, who we know is Mouse on the 102nd day of being abandoned in an amusement park. I know it sounds sad. But Maura Jortner did a great job because she started on day 102, so we already know that 102 is the last day. This is the last day mouse is in the dark. So, light it up a little bit. She's going to lift a little bit of the burden of being the reader off of you a little bit. But Mouse has like lived here for 102 days and survived. The only thing she stole during her days there is just a park tshirt- like an employee tshirt. So she wears that every day. She sleeps in one of the abandoned shack, like roller coaster type buildings. And she just goes around, she sweeps paths and everyone's just like, "Yeah, she works there." She found a little nametag that says Mouse and everyone just calls her mouse. And then all of the park employees are convinced that there's a ghost there. The irony being that Mouse is the ghost.

Erin [00:39:00] So there's other employees ther?

Olivia [00:39:01] Yeah. She was abandoned in a very active amusement park.

Annie Jones [00:39:07] There we go. There it is. Got it.

Erin [00:39:13] I was like, oh, no, she's been alone.

Olivia [00:39:15] I don't know why this is so hard for me. Okay. I tried.

Annie Jones [00:39:21] Active amusement park. She was abandoned by her family.

Olivia [00:39:24] I mean, she sweeps the sidewalks. There's so many people there that there's trash around.

Annie Jones [00:39:32] Okay, great. Because I did picture her just sweeping an abandoned [crosstalk] And I thought she's lost her mind after 102 days. I was like, okay, this is depressing.

Olivia [00:39:44] No, no, no, no.

Annie Jones [00:39:45] That's okay. This sounds fun.

Olivia [00:39:46] I mean, a little sad. But, anyways, Mouse sweeps, and then because all of the park employees are convinced that there's a ghost around because Mouse did a prank one day where she acted like a ghost in the window, they now leave like food out is like an offering for the ghost and Mouse eats that food. And so, she's surviving. She's doing okay for her situation. And she's made a friend who's the son of the CEO of the amusement park and then all in one day this girl approaches her at the start of the day and is like, "Lauren?", and she's just like, "I don't know who you're talking about," and runs away. And then this huge storm hits and her and her best friend, who's the CEO's son, are stuck in her abandoned roller coaster shack that she live in. And then the girl who recognized her as Lauren also gets stuck in there with them and stuff starts to come out. I don't want to spoil the story. It has a great ending, but you realize that Mouse, Lauren, whatever you want to call her, was actually being watched over the entire time by different park employees who kind of knew the situation that was happening but they didn't realize she was like living there, otherwise they would have done something. But they did know that she was like at least needed help. It was really well done. And a short one too. You fly through it. Mouse or Lauren is a really great character and so is her best friend who also works there. There's a lot of depth to all the characters there. That was really great. But that is 102 days of Lying About Lauren abandoned in an active amusement park.

Annie Jones [00:41:43] Sounds great.

Erin [00:41:46] Okay. My next one is, which I am honestly surprised Annie did not want to talk about this one, but Never Give Up: A Prairie Family Story by Tom Brokaw.

Annie Jones [00:41:55] Brokaw my childhood crush.

Erin [00:41:57] I know you do. This is not normally the type of book that I would pick up, but I thought, well, let me just start reading it and see if it's something I want to talk about on the podcast. And I just kept going back to it. This is going to sound bad. It's not like I didn't want to, but I was like maybe this isn't a book I normally read, but I just kept going back to it and I was like, "Well, here we go. So I'm reading and reading the whole thing." It is the story of Tom's parents, Red and Jean and their lives prior to their marriage and then of course their lives afterwards. But as you can imagine, Red, Tom's dad had a very hard life, like he dropped out of school after second grade.

Olivia [00:42:46] It sounds like Red Forman from that 70 show.

Annie Jones [00:42:51] Olivia is stuck on that detail.

Erin [00:42:56] I mean, honestly, as I was reading this as a parent now in 2023 with child labor laws and also just what we expect out of our kids and how we coddle our children a lot like in 2023, reading a book about a young boy who's nine, who is going out and doing incredibly difficult manual labor every day, with the approval of grown ups, it just made my jaw drop as I was reading it. It was just unbelievable. But the whole book is basically about like how his dad learned these lessons through scarcity, through poverty, through hardship. That really served him well the rest of his life, and also provided a stable home and family for Tom to grow up in as well. And that's where he learned a lot of his lessons. I have been enjoying reading this book out loud to my kids when they complain about doing the dishes.

Annie Jones [00:44:02] What a great parenting tactic.

Erin [00:44:04] I was just like, Well, let me tell you about Red Brokaw and what his life was like. This is great. It's nonfiction. But I mean, it reads like fiction because it's truly unbelievable what their lives are like. But it will be a great Father's Day gift or really anyone that's interested. If you like historical fiction, you would probably love this. But it's a nonfiction true story. Tom Brokaw is a fantastic writer. He's a great storyteller. I haven't quite finished this one yet, but it's really enjoyable. I kept going back to it..

Annie Jones [00:44:39] He is a great writer. I really hope he never comes out as problematic because he was my childhood news anchor and I just love him so much.

Erin [00:44:49] Well, just based on what I've seen of how he was raised in this book by his family, I think he's a stand up guy. I think he'll be okay.

Annie Jones [00:45:00] That's so Tom. I think I might get that book for shop dad for Father's Day.

Erin [00:45:08] Yeah. He would love it.

Annie Jones [00:45:10] Okay. My last book is called The Second Ending. This is by Michelle Hoffman. It comes out on June 13th. It is a paperback original that I was really, really surprised by. I thought it was such a fun book. Very much in the vein of Where'd You Go Bernadette, which took the world by storm so many years ago. If you liked that book, I do think this one will be interesting to you. It's about prudence. Prudence was a child prodigy on the piano. And now we meet Prudence. And she's an empty nester. Her two daughters have gone away to college, and she's left at home and her husband in an act of kindness and to try to, like, cheer her up from being an empty nester, brings her childhood piano back to their home. And she's kind of furious,. She has left that part of her behind. She has no desire to kind of go back to being this piano player. The book kind of goes back and forth a little bit among a few different characters, because not only does Prudence have to decide, like, do I want to maybe play the piano, maybe try to embrace this hobby that once was like a way of life for me? But at the same time, there is a show like I almost pictured like an American Idol type show, but only about classical pianists, and they pit two classical pianist against each other. And it's like a battle of the bands.

Olivia [00:46:37] I watched that.

Erin [00:46:39] Wow.

Annie Jones [00:46:42] It's recognized as bringing classical music back to the forefront of culture. And Prudence is offered the opportunity to be one of the pianists on the show. And she has no reason to do this until she does. She's being blackmailed and she needs to be on the show for the cash prize. So all of these different things, let me tell you, this book is madcap. It is laugh out loud funny because you've got Prudence, this child prodigy. You've got a nefarious ex-husband character. You've got a weirdly angry, jealous, like homeowners association member who has it out for Prudence. It is so fun. I had a great time with it. I loaned it or gave it to my mom. She also enjoyed it. It took her a minute to get into it, but once she got into it, she enjoyed it. But I thought it was very funny. And so, if you liked the wit and the humor in Where'd You Go Bernadette, which I read that book years ago-- but what I really liked about it was kind of this woman goes rogue, like she kind of reaches a breaking point and goes rogue. And that's kind of what happens to Prudence. People are not used to women reaching their breaking points. And they don't really know how to react when they do. And I find that to be very funny. I really liked this book a lot. It's a paperback original, so I think it'd be a good plane or beach book. It is the second ending by Michelle Hoffman out on June 13th.

Olivia [00:48:15] I think we should all start using the word madcap more often. I just Googled that.

Annie Jones [00:48:21] That's a great word.

Olivia [00:48:23] That's a great word. I was like for sure I could figure the context of what we're meaning here, but I don't think I've ever heard someone actually use that word.

Annie Jones [00:48:35] You're welcome.

Olivia [00:48:37] That was great, Annie. Thank you.

Erin [00:48:39] Like, how was your day? It was madcap.

Olivia [00:48:40] It feels like it should be slang for something. It's not. That's a real word.

Annie Jones [00:48:49] It's like slipshod and slapdash. We use those at our house all the time.

Olivia [00:48:55] I do say slapdash. There's a great comedy skit that uses the word slapdash. Who is it? Eddie Izzard.

Annie Jones [00:49:04] That was not what I was expecting. But I will go look that up after we hang up.

Olivia [00:49:09] That's what I watched growing up. Eddie Izzard's stand ups.

Annie Jones [00:49:13] Wow.

Olivia [00:49:13] Something about the make up being a bit slapdash. My next book is Lay Your Body Down by Amy Suiter Clark, and this is out June 27. And I don't know why, but this book makes me nervous to talk about, I think, because when I picked it up, I was like, this sounds good. And then I got into it and I was like, no, this is excellent. So this is about this girl, Del Walker. And Del couple of years ago, left her very small Minnesota town that was like run by this cult-like church with this leader, Pastor Rick. Which right off the bat you hear the word Pastor Rick and you're like, oh no. It's not good. I picked up this book because I saw the word cult-like. And I was like, okay, yeah, that grabs me. And then you get into this book, you're like, no, this is madcap. That actually wasn't the great use of that word. This book is not madcap in that form of word. Anyway, Del has a troubled history with the church itself, which you start to piece together as the book goes along. But she returns back to this small town because she hears that her ex, who she like almost was engaged to marry, was recently found killed, and it seems like he was accidentally shot while they were out hunting. But the circumstances to which all this information was released is really sketchy. And she's also just really hurt because this was like her first love. And I mean, she thought they were going to get married and then he broke up with her to marry her best friend. Eve has since she was a young girl, run this blog called The Noble Wife, which sounds like a red flag.

Annie Jones [00:51:21] I wish that was on video as Erin and I just shake our heads. No, don't read that.

Olivia [00:51:27] Sounds like a red flag. It is a red flag. Eve has bought into this Pastor Rick's church vibe 100%. And he preaches that the noble wife is this is submissive wife who cooks, who does whatever her husband asks. Is there to make sure her husband's life is easy, breezy. And Eve started this blog as a child and it has blown up as an adult. And so Eve steals her best friend's husband, gets married, and then he dies. And now all of a sudden, Eve is looking pretty suspicious. Del comes back into town to kind of have like a reckoning moment with this church and this small town and her best friend and everything that happened. And there was a lot that happened. But the book is written, but you get the current day what's going on with Del? You get snippets of Eve's blog and that goes from like the youngest age to when getting more recent times. And then you get snippets of Del's diary, which goes the opposite way of the Noble Wife blog. So goes from like when she finds out he's leaving her for Eve and then backtracks in that relationship. So the writing is spectacular. And it grabs you. The chapters are super short and it's not that they leave you on a cliffhanger, it's just that you have to know what's happening. It was excellent.

Annie Jones [00:53:01] You loaned this to me, and I only put it down because I took an ARC home on Saturday and went home and read it. But I started reading this and I really like it. And the chapters because of what you just said, like kind of how they alternate that you really are hooked immediately because you're like, now I've got to go. You want to follow the breadcrumbs, the trails that they're leaving you. I really like this one so far.

Olivia [00:53:26] Yeah, it was great. Anyone who likes cults. Not like to be in a cult. But want to know more about it. You know what I mean.

Annie Jones [00:53:38] We do as a staff. We talk about cults a lot because we have a few people on staff who who would easily succumb. Look, we have talked about this before. We know who would easily succumb. And they know it too.

Erin [00:53:52] They know it.

Annie Jones [00:53:52] And then we have some who could be cult leaders and we have some who would roll their eyes and say, absolutely not. And it is delightful to figure out who is who.

Olivia [00:54:06] Listeners, we'll let you guess.

Erin [00:54:08] Yeah, that's right. We do a poll online.

Olivia [00:54:16] Probably put three options. What would Olivia do?

Annie Jones [00:54:20] Lead a cult, be in a cult, or roll her eyes and get out there. So great.

Olivia [00:54:26] Yeah. Okay. My last one is called Night Bloom by Peace Adzo Medie, it's coming out June the 13th. All of mine are coming out June the 13th. That's going to be a big day. This is her second novel, and she's actually Dr. Medie. She has a Ph.D. in public and international affairs. Her first novel was His Only Wife, which won a lot of awards. And it was picked by Reese as like a book club pick. I am listening to this one, which I think I would recommend. I don't know. I think it would be good. Sometimes I listen to a book and I try to imagine reading it in my own head voice or whatever. And I think, would it be just as good? And sometimes it's not, and sometimes it is, and sometimes it would be better. So this one, I think, is a great-- sometimes the narrator is is not doing a great job of telling the story, in my opinion. So this one is a great narrator, and I think it would also be a fantastic just regular book as well, if you like to read it in your own head voice. The cover is beautiful. It's got a very dark background, a lot of bright colors of flowers. This is about Akorfa and Selasi. These are female cousins growing up in Ghana and Akorfa dreams of going to college in the US, and she works very hard to get there. She's a very studious person. And while Selasi sort of is the more happy go lucky one who struggles with her grades and their families do everything they can to help the girls, including paying for Selasi to go to this very prestigious school that Akorfa goes to. But it just doesn't work out for Selasi. Her grades are not great, and it works out for Akorfa to go to the U.S. and that's when their relationship sort of starts to suffer and suffers a little bit before that. But that's really when they sort of almost lose touch with each other and not just like oops I forgot to call my cousin sort of way, but like I don't want to ever talk to her again sort of way. And so, there's a first part of it is a lot of it was by Akorfa and her perspective. And then the other chapters are from Selasi's perspective and they kind of go back to the same events, but you're seeing them from two different perspectives, which I think is a fascinating way to write a story.

[00:56:47] When Akorfa gets to the US, she starts to encounter a prejudice that she is astounded by because she's like, I'm smart, I'm a well spoken person. I don't understand why people are giving me such a hard time. But she is black and it's America. And as we know, that is unfortunately a very tough sometimes. But it's just compelling. I just want to keep reading it. I want to figure out what's happening and where their stories are going. I'm listening to the chapters about Selasi and so I'm experiencing these same things over again from her perspective. It's interesting to see, oh, that's the same event and when it's told by one person it seems like this and when it's told by another person it seems like that. This is not the most plot driven book. So if you're someone who really wants the story to kind of move along, this probably may not be for you. But if you love well thought out where you're just so invested-- I'm so invested from the minute I started listening to it in the characters. And so if you love a good character-driven book, this would be perfect for you. It's about family. It's about secrets that we keep from family and why we keep them and the way that our family can be the thing that propels us to greatness. Or it can be the thing that takes us on a completely different path from a not so great life. So I would highly recommend it. It's coming out June 13th. Night Bloom by Peace Adzo Medie.

Annie Jones [00:58:15] I think I'll have to read that one. I loved her first book.

Erin [00:58:18] Yes.

Annie Jones [00:58:18] So don't forget, listeners, that if you liked some of the books that we talked about today, you can preorder them through the book's website. Bookshelfthomasville.com Just Type Episode 427 into the search bar and you will see all of today's books listed. Use code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout to get 10% off your order of all of today's titles.

[00:58:42] This week, what I am reading is brought to you by Visit Thomasville. Summer is a wonderful time to see Thomasville, Georgia. If it's time to hit the road for a quick getaway, we are exactly the town you're looking for. You can rekindle your spark, explore historical sites, indulge in dining out, shop at amazing independent stores, and finally relax and unwind. There's no better getaway than Thomasville. Whether you live close by or are just passing through, we hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia. It's worth the trip. Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGA.com. This week, I'm reading Excavations by Kate Myers. Olivia, what are you reading?

Olivia [00:59:24] I'm reading Light Comes to Shadow Mountain by Toni Buzzeo.

Annie Jones [00:59:28] Erin, what are you reading?

Olivia [00:59:30] I am still reading You Are Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza.

Annie Jones [00:59:34] Thank you again to our sponsor Visit Thomasville. If you want to plan your next getaway, visit 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.

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Cammy Tidwell

Chantalle C

Kate O'Connell

Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names):

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