Episode 431 || June Reading Recap
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie recaps the books she read and loved in June. As always, we’re offering a Reading Recap Bundle, which features Annie’s three favorite books she read this past month. You automatically get 10% off your books when you order your Reading Recap Bundle!
You can get the books mentioned in this episode on our website (type “Episode 431” into the search bar to easily find the books mentioned in this episode):
The June Reading Recap Bundle ($66) includes:
Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin
Talking at Night by Claire Deverly
Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith
All books mentioned in this episode:
A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin (releases 7/11)
The Whispers by Ashley Audrain
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (releases 7/11)
How Far to the Promised Land by Esau McCaulley (releases 9/12)
Freaks, Gleeks, & Dawson’s Creek by Thea Glassman
Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin
Talking at Night by Claire Deverley
Ordinary Light: A Memoir by Tracy K. Smith
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 Hedge by Jane Delury.
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Transcript:
[squeaky porch swing]
Annie Jones: Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South.
“Wasn’t it strange that a poem, written in my vocabulary and as a result of my own thoughts or observations, could, when it was finished, manage to show me something I hadn’t already known? Sometimes, when I tried very hard to listen to what the poem I was writing was trying to tell me, I felt the way I imagined godly people felt when they were trying to discern God’s will. “Write this,” the poem would sometimes consent to say, and I’d revel in a joy to rival the saints’ that Poetry—this mysterious presence I talked about and professed belief in—might truly be real.”
- Tracy K. Smith, Ordinary Light
I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m recapping the books I read in June. Are you following The Bookshelf on Instagram? It’s a great way to learn about upcoming events, to find out about all the new books that release each week, and it’s where you can share your thoughts on this week’s podcast episode. Hop over to Instagram and make sure you’re following us @bookshelftville. (And, if you’ve been missing my book reviews on my personal Instagram account, you can follow my paid-for private account: anniesfivestarbooks.) Also, you’re going to notice a theme in today’s recap: Audio books saved my reading life this month. Many listeners may know this already, but Libro.fm is my favorite and preferred resource for audio books. When your purchase a book through Libro.fm (or buy a membership), you’re supporting local, independently-owned bookstores. You can, of course, support the store nearest you, but if you’re a From the Front Porch listener looking for an easy way to support our show and our indie bookstore, you can purchase audio books at libro.fm/bookshelfthomasville. Every purchase you make matters; I promise.
Annie Jones [00:02:20] Now, back to the show. I am recapping the books I read in June. It has been a wild summer over here. We've traveled a lot. We've done bookshelf things like Reader Retreat. I got a puppy. You can maybe hear the exhaustion in my voice. I don't know. But it has been a really kind of wild summer, which has resulted in a really up and down reading life. I finished quite a few, I think, books in June, but most of them were audio books, which is pretty unusual for me. I think that's because we spent a lot of time on the road. We traveled a lot, took a couple of road trips, headed to some family functions. And so Jordan and I were able to listen to some audio books in the car. My other books that I finished, I really did enjoy but I could just tell that my attention span was a little bit lax this month. I just had difficulty, I think, focusing. Instead, we've been watching a lot of X-Files, as I think I alluded to or mentioned last episode. I don't know. It's just been kind of weird. We'll see if we can get our rhythm back in July. I doubt it. I've got quite a few travels in July as well, but we're doing our best and you probably are too. So here are the books that I read in June. First, I took on vacation. We went to New York at the end of May. Beginning of June, we went to New York and I took several books as book lovers will want to do. I took I think I took six books, which was silly. And I read two. It just wasn't that kind of vacation. And so I wound up finishing A Lady's Guide to Scandal. This is by Sophie Irwin. You've heard me maybe talking about this one. It releases July 11th, so you only have a couple of weeks to wait. But in the meantime, you might want to try Sophie Irwin's previous novel, A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting, which I loved. It was one of my kind of surprise favorites of the summer. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. And these two books are completely standalone novels, so you don't have to have read one before you read the other. But I loved A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting.
[00:04:28] I liked a Lady's Guide to Scandal. This one, actually, if you're not familiar, these books are Regency Era Romances. I like to call them Bridgerton minus the sex. So if you, like me, prefer closed door romance with a lot of build up, a lot of tension, a lot of banter. I think you could really enjoy these. And there's some like closed door PG Definitely Jane Austen inspired, but I actually think they do a really good job. I really think Sophie Irwin does a good job of creating a believable world, creating realistic, interesting romantic relationships and also side relationships. So the main character in this one is Eliza. She is a recent widow. She's in her late twenties. She married quite young because, of course, she had to. She married out of necessity. She did not marry out of love. She married out of necessity in order to kind of keep her family financially afloat. And her husband has passed away. He was much older than she was, and she winds up inheriting his fortune. But there's a stipulation in order to retain the inheritance, she has to live a scandal-free life. And the person who's going to kind of judge whether she's living a scandal free life is her deceased husband's nephew, who was the man she was in love with as a teenager. Okay. Is that confusing? Anyway, obviously, from the premise alone, you can tell the chaos is going to ensue. She and her beloved cousin Margaret move to Bath, England, where they vow to put this fortune that they've inherited, that Eliza has inherited to good use. They buy a lot of pretty dresses. They kind of live it up, but all while knowing if they veer too far into irresponsibility or scandal, she will lose everything. And so there's kind of that underlying tension there. Eliza and Margaret's relationship is really lovely. It reminded me of the sisterly relationships in a lot of Austen's works.
[00:06:43] And then we see, come on to the scene, another gentleman caller named Lord Melville. Lord Melville lives a life that is quite scandalous, and you can tell that Eliza is intrigued by him. So there's actually a really convincing and interesting love triangle. I don't always find that to be the case. I feel like often when I watch movies or read books, the love triangle, there's always a clear person she should pick. And I felt like at least to the first half of the book, the love triangle is really compelling and interesting. I also enjoyed the fact that Eliza is a portrait artist and we kind of get a sense of what it would have been like in the Regency era to kind of have a talent or have an ability or skill. But you're a woman, and so if you want to put your work into the world, you almost have to do it anonymously. I really appreciated learning a little bit about that. And I liked the fact that she was a portrait artist and kind of kept that to herself. So I really liked this book a lot. I loved The Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting. I personally think you should maybe even start there. However, these are two totally standalone books. A Lady's Guide to Scandal is coming out on July 11th in paperback, so it's a paperback original. And Ladies Guide to Fortune Hunting is also already out in paperback. So these would be great ones to take to the beach. I really enjoyed reading this on vacation, and I think you would enjoy it too. And if you haven't tried these, you might want to give them a whirl. Okay.
[00:08:20] Then on the plane home, I read Ashley Audrain's new book, The Whispers. You may be familiar with Ashley Audrain's work. She wrote The Push, which came out, I believe, a couple of years ago and was an edge of your seat domestic suspense thriller that Olivia and I both really devoured and loved. We loved talking about it. We loved interacting with customers about it. And if you have not read The Push, I do highly recommend it. As I have mentioned many times, I think on this podcast in on my Instagram, I am not always the best about triggers and content warnings. And so you may want to do a little bit of looking if you are a more sensitive reader before you dive into The Push. But Olivia and I both read it and really loved it. So I picked up The Whispers with relatively high expectations. What I will tell you is I was completely compelled. I had no trouble turning the pages. I was very invested and hooked. It's a great plane book, so I still don't really know if I prefer it to The Push. I really liked the whispers. I don't know if by the end of the year I will remember the whispers, but it has that same kind of unsettling hook you from the first sentence, finish it and you're still unsettled, kind of read. I really did appreciate it and I loved it. It did exactly what I needed it to do. It was a great plane story. The book, The Whispers, takes place over the course of one week, which you know I love that. And it's one week in this neighborhood. And we know that a young boy named Xavier has fallen from his second story window of his home and is in the hospital. And his mother, Whitney, won't speak to anyone. She's not speaking to doctors. She's not speaking to police officers.
[00:10:12] And so over the course of a week, we get Whitney's perspective, but we also get the perspective of the different women in the neighborhood. So a couple of different neighbors. Some of whom are Whitney's best friends, others who are just kind of acquaintances. We get, of course, this rather nosy, elderly neighbor type character. I thought all of those voices, all of those viewpoints were really interesting and compelling and necessary. I didn't think any one of them could have just been skipped over. I really loved each character and loved getting each of their perspectives. To me, this book most reminds me of a Liane Moriarty novel, and I don't say that lightly. I think especially her earlier works Big Little Lies, something like that, that is very much what this reminded me of in a good way. I really like those early works by Moriarty, and I again thoroughly enjoyed this one. I think it would make a great book club book. I think Ashley Audrain does a really interesting job of crafting a thriller suspense novel around domestic relationships, around motherhood. I think she actually has quite a bit to say about motherhood if you read her work. I think underneath all of the kind of flash and maybe the pomp and circumstance of her fiction, you really are getting some truths about raising children and about motherhood. If you liked the book With Teeth that came out of a couple of years ago by Kristin Arnett, I think you would like Ashley Audrain. I don't think you have to read The Push first. I mean, I know you don't, these are totally standalone novels. But I think if you read The Push and you liked it, you were like me and Olivia and you really were intrigued by it, then I think you will be equally intrigued by The Whispers.
[00:11:59] Like I said, I don't know in six months time if this will be one that sticks out for me, but it did exactly what I needed it to do. It's a page turner. That's what I'm looking for during the summer. And so, if that is also what you are looking for during the summer, I think this one would be a good one to pick up. It's also got a great cover and yeah, made for great plane reading. And when I say great plane reading, I guess what I really mean is I want a book that given a long enough flight, I could start and finish a book on the flight. Meaning a book that I am so kind of enraptured by or captivated by that I don't pay attention to turbulence. I am not bothered by my snoring neighbor or the rambunctious child. It's a book that will just completely hold my attention for a flight. That's what I mean. And I think The Whispers does that. I think you could also toss this one into your beach bag and take it to the beach. It's just a page turner and that's what I really wanted. So that's The Whispers by Ashley Audrain. If you were curious about that one, if you read The Push a couple of years ago and you wondered how she'd be able to follow it up, I think she did a good job.
[00:13:07] Somewhere in the middle of all that, I do not remember if it was while I was on that vacation or not, I was listening to Hello Stranger. This is the latest by Katherine Center. It doesn't release until July 11th, but you've only got a couple of weeks to wait. I listened to this one and I loved the audiobook narration. Patti Murin was the narrator, and I thought she did such a phenomenal job. In fact, I think because I listened to this one, I enjoyed it more than I would have if I had read the physical copy, because admittedly, this book is a little bit far fetched in its plot. Now it's interesting and it's funny, but it is a little bit far fetched. So I love The Bodyguard, which Katherine Center published last summer-- two years ago. I read it earlier this year and loved it. That's why I picked up Hello Stranger. That's why I downloaded the audiobook. It is about Sadie. Sadie is a young woman, I believe, in her late twenties, who all of a sudden I think she has fallen almost like Wedding Planner style in the middle of the road and she ends up going to the hospital. And while she's there, they discover that she has a mass, I believe, or a tumor. Anyway, the point is they remove it and she is left with a case of facial blindness. That is the most interesting part, I think, about the book and about the plot. Katherine Center has a great note in the audiobook version, I believe and hope that it will be in the physical format as well. But she has a great note about facial blindness and the research that she did to write this book. So, Sadie sees a person, but all of those facial features are kind of muddy together in her mind, and she can't read facial expressions, which makes it very difficult for her to recognize people. Plus, like a protagonist in another book we just talked about in the Sophie Irwin book, Eliza was a portrait artist, so is Sadie. And so that was a little bit of bookish serendipity for me. So Sadie Katherine Center's main character, is also a portrait artist and she is right at the cusp she thinks of breaking through. She's entered her work into this competition and she realizes that now that she has facial blindness, she may not be able to to compete. She doesn't quite know how she's going to cope. So I really liked all of those parts of the book.
[00:15:42] I thought that the book functions best as women's fiction like Evvie Drake starts over or something like that. Where I lost a little bit of interest-- and I thought this was fascinating because I loved The Bodyguard so much. Where I lost a little bit of interest was in the romance. So I did not find the romantic comedy elements of this book to be as compelling. Now, I still listen to it, still enjoyed it, still laughed out loud, rolled my eyes occasionally. There is a wicked stepsister type character in this book who her villainy I could not get over. I don't know anyone so villainous in real life. I just kept waiting for her to have more depth, and she never did. She never got better. So if you go into Hello Stranger if you're a Katherine Center fan, I don't think you will be disappointed. That's the first thing. If you are only maybe a recent adoptee of Katherine Center's books like I am, (I've only read The Bodyguard) then I do think this is different from The Bodyguard. I think this is more women's fiction about Sadie and about Sadie's relationships and Sadie coping with her facial blindness than I think it is a romantic comedy. There are definitely romantic elements that she has a heart veterinarian she's attracted to. She's got a neighbor she's perhaps interested in, even though he drives her a little bit batty. So there are definitely some romantic comedy elements. I just thought the most interesting parts of this book had to do with Sadie and her facial blindness. Like I said, there's a great note at the end of the book and author's note about facial blindness. There's also a really lovely author's note about the power of romance lit and hopeful books and why we need them. And I thought that was beautiful. And so that certainly affected my reading, which is why I'm telling you I loved the audiobook, and if I had my druthers, if I were just choosing, I would choose audiobook on this one. So it's Hello Stranger by Katherine Center, and it's narrated by Patti Murin.
[00:17:45] For much of June, I was reading Esau McCaulley's new book, How Far to the Promised Land. This book-- hold onto your hats, folks, this does not release until September 12th. I don't really know why I picked this one up. Okay. I picked it up for a couple of reasons. So I'm familiar with Esau McCaulley's work. He is a New York Times opinion columnist. I own his book, though I have not read it, Reading While Black, which is a book about biblical exegesis and theology. I have a feeling based on the friends I know who have read that book, that it is a little bit more-- I think that part of the reason I haven't read it yet, is it's a little bit more academic in nature. So it's on my shelf, but I haven't read it. But I like Esau McCaulley a lot. I like his work and this is his new memoir. So I think it just came in the mail. And even though it wasn't releasing until later, I like him a lot. And so I was intrigued. I just am trying to think why I picked this one up, because I've been trying to read summer books, not Fall books, but here we are. Anyway, this book releases on September 12th. Like I said, I think his previous book is probably pretty academic, but this one is just a beautifully written memoir. The subtitle of this one is One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South. Esau McCaulley is, I believe, probably I would guess, in his forties. He talks a lot about being raised in Huntsville, Alabama, and his relationship with his father. He, in fact, as of this recording, I believe Esau's latest New York Times column is about his relationship with his father, because we are just coming after Father's Day. And so that's a beautiful column as well and will kind of give you a sense. In fact, sometimes I think I will tell you here, read this column or read this newspaper article, and if you like that, you will read this. Read that column. We'll try to maybe link to it in the show notes. Read that column, and if you like it or if you love the writing, I think you will love this book.
[00:19:44] I loved this book for a lot of reasons. He talks a lot about faith and kind of growing up and into the faith that his mother passed down to him. He writes a lot about his upbringing in Alabama. Because I went to college in Alabama, I am familiar with the city that he's talking about, Huntsville. And so, I don't know, whenever I read a book where I'm like, "Oh, yes, I know that place," I just feel an immediate sense of familiarity. And that was certainly the case with this book. I read this in bits and pieces over I think the course of maybe a couple of weeks, just because I thought the writing was so beautiful. I wound up marking quite a few-- I'm looking at my copy right now. I wound up marking quite a bit. Here's what I will say. Esau McCaulley is a Christian writer. I think I mentioned his previous work Reading While Black. And so this book certainly deals with faith, but it also feels like it is just a memoir about a black man in the American South. And he wound up going, I believe, to Sewanee. And so it talks about his collegiate experience and what it was like to get there and then how he was treated or what he encountered while there, and then all the while kind of dealing with his father's absence. And the book opens with his father's death. But we know through reading the early pages of the book that his father was absent for most of his childhood, was kind of in and out.
[00:21:09] The book is certainly about McCaulley's own upbringing and his relationships with his mom, with his siblings, with his blackness, with his faith. But it's also, I think, really rooted in his relationship with his dad and what it was like to lose his father in adulthood, perhaps when things finally felt like maybe they were looking up and maybe there was going to be a relationship there. So it's really beautiful. It reminded me a bit of maybe Memorial Drive, which came out a few years ago, and I really enjoyed. That's probably the best title, actually, now that I'm saying it out loud. I also think if you liked Life and Other Love Songs, the Anissa Gray book that I read earlier this year, this book is dealing with a lot of those similar themes. Although, Life and Other Love Songs is fiction and this is nonfiction. Anyway, it was just nice to read a memoir. It had been a minute. I really liked it and I can't wait to hand sell it this fall because I do think this book is going to be more accessible to the average reader and even to the nine faith reader, to the non-Christian reader. I think this will be accessible and interesting, and I think the writing is really great. So that's how far to the Promised Land by Esau McCaulley. It comes out on September 12th.
[00:22:29] I was listening to Freaks Geeks and Dawson's Creek by Thea Glassman, so I was reading this really beautiful, kind of intense in parts, memoir. But then I was listening to you while I cook dinner and taking walks and things. I was listening to this very funny book about the history of teen television. So I love books about pop culture. I love oral histories. This is the best of both of those worlds. And it was all about the history of teen television. I loved the audiobook, really loved it, which was narrated by Christine Lakin, and I think that's part of the reason. I downloaded it on a whim. I just thought I'd give it a go because my rule of thumb for myself personally is fewer than 10 hours. I don't love an audiobook that's longer than that because I'm afraid I'll never finish it. And this one looked really short. It looked relatively short, and I thought it would be like listening to a pop culture podcast because it was all about teen TV and pop culture really of my generation and maybe even a little bit younger than me. The book opens with the history. Each chapter is devoted to a different television show. So the first chapter is about Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I'm trying to remember all the shows she talked about. It was Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I think Dawson's Creek, The O.C., Glee, Friday Night Lights, kind of all of these shows that I really enjoyed. Even some of like Dawson's Creek, I was just right on the cusp of being too young. And then Friday Night Lights, I watched as an adult, but I thought it was fascinating. I learned a lot. It made me want to rewatch The O.C.. I think I've only seen Season one of The O.C., made me want to go back and rewatch that. After listening to this audiobook, I watched the pilot episode of Glee because I loved Glee back in the day. I don't know if I would love it now. I don't know if it would hold up, but I loved the music. I am pretty sure I owned a couple of Glee CDs. Anyway, it was just delightful. It was just a fun trip down memory lane. But at the same time, I learned a lot about some really great TV shows and I felt like I knew a lot about Dawson's Creek, for example, but I didn't know anything at all really about the behind the scenes of Friday Night Lights, for example. So I felt like I learned a lot. I thought it was really fun. It was great to listen to over just a couple of days. It didn't take me long at all. I highly recommend Freaks Geeks and Dawson's Creek by Thea Glassman. The audio book is narrated by Christine Lakin.
[00:24:59] So I listened to that audiobook by myself. Actually, I'm looking back. Yeah, all of those audio books I listened to alone until Life in Five Senses. This is the new book by Gretchen Rubin. It came out in April. I really was not intending to pick this one up, but when Jordan and I had a road trip, he and I both-- so I have loved Gretchen Rubin for a long time. I loved The Happiness Project. I loved the sequel Happier at Home. And then Jordan kind of fell in love with her book about habits, Better than Before, and then The Four Tendencies. So Jordan and I together are quite interested in personally typing and all of those kinds of things. And so Gretchen Rubin's previous two books, The Four Tendencies and Better Than Before, dealt a lot with those things. So we both enjoyed those. I loved the Happiness Project, that's where I encountered her work for the first time. But Jordan liked Better Than Before and The Four Tendencies. So when I saw this audio book while scrolling Libro.fm I thought, well, maybe this'll be interesting. I gave Jordan like a few choices, and this is the one he picked for us to listen to. When we flew to New York, we flew in and out of Atlanta, and so we downloaded this specifically for the ride to and from Atlanta. I think it was a little bit longer maybe than the two trips, and so we had to finish another on another trip we took. But here's what was so fun. So Life in Five Senses, I think you can probably guess from the title is one of Gretchen Rubin's kind of project type books about engaging with the five senses.
[00:26:37] The book opens with Gretchen Rubin having a health crisis of sorts. Her eye doctor gives her a warning, I believe, about maybe potentially losing her eyesight. So she has a moment where she thinks, oh no, what if I lose this sense? And she does not. And that's not a spoiler. She doesn't lose her sense of sight, but it makes her begin to investigate whether she's lost touch with her five senses. Jordan and I were admittedly intrigued, first of all, because it's Gretchen Rubin, but also because we definitely both of us spend a lot of time in our heads. We are not always attuned to our varying senses. And so we listen to this, I think, immediately intrigued or made curious by the title and the premise. But here was the delightful surprise-- and I love when this happens because I went in knowing what I just told you as all I knew about the book. And then as we began listening, remember we were driving to and from Atlanta headed to New York, and one of the things Gretchen Rubin decides to do in order to engage her senses-- each chapter or section is devoted to one of the senses, but every section she writes about this project that she undertook to engage her five senses. She decided as a New Yorker she was going to go to the Met every day, even if it was just for 5 minutes. She was going to go to the Met, and that would help her begin to engage her five senses. Maybe that sounds eerily to you. And, look, if you didn't like the Happiness Project, if you don't like Gretchen Rubin, you're not going to like this book.
[00:28:20] Gretchen Rubin is very consistent in the work that she does. I, for one, am a fan. I used to listen to her podcast. I don't anymore, but I used to listen to her podcast. I like a project; I like research; and so I like Gretchen Rubin and what she does. If you are rolling your eyes at all of this, then you can skip this one. But if you're like me and you're intrigued and you're already thinking to yourself, where can I go in my town because I don't have-- Thomasville is great. I don't have a MET two doors down. But we found that to be so delightful because in all my years in New York, I'd never been to the Met. And so we were going to the Met and we got to go experience that for the first time. And then listening to this audiobook was just the best chaser. Is that the right term? I just loved it and I think I asked Jordan when the audiobook finished. When we had finished it in the car, I said, "How do you think this would compare?" Because as she stack the landing, her final essay, her final few paragraphs were really lovely. And so I was kind of like, "Oh, I really loved this book." Jordan said he liked it. He felt like it was pretty basic in its understanding of the five senses, but we both felt like we took away practical things, which this is why I like her. I do think a critique of her books is that they are basic, but I'm here to tell you, as someone who lives in their head a lot, that to be reminded to take a walk and pick a color and look for the color on your walk, that is helpful information to me. It may not be to you, and that's okay.
[00:29:55] I think my mom would love this book. This is where my mom and I have tastes that definitely overlap. My mom loves a personal growth book and we both love a project. And so I really admire Gretchen Rubin's dedication to projects like this one and the fact that it wound up really being about the Met. I told Jordan I think they should sell it in the gift shop. I really do. I just think it was such a lovely tribute to that museum and to how that museum shaped a year of her life and pushed her to taste, see, hear, touch. I'm trying to think of all the senses. Smell. It really engaged all of those senses. I really liked this one a lot. I thought the audiobook was great. It's narrated by Gretchen Rubin, but I also think I would have enjoyed the physical copy because I probably would have taken notes, I probably would have underlined and dog eared and things like that. Unlike some of the other books on this list, I think as much as it was fun to hear her read it and I think she's a good narrator, I would pick this one up because I would make marks in this one. I really enjoyed it. I liked it. It'd be a great New Year's book or a great Fall book also to set the tone if you're a resolution making kind of person, which I am. So that's Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin. I listen to the audiobook, which was narrated by Gretchen Rubin.
[00:31:21] Then I picked up what I think I'm still trying decide if I'm going to read, The Fourth Wing. First of all, I just have to even be able to find a copy, which I have not found yet. But that seems to be the it book of summer. I think if you're a literary fiction fan, this one also seems to be in the running for book of the Summer; it is Talking at Night by Claire Deverly. I almost wonder if it's this year Paper Palace or something like that. I'm not sure that's what I would compare it to as a bookseller. In fact, I have some notes to just help me remember what this what these books are about so I don't blubber all over myself. But my note for Talking at Night is "Hi, Sally Rooney called." And so, if you are looking for titles, I think Sally Rooney is it. Maybe also the book that came out several years ago called One Day because Talking at Night is definitely a-- how do I want to word it? It's a literary romance, so I don't think it would qualify as a romance novel, but it is a love story. It's about Will and Rosie. They meet as teens talking at night. There's the title, Talking at Night, by a bonfire. They're both very intrigued by one another. Will is the bad boy of Rosie's school. And Rosie is ambitious. She has no desire to stay in this small town in Scotland. She's going to go to college. Will wants to travel the world, but he's a little bit more, I think, free spirited than Rosie is. He has no desire to pursue higher education. So when he finally asks Rosie to go out with him, she declines. And she declines under the guise and the reason of we're about to graduate. I'm leaving. I don't want to start anything. I want to focus on my schoolwork, etc..
[00:33:19] So the thing about this book is it's just about Will and Rosie. It's not plot-driven in any way. Now, things definitely happen in this book. And I think part of the reason I mention One Day as a comp is-- and this is not a spoiler, but a tragedy occurs that shapes the way Will and Rosie see each other for the rest of their lives. And that moment is really the climactic moment of the book in that it is the most bombastic, the most startling plot point, most plot-driven aspect of the novel. But it happens early. And so the rest of the book is the aftermath. And that's why I think the Paper Palace could be potentially another comp just because of the trauma and the weight that this tragedy puts on each of them. And then on them as a potential couple or as a potential romantic relationship. I really liked this book, and I went in not really knowing anything. I was familiar with it because I felt like it had gotten some buzz. But we did not get ARCs until late, and so I was not super familiar. I picked it up off our ARCs stack at the bookshelf and went home. And then what I will say about this particular book is I picked it up and I could not put it down. I was very invested in the lives of Will and Rosie, and I wanted to know what happened to them. And that that is exactly how I have felt reading Sally Rooney's books. She crafts such beautiful characters. She treats her characters with such tenderness and with such nuance. And that is how Will and Rosie felt to me. I think this novel took a lot of work. I really appreciated the writing. I love the characters. If you are a plot driven person, I do not think this is for you. But if you like Sally Rooney angst to people talking this, then I think you will like this book. I, for one, did everything I just named to you I loved. Two people just talking? Okay, that sounds great.
[00:35:49] I think Olivia and I recorded-- she's on vacation, so we had to record some episodes early. But I am pretty sure in an upcoming episode of From the Front Porch, we talk about she and I definitely have some overlapping tastes, but when we record those new release episodes together, you can really hear the difference in our tastes because she lays out these really intricate, detailed plots with every book she recommends. And when it's my turn, I'm just like, yeah, these two people are really flawed and troubled and that's it. That's the book. So that's the book' that's Talking at Night. If you're not interested in that, don't pick it up. But if you are, this one's for you. So Talking at Night by Clare Deverley.
[00:36:39] And then I finished off the month with another audiobook. I listened to Ordinary Light. This is by Tracy K Smith. This is a memoir from, I believe, 2015. It was our book club selection for June and I voted for it. It was one that had been on my list for a long time and I'd never gotten to read it and that's why I love Book Club. It forces me to read things that either a, I never would have read or b, that I really wanted to read but never made time to read. And so this is in the latter category. If you're not familiar with Tracy Smith, she is a Pulitzer Prize winning poet. She served as America's poet laureate for a few years, I think 2017 to 2019. And this is her memoir about growing up in California. I loved listening to this one, especially because I had just finished reading the Esau McCaulley book. I think Tracy Smith is probably older than-- in fact, I'm confident that she is older than Esau McCaulley. She also grew up in California rather than McCaulley's, Alabama. But I think the through line, first of all, Tracy Smith is just an outstanding, brilliant writer. I started the episode with a quote from this book because it was stunning. But she writes a lot about faith and a lot about growing up with a really religious mother, a deeply Christian mother, and what that looked like. And then also her parents, I believe both of her parents, but at least her mother was a Southerner who had moved to California. And so, you can hear Tracy kind of thinking through and grappling with the roots of her mother and where her mother was born and what her family looked like and visiting her southern relatives, but then living in California and what her childhood looked like and what her relationships with her siblings looked like.
[00:38:33] Esau McCaulley's book is certainly-- I mean, he writes a lot about his mother, but it feels like a father-son book. Ordinary Life is a mother-daughter book, and I loved it. I think it is brilliant. It's another book that I feel like I could have easily read the physical copy rather than the audiobook. But she's a beautiful narrator. She did a fabulous job. Authors don't always do a great job of reading their own work, but she really did. I felt like she was joining me every night when I cook dinner. I loved having her in my ear and I loved discussing this one with my book club. So that's a great backlist title. I don't always read a ton of backlist titles, so I'm thrilled to say that I really loved that one and think it would be well worth your time. I think I first heard about Tracy Smith maybe in one of either President Obama's reading lists or maybe Michelle Obama mentioned her. Anyway, that's where I first heard of Tracy Smith, and so I had read some of her poetry. But this was just wonderful. I really, really loved it. Ordinary Light by Tracy K Smith. Another audiobook, but I really would have enjoyed the physical copy as well.
[00:39:43] Those are the books I read in June. It was good. I look back and I'm like, well, I read some nonfiction. I think I read more nonfiction than fiction, which is very unusual for me. And I loved all of them. I really enjoyed them. And then I listened to most of these, and I really loved that experience. So, kind of a fun reading month actually. This is why I love doing these episodes, because I think every time I sit down to hit record, I think, "Ugh, what a month!" And then by the end, I'm like, "Wow, what a month." It really instills in me a sense of gratitude because that's a good list of books right there. Okay. As usual, with our Reading Recap episodes, we are offering a reading recap bundle for this month. Our June reading Recap bundle is $66 and it includes-- I love doing these bundles. It includes Life in Five Senses, that's the Gretchen Rubin. Book Talking at Night, which is the book like Seinfeld. It's about nothing. It's about people talking and falling in love. And Ordinary Light, the Tracy K. Smith memoir. You can find more details and the June bundle online through the link in our show notes or go to Bookshelfthomasville.com and you can just type today's episode number (it's 431) in the search bar.
[00:40:58] 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'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 just passing through, we hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia. It's worth the trip. Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGA.com Every year on July 4th weekend or the days preceding July 4th, we meet up with some of our best and dearest friends. And because we live pretty far away, we always try to meet in the middle somewhere. They live in Texas and we live in Thomasville and there's just not a lot in between. But because there's not a lot in between, we wind up staying in these kind of smaller southern towns or maybe even you'll remember-- it's not a small town, but Jackson, Mississippi, one year is where we went. And every time we go those places, I think or I bet somebody somewhere is planning their trip to Thomasville for July 4th. I just think it would be such fun-- as somebody who visits small town firework expert exhibitions without even meaning to. It's just kind of how our summers now are built. They're built around these July 4th weekends. I think you could build your summer trip around a July 4th weekend in Thomasville. I know July 4th Falls, I believe, on a Tuesday this year, but it'd be such a fun long weekend in Thomasville to come do some shopping. A lot of the shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays, but there are some great restaurants, including Sass and Empire Bagel that are open on Sunday. So you could come Saturday, do all the shopping that your heart desires. Sunday lounge by the pool, go out to eat, and then Monday again visit the shops, go to a local museum, and then end it with the July 4th fireworks exhibition in Thomasville. I just think that'd be a really fun trip. And so if you're like me and you travel on July 4th weekend and you're looking for a place to get away, I'm just going to put a plug for Thomasville. I think you'd really have a great time.
[00:43:14] This week, I'm reading Head by Jane Delury. Thank you again to our sponsor, Visit Thomasville. Whether you live close by or just passing through, we hope you'll visit beautiful Thomasville, Georgia. Plan your visit at ThomasvilleGA.com.
[00:43:28] Annie Jones: From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website: bookshelfthomasville.com A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at: fromthefrontporchpodcast.com Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Our Executive Producers of today’s episode are…
Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle Carl, Kate O'Connell, Kristin May, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stacy Laue, Chanta Combs, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, Susan Hulings
Annie Jones: If you’d like to support From the Front Porch, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the show even better and reach new listeners. All you have to do is open up the Podcast App on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see ‘Write a Review’ and tell us what you think. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us over on Patreon, where we have 3 levels of support - Front Porch Friends, Book Club Companions, and Bookshelf Benefactors. Each level has an amazing number of benefits like bonus content, access to live events, discounts, and giveaways. Just go to: patreon.com/fromthefrontporch We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.