Episode 469 || March Madness with Annie & Jordan
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s all about books and basketball! Annie is joined by her husband and friend, Jordan, to set different books head to head and debate their merits in this beloved yearly tradition.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (type “Episode 469” into the search bar and tap enter to find the books mentioned in this episode), or download and shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:
Shop our March Madness merch in the store or online here.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros vs. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett vs. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano vs. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus vs. Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich vs. The Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver vs. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Happy Place by Emily Henry vs. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai vs. Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
Thank you to this week’s sponsor, the 103rd Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Held in historic Downtown Thomasville, the Rose Show & Festival is sponsored by the City of Thomasville and has been a southwest Georgia tradition since 1922. Enjoy rose and flower shows, live music, an artisan market, an antique car show, a parade and fantastic shopping and dining in Downtown Thomasville. This year’s 103rd annual event is April 26-27. Plan your visit at thomasvillega.com.
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, Tiktok, and Facebook, 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 They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib. Jordan is reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us on Patreon, where you can access bonus content, monthly live Porch Visits with Annie, our monthly live Patreon Book Club with Bookshelf staffers, Conquer a Classic episodes with Hunter, and more. 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.
Transcript:
240321_FTFP_V1.mp3
[squeaky porch swing]
[00:00:02] Annie Jones: Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
“Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it toward the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs—on the probabilities.” ― Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing
[as music fades out] I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, it’s time for a little March Madness.
[00:00:45] Before we get started, I want to let you know that this weekend is our spring retreat in Thomasville. Sports for the retreat have been sold out for months, but we're hosting a live podcast event this Saturday, March 23rd at 8:30 p.m., and we'd love for you to join us. Frequent podcast guest Hunter Mclendon will be here, along with author, cookbook writer, and internet personality Bri McKoy. We'll be live at the Thomasville On Stage & Company theater downtown. They already have our name on the marquee. It's very exciting. And we'll be discussing food and books and pop culture. Tickets are $30 and are available online. There's a link in the show notes, or you can visit Bookshelfthomasville.com and tap or click EVENTS. I would love to see you there. Now, back to the show. For years, my husband Jordan has come on the podcast every March as part of our March Madness tradition. While the NCAA college basketball tournament unfolds, we debate the bookshelves top 16 bestsellers of the previous year until Jordan selects and names one as the champion, often based solely on vibes. If this sounds a little chaotic, that's because it is. Hi, Jordan.
Jordan Jones [00:01:35] I'm chaotic. I'm here.
Annie Jones [00:01:36] You're chaotic. You base things solely on vibes.
Jordan Jones [00:01:41] Well, also skill level and metrics and also some vibes.
Annie Jones [00:01:45] He does have a notepad.
Jordan Jones [00:01:46] Yeah. I have a composition notebook.
Annie Jones [00:01:49] Yeah. He has a notebook full of notes. And, yeah, he thought about this. He hasn't read any of the books, but he [inaudible].
Jordan Jones [00:01:56] I don't know. It's possible.
Annie Jones [00:01:59] People love this episode. And the irony that I read hundreds of books a year-- well, not hundreds. I read 100-ish books a year. And you don't do that. But your episode is the most popular episode. That irony is not lost on me.
Jordan Jones [00:02:12] It's all about giving the people what they want. At the end of the day, people just want nonsense, right?
Annie Jones [00:02:17] People just like men. I'm just kidding. You're very funny. And we're glad you're here. I'm glad you're here.
Jordan Jones [00:02:24] I'm glad to be here.
Annie Jones [00:02:25] Okay, so, as is usual, Olivia seeded our teams and I do just want to give a shout out to listener Betsy. So Maddie and her mom, Betsy, came to The Bookshelf probably two weeks ago. And Betsy, that's Maddie's mom, was in the store, and she said, "I have a bone to pick with Olivia." She said the way they are seeded was a cause of concern and consternation for Betsy. And I told Betsy that we often on this podcast episode discuss how Olivia seeds these teams. So if this is your first time listening, well, God help you.
Jordan Jones [00:03:10] It's interesting.
Annie Jones [00:03:10] But if this is your first time listening, basically, Olivia takes our 16 best selling books of the previous year, and then she seeds them like a March Madness bracket. Now, this year, for the first time ever, we have an actual bracket. It's available. You can download it online. We've been selling them, which sounds ridiculous, except it's not because we're donating all the proceeds to the Boys and Girls Club. So if you're like, why are they charging for this? It's really we're collecting donations for the Boys and Girls Club. But if you bought March Madness merch, which we'll get to in a second, you may have received a bracket with your order. So I designed this bracket based on Olivia's selections and her seeding of the teams. There is a lot of thought that goes into this. Yes. Now, we're not made privy to Olivia's thoughts. We speculate about her choices here on the show.
Jordan Jones [00:04:01] Yeah, she's a committee of one. There's a selection committee in March Madness in basketball. And a lot of the things that the committee does cause consternation and concern. And it wouldn't be March Madness if there weren't some controversy about different teams. Who's in, who's out, who's on the bubble. And so, if some of you have consternation and concern when you look at this, welcome to March Madness, that's part of it. Just just hang on, strap in, because you're going to have more consternation by the time we get to the end of this episode. It always happens. It's dramatic.
Annie Jones [00:04:35] It is dramatic. Okay, speaking of dramatics, now I don't have my notes in front of me. I'm trying to remember before we get started, but do you remember what happened last year?
Jordan Jones [00:04:45] Well, I think what happened is, The Book Eaters, I think they ended up waltzing in to the final four. And then they actually there was some controversy. Some people thought it double dribbled, kind of like the University of Virginia did a few years ago against Auburn. But the University of Virginia went on and won. And that's what happened with The Book Eaters. The Book Eaters kind of cheated, got in, but they cut down the net at the end, and not everybody liked that. And the biggest critic was you.
Annie Jones [00:05:17] It was. But because I believe-- if I'm not mistaken, sounds like you remember better than I do-- The Book Eaters, went up against the Crane Wife.
Jordan Jones [00:05:25] I think that's right.
Annie Jones [00:05:26] And The Crane Wife was on my favorite books. It's still is a book I love to handsell. It's a book I think about often when I think about writing, I think about writing like that. I love the writing in CJ Hauser's the Crane Wife. Did you read The Book Eaters or The Crane Wife?
Jordan Jones [00:05:43] Well, I got about a third to a half of the way through Book Eaters and lost interest. But you know what? It was already done. It's kind of like once the tournament's over, once the team wins, once the team gets to hang the banner. There can be speculation. There can be documentaries later about the book eaters. Was the Book Eaters really the best team? And you can get these old guys coming, "No, we weren't the best team. We just had the most heart." You have all these interviews. And, of course, they weren't the best team but doesn't matter because they won. On paper they're the best team even though [crosstalk]].
Annie Jones [00:06:23] So is what I'm hearing that you should read the books in advance of the tournament?
Jordan Jones [00:06:28] No, because it's about more than just reading.
Annie Jones [00:06:30] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:06:32] That's the only thing I know to defend myself. Probably yes.
Annie Jones [00:06:35] But did you read The Crane Wife?
Jordan Jones [00:06:38] Not yet.
Annie Jones [00:06:39] Okay, great.
Jordan Jones [00:06:41] There's still time yet.
Annie Jones [00:06:42] Yeah, I still I stand by I think you would actually like the Crane wife. If Olivia listens to this episode-- and I will say, I don't think the Bookshelf staff always listen to the podcast. And I'm on the record saying that's fine, because I wouldn't want to listen to me either. They already listen to me all the time.
Jordan Jones [00:06:57] There is one way that the Crane Wife could kind of become the champ. And that is, suppose I were to read The Crane Wife, and we were to get some information that Book Eaters did something illegal during the season, and we can have that win vacated.
Annie Jones [00:07:12] Well, if The Book Eaters was plagiarized or something.
Jordan Jones [00:07:15] But it played fair.
Annie Jones [00:07:18] Yeah. We don't want to put that stench, the stench of plagiarism on the Book Eaters.
Jordan Jones [00:07:22] It's like the worst [crosstalk].
Annie Jones [00:07:23] Yeah, that's the worst thing ever. Okay, so Olivia has seeded these. Throughout today's conversation, we will speculate. I do like to try to get inside Olivia's brain and see.
Jordan Jones [00:07:34] It's a dangerous place to be. But I do, too.
Annie Jones [00:07:37] I think I understand a lot of how and why she seeded things the way that she did. But we have a list of 16 teams. You can follow along with the bracket that you've printed off, the bracket that you found online, or that you received in your online order, or that you picked up at The Bookshelf. I'm just going to list the teams right now, and then we're going to go through play by play, game by game, and narrow this down until we have-- not the bestselling book of 2023, that's already been determined. But we're going to pick--
Jordan Jones [00:08:08] Just the best.
Annie Jones [00:08:08] The March Madness champion. So these books were our top 16 of 2023. Here we go. Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Tom Lake, Saturday night at the Lakeside Supper Club. Hello Beautiful, Pineapple Street, Lessons in Chemistry, Nora Goes Off Script, Kinfolk, The Peach Seed, Demon Copperhead, The Covenant of Water, Happy Place, Same Time Next Summer, I Have Some Questions For You, and Faking Christmas. So these are all fiction titles? I'm just doing a quick scan. These were the top 16 bestselling fiction titles that was not listed in order from 1 to 16. That was listed in order of how they're about to be seeded or how they were seeded. So we're going to start in the top left bracket, and we're going to talk about Fourth Wing.
Jordan Jones [00:09:04] The Midwest.
Annie Jones [00:09:07] Actually, I think Rebecca Yarros might be from Utah. Fourth Wing versus Iron Flame. Here's what's unusual. I'm going to let you riff and do your thing. But I will tell you that--
Jordan Jones [00:09:17] You don't think I prepare for this? You don't think this is carefully scripted?
Annie Jones [00:09:21] I totally think you've prepared for this. I do just want to let you know that Fourth Wing is the first book in a series. Iron Flame is the follow up, the sequel. So it's the second book, I think, in what will ultimately be, I believe, a five book series by Rebecca Yarros. Do you remember me reading Fourth Wing?
Jordan Jones [00:09:42] I do, and there was some controversy.
Annie Jones [00:09:45] Yes, there was some controversy. Fourth Wing took up a lot of mental space and time in The Bookshelf's life in 2023. It was a book that became a TikTok sensation and became super popular, hit our bestseller list, the bestseller list across the country. It's a book about dragons.
Jordan Jones [00:10:07] It sprouted additional wings so to speak, right?
Annie Jones [00:10:09] It did. And then Iron Flame was the sequel, which I did not read. Well, first of all, I did not intend to read it. But then I felt like I was going to be peer pressured into reading it by Keila and Kyndall. But then I refrained because by the end of 2023, Olivia and I were over Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and the special editions and publishers not getting us books. This was the book, if you all recall, we had to refund, I think, 50 people.
Jordan Jones [00:10:40] But it had those really cool black pages.
Annie Jones [00:10:41] Yeah, great. Love it. We were this close to Keila spray painting our books.
Jordan Jones [00:10:46] Oh, that's good.
Annie Jones [00:10:49] We were this close to be like, can we do this ourselves?
Jordan Jones [00:10:53] All of that happened and it was so controversial. So, one of the attorneys I work with whose name is Annie as well, she stopped by my office one day and she was like, has your wife read the Fourth Wing?
Annie Jones [00:11:09] You had feelings on my behalf.
Jordan Jones [00:11:10] I had PTSD over it. But she was really excited about it, so I didn't want to bust her bubble. She was like, I got my new one and it has black pages and it's so cool. I was like, yeah, that's cool.
Annie Jones [00:11:19] Look, we want to let people like what they like. And as a bookseller, I for sure want to let people like what they like. And for all of the pain and frustration that book and the publisher caused us, we sold a lot of copies. And so I'm truly grateful for that. Grateful for Fourth Wing, grateful for people reading stuff even though it might be outside my typical genre. My favorite description of this book, I believe was sold to me by Jennifer. Fourth Wing was Top Gun with Dragons. And you know what? I liked it. I mean, I really did. It was fun to read. It was one of those cultural things in the book world where it felt like everybody was reading it, kind of like The Hunger Games.
Jordan Jones [00:11:55] Or Harry Potter, when everybody had the seven books.
Annie Jones [00:11:57] Yes, everybody reading it at once. It's like the Barbie/Oppenheimer phenomenon or something. It was just like a cultural thing. And I like being a part of cultural moments. But typically when we do March Madness, a sequel is rarely-- especially because these are adult books and there just aren't a lot of series that make the shelves bestseller lists. And this is an exception and a rarity. And so it's the book pitted against its sequel, which I think is not often something we see.
Jordan Jones [00:12:30] And it's fair if someone's out there whining at Olivia, "I want a final where Fourth Wing and Iron Flame can be in there." No, that's not what happens. Olivia did this correctly. She basically said you have to pick the better of those two at the beginning, and we're going to let one of those advance. We're not going to let them both...
Annie Jones [00:12:49] The good news is I don't think anybody is rooting for Iron Flame.
Jordan Jones [00:12:52] Oh, interesting. Well, we'll see. Now, I will tell you, Annie has not bribed me or put anything in my ear before this, but I can tell she already was cheering against Iron Flame.
Annie Jones [00:13:07] Because I just think when a book and its sequel are pitted against each other, the original should. Yeah. Because you can't. The sequel can't exist without the first book. And then in this case, what I have heard even from Fourth Wing fans, what I heard even from like Keila and Kyndall, who pressed on and read Iron Flame, is that Iron Flame was a bit of a disappointment.
Jordan Jones [00:13:28] Oh, interesting.
Annie Jones [00:13:29] It perhaps did not live up to the hype and the expectations set by its predecessor. And I don't know how often that happens in March Madness. Maybe like a team that shows up that was excellent last year and they think they should be pitted or seeded higher, but they're not. That's that's kind of the vibe Iron Flame is.
Jordan Jones [00:13:46] Yeah, you know what this is kind of like? It's kind of like Fourth Wing is like Alabama and Iron Flame is like UAB. University of Alabama Birmingham. You know what I mean. It's like a spin off. Yeah. So a couple of things I'll have to mention here. Let me tell you how I see these teams coming out onto the court. Fourth Wing is controversial for the reasons we talked about. So you got players coming out with tattoos and different colored hair. You remember Dennis Rodman? I think about college Dennis Rodman coming out and he's got that kind of look on his face like, yeah, watch this. And everybody's kind of you either love him or you hate him. And it's all true, but you know what? He's good at rebounding. He's Dennis Rodman. And then Iron Flame comes out. And you know one of the first things I saw on the internet that was like the catch phrase for Iron Flame was "Burn it all down." It's a turnoff to me. I don't want to burn it all down. I want to improve.
Annie Jones [00:14:43] Yeah, you're not the burn it all kind of guy..
Jordan Jones [00:14:44] Let's repair the house, not burn it down. And like you said, it's the sequel, right? It's like you wouldn't be here if not for me, son. It's like a father talking to the son. You wouldn't even be here if not for me.
Annie Jones [00:14:55] That's aggressive.
Jordan Jones [00:14:56] The other thing I saw that I thought was interesting was, someone was talking about Iron Flame and talking about how it was a romantasy. Isn't that interesting?
Annie Jones [00:15:05] Well, it's a very popular new genre-- not new genre. But I will say for the Bookshelf, that is not typically a genre that has done well for us. Locally, that's not what a lot of our locals read, right? But this year we saw a huge uptick. Olivia could get you the stats. We saw a huge uptick in romance and a huge uptick in fantasy. We think partly that's TikTok. That's the rise of TikTok or Bookstagram. But I hope it's partly because of some recent acclaim we did in the store where we now have a romance section. We now have a fantasy section. Those were mixed in with fiction for a long time. So we've pulled those sections out. Esme and Olivia worked together on that. And so, anyway, we certainly have seen an uptick. And then you combine romance and fantasy novels and you get Fourth Wing, you get these these books, the Sarah J. Moss series, that she writes. We are doing really well with that that genre. So, again, it's not necessarily a new genre, but for us it is something that has become really popular.
Jordan Jones [00:16:08] Well, so I was reading something that was talking about, okay, this is a romantasy. And so that genre mainly appeals to women. But then there was a note in it that said, but this book also appeals to men because they put dragons in it. And I was like, wow, that's all that men need. Dragons and all of a sudden men are going for it. So all that stuff causes me to pick Fourth Wing. Dennis Rodman, he's going to get out there and play his heart out. And you may hate him. He may go and have a bad night. He might not show up for practice. But when it's time to play, he's going to be out there. Fourth Wing advances. Double digit win.
Annie Jones [00:16:45] Agreed.
Jordan Jones [00:16:46] Double digit win. Iron Flame just thinks will shoot. We got to go back to UAB and pick up the pieces. And that's okay. We're UAB. We're not UA.
Annie Jones [00:16:55] Okay. Yeah, that totally makes sense to me. That makes sense. I'm here for that. So the next match up I think will be equally debated, which is Tom Lake. This is the new novel by Ann Patchett. And Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, which is by J. Ryan Stradal. Can I take a guess as to why Olivia pitted these against each other?
Jordan Jones [00:17:16] Yeah, I wonder if it's my guess, but yeah, go ahead.
Annie Jones [00:17:18] Okay, so my guess is, first of all, these are two authors who are relatively prolific-- Ann Patchett, perhaps more so. But honestly, J. Ryan Stradal. He's been putting out books. Kitchens of the Great Midwest was his first book, one of my favorites. Lager Queen of Minnesota. So he has done quite well for himself as well. Also, both of these books have a strong Midwestern setting, Midwestern vibe.
Jordan Jones [00:17:40] It is the Midwest part of the bracket.
Annie Jones [00:17:42] Yeah, that's exactly right. So I think this match up makes a lot of sense. There's also some family drama here. These are both what I would call quiet novels, character driven novels. This pairing made a lot of sense to me. Now, I don't like it because it's two books I love very much. But it makes sense. So Tom Lake versus Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. Who you got and why?
Jordan Jones [00:18:05] Well, first of all, I thought that the reason she put these together is because the word lake. That's my best guess.
Annie Jones [00:18:11] Okay, sure. Well, you know what? Who's to say? Only Olivia knows.
Jordan Jones [00:18:15] Olivia...
Annie Jones [00:18:16] Olivia, I really thought you put a lot of thought into this. And so that was my...
Jordan Jones [00:18:20] I did, too, but the word lake stands out. It's in bold. Well, I have to say that I think I feel like Tom Lake is kind of the team that's coached by the person who's done a lot like Ann Patchett. This is like the Duke or the Michigan State because you got Tom Izzo or Mike Krzyzewski. This is the person who you're like, oh, she can roll out a book. It could be blank, but we're all going to come up [inaudible] about it because we actually know it's going to be good. We don't even have to worry.
Annie Jones [00:18:50] She is the Mike Krzyzewski of the book world.
Jordan Jones [00:18:52] Or the Tom Izzo. It doesn't matter if she's had an off year. It doesn't matter if she's had a few off years. When it comes tournament time, she's going to have her team prepared. That team is Tom Lake. And we actually went and saw her.
Annie Jones [00:19:06] That's right.
Jordan Jones [00:19:07] At the Mississippi Book Festival.
Annie Jones [00:19:10] That's right. So you heard about this book?
Jordan Jones [00:19:12] I heard about this book.
Annie Jones [00:19:14] Though you have not read it.
Jordan Jones [00:19:15] Well, we don't know that. We don't know what goes on inside Jordan Jones's brain. So we're going to advance Tom Lake. It's a closer match up than we thought. But it's like one on the final possession. It's tied and Saturday Night at Lakeside Supper Club, we're in the game where we're competing. And then Tom Izzo draws up a diagram, calls a timeout, inbounds, calls up a play. And it's run to perfection. And with one second left the ball goes in. And on a Saturday night the lights go out. On Saturday night it's not even able to inbound the ball. It's over. It's a two point win.
Annie Jones [00:20:01] Okay. I think that is correct. And I actually think that's a really accurate depiction of what could happen with those two books pitted against each other. Next up, still in the Midwest region, I think?
Jordan Jones [00:20:11] No, we're going to the Northeast.
Annie Jones [00:20:12] We're going to the Northeast. Well, much like the regular bracket, it makes no sense at all because Hello Beautiful is set in Chicago. This is by Ann Napolitano. It's about the Aveeno family. I hesitated always to use this description, but it's sort of a re-imagining retelling of Little Women. And then it is pitted against Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. This is a rich people behaving badly type of book, a dysfunctional family drama about a wealthy family living in New York. I read both of these books, really liked them for different reasons. These are both family stories. They do I also think have kind of similar covers. You commented how the fonts looked a little similar. I don't know if that's Olivia's reasoning, but there they are. Those are the two.
Jordan Jones [00:20:59] Pineapple Street is one of these blue blood teams because it's about rich people. It's about trust funds. It's about siblings. So it's a blue blood team we're talking about like the Kentucky or the Duke or the North Carolina. It's one of those teams. One of these wealthy teams that your people complain, oh, they bought their team. All these rich kids play and all this kind of thing. And Hello Beautiful is a slower paced playing team. It's a slower paced book. So it's more of like a Houston or a Baylor or 10 years ago it would have been Wisconsin. Very, very slow pace, very slow possession team. And it's always an interesting matchup. What happens when a down to earth slow pace team raised on corn bread and wheat or whatever goes up against the blue blood? And turns out sometimes the blue bloods aren't tough.
Annie Jones [00:21:57] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:21:58] And so Hello Beautiful is going to advance. Now, I also want to say something about Hello Beautiful. There are some basketball scenes in this book.
Annie Jones [00:22:05] There are. It is a book about basketball. It's so good.
Jordan Jones [00:22:07] Yeah, it's a book about basketball. So this team is going to actually advance. And Pineapple Street is going home early and there's going to be some hurt feelings.
Annie Jones [00:22:18] Or some crying.
Jordan Jones [00:22:19] There's going to be some crying and you're going to look at these kids that are crying and you're going to say, why are you crying? You're a trust fund kid, sorry, elitist kids, whatever. So this is what's going to happen, Hello Beautiful is going to advance.
Annie Jones [00:22:35] Okay, I support that. I loved Hello Beautiful. And as we were talking I did remember it's actually a basketball book. I remember being delighted by that. I read it last March and it was so fun to read it around this time of year. If you haven't read it, now would be a great time. Okay, very curious to see what you're going to do here. So the next match up is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus versus Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan. Now, you've met Annabel Monahan. You've heard me talk about Nora Goes Off Script a lot. I read it a lot, especially when it first released a couple years ago. Something to note about both of these books and maybe why they're pitted against each other, is these are now kind of sort of considered backlist titles. They've been out a couple of years. So these weren't newly released in 2023. These were books that released a couple of years ago, but they have maintained popularity, continue to be bestsellers for us. Lessons in Chemistry also saw a bump because of the television show starring Brie Larson. These are popular with book clubs, strong female protagonists. You've got Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry, and you've got Nora in Nora Goes Off Script. What are you thinking?
Jordan Jones [00:23:47] Yeah. So I feel like this matchup here is kind of like two very closely matched teams.
Annie Jones [00:23:57] Yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:23:58] I feel like this is our first game that's going to be going into overtime.
Annie Jones [00:24:04] If I were a fan, this one would hurt. I like both of these teams.
Jordan Jones [00:24:07] You're going to look at the bracket and you know who you're going to be mad at? Olivia.
Annie Jones [00:24:11] Yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:24:12] The selection committee. You're going to say, But wait a minute. I would rather both of them meet later." Okay. And you know what Olivia is going to say? Nothing. Because the committee doesn't talk back. It is done. It's on paper. The committee puts out a piece of paper. It's like a black box. We don't know what goes on inside. The head of the committee, no one can know. So I'm actually going to give Lessons in Chemistry, the edge. And here's why.
Annie Jones [00:24:38] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:24:41] The TV series was phenomenal. I thought it was such a good story. And there were so many little nuances to it. And you and I talked about how a lot of that stuff was true to the book.
Annie Jones [00:24:56] Yes. It's a great adaptation and I think the liberties that were taken were taken wisely to the point where I, who loved the book, loved the show. And you, who knew I liked the book, but you had not read it. You also really loved the show, it was something I thought I would watch by myself, and instead we wound up watching it together. And the story is actually quite moving. I'll also say this about Lessons in Chemistry, and I've said it from the very beginning, but I did just recently see that Bonnie Garmus herself agrees. That book cover was terrible.
Jordan Jones [00:25:34] Interesting.
Annie Jones [00:25:34] Here's what I'll say. That book covers not terrible, but that book cover is misleading. That book cover makes it look like a light, frothy, fun book. And when I am handselling this at the store and when I handsold it, especially when it very first came out, I really had to tell customers-- like, I remember distinctly selling this book to a customer, and she was like, "I was not going to pick that out because of the cover." And I explained to her, she took it home, she read it. She came back and bought two copies, one for her mom and one for her sister. Because it holds a lot of depth and the cover makes it look a little more light. And it's really not that light of a book.
Jordan Jones [00:26:16] And that is a deep observation that I think could even apply to people, right? Now we're going to start talking about personality.
Annie Jones [00:26:22] You just never know.
Jordan Jones [00:26:22] Yeah. Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Annie Jones [00:26:25] So Lessons in Chemistry moves forward.
Jordan Jones [00:26:27] Lessons in Chemistry advances.
Annie Jones [00:26:28] But it's a close call.
Jordan Jones [00:26:29] It's overtime. It's an overtime game. And a lot of people are sad about this.
Annie Jones [00:26:32] Yeah. I am sad that those two were pitted against each other because those are two books I really, really love.
Jordan Jones [00:26:37] It's not fair. And we shed tears and we blame Olivia and we shake our fists at the stars. And at the end of the day, Lessons in Chemistry advances after over time. Lives to fight another day.
Annie Jones [00:26:48] Okay, next we move to the Southeast region. Okay, so the southeast region, the first match up-- this is ironic-- is kinfolk. This is the novel set in 1970s Alabama by Sean Dietrich. Sean of the South versus the Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones. Anita Gail Jones, we kind of claim her as a local author. She's from Albany, Georgia. This book is partly set in Albany and in South Carolina. It's also historical fiction. Anita has been a delightful friend of the store. She came by about a year ago, saw that her book was carried in our shop, and now we've done a couple of events with her, which is really fun.
Jordan Jones [00:27:27] So both people have done events at the bookstore.
Annie Jones [00:27:30] Yes.
Jordan Jones [00:27:30] Both serious events.
Annie Jones [00:27:32] Yes. Both southern historical fiction novels. Both authors who have ties to The Bookshelf. Authors who I also will say are completely real deals. Really kind authors who I think appreciate the Bookshelf, are grateful for what the Bookshelf does and have chosen to partner with us, even out of our typical events. So, for example, earlier this year, we got to do an event with Sean Dietrich out in [inaudible] and Olivia and Caroline went and sold books at it. Olivia has also gone to Albany to sell books on behalf of Anita Gill Jones. So these are authors who have called us up and been really kind in offering us other opportunities. So it makes sense why these are pitted against each other.
Jordan Jones [00:28:15] And it's a proud product to the southeast. I appreciate when you see authors of southern books being the real deal.
Annie Jones [00:28:22] Yes, it's a relief.
Jordan Jones [00:28:23] That's fun to see. So one of the things that stands out to me is the book The Peach Seed has the word seed in it.
Annie Jones [00:28:33] Okay. Yes.
Jordan Jones [00:28:33] Which is a very important March Madness term.
Annie Jones [00:28:36] Okay. Is that going to make it?
Jordan Jones [00:28:38] Maybe. We'll see.
Annie Jones [00:28:40] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:28:40] We'll see. I do think this is probably a Georgia team versus an Alabama team of some kind.
Annie Jones [00:28:47] I agree. Which this will be interesting to test your own loyalties because you live in Georgia, but you have deep Alabama roots.
Jordan Jones [00:28:56] Yes, absolutely. And so those kind of balance the scales. Okay. Let me tell you what tips the scales. Sean Dietrich and I share clothes.
Annie Jones [00:29:12] Wow.
Jordan Jones [00:29:14] There's only one author on this bracket that I can say has worn clothes of mine. Okay. Sean Dietrich needed a sports coat to look super professional for a picture. And I said, "Here, take mine." Because that's how Alabamians are. We give each other clothes.
Annie Jones [00:29:39] You very much have the same vibes.
Jordan Jones [00:29:40] And I said, here you go. And he didn't even wince. He didn't miss a step. He said, thank you. He put it on. He took a picture and he looked dashing. One of the best pictures of him I've ever seen. And you'll know when you see it. It's a tweedish looking jacket. He looks like a million bucks, it's very professorial. And truly, what a great guy. So we love both these authors, but because we shared clothes.
Annie Jones [00:30:08] Poor Anita has never shared clothes with you.
Jordan Jones [00:30:08] And we could. We still could. Anita, I've got some stuff you can wear and you could give me some stuff. Anyway, I'm going to have to go with Sean Dietrich because we have shared--
Annie Jones [00:30:18] You have a bond.
Jordan Jones [00:30:19] We have a bond.
Annie Jones [00:30:20] Okay, so Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich moves forward. I'll also say the Peach Seed is Anita Gail Jones debut novel, and I think she'll be an author we could see on this bracket in future with other works. So Sean at this point has written several books, he's kind of a man we're very familiar with at this point.
Jordan Jones [00:30:39] The experience team will come back a few years and...
Annie Jones [00:30:41] And it feels like the Peach Seed is the rookie.
Jordan Jones [00:30:44] We'll see this sprout into a peach plant and it'll be back.
Annie Jones [00:30:49] Okay. This is now the pairing which I have to confess. So this is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, a retelling, re-imagining of the classic novel David Copperfield-- all of a sudden, Copperfield did not sound right in my head but that is correct-- versus Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. Now, you and I are in the same boat here because I have not read these books either.
Jordan Jones [00:31:17] And are you sure that I haven't?
Annie Jones [00:31:19] I am 100% sure you have not.
Jordan Jones [00:31:21] You're correct, but I'm excited about this one. And well, first of all, is there anything else you want to do to pit this up? Because I have an interesting comment about this one.
Annie Jones [00:31:30] Well, I do think Olivia pitted these against each other because they are tomes. These are big old books that we sell a lot of copies of. Covenant of Water last year was an Oprah Book Club selection, so was Hello Beautiful. But Covenant of Water is one of those books that I'm not sure a customer would naturally pick up, except for the Oprah endorsement. And Abraham Verghese is an author customers really love. And then Barbara Kingsolver, same thing. An author people really love are familiar with. And I have read other Barbara Kingsolver books, and this one, I'm looking at it. It's on my shelf. I am going to read it. Nobody panic, but I have not read it yet. So I think because these are two tomes by two well-known beloved authors, Olivia seeded them in the same game.
Jordan Jones [00:32:18] Okay, well, I'm going to tell you, first of all, I think that Demon Copperhead being about Appalachia, I think this is the West Virginia team.
Annie Jones [00:32:34] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:32:36] And Bob Huggins is the West Virginia head coach. And a few years back, our friend Will, we were watching March Madness.
Annie Jones [00:32:45] In like a group?
Jordan Jones [00:32:46] In a group, and Will got frustrated. I think he had maybe West Virginia losing, but West Virginia ended up winning. And so he went on Wikipedia on to Bob Huggins's website, and changed Bob Huggins salary to $1 a year. It said what he made and he changed it to $1 a year just kind of as a joke and kind of a silly thing. And we got back on there the next day, and it still said that. No one had corrected it.
Annie Jones [00:33:12] Terrifying reminder of Wikipedia.
Jordan Jones [00:33:14] Wikipedia, as Michael Scott says, anyone can write anything about anyone so you know it's true. Wikipedia is one of the most American things I can think of. But, anyway, that's the West Virginia team. Kind of fast paced. Now, let me tell you something, Covenant of Water, I have not read this, but I have looked at this. And I think this is fascinating. Doctor Verghese, my understanding is he advocates for better medicine, more intimate conversations with patients, and more kind of the old way. And my understanding of the Covenant of Water is it's a book about families in India. And someone drowned every generation.
Annie Jones [00:34:00] You know more than I.
Jordan Jones [00:34:01] And I'll tell you this, it didn't take much but I'm kind of hooked. And of all the books on here, I think this is the one I'm most likely to read.
Annie Jones [00:34:10] Okay. That's exciting.
Jordan Jones [00:34:11] Fascinating. Also, I love the word covenant. I enter into covenants all the time.
Annie Jones [00:34:18] Little insight into Jordan's life.
Jordan Jones [00:34:20] I love the word covenant. It's so much better than the word contract or agreement because it implies something sacred. So, anyway, Covenant of Water, I'm going to give the nod to that one.
Annie Jones [00:34:32] Okay. That's okay. I think that might be an upset. Oh, interesting. So, yeah, I think that might be an upset. So if you did receive a bracket, you may have-- and I've already started to see them on Instagram. I told you this. People have been filling them out guessing what you would choose as.
Jordan Jones [00:34:51] Yeah, as we do with March Madness.
Annie Jones [00:34:52] That's right. And so I think there might be people yelling into their radios.
Jordan Jones [00:34:58] Yeah. And I hope you are. I hope some people are.
Annie Jones [00:35:01] I do have people care that much. That's right.
Jordan Jones [00:35:03] That's March Madness. Yell, get it out. And then you know what? Turn your TV on. Watch Kinfolk play Covenant of Water and you can whine about how it should have been Demon Copperhead, but go on.
Annie Jones [00:35:18] This is fun. So Demon Copperhead, my dad loved that book. Okay. And then Nina read Covenant of Water. So, yeah, some family pics. Okay, so next up, this will be interesting to hear you debate. Happy Place by Emily Henry versus Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan. Annabel Monahan somehow on here twice. Good for Annabel Monaghan. I don't know what we would compare that to. Maybe it's two teams from the same state.
Jordan Jones [00:35:48] It's two teams from the same coaching tree. So it's like in college football would be like Alabama and Georgia because Kirby Smart is from [crosstalk] coaching tree.
Annie Jones [00:35:59] Okay. Alright.
Jordan Jones [00:36:00] Same philosophies.
Annie Jones [00:36:02] So that's what's happening here where we've got two romcoms represented by Annabelle Monaghan. Happy Place by Emily Henry. Emily Henry like Annabel Monaghan puts out a new romcom every year. I'll say this about Emily Henry. I think her first book came out in 2020. It was one of those books during the pandemic that Olivia and I packaged so many copies of Beach Read. Because, Emily, my understanding is she directed people to buy from indie bookstores. And so that was huge for us during the pandemic, and really a game changer for us in the pandemic. And we have continued to sell a lot of copies locally and long distance of Emily Henry's new book. She's got a new book coming out in a month or less than a month. So, anyway, she kind of faithfully puts out a new romcom every year, and I've read them all. And the same is true of Annabelle Monaghan. She has a new book coming out in June. I've already read it. It's five stars. It's excellent. But this was her second book. Same Time Next Summer.
Jordan Jones [00:36:57] So you really get ahead of the game on your read. I mean, you're reading stuff that's not going to come out for like another decade.
Annie Jones [00:37:03] Perk of the job. Well, next decade, I don't know.
Jordan Jones [00:37:07] It's one of the coolest things.
Annie Jones [00:37:08] That is the coolest thing.
Jordan Jones [00:37:10] Well, okay, so a couple of things. Happy Place has a male character named Wyndham. Okay. And I saw a note online of a woman that said, "I have literally never known a man named Wyndham."
Annie Jones [00:37:25] You and your family emphasize H more than anybody I've ever met with. Please stop. It's Wyndham.
Jordan Jones [00:37:35] I know it's Wyndham, but I just feel like I have to emphasize it because that's how it's written. So the other interesting about this is I saw a trigger warning online that said, "Watch out because this book has themes about losing a parent, grief, anxiety, recreational drugs, alcohol use." And I thought, okay, so like real life. I was like, okay, that's a book about life or at least observing other people's lives.
Annie Jones [00:38:06] You and I do have similar feelings, I think, regarding sensitive things.
Jordan Jones [00:38:10] Okay. And then I was looking at same time next summer online, and my first thought was, okay, so is this sweet home Alabama? Is this a similar thing to Reese Witherspoon coming home and falling in love.
Annie Jones [00:38:22] I did not think about that, but kind of. Yes.
Jordan Jones [00:38:24] Interesting. So I will say I'm going to go with Annabel Monaghan on this one. And I'm going to give her the nod on this one, I'm going to go ahead and advance Same Time Next Summer. I do think this is a good pairing by Olivia. So a lot of times the neutral arbiters in our lives whose job it is to be objective, the referees, the officials, the umpires, the judges, the committees get a bad reputation because half the people always get mad at them, because right half of us lose and half of us win. And I just want to say thank you for the work that you do. If you're a black and white striped person, if you wear the black and white, you do something objective. Thank you so much. No one ever praises you.
Annie Jones [00:39:14] I would like to say I hope we praise Olivia.
Jordan Jones [00:39:17] Yeah, I do. I'm doing it right now and you do need to too. But if you wear the black and white stripes, you wear the black robe, that is a hard, thankless job. And typically if we win in life, we think we earned it. And if we lose, we think we were robbed. And so the judge never gets credit. Thank you for being objective and calling balls and strikes, Olivia. And all of you who wear black robes and black and white stripes-- I don't care on what level it is, it could be referring to flag football-- thank you.
Annie Jones [00:39:45] I hope that speech really makes her day. Okay. Last pairing in this is in the South region. This is I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. I'm trying to think if you heard Rebecca Makkai at the Mississippi Book Festival with me. But, anyway, she spoke at the Mississippi Book Festival. I have some thoughts, but that's something for another time. And then Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey. Now, of all the pairings, this is the one that makes no sense to me. And I have racked my brain to try to figure out how Olivia did this. And my best conclusion is that these were the two books that were left.
Jordan Jones [00:40:29] Yea, these are the misfits.
Annie Jones [00:40:29] Yes, I normally feel like I can follow Olivia's train of thought. We work really well together. But this pairing, now, the covers are both red, white and blue. There's definitely some color themes, but these subject matters are totally different. The genre is totally different. The page length is totally different. So I have racked my brain and I just think these are the misfits.
Jordan Jones [00:40:54] Yeah, this is the 7-10 match up. Do yourself a favor. Turn a seven seed against a 10 seed and you'll wonder, why are these teams here? They're different. It's bizarre. So this is the 7-10 match up. I Have Questions is about a New Hampshire boarding school and murders.
Annie Jones [00:41:15] All things I'm 100% here for.
Jordan Jones [00:41:17] You're all in on it.
Annie Jones [00:41:17] Loved it.
Jordan Jones [00:41:18] This is the Cornell for the Yale. Okay, this is the Ivy League team. You'll see.
Annie Jones [00:41:24] That's Rebecca Makkai's [inaudible] as well.
Jordan Jones [00:41:28] The way that Ivy League does things is weird, but you'll see an Ivy League team get into the NCAA tournament. This year it's Yale. Just one on a buzzer beater.
Annie Jones [00:41:39] Let me tell you. Can I tell one of my favorite marital memories of all the time? I don't remember a ton of details, but what I do remember is I had chosen Yale to advance, and you had not. Yale won and you were not here yet. You were not home yet. You were at work or something. And because of Gilmore Girls, I knew the Yale fight song. And thank goodness for that. Thank goodness for Richard Gilmore. I knew the Yale fight song. And so when you came home, I just greeted you at the door singing the Yale fight.
Jordan Jones [00:42:11] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:42:11] And, honestly, it just brings a smile to my face every time.
Jordan Jones [00:42:14] That's what March Madness is all about. Now, for that one time, I have a [inaudible] memory, and that is the other nine times we've done March Madness and Annie has picked to 14 seed Ivy League. They've lost and I've rejoiced.
Annie Jones [00:42:28] Oh! Shots fired. I just always try to pick an upset and I always pick the wrong one.
Jordan Jones [00:42:32] No, me too. It's a problem with March Madness. But this is the Yale.
Annie Jones [00:42:37] Okay. That makes a lot of sense.
Jordan Jones [00:42:38] And Yale is in this year. Yale just won on a Buzzer Beater over Brown, which never gets in. Buzzer Beater, go watch it. Do yourself a favor. Buzzer Beater. And this is the Yale. This is the Ivy League team. They always is, like, kind of active and energetic and fun to watch. You're like, yeah, that's fun to see an Ivy League team on there.
Annie Jones [00:43:00] That book was good to me. I think it was a solid four stars for me. I would not describe it as fun as I recall. I love a boarding school setting. I love a murder mystery. There was a podcast element.
Jordan Jones [00:43:13] You love the Northeast.
Annie Jones [00:43:14] I love the Northeast. But yeah, I'm not sure I'd describe that as fun. What I would describe as fun is Faking Christmas.
Jordan Jones [00:43:21] How so?
Annie Jones [00:43:22] Well, so you will be familiar with Christmas in Connecticut. It's a movie we have watched it many times.
Jordan Jones [00:43:28] Yes, great movie. Highly recommend.
Annie Jones [00:43:28] Okay, so this is a retelling of Christmas in Connecticut. Kerry Winfrey, the author, who you've also met I think-- you've met some of these authors. Kerry Winfrey came to Reader Retreat.
Jordan Jones [00:43:41] I think I'm moving into some elite circles.
Annie Jones [00:43:43] Yeah, I guess you are. Okay. So Kerry Winfrey was at the Bookshelf, and she loves Christmas in Connecticut. And while she was watching it one Christmas, she was like, how come nobody has modernized this? And so she did, which is a really fun writer story. Well, and I really like knowing that a writer could just be watching like an old black and white movie and then all of a sudden be like, hey, why has nobody written this yet? Guess I will. I just love that story. So, anyway, it's a very fun Christmas book. It's one of those that I might reread year after year.
Jordan Jones [00:44:18] Well, that's high praise.
Annie Jones [00:44:20] Yeah, because I don't re-read a lot.
Jordan Jones [00:44:21] Because you read a lot of things, and you don't re-read a lot.
Annie Jones [00:44:23] No. And Christmas books can be cheesy. We sometimes would joke watch hallmark movies together, but that is not my favorite [crosstalk].
Jordan Jones [00:44:32] Merry Christmas. Yes. The magical elevator.
Annie Jones [00:44:37] Yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:44:38] Okay. Well, that's fascinating. When I first saw this, I thought, okay, if nothing else, I can fall back on the fact that I Have Some Questions for You sounds like the mantra of your life. You always have had questions, right?
Annie Jones [00:44:59] It's true.
Jordan Jones [00:45:01] Faking Christmas would be the opposite of your life. You would never fake Christmas. Why would you do such a thing? Christmas is sacred.
Annie Jones [00:45:07] Christmas is real personally, yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:45:09] I was like, but you know what? Christmas in Connecticut retelling, boom, baby! Faking Christmas [inaudible] Yeah, baby!
Annie Jones [00:45:20] All right. Exciting. Faking Christmas. I think that's going to be a slight upset on people's brackets as well. Okay. Now we're moving forward. We have our eight, so it's time to select down to--
Jordan Jones [00:45:34] Were down to the elite eight.
Annie Jones [00:45:35] We're down to the elite eight. It's time to move to our final four. Okay. So we've got Fourth Wing (heaven help us) versus Tom Lake.
Jordan Jones [00:45:46] Yeah. I think what happens here is that the Fourth Wing comes off that plane and we're down to no wing.
Annie Jones [00:45:56] Yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:45:57] And Tom Lake is going to advance.
Annie Jones [00:45:59] That is accurate. I do think that's exactly what happens, right? It's the fun, exciting team, but now they're done.
Jordan Jones [00:46:03] Yeah. That's a 20 point blowout right there.
Annie Jones [00:46:06] Okay, I would agree. I think that's what happened in real life. I think fourth wing was amazing and took off and then...
Jordan Jones [00:46:12] Ran out of gas mid air.
Annie Jones [00:46:14] Yes, ran out of steam. Yeah, totally. Okay. Now this will be interesting because I think it's some overlap between these. There is Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano versus Lessons in Chemistry. So what are you going to do.
Jordan Jones [00:46:26] You notice sometimes the teams that are most successful in the tournament have an overtime win early. This happened a few years ago, I believe, with Villanova when Villanova won it all. But you have a little bit of grit in that first, second, third round, scrappy win and then you start to hit your stride. That's what happens here to Lessons in Chemistry. It was an overtime gritty win against Nora Goes Off Script. And now it advances by double digits. It starts to pick up some steam. It learns lessons if you will. And the chemistry among the players really gets to where it needs to be. So it actually gets into the final four and people start believing in this team.
Annie Jones [00:47:12] Okay. This is going to be interesting. This is going to be very interesting because if a book that was not even published in 2023 becomes the best book of 2023, that'll be interesting.
Jordan Jones [00:47:24] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:47:24] Okay. Now we have Kinfolk, the Sean Dietrich book. Can the jacket anecdote carry it past--
Jordan Jones [00:47:32] Good question.
Annie Jones [00:47:33] Covenant of Water, the book that you are most enticed by on this entire list?
Jordan Jones [00:47:38] Well, I am most enticed by Covenant of Water in terms of books, but I'm most enticed by Sean Dietrich the man, the myth, the legend It's the jacket.
Annie Jones [00:47:47] And you know what? People didn't know the jacket anecdote. And that's going to really hurt their brackets. I think it's really going to hurt.
Jordan Jones [00:47:53] You know what? You ever had that year where you fill out your March Madness bracket and you're really excited about a team and you turn on the TV, it's a team you pick to go to the Final Four and the team looks terrible, and you start questioning your sanity and your own competence. And you say, "Why did I pick that team?" And then your husband or your wife leans over and says, "Didn't you know they had two injuries?" And you realize you didn't do your research. You didn't know the anecdote of the coat. You didn't know it. And if you had, you would never have done that. That's what happens here. The wheels come off, and Kinfolk actually advances.
Annie Jones [00:48:30] Okay. All right. And then now I think in a matchup we really could not have predicted. Now we have Same Time Next Summer versus Faking Christmas. So now we have two pretty seasonal romcoms. Are you going summer or Christmas.
Jordan Jones [00:48:45] What's better, summer or Christmas?
Annie Jones [00:48:46] I know to you I think Faking Christmas advances it.
Jordan Jones [00:48:51] It could.
Annie Jones [00:48:52] So I love Christmas, but also Christmas is our busiest, most hectic time of year. Summer is most of the time our most relaxed time of year when you and I get to go on vacation. I might get to go to the beach. I don't know. It's a tough call.
Jordan Jones [00:49:05] Yeah, I think for you same time next summer would be the pick here.
Annie Jones [00:49:12] This is a tough one. It is tough. And, again, I don't think I could have predicted it. I think you thought I Have Some Questions for you was going to advance.
Jordan Jones [00:49:21] I did. But you know what? Christmas in Connecticut, some of these other Turner classic movies, on that history alone, Faking Christmas just gets an edge and advances to the final four.
Annie Jones [00:49:34] Wow, okay. I think we have some unusual selections now for the final four.
Jordan Jones [00:49:40] Yeah, this is like the 2014 March Madness tournament when you end up with a seven and an eight.
Annie Jones [00:49:44] Yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:49:45] And that was the year that, billionaire-- well, I'm drawing a blank on his name-- he offered $1 billion to anyone who could correctly fill out a bracket perfectly, and no one did. Partly because the eight and a seven.
Annie Jones [00:49:59] Okay, well, I think that's what's happened here. So our final four, I'm just going to name them. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich, and Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey. That is eclectic.
Jordan Jones [00:50:14] I think we have a strange final four. And all these teams are excited that all the one seeds have already been knocked out.
Annie Jones [00:50:24] Yes.
Jordan Jones [00:50:25] Chaotic.
Annie Jones [00:50:25] It feels like that. Except I will say Tom Lake feels like a one seed. If we go back to the Tom Izzo, if we go back to Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Lake feels like the one remaining one seed.
Jordan Jones [00:50:35] I agree with that. This is what happened in our office chicken bracket, which were seeded impeccably by me. And one of the final four teams was-- and this was blind blind taste test. But one of the final four teams was Chick-Fil-A, which is the one seed. Whether you think it's the best or not, it is the one seed. One seed can be defeated. So we've got that here. We've got Tom Lake here. So what I want to hear your thoughts about the first matchup of the day, which is Tom Lake versus Lessons in Chemistry. What does that look like on the court?
Annie Jones [00:51:07] Okay. Well, for me, I keep going back to Tom Lake's coaching. Lessons in Chemistry as a debut novel, so it's a team that hasn't really appeared here before.
Jordan Jones [00:51:18] Yeah, this is like George Mason or...
Annie Jones [00:51:21] Right. Loyola.
[00:51:23] Or Loyola Chicago.
[00:51:25] Yeah. Like somebody who's having a great time. And they we were all shocked when they won the first round. We were all shocked and elated when they won the second round. And we were cheering them on, and now they've made it to the final four.
Jordan Jones [00:51:39] What an accomplishment.
Annie Jones [00:51:40] Right.
Jordan Jones [00:51:41] They'll hang a final four banner.
Annie Jones [00:51:42] Right, and we can't believe it. And we're cheering from our living rooms, but they don't have enough gas. Yeah. I feel like Tom Lake, the coaching of Mike Krzyzewski, I just think Tom Lake is the winner.
Jordan Jones [00:51:54] Yeah. Tom Lake gets to the final four and thinks we got two more games, there's work yet to be done. Lessons in Chemistry gets to the final four and says, oh, this is great. They're just so happy to be here and then they lose.
Annie Jones [00:52:07] Yeah.
Jordan Jones [00:52:08] Tom Lake goes to the final two.
Annie Jones [00:52:09] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:52:10] As a onesie.
Annie Jones [00:52:11] Yeah. That feels right.
Jordan Jones [00:52:13] What do you think about--
Annie Jones [00:52:14] This is bizarre.
Jordan Jones [00:52:16] This is out of the Southeast and South region.
Annie Jones [00:52:18] Yeah. This is weird.
Jordan Jones [00:52:19] And you know what? A lot of odd people come out of the Southeastern south. And, look, Kinfolk are weird.
Annie Jones [00:52:25] Here we are.
Jordan Jones [00:52:27] Okay. So, Kinfolk versus Faking Christmas. What do you think? What does this look like?
Annie Jones [00:52:32] Okay, well, this is very tough to me because Faking Christmas feels like a surprise team. Because it almost feels like-- now, I'm not going to say it's like a Loyola or a George Mason. But it does feel like it is shocking to me that, first of all, on the 2023 top 16, that there was a Christmas book at all. Do you know what I mean? Like, for a Christmas book to be a bestseller for the whole year, like not just at Christmas, that's pretty remarkable.
Jordan Jones [00:53:04] Even to get on the bracket.
Annie Jones [00:53:05] Right. From a book selling perspective, it's a little bit like, how did this Christmas book get here?
Jordan Jones [00:53:09] Because it's faking Christmas. It's not actually Christmas. It's just Christmas with quotation marks.
Annie Jones [00:53:13] Well, and I think it goes back to the authors we've talked about today, like Sean Dietrich, Anita Gail Jones, Annabel Monahan. Several of our authors this year have been to The Bookshelf. And so they've been here in person. And so because of Reader Retreat or because of story events or whatever, some of these teams, some of these books progressed even farther than I could have predicted. I love Faking Christmas. It was a super fun holiday book. I got my ARC and I waited to read it until November because I just wanted to read something fun and seasonally appropriate, so I clung to it. I held on to it. But it is a surprise to me that it's here because it is a seasonal work. Now, Kinfolk does make a lot of sense in that it is beloved by long distance and local customers alike. So of the books on this list, Kinfolk is probably one of the most locally beloved titles. Now, I think we sold a lot of copies of Tom Lake, a lot of copies of Fourth Wing to local customers. Covenant of Water was a local bestseller. But Kinfolk and Sean Dietrich are beloved by Thomasville in particular, not just our long distance customers.
Jordan Jones [00:54:25] Does the fan base of Kinfolk travel well? Would they show up to root on Kinfolk in a match up between Kinfolk and Faking Christmas.
Annie Jones [00:54:34] I think they're proud. I think it's like an Auburn team or a Tennessee team or something like that, where they're really proud of how far they've come. Because Southerners root for their own for better or for worse.
Jordan Jones [00:54:49] Yeah, that's true. Is that enough to advance Kinfolk in this situation?
Annie Jones [00:54:50] I don't know. It's a weird matchup. I don't know how they play against each other.
Jordan Jones [00:54:56] I'll tell you, it is enough.
Annie Jones [00:54:58] Okay.
Jordan Jones [00:55:01] Kinfolk wins and advances to the final two.
Annie Jones [00:55:05] Okay, well, then I think--
Jordan Jones [00:55:09] And everybody is shocked.
Annie Jones [00:55:11] That Kinfolk [inaudible].
Jordan Jones [00:55:12] Is in the final.
Annie Jones [00:55:14] That's in the final two.
Jordan Jones [00:55:15] Looking at all the side of the bracket?
Annie Jones [00:55:16] And you know who's I think the most proud?
Jordan Jones [00:55:18] Who?
Annie Jones [00:55:19] The fans. I think this is a team where the fans think we did this. We made it this far.
Jordan Jones [00:55:24] I agree. And you know what? All those fans that are going to go to the championship game, you know what they're all wearing?
Annie Jones [00:55:30] What?
Jordan Jones [00:55:30] Tweed jacket. That is the staple of the season. They even make the little tweed jacket insignia and all the players wear it.
Annie Jones [00:55:40] It's like their fan thing.
Jordan Jones [00:55:42] It's like their thing for the year.
Annie Jones [00:55:42] Yes.
Jordan Jones [00:55:44] Is it enough to get over Tom Lake in the final?
Annie Jones [00:55:46] No.
Jordan Jones [00:55:47] No it's not.
Annie Jones [00:55:48] Okay. You agree with me this year!
Jordan Jones [00:55:50] Tom Lake is the champion.
Annie Jones [00:55:50] Tom Lake is the winner. You have to to write it on the championship trophy.
Jordan Jones [00:55:56] And oftentimes, if you look at old brackets, a lot of times you do have craziness in the first round. You get a little craziness in the second round.
Annie Jones [00:56:03] That's true, by the end.
Jordan Jones [00:56:04] You look up and it's like, wait a minute, the blue blood won.
Annie Jones [00:56:09] It's kind of always a bummer to me?
Jordan Jones [00:56:11] How did that team win? Because it's the best.
Annie Jones [00:56:14] Well, and here's what I will also say. Last year we had what we thought was potentially- no, I don't think Crane Wife was blue blood. CJ Hauser is not as perhaps prolific or a household of a name as Ann Patchett, but we did have that versus The Book Eaters, and then the debut novel Beloved by Olivia, that wound up winning. And I think that was an upset. But I don't think-- now you can correct me if I'm wrong. You know more about March Madness through the years and maybe statistics and things like that. But I think after a year where there's been kind of a lot of upheaval and surprises, it sometimes feels like the next year is less surprising.
Jordan Jones [00:56:53] For number one, yes.
Annie Jones [00:56:55] Yes. And so I think this is a less surprising win, although I do think the final four were a surprise.
Jordan Jones [00:57:01] I agree, and a lot of times that happens. Like this is crazy. And then it's like, wait a minute, Kentucky won it's 75th national title again? Okay.
Annie Jones [00:57:10] Tom Lake makes sense. Ann Patchett makes sense. It does feel like the natural winner.
Jordan Jones [00:57:15] Yeah, Tom Izzo. I mean Tom Lake celebrates again.
Annie Jones [00:57:20] Okay. So there we go. If you filled out a bracket, first of all, we'd love for you to post your bracket. We will post Jordan's bracket on the Bookshelf Instagram so that you can see he filled it out while we were talking. But we'd love to know if you wound up matching Jordan's bracket, because we are so curious if somebody predicted the chaotic vibes of Jordan Jones's March Madness selections.
Jordan Jones [00:57:41] And Warren Buffet did front $1 billion to the--
Annie Jones [00:57:44] Okay, that's who you were trying to think of?
Jordan Jones [00:57:45] Yeah, that's who I was trying to think of. If you got a perfect bracket.
Annie Jones [00:57:47] If only that were true. So post your bracket to Instagram if you are so inclined. And then hopefully you know this by now, but if you don't, if you enjoy these annual episodes, I just have to tell you, we have some super fun news. This is how things work at the Bookshelf. Last April, after March Madness ended, it was Caroline's 1st March Madness ever. Like basketball or books. She mentioned that we should do March Madness March. So we wrote it on our spreadsheet. And then when January rolled around, we thought, okay, now's the time, we have to do some merch. So a year later, we launched sweatpants, t shirts, stickers, and brackets inspired by the March Madness episodes. Jordan and I are wearing our March Madness shirts right now in honor of the episode. We also made sister Jean shirts, which I said on Instagram was one of the most niche things we've ever done. But the truth is, we do a lot of niche things. Somebody reminded me about hot dogs. I think that customer and listener, Dusty [sp], reminded me, well, what about hot dogs on [inaudible] bookstore day? Then somebody else was like, well, what about that time y'all did Baby-Sitters club merch? And so it's true, a lot of what the Bookshelf does is niche.
Jordan Jones [00:58:55] Or Sam Malone.
Annie Jones [00:58:57] Or Sam Malone bandana. But this does feel pretty niche because there isn't always a ton of overlap, although I think there's more than we'd like to admit. I think there's more overlap between basketball fans and book lovers than the world wants us to think. I actually think a lot of us do like sports and books. It's okay. It's okay to like a lot of things. So we have some merch now. I'll be honest. There's not a ton left, but there is some left. So we have sister Jean shirts. I mailed sister Jean a shirt. I really hope she got it.
Jordan Jones [00:59:29] Me too.
Annie Jones [00:59:30] I hope those team shirts at Loyola University opened the mail and were pleased. We have sister Jean stickers. We have a March Madness sticker, March Madness shirts. And the Bookshelf sweatpants I'm just going to say are some of the most comfy sweatpants I've ever owned. It was very important to me that they be comfy and oversize, perfect for cuddling up and watching March Madness on your couch. Because to me, there's nothing more fun than reading a book while watching sports. Like the squeaky tennis shoes in the background of my reading is a joy of my life. So items are sold fast, but you can find what remains at the link in the show notes or visit Bookshelfthomasville.com. And then you can find March Madness merch on the homepage. Thanks to Erin. Thanks, Jordan.
Jordan Jones [01:00:15] You're welcome. I'm happy to be here. Thank you.
Annie Jones [01:00:21] This week, what I am reading is brought to you by the 103rd Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Held in historic downtown Thomasville, the Rose Show and Festival is sponsored by the City of Thomasville and has been a Southwest Georgia tradition since 1922. Enjoy rose and flower shows, live music, an artisan market, an antique car show, a parade, and fantastic shopping and dining in downtown Thomasville. This year's 103rd annual event is April 26th through 27th. You can plan your visit at Thomasvillega.com. As I've been recording these ad reads, I've been trying to think about my favorite parts of the Rose Show weekend, and I've been working through different events. And so I would be remiss if I did not discuss the street dance that has held every year after the parade. So actually, one of my fondest Thomasville memories is a couple of years ago, I was a parade float judge for the first ever time. It was a highlight of my life. I think it's okay to say it, but I write about it in my upcoming book.
Jordan Jones [01:01:26] You wore the black and white stripes.
Annie Jones [01:01:27] I did, I performed a judge role. It was very exciting. Jordan I got to sit in at the bandstand, the grandstand, and we had to watch the parade. We felt like we'd really made it here in Thomasville. It felt like a real big moment for us. But immediately following the parade, the streets are all closed because of the parade. And I think the band is called the Swinging Medallions. They are beloved by Thomasville, and it's like a swing dance out on the streets. And it is the most small town fun, springtime happiness that you've ever seen. And so my parents have come before, a few years ago. It's just a delight. And one thing I love about living close to downtown is you can hear the music. We'll walk home from the parade. It's a really fun time of year to live here. If you have never been to Rose Show and Festival, I would encourage you to come. Friday night is a blast because of the parade and because of the street dance. This week I am reading They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib. Jordan, what are you reading?
Jordan Jones [01:02:31] I'm reading. We're Already Dead. I'm just kidding.
Annie Jones [01:02:35] Wow.
Jordan Jones [01:02:37] No, I'm reading The Hobbit by the man, the myth, the legend, J.R.R. Tolkien. For the first time in my life, I'm ashamed to say.
Annie Jones [01:02:45] No, I think that's delightful. It's never too late.
Jordan Jones [01:02:46] Yeah.
Annie Jones [01:02:47] Thank you again to our sponsor, the 103rd Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Don't forget, you can plan your upcoming visit at Thomasvillega.com.
[01:03:47] 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, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell, Jennifer Bannerton
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, 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.