Episode 475 || New Release Rundown: May 2024
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie, Erin, and Olivia are sharing the May releases they’re excited about to help you build your TBR. When you purchase or preorder any of the books they talk about, enter the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order!
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (type “Episode 475” into the search bar and tap enter to find the books mentioned in this episode), or shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:
Annie's books:
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (5/7)
Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan (5/21)
Knife River by Justine Champine (5/28)
Olivia's books:
The Kid by Jeff Schill (5/7)
The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon (5/7)
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton (5/21)
Erin's books:
Last House by Jessica Shattuck (5/14)
When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips (5/21)
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue (5/21)
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 Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum. Olivia is reading The Unwedding by Ally Condie. Erin is listening to Funny Story by Emily Henry.
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...Jennifer Bannerton, Stephanie Dean, Linda Lee Drozt, Ashley Ferrell, Susan Hulings, Wendi Jenkins, Martha, Nicole Marsee, Gene Queens, Cammy Tidwell, and Amanda Whigham.
Transcript:
[squeaky porch swing] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the South. [music plays out]
“Sometimes it seemed like that was all that could be done: either find the person who could hold you afloat in turmoil, or be that person yourself to somebody else. Taking turns, getting through it, until your final day.” Justine Champine, Knife River
[as music fades out] I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. Today I’m joined by Bookshelf operations manager Olivia and online sales manager Erin to give you a rundown of our favorite new books releasing in May. If you’re a new or newish listener, you might not realize that From the Front Porch is a production of The Bookshelf, a small, independently-owned bookstore in rural South Georgia. By listening to our show and recommending it to friends, you’re helping to keep our indie bookstore in business, and if you like what you hear, one way you can financially support us is through Patreon. In 2024, we’re conquering the classic American novel Lonesome Dove together with monthly recap episodes. For $5 a month, you can access our conversations, as well as our Porch Visits, monthly live Q&As where we talk about everything from pop culture to nail polish to what books you should take on your next vacation. To learn more about our Patreon tiers and benefits, just visit patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. I’d love for you to join us there! I would love for you to join us there, and I'm so grateful to all the people who have joined us there this year. We've got a fun community and we are loving recapping Lonesome Dove with you. Now back to the show. We are recapping May new releases, believe it or not. And as we go through these books, just keep in mind that Aaron has made browsing the podcast book selections super easy. You can go to bookshelf thomasville.com and type episode 475 into the Search bar, where you'll see all of today's books listed, ready for you to pre order or purchase. You can then use the code New Release Please at checkout and get 10% off your order of today's titles. Hi, Olivia.
Olivia [00:02:26] Hello.
Annie Jones [00:02:27] And hi, Erin.
Erin [00:02:28] Good morning. I just have to say, true blue podcast listeners will know that this is a momentous day because when I walked in, I see they're planting a tree outside of our store.
Olivia [00:02:40] It's a little baby, but it'll grow up.
Erin [00:02:43] It may take years for it to provide shade, but it's coming, friends. It's coming.
Annie Jones [00:02:47] Oh, I'm so happy.
Erin [00:02:49] It is very exciting, honestly.
Olivia [00:02:51] I really hope that tree gets an essay in your upcoming book.
Annie Jones [00:02:55] I'm going to have to put it in there. When did they remove that tree or when did that tree crack in half?
Olivia [00:03:02] Was it--
Annie Jones [00:03:03] Post pandy?
Olivia [00:03:04] I was going to say 2022.
Erin [00:03:08] Yeah, that feels right. In the end of 2022.
Olivia [00:03:11] Because you remember it almost fell on that car.
Annie Jones [00:03:14] Yes. It was split in half. I actually think it was hot because I think it was either summer or maybe August of 2022. That's a long time for them to not have done anything.
Olivia [00:03:29] It was on a Saturday because Nancy was there and I was there. Yeah. And it feels like it was on a Sidewalk Sale Saturday because [crosstalk].
Annie Jones [00:03:38] It wasn't a sidewalk sale because then it would have ruined the sidewalk sale because it cracked in half, like it fell. I remember it. It was the day I was there, too. [Crosstalk].
Erin [00:03:51] I almost stopped and thanked the gentleman [crosstalk].
Olivia [00:03:55] I thought about it too.
Erin [00:03:57] Is that too weird?
Annie Jones [00:04:00] No, I would be like, thank you so much. Okay, first of all, aesthetically, I have missed the tree definitely. Is this too much time to devote to a tree on this podcast?
Erin [00:04:09] No.
Olivia [00:04:10] No.
Annie Jones [00:04:13] Aesthetically, it's been missing. It feels like a missing thing. But also the store is so hot and candles get ruined. Books turn yellow faster. My office is an oven. Like, with no tree it really has made a huge difference. I know it'll take a while for that tree to grow.
Olivia [00:04:31] I bet that's why our AC broke because it was overcooling the store. We should tell the city. They should pay for it.
Annie Jones [00:04:38] They should pay for it. Please just tell me. Does it feel nice and cool there today?
Olivia [00:04:45] It really does.
Erin [00:04:47] Chilly. [crosstalk] I was getting cold yesterday. Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:04:54] [Inaudible]. Let me tell you. I told Jordan, I said, "From now on, I'm trusting my gut because Pen to Plate night, I was like, it's hot in here, it's hot in here." And everybody was like, no, I think it's just we're working really hard. And we were. We were working hard. But I was like, no, it's hot. And there's 30 people in there. So you thought maybe-- the whole weekend I was like, it's too hot. It's too hot. Because there are times when I'm freezing in the store, even when I'm busting my butt. And I haven't been freezing in downstairs in forever.
Erin [00:05:24] Come back now. You will be freezing.
Olivia [00:05:26] Let it be known, Annie, that you said that multiple times. And I believe it was me every time that was like, it's fine. It's fine.
Erin [00:05:33] It's just the doors open. But it was.
Annie Jones [00:05:36] Honestly, there was a reversal. It was a real role reversal because I feel like normally I'm the one that's like, it's fine. Guys, we'll be fine. And it was unusual for you to be like, no, I promise it's okay. I think you were just in Reader Retreat mode, where our default is like everything's fine.
Olivia [00:05:55] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:05:57] Okay, wait, one side tangent. I just wanted to say real quick- related. Is that we've been watching Survivor. We've been watching various seasons. So most recently we just started watching the Millennials versus Gen X survivor and it's hilarious. We're having a great time. But we were like, oh, how are millennials going to look? And I'll tell you, the thing that Jordan and I are cracking up the most is how often a millennial says everything's fine, it's okay. And Jordan and I were like, is that the millennial mantra? Are we the dog in the fire saying everything's fine because that's been our whole lives? 9/11, a war, a recession, a pandemic, and we're just like everything's fine. We're okay. Is that the millennial mantra?
Olivia [00:06:48] The worst of [inaudible]
Erin [00:06:51] And that sounds like just repressing feelings. It doesn't sound like actual things being fine.
Annie Jones [00:06:56] It's why we're all in therapy, because we're just sitting around like everything's fine when everything is objectively not fine.
Erin [00:07:02] Inside we're crying for sure.
Olivia [00:07:04] Our therapist are all just like, but you know it's not, right?
Erin [00:07:07] Right.
Annie Jones [00:07:09] Although my therapist did tell me recently, she was like, you know you don't have to process everything. I was like, wait, what?
Olivia [00:07:16] What does that even mean? That feels like a lie.
Annie Jones [00:07:21] I process all day, every day. What are you talking about?
Olivia [00:07:23] How are you supposed to live life if you don't process?
Annie Jones [00:07:26] Right? It's a process. Anyway, what does she know? She's just a therapist. She's just a mental health professional. Okay. Well, so here we are to talk about books in May. I do have some good books to talk about. I'm looking forward to talking about them. For me, I just recorded the reading recap episode for April. This has been a weird reading season for me, and I don't know if you all feel that way. Where books have been kind of hit or miss. But I do think there are some good releases coming out of May. I will kick us off. I know Olivia read this book too, so Olivia, feel free to tell me your thoughts. But there's a book releasing next week called The Ministry of Time. It releases on May 7th. I suspect we will be seeing this book everywhere. The reason I suspect that is I'm pretty sure we received at The Bookshelf multiple ARCs of this book. It is a book I think the publisher is really excited about. I think Indie bookstores are really excited about it. But I am reading this book right now and I really am having a good time. It's a very fun romp of a book, multiple genres. We're talking a dash of science fiction, a smidgen of romance, a little bit of historical fiction. Also a spy novel. Kind of all of the above. Erin, I think you might like this book actually.
Olivia [00:08:49] I do think you would like it, Erin.
Erin [00:08:51] Okay, good. I'll put it on my list.
Annie Jones [00:08:54] Basically, we have a young woman. She's a civil servant working in Great Britain. She's applying for a new job at this pretty secretive ministry of time, because in a few years after the pandemic, turns out that Great Britain discovered that they could time travel and that they had access to time travel portals. And so they have brought back, I think, five people from various points in history, 1600s, 1700s, 1800s. They have brought them through the portal and each person, each time travel-- I think they even almost referred to them as refugees. Each refugee has been assigned a bridge. And so this unnamed narrator, this young woman who's a civil servant, she gets the job as being a bridge. And her client, her person she's been assigned is Commander Graham Gore. And he was from the lost 1845 Royal Navy Arctic Expedition. You need to know Graham Gore is a real person and that expedition really did happen. There's air in space. Love that, guy. So he's a real person. There is a very funny author's note about, like, how Kaylee and Bradley came up with this premise. It was basically during the pandemic, and honestly, Olivia, she sounds a little bit like you. She became obsessed with Arctic expeditions. And then she was like, what if I write a book about this?
Olivia [00:10:21] That expedition is actually pretty interesting. I have read about it.
Erin [00:10:27] Of course, you have.
Annie Jones [00:10:28] Yeah, I feel like you guys would totally hit it off. So, anyway, she decides to write this book. So the book is mostly narrated by our unnamed bridge who has Graham Gore under her care. I will say I have seen so many comparisons to Outlander, to the movie About Time. I think all of that is accurate. There's a plethora of time travel related books or TV shows that you could probably list as comps here. But the one that I think is most accurate thus far is the movie Kate and Leopold.
Erin [00:11:01] Yes, that's the book I was just thinking about.
Annie Jones [00:11:02] [Crosstalk] Jackman and Meg Ryan. Because in that movie, Leopold time travels and she kind of partners with him, uses him to advance her career a little bit. And then he constantly is adjusting to life in the modern world. And what I will say is there's a lot happening in this book. Like I said, spy novel you can't really tell. Is The Ministry of Time a good thing or a bad thing? Are they nefarious? What's going on? There's historical fiction. There is a romantic element. But what I have been most amused by is the five time travelers and their adjustment to the modern era. I laughed out loud a couple of times. This is a light, fun book. This is not, thus far, a super heavy book. Certainly, the author-- so, Kaitlyn Bradley is a British Cambodian writer, and she definitely adds, I would assume, perhaps some autobiographical elements to the bridge. The bridge in the novel is also British, Cambodian. And so she's talking a lot about colonialism and a lot about the role Great Britain played in discovery, and perhaps conquering things that didn't belong to them, claiming land that didn't belong to them, claiming people that didn't belong to them. So there's really some interesting stuff in this book, but for the most part, even with those heavier bits of subject matter, this is a light, fun, very summery, springy book. I think that's why it's appealing to a lot of indie booksellers. It's already been released in the UK. It's even sold, I think, the TV rights in the UK. I think they've already bought the rights to like a mini series or something like that, but I'm really having a great time with it. It is The Ministry of Time releases on May 7th.
Olivia [00:12:44] I thought it was really fun too, and I feel like this was one of the one instances where I read the book first, and then I was like, you have to read this. And I feel like that mostly happens where you read it first and like, I have to read it.
Annie Jones [00:12:55] Yes, that's part of the reason I brought it home. And I kind of put it aside because I was like, oh, I don't know. It almost felt like too weird for me. Like too much stuff happening. And then I've not been in a reading rut, but every book I've read has been hefty. And I don't necessarily mean heavy. Like I read Lies and Weddings, which I want to talk about next, but it is thick. So every book has felt like a time commitment, I guess is what I'm saying. And then I saw this one on the shelf and I was like, oh, that's not too long. And maybe it's just weird enough. And that's kind of how I feel about it. Like it's just weird enough. You really do have to just go with her, though. Because I started it, and you feel a little lost right off the bat. Because it kind of starts almost in the middle of things. And so it took me a minute, but I just told myself, just trust her. And I think if you do that, it's pretty immediately entertaining. It's an odd little book.
Olivia [00:13:48] It is. And I think going into it knowing that it's going to be a fun read and not an intense read, I think I was hoping for this like time travel, heavy, dense of a book. And what I got was a fun "Annie romp".
Annie Jones [00:14:04] Yeah.
Olivia [00:14:05] You have to go into it with that mindset. But it was good. It was fun. The banter is really well done.
Erin [00:14:11] I'm excited. [Crosstalk].
Annie Jones [00:14:14] Yes, Erin, I do think you're going to like it. Yeah.
Olivia [00:14:17] Okay. My first book is called The Kid by Jeff Schill. This comes out May 7th. This is a middle grade novel, a middle grade western. It was really fun. I feel like we don't get a ton of middle grade westerns. The last one I read was Pony by RJ Palacio, and so I was really excited for this one. It's set in 1881, in Colorado. And it has three different storylines to it, but there's one that kind of weaves through it. The one that weaves through it is this kind of like fable about this person called The Kid that they are a child, but they're a person who stops all the rebels, anyone who's coming to do bad in their town, they're the one who stops them. He's infamous. And so this town is kind of protected by this figure called The Kid, which then ends up like attracting more criminals because they're like, well, I'm the one who can beat The Kid. So one of the storylines is the story of these brothers who their father recently passed away. Their mother passed away a while ago, and now they're just on this farm trying to prove themselves that they don't need to be split up, and they don't need a caregiver, like they can do it on their own. So they hide the fact that their father has just recently passed and they just try their best to run the farm and keep their lives going. And then you get a criminal storyline. Snake Eyes Sam. And Snake Eyes Sam has just recently escaped from prison and he has heard about The Kid, and he doesn't like that The Kid is the infamous like person of the West. He wants to be known as like, the best-- what is it? Sharp eye shooter person. The person who can shoot the best. Is that not it?
Annie Jones [00:16:03] Sharpshooter. Right. That's it. You did it.
Olivia [00:16:05] I just had a nicer word in there. I should be in there.
Erin [00:16:08] Yeah.
Olivia [00:16:08] And so Sam breaks out of prison and starts to head towards this little town where he knows The Kid's going to be to prove himself. And then you get this third storyline of this guy named Herbert, and Herbert is the one who publishes all of The Kids stories. He works for Gunslinger Magazine. He's from the big city of Philadelphia, and he is making his way to Colorado because he hasn't had a story come from The Kid in a while, and he needs to keep his job. So he, like, literally hops on a bean cart (this guy who sells beans to towns) and makes his way to Colorado to find The Kid. And all three of these storylines come together like right at the end in one big moment, and it was just so fun and so well done. It was great.
Annie Jones [00:16:56] That is fun. This feels like the year of the Western to me. I don't know. I've been reading Lonesome Dove, but then I think about the Bullet Swallower. Jordan and I we just rewatched No Country for Old Men, which we love, which obviously dark, very different from this book. But it just feels like, I don't know, I'm seeing a lot of Western [crosstalk].
Erin [00:17:16] Beyonce, you know.
Annie Jones [00:17:17] Yea, that's right. Cowboy Carter. Yeah.
Erin [00:17:19] What age group is that? I mean, is it middle grades like more towards the higher end of middle grade and still it's fun enough for chapter book readers, too.
Olivia [00:17:28] I think it could be eight and up. As long as your eight year old doesn't mind a lot of talk about guns and killing people.
Erin [00:17:36] That's to be expected.
Olivia [00:17:38] I do think the publisher marketed it as 10 and up. And with some of the stuff that happens in there, I think 10 and up is fine. Nothing super sad. It's all very like action packed, but it is a story about like people who shoot bad guys for a living.
Erin [00:17:57] Yeah.
Olivia [00:17:57] There's no really a way around that.
Erin [00:18:01] Just curious. I was wondering if it was like something my kids would like. So that sounds like a fun read. Thank you. Okay. My first book is called Last House by Jessica Shattuck. It comes out May 14th. This is a generational family story. It delves a little bit into historical fiction. I think it really is more of a backdrop for this family saga, and not necessarily-- I mean, the historical part of it does fit feature into it, but I wouldn't call it historical fiction. To me, that's not how I would shelve it. It's about Nick and Bett Taylor, which her name is Elizabeth Taylor. They all call her Bett. I was like, oh, Elizabeth Taylor. I guess this was before Elizabeth the real-- I don't know. Anyway, they're a young couple. They've settled in this quaint sort of northern town. They have two young kids named Catherine and Harry. Nick is a World War Two veteran who now works as, like, a lawyer for American Oil. And his wife, Bet, is now a typical housewife, PTO mom making stuff. But she has this former life where after college she was recruited to be like the code-breaker during World War Two. So she has that past, and she kind of thought that that would continue. But when she marries Nick, of course, she falls into this domestic housewife role instead of keeping that up. So she is a very complex character, as is Nick. He's a very complex character. He's the son of a Mennonite pastor, I guess. And so he sort of grows up with a lot of guilt and the sense of duty, but he ends up going-- which is where the book starts, is he ends up traveling to Iran. This is where it falls into historical fiction. Iran when they were they were trying to put the power back with the Shah and to get rid of whoever was in power then. I guess I didn't pay attention well enough in the book.
[00:20:02] But he's going over there with the US government. He's sort of been asked to go by this friend of his who may or may not work for the CIA, but he's asked to go over there and sort of broker this deal about oil and power. And so he goes over there and it goes really well. They do this transfer of power. And, of course, he comes back to the United States. And he and Bett end up wanting to kind of have this retreat to get away from the city and they end up buying a house in this place, this really very rural part of Vermont. It's called Last House, and it's named that because the man who built the house, his last name was Last. So it's called Last House. So that's where we meet them, and we sort of see their family growing up during these summer visits to Last House. And then the rest of the book so far that I've read, which I'm almost finished with it, but is the perspective of their daughter, Catherine, who grows up in this wealth and privilege but then goes-- after college, there's a lot of Doctor Martin Luther King has just been assassinated, and there's a lot of revolution and uprising, of course, in the US. And so she becomes sort of solutioned with the life she grew up with, and she decides to leave her job as a teacher at this private school and she goes to work for this leftist newspaper. And during all this time, there is a tragedy that befalls their family. And, of course, the divide grows between her trying to fight this fight in America and her parents, who really believe they fought a different kind of fight to get the kind of life they've given their kids. And she doesn't want anything to do with it. She wants to be far away from them. So, again, I haven't quite finished this. I can't tell you how it ends, but I loved it all. I loved the characters of Nick and Bett. They were my favorite. They were very complex. Of course, I liked Catherine's perspective too, but I just really enjoyed seeing the transformation of Nick and Bett from this young married couple to sort of older people who've had to deal with quite a lot of change during their lifetime. So, again, it's called The Last House by Jessica Shattuck. It comes out May 14th.
Annie Jones [00:22:09] That sounds really good. It sounds like what book my mom might like too.
Erin [00:22:11] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:22:13] Covers some different historical points. And I do think that's it's always interesting to me to parents versus children and the different battles that both are having to fight, but a child might forget what her parents [crosstalk]
Erin [00:22:26] And they both think their cause is righteous. Like her parents have done what they feel was right for America and right for them and their families. And she feels like what she's doing is more honorable, more noble than what her parents did.
Annie Jones [00:22:40] Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. My next one is quite a bit of a departure from that, but it is Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan. This releases on May 21st. Of course, you perhaps are familiar with Kevin Kwan. He wrote The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, but he also wrote Sex and Vanity, which came out, I want to say, in 2020. I think it was 2020. It might have been 2021. I've read all of those books and I really liked them. Kevin Kwan is just a reliable writer to me, like you kind of know what you're going to get. And that is very true of lies and weddings. There's so much going on in this book that I hesitate to even begin to explain. Kevin Kwan does a great job of covering a wide range of places in his literature and people. But the main character, for the most part, is a young, very handsome man named Rufus. Rufus is the next Earl of Greshambery, I believe, is the name of the British area where he has grown up. His father is the Earl, but he is learning that the Earl of Greshambery is in deep debt. And so to the outside world, it looks like they have a ton of money. They've been landing gentry forever. They own all this property, but they're actually in serious debt. And the mom, the wife of the Earl, is a real piece of work character, as we have come to kind of expect out of Kevin Kwan. And so she is urging her children to all marry money, including Rufus. So I feel like we get this a lot, particularly in Jane Austen literature. But instead of the woman being at the center, we have this young man who is supposed to marry a wealthy wife. And so there's multiple love interests throughout the book. But from the very beginning, no spoilers, you know that Rufus really loves his next door neighbor, the girl he grew up with Eden.
[00:24:32] Eden is the daughter of a doctor. He is the village doctor. He grew up being best friends with the Earl, and now he lives on the Earl's property with his daughter, Eden, who raised her as a single dad more or less. And so Eden is now a doctor herself, and Rufus has been in love with her for as long as he can remember. But of course she would be below his station. She would not be somebody that really could not bring wealth to the family like they need. So that's really the heart of the story. Much of the first part of the book takes place at a family wedding. This is what I love about Kevin Kwan. The most absurd, over-the-top, wealthy, bougie-- like just the most. But we would never experience anything like it. And so it's set on this private island, I believe, in Hawaii. And that's where the first part of the book takes place. But we also get scenes in Hong Kong, in California. There's some scenes in Marfa, Texas. So you kind of go all over. I love Kevin Kwan's books. I told Olivia I always think they could be about 100 pages shorter sometimes. Like, I just feel like ever so much. But I'm never bored. So sometimes I feel like, oh, this is a lot. Like, this is long, but I'm never bored. He keeps the plot moving. The characters are interesting, even though there's often a ton of them. I never have trouble keeping them apart. He does a good job of letting you know who people are and who's important to pay attention to. And a lot was happening in this book, but I loved it. I was highly entertained, and it felt like a summer book to me. I felt like, oh, I'm having a good time. I could read this on a beach. And it's not a one seat read. I don't think his books really are. I think his books they're great for like a spring break or a week at the beach or something where you read a little bit every day. I like having Kwan. I like having an author that I know, oh, he's fun. I can read his books and have a good time. And he's reliable, which I enjoy. So that's Lives and Weddings by Kevin Kwan, out on May 21st.
Olivia [00:26:33] It's also got a really pretty cover.
Annie Jones [00:26:35] Great cover. Yeah.
Olivia [00:26:37] His books generally do. They have good covers.
Annie Jones [00:26:40] Yeah they do.
Olivia [00:26:42] Okay. I'm doing another middle grade novel. I almost went all middle grade with this episode, but my last one will be adult. This is the Secret Library by Kekla Magoon, and this is also out May 7th. I love Kekla Magoon. I've read several things by her. My favorite was Chester Keane Cracks the Code, which I think I talked about maybe last year or the year before. And now she wrote a book called The Secret Library, and I love a good secret library, so I was all about it. And so this is a book about a girl named Delilah, everyone calls her Dally, and she lives with her mother. Her grandfather recently passed away, and he was who she was closest with in her life, because her mother is this big business woman who is all about Dally's academic classes. She has a tutor after school, her life is very scheduled because of her mother and her mom wanting her to take over this family business. Whereas, her grandfather was the kind of person who brought the fun into Dolly's life and less pressured person in her life. So when he passes away, she's really upset. She just wants to join this after school club called the Adventurer's Club, which sounds really fun, but her mom is like, we can't fit it in your schedule and it brings no academic advancement to your life. So it's a no. So Dally breaks into her grandfather's study and finds this packet that's left to her, and it's these directions that she doesn't know where she's headed to. So she calls her private driver because they're very rich, and she follows the directions and he takes her to this cupcake shop.
[00:28:16] She's like, okay, I don't know why my grandfather left me hidden directions to a cupcake shop, but she goes in and it's this library. And this library is filled with books that are personalized for each individual patron that comes in. And it's filled with either secrets or mysteries or revelations through her family's past or people that surround her life. Her first book that she enters because she, like, physically goes into it. She can interact with the people there, but she finds out the gardener made a mistake one time and knocked over a statue. And he blamed Dally because he knew if he didn't that he would be fired. And she was really upset at first about it when she didn't know that this happened. But now that she saw the backstory, she's like, okay, I get it. And so now she's like addicted to going to this library and revealing these secrets. Her father was never in the picture, so she gets to see how her father and mother met and meet all of these characters from her family's past that she just never heard about because her mother never talked about them. And it has this really big ending. I'm going to let you read it for yourself, but it ended so well. It was one of those endings where I was just like, I didn't see it coming, and I'm so glad it happened, even though it's one of those bittersweet moments. And I feel like in a lot of middle grade, you get like a beautiful bow tied at the end. And this one, it was a bow, but with, like, frayed ribbon, you know what I mean?
Annie Jones [00:29:56] Yeah, that's beautiful.
Erin [00:29:58] That is beautiful.
Olivia [00:29:58] You can quote me.
Erin [00:30:00] Yeah, right.
Annie Jones [00:30:02] That was so lovely.
Olivia [00:30:03] I came up with that on the spot.
Erin [00:30:07] It's so good.
Olivia [00:30:10] So that was the Secret Library by Kekla Magoon. It is so well done. I got a walking pad. And so I've been reading it on my Kindle, and I just kept walking cause I was like, I don't want it to end yet. And it's one of those things where it felt like the Midnight Library could have been repetitive. And the secret library could have felt repetitive. And it never did, because you were right there with Dally, and you were like, no, tell me more secrets. It was really well done.
Erin [00:30:36] Sounds really incredible. I'm sorry to have to go to this next book after that, but it was a good book. But, I will say too. As I was thinking, the thing about The Last House I wanted to say is also that the writing is so beautiful that many times I was actually re-reading it. I would highlight a passage and text it to my husband, like, you got to read this. And, to me, that's always a sign. I never do that. So I'm like, that's a sign that the writing was really relatable and very beautiful. So that's just another plug for The Last House. Okay, onto the next one. This is called When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips. It comes out May 21st.
Olivia [00:31:20] That is a real detour.
Erin [00:31:25] I feel like the record scratch is about to happen, and we're just going to, like, pull the reins back here because this book is dark. It is full of triggers. I listened to this one.
Annie Jones [00:31:34] Can I ask a question? Fiona McPhillips, is this what I've been seeing everywhere? Like, is she the new Colleen Hoover?
Olivia [00:31:40] No, Freida McFadden.
Annie Jones [00:31:43] Thank you.
Olivia [00:31:43] You're welcome.
Annie Jones [00:31:44] Thank you. Never mind.
Olivia [00:31:48] Yes. F and M. I see how you got there.
Annie Jones [00:31:51] Thank you. Okay.
Erin [00:31:53] But, I think this might be her debut novel, Fiona McPhillips. But I have been seeing it everywhere also. And I will say it is a great book. I was listening to it. It kept me listening. I kept wanting to go back and finish it. But especially as a parent, it's full of triggers. It's set in 1980, set in two different timelines. The first one we get is 1986, in Ireland. So the girl narrating it, a wonderful, beautiful Irish accent, I loved it. This is about Louise Manson and we meet her and her best friend Tracy. Her friend Tracy commit suicide. And then it was discovered afterward that Tracy was pregnant. This is not funny. I shouldn't be laughing, but I'm just like, wow, this is a lot. Louise found out that Tracy was pregnant because she was being molested by her high school swimming coach. And so Louise decides, okay, I'm going to seek justice. I'm going to apply to this private very fancy school. And so she does she gets a scholarship to go there. And her only intention is-- she's kind of in cahoots with the brother of the girl who passed away. She's like, I'm going to go there, and I'm going to kind of submit myself to him and I'm going to catch him in the act, and then we're going to ruin his life, get him arrested, whatever, fired all that stuff. And it plays out that way. She goes. And, of course, he's a terrible, horrible predator person, so he starts to prey on her. But it turns out it's not just her. It's multiple girls. And it's been going on for years.
[00:33:25] And when she has enough proof that she thinks, okay, now I can go to the authorities, now I can go to the school administrator, she goes to them and everyone turns a blind eye because he's this very famous coach who's also kind of coaching this Irish swimming team for the Olympics. And they start to try to ruin her life by saying she brought it on herself and it kind of starts to turn back on her. So she is in a very tough position and I won't say how it culminates. It does culminate in the death of someone. I won't say who. But then we meet Louise when she's a grown up. She's a professor, she's married, she has a daughter of her own, and she's asked to testify at this trial where another young person is now suing the same school for the cover up and of abuses that have been happening all these years because it was happening to them as well. So she's like, do I get back into this? It ruined my life. Do I get back into this? Do I leave it alone? And so we do kind of get that back and forth where we meet her and all the horrible things that happen to her, and then we meet her in the future trying to go back and really make things right once and for all. So, again, it's very dark. I will say it's not super graphic. I'm very sensitive to that. And I think I would have stopped reading had it gotten to the point where it was graphic. It's uncomfortable because it's a terrible thing happening to underage girls who don't seem to have any power of their own. But, at the end, I feel like it vindicates what happens. And it just kind of makes you want to fight for people experiencing this. I will say it kind of ended with redemption and hope in a way. And it's called When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips.
Annie Jones [00:35:14] That does sound good, and it sounds like a good audiobook experience too.
Erin [00:35:17] Yeah. I mean, it's got the sort of campus novel feeling to it, secrets being uncovered and the people who are supposed to stand up for you or not standing up for you. So those are, I think, good elements in any fiction book.
Annie Jones [00:35:32] Okay. My last book I want to talk about is Knife River. This is by Justine Champine. This releases on May 28th. This is a debut novel. I loved it. It reminded me a little bit of my reading experience of Granite Harbor, which I think I talked about last episode. Maybe, I don't know. But this is about two young women, Liz and Jess. Liz is 19 and Jess is 13 when their mother leaves their house to go for a walk and she never comes home. And Liz and Jess are beside themselves. Police become involved. But in their small town, the small police force, their mother is never found. So Liz raises Jess. When Jess is 18, she leaves Knife River. That's the name of their tiny town. Jess leaves, but Liz stays. And then 10 years later, Jess is kind of aimless. She bounces from girlfriend to girlfriend. She's living with a woman when she gets a call from her sister Liz, now in her 30s, and Liz says, "Hey, they have found remains, we think they're moms. Can you come home?" And so Jess hasn't been back to Knife River in the last 10 plus years. She comes home. Liz still lives in their same house. The house is kind of falling apart. Liz is not taking care of herself because Liz has become obsessed with solving their mother's disappearance. And the mystery, the suspense that unfolds is so good. I really liked Granite Harbor a lot, but had a couple of qualms just with how things were all tied up. I had no such qualms with this book. I felt like the mystery was really smart, kept me on my toes. You desperately want to know what happened to this mom. Also, I think while that is going on, and part of what makes this instead of perhaps just a suspense novel or a thriller, this very much feels in the literary suspense category or literary thriller category. And I think that's because of all the character work that, Justine Champine is doing with Liz and Jess.
[00:37:36] So you get a lot of sister stories. You get a lot about Liz as the sister who stayed, and kind of the repercussions of her mother's disappearance on her. And then Jess who's kind of aimless and the kind of the repercussions of her mother's disappearance on her. At the same time, Jess has kind of fallen back into a relationship, a flirtation with her high school girlfriend or her high school crush. And so that's at play. And it's a small town and so if she gets back with her will that have repercussions on the investigation? You constantly have questions about the police because this is a small town and they've never been able to solve this, or are they incompetent? Are they malicious? I thought the whole thing was really good. I wanted a book that I could read in a couple of settings, because it'd been a minute since I've binged something, and this did that for me. I was hooked from start to finish. It reminded me most of Long Bright River, which I know is a book Olivia and I both really loved and read. And then Descent the Tim Johnson book. Because both of those stories deal with nature. Knife River is set in upstate New York, so you get a really rich setting. And then both of those are sister stories. And this book really does belong to Liz and Jess. I loved it. I loved how it all wrapped up. I thought it was really smart. That is Knife River by Justine Champine, releases May 28th.
Olivia [00:39:14] It also sounds a little bit like-- I didn't read this, but I think you did. Miracle Creek. Is that it? Or by that same author where one of the parents just wanders off or the child?
Annie Jones [00:39:24] Happiness Falls.
Erin [00:39:28] Yes, I would agree with that.
Olivia [00:39:28] Someone wanders off.
Erin [00:39:29] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:39:31] Yeah, it was so good. Because the whole time you're reading it, you're wondering, well, did she just leave? Like, you're left wondering, is this really murder mystery, or is this the case of a mom who just left and now these women are facing the consequences of that? Or are the girls right and nefarious an awful really did happen to her. And you the reader can't figure out what you believe. Which I like that, when you're kind of left in the dark, too. So I really liked it a lot. I think I left it on your desk, Olivia, in case you want to read it.
Olivia [00:40:06] Yeah, I'm looking at it. I'll probably do.
Annie Jones [00:40:10] Okay.
Olivia [00:40:11] Okay. My next book is a long title, but I'm very excited about it. It's The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton. Which I read that title and I was like, yes, please. I also love Stuart Turton. Actually Kate Storhoff, who used to work here, introduced me to him. She wrote Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Told me I should read it. I did, and then I was hooked. So the world has been destroyed by this fog that comes through. All except for this little island that is encircled by the fog, but the fog never enters the island. And it's filled with these villagers who-- it's almost like this utopian society. They live and they work to build this community and keep it running in a beautiful harmony. There's never any arguments. There's never any animosity. It's peaceful. But there's these three scientists that also live and work on this island, and they are kind of seen as almost like these godlike people. They're described as physically bigger than the other villagers, and they kind of run the island. They're the teacher of the island. They are the scientists that keep everything going behind the scenes. And then there's this voice that speaks to all of the villagers in their head and at home.
Erin [00:41:39] I was not ready for that.
Olivia [00:41:40] Slight turn but stick with me.
Erin [00:41:42] Am with you.
Olivia [00:41:43] So throughout the book, you're never really sure if this voice is like a good thing or a bad thing. It's always speaking to them and it'll warn them. Like if you go down that way, you could get hurt. So they know not to go that way. Like it does protect them from certain things, but also they have a strict curfew at every night at a certain time. If they don't make it back to their bed, they just fall asleep where they're standing. And it's due to the voice in the head and. And so the one night when they all wake up the next day, the head scientist has been found stabbed. And it starts this domino effect of the villagers starting to ask questions about what's actually happening here and trying to figure out why would someone kill the scientists? They always thought she was this peaceful woman. What exactly is going on here? And it was so well done. Where for a while you're questioning so many aspects of what's happening in this book, and then it all comes together at the end and you have to stop there and think for a little while. Like, wow, he just did that, didn't he? And it was so good. I think it definitely is a bit science fictiony, but it did feel based in real life where they are on this island. They're all working towards this goal. They're doing practical things that we also do. And then this murder happened. The sci-fi really comes in with, like, the voice in the head.
Annie Jones [00:43:12] Yeah.
Olivia [00:43:12] And all the behind the scenes things that are happening.
Annie Jones [00:43:14] But it still seems like it makes sense. You know what I mean? Like somebody like me who might struggle with those elements, if it feels real to life then I'm like, oh, yeah, I get that.
Olivia [00:43:26] Yeah. Because for a while in the book, you also just stop questioning the voice in the head and you're just like, all right, I'm just going to go with this. Like, they seem fine with it and no one has questioned what's happening, so why would I question it? But then it all makes sense in the end. It's so well done. I feel like I can't say too much about the plot, but I think it might be my favorite one by him yet.
Annie Jones [00:43:49] Okay.
Erin [00:43:50] I like the element that they all start asking questions. That feels very real and relevant too, right? Like something happens to sort of wake you up from this reverie, and then you start to question things you've always just thought was normal.
Olivia [00:44:04] After the murder when they wake up, a lot of them are not in the same spot where they fell asleep. And they're just like, well, why am I here? And how did I get here?
Erin [00:44:14] Yeah.
Olivia [00:44:16] It was so good.
Annie Jones [00:44:17] All right.
Erin [00:44:17] I love it. He sets up these rules for the and then he just plays with the rules. That's fun. My last one is called I Hope This Finds You well by Natalie Sue. It comes out May 21st. I have not finished this. I will give a caveat. I have not finished this, but I am enjoying it so far. It follows Jolene. What a great name. Jolene. She has this sort of mind numbing 9 to 5 job at a corporate office of a grocery store chain.
Annie Jones [00:44:48] I'm sorry, 9:00 to 5:00 and Jolene in one sentence?
Erin [00:44:53] I don't know her hours. They don't say specifically. It could be 8:00 to 2:00. It could be 3:00 to 11:00, I don't know.
Annie Jones [00:44:59] I love it. The only part is 9:00 to 5:00.
Erin [00:45:00] This Jolene is working at 9:00 to 5:00. She, of course, is just miserable. She doesn't like her job. She doesn't like her coworkers. She drinks to forget where she works. I haven't gotten really to this part of the story yet, but apparently when she was in high school, there was a tragic death of one of her close friends. And so I think she just sort of drinks to forget all of that and also to help deal with her anger. When she writes emails to her coworkers, she puts passive aggressive or mostly just aggressive notes in the email, but in white font so you can't see it. Which I'm like, should we say out loud? I mean, I don't want to write any aggressive messages, but if I did, I think that's brilliant writing it in white font.
Annie Jones [00:45:49] I'm not going to highlight every email I get from Erin.
Erin [00:45:53] Looking for suspicious spaces and then just highlighting what's in there, like magic ink. But, anyway, so she does that until one day she forgets to put it in white and it just goes out to a coworker. And of course, it's very aggressive and she's called into H.R. And they say, well, we're not going to fire you, but you are going to have to undergo an anti-harassment course, and you're also going to have to have your email monitored. And so when they set up the email monitoring, they accidentally set it up where she can see everyone else's email and direct messages. And so, that's where I'm at so far. And apparently high jinks ensue. And just kind of based on how it started, I have a feeling it may lead to maybe a little more compassion and empathy on her part or even at the very least, just more interactions with her coworkers as she can see what's going on all of their minds and their emails through their work email. So it's not too big. It sounds like a pretty small little book that's coming out, but it just sounds like a little kind of dark, satirical office fiction. So if that's up your alley, this would be great for you. It's called I Hope this Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, comes out May 21st.
Annie Jones [00:47:10] What a fun, eclectic group of books we have come up with today. It feels like there should be something for everybody.
Erin [00:47:17] I hope so.
Annie Jones [00:47:18] Yeah. So if you are intrigued by any of the books we've talked about today, you can find them on the store website. That's Bookshelfthomasville.com. You can browse by typing episode 4754 into the search bar and then use the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout to get 10% off your order. This week I'm reading Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum. Olivia, what are you reading?
Olivia [00:47:44] I'm reading The Unwedding by Ally Condie.
Annie Jones [00:47:48] Erin, what are you reading?
Erin [00:47:50] I am listening to Funny Story by Emily Henry.
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:
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Our Executive Producers of today’s episode are…
Cammy Tidwell, Linda Lee Drozt, Martha, Stephanie Dean, Ashley Ferrell, Jennifer Bannerton
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