Episode 486 || Best Books of the Year (So Far) with Hunter
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie and Hunter (@shelfbyshelf) discuss their top ten favorite books of 2024!
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search “Episode 486” to find the books mentioned in this episode), or shop on The Bookshelf’s official app:
Annie:
First five-star read: Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley
Most surprising: Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie
Least favorite: Worry by Alexandra Tanner
Next on your TBR: Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
Most anticipated fall release: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Annie’s Top Ten:
1. James by Percival Everett
2. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
3. Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
4. Even After Everything by Stephanie Duncan Smith
5. Real Americans by Rachel Khong
6. Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
7. Sandwich by Catherine Newman
8. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
9. Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
10. Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley
Hunter:
First five-star read: Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar
Most surprising: Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Least favorite: Brat by Gabriel Smith
Next on your TBR: The Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan
Most anticipated release for fall: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Hunter’s Top Ten:
1. James by Percival Everett
2. All Fours by Miranda July
3. We Were The Universe by Kimberly King Parsons
4. In Tongues by Thomas Grattan
5. Colored Television by Danzy Senna
6. State of Paradise by Laura Van Den Berg
7. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
8. Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts
9. Henry Henry by Allen Bratton
10. Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
This week, Annie is reading Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. Hunter is reading Anyone's Ghost by August Thompson.
If you liked what you heard in today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.
We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
Our Executive Producers are...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]
“With my pencil, I wrote myself into being. I wrote myself to here.” - Percival Everett, James
[as music fades out] I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and this week, I’m joined by my friend and frequent co-host Hunter McLendon to talk about our reading years so far. Do you love listening to From the Front Porch every week? Spread the word by leaving a review on Apple podcasts. All you have to do is open up the Podcast App on your phone, look for From the Front Porch, scroll down until you see ‘Write a Review’ and tell us what you think.
Here’s a recent review from a listener:
A favorite! I love this podcast, feels like you're sitting with friends. I’m a relatively new listener and caught myself listening to so many past episodes while I wait for the new one to drop. What I love most is that so many different types of readers are featured from the staff and family. I have found recommendations for myself and my two grown daughters. Today's shelf subscription episode gave me a great gift idea for those daughters 💕I’m so glad I found you all!
Thank you, and thank you so much to all of the reviewers who’ve left kind words and thoughtful reviews about the show. We’re so grateful any time you share From the Front Porch with your friends; thanks for spreading the word about our podcast and our independent bookstore. Now, back to the show! Hi, Hunter.
Hunter [00:01:47] Hello.
Annie Jones [00:01:48] Listen, I don't know if you realize this because you and I are recording bonus episodes every month, but this is your first feed episode all year long.
Hunter [00:01:55] Is it?
Annie Jones [00:01:56] Yeah, I'm pretty sure, because I think I did that because Conquer a Classic is so time intensive. And I was like, Hunter does this for free. So, I plugged you in like two times this year, I think. And so, this is your first feed episode. Besides, we did do like, a Conquer a Classic sneak peek episode, but it's kind of a tradition to meet mid-year to discuss our top 10.
Hunter [00:02:24] It is. It's so funny because I think that, like, honestly, you can message me any day and be like, hey, can you hop on in 10minutes? I would quit my job to come record with you.
Annie Jones [00:02:39] I love this episode. And actually, this week, as of this recording, I got an Instagram comment from a listener in Australia and she was like, hey, love the show. Could you do a best book of the year so far episode? And I thought, boy, have I got an episode for you because every year Hunter and I record this episode where we break down our top 10 of the year so far. I do not know Hunter's books. I'm not sure if Hunter has seen my list, but we try to kind of keep those secret from each other. But last year I also borrowed a mid-year check in from an Instagrammer. I believe her Instagram handle was the hireader, if I'm not mistaken. And she gave some brief questions. So, I thought we would answer those first and then break down our top 10. But before we do that, can you tell me how your reading year is going so far? In a couple of sentences, how's the vibe?
Hunter [00:03:38] It's been pretty great. It's funny. I've been so busy, but I've also read a lot of backlists, and I've also been reading a lot for my writing. I guess it's the same as every year.
Annie Jones [00:03:49] Yeah, you do a good job. I feel like of reading so much more widely than I do in terms of backlist/frontlists. I mean, sometimes just by nature of the bookshelf being my job, I feel like I read so much frontlist. And I had a rough spring reading wise, but June was an amazing reading month for me, and what was funny was when I sat down to work on notes for this episode, I had exactly 10 or 11 five-star reads. And so, I was like, oh, perfect. Because it was pretty easy for me to come up with a top 10 list so far. That may become more difficult as the year progresses, but I feel like maybe I started off the year slow, and now that we're approaching July or in July, I'm like, oh, this is my top 10. I've had some good books, in other words. I've had some books I really like. Okay. What was your first five-star read book of the year?
Hunter [00:04:43] It was Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar
Annie Jones [00:04:49] That's right. I love that book. We're going to talk more about it. We're going to talk more about it in this episode. That was also an early five star, an early five-star book for me. Was that your first work of his? He's a poet. Had you read his poetry?
Hunter [00:05:01] I had not read his poetry, but I was familiar with him, because I think, Lauren Groff had mentioned his poetry before.
Annie Jones [00:05:08] Yeah, I was vaguely familiar with him because of the Florida State connection, but this was my first time to read him, and I absolutely loved this book. Well, like I said, we'll try to talk more about it. My first five star read was Grief Is for People. This was the new book by Sloane Crosley. Really great memoir, obviously all about grief, particularly the grief over loss of a dear friend. And she talks about their complicated friendship and how he was a complicated person. And sometimes grief books tend to idolize the person they're grieving. And so, I thought this was a lovely book. I would expect nothing less from Sloane Crosley. I think I've read almost everything she's written. But you never know when somebody comes out with a new book how it's going to rank. But I really loved that book. It was my first five-star book of the year.
Hunter [00:05:56] That's what I wanted to read.
Annie Jones [00:05:57] Yeah, I think you'd like it. What was your most surprising read of the year?
Hunter [00:06:03] Probably Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Annie Jones [00:06:06] Talk to me about this. I've been talking to this at The Bookshelf because the women in my mastermind group just read this, and she was like, Annie, I think you'd really like it. And I have not picked this up I guess because of the AI of it all. I just thought, I don't know if I'm into that. But she is not a reader you would expect to be into it and she loved it.
Hunter [00:06:23] Okay, I started this book and I went in thinking, I'm not going to like it. And I described it in my review as something like is she guru but like beach read?
Annie Jones [00:06:40] Okay. That's a good descriptor.
Hunter [00:06:43] Yeah. And it's funny because I don't actually think it's about AI in the way that you think it's going to be about AI.
Annie Jones [00:06:52] Okay.
Hunter [00:06:55] And I honestly thought I was just going to hate read it. I'll be honest. I was like, I'm not going to like this. And then because I listened to a lot of it while I was outside doing yard work. Such a manly activity for me now. But I got so invested because, I will say, it's very plotty. You will finish it in like one day.
Annie Jones [00:07:20] Okay. So, you listened to it. Is it a good audiobook?
Hunter [00:07:23] Yeah. It reminds me a little bit of-- who's that really popular audiobook narrator who does a lot of [inaudible]?
Annie Jones [00:07:31] Julia Whalen?
Hunter [00:07:32] Yeah, because she performs the audiobooks, and this person does a similar thing, which annoys me at first, but I've realized if they're performing it that way, it's because it helps you stay tuned in the whole time.
Annie Jones [00:07:48] It does. Yeah. Julia Whalen is hit or miss for me. I used to be like ride or die for her audiobooks, and I think there was one within the last couple years where I was like, oh, that was dramatic. But at the same time, sometimes it is helpful because I've listened to some audiobooks where I'm like, well, you're not dramatic enough. I do need some level of performance in my audiobooks.
Hunter [00:08:09] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:08:09] Okay. Well, I may this. Also, I do just want to get the elephant in the room out of the way. The metaphorical elephant which is Hunter has moved. He lives in a big city and his house is by a legitimate train. And it is what it is, y'all. You're going to occasionally hear hunters train? I hope it adds an element of real conversationality. Sure, that's the word.
Hunter [00:08:32] Yeah. I mean, honestly, I feel like it's kind of like a thrill. Listen, we could we could be talking about hard drugs, but instead we're talking about trains. This is the weird.
Annie Jones [00:08:43] Well, it reminds me in the early days of From the Front Porch, like, really early episodes, I would record and I would try to leave my front door open because From the Front Porch. And we tried to leave nature sounds in and stuff, and then we realized, no, we needed a clear audio. But hunters train will add like an element of authenticity to today's podcast.
Hunter [00:09:07] Okay. Actually, I've talked to author R. Eric Thomas who is my friend.
Annie Jones [00:09:15] Your new BFF?
Hunter [00:09:17] Yeah. And there are times where I will be able to escape the train noise to record at his place.
Annie Jones [00:09:23] Well, how delightful? Thank you to Hunter's new BFF, R. Eric Thomas, I appreciate that.
Hunter [00:09:28] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:09:29] Okay, this is a hard question because it can feel mean. So, we're going to preface by saying our least favorite books might not be your least favorite books, but what has your least favorite read of the year been so far?
Hunter [00:09:41] Okay, so it's not that I did not like this book, but there's a book called Brat by, Gabriel Smith.
Annie Jones [00:09:51] That's so funny. I went to college with a person named Gabriel Smith. Not the same.
Hunter [00:09:56] So it's from Penguin Press. It's got the the blue font with the deer on it.
Annie Jones [00:10:01] Oh, yes.
Hunter [00:10:03] Yes. And everyone loves this book, which I think set me up for failure.
Annie Jones [00:10:09] Yes. Look, we have to be so careful about how we hype books because we can ruin them for other people.
Hunter [00:10:14] Here's the thing, too. I've read a lot of books, and I've read a lot of books that are doing what this book is also doing. And so, I was kind of like, okay, it's doing it and it's fine, but I'm not wowed by it. And also, I'm sorry. But everyone's like, wow, the prose is so concise. The sentences, they're just so clear. And I'm like, it's so pedestrian.
Annie Jones [00:10:36] Because you're already reading so many things that are similar.
Hunter [00:10:40] Yeah. That's it. I'm sorry. But if you're going to start writing about something, for me as a reader, if you're going to tackle a topic that's really hot right now, I need the voice to be so commanding that it differentiates you from the pack.
Annie Jones [00:10:57] Yeah, sticks out, seems more original. I forgot to say. My most surprising book, very different from [inaudible]. My most surprising read was Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie. And I think for me it was surprising because I read a lot of books that are thoughtfully critical about faith. And this book was almost a more innocent look. She doesn't shy away from hard things, but the emphasis is on different things. And I just had no expectation of whether I was going to enjoy this book or not. And so, then I absolutely loved it. So, that was my most surprising book of the year, and then my least favorite book of the year-- I always feel like I should whisper. It's not mean because what work didn't work for me could work for you. So, I read the book Worry by Alexandra Tanner. I love the cover of this book. I loved the description of this book. I loved the premise of this book. For me, and I want to be very clear, I adored the first half.
[00:11:57] And then as I continued-- and I listened to this one on audiobook, and I thought it was a well narrated audiobook. But as I continued reading, I hated the characters. And I don't need likable characters. I don't need likable characters who do good things. We can read books by unlikable characters doing terrible things. That's fine. But these characters never grew. And I understand that there are people in this life who also will never grow, and so that's fine. But I don't want to read about them. And the first half of the book was so fun and snarky, and these sisters were so ridiculous, and I was kind of on board. And then the back half, I was like, oh, I'm sick of you people. And if they were my friends, I would have ghosted them. They got on my nerves.
Hunter [00:12:48] Okay, let me just say this. This reminded me of whenever you read The Girls back in, what was it, 2016 maybe?
Annie Jones [00:13:01] Yeah, I was going to say 2016 or 2017.
Hunter [00:13:04] Okay. So let me tell y'all. Annie was, like, I liked the first half. And I was going to borrow the ARC. And then I remember that you said-- I was about to give it back to you. You were like, I don't even think I liked it that much. Maybe I could, like, tear the first half off and just keep the first half.
Annie Jones [00:13:24] I do not remember this.
Hunter [00:13:25] I do, because I didn't get your ARC back because I was like, no, I'm not going to let her do this.
Annie Jones [00:13:31] I would never let her. That's very Marie Kondo. I would not rip a book in half. But Worry was one of those books where, like you said, I had high expectations because I had discovered it. I don't know about you, but so rarely do I get the sense of discoverability anymore because I see books everywhere. And this one was just on the Libro.fm app. Nobody had hand sold this to me. I had not seen this in a publisher catalog, so I was like, oh, finally like a book I just kind of stumbled upon. And loved it the first half and then was just completely disinterested in the back half because I just hated these people. I was listening to it and cringing and angry at them the whole time. I wanted to shake them by the shoulders and tell them to grow up.
Hunter [00:14:17] That's real.
Annie Jones [00:14:18] I might just also be aging out of the 20-year-old coming of age. Yeah, I might just be too old for that. Okay, what's next on your TBR?
Hunter [00:14:29] So it's a book that I've read in one iteration already. It's the Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan. I actually read this book before it was sent to the editor.
Annie Jones [00:14:47] Oh my, flip that hair.
Hunter [00:14:50] I know. And I loved the version I read, but I've heard that it's been changed in multiple ways. So, I want to read it now to see what's changed since I read it.
Annie Jones [00:15:07] This will be so interesting too as a writerly practice.
Hunter [00:15:10] I know.
Annie Jones [00:15:12] To see how it changes from edits to final form. My next on my TBR is a book that maybe if you're listening to this podcast, you're a little eyerolly because maybe you're thinking, Annie, this has been on your TBR forever. But Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. So, Sarah Perry wrote The Essex Serpent, which I loved. Absolutely loved. And I'll put a plug in for the Apple TV show. I think it's great. And so, enlightenment has been on my personal TBR. I downloaded the book to my Kindle and started reading it there and I am discovering what books work for me in electronic format and which do not. And the more I got to reading this, the more I was like, ugh, I really just want to hold it. I really just want to hold it and kind of hunker down with it.
[00:16:00] And July and August feel like monsoon season here in the South. And so, I've kind of been reserving it for a rainy afternoon because the book is set in Great Britain and there is an unlikely friendship between an older man and then a young girl. They both are kind of outcasts at their church. And I am just very intrigued by this whole premise, and I'm really anxious to read it. And it has a beautiful cover, so I just wanted the tactile experience of reading it instead of reading it on my e-reader.
Hunter [00:16:35] I get that.
Annie Jones [00:16:36] Okay. And then I have started book buying for fall. So, tell me your most anticipated fall release of 2024.
Hunter [00:16:44] Okay, listen, this is my most anticipated releases for the fall. Even though I looked at yours first, it is also mine. It's Intermezzo by Sally Rooney.
Annie Jones [00:16:57] Yes! I'm so excited for this. First of all, have you started to sing Intermezzo to the same tune as Espresso?
Hunter [00:17:04] Oh, my gosh! No, but I have to.
Annie Jones [00:17:06] I think you should. I think it fits instead of my espresso or me espresso you can say Intermezzo. And it works.
Hunter [00:17:13] That's good.
Annie Jones [00:17:15] Your welcome. Yeah, yeah. This is also mine. And I am so sorry. I would like to state for the record, normally Hunter receives the ARCs and I am filled with jealousy. This is my time to shine. I received a physical ARC of this book. I cannot wait to read it. FSG, if you're listening, Hunter still hasn't received one.
Hunter [00:17:39] I know. I will shed blood.
Annie Jones [00:17:47] Do you have high expectations for this? How excited are you?
Hunter [00:17:52] I think you and I are on the same page. I think my favorite of hers is Beautiful World Where Are You?
Annie Jones [00:18:00] Yes, me too. Nobody talks about it as much. We all just talk about normal people.
Hunter [00:18:05] It's so funny because I was excited for A Beautiful World, but I was like lukewarm excited for that one. And then I read that one, and now I'm very excited for this. I think Beautiful World is a much more interesting book.
Annie Jones [00:18:17] Yes, I adored that book and I think I read it one summer when I think it came to me as an ARC. And I just loved it because she was dealing with even larger themes. Now, look, I like normal people. What is the other one that I sadly did not enjoy?
Hunter [00:18:35] Conversations with Friends.
Annie Jones [00:18:36] Should I try that again?
Hunter [00:18:39] Yes, because I hated it. You know this, I read books and then I reread them every time I hate them. And I read that book three times, and the third time I read it, I loved it.
Annie Jones [00:18:48] Okay, so I may just need to try it again. Because when I first gave it a whirl, I did not like it.
Hunter [00:18:53] It's also great on audio.
Annie Jones [00:18:55] Okay. Well, that's wonderful because I'm taking a European flight soon. I'm taking a very long flight, so I got to download some stuff.
Hunter [00:19:04] Perfect.
Annie Jones [00:19:05] So maybe I'll do that. Okay, now we've gotten the like lightning round out of the way. Typically, how we do this is we do top 10 and we go back and forth. So, Hunter, what is your 10th? What is your number 10 of the top 10 of 2024 so far?
Hunter [00:19:23] My 10th book in my ranking is Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg.
Annie Jones [00:19:29] Okay. I've seen this, and it's got a great cover.
Hunter [00:19:32] Yes. It's set in Philly by my new home, place, thing.
Annie Jones [00:19:40] It's reflective of who you are now.
Hunter [00:19:42] It is. And so much of it is about queer friendship. And someone described it as almost like a less criminal Thelma and Louise Road trip. I think maybe a better comp would be, in some ways, Romy [sp] and Michele's high school reunion when they're traveling to their high school reunion.
Annie Jones [00:20:08] Okay, now I might be on board.
Hunter [00:20:10] Let me tell you, my favorite thing about this is the way that she makes fun of the how-- and in a very loving way about how these queer people are trying so hard to be politically correct. It's that way that we kind of go above and beyond to try and that sometimes it just gets to a ridiculous degree, and so we just kind of chill a little bit. Yeah, but it's good.
Annie Jones [00:20:33] Okay. I may have a copy of this at the office, so I may try to pick that one up. My 10th book I have already mentioned today. It is Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley. It's a memoir about the loss of her friends and, how she grappled with grief. And it was happening kind of at the same time she experienced a break in at her home. And so, she's writing a lot about both of those events and how they kind of shaped the course of the next few months and years of her life. I love grief books as a genre. And I thought this one was quite excellent, talking about grief and the loss of friends and friendships in particular. I just really like Sloane Crosley. If you've never read her before, you should give her a go.
Hunter [00:21:23] I have the ARC of that. I should read it.
Annie Jones [00:21:26] I think you really would like it. Their friendship is really lovely, and there's a lot in there about New York and the publishing scene, because her friend worked in publishing and she did too prior to becoming a writer.
Hunter [00:21:36] Okay, so number nine. My number nine was Henry Henry by Allen Bratton.
Annie Jones [00:21:43] Okay. I've not read this.
Hunter [00:21:46] Okay. So, I listened to the audiobook for this one, and the audiobook reads like a very fun romcom boyfriend material vibe. Except for there's like-- I guess trigger warning. There's some weird ancestral trauma thing.
Annie Jones [00:22:07] Oh, my!
Hunter [00:22:09] Yeah. That I did not realize when I started.
Annie Jones [00:22:12] You weren't aware of that?
Hunter [00:22:13] No, and it's read in such a fine little light tone that when that kind of stuff came about, I was like [gasps].
Annie Jones [00:22:20] Interesting.
Hunter [00:22:22] But it was very compelling.
Annie Jones [00:22:23] I'm just looking it up because I wanted to see if I recognize the cover, apparently. Who do I really love? What is that man's name? Brandon Taylor really liked it.
Hunter [00:22:33] Well, Brandon Taylor edited it.
Annie Jones [00:22:34] Oh, interesting. Well, there you go. That's why. My number nine is a romcom, a romance novel, Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan. Everybody knows how much I love Annabel Monaghan. I adored Nora Goes off script. It was one of my favorite books of the year in-- what year this-- 2022. Now it is 2024. Summer Romance is still a book I am thinking about, which that is my favorite kind of romcom. A lot of romcoms and romance novels that I read, I forget about them the moment the back cover is turned, and that's fine. That's totally fine. But my favorite romance or rom coms are books that have characters who stay with me for a bit. And the characters in this book particularly-- not just the romantic relationship, but the relationships our main character has with her neighbor, it's just something I'll be thinking about for a long time. Again, there are some themes about grief that I really appreciated that kind of gave Summer Romance a weight. And so, this is my number nine favorite book of the year. Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan. Perfect for reading right now. It's a summer book. You should read it now.
Hunter [00:23:39] I have three of her books. It's so funny too, because she didn't believe me when I told her I was going to read them.
Annie Jones [00:23:45] She called you out?
Hunter [00:23:46] Yeah. But now I'm like, no, I have to read them.
Annie Jones [00:23:49] You should read this one or Nora first. I think those are the two best. I'm still trying to decide which is my favorite, but those are the best, I think.
Hunter [00:23:57] Okay. I'm excited. So, my number eight is Ways and Means by Danielle Lefferts, which it's a book about this gay man who is entering into the finance world. And he also enters into some sort of throuple with this successful older couple. And there is so much drama and so much. And also, there's a lot of conservative gay male characters in this book, and it's navigating what it looks like to be part of a political party that is kind of against you. Like some of your rights and what that looks like.
Annie Jones [00:24:42] That is interesting.
Hunter [00:24:43] Yeah. And I thought this is a very smart book. It's very sprawling. It's 400 plus pages, but it's so well-written and it's so controlled in a lot of ways. I was very surprised it was the first novel because it just feels like someone very aware of what they're doing. And despite the fact that it's some book that takes place in the finance world, I was just very compelled the whole way through. It's too hard for me to stay invested in a lot of books this year. And so that was exciting. But yeah, Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts.
Annie Jones [00:25:18] I appreciate a book that clocks in at that many pages and holds your attention the whole time. It's not that I can't read a tome or a thick book, but sometimes a sprawling novel is a little too sprawling for me, and so I appreciate it when a book is that long but still feels tight and cohesive and like every page matters.
Hunter [00:25:39] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:25:39] So my number eight book is not sprawling, it's quite a thin little book called Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel. I adored this book. It is almost a collection of short stories, connected short stories. I think it is technically a novel, but it to me felt like a collection of short stories about these teenage girls and young women who are competing in a boxing tournament out in Nevada. And each chapter is a boxing match between two of the girls. I just thought this book was so original. The physical copy opens with a bracket. And so you, the reader, know each chapter is going to be a matchup between two of these characters.
[00:26:28] And the book is set over the course of a weekend. So, by the end, a champion is crowned. I love a sports adjacent book, so I love learning about boxing. I have no desire to watch a boxing match, but I do appreciate learning about the sport. And then I also read this after watching the movie. I watched that movie Iron Claw. And so, I felt like that world is kind of interesting. And then what I really discovered is that the book isn't really about boxing, it's about girlhood and coming of age and the strength of young women and what goes on their brains. I guess I'm no longer super qualified as a young woman. So, anyway, I loved it. It is Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Hunter [00:27:13] Okay, I'm immediately jumping into my number seven because my number seven is Headshot.
Annie Jones [00:27:19] Yeah, we didn't even plan that.
Hunter [00:27:21] Let me tell you. It's so funny y'all because--
Annie Jones [00:27:23] I hand sold this to you, right?
Hunter [00:27:25] Yes, you did. This is my favorite thing. It's so funny. There has never been a time, there has not been a single time that Annie has not-- if any hand sells me a book, I know I will love it. Hands down.
Annie Jones [00:27:39] Yes. That's high praise because I do feel like we still have a pretty heavy Venn diagram, but we've also diverged over the last few years. So, I'm glad I still speak your language.
Hunter [00:27:50] That's the thing. It's so funny because I do still think that if you love a book, I just I'm going to love it. But yeah, it's so funny because the language in this is so rich. I'm such an emotional person, but in some ways, it reminded me a little bit of the first ever book that you recommended me, which was The Fever by Megan Abbott.
Annie Jones [00:28:17] Yes! Megan Abbott. Yes, absolutely.
Hunter [00:28:19] Because it has just that teen girlhood and the way they both write about bodies and the way that they can, like, visceral, gritty kind of--
Annie Jones [00:28:26] Yes, you could feel the sweat.
Hunter [00:28:28] Yes. That was the first book and the last from my--
Annie Jones [00:28:34] Hunter, no, don't make me cry.
Hunter [00:28:36] I know. It's [inaudible] two weeks, and I'm like a puddle.
Annie Jones [00:28:42] Who says that? Okay, my number seven, I think by the end of the year could inch its way higher, I'm not sure. But currently, sitting at number seven is Sandwiched by Catherine Newman. Now, look, I am a sucker for a New England beach house story. And this book is about a woman named Rocky. She's in middle age. Her children are inching closer and closer to adulthood. Her parents are aging, so she's in that sandwich generation. And her family retreats to the beach for their annual vacation for a week at some New England locale- which is my personal dream. If anybody wants to help me achieve that dream, I'd love to talk to you. I just want to find myself on a beach in New England once a year, annually. It's the dream. So, the book is set over the course of a week, which I love. I love a New England setting, and I love a woman grappling with her age and her agency.
[00:29:41] And you know this, I don't do a ton of trigger warnings or content warnings for the books I read because I just never know what other people are going to be sensitive about. So, it's really hard to predict. But I will say, I read this and there's nothing about the description of the book that might hint that there is pregnancy loss in this book. And I was so moved by it. I was so moved by the portrayal and this woman kind of thinking through motherhood and motherhood in its earliest forms, and then now as she's watching her own mother age and as her children don't necessarily need her as much as they used to. I loved it. It sounds sad. And I definitely cried at parts of this book, but it is also laugh out loud funny. I really liked Catherine Newman. She wrote the book We All Want Impossible Things, which is a lot about friendship and illness. And I just loved it. So, Sandwiched by Catherine Newman is my number seven.
Hunter [00:30:48] Sounds so good.
Annie Jones [00:30:51] It is good. It really is good.
Hunter [00:30:52] My next book, which I think might have been the last book I read in Florida, was a book set in Florida called State of Paradise by Laura Van den berg. I think you'd like it.
Annie Jones [00:31:03] I'm looking it up to see if I would know it.
Hunter [00:31:05] It's weird. It's kind of speculative. It's about a woman who, during the pandemic, her and her husband moved back to her hometown in Florida to care for her parents. And her sister goes missing at a point. There's, like, a mystery element. Also, she's like a ghost writer for a James Patterson-esque type person. I would be very curious to know your thoughts on it, because it does intentionally go off the rails in the last third because she writes really weird stuff. But I think it so perfectly captures the essence of Florida in that way that of course things would like...
Annie Jones [00:31:54] Yeah, would go a little off the rails.
Hunter [00:31:57] Yeah. But the writing is crisp and in some ways it feels as far as how she writes about Florida, it almost feels in conversation with Lauren Groff short story collection, Florida.
Annie Jones [00:32:08] That's what I was going to ask. It sounds Lauren Groff. Who do we love?
Hunter [00:32:14] Karen Russell.
Annie Jones [00:32:15] Karen Russell. Sounds a little like that.
Hunter [00:32:18] Yes. Let me tell you, Florida opens with the short story Ghost and Empty. Says, "I have somehow become a woman who yells..." And then lacing up her running shoes, goes for a walk. And so, she becomes a runner. And the husband in State of Paradise is taken to running.
Annie Jones [00:32:36] Okay. I might have to read that. It released July 9th. So, I may have to give that one to go because I am always curious about Florida books. They can be so hit or miss. They either feel like somebody has never lived there or they're just writing about Disney World or something. My number six is very much in conversation with my number seven. So, six is Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. Did you read Claire Lombardo's first book?
Hunter [00:33:10] So much fun we--
Annie Jones [00:33:13] The Most Fun We've Ever Had.
Hunter [00:33:16] Yeah, I did. I really liked it.
Annie Jones [00:33:19] I did not.
Hunter [00:33:20] You didn't?
Annie Jones [00:33:21] Somehow, I missed it, and it feels like something that would be right [crosstalk]. No, I didn't read it.
Hunter [00:33:26] I thought you said "I didn't like it." And I was like, ah!
Annie Jones [00:33:28] No, I didn't read it. And so, now I kind of want to go back because I think you were talking about Ways and Means being like a longer book but never getting too bogged down by it. So Same as it Ever Was is about a 500-page book. I was hooked from the opening sentence. I could not put it down. And the whole time I loved it. It's about a woman who, again, middle aged, her children are approaching-- or her daughter is kind of getting to the age where she doesn't really need her anymore. Her son is in college and maybe even is in grad school. And she goes to the grocery store one day to pick up something for her husband's birthday dinner, and she runs into this stranger or this acquaintance that she knew back in her earliest stages of motherhood when she was dealing with postpartum stuff. And this woman's character is named Helen. And I will think about Helen for all of my days. She's such an interesting, compelling side character. So, this book, the whole time I read it, I was like, this is easily four, four and a half stars for me; I love it.
[00:34:36] But let me tell you. And I thought of you. I sobbed during the last chapter of this book. I finished it and was like five stars. All the stars. Ten stars. Because I just wept so hard. We were we were in bed, we were on vacation, and Jordan looked over at me and put his hand on my thigh and was like, 'Are you okay?" And I was like, "I'm just crying about this book." Like, I'm not having come apart. I'm just crying about this book. I thought this book was so beautiful and took so many little twists and turns. The directions I thought it was going, it didn't go. Instead, it went in deeper and even better directions. I saw that [inaudible] talked about this book recently. She adored it. We were talking about, like, the last sentence of this book is so good. So, now I'm a big Claire Lombardo fan. And this book is another one that might, by the end of the year, eke its way higher and higher. When I talk about ranking my books, I often think about memorability. How much do I remember about it? That matters to me. And I think I'll remember this book for a long time. So that is same as it ever was by Claire Lombardo.
Hunter [00:35:47] I swear. I want this book-- Doubleday was like, I'm sending it to you. And I'm like, well, where is it? Because I need it?
Annie Jones [00:35:54] Where did it go? Which address? Maybe granny's reading it.
Hunter [00:35:58] Likely so. So, my number five is a book that I think you'll really like it if you haven't read it.
Annie Jones [00:36:06] Okay.
Hunter [00:36:07] That's Colored Television by Danzy Senna.
Annie Jones [00:36:11] No, I've not read this.
Hunter [00:36:13] Okay, so she wrote this book that you've got to read called New People.
Annie Jones [00:36:17] Okay, wait. I got to write this down.
Hunter [00:36:19] Yeah. Let me tell you, you will finish it in one sitting. New People. I think maybe it's under 200 pages or just that 200 pages. It was from 2018, I think, for everyone listening. And that book had me-- I was sick with the flu and I literally was staying awake just to finish this book because it had me so good. But Colored Television, it's very different but it is so good. It's about this biracial woman who has taking a leave to finish this long awaited second novel of hers that's this, like, sprawling 400 plus page book. And when she sends it to her agent and editor, it's met with hesitation. And she is kind of in a panic because she's, like, I need my life to get going. And so, she ends up reaching out to her-- one of her friends is a TV writer. And so, she reaches out about getting a TV writing gig because she wants money.
[00:37:28] And this book it's so funny because on the surface it looks like it's all-- a lot of it looks like it's a discussion about race, especially being like a biracial person and what that otherness looks like. It's about that, but it's also about art and selling out and marriage and what it looks like to be in a long-term relationship, especially when you're kind of dealing with growing pains and also being a parent. It's a very good book, but also it is very plotty. And I was so invested with this. Let me tell you, I don't know if you saw my stories, but when I was about in the last two chapters, I had a realization about this story that had me so anxious that I was screaming, running around my new apartment just wishing that I had someone to talk to about it because it was just-- I don't know. It had me.
Annie Jones [00:38:26] Well, I do appreciate as much as I love a character driven book, I do like when a book moves along and there's things that are happening. And especially, I think, in our current state where it just feels like my attention span-- I won't speak for everyone else. My attention span feels broken. And so sometimes I need a little more plot. And so, I wrote down the name of that other one too. Colored Television and then New People.
Hunter [00:38:55] Also, I have to say, I'm pretty sure that the author is married to Percival Everett.
Annie Jones [00:39:06] Oh, wow, what a power couple.
Hunter [00:39:09] I know.
Annie Jones [00:39:10] Amazing. So much talent under one roof. Okay. My number five is Real Americans by Rachel Khong. Let me tell you, I love Goodbye Vitamin. And it feels like that book came out so long ago that we're not talking about it anymore. So, this is a backlist plug for Goodbye Vitamin. I think when I first read Real Americans, how I worded it was Yaa Gyasi's book Homegoing was big and sweeping and then she followed it up with Transcendent Kingdom, which was like zeroing in on one daughter in a small family. Anyway, the scope was a lot more narrow. It feels like Rachel Khong did the opposite, where Goodbye Vitamin was a quiet book about grief and a family, and like one small family, and then Real Americans is more sweeping and epic, covers three generation. If you liked Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, some of those themes to me are here as well.
[00:40:13] But it's basically about a young woman named Lily in the early 2000, the early aughts. She's an unpaid intern. She meets Matthew. They're totally different, but they're attracted to each other. And then we fast forward and Lily's son, Nick, is the part of the story that takes place in, I think, like 2021. I loved this book. Sometimes sweeping books are a little too sweeping for me. I feel like I'm kind of picky about which books I get swept up in. This one is so well-told. And I'm really in awe of authors that can do both. They can do the zeroing in on a close-knit family or one character, and then they also can tell a larger, maybe more epic story. So, I'm really impressed by Rachel Khong. This book will stick with me for a while. So, Real Americans by Rachel Khong. Did you read this?
Hunter [00:41:12] Yes, and I loved it. And I forgot. So just for context, for everyone who was wondering how I come up with my list, the day of I'm always like, well, I want to just know how I'm feeling in the moment. And so, then I just literally go off memory and I'm like, well, these are the 10 books that are sticking in my mind right this very second. A danger.
Annie Jones [00:41:31] Well, this is my question for you. So, I have a private Instagram now and I still am doing starred reviews. And starred reviews are subjective. Maybe they're not the best way to rate book. I don't know. But you on your Instagram, you don't do stars. And so, I'm curious, for me, one of the ways I went back was I thought about how books makes me feel, whether or not I could remember it. And then also, was it four or five stars? Because if it was below four or five, it's not going to make the top 10. But how do you look since you don't do the star ratings anymore?
Hunter [00:42:05] Okay, so actually, right before I moved-- this is a plug for your store. You have these reading journals that offer the little [inaudible] to do a star rating. And so, I'm back to doing star ratings, but just to my journal.
Annie Jones [00:42:19] Oh, privately. That's smart.
Hunter [00:42:22] Yes. But that's only been for, like, the past four books I've read.
Annie Jones [00:42:27] Well, maybe that'll help by the time we're at the end of the year.
Hunter [00:42:29] Well, because I haven't done a star rating in a couple of years now, but I honestly just go off of-- right before we record, I'm always thinking, okay, what are the 10 books that are sticking in my mind right now? And then I arrange them right before we record. And that's typically what we do. And which is just so funny that of course that'll be how I do things.
Annie Jones [00:42:50] But it's not wrong. It goes back to me saying do I remember this book? Because what I want is by December 31st-- like, for example, I know that when I look back on 2023, the books I still think about are Hello Beautiful, Tom Lake. And we read so much that only a couple of books are going to stick out every year. We read so many things. And so, I think at the end of this year I will think about Lonesome Dove as a backlist title. And then I have some suspicions about the books I'm going to be thinking about in December. But that's what I'm really asking myself, is what books are going to matter? In 2025, what will I say the book of 2024 was? All right, what's your number four?
Hunter [00:43:36] Number four is In Tongues by Thomas Grattan.
Annie Jones [00:43:41] I've never even heard of this.
Hunter [00:43:42] I think that's how you say it. Okay, so he wrote a book called The Recent East, that came out in like 2021/2022. And I liked it. It's like a historical novel. But In Tongues is about this young, gay man, late teens, early 20s. He moves to New York probably I think it'll be in the 90s. But he becomes [inaudible] lesbian couple and becomes a dog walker to this rich older gay couple. It deals a lot with his father is Pentecostal and the in tongues part. And so, it deals a lot with faith, but also deals a lot with queerness. And as I think you know at this point; I love books that especially where those two things intersect. When queerness and faith intersect. I think that's really interesting. And I liked the way that it depicted a young small-town person moving to a big city and entering into an entirely different environment.
Annie Jones [00:44:51] A lot of your books are reflective of your current state, which I think makes a lot of sense. I think at the end of the year, those will be books that you associate with this year because this is the year you moved and made a big life change.
Hunter [00:45:05] Oh, absolutely. Watch my top 10 at the end of the year will be totally different too, because I'll be in a different headspace. But I did really like In Tongues. Thomas Grattan. And I think that you would like it too because I don't recall it being overly explicit, but I think that you'd really enjoy the writing about faith in the book.
Annie Jones [00:45:25] Yeah, I do like those themes too. Okay. In Tongues and Colored Television are two I think I might give a go. Okay. My number four, and I don't know if this is cheating, and if it is, well, it's too late because we're already almost done. But my fourth book is Even After Everything, this is by Stephanie Duncan Smith. It does not release until October 25th, so I don't know if that's fair, but I read it.
Hunter [00:45:51] It's not.
Annie Jones [00:45:52] I read it and I'm, like, it's going to be in my top 10 so it feels like I should go ahead and say it. But Hunter's looking at me disapprovingly because this is cheating.
Hunter [00:46:11] It's so funny because I was looking at a book, I could squeeze in to read today in case I wanted to like a different top 10. And I was like, what's the book that hasn't come out yet? So, it's fine. I was going to cheat, anyway.
Annie Jones [00:46:20] Even After Everything is a nonfiction book by Stephanie Duncan Smith. She is an editor at Baker Publishing, and I followed her on Instagram forever, but I did not know she had a book coming out until I saw it in the fall catalog. I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle and promptly highlighted so many passages. In this case, she's a face writer. She may write other things, but this book is dealing with the Christian liturgical church calendar and specifically how our lives have joys and sorrows, ups and downs. And she believes that part of the reason behind celebrating and honoring the church calendar is because it is reflective of the lives we already lead. And so, she is writing in the context of her own miscarriages and pregnancies and how they reflected the life of the church back to her. I was deeply moved by the writing in this book.
[00:47:14] This is one of those books that when I finished it, I was also jealous because I was like, well, crap, this is the kind of work I want to write. I thought it was so profound, so deep. I do think if you are not a practicing Christian or if you don't know what the church calendar is, I still think there could be something for you here, particularly if you have-- which I think most of us have-- if you've dealt with grief or loss, and you've kind of wondered what are we supposed to do with it? Where is it supposed to go? And how are we supposed to move forward? I also love the title of the book: Even After Everything. She writes a lot about hope and redemption and moving forward and what our various cycles of life look like. I loved this book, Even After Everything by Stephanie Duncan Smith is my number four.
Hunter [00:48:00] That sounds really good.
Annie Jones [00:48:01] It is really good, truly.
Hunter [00:48:02] So my number three, is We Were the Universe by Kimberly King Parsons.
Annie Jones [00:48:07] I wondered if this was going to be on your list. It's on my TBR right over here. And so, I can't wait you to hand sell this to me right now.
Hunter [00:48:14] Okay. Let me tell you, so this book is-- she described it as like if Fleabag was a young mom living in Texas. Okay.
Annie Jones [00:48:29] Sold already.
Hunter [00:48:32] It's so much about she's dealing with the loss of her sister and kind of like how-- like both her relationship with her sister and being a young mom. Or just a mom who's-- her kids like five or five at this point in the book. But it's so funny because there's a lot of stuff dealing with drug use because of her sister. And so, there's a lot of the book that kind of feels almost hallucinogenic in a way. That's really interesting. But the writing is beautiful. I mean, truly stunning. And I liked her short story collection, but it didn't land as a top 10 for me whenever it came out.
[00:49:18] I don't know, there's just something about this book that it reminded me a little bit of like how Karen Russell just how her sentences would just kind of sync because they were so weird but so just so vibrant. And it's like how is she doing this with language? To be clear, this is not a book that's like hard to read. It's very literary, but it's not like a struggle bus, but it is the beautiful prose. And I think she captures something so profound about grieving someone who you have a complicated relationship with, but who you always look to as your fun person.
Annie Jones [00:50:02] And what happens when you lose them.
Hunter [00:50:04] Yeah, so very good. We Were the Universe by Kimberly King Parsons. Highly recommend.
Annie Jones [00:50:10] Okay, I literally am looking at it. It's over here. So, I will move that toward the top of my TBR. My number three is Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. This is another one of those books; 500 pages. Never felt that it was super long. Taffy Brodesser-Akner is the writer of Fleishman Is in Trouble, which is a book that most listeners know I really didn't like at first, then I put it down, then I picked it back up and absolutely loved it. Long Island Compromise is about the Fletcher family. I think one of my favorite snippets about this book is there's a line in the book about every family being their own Bible story, every family being their own mythology. And this is definitely the book of Fletcher.
[00:50:55] This is about one incident in the life of a family and how it has a trickledown effect and has its tentacles around every family member, particularly the three children of Carl Fletcher. I could not put this book down. The three siblings are so complicated, messy. You would love this because you love messy characters, messy people. And these characters are so messy. And you know why? Like, you understand that they're grappling with the fallout from the trauma of their dad's kidnaping. It's a really interesting premise for a book. And the cover vibes are-- I don't know if this matters to anyone, but I love 70s style book covers. Is that a case? And I just love the vibes of this book. I love the whole package. So that is Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
Hunter [00:51:43] Okay. Very quick aside. I was loving this book. I was about halfway through it and I was reading it during my move. And at one point, I was talking about how-- I was like, no one ever kidnaps you in a fun way.
Annie Jones [00:51:58] Yes. You said that on Instagram, didn't you?
Hunter [00:52:01] Yes. Because I have been kidnaped multiple times. Never to success. Because truly, when they talk about people giving something back for talking too much and being annoying, that was me. And I got several people who were so offended by my recounting of my own kidnaping. So I was, like, let me set this book aside so I don't associate with that for a minute. So, I haven't it finished it, but I do love what I've read. For anyone who's wondering, I have actually been kidnaped so I'm allowed to joke about it.
Annie Jones [00:52:32] If people would just understand, I don't know how many times I have to say Hunter is my Phoebe Buffay. People need to know Phoebe Buffay silences the Gellers when she's like, oh yeah, that year I lived in a box and, oh, that year I had to beg for food. People need to understand that, yeah, you joke about stuff because you lived it. You lived it!
Hunter [00:52:54] Right.
Annie Jones [00:52:55] Yeah. You should finish Long Island Compromise. It's great.
Hunter [00:52:58] I will tell you this. The first half that I read, I was very invested. I completely agree with your ranking. From what I read; I can see why. I will go back soon and finish. And It'll probably end up in line on my top 10. So my number two is one that I don't know if you will read or like.
Annie Jones [00:53:18] I need to read it just because I'm seeing it everywhere. I got to try it.
Hunter [00:53:21] Do you know what it is? Did you look?
Annie Jones [00:53:22] I've got to try it. Yeah, I'm looking at it right now.
Hunter [00:53:25] It's All Fours by Miranda July. And this book, it just consumed me. It's about this woman who, at some point, she's supposed to be traveling for something else, but she ends up staying in this weird-- I think she's going to make a drive to New York, but she ends up stopping not far from her house, and she stays in this little hotel thing. And she spends this money to renovate a room. And she befriends this man. It is a book that is exploring sex and sexuality and stuff, but not in the way that you think. It is very weird and uncomfortable and cringe, but she writes so beautifully. And it's deceptively simple and it's so compelling. I think the reason why it's so uncomfortable is not because she's trying to make you-- she's not writing to shock you. She's truly writing to say this is what we're not talking about that we're thinking.
Annie Jones [00:54:38] Look, everybody keeps talking about this book, and I feel left out because I have not given it a go. And so, I think I'm going to have to try it.
Hunter [00:54:49] I think there's a lot that you'll like about it.
Annie Jones [00:54:52] All right. I may give it a go. It's so hard when so many books release.
Hunter [00:54:58] I know.
Annie Jones [00:54:58] And now I'm reading for fall. Do you know what I mean? Now my brain is moving forward. Okay. My number two is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. I love this book. It will be interesting to see if by the end of the year I still remember and think about this book, but this was one of the first books of the year that I toted around with me. That's how I know I like a book, is if I'm carrying it around in my bag and I'm reading it at lunch, things like that. So, it's a book about Cyrus. Cyrus was born in Persia, brought to the US by his dad when he was a baby because his mother was on a plane that was shot down over the Persian Gulf on its way to Dubai. It was a plane of citizens that America shot down. This is based on a real plane being shot down. It's an actual historical event that I had no idea happened. And so that was an interesting kind of tie-in. Does it make sense to you if I say, for some reason, Martyr reminded me ever so slightly of The Goldfinch?
Hunter [00:56:00] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:56:01] I don't know. To me, there's even some scenes-- I'm not always into books where there is, like you were saying, a hallucinogenic or a drug. Because sometimes I get bogged down by that. But this, Cyrus is trying to get-- he's dipping his toe into the land of sobriety. I loved Cyrus. I was very invested in his character.
Hunter [00:56:27] Okay. That is honestly such a perfect comp. Because that book does deal with grief. It does deal with the drug thing. And also, that friendship he has in that book is very similar to Theo and Boris in The Goldfinch.
Annie Jones [00:56:41] Yes, yes, yes.
Hunter [00:56:42] Yeah, wow!
Annie Jones [00:56:43] Yeah, I think so too.
Hunter [00:56:45] You need to like--
Annie Jones [00:56:46] It's why they pay me the big bucks.
Hunter [00:56:48] They didn't pay you the big bucks.
Annie Jones [00:56:49] Those metaphorical big bucks.
Hunter [00:56:54] Move over Reese Witherspoon.
Annie Jones [00:56:57] One day. One day I'll have a sticker with my name on it, and people will hate me for it.
Hunter [00:57:03] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:57:05] Okay. What's your number one?
Hunter [00:57:08] Don't we have the same one?
Annie Jones [00:57:10] We do? I didn't know we did. But we did.
Hunter [00:57:13] Yeah. It's James by Percival Everett.
Annie Jones [00:57:16] Me too!
Hunter [00:57:18] This book, I mean, genius.
Annie Jones [00:57:22] Tyler read it too. I saw. I think he read it. Yeah. To me, there was absolutely-- correct me if you felt differently. Tell me if you felt differently. To me, there was no contest. This was the easiest number one selection in recent memory.
Hunter [00:57:39] Literally, I think this book is going to win the Pulitzer Prize next year.
Annie Jones [00:57:45] I wish that it would.
Hunter [00:57:46] I think it is. Is this the first book you've read by him?
Annie Jones [00:57:50] Yes. And now I'm like, I got to go back. I got to read something else.
Hunter [00:57:54] Okay. Let me tell you. All of his books, I think, are this good.
Annie Jones [00:57:58] Oh, gosh! He's so talented. He's so talented. I watched American Fiction was based on Erasure; I think. And so, I saw the movie, but I have not read the book. And Jordan and I, it was Jordan's favorite movie of last year. He loved it.
Hunter [00:58:12] That's right. Yeah, I know. I think he is a genius. James was so compelling and so-- it's so funny because that book is so perfectly in conversation with Huckleberry Finn while also subverting it in such unexpected and smart ways that you just do not.
Annie Jones [00:58:35] That's the thing that. I'm wondering, I don't know how many of these we sold. I don't know where it lands on Bookshelf best sellers, but so many people who I have talked to about this book are like, oh, but do I need to read Huckleberry Finn first? And I'm like, you're missing the point. I last read Huckleberry Finn in high school, as probably many of us did, and I recall liking that book and probably not picking up on anything as a probably 15-year-old-- it's probably how old I was when I read that book, maybe 16. And the way Percival Everett turns that book on its head. And like you said, certainly it is still-- that's what's so funny. James is still an adventure story. It is still the spirit of that kind of funny Mark Twain sensibility. And yet he has made a book that is completely its own entity and thing. It's incredibly well done.
Hunter [00:59:31] It's wild because there were times where it felt like it kind of gave me like, Oh Brother Where Art Thou vibes in these really weird ways, right?
Annie Jones [00:59:40] Yes, totally. It felt like reading-- I know maybe this sounds overdramatic, it felt like reading The Great American Novel. That's sort of what it felt like.
Hunter [00:59:49] Yes, true. That's the thing. This to me is like the smartest. And also, to be able to write a book that is like this, kind of like March was years before with-- yes. But the way that this does it is, I don't know, I don't want to overstate it. I have not seen something done in this way before, but I really don't think I have. I just think that he's in a league of his own.
Annie Jones [01:00:16] Throw a rock and you hit a retelling. I feel there's a bajillion of them. And somehow, he pays homage, but also, like you said, turns it upside down. And also, this is its own thing. James is its own thing, which is exactly as it should be. I'm so glad this was your number one. When I was doing my ranking immediately-- and even now when people say, well, what's your favorite book of the year so far? It's just so easy to name this one. I mean, to me, it's no contest. It's this or nothing, honestly.
Hunter [01:00:50] Yeah. I love.
Annie Jones [01:00:51] Even though I loved the books we talked about today. Well, Hunter thank you so much. What a great list I think we've compiled here today.
Hunter [01:00:58] I know.
Annie Jones [01:01:00] Good job. Well done. It'll be interesting to see-- you know what I love to do. We'll see in December if these lists hold up at all. So, stay tuned. Come back in December.
Hunter [01:01:09] It's always different.
Annie Jones [01:01:13] This week I'm reading Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. Hunter, what are you reading?
Hunter [01:01:18] I'm reading Anyone's Ghost by August Thompson.
[01:01:20] 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:
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, Gene Queens
Executive Producers (Read Their Own Names): Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Susan Hulings
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