Episode 493 || September New Release Rundown
This week on From the Front Porch, it’s another New Release Rundown! Annie, Erin, and Olivia are sharing the September 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 493” 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:
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (9/10)
Two-Step Devil by Jamie Quatro (9/10)
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (9/24)
Olivia's books:
Lucy, Undying by Kiersten White (9/10)
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga (9/10)
When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson (9/24)
Erin's books:
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig (9/3)
A Bit Much: Poems by Lyndsay Rush (9/17)
Entitlement by Rumaan Alam (9/17)
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 Someone in the Attic by Andrea Marra. Olivia is reading The Girls of Skylark Lane by Robin Benway. Erin is reading Entitlement by Rumaan Alam.
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]
“Now...Margaret feels that she can perceive the miraculous beauty of life itself, lived only once and then gone forever, the bloom of a perfect and impermanent flower, never to be retrieved. This is life, the experience, this is all there has ever been. To force this moment into contact with her ordinary existence only seems to reveal how constricting, how misshapen her ideas of life have been before.” - Sally Rooney, Intermezzo
[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 September. 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.
[00:01:33] This year, we've been conquering the classic American novel Lonesome Dove together with monthly recap episodes. For $5 a month, you can access those conversations as well as our monthly live Q&A porch visits where we talk about everything from pop culture to nail polish, to what books we should take on vacation. To learn more about our Patreon tiers and benefits, just visit Patreon.com/from the front porch. We are getting ready to do our From the Front Porch Book Club in September, where we're going to talk about All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. We're also gearing up for our announcement of our 2025 classic novel for Conquer a Classic. So if you're interested in any of those things, you might consider joining us on Patreon. That's Patreon.com/fromthefront porch. I'd love for you to join us there.
[00:02:21] Now, back to the show! As we go through September new releases today, just keep in mind Erin has made browsing the podcast book selection so easy. Just go to bookshelfthomasville.com and type 493, episode 493 into the search bar, and you'll see all of the books we talked about today listed, ready for you to preorder or purchase. Then use the code NEWRELEASEPLEASE at checkout for 10% off your order of today's titles. Hi, guys!
Olivia [00:02:49] Hello.
Erin [00:02:50] Hello. We're getting so close to 500 episodes.
Annie Jones [00:02:54] Can you believe that? I recorded an episode before this one, and I was like, oh my!
Erin [00:02:58] That is exciting.
Olivia [00:02:59] We're getting on up there.
Erin [00:03:00] Really exciting.
Annie Jones [00:03:01] It is exciting. I need to look and see--
Erin [00:03:03] What the 500 episodes...
Annie Jones [00:03:04] Right. I do such a bad job of this where it's just like automatic and 500 is probably like a reading recap or something. Like nothing, no celebration. So I probably should look because that does feel like a milestone- 500 episodes.
Erin [00:03:17] Yeah. It's huge.
Olivia [00:03:18] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:03:19] Okay. We are recording this end of August. We are getting ready for September. How are you guys feeling about fall books? Have you looked at the release calendar? Are we excited? Are you pumped up? Are you exhausted? Which is it?
Olivia [00:03:35] I feel great.
Annie Jones [00:03:39] Olivia's giant eyeballs.
Olivia [00:03:41] I have great September books. I have the three books sellers and Keila picked, which ones I talk about today to help me narrow it down. I'm also excited about October releases. I haven't looked as far as November. December is always slightly awash. I'm so sorry to anyone who gets published in December.
Annie Jones [00:04:00] I am, too.
Erin [00:04:02] I will say I have been looking through the fall count, the fall orders that we've made to put them on the website. So I have put almost all of the fall releases on the website. Just PS if you're shopping with us, you can check that out. But there's a lot of really good books, and a lot of them I saw are coming out December the 3rd. Really good books--
Olivia [00:04:23] That's my birthday.
Erin [00:04:23] Coming out the first to get December.
Annie Jones [00:04:25] Happy birthday.
Erin [00:04:28] Happy birthday to Olivia. There's some great new releases. So actually really it extends into December this year.
Annie Jones [00:04:35] Yeah. Like Wiki Wings new book is coming out, December 3rd. Like big titles that normally I feel like we don't see that late in the year. And even getting ready for this episode, it does feel like, oh my gosh, like September is packed. October is packed.
Erin [00:04:52] So many good books.
Annie Jones [00:04:53] There are so many to choose from. Though I will say, I feel like I'm in a weird-- I asked this on one of our Instagram lives. Like, do you consider August fall reading or end of summer reading? And it was funny because I think customer said end of summer. And then I think we as booksellers said fall. And I think I have been in this weird in-between, like, what do I read? Because I feel like I'm still trying to wrap up some things I wanted to read this summer, but very clearly it's time to read fall books. And so I think I've procrastinated a little bit reading fall books because I was having a great time reading summer books, and now it's like, oh no, I've got to move on. I got to move forward. I have things I need to read for fall.
Olivia [00:05:41] I think I was lucky, I got ahead of it. And I think that's why I got so many September books read, is I was reading September books in end of July, starting August.
Annie Jones [00:05:50] I think that's the key. It's almost like whitewater rafting or something. You need to get ahead of the rapids before they overtake you. It's like deliverance.
Olivia [00:06:01] Yeah, I feel like I'd be good whitewater rafting.
Annie Jones [00:06:03] Have you ever been?
Olivia [00:06:04] No.
Annie Jones [00:06:05] You would. I think you would.
Erin [00:06:06] Yeah, I think so, too.
Olivia [00:06:07] I think I'd find it fun.
Annie Jones [00:06:08] I've been with my family and friends.
Olivia [00:06:11] As long as there's no alligators or crocodiles.
Annie Jones [00:06:14] Yeah. And you're going so fast.
Erin [00:06:15] Oh, no, I don't think they live in those types of rivers.
Olivia [00:06:18] No, because it's up north, right? Erin just winked.
Annie Jones [00:06:23] Yeah. Or if they're there, you're going too fast. Whitewater rafting is so fast.
Erin [00:06:28] Yeah.
Olivia [00:06:29] I feel like those animals are extremely fast. I don't want to mess around with them. I have had to draw a line. I do not kayak down south. I will only do it up north.
Annie Jones [00:06:38] Did you go with Ashley? I thought you went with Ashley.
Olivia [00:06:40] I did go with Ashley. Yes. And we got very close-- is it an alligator or crocodile?
Annie Jones [00:06:47] Alligator.
Erin [00:06:48] Alligator.
Olivia [00:06:50] Alligator. It was growling Annie, and we were like five feet away and Ashley's behind me. I didn't see it yet. And she goes, just keep calm and keep to the left and just keep going straight forward.
Erin [00:07:04] You don't want to hear that going down a river.
Olivia [00:07:06] No.
Annie Jones [00:07:07] No. And you were right, alligators move very quickly. And I will say if you grew up down here, maybe I told this story, but when Jordan and I went to Prince Edward Island and we were on a walk at dusk, and it was near a little bit of water. And we were walking and Jordan was like, are you okay? And I was like, I think I just remembered that there are no alligators here, so I can just enjoy this walk.
Olivia [00:07:38] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:07:40] I think I didn't realize that I spend my life on alert, like, could there be a gator here?
Olivia [00:07:46] Yeah. You guys down South, I don't know how you do anything in nature, especially water nature. We went kayaking up North in the Delaware River and the most we encountered was an eagle, which I was grateful to see.
Erin [00:08:01] Which is very interesting patriotic.
Olivia [00:08:05] I was like, this is so serene. I'm not scared. I'm not worried.
Annie Jones [00:08:11] Yeah, the South is like serene with a side of death.
Erin [00:08:13] You live on the edge a little.
Annie Jones [00:08:14] Potential death, yeah.
Olivia [00:08:15] [Crosstalk]. Can you make it?
Annie Jones [00:08:17] Yeah, exactly.
Olivia [00:08:21] I don't want to have to make it.
Annie Jones [00:08:25] Okay, well, let's talk about September books. I'm going to start and I'm just going to go ahead and give a disclaimer for my books. All of these books I am legitimately excited about reading. I've not finished a single one of these books.
Erin [00:08:39] Same.
Annie Jones [00:08:41] I think part of it is-- and we talk about this-- I do think I'm a seasonal reader. And that is a disadvantage sometimes when you are a bookseller, because I don't want to read getting close to fall books when I'm still sweaty. And so anyway, this first book is one in particular that I've been saving. So the first book I want to talk about is Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout. It releases next week, September 10th. I love Elizabeth Strout. I've not read all of her books, but I'm close. I will be a completionist of her works, but I'm not there yet. I love Elizabeth Strout. I started with Olive Kitteridge and read it with my book club years and years ago, like more than a decade ago, and I recall not liking it very much. And then what kind of turned the page when I read My Name is Lucy Barton, but really it was Olive Again that just really made me feel things. And I just thought, I've got to read everything this author writes. And so I've read most of what Elizabeth Strout has written. This is her latest. And what people are saying is this is almost like-- are people saying this or is and Anni B. Jones saying this? Wait for it and then you tell me. It's like The Avengers for Elizabeth Strout.
Erin [00:10:05] They're all back together again.
Annie Jones [00:10:07] Because they're all here together. So if you are an Elizabeth Strout reader, you are familiar with Bob Burgess, Lucy Barton, Olive Kittredge, the town or the community of Crosby, Maine. And so I have to tell you, if you are a Wendell Berry reader and you've not read Elizabeth Strout, with all due respect, what are you doing? I do think you would really enjoy the world Elizabeth Strout has created. So this book Tell Me Everything is weirdly-- now, I want to be very clear. This is not a murder mystery. But in this book, someone has died. And Bob Burgess, the detective, is trying to figure out who did it. And meanwhile, he has a friendship with Lucy Barton. And Lucy, for the first time, finally gets to meet Olive Kitteridge, who's currently residing at a retirement home in Crosby, Maine. I started this book yesterday because I was like, I need to at least get a sense of this novel, see if I'm going to like it. And maybe it's my current state, but I immediately like-- I did not cry, but I immediately was like, oh, I'm going to love this.
[00:11:16] I had this moment where I was like I'm going to hunker down and I'm going to read this book. But I haven't hunkered down and read this book yet, but I am going to. I think this will be such good September reading. The book opens with a beautiful description of Maine about Maine on the cusp of fall, and how it's early August, and they start to see the leaves change. And I was like, okay, I just need to bump down my air, light my pumpkin candles, and I'll be ready to go. So if you are an Elizabeth Strout fan, the publisher is definitely pushing this as here's your chance for all your characters, your favorite characters to come together. But what I also think is interesting is the publisher at least is saying, if you've never read Elizabeth Strout before, this would actually be a great place to start. I can't say whether or not I agree with that yet, but I also am somebody who doesn't always have to read--
[00:12:10] I read an Ellen Hilderbrand recently and it was number three in a series, and I just read that one and was fine. I prefer Olive Again to Olive Kitteridge, and I have told readers to start with Olive Again instead of Olive Kitteridge. So I do think Elizabeth Strout is the kind of writer where her stories are so cohesive. You don't have to read them in some kind of order. So if you've never read her and you're curious about why people like her, why people like her characters, her stories, this really might be a good place to start, because this way you get to be introduced to all of these people that a lot of us have encountered already and we really love them. So this is Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout. The first sentence is beautiful. I can't wait to read it. Releasing on September 10th.
Olivia [00:12:55] When you retire one day, if you don't move to Maine, I'm going to be so disappointed in.
Erin [00:13:00] I know.
Annie Jones [00:13:01] I will be disappointed in myself. Jordan did say the other day he was like, should we try to split our time? If we saved enough, could we split our time so we at least--
Erin [00:13:12] To do summer in Maine?
Annie Jones [00:13:12] Yes, could we summer elsewhere? Also, just because I really like summer, but I think peak summer for me would be shorts and sweatshirt. Does that make sense?
Olivia [00:13:24] Yes, it makes total sense Annie.
Erin [00:13:28] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:13:29] And sometimes I get depressed that I can wear shorts and a sweatshirt, but in March and in December.
Olivia [00:13:40] When you shouldn't be, yeah.
Annie Jones [00:13:43] Right. I hope I do. I do love Maine so much. I think I'd really like it up there.
Olivia [00:13:51] You would. You really would. As we all know, you just wrote a book about staying put.
Annie Jones [00:13:58] That what it is. Soon an upcoming episode of From the Front Porch is an interview with the Mississippi Book Festival director. And I have friends who live in Mississippi, and I love that interview so much. I love the Mississippi Book Festival. I really like Ellen, who is the director of it, and I messaged my friend and I was like, should I move to Mississippi? And my friend was like, didn't you just write a book about staying? And I was like, I think, yes. I did. So here I will say.
Olivia [00:14:30] You've now cornered yourself.
Annie Jones [00:14:31] Yeah. Here I'll be.
Olivia [00:14:34] Yeah.
Erin [00:14:34] I don't know if you're like Wesley and, but every time we go on a vacation anywhere we start to look at houses and schools and how close it is to the Target and the grocery store and the public transportation. And then we go home and we're perfectly happy here. We love it here. But it's fun to sort of imagine these other lives that you might have in these other places.
Annie Jones [00:14:55] Yes, and retirement. That would mean I had stayed a long time.
Erin [00:14:59] Absolutely. You've done your time.
Olivia [00:15:00] You're just finding a new place to stay.
Annie Jones [00:15:02] That's right.
Olivia [00:15:03] Yeah, that makes sense. Well, speaking of another Lucy, my first book is Lucy Undying by Kiersten White.
Annie Jones [00:15:12] That was such a good segue, Olivia.
Olivia [00:15:13] Thank you. It just came to me. This is out September 10th, which the irony that-- is anyone here talking about a September 3rd release because there are so many. I had to warn Kyndall because I was like, you're going to need a second place to store books for that release day.
Annie Jones [00:15:30] On the 3rd?
Olivia [00:15:32] Yeah.
Erin [00:15:32] It's lot.
Olivia [00:15:33] September 3rd is huge.
Annie Jones [00:15:35] Which is funny because isn't that the day after Labor Day?
Olivia [00:15:38] Yeah.
Erin [00:15:38] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:15:39] Yeah. Interesting.
Olivia [00:15:40] Yeah, but that first of a month, man, especially when it gets to fall and now everything's coming out for holidays, too. So my book is Lucy and Dion by Kirsten White. People have probably heard me talk about her before because she wrote Hide and Seek at an Amusement park, Life or Death Stakes and then Mister Magic, which I really liked as well. Which was when Dylan put in the Out of the Box theme song. Shout out to Dylan. Thank you so much.
Annie Jones [00:16:12] Pennsylvanians unite.
Olivia [00:16:16] I was not crazy. That was the show.
Erin [00:16:19] Yeah.
Olivia [00:16:19] But now she wrote a book that I just had to read because it was-- it's not a Dracula retelling, but it is a Dracula novel. So Lucy is a vampire who is one of the first and few vampires turned by Dracula. And she is now in the current day, with us, and she's trying to figure out who she is and how to live on her own. And she does that through finding love. It's told in three different parts and it alternates throughout. But one of them is a conversation Lucy's having with her therapist in the current day, but about things from her past that have led her to where she is. She's kind of working through it with her therapist and her therapist is kind of like, what?
Annie Jones [00:17:09] This is new.
Olivia [00:17:13] Yeah, but doing her best. And the next part is Lucy's diary. And this is from her as a child and growing up and eventually then turning into a vampire. So it's her and her nanny studying together. She was best friends with her, or so she thought. And then she meets Dracula, and we all know what happens after that. And then in current day, you get a point of view from Iris. And Iris has just moved into Lucy's childhood home, finds her diary and encounters Lucy, and then their lives just start weaving in and out until they're together. It was so well done. It was so beautifully written. I feel like it's for fans of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. Woman eating by an author that I can't remember. And I'm so sorry because I did love that book. That one was slightly humorous to me. I don't know if it was supposed to be. This one wasn't humorous, but it was such a complicated story. But in the end so simple as to what Lucy was trying to do and accomplish with her life. It was really well done. I was pretty impressed by Kiersten White, who I have known to only write thrillers. And now this book was so intense and so well done.
Erin [00:18:36] Departure a different thing.
Annie Jones [00:18:38] Yeah, that was my question. So because she typically writes really true thrillers, maybe even slight element of horror. And then is this romance? What is this?
Olivia [00:18:52] There is an aspect to it that is romance. And that's the relationship between Iris and Lucy. But then woven in that there's also like Iris's family is kind of this big corporation that's not doing good, but it controls a lot of things so it's high stakes. So that has maybe more of the mystery thriller element, but it's almost like a coming of age story of Lucy's life.
Annie Jones [00:19:19] Interesting.
Olivia [00:19:20] Yeah. I really liked it.
Erin [00:19:21] I always admire authors who can do that. Like do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but it's still so good. That just proves they are really good at what they do. They're good writers.
Olivia [00:19:30] Yeah, it was great.
Erin [00:19:32] Okay. My first book is already out. It's out September 3rd. It's called The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. I think I'm saying that right. Haig. This was the author who wrote the very popular The Midnight Library, which so many people read. And I have to admit, I have not read this one yet. I've read some of it, but not all of it. August is just a very hard time for me for reading because the kids are back in school and everyone has after school things and appointments, and by the end of the day the last thing I feel like doing is reading. I've been watching a lot of trash TV in August and not reading.
Annie Jones [00:20:12] No judgment.
Erin [00:20:13] Not at all. I'll get back into it in September. I feel like a lot of his books are very feel good, they're usually sort of like PG, PG 13. They have a good moral. They're about friendships and connections and this book is much of the same. It's about Grace. She is a elderly, retired math teacher-- or maths, as they say in Britain, because she's in Britain. So she's a maths teacher. And she gets an email from a former student, and she decides to respond. And the whole response is just kind of this book and this story about how she had sort of given up on life. She had a child an adult child that passed away. And she had she thought, I'm 82 years old. My life is kind of over. I'm just going to just kind of live out the rest of my days. And it doesn't matter if I don't have joy or feel any happiness. But she gets a surprise from a deceased coworker that she has been gifted this house. It's in Ibiza. I always feel like you have to say it like “Ibitha” like Barcelona.
Annie Jones [00:21:31] Yes.
Erin [00:21:34] I feel weird saying that because I don't have that accent, but it's in Ibiza. She has been given this home, and so she decides what the heck? I'm going to go over there and just take a vacation. And then when she gets there, it turns out there's some suspicion around the death of her friend. And so she sorts of teams up with all of the locals to find out really what happened to her friend. And there is a magical realism aspect to this, which I think a few of his previous books have had before. I mean, The Midnight Library has that sort of magical thing where you can go back in time and all that stuff. She has an encounter with, like, a presence in the water in the ocean and it renders her able to read minds and to move objects at will. And so it helps her on her quest to find out what happened to her friend. And so this is a perfect feel good book. It's a love story. It's about connection and the power of just being able to let yourself go and feel love and joy again when you thought that there wasn't a chance for that again. And a lot of the reviewer said there is this magical aspect to it, but it it works. It doesn't feel cheesy, and it works within the storyline. So I'm really excited to finish reading this and to share it with people.
Annie Jones [00:22:56] Okay. My next one is totally different. You can just tell from the title, it's Two-Step Devil by Jamie Quatro. I really loved Jamie Quatro's Fire Sermon. I have talked about it at length on this podcast at various points, because I sent Fire Sermon Out as a Shelf Subscription title years ago. It's the only time I received the book mailed back to me with a letter explaining why. That was a beautiful book. I have not revisited it since that time. It was a beautiful book about a marriage and about an affair and what platonic love looks like, what romantic love looks like. I really liked that book. This is her new one. She's not had one in a while. I think she's written some short fiction and maybe some essays, for, like, the Paris Review and stuff like that. But this is her first novel. I texted Hunter about it yesterday because I started reading it yesterday in preparation for this podcast, and I was like, oh, I really like this, but it's weird. And I said, Hunter, do you think it's too weird for me to talk about on the podcast? And he was like, no, you like weird stuff. And I was like, that's true. I do like weird stuff. So this is Two-Step Devil. It takes place in the contemporary American South. It starts in like Lookout Mountain weirdly north Alabama. And then also a little bit into north Georgia and Tennessee. And the main character is a man named the prophet. The publisher did send me a letter with profit. No, it's the prophet with a p-h, everybody. Sorry to the publisher. Sorry to out you guys, but I was so confused.
[00:24:45] So it's a character named The Prophet, as you could guess, from a character who has kind of named himself The Prophet, he is a very mysterious, enigmatic character who believes himself to be a literal prophet. And the book opens with the prophet as a young man. His wife is in labor and it's a dangerous labor, and he has to take his wife to the hospital. And I just want to be very clear, I think Jamie Quatro is a really visceral writer. And so you have to go into her books knowing. So fire sermon, for example, had a lot of sexual content. And you just have to go into it knowing that that's in there, but that's also not entirely the point of the book. This book opens with a fairly not graphic but tragic scene about The Prophet and his wife and their child. Their child does not make it through the birth. And so it's a fairly brutal opening passage. And you can see that this moment probably is going to have a profound impact on who the profit becomes as the years progress. Later, we meet the profit. And most of the novel is about the profit encountering a young woman he calls Michael. He sees her bound. Her hands and legs are bound in the back of a vehicle. He takes it upon himself to rescue her. And then when he rescues her, he believes they were fated to be together so that she could take his prophet's message to the white House. Is this weird enough for you guys?
Erin [00:26:28] No, I'm intrigued. I'm just listening.
Annie Jones [00:26:31] So that is the premise of the book. If you are familiar with Jamie Quatro, it is really well written. As I have come to expect from her, it is really well written. I'm also intrigued by any book that is set in the American South. Whenever I read a book set in the South, I can always tell if it's somebody who actually knows and understands the South, or someone who has never set foot here. I do think Jamie Quatro understands the South. And so I am really excited about this book, but I do think it will be a different kind of reading experience. I don't think this is going to be straightforward historical fiction or straightforward magical realism or mystery thriller. I think this is going to have some suspense type elements. Perhaps, I don't know, maybe also some apocalyptic type elements. I can't quite tell. But I'm very intrigued by this. I like Jamie Quatro a lot. The cover is amazing. So this is Two-Step Devil by Jamie Quatro, and it also releases on September 10th.
Olivia [00:27:33] I don't have a segue for that one. I'm just like, I'm going to middle grade book now.
Erin [00:27:44] That was Two-Step Devil, this is your second book, so there you go. Sure.
Olivia [00:27:49] Yeah. Let's two-step our way back into middle grade.
Erin [00:27:53] There you go.
Annie Jones [00:27:54] That was it.
Olivia [00:27:57] There we go. This is A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga. Also out September 10th. You probably know her name. I hope you know her name. I hope I spoke about A Rover Story enough that you guys automatically know Jasmine Warga.
Annie Jones [00:28:14] I knew.
Olivia [00:28:15] Good. I'm so glad.
Annie Jones [00:28:15] I did.
Olivia [00:28:16] This had all the feel of a classic book. I think this one is pretty timeless. There isn't anything that really dates it that much. And so I think this is a book that could go alongside like a Sharon Creech or from The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler. Just right in line with all of those. This is about a kid, Rami. Rami's mother works in a museum, and Rami loves this museum. He'll hang out there while his mother is working. But one day, a famous painting from the museum-- it's like a local artist but the painting has always been untitled-- has been stolen. And it was during one of Rami's mother's shifts where it was just her and one other security guard. And so now it kind of looks like Rami's mother might have stolen this painting, but Rami knows his mother did not. And so Rami sets out to figure out who stole the painting. Who is in the painting and who is this artist? Then he meets a ghost. And the ghost is a little girl who looks exactly like the girl in the painting. And he starts to talk with her. And then, because this is Jasmine Warga, and she is one of the most delightful people on this planet, you get these chapters interspersed that's from the point of view of a turtle named Agatha.
[00:29:40] And Agatha the turtle lives at the museum. She lives out in the park outside of it. And she just kind of oversees everything. She knows who stole the painting. She knows who the ghost is. She was actually named, you find out in one scene, by Rami's mother who eats lunch out by the little sanctuary where the turtle lives. And now she calls herself Agatha because that was the only person who ever gave her a name. So there's this beauty in this book, and there is a mystery. It felt very akin to from The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler, where it's this child finding and claiming their own independence. There's an art heist mystery element to it where they do solve who the artist is, what the painting was. It was a really great reveal at the end, but then it's also Rami teams up with this other girl on his grade that he didn't think they were friends and it turns out they were the whole time. So it's this kid finding security in friendship so that he can be who he is. It was such a great book. And it's a little one, too. I read it in one sitting. Also, Agatha the Turtle is absolutely delightful.
Erin [00:30:57] Do you need a turtle now?
Olivia [00:30:58] They were some of my favorite. No, I do not want it at all.
Erin [00:31:01] But you liked reading about her.
Olivia [00:31:04] I loved reading about Agatha the turtle. She seemed so delightful. And it a refreshing point of view that kind of stemmed back, like, okay, here's where we are at in the story. Here's what Agatha is up to. And then let's get back into the nitty gritty of Rami trying to pull one over his mom so he can sneak out and figure out who this artist is. So it was a great story. I love Jasmine Warga. She can do no wrong. She's an amazing author.
Erin [00:31:30] Just what a brilliant choice. I always think that's not how my brain would work. I think what a brilliant choice to think let's have a turtle narrate part of the story. And the turtle is sort of the all-knowing, sort of omniscient narrator. That is brilliant. That's so heartwarming.
Olivia [00:31:45] Yeah. Because why not?
Erin [00:31:48] Yeah, because why not.
Annie Jones [00:31:49] Yeah.
Erin [00:31:50] Okay. My next book, I am so excited about. It's called A Bit Much: Poems by Lyndsay Rush. It comes out September 17th. I wouldn't normally bring a paperback poetry release to this podcast, but I'm very excited about this one. I make an exception for her. Everyone, if you don't know her name, you probably know her Instagram, which is @Maryoliversdrunkcousin. That's her Instagram handle and she writes poetry. And it's beautiful. And I've been following her for a while. And when I saw she was coming out with a book, I was sold already. So it's finally here. I have read this whole book, by the way. I did read this entire book of poetry. It's easy to do. Her poetry is about love. It's about motherhood. It's about self-care, childhood. She writes a lot about faith and leaving the faith or deconstructing her faith. So if you've come from a faith background and you also have some qualms or questions, these are great poems for that as well.
[00:32:53] Every single one that I read, I wanted to freeze it or like have actually hand letter it on to some sort of t-shirt or pillow for me to have in my home. They're cheeky, they're funny, but at the end it's like every one of them just gives you this, like, emotional gut punch, which was so awesome. And there's a really short one I thought I would just read it here. I'm no poet, but I thought this is a great one. I don't remember the name of it. It's a very long title to the actual poem, but this is the poem itself. It says love is a heated towel, fresh sheets, a blanket with arms. Love is a perfectly timed inside joke. The first firefly of the summer. Having your hair braided, puppy breath. Love is getting dressed for dinner after a long day at the beach. Damp hair, sun-kissed shoulders, soft linen, the faint smell of sunscreen and orange blossom. Love is rounding the bend on a darkened road, seeing the porch lights on and realizing you've finally found your way home.
[00:34:01] What a great poem. It's so great. I also do love getting dressed after a long day of being at the beach and you feel sort of fresh like you've been out in the sun. I thought that was great to capture that. So this is an easy sell. It's paperback. I think it's $18. I love these books of poetry. You can pick it up, read one, put it down, pick it up again, read another one. Write it down, send it to a friend, share it with someone. So, again, that's A Bit Much: Poems by Lyndsay Rush. It comes out September 17th.
Annie Jones [00:34:35] So I have this on my Kindle and also the ARC. And she's divided it. You read the whole thing so you know, but she's divided it up on sections kind of like so whatever mood you're in you can go to that section.
Erin [00:34:50] Yeah, right. You can read these.
Annie Jones [00:34:52] And I think that setup is so brilliant. I also have followed her on Instagram forever. I don't know if you read the poetry of Kate Bear, but it's kind of like Kate Bear type poetry where it feels really accessible and but no less meaningful or poignant. I'm really excited about this one too. And the cover is great. It's great cover art.
Erin [00:35:18] It's a vibrant, gorgeous cover. It's so much fun.
Annie Jones [00:35:23] Okay. My last book I will not say that it is the most highly anticipated, but this is a book that I feel like we've been waiting for it for months. It has been on everybody's radar for a long time, and it is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. It releases on September 24th. I feel like I have seen it everywhere. I do feel fortunate I have an ARC. I fully intend to read it because I love Sally Rooney. If you are somehow not familiar, she's an Irish author. She wrote Normal People, which then became a Hulu show, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. She wrote the book Beautiful World, Where Are You? Which I loved Normal People, but then Beautiful World, Where Are You became my favorite Sally Rooney. But what I'm hearing from my fellow readers is that Intermezzo is like a departure or perhaps better put, it is next level Sally Rooney. So a lot of people, I think, associate her with like longing and a little bit of romance. Like Normal People was a kind of romantic adjacent story. I think it was more than that, but it certainly did deal with a romantic relationship.
[00:36:38] Intermezzo is the story of Peter and Ivan Koubek. They are both grappling with the loss of their father. Peter is, as you might expect, the high achieving eldest son who is in a relationship and struggling with his father's death, particularly as the eldest child, maybe like the responsible kind of stereotypical elder son. And then Ivan is the younger son. He's not necessarily a ne'er do well, but his life has not maybe gone like his elder brother’s kind of high achieving, very disciplined life. Instead, Ivan is a chess player. And I am married to someone who takes chess very seriously. And there are chess boards all over my house because Jordan is playing chess all the time. He's totally fine. He's totally normal. And so this book plays a lot with the concept of chess, with grief, with sibling relationships and sibling dynamics. I'm intrigued because her two characters are male. This is a brother relationship. Normal People was about a romantic relationship. Beautiful World, Where are you? was about this group of friends. And really it was a novel about friendship. And I think this is a novel about sibling love.
[00:38:02] So this is different for her. And yet, I think the writing that you're accustomed to, the depth that you're accustomed to, if you're a Sally Rooney fan, I think that that is all here. But some people, I would argue perhaps jealous people, have been maybe reluctant to praise her because she's so popular. I mean, she's wildly popular not just in the UK, but in America as well. And she's kind of a wunderkind. She's still relatively young. She consistently is publishing these bestselling books. But I think some people have maybe been dismissive of some of her work. And I think what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing from reviews is this might be her masterwork. It might be what takes her work to the next literary level. So I'm really excited about this one. I'm thrilled to have gotten an ARC. I honestly was just waiting for the weather to get cooler. I really was and I know it sounds so silly. But I really wanted to, I don't know, cuddle up on my couch and read it. So it is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. I will also put a plug. We are doing a release party of sorts for Sally Rooney's book. It's more an all-day thing. You don't have to come at any certain time, but we have some giveaways and goodies. So if you have preordered from us, or if you want to preorder from us and then come celebrate with us on the book's release, we would love to see you. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, releases September 25th.
Erin [00:39:26] And when is the party? The party is not on the release day.
Annie Jones [00:39:30] Day after.
Erin [00:39:30] It's the day after, right? Just so people won't come out on release day. Come in the day after.
Olivia [00:39:34] We do have a big event the evening of the release day. And so we felt it wouldn't be fair to people to close early on the release day.
Erin [00:39:41] On the release day, yeah.
Olivia [00:39:43] Also, my next book is also about sibling hood. But before that, I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys a story. I met Jasmine Warga at Children's Institute. This summer has been a blur, which is why.
Erin [00:39:52] What?
Olivia [00:39:52] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:39:52] Olivia.
Olivia [00:39:53] And so listeners, you also get to hear the story.
Erin [00:39:55] You did not mention that.
Olivia [00:39:57] And you guys know how bad I am at meeting people that I admire. And so I waited in line, she signed a copy of A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall for me.
Annie Jones [00:40:08] Were you sweaty?
Olivia [00:40:09] Yeah. Oh, my gosh. So sweaty. So sweaty and so nervous that. She had a big easel that had a big cover and I tripped into it a little bit.
Annie Jones [00:40:18] Sure.
Erin [00:40:20] That sounds like something I would do, too.
Olivia [00:40:22] And then I was just like, "I loved A Story so much. It was my favorite book of last year." And she was like, okay. She was so sweet. I was so nervous. I shouldn't meet people. I shouldn't meet people that I really like.
Annie Jones [00:40:36] But to your credit, what else are you supposed to say? I mean, y'all know we frequently are on the bookselling side, but we're occasionally still just readers. And so, I went to Jesmyn Ward signing at FSU and I was standing in line and I was like, what am I supposed to tell this woman that she hasn't a million times?
Erin [00:40:57] Yeah, I love your book. She's like, thank you, that's why everyone's here.
Olivia [00:41:01] Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:41:03] But then I thought who wouldn't want to hear--
Erin [00:41:04] Over and over again.
Annie Jones [00:41:05] That A Rover story was your favorite book of the year? What a delight. You did great.
Olivia [00:41:10] I mean, try not to trip in front of them and almost knock over the sign.
Annie Jones [00:41:15] Sure, but I bet she was thrilled.
Olivia [00:41:18] She was very sweet. And then I met Julie Murphy.
Annie Jones [00:41:26] Was that fun?
Olivia [00:41:27] Yes, she was so pleasant. I went up to her and I was just like, we love your books. She was like, you're so adorable. I gave her my card and everything. She was great.
Annie Jones [00:41:36] That's fun.
Olivia [00:41:37] Yeah, she was awesome. Okay. Anyways, sorry. This next book is When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson, and it's out the end of September on the 24th, the same day as Intermezzo. You might know Jandy Nelson's name because they wrote-- I'm not sure if it's a man or woman. I'm so sorry.
Erin [00:41:58] That's alright.
Olivia [00:41:58] I should have researched that and I didn't, and I'm so sorry, everyone. I will use they. They wrote I'll Give You the Sun, which won several awards. I did not read it, but Keila did, and she loved it.
Annie Jones [00:42:12] I did, too. It's good.
Olivia [00:42:14] Okay.
Erin [00:42:15] I think Jandy is a female. I just did a little googling.
Olivia [00:42:19] Okay. I'm so sorry Jandy if you're listening. I hopefully won't be meeting you because I don't do it very well.
Annie Jones [00:42:26] You could meet her and be like, I didn't know what pronounce to use for you. That could be your ice breaker.
Erin [00:42:31] Your opening line, your icebreaker.
Olivia [00:42:33] Yeah. I talked about you on a podcast and I had no idea your pronouns, but I am a professional. This is about three siblings, Wynton, Dizzy and Miles. They're all named after famous musicians.
Erin [00:42:49] Yeah, that's awesome.
Olivia [00:42:50] And they're all kind of struggling in different ways. Their dad left when they were young right before Dizzy was born. She's the youngest. Wynton is just struggling finding a job, figuring out who he's supposed to be. But he is an amazing violinist. Miles, they nicknamed Perfect Miles and so now he has to live up to these expectations that people hold over him. And Dizzy is in that weird, like, middle school moment where you're just like, am I still friends with these people? Having that school turmoil. So each of them are dealing with their own things, and then separately, each one of them have this chance life changing moment meeting this girl who's described as like she has rainbow hair. She is very petite, but she has this really deep, hoarse voice that just stands out to all of them. So she meets Dizzy when Dizzy is distracted and steps into the street, almost gets hit by a car and this girl pushes her out of the way. So Dizzy thinks that she's an angel. She meets Miles one day when she's parked outside Miles's uncle's house, and Miles kind of just approaches her and he's like what are what are you doing? And then they hit it off so well that he spends the whole day with her.
[00:44:08] And Miles was pretty depressed and then he had a moment of light with her where he was, like, I feel fine. And he hadn't had that moment in so long that it was such a life changing moment for him. And then she is there when Wynton actually does get hit by a car and she does CPR, and gets him to the hospital. So she literally does save his life. So it's them meeting this girl and the aftermath of her becoming a part of their lives in different ways and for different reasons. And it was just so well done. I haven't read a ton of young adult in the past year or two. I read the new Ransom Riggs, and then I picked up this one because I did see a lot of marketing and advertising about it and I was like, alright, I'll fall for it. And I get it. I get why. This was so beautifully done. Definitely 14 and up for this one, but I think this also will carry over into the adult readers. It didn't read YA where you're maybe getting frustrated with the choices of the protagonist or them being angsty. It read as a sibling story, as a complicated sibling story, which I think an adult can relate to. It was very well done. That was when the World Tipped over by Jandy Nelson.
Annie Jones [00:45:30] It sounds good.
Erin [00:45:32] That does sound good. There's a little bit of magical realism to that, too. It sounds like the girl is a little-- they don't know where she came from or who she is at first, but then they find out more about her. Yeah.
Olivia [00:45:45] At first it's a little bit magical, but then you realize, no, it was completely based in reality and how she intertwines herself in their lives and everything.
Annie Jones [00:45:54] Did you guys read in middle school or high school Stargirl?
Olivia [00:45:58] Yes.
Annie Jones [00:45:59] She reminds me a little bit of Stargirl.
Erin [00:46:01] And fun fact, Wynton was actually a baby name on our list that we were going to name one of our children. We did not use it, but we loved that name, Wynton, because of Wynton Marsalis. Yeah.
Annie Jones [00:46:11] It is a good name.
Erin [00:46:13] Okay. This last book is Entitlement by Rumaan Alam. Annie, have you started this one? You have started this one, but not finished it?
Annie Jones [00:46:22] Yes. I'm almost done. Yeah, it's so good.
Erin [00:46:24] You're almost done. Okay, good. I'm very excited about it. I loved their first book Leave the World Behind. Wesley and I listened to it on audiobook together, so I'll always have that memory of listening to it together. And then, of course, now it's been made into a very successful movie. I don't know. I didn't see it. Their writing is just so good. I started this one yesterday, and I was just like, ooh, I'm already into this. It's just the sense of place, the inner thoughts of the characters, but not so much that it's tedious. This is about Brooke; she is a highly educated black woman who used to work as a teacher and then was sort of looking to make a change and found herself working at this foundation for this elderly billionaire in New York called [inaudible]. And so that is pretty much as far as I've read. And Annie, you can probably speak to this more, but it sounds like she both wants to change lives. Her desire is to like with all this money, what can we do with this? How can we help people?
[00:47:40] But it's competing with her desire, her internal desires and her ambition, which is for herself to get ahead, for herself to have the lifestyle of someone who has a lot of money. So through clothes and where you live, the way you can help people in your own life. And so, I'm guessing that that ambition sort of wins out for a while and she's making poor choices. But I think really it's about examining how what money means to people and how money can mean freedom for some people, and lack of money means lack of freedom for other people. And what that means and what does it mean when you have it, when you don't have it? It kind of examines all those larger themes like that. So one review said that his last book focused on external threats like the world ending and things like that. And then this one is more focused on the internal threats from our own self. So, I cannot wait to read it. I'm so excited.
Annie Jones [00:48:43] It's so good. He's a fantastic writer. I would not call this plot driven. This is a quiet book, but it's a book about money. I mean, like Kiley Reid, her latest book Come and Get It felt like it addressed money and class on a collegiate level, like when you go to college and that's when you're first figuring out who has money, who doesn't? You first start to see the disparity. Or I think some of us maybe first start to see the disparity. There are plenty of other times when you're younger, but there's something about college when you're like on your own. So to me, Kiley Reid is addressing it there. And then by Rumaan Alam is addressing it like in the workplace. She's got a friend who obviously is a trust fund kid and who can buy her own apartment in Manhattan or in the city and she can't. She and her other friend (it's a group of three of them) are like, we can't barely afford rent.
[00:49:43] And then it's really interesting because she works at this foundation with this billionaire who isn't the picture of morality. And so I think she's grappling with that her mother's a little disappointed in the trajectory her life is taking. But she is so excited because she feels like she gets to fund projects and then she goes to this school and the school is like we don't want your dirty money, like that kind of thing. It's interesting. It's just all about money and class and ambition and it is fascinating. I'm not finished with it yet either, but I really do like what I've read. He's a really great writer about the human condition. Because I don't know if you read, Erin, but he wrote That Kind of Mother.
Erin [00:50:31] No, I don't think I ever read that one.
Annie Jones [00:50:35] I think I've read all of his books, but I loved that book. My book club was hit or miss on it, but I loved it. But it was a book about motherhood. And so I think he just does a really good job of writing about human relationships and the human condition. So, I'm rooting for his writing career, I think.
Erin [00:50:52] Yeah, absolutely.
Annie Jones [00:50:54] He's really talented. Okay, so those are the books that are releasing in September. That's a good list. Good job.
Erin [00:51:02] A very wide range of books.
Annie Jones [00:51:04] Yes, something for everyone. Some poetry, some middle grade, Two-Step Devil. I don't even know what category that's in.
Erin [00:51:12] That's right.
Annie Jones [00:51:12] Yeah, just all kinds of fun books.
Olivia [00:51:15] Vampires.
Annie Jones [00:51:15] Vampires, yeah.
Erin [00:51:17] Some vampires.
Annie Jones [00:51:17] So if you were intrigued by any of the books we talked about today, don't forget that you can preorder or purchase them online. Just go to bookshelfthomasville.com. Today's episode number is 493. You can type that in the search bar and browse the books listed then use code new release please at checkout for 10% off your order.
[00:51:38] This week I'm reading Someone in the Attic by Andrea Marra. Olivia, what are you reading?
Olivia [00:51:44] I'm reading The Girls of Skylark Lane by Robin Benway.
Annie Jones [00:51:48] And Erin, what are you reading?
Erin [00:51:49] I'm reading Entitlement by Rumaan Alam.
[00:51:50] 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:
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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