Bookwild - Book Club Book Recommendations with Gare and Steph

Episode Date: November 15, 2025

This week, Gare, Steph and I share books we think are good discussion starters for book clubs!Books We Talked AboutKate's PicksBlood Over Bright Haven by M.L. WangDominion by Addie E. CitchensMy Husband by Maud VenturaProject Hail Mary by Andy WeirAllegedly by Tiffany D JacksonGare's PicksKeep it In the Family by John MarrsBest Offer Wins by Marisa KashinoHis & Hers by Alice FeeneyAmerican Psycho by Bret Easton EllisSteph's PicksWitchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady HendrixNone of This is True by Lisa JewellSisters of the Lost Nation by Nick MedinaDon’t Forget the Girl by Rebecca McKannaAll the Sinners Bleed by S.A. CosbyThe Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead Check Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackGet Bookwild MerchFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrianMacKenzie Green @missusa2mba 

So I'm back with Gare and Steph, and Gare has like a really exciting icebreaker. So I've just been in suspense. I feel like we talked about how we're all continuously moving and like how we prefer to read our books. whether it's like audio, Kindle, moving, hardcover paperback, whatever the case may be. Did he freeze for you? So I thought you should take your preferred way of reading a book.

Am I glitching? Okay, now you're back. You were frozen like this. You're like, so we thought you were pausing for dramatic. We were like, it just hangs up. We're like, wait, oh wait, no, he's frozen. Um, we are.

Um, we got to the part where you were like, so you know how we all are, have our preferred way of reading books? That's where you cut off. Yes. Okay. So we all have our preferred way of reading books. And we've talked about how like we dive in and out of like different areas, whether it's like Kindle, hardcover paperback, audio book, whatever. So I want you to take your preferred method of reading and give me a pro and a con of it. Oh, okay. I'm ready. So audiobooks are definitely like I can't I can't say that they're not my favorite at this point. I don't know why I phrased it that way. They are my favorite. It's how I'm able to fit it in right now. So that's even more a part of why it's my favorite. A pro. I mean, I have so many.

But one is like I discovered that it's actually easier for me to not scroll with an audiobook. some people have asked me like I feel like I would just scroll and then like forget and it's not like I never ever do but for the most part what's kind of nice about it is like especially at night when I'm finally done with work I can just put headphones in and someone reads to me and I can like not even have my phone in my hand or like sometimes if I'm reading on my like Kindle app on my phone I'm even more tempted to just like pop on over to Instagram for a second and so I actually learned that like in general with audiobooks, I can turn it on and then not have my phone like all that close to me. So that's one of my big pros. Also, the obvious one is I can listen while I'm working on stuff that

doesn't have audio. So that's like the savior part. The con, I just finally found a really specific one, is especially when I'm reading fantasy. So there's like world building and like the places are made up and the names. are made up sometimes i'm like i want to see the text of like what this because you don't know what the word is you're just hearing it and you're like how did the author spell this like what is this word that they keep saying so that was my like one thing where i was like sometimes they have PDFs with audiobooks like if there are maps or like with nonfiction sometimes there are like references or whatever and i'm like i need the fantasy books to do like a glossary of the name

PDF for the audiobook version because you are it is a little bit harder to like learn what these words are since they're not real words that makes sense so I am a paperback boy I love a floppy paperback boomtown so I'm a paperback so I'm a paperback person I just feel like paperback for me like the con or the pro is that it's like very easy to like hold and like cuddle up with like I can't cuddle up with a hard cover because like the dust jacket gets in the way or like the covers too hard and like it just like hurts my dainty little wrist so I do prefer a paperback but I am realizing how easy a paperback can be to damage yeah I dropped the paperback the other day And I have...

Yeah. Like, I dropped a paperback the other day and I ripped one of the pages right here. And I was like pissed. And then I had a stack of bookmail on my desk at work and I spilled my water bottle. And like now... Okay. So if you're on YouTube, we look different. This was another internet difficulty. It seems to be happening for everyone across the U.S. right now. So we are on Zoom. But the last thing we were hearing from. gear was that he got water all over a paper back and that it was making squishy sounds when he went to try to read it. Oh yeah. Like it dried and I was like, okay, the ink like wasn't affected

but then like when I was reading it, it's like it was like super like yeah, it sounded like I was like rolling an elephant through a bunch of like fall leaves. That was really specific. Thank you. Oh man. I love all my little formats, but I think I, the con I can think of the most is like I also am an

audiobook fan for a variety of reasons. Like if I'm just not finding the time to sit down, it really helps me. But like I was reading a book the other day listening. And as it got towards the end where like all the action was happening, I was multitasking too much, and I thought I knew what was happening. But like, actually, I'm like, I really don't know if I. Yes, I have had that. And then sometimes I'm like, you know, I'm not really sure what happened, but I bet it's a four.

Like, you know what I mean? Yes. I think it was a four. Yes. And I'm, but then other times it's like, I think there's ones where I want to go back. and I want to re-listen, but then, you know, sometimes it's like, you know what? I think I got the gist and as much as I needed to devote. You know what I mean?

There's certain books like that. Yeah. The joke is fine. It makes you feel any better. I'm reading a physical book right now and I'm like not into it, but I'm like so far into it that I refuse to DNF it. I want to know how it ends. And I'm like, I'm like, wait, did that really happen? or is this like telling me something and I was like whatever I just want to get to like the last chapter

I know that's what I'm saying sometimes it's like you know I don't really care to know the exact everything yeah maybe that's a sign maybe that's a sign of its rating for me yeah that was like a good question though oh I like that one yeah I will say a positive that I really like about Kindles is I love when your internet is on that you can like look up words I love that so much. I agree. Well, that's what I was, like, thinking, like, the thing that, like, annoys me is, like, I usually have a book, like, a physical book that I'm reading.

But Kate and I did a body read, like, a few weeks ago, and I was alternating between my Kindle and the audiobook when I was driving. And I was like, this is really working for me. But, like, the downside was, like, driving somewhere, and then I had to wait a few minutes like inside of the hair salon and I was like I can't listen to my audio book

because I don't have my earbuds you know what I mean? But like if I had my book with me I could like read more of it. So I was like there's kind of like a pro and a con to like every aspect of like reading for me. Totally. But I was just like hmm

which one do we justify the most? I know. Yeah. I man obviously I still just I have Audible, but I feel so conflicted. I get more and more conflicted by it every day since like Amazon is donating to this bunker ballroom and all of that shit. But nothing is as easy as the way you can do Whisper Sync. So if you have your Kindle version and the Audible version, like as an interviewer, I feel like I almost need that because like I can make a bookmark in the audio. and then go back later to that exact spot because it's just like all synced up so that I can go

and highlight it. And I'm like, I'm trying not to get all of my stuff from Amazon, but I also can't help it. Well, I like that too. Like there was when I was doing Kindle Unlimited more and there was the audio and the Kindle, like, they would know exactly where you left off on one and started it. And I'm like, that is really nice. Like it's how I read Separation of Church and Hate. I like listened and would make all my bookmarks, like, throughout the day. And then it was so easy to go through to prep for the interview because all the highlights were already there in the text form. So it's so useful. Also, at the end of the day, though, like, what works best for your life? That's what I'm getting to. Like, I feel like I'm doing. And you're such a huge part of my life,

but like, if you stop shopping at Amazon, like, Amazon's not going to shut down. They're not going to shut down. I agree. You know what I mean? Like, it's also, it's my OCD that's like, oh, you're bitching about rich people, but you still buy from Amazon, you can't do both. I think I'm going to do some things too. Yeah. Right, but like you can't go to like a thrift store and get a no. No. I mean like

exactly. It's kind of like the people that are like trying to cancel or like boycott or refuse to shop at Target are like, well, I'm going to Walmart now and it's like well Walmart donated to Trump's not any better. Yeah. Like shop where it's convenient for you. Do you know what I know? I know.

Whatever. I was like explaining it to Tyler and he was like also like the authors get paid either way right and I'm like yes correct Yeah and that's a place where some authors it's the only place they are I know and that's what I was thinking about too so I need to let it go I still buy from Libro yeah but oh but I what part of why I was bringing that up is if anybody ever does discover a place that does something like whisper sink because nobody does yet like I wish I was we could do it with Libby, the, like, library loan app. Like, that would be really cool. But you can't. So if anyone ever knows of an alternative, let me know.

Otherwise, it's so important. I wish Libro and Bookshop would. I do, too. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I find very interesting is I don't think that there's audio books at Indigo. Like the Canadian. Because I was actually thinking of getting,

um, The like, is it a nook? Mm-hmm. The Barnes & Oval one? There's like a Canadian, like the Indigo. Oh, Indigo has one. Okay. I think it starts with an N. But like I never see audiobooks as an option on there.

So I wonder how that would work. Yeah. Yeah. Who knows? Oh, my God. If anyone, if anyone ever knows of one, let us know. The Gone Girl audiobook is. $58, Canadian.

What? 58? That's crazy. I feel like you could find that one on a library app, like pretty well available because it's been up for so long. It's like 13, 14 years old. That's like 43 American. That's crazy. And that's why I'm sticking with Amazon.

Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah, if that's what your options are for sure. Yeah. Those are three dog toys for Murphy. and he is not going to go without this Christmas. I can't have been.

Woof, woof. Woof. A little pumpkin. For Gone Girl on Libby right now in our Wisconsin area, there's 104 copies in use and zero people waiting. Is that real? It may mean that they just had bought that many rights years ago. Oh, yeah, a whole place.

First in line. If you love the Book Wild podcast so much that you'd love to be a part of a Book Wild community that gets early episode releases and no ads in the episodes, you need to check out my Book Wild Patreon. If you don't know what Patreon is, it is a social platform where you can have exclusive content and community, all in one space that isn't Instagram or YouTube. There are two tiers, and with the first tier, you get every episode a day earlier than the public with zero ads. And the second tier is Book Wild's Backlist Book Club. When I started this, I just was not reading as much

backlist. I had gotten into the net galley rut of only reading what was about to come out. And I was like, there are so many other books I want to read. So every month, we choose a backlist book. We read it and then we come together at a certain time and discuss it on the weekends. It's really so much fun and I would love to see you there. Signing up is easy. Just follow the link in the show notes. well we so you had some people asking you about this topic stuff right that's where we got got to our choice i've just had a lot of people reaching out about it in general yeah the concept of joining a book club recently oh okay well that's cool that more people want to for like just inquiries about wanting to come to meetings

nice that's fun yeah so I was making you think about books we'd recommend for book clubs like ones that have good can carry conversation for a while

yes yes oh this is going to be so fun I'm so excited well I guess I always go first even if it's on my topic right yeah so I this was the first one that came to mind

And it's because it's one that like, I actually did talk to two people about it after I finished it. But like when I was reading it, I was like, I need someone else to read this so I can talk to someone about it. But it's called Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang in a city powered by magic and built on hidden costs. And ambitious mage and her outcast assistant uncover a secret that could unravel the foundation of their world. As Guyona fights for acceptance in a system that's never. accepted women she and toml must decide how much truth and how much of themselves they're willing to sacrifice to expose the dark forces sustaining their civilization so i kept seeing this one i think i can't remember what it was there was some dark academia i read and i think that's what was

like making it show up in my uh recommendations more and then actually it's kind of funny because I was just editing a bunch of content for Lane. And when I was, when we were recording in the bookshop with her, the book was like right in front of me the whole time. And I was like, I've got to read it now. And then it ended up being one of my favorites. But it's, it people compared it. It definitely is similar to like ninth house and hellbent, like very similar from feelings. But not, it's not modern times.

It's not, I couldn't tell what time period. it's supposed to technically be um but like ninth house hell bent vibes and also academy for liars that i talk about a lot it really reminded me of that version of dark academia with some fantasy and horror elements that i seem to really like and it like addresses like philosophical issues theological issues like it is so fantastic it's just really really really good and it also if this appeals to anyone after i finish reading it I was like, you hear about people saying like, don't just be an ally, be an accomplice. And I've been like hearing that phrase more.

And I'm like, oh, yeah, that that is true. Like, like, do something about it too. This book is the example of being a motherfucking accomplice. So if that appeals to you, you need to pick it up. But I, like, I could talk for probably three hours about this one with people. So I think it would be good if that's your vibe. There's lots to talk about. Damn.

I know. It's really good in audio too. I listened to it. And then I had so many bookmarks that I bought the book version so that I could highlight things and go back and look at it. I think it's not spoiler you to say that the ending has this really cool examination of empathy and why it's so important and how empowering it can become if you like don't run away from it so there's also that i think that sounds great yeah it does like what like genre would you say it was it says dark academia which apparently is an actual genre on good reads now um fantasy and uh i don't know what the other ones i would consider

at horror as well, like minorly. Mm-hmm. Ooh, very interesting. Yeah. Wow. I think, like, genre bendy ones are typically, like, there's a lot to say. Yeah. Yeah.

I agree with that, too. And I'm really realizing the fantasy, like, what makes me tend to enjoy fantasy is when it's dark academia related. Mm. Yeah. I also, like, feel like fantasy is, like, more, like, timely than a lot of other genres and, like, its own, like, way where, like, it reflects, like, kind of what's going on in the world today.

Mm-hmm. Definitely. Oh, this, yeah, this one really did. Yeah. It's brilliant. Or it's, like. The 50% reveal is just so smart. Hmm.

Damn. That was what people were even responding when I was, like, posting my stories about it. They're, like, wait till you get to, like, 50%. And I was like, oh. What was the title again? Blood over Bright Havens by M. L. Weng. And she's like a kind of anonymous author. Ooh.

I know. Do people think that she's like another author writing under a pseudonym? I haven't seen theories ever. I don't know. Like, I think it had like 10,000 reviews. I always want that to be like that. There's a hundred three thousand reviews. Oh, okay.

So that one has a little shit ton. I was wrong. Oh, sorry, 103,000 ratings, 22.5. But yeah, you're right. I was thinking about ratings. So, yeah, a lot of people have read it. It came out in 2023, but I haven't seen any theories. She has one other one called the Sword of Kaigin.

That was, yeah. People are saying that one's really good, too, but it's really long. So I haven't picked it up yet. Well, my little thriller junkie has a little segue for us then because I love John Mars, so do not get me wrong. Like, I would have picked this book up anyway. But the reason I picked up the book, Keep It in the Family by John Mars when I did, is because of the trending chapter 39.

So, like, it's not, like, a spoiler because it's, like, there's merch with it. It's, like, all over TikTok. It's, like, a big thing. I didn't know that. Yeah, there's, like, merch. Like, I think there's, like, I've seen, like, T-shirts and, like, coffee mugs. I would love a coffee mug, but I don't really drink coffee anymore, so. Yeah.

Um, a tequila mug. But, um, chapter 39 of keeping in the family is just one word and it just says fuck. And, like, it is during such a huge reveal in the story that I'm like, okay, I need to know why people freak out when they read a chapter that just says fuck. Yeah. So like even in the family is about a young couple who is turning

like kind of like abandoned like run down home into their dream home. The wife ends up becoming pregnant and then around that time they make like a really gruesome discovery in the attic and their dream home turned into a terrifying nightmare. And

when I'm tell you like he's the sweetest man in the entire world but like homeboy write some dark shit i know he's so he's so sweet on instagram he and his so sweet partner or husband i can't remember part we'll say partner i'm like oh my god like i cannot believe how dark this book was that was wild yeah it was so dark and so crazy um and yeah I just couldn't get over how good it was. I think I started it, like, one of those things that I'm like, oh, I'm going to dip my toes in it, like, maybe read like 50 or 100 pages.

And then I was like up until like 2 o'clock in the morning and like didn't want to put it down. Gosh. Yeah. I'm like both glad that I can most of the time sleep well. He just sent me this. His new one that comes out in January. John Myers is writing the darkest shit. And then he sends me a copy from the UK. We need to have him on.

I need to read Keep It in the family. You haven't read it yet? I haven't read that one yet. Daph, did you read it? Yes, stuff has. Okay, you will lose your marbles. Oh my gosh. I have to.

Okay. You're going to lose your marbles. I'm just like going to stay up all night tonight. You're going to lose your marbles at the new Noel Ely. Oh, you said that. That's what I wanted to get. There's some stuff in that. I've been asked.

I was going to ask you what you thought because just came out. Five stars. Were you kind of saying that it was related to another one of them? It's the prequel. It's the prequel to ask for Andrea. Okay. That's what you were saying. And you said it would be better or it didn't matter.

It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Have you heard? No, it doesn't matter. Wow. There's no overlapping of the story. Okay. So the way I would describe it is.

is in Ask for Andrea, the saying Ask for Andrea is something that you find in bars if you need help. So it's kind of like the angel shot that people talk about. So that's like prominent throughout the story. But forget you saw her is the origin story of Andrea. That gives me goosebumps because that part of the story made me cry. Like I feel like I should.

I should read it that first. The what? You know what I mean? Like, the helpers always make me cry. Same. Yeah. Yeah. But, like, even on the book, it says it's like a standalone prequel.

So, like, you could read Ask for Andrea and then forget you saw her or you could read forget you saw her and then ask for Andrea. Okay. Wow. Nice. All right. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's my shameless little. They would also be really good book club picks. Shameless little plug. Good. Those are my. Those are my drive-bys. I love the ass drive-bys. I didn't even wait until the end.

That's okay. I feel like I talk about those two books so much. So I was like, I don't know if I should include them, but yeah, they're really good. They're really good. Especially if you hate organized religion. The second one. You know, I do. The Salt Lake City Housewives are going to be passed.

Wait, where's the, what's the title of her new one? My library doesn't have it yet. Forget you saw her. Okay. Middleton Library, recommend for purchase. Please. This is what it looks like. I'm going to add, I'm adding it to my Spotify.

because I have like a bunch of hours. What was the pub date for that? It just came out, right? November 4th, yeah. Two days ago. Okay, added to my library. My best friend Nicole has two kids under the ages of like seven and under. And she read Ask for Andrea faster than she's ever read any book that I recommended to her.

And, like, randomly this morning, I got a text message at, like, I think it was, like, something absurd, like, 5.36 o'clock in the morning that was, like, I'm 20% and to forget you saw her, and I'm so sad. Oh. Like, she's, like, loving them. Oh, I love that. Yeah. That's amazing. Check. Oh, yeah.

I have 21 hours on Spotify right now, so I will listen to it there. Oh, go. So good. Um, no favor. I guess womanhood is a good segue. So some of mine are books that we did read in my thriller slash mystery-based book club and ones that we had a really good discussion on. Oh, yeah.

Our most recent October meeting, we did do kind of like Halloween-ish, so a little maybe more like horror-based. And we read witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendricks. I'm not sure if I would have picked it up otherwise which is like a nice thing about book club too is like it gets you to pick stuff up the audio was very intense and like the reading of it was very engaging

and there are I don't know if you have you guys read that no no but I haven't like I recently bought it and I'm like dying to read it I was seeing divided reviews when it came out is all I remember. Yeah, which makes me more. I will say, divided reviews make the best book club. Exactly. There's so much to talk about. If everyone likes it, it's kind of boring.

I mean, actually, I shouldn't say that. The reformatory was not boring in everybody. That's a fair point. But in general, in general, that helps. Yeah. But I would say it's like part historical fiction because it's about a home. home for unwed pregnant women, young women. It's about witchcraft. And I think like because witchcraft can come in so many forms plus like this really intense and sad part of American and

maybe world history, I'm not sure about how women who find themselves in that spot are treated um it was just like a really good discussion and uh i will say i think it like the fact and i will say the fact that grady hendricks is a man writing that did or i thought he did great personally high praise yeah yeah i mean to write about pregnancy and like there's some wild stuff in there and you can tell he did it did some work oh i didn't even really pregnancy was a big part of it. I'm just that catchy. Oh, yeah. Oh, boy. I read

the Southern The Vampire. Southern Guide to Vampire. Me too. Slayers. I thought that was such a fun book and like it definitely gets dark and horrory and like crazy at the end. But like I thought he did a really good job

writing women in that book as well. So I'm really excited for this one. I'm looking at my copy now. It is so fascinating. Like, I have maybe for that, there was between 15 and 20 people. So you're sitting there and it's like half the group thought the first half was slow. Half the group thinks the first half is the best part. Half the group thinks the ending was unsatisfying.

And the other half is giving it four and a half five stars. So it's just like I think that like the divisiveness is like fascinating for a book club. Totally. I think it depends on the book too. When I read The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, there are chapters that are in present time, and there are chapters that are in, like, I believe, like, the 1950s in Vermont. And I was like, I'm going to struggle with the 1950s chapters because, like, I don't like historical fiction, but I really want to read this book.

And by the time I was done with it, I was like, I could have read an entire book of the 1950s in Vermont because I actually liked those chapters better. Wow. Agree. Agree. So like, I thought that's really engaging. Sometimes you just like, it was like very creepy and like sad. Yeah.

And that's all I want. That's true. Creepy and sad books. Yeah. I had, you know how like story graph will tell you, they get like personalizes it and tells you like what you feel like it or not. A couple weeks ago, mine basically ended with like, I can remember what it was, but I sent it to here because it was essentially like,

this one has a little bit more of an upbeat tempo and hope compared to the social critique and bleakness you've been on a streak with and I was like I'm turning into bleak buildings yeah they really pin that they'll be like well lately you've been reading like slow burn sad yeah like really make one really check out what you're feeling for the if this one is a good fit if that's what you're feeling it's really useful it's surprisingly good yeah i've never used story a graph i'll i'll have to like i'll show you i'll send you an example of it too because it's like it's nice is the personalized though is that in the paid function because i do pay for it it's not i pay for mine too but it i started using it before i started paying for it and then i got to a point where i was like i think it's like

four dollars a month and like i was just like sure like let's do it let's support this. So I am my fable one is like funny because it says oh yeah my bookshelf is filled with emotional journeys and thrillers that I'm learning how to solve life's mysteries and will master the art of emotional detective work. And I was like if you would have told me in 2025 that I was an emotional detective I would have saved myself a lot of bullshit between about August and January. So. Oh, my gosh.

That's funny. I will emotional detect for you moving forward. Like, now I don't want anything to do with any emotions. Fuck that. Fuck him. Fuck that. Well, my next one,

yeah, it's just, it's a jump. So, but it's Dominion by Addy E. Kitchens. And, okay, so I'll just read the synopsis first. In the small town of Dominion, Mississippi, Reverend Saber Winfrey, Jr., and his gifted son, Wonderboy, embody power, privilege, and moral hypocrisy beneath a veneer of faith and success.

When a single encounter shatters their carefully controlled world, the women who love them must navigate the fallout, exposing how secrecy, shame, and sense. silence shape an entire community there is like it's a short book it's under 300 pages i can't remember if it's like it might be about 250 um it's seven hours on audio but like the amount of things that she manages to bring up is so uh impressive one um the perspective is almost entirely just from the women in these two men's life and so the pastor and his like golden son i'm using a quotation marks for anyone who's just listening um they are just doing some real shady shit and getting away with it because people think that they're good christians essentially um and so she's kind of skewering that but doing it by like uh kind of like it's voyeuristic you're you're like they are the

characters that are driving a lot of stuff but we're never like in their minds it's people that they're hurting basically kind of like now that I'm saying that it's actually kind of similar to notes on an execution it's just like not a serial killer um but yeah she kind of dives into like greed and hypocrisy and violence towards women because of insecure little men um so I think there's so much to talk about from this book. And the ending is like, actually, I just had Aaron Ashley on last week. And she and I kind of got connected after we don't talk about Carol. We both read that. And she's friends with Kristen Elberry, the author. So we had like just gotten connected. And then she told me she was about to read Dominion. And I was like, oh, and I looked

up the cover and saw that it was an auribora, orabores snake going into a cross. and I was like the imagery alone you've got me but there is a multi-cast for the audiobook like it's kind of a full cast I saw it at the library and when I picked it up and saw the first couple pages almost looked like a like a document of some kind yes like when you start and I just like I guess my question is, is the, I don't know how, I don't even know how to ask it. There is not mixed media continued. There's just this thing at the beginning that tells you the history of the church. Oh, okay. Because it almost seemed like the way that it was like how the writing was. I'm like, am I, is it going to take me a bit to like understand how they, how it's written or is it because

it's old? Like the document. Yeah. The document is just old. Okay. Because I'm like, is this going to easily digestible for me to like without putting in like especially if you did audio okay it would be yeah it was so fun on audio so it's like it's told through the perspectives of the women but there are these like the only thing the things that are in between is you get to hear snippets from his like sermons so you're just getting to hear what like what he's saying to the public about himself is told from a man's perspective um but like they produce they like you're in church there's like church like church like organ music going into it. So like in between the chapters, you like feel like you're in a church in the South. It's kind of crazy. But yeah, it's fun and it's like very digestible. I remember

with the audiobook being like, wow, that went by so fast. It's fairly new too. Yes. September. August. Yeah, it just came out. It's on the new releases. Yeah. Because that cover, like I was like, that cover looks kind of familiar. I keep seeing it. Goodreets has it on there um they're like recommended short books right now i saw the banner when i opened it up oh it's short yeah i think it's like 260 yeah i'm 40 wow and like she packed so much in and the ending like i don't know what i'm trying to say without saying anything but there's a lot to talk about with the ending as well mm-hmm that sounds good i just added it to my want to read It's good.

I liked it a lot. It's another one that reminded me of S.A. Cosby quite a bit. Oh, yeah. Damn. Yeah. I still need to read King of Ashes. Oh. Yeah.

That one's fantastic. Yeah. AJ's even read that one before you, Gere. It is so deliciously dark. Oh, shit. Well, I know. Can I ask you a really huge favor? One of the biggest indicators in audience growth and podcast popularity is ratings and reviews.

I am always going to be growing Book Wild and the range of guests that we're able to have. But the one thing that you can really do that would help grow Book Wild is rate and review on whichever platform you listen to. And if you do rate and review, send me a screenshot because I would love to send you to you some book wild bookmarks. Now let's get back to the episode. If you're looking for bat shit, crazy, insane thriller, I've got you covered in November. Best Offer Wins by Marissa Casino is my next one. Yes, everyone is talking about this. Is that the red one? That's the red cover? Yeah. Yes. I was so addicted. It's easily in my top five of the year. Wow.

Whoa. It was so good. It reminded me of, like, the pacing is, like, so crazy. It reminded me of how I felt when I read Count Me, Count My Lies by Sophie Stava. Yeah. It was so big, like, I think I binged it in, like, 24 hours. Oh, that's the best. It was so good.

And the ending is fucking nuts. Like, I hate when people do this. But, like, I felt the ending. of this book was as satisfying and twisty as the ending of Gone Girl. Whoa. Like that was the last time I had like an experience where I was like that ending

knocked it out of the park for me. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm still sitting on my pending shelf on Neck Galley. What the hell? I know. Which one did you request? Because I got the audio book approved last week.

Oh, really? Yeah. I think it was the ebook. Yeah, I just got the audio book. I bet it would be good on audio because it's going to be a Hulu series, I think. Oh, wow. With Greta Lee. Oh, yes.

We did talk about that. She's amazing. Oh, it's, okay, so if you made it this far, it is actually about after months and months of no luck trying to find the perfect home in the Washington, D.C. area, more like the suburbs. A woman and her husband get a tip about a house that's going to be going on the market in, like, this perfect neighborhood. And she becomes obsessed because they've been looking for, like, months and months and months and, like, just, like, keep, like, not getting in the house what they want. But this one is, like, perfect. Neighborhood's perfect. So she becomes obsessed. She stalks.

She trespasses. She is not letting anything get in the way of her getting her. fucking dream home and like home girl is bad shit crazy but you also are like rooting for her the entire time and like I don't know it was just so so so so so good it's under 300 pages too yeah yeah it's very quick and it's like like it's like hard to like stop you know what I mean like you're like oh like one more chapter my ass yeah one more chapter my ass no because like something happens and you're like Margo, what are you

doing? What's next? Are the chapters short? Um, I would say they're like mid. Like they go by, I would say like maybe like eight to ten pages. Some of them are probably shorter. I think like a couple are like a little bit longer than that. But like there's so much happening that like they seem like shorter chapters. But

I don't know. Wow. So freaking addictive. I was like this is A pros of me. Seriously. Yeah. So annoying. Like I want a finished copy of it too. I have an arc of it. But I want like a finished copy of it because it was just

I think she will be an auto buy author for me. Like when her second book comes out, I will be like. I'm so exciting. Yeah. I love that. She's just like extremely talented. Yeah. She's beautiful.

I was so. She is beautiful. She is beautiful. It's very nice, too. Oh, even better. Like, it's just, like, very, like, strange to me when, like, I post something in my stories or something. And somebody's like, oh, my God, thank you so much.

I'm so glad you liked it. And I'm like, how the fuck did you write this book and expect people to not like it? Do you mean, like, girl, this is fantastic. Good for you. When I looked it up, I was like, oh, yeah, she is so pretty, but she looks like Greta Lee. And it is Greta Lee because it's getting adapted. Oh, yeah. Hey, here's that author.

Oh, yeah. That hairs. Nice. Here's wonderful. Oh, my gosh. Well, speaking of unhinged and wild. Yeah. Another one of the probably in two book clubs, we read this.

And it was one of the higher rated ones, typically, was Lisa Jules. None of this is true. Yes. people really liked it um you will find out though who like really struggles with things not tied up with a bow yes so um i think some people have learned that that's like really hard for them i don't know if i really care i mean i guess i don't know but i think that's always the fun of like discussion i guess yeah um i'm fine with it yeah also i have not listened to this but I've heard the production's incredible.

Same. Because I think they really make it like a podcast. It's really like well produced. But this is about a true crime podcaster and she like somehow becomes like friends-ish with this like really weird woman named Josie, who's probably one of the more memorable characters I've read in general. And Josie is just a fascinating woman. and his family is crazy. And it's like, what is true. What is true?

None of it. Yeah. So I think that that was just like a really fun. I've seen really cool pictures of book clubs where like everyone dresses in denim and does like, it has like a stuffed dog and has like a birthday celebrations. There's just like fun things you could do with it if you're that type of book. well yeah it's really such a good one i do wish i had known about audio books back then or that they would have i probably i probably would like that one on audio too yeah i think i like i feel like is it

i think it should be uh on screen for sure yeah i can't remember which one is getting adapted right now one of them isn't the family upstairs maybe it is i don't know i don't know which one's getting a dump. I've heard it about all of hers. I feel like, yeah. Yeah, that's also true. Yeah. I also can be like when you were like mentioning that. I was like, oh shit. Like what's like side of my on?

But like sometimes if things aren't like wrapped up or answered, I'm like, I'm so pissed. And then like other times I'm like, oh, I kind of like that this is like up to my own like interpretation or like what I like think is happening. But I also think it like depends on the author because like Lisa Julie. doing that i'm like you're fucking genius but like there are other people where i'm like you just couldn't think an ending could you yeah girl you're written here ain't you yes yeah just like you fucking made me read 300 pages and you copped out but like Lisa jules a gotta so whatever that's what I think if you do it well like you just

finish the book and you're like oh yeah that's you know you still liked it but if i think if you're like mad it's probably like the quality i don't know maybe not maybe it's just i feel like some books too it fits how the story was told and like the message and then with some i i sometimes i feel like you sometimes it feel like they gave me enough information for me to also kind of feel like i'm like i think i know what happened yeah yeah it is interesting though um it is none of this is true as being is in production with Netflix right now. Really? Okay. Yeah.

Oh. Good girl. Oh, also when I think of speaking, another drive-by, by the way, paper palace. That one I had to read it deep dive because I was like, I'm sorry, what? And then I texted gear too. I was like, I have opinions about what this. I also feel like there's like so much that happens in the paper palace. that like if you're reading the jacket cover to that and you're like oh i wonder who she ends up with

and then you read the book and you're like like i feel like it was like kind of like a little bit of a middle finger from her to be like if you're reading this to see like a love triangle or who does like the woman end up with like this wasn't the book for you it's about like this is not right this is not a love story guys right oh my god at the point of this assignment and it's also funny because like I was like I felt like when I finished it the ending was very

like cotton dry like it was very obvious that she made one choice and then like Steph was like bringing up points and I was like okay like I can see where you're coming from but like I'm a little bit of like a cynical kind of girlie yes that was like the Ashley Flowers one

yeah I remember that one people were like all up in arms about I don't know if I actually, you know, like for that one too, kind of like Lisa Jewel, I'm like, I don't know if I'm mad. I think I'm just like, oh, that's not what I expected, but I'm not like mad. No.

It fits the theme. Well, actually, the answer to that question of the first Ashley Flower Book is in the Target edition of the missing half. Yeah. What? You texted me about it. Yeah. There's a bonus chapter.

exclusively for the Target edition and it gives you the answer to what happened at the end of all good people here. Did you find it a worthwhile extra chapter? I think some extra chapters, I'm like, I didn't need that. You couldn't. I think it could have been included in the book and like would have been fine,

but like me getting excited over the bonus chapter and then like reading it I was like right yeah yeah you know like I read the verity extra chapter I bought like that new edition and I was like I think I liked it the original way more oh yeah yeah this one I feel like if you are on the if you are on like one end of like what you think happened and all good people here you're going to be like oh and then if you're on the other end you're going to be very happy, but you're going to have a lot of questions. Oh. Also, this, the paperback of Lisa Jewel, none of this is true, has a bummous chapter as well.

Oh, I didn't know that. From Aaron's perspective. So not that I really remember a whole lot about the story, but I know Aaron's perspective would be interesting. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. That's a good pick. It's one of the daughters, right?

I thought it was. Yeah. yeah i feel like any lisa jule is also a very very very good pick yeah like she never lets me down she's just readable you know what i mean she really is yeah i saw like an stump buster i saw an interview with her on ticot yesterday where like somebody asked like the question that like i always love to ask someone where they're like have there ever been any books or storylines or something that happened in your

book where you were like, did I take this too far? And she was like, every book that I write, I think this is too dark and my readers are going to abandon me. And she's like, and then they're like, this is my favorite one. She's like, I thought no one was going to read the family upstairs and they were all going to hate it. And it was like super popular. And she's like, and then none of this is true. I thought like, I was like, did I go too far? And like, that's my most popular book. Yeah. I was like, good for you, girl. Yeah. Good for you. I saw it. interview with her where she said that one of her like dark horse books I think one of her favorite ones and one that she thinks is really dark is I found you and like I read that one but like to

me it wasn't dark but like it's interesting like what she thinks yeah I didn't think it was like super dark I think the twist in the end was fucking crazy and I think it's her most atmosphere but atmosphere I agree that yeah I remember like the vibes of that little whatever it was beach house Did you see that her new book is a spinoff of Don't Let Him In? No. What? You mean her next upcoming book? Yeah, like the one that comes out in the summer is like a spinoff of that.

Really? He's got all the details. It's Jane Travelli. Her perspective? It's her book. oh that's what it's called oh no it's called it could have been her but it's about jane okay okay oh yeah yeah was that one of his that was like one of his first uh like wives right yeah okay got it i'm curious for sure oh i'm so excited

2026 is gonna be crazy guys i know it really is no sleep till next year seriously i wish i didn't have to um i would read so much well i apparently am just apparently my short ones just work really well for book club but my husband by mod ventura lots of reasons but um a woman obsessed with maintaining the illusion of a perfect marriage begins to manipulate test and punish her husband in the name of love But as her need for control deepens, she's forced to confront the terrifying possibility that her devotion has crossed into something far darker. Girlie is neurotic about, like, making sure she pleases him and, like, has charts to, like, make sure that she makes his life easy enough. You really, in her mind, you're like, oh, my gosh.

and then things start to escalate and then there's the ending which like you have to talk to someone about the ending like this is one where you have to and I was like that makes it perfect for book club because now everyone else is forced to read it and talk to you about it oh my god

I like don't know where I was that I never found this book but I think that I've never read this and it sounds incredible I think you'll love it you will have to let me know they have it in my bookstore oh no they do not I've seen it like you've seen the cover a bunch

yeah yeah and she just had another one come out make me famous I think that I want to listen to yeah make me famous well I came out in 2024 oh make me famous did and then my husband came out 2021. I clicked on Make Me Famous and it says it comes out in 2026. But I think that must have been a

different edition. Yeah, maybe it is. Um, I really wonder. You know what the funny thing is too is that like I don't want to be that asshole, but that cover doesn't give me. Oh, I know. Like, how dark the book sounds like it's going to be. So that's why I think like I probably like saw it and was like, oh, like it kind of reminds me of, um, what the hell is her name? she did like um frank and cleo oh yeah the blues the blue sisters what's her name

I do not know but I know what you're talking about the painting Coco Coco Malores Coco Malores is that it you're like speaking a different language to me at this point Blue sisters yeah it's the Blue sisters and Coco Oh, no lorres.

Yeah. Something in Frankis. Yes, it does look like that. That's what it kind of gives me. Yeah. Yeah, it's not a family drama like that. Yeah. Yeah, it does give like feminist.

Yeah, I only ended up reading it because both Hallie and then my book club friend Justine both loved it. So it was like, I heard about it enough that I was like, okay, I need to listen to this. I bet it's just like at the library if it's that old. You never know. I'm just like, you know, like what book is so interesting, you know that Kevin something that wrote the book with like the kids that start on fire and like the cover is like a kid, a little girl with her like dress up and she's on fire. Oh, yeah.

The book's been out forever and it is like still on hold at the library. You know what I mean? Like it's just crazy how many years things can remain popular. Kevin Wilson, maybe. That sounds familiar. Nothing to see here, I think it's called. If you see the Coppercade, I think you'll recognize it. Oh, I have not.

Oh. Yeah, it's a, it's just like strange how long things will stay in. Wait, did you just talk about one? What did you do? Oh, we talked about my hair. Okay. Here's turn. Oh.

Oh, a bit more. Um, well, speaking of unhinged, I guess, um, I think his and hers by Alice Feeney, or anything by Alice Feeney, if we're talking about it, except for one, um, is like a very good book club pick. I don't like Daisy darker. It's okay. I mean, I liked it, but it's not my fate. It's like my least. It's like my least. favorite but I still like like it you know but his and hers by Alice Feeney I think is an excellent one because

not only is it dual POV but there's like so much going on in the book and like the synopsis like gives you like the tip of the iceberg with like what the book's actually about and you can take a little book club break and watch

the Netflix adaptation when it comes out is there a date for that yet? I don't think so. That's what I know. I just keep seeing 2026. Oh, okay. And I'm like, can it be January 1st? Because that would be, that's how I

want to wake up is on New Year's Day is like Binging up. That'd be amazing. So I love that. But after a young woman is murdered in a small town, a reporter is reluctant to take the case. And then the detective that is investigating the murder becomes

a prime suspect in his own. investigation and that's all I'm saying it's so good it's so good i love that jane so dark i think that's my favorite of hers i can't sometimes i lie i don't know if it's because it's the first of hers that i read but like i know i loved that one too yeah same but his and hers also just so good his and hers sometimes i lie i'm a what the hell's name yeah there's rock paper scissors i actually do did for a snowy like December book club like you tried to do a snowy one and rereading that like A the audio was really good for like a reread um but there was like so much that I like forgot about like so many twists and turns and like for it's it's really a pleasure sometimes like

watching people read Alice Feeney for the first time yeah she's just like in her own lane yes she is like so fun yeah Yes, I completely agree. I'm a, I'm a, limbo for her next one. Same. We know you have one. Oh my gosh, Lily. She's so cute.

I think her most underrated is, I know who you are. Is that the black one? A lot of yellow one. It's black. Yeah, the original cover was black and it had like the shadow over half the woman's face. Oh, okay. that was like very divisive so that would also be a good like a lot of people didn't like it and then the people that did like it were like what like what is your problem yeah and i know what is

your problem me and sarah michel gellar because sarah michel gellar actually blurred that one stop i gave it four i don't remember tons about it it has celebrity and stocker in it and like a crazy ending and i was like sign me up that's perfect exactly what i want but yeah she is She is, I'm, I just love Alice Feeney with all my hair. She is a very important lady to me that I've never met. Same. Shocks me, actually.

And she's not really fucking cool style. I know. She's like. She lives in the UK still, right? Yeah. I think she's like DM'd me like, oh, I love this or like, thank you. But like, we're not like friend friends, but like, I also am like very into. intimidated because, like, you're writing, like, if I gave up all of my books, Alice Feeney would probably be the ones that I would miss the most. Yeah. Just because of the reading experience I get with each one of them. But I also am, like, very intimidated because, like, she has probably, like, top five best style that I've ever seen in my entire life. Like, the way she dresses and her, like, tastes and clothes, I'm, like, girl. Mm-hmm. I need to look. I haven't really noticed.

She's very tailored, right? She's very tailored. Yeah. She's very, like, classic. Yes. Like, anything in her closet is never going out of style. Yeah, that's what I was remembering from what I've seen. You remember in mean girls where, like, people are like,

I saw Regina George wearing army pants and flipflops, so I went about Army pants. She, no kidding, did it to me. Like, I hate the color red. Uh-huh. I don't have anything red in my closet. But, like, she was wearing, like, an all-black outfit with, like, a red, like, rain jacket or like some sort of like puffer jacket but like all black under it and i was like am i going to get like a red i love that yeah yeah like do i am i that's fascinating because she has

two books with a red jacket oh yeah she's just yeah she's just yeah she's amazing it's cute too like her and lisa jule i feel like i actually have no idea what they're following is I just assume that it's huge and they still like write like cute comments of like thanks for reviewing you know what I mean Karen Slaughter too oh yeah Karen Slaughter is really good at that

it's like oh my gosh you commented on my post yeah little me one of my favorite book club meetings I had was about Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina one of the critiques I've heard of this one is like especially if you do audio I think there's like there are multiple timelines but they're really not that far apart so like to me I was kind of glad I read the physical otherwise I'm sure it would be good it's just I think like the timeline issue but it is about a young indigenous woman woman who is looking to find the truth behind some disappearances from her reservation, including her sister. And it does have some, like, folklore and social horror in it.

And I really like that combo. Yeah, I do too. Yeah. And so this was another one, too, where people were, like, kind of surprised that he, like, wrote a teen girl so well. and I always appreciate when, like, it's not obviously weird. So I don't know, I just thought there, I was like surprised with how much there was to talk about because I think just like the bigger picture, like the author's note is really good, but then also just like the little bit of storytelling woven throughout the mystery is just really good.

I just got that one because it was on sale through Audible a couple weeks ago and now you're making it want to bump that up. That's been on my list for a long time since we did the episode with Vanessa like a year ago. Oh yeah.

Yeah. There is this story about like a head that rolls around which sounds bonkers. But like it creep me out at night and I never have that happen to me. I'm never like and I was like oh that's kind of like obviously like unrealistic that like a head would just roll around like that wouldn't typically like keep me up at night but like something about it I was like it's creepy yeah it's creepy yeah there were some parts of the buffalo hunter hunter that were like they were so visceral and gory where I was like oh my god the only good Indians is

I've heard that was similar yeah yeah yeah those seem to have similar like gore adult themes yeah some of them are a little more high schoolish but Buffalo hunter hunter

and only good Indians or not is what I've heard I feel like I mean I'm obviously a little bias here but indigenous folklore terrifies the hell out of me and it always has growing up I'm sure

like I am like no thank you I do not want to go outside at night I don't want to go into the woods ever and I don't like to go outside when it's called

no thank you well correct me if I'm wrong I think that it all like stems from something you know what I mean like everything has so much meaning whereas like some storytelling you just like make shit up

but like I think sometimes when there's like so much like symbol of life inspiration yeah I think that's like more scary I think it's like a combination like people probably wanted to keep their kids at home so they were like don't go in the woods at night like don't sneak out and do this

But, like, there's also, like, some stuff where you're, like, somebody either was, like, tripping balls when they came up with this or, like, there's got to be, like, something going on, because, like, some of it is, like, fucking terrifying. Yeah. You know what I mean? For, like, no reason. Like, there's, like, skin walkers. Mm-hmm. And, like, that's horrifying. Yeah.

That, like, scares the shit out of me. But there's, like, a few that, like, I grew up with, like, around here that, like, I. if I ever experienced anything something like similar to it like I would probably turn a gorafal back oh yeah I will say buffalo hunter hunter doesn't have it's not really folklore it's just a vampire yeah a vengeful vampire yeah I guess vampires are kind of folklore but you know what I mean yeah is the vampire like an antagonist or a protagonist It's a good question. An anti-hero, probably.

Spoiler. It's kind of like the whole, it's like the big question of the book and the layers are like, we start off with a woman who her great, great grandfather was a, I think Lutheran priest

in like the 1920s. I think it was the 1920. No, it might have been like 18 something still. I don't know. Sometime close to that time. period um and a historian like unearths his diary because it was like in the walls of the church that's now being torn down in that location so she goes to like read it and so then she's reading her great great grandfather's diary and then in his diary he's telling the story of this like

year where um a native american man i think that's what i can't remember i mean he also uses slurs sometimes because of the time but he starts coming to church and says he needs to confess everything he's done in his lifetime so and then in the so then from the audio you like go from this daughter narrating it to then when it is like the priest's diary he's reading it and then when we get into the journal entries where the um i can't remember what the vampire's name is but then when he's confessing then it like they do this crossover thing with them audio where like they're both talking for a little bit, but then it transitions into this third person. So with audio, you feel it even more. But even just as a story, it has this meta voyeuristic

thing where it's like the granddaughter perceiving her great, great grandfather. And then what the grandfather's perspective was of this vampire. And then what the vampire is telling him is like another perspective. So you're kind of trying to figure out who is good and who is bad is like a big question in general. It's very cool. It's very bleak and very gory. So there's that. Wow. Yeah. So that was not my recommendation, but I ended up talking about it like it was. my next one I had to include this one because I'm having it's I'll I'll explain after but Project Hill Mary by Andy Weir Andy Weir Andy Weir I think um one of them I mean it's god tier audiobooks like it's its own thing I'm so happy that that's how I consumed it but when

scientist Rylan Grace wakes up alone on a spacecraft with no memory of who he is or why he's there He slowly discovers, he slowly remembers, that he's humanity's last hope against extinction. As he races to solve an impossible cosmic mystery, an unexpected ally offers him a chance, not just to save Earth, but to rediscover what makes survival worth fighting for. The story itself is also fantastic, like the dude knows how to write a book. The audiobook is such an extra emotional. ride and I can't spoil stuff. So mostly what I'll say is it's really fun because every now and then on TikTok like certain book talkers or I'm just following someone new and catching it.

But people like document themselves reading it. It's such a popular. It's so highly recommended and people will like document themselves going through it. And it's like so fun reliving it over and over again because so many people post about it. But you want to talk about it. so bad because there are so many moments and then it's way more emotional than you think it's going to be and then there's just this whole other aspect that I can't tell you about that like readers across lots of genres all seem to love so much so it's it's always fun talking with someone who has read it so I think it would be perfect for book clubs I bet million ratings on good reads it's insane it is so popular and like anytime anytime you do a search like

google or tic-tok like if you search like what are the best audio books everyone talks about dungeon crawler carl which i still have not been able to convince myself to start but people rave about it but people also rave about projects he'll marry and i was like really and then i'm like oh i get it so it's like one of those that like across genres you always see it recommended And then the movie's coming out, I think, March of 2006. Do you think it's digestible for people who, like, don't read horror or sci-fi or fantasy? So it's only sci-fi. And I can't tell.

I felt like it was accessible. There are plenty of reviews that are, like, not really. Like, I didn't care. I didn't care. And I was, like, getting confused. So I've seen those reviews, but I've also seen people say, because, like, I ended up feeling like, oh, that still wasn't very sciencey. Like, it's there, but I followed it all. I enjoyed it all.

And there's so much humor and whittiness, maybe, that it's just really fun the whole time you're reading it. But I've also seen people who are like, it was too much. I've also seen some people who are like, I was scared of the science and, like, this was really easy. So I don't, I don't 100% know. I'm like intimidated by science fiction but I think it's really understandable and it might be worth it to try it with audio is the other thing true I have a lot of the people that I follow that are

on good reads that like don't typically read this genre like a lot of them are like I can't believe how much I loved it yeah um even if it wasn't a five star I was usually a four that I'm following. I only have one person who I'm friends with on Goodreads that gave it a three. But it's somebody that I don't even like. Oh, there you go.

No, maybe I'll pick it up. I feel like it's like one of those things that I just like want to have for like when I'm in that mood. Yeah. And my bookstore has three copies of it. It's so good. So maybe when I go get Murphy's Christmas bow tie on Saturday, I'll pick myself up a copy. Oh, is that? at, was that at a bookstore?

No, it's at the pet store, but it's all, it's all, I'm going to get Buffalo cauliflower tacos for lunch, and I'm going to get books, and then I'm going to go get Murphy's Christmas stuff. I love it. I usually save the best for last. And I think, if you can stomach it, my number one book recommendation would be American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. Because there's so much to discuss.

with, like, social commentary, satire, and also, like, I feel like the ending is very divisive. And people are either, like, I believe this, I believe that. Similar to the movie, obviously, but the thing that I like is that there are so many people who, like, no matter what you think happens in the end, like, people will search through this book, for examples. It's like we used to live here. Yeah, like tiny examples, they will be like, this is why like this or like you could be like, well, what about this part? How do you explain that? And then they'll have like a reasonable answer. So like American psycho fans, no matter how you feel about the ending, are just lawyers in training. Whereas I'm concerned. I love that. And if you don't

know what it is, it's about Patrick Bateman, who is one of the Wall Street elite in the 1980s, Manhattan. He's young. He's sexy as fuck. And he seems to have it all, except for the fact that he is a brutal serial killer who hunts the streets of New York at night and no one is safe. Damn. I like really can't rate it. I got the audio book. It's like $5.99 on Audible right now. I just got it. I got the audio book. Pablo Schreiber narrates the audio. Mm-hmm. I love that. The only person, the only person I wish I thought maybe would do it is Bretties and Ellis, but that's okay.

I could definitely, you know who I think would have been a really good choice is Jake Gyllen Hall. Oh. Just for like the audio. Yeah, I do like his voice. Like, I feel like if you've seen him in like, Nocturnal Animals. Yeah.

Where he like, or anything where he like loses his shit. Yeah. He would have been really good. Yeah. I agree. He can kind of pull off that like, snoddy elite and also like really ragey. Yeah. Like.

Whoever picked Pablo Schreiber watched him in Law & Order. Because he was in SVU and he had like a very long like character arc with. Olivia Benson Yeah, he kept coming back And I was like This is the most terrifying fucking villain I have ever seen And I have watched every episode of all

I'm on season 26 right now Of Law & Order SVU And he like still Is like the most terrifying person I don't even know who we're talking about I'm having to He's if you are Did you watch Runge's a New Black?

Oh yeah He was the pervy Yeah Oh okay Yeah He's been in, like, more stuff, but that's probably, like, recognizable. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Nice. He was also, and I think, I'm not positive. I think he was one of the voices in Daisy Jones, if you listen to Daisy Jones. Oh, I didn't. It was before my audiobook days. Oh. Yeah.

There was some, that was all famous people. I know. So, how much? How many people were we doing? This is our last one still. I think so. Okay. So my quick drive-bys are Don't forget the girl by Rebecca McKenna. Oh, that's a good one. I will say if you are running a book club to each their own, but sometimes if there are people that have not really read that many dark books, give them a heads up. But as I say Cosby, all the sinners bleed, I think would be good. Yes. And the last housewife was good. But.

that was very dark, very dark. Yes. But great for discussion. Someone asked me what my favorite thriller was recently and that was actually like, that was what I said. Did you? Yeah. I think the last book I'm talking about is to the point of if you happen to know and are

able to support a local author in your area, a lot of times they do love coming to book clubs. Oh, yeah. So we've had a couple, but one that I had a really great turnout was for Northwoods by Amy P's. Oh, yeah. It was a book, and it's definitely more of like a crime fiction book that takes place in like Northern Wisconsin. And the main character is a veteran who has some like PTSD alcohol issues. and stuff and then

it's like is he at full capacity to be doing his job and like his boss is his mom so like it's really interesting I think like the flawed characters emotional ties

can really give more to talk about in a thriller genre especially when it's a book club book sometimes sometimes there's not as much to talk about when it's just like popcorn throws fast pace are like really hard. Yeah. Like it's sometimes when you're like, okay, we're here for an hour. And then it's like, yeah, I liked it. It was crazy when this happened. Yeah, I know. Okay. Yeah. So I think like sometimes having more layers is helpful. But I would. If you can support the locals, I think a lot of times they love to, they love to.

the one thing I will say and every author is a little bit different if you want like free flowing like critiques then maybe don't invite the author you know like it's just a different conversation obviously if the author's a lot different yeah so i don't know if you're super cool like i mean that book is like so well received in general but um but she's like i have thick skin like you can ask me whatever like and i love that one offers do that that's awesome i love that who else is drive-bys i had one drive-by yeah i do too um you go first well mine is allegedly by tiffany d jackson because talk about an ending that needs to be talked about i still need to read that there's the the ending and then there's like what she said throughout the whole book yeah and why that leads

to the ending and why it makes the ending really complicated so yeah yeah you're like you're i don't know if i don't know if i don't know i don't know i don't know it's kind of like american psycho in that way that's a really good it's very similar yeah i would agree my delusional i know happened in american Psycho because I'm emotional. But like I also, I do too. I think I want to. I think I have an opinion or which side I want to be. I have a very, very strong opinion and no one's going to change my mind on American Psycho. Huh? I was just what being sassy. I'll say after we turn it off. Oh, okay. Oh no, girl. I would never go what being sassy. Um, I actually had. No, I was saying I was being sassy. Oh, no, I know. I was like, I was like, I was like, I was.

would never I would never come at you like that um I didn't think you were I did I did have that at lunch today I have books that I feel that way about where I was like I was like what are you doing and I met like what are you doing in general and like this guy was like I'm just getting up to go to the bathroom and I was like oh no I didn't mean it like that I just meant like in light like he's also worked with me he's also worked with me for like 15 years so he knows that like if I want to be a dick I'll be a dick. And I've never argued with him once. He's like the nicest human being in the entire world. Um, hey, you gave me this idea because the butcher by Jennifer Hillier, I feel like is such a fun book club. Yes. Um, but I feel like

it's also like one of her underrated thrillers because it was only like a mass paperback until this year and then they like had the new cover come out. And so now that they're reissuing like covers. hers um like more and more people are starting to like recognize one of her other titles other than just little secrets and jar parts yeah yeah um i think that would be a really really fun one we yeah it was a wild one to talk about too yeah because that's a fucking dark and wild story is so dark and i love it yeah i was so like disturbed by his character and that doesn't always happen like that was there's like a suspect there's like a few books here and there that really make

me feel like unsettled and like ugh like ick and yeah that was one of them yeah not in a bad rating way just like a bad guy yes yes I agree yeah it's it's a doozy yeah she goes there she always does I can wait her her like summer release is probably like my most anticipated oh yeah there's something about a carnival oh my gosh we're gonna have to do a there's a carnival in a fucking thriller i'm i'm there we need to do our uh 2026 hopefuls in December oh that'll be fun five favorites yeah yeah mm-hmm you'll be hearing more from us