Bookwild - Books Outside Our Comfort Zone That We Loved

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

This week, we share books we loved reading that stretched us outside our comfort zones!Follow us on Instagram:Gare @gareindeedreadsKate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouchBooks We Talked About:The Real DealThe Paper PalaceLast Night at the Hollywood CanteenJust By Looking at HimThe PredictionWhite Ivy Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Guys, welcome to the Killing the Tea podcast. This is Gare and Kate. And we are going to be discussing all things, chills, thrills, and kills. Kate and I are going to be talking about our favorite books, TV shows and movies that are in the thriller or crime fiction genre, as well as some reading habits and other items related to how we met on Bookstagram that will fit in with this podcast. So, Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope that you have fun and get totally terrified. We made it another week. Another week. Another week. Insane week. Yeah. We're just talking about the weather.

We're just talking about the weather. And I was lucky enough to get the 24-hour stomach bug this week. So that was fun. Yeah. And yeah. And I had to reschedule our recording because. I had a migraine, so we're just fun this week. This is what I look like during the daylight, everybody.

I know it does look so much brighter behind you. It was so weird to like not go and like turn on all my like different lights. Yeah. To record. I was like, wow. You can like see the whole wall. Yeah, I know, right? Not me.

I force things to be dark no matter the time. Well, this is this is typical though. Like, okay, so you have your light purple sweatshirt on and your dark purple wall. Mm-hmm. And I have my gray wall and my gray sweatshirt on because like gray is my color or purple is your color. Yes. So we're reviving in our individualness.

I have the icebreaker for you. And I don't know how to word it. But like you're not going to be surprised by this. But is there like, is there something food related that you're like, why aren't more people on to this? like whether it's like whether it's like breakfast for dinner or like a combination

that like you think is like bomb.com well yes it won't imply to you because there's meat involved but technically yes I have been thinking thinking something very much along these lines so I discovered on Pinterest

some recipe for garlic butter chicken and potatoes and the the reason that more people need to know about it is you make it in like a crock pot i i kind of switch to an instant pot which is like i'm sharing too many details but you can do slow cooking in that so that's basically my crock pot now but you basically cut up like depending on how many pieces of chicken you're wanting to make you cut up you cut up like a pound of I've been using the little potatoes

I keep having hiccups sorry guys and so you lay them completely like cover the bottom of your slow cooker or whatever you're using and then I season like typically I make three so then I

season three chicken breasts with paprika garlic powder salt and pepper and then you place the chicken on top of the potatoes and then you melt like three tablespoons of butter and put a bunch of garlic and parsley in it and then you like pour it over the chicken and you just leave in this little cooker for like two hours it makes the like most tender I am very very specific with my chicken as you all heard last week when I said I won't eat kutoba chicken um I'm so particular

about my chicken. It makes it so, like, it's like almost like pull apart. You could almost pull it apart. It's just, if you like me, it's the best way to eat it. And then like all the juices like cook down through the chicken and into the potatoes. Then you also have these really garlicky, yummy potatoes. And it's so easy. So that is why I have been telling like, I just told my sister-in-law, I was like, when you don't want to cook, but you still want like heartwarming food, especially in these really frigid temperatures that we were just talking about. It's perfect because like I'll go downstairs at like three

and just kind of do very minimal food prep, put it in there, go back upstairs, finish my work. And at like 5.30, the house smells so garlicky and yummy. And it's just a really, really, really good, hearty winter meal. So yeah. And it's so simple. what about you? I don't want to go now.

I mean, mine was so, it is a hyper-fixation meal of mine right now. That is like, Chef Kate. Okay, so mine was the idea that I had from this is because I could not wait to text you last Sunday, I think it was. but like right now I'm in my era of like if I don't know what to eat for dinner or I don't want something super heavy or I'm feeling lazy or I'm just like indecisive or I'm not even that hungry but I know I have to eat like my thing right now is like a bowl of cereal for dinner

is hitting the spot for me more now of day like more like now than anything that I'm like craving. Yeah. Like if you were like, Do you want Taco Bell? Do you want like that? Like, do you want like potato tacos? Do you want like hostile? I'm like, no, like a bowl of cereal hits the spot.

Yeah, it does. I've done that a couple times. I had two migraines this week, not to just share all of my woes with people. But both of those, both of them came on like in the middle of the afternoon. So then my ability to prep dinner was just like completely fucked. So I had apple had, what are they called? Apple cinnamon Cheerios? Is that all they're called?

I had that for dinner twice this week. So I'm with you on that one too. My favorite one right now is called oatmeal crisp. Mm-hmm. I really like it. Yeah. Oatmeal crisp, so good. So good.

It's kind of like the flakes of like special k, but there's like oatmeal clusters in it. It is elite. I don't know what I did. I don't know how many of them there are, but if you are looking for it, it's called Oatmeal Crisp. I don't know what version I got,

but when you Google it, it shows like what's on the box, or what's in the box on the cover of the box. Yeah. Mine, for some reason, does not have almonds in it. Oh. But they're on the box.

So I don't know what one I got, but oatmeal Crisp is elite. and one I will die that in the Reese's puffs cereal does much cinnamon toast crunch that's my other

oh my god yes I could eat a whole there was a time when I had COVID the second time I ate a whole box on my own

in like 36 hours it's so easy it's so easy and I just love cereal for dinner and I think that's

what I'm going to have for dinner tonight I um it sounds like it with the well So with the really cold weather, our high last weekend was like, I think like 10 degrees, but it was windy. And I was like, I'm not going grocery shopping this week. Yeah. I am not going out in this.

And tomorrow the high 37. So I will be grocery shopping for the first time in two weeks. So I think cereal. I was, I had the same experience though because I was convinced I was going to make tequila lime chicken last week. So it is so, just so flavorful. And I just like really wanted it. But I do grocery pickup now because that's just the best thing ever. Not even having to go into the fluorescent lights and all the sounds and everything.

So I always do grocery pickup, but you can't, which is dumb. These people know like how old I am. You can't pick up alcohol. They can't bring alcohol to your car. And so I got like the orange and the limes that I needed for it. And then that was for us when it dropped to all of a sudden being like negative four every day. Yeah. And I was like, I'm not going in there.

So I just have an orange and two limes still in my kitchen. Like what are you going to do with us? I think an orange, like a fat, juicy orange is like one of the best snacks in the entire world. Yeah. It's too messy for me. But like I love the flavor. I'm with you. Yeah.

Yeah. I just... I do apples more. I do oranges more. That's so funny. Yeah, like honey crisp apples cut like really thin slices of them and very cold. I love that. I do love a honey crisp.

I do love a honey crisp. I feel like I'm like in like some sort of like era where like my body is just like naturally like we can be cheating. Mm-hmm. Our meals or I don't even like to say cheat meals because that's a whole lot. I get it. Like slurge if you want to or like have whatever you want. But like also like so part of my stress from last like a week ago was the company that I worked for.

We've been working remotely since March of 2020. And they were like, okay, after four years, perhaps we should start getting people to come back into the office, which is a long commute for me. So it's wear and tear on my car. It's a lot of money and gas. But I also like after working three and a half years from home, I was like, now's a good time to get a puppy. And I didn't get a puppy to keep him at home for 10 hours a day. Yeah.

So I was like really stressed about that. But like one of the compromises was we are to have a weekly in person meeting every week, which I'm fine with. but we go to this like cafe and they have like a lot of like meat stuff. Right. So my go-toes there are either a garden salad or a grill. Sounds thrilling. Yeah. Their garden salad is so good that like I have been like craving it.

Like I had it last week and I had it yesterday when we had our meeting. That's good. And it's just like, I'm driving to work, or to work, I'm driving to this meeting for like a half hour. And all I can taste is like the lettuce. Oh, that's awesome. So this is reminding me of those memes that's like, why are the only good salads like $15 and someone else has to make them for you? Because it is like a good salad. You're like, damn, I do love salads.

But then you try to like make the exact same thing at home. You're like, this doesn't slap as much. It's huge. It's huge. It's such a big salad. It's so good. So that's like been my, I'm like, oh my God, look at me like a cereal, like oatmeal crisp is like kind of like a special day. Like a healthy cereal for dinner and then like salads. Like I'm going to be like an Olson twin in like 17 years. I can't wait. It's like that. I have like two healthy meals a week. He's like, I'm doing it. Have you heard the audio from Lien. Dunham from girls on TikTok that's like I haven't really eaten I didn't eat breakfast this morning so

like if I'm looking a little frail that's why it's like this really dramatized version of like oh my gosh I must be like so skinny and every time I'm like yeah that's me I'll be like I didn't have a cookie this week I might look frail there's one part of a movie that I like love but the the writer and star of the movie is problematic right now with some of the things that she's posted. So I won't say the name or the comedian, but there is one funny part of this movie where she like passes out. And this like, guy is like, what's going on? Like, are you okay? And she's like, I just haven't eaten much today.

And he's like, oh, my God, what did you have? And she, like, lists off like so many things. And he's like, so, it's like new one and you've had breakfast, lunch and like five snacks. And it like cracks me up because she's like, I just haven't had anything to eat. And like, you've had two meals and like 10 snacks so far. That's me. I have like four snacks instead of like three. And I'm like, oh, my God.

Yeah, me too. But I wanted to talk to you this week. There's a book that I read years ago. And it popped up. I don't know if it was like on like Instagram or something. It popped up somewhere. And I was like, oh my God. I love that book so much.

I love that book so much. I love that book so much. And it was one of those ones where like a friend had recommended it to me. And they were like, this isn't your typical jam. Yeah. But I think you would love this. And I was like, okay. So I got it on my Kindle.

And I read this book probably like two years ago. And I just cannot stop thinking about it. And we've talked. talked about how we're trying to be like pickier with what we pick up, what we request, what we do with like our TBR. But like, I've talked about how taking a risk on something that like isn't my typical jam like flops for me. Yeah. But I was like, I wanted to know if there were any books that you thought I'm going to take a risk on this and it like really paid off. Like you were like, yeah. Like that was like I'm so glad that I decided to go out.

of my comfort zone or outside of like the genre I typically read and like try something a little different and like fell in love with that. Yeah. I do I did have some thankfully. Good. Do you want to go first? I will go first. Yeah. I'll go first. Um, so this one actually, so we're still in January. This one is an Amazon first reads option. So if you have prime, you could actually read this one for free right now still. And it is called The Real Deal by Caitlin Devlin. So it is about Bell. Bell Simon was just 12 years old when she was one of the six girls plucked from obscurity

to star in the reality TV sensation, the real deal. Under the wing of a dazzling star Donna Mayfair, she and the other five girls were meant to become world-famous actresses, singers, and dancers. But at 26, Bella is trying to live anonymously away from being loved or loathed. The public eye has never fully shut, however, and when a producer offers Belle a big paycheck to join a reunion for the real deal, she finds it hard to say no. If people are going to talk about the shocking final episode anyway, maybe this is an unexpected opportunity. everyone thinks they know what happened but only bell knows what really occurred away from the cameras and outside the editing room is she ready to go back and confront her past and will anyone believe her if she reveals the truth so this was billed as chicklet and contemporary fiction and it is um it's it would it probably would be wrong to call it a thriller but the pacing like we've talked about with some books

was so similar to a thriller and you have dual timeline which is something I just always love but it was very emotional the character development was like just so great

and obviously I have a thing for reality TV whether it's in a thriller or not so I ended up really really really loving this book like way more than I expected to I could not put it down I can't wait to read this.

I'm actually ordering a physical copy on the first. Oh, nice. Yeah, and a little teaser on the first, my interview with this author, Caitlin Devlin, will come out on between lines. So you can all listen to that as well. If you end up reading it and loving it,

or if you just want to listen, there are not spoilers in it. Oh, good, good. So everything you said about the real deal I could say about my book that made me think of this idea like so the book I was referring to I gave me this idea

and the one that I think is like my segue is the paper palace by Miranda Cowley Heller and it like is not a thriller but it has dual timeline it has like thriller like pacing

it's like a little literary at times, but like you just can't put it down. Yeah. It's just so good, so good. And there was so much more to it than like what the plot seems like. So, but basically the paper palace is a book in which on a perfect July morning, L, a 50-year-old happily married mother of three awakens at the paper palace, her family summer place where she visited every summer of her life. But this morning,

she's kind of dealing with a little bit of anxiety because last night, her and her oldest friend, Jonas, crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time. Meanwhile, they're like spouses and friends for like inside having a great time together. So over the next 24 hours, I will have to decide between the life she made for her, with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn't

forever changed the course of their lives. It's just, I can't stop thinking about it. And it's been years. You said it's very emotional, right? It is very emotional. The pacing is very much like a thriller with, like, literary writing.

The characters are really drowned out, and it's just... so, so beautiful and so emotional and, like, she does a way of, like, painting a very vivid imagery in this one that, like, I literally sometimes will, like, just, like, picture the paper palace and, like, what it looks like in my head and be like, I can't go there because I don't know where this, like, places that I'm picturing. Right. Yeah. It's just such a good book.

And it's one of my like probably top five books I've ever read. Yeah. I saw someone post about it this week too. And it made me wonder, because I think it was a podcast listener. And it made me wonder if they had heard about it from you. It made me think of you. I don't know. I don't know.

I just, I just love it. It's like one of my favorite books. And I just, I can't believe that I picked up something that was like contemporary literary fiction. Yeah. not really a thriller. Like an oil painting cover. Yeah. Like everything about that book was like, this is not within like, at the time I was reading like very high pace like thrillers.

Yeah. And so. Yeah, that would be a divergent. I don't know what I was trying to say. It was definitely not in my comfort zone. And it definitely wasn't something that like I would have picked up on my own. Like my friend hadn't told me you should, you should read this. I think you'd really like it.

And those are so fun when someone else, like, knows. They're like, this is a little different, but I swear you're going to like it. Yeah. Yeah. It's always cool when that plays out. Because it's like sometimes, like, I feel like sometimes when like people really, like one of these experiences like a couple weeks ago, somebody really, really loves a book. So they try to hype it up and be like, just because they,

love it. They think that you should love it as well. And then when you read it and you're like, no, I don't love this because it's not like. So like it really sucks when like it's that situation. So having one like this really makes up for it. It does. Yeah. No.

It does. Well, my next one has no segue. Is there an oil painting cover? No. But it was It was, it is historical fiction, which is very bumpy for me to normally commit to.

It's just like difficult for me normally. But I saw enough interest in it that I was like, you know what? I'm going to request this on that Cali. It is available now. But it is last night at the Hollywood canteen by Sarah James. Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Lawrence, new in town after a devastating breakup,

definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made. But Hollywood proves to be more than tensile and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Ferris is found dead in the canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Feudoneman. Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group, each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers, that call themselves the ambassadors club. Solving a murder in real life,

it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the ambassadors club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back. The like dialogue was so snarky. That's what I think that's like really what got me even like from the very beginning. And there really just, there was like a lot of like shifting parts to solving the mystery. So it didn't totally feel like it was all like, oh, I'm so aware that it's the 1940s. Like it didn't drag that way for me. And I ended up really loving it.

It was very fun to read. So far you have a theme going where like the covers to your books are absolutely fucking gorgeous. Oh my gosh. This cover is very cool. I agree. And the real deal was very cool. Yeah. We have pretty covers today.

Yeah. I didn't notice this until now. Uh-huh. But, as you pointed out, the paper palace cover, I read it on my Kindle. So, like, I don't have, like, a cover to, like, stare at as much. But I guess my theme right now is. Covers that have oil paintings That's amazing

The hardcover copy of my next book is an oil painting as well So this is- Oh my gosh But my next one is The only segue I can think of is oil painting Because it's not as exciting as the Hollywood canteen Hollywood and murder Yeah But mine is just by looking at him

by Ryan O'Connell. Okay. And this is one where, when it was pitched to me as like queer literary fiction, I was like, you know what? I really want to read this because Ryan O'Connell is in a Netflix TV show that I can't think of right now. But he was also in, the Peacock remake of Queer as Folk he was in as well. But there is another, there's another Netflix show. Yes.

Yes. Oh, why am I frozen? There we go. I'm back. Yes, special. And he's just so funny and so witty. And I just was like, you know what? Like, I have to read this because I'm gonna like, usually if I read something that's like queer fiction, it's like a hockey romance or like something like, you know, like something like that. But this one is just so good. And I absolutely like love the story. And it was like such a quick read. And I was like laughing. out loud. And I just like, it was one of those times that I read something that wasn't a thriller, but I still was like, I have no idea where this is going. And I'm kind of into it. That's cool. So it's just such a good, it's such a good book. And it is about a gay TV writer with cerebral palsy as he fights addiction and searches for acceptance in an overwhelmingly

ableist world. So it's about Elliott. He appears to be living the dream as a successful TV writer. with a doting boyfriend, but behind this like Instagram filter of a life that you think he has, he is dealing with alcohol addiction, he's cheating on his boyfriend with various sex workers, and his cerebral palsy is making him feel like a gay Shrek. So after falling down a rabbit hole of sex drinking and Hollywood backstabbing, Elliot decides to limp his way towards redemption. but facing your demons is easier said than done. And it just goes from there into like this like completely different story.

It's so unique. It's so unique. It's so good. It's like heartwarming and like funny. Yeah. It's just like you can tell that there's probably, I don't want to say anything about Ryan O'Connell because I don't know if he's ever struggled with addiction. I don't know if he's ever had interactions with sex workers or. whatever the case is maybe. But you can tell that there's like a lot of his like wit and personality in this story. Yeah. Even if these aren't things that he's like struggled with, but it was just such a good book. And it was like, like at the end of we were like, damn, like that really paid off. Like stepping out of my comfort zone made me really love that book. Oh, I love that. Yeah. You've made me want to read it now. Your oil painting books.

My third one is not an oil painting, but. I could do an oil painting of it for how much I love it. I don't know if I'm trying to think of, I mean, I don't know that it could come to mind. Anyway, I don't think I could think of oil painting covers, but there might have been one somewhere along the way that I've read. Who knows? Surely some thriller I've read kind of made use of that, but maybe not. Maybe that's what I've been missing in my life reading thrillers. Yeah.

All the oil paintings. That's how we start, like, being like, oh, this is a book we probably should try. Oh, my God, oil paintings? Light me out. Well, mine has an unconventional relationship in it, but I don't know if that's offensive to say just because he felt like gay Shrek. But that's my best segue that I have. my next one. Yeah, that works.

And I'm also stretching it a little bit because it is sci-fi, but it was an author I found who has a whole series of books that are kind of like Black Mirror is how they're pitched. But I hadn't actually read a book that was compared to Black Mirror. So that's why I'm counting this one as kind of out of my comfort zone. I'm also not totally sci-fi. It's not like if someone says sci-fi, I'm like ready to read it. So I'm over-justifying at this point. But it is called The Prediction by Faith Gardner.

It was at one time called Amen Maxine. So you may have seen it under either of those names. But it is about a new marriage, a perfect home, and a machine that says it's all a lie. Welcome to Silicon Valley where the weather's perfect, the income is high, and Rowena Snyder is miserable. A transplant from New York, Rowena moved into her husband Jacob's idyllic childhood home with their new baby. But suburbia isn't Rowena's cup of Starbucks, and she's got serious anxiety and depression to boot. Jacob worried about their marriage, scores the new product currently in beta testing from his tech job. Maxine, a digital friend that bonds with an individual.

by continually gathering their personal data. Along with functioning like an upscale digital assistant, Maxine has advice and prediction modes that have shown promise for patients with mental health issues. To Ruina's shock, the device turns out to be not just helpful, but eerily accurate predicting events even before they occur. It's a godsend until Maxine offers a series of increasingly bone-chilling predictions that will change Ruina's life forever. This domestic suspense novel set in a Near future dystopia asks Who do you dress more? Your mind,

your man, or your machine. Dang. So it is not included in this synopsis, but something that this author does that's really cool, she does like little reels

where she like kind of does like a POV, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it's like, this is actually what my book is about. Oh, cool. And so she she gives it away. So I'm going to go ahead and give it away.

The Maxine, tells Rueina that her husband is going to kill her is the prediction that Rueina gets. And I feel like that's a really important part of the book to also know that it could probably get you hooked. So after she had a few predictions correct, then she's like, your husband's going to kill you. And so after all this trust has been built up,

now it's like what was really fascinating to me about it, very similar to Black Mirror episodes, is you're like in this new thing where the main character is kind of in a relationship with an AI piece of tech. They've like developed a relationship and she trusts her. And now she has to decide how much she trusts her. Jesus. It was so good.

It was very good. What was the new name? I keep, I keep saying like Callie Maxine. What's the new name, like the updated one? The new name is the prediction by Faith Gardner. Okay.

It was like so claustrophobic. And the other thing that I thought was very cool about it. Because she is like, she's like a transplant, knows nobody, like moves, doesn't know anyone. And it's just like really isolating and all of that. So she's like a new mom with like no friends. And now she's like, is my husband about to kill me? So it's like very claustrophobic feeling the longer you get into the story. But it also kind of has some really interesting implications.

when you think about anxiety and like how we make our own predictions and sometimes we're wrong. So it was very, very interesting to me. And I want to read more of her series. They're all standalone. So they're called the Joel Vicks episodes. Yeah. And so there are six. Yeah, there are six books in the series.

And all of them are unique characters. But like someone in each story works for Jolvix. which is kind of like, think any mega tech company that we have now, like kind of like Google or Apple or something. Someone in each book works for them. Yeah, it's a really neat concept. They all kind of seem like they're different genres too. Yeah.

Not like, they're all like suspense thriller mystery, but like serial killer thriller I'm seeing. Yeah, the slaying game is a. serial killer thriller. Yeah. Family dramas. Yep. Violet is nowhere.

Psychological. Mm-hmm. I'm going to have to check her out. There was another book I think you recommended by her. Yes. We are the hunters. Yes. They are the hunters.

Yeah. That one I'm also very excited to read because that one just sounds wild. Yeah, it does. That one sounds really good. But yeah, she just started independently publishing and was like, so I'll be putting out even more books for you. I was like, good for her. That's awesome.

That is awesome. My next one is kind of like a little bit of a thriller as well. But like at the time that the reason I like say I like stepped out of my comfort zone with this one is because at the time

I was reading really fast-paced dark Nordic noir, fast-paced serial killer books. Like I was just reading like a lot of that kind of thing where there's like a murder to be solved or something like really dark and sinister. But this book was pitched to me and I don't know if it was compared to luckiest girl alive or if it was compared to Jessica Knoll. But that's when I was like, okay, now I'll read it. I'll take it. And it's White Ivy by Susie Yang. Oh yes. Because there's no like,

there's nothing in the plot that I was like, this seems like a thriller or a mystery or a suspense that I would enjoy, but it has that sinister, slow-paced, like, ominous, dark cloud that's, like, over the entire book that, like, you just can't look away. But I just loved it. And it's about Ivy Lynn, a thief and a liar, but you never know it by looking at her. So Ivy was raised outside of Boston with her immigrant grandmother who relied on Ivy's mild appearance for cover as she teaches her how to pilfer items for yard sales and secondhand shops.

So like switching price tags and like just like doing things, it's like not exactly like full on stealing, but like just resourceful. Yeah. Like just like kind of like teeter tottering on like really shouldn't be doing this. So this allows Ivy to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen and most importantly to attract the attention of Gideon Spire, the golden boy of a wealthy political family. But when Ivy's mother realizes what she's been doing, she punishes her by sending her to China, and her dream instantly evaporates.

So years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. When she's back in Boston, she runs into Sylvia Spire, Gidey. and a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable, but Ivy thinks it's fate. So slowly she kind of tries to infiltrate her way back into Gideon's life and the entire Spire family by attending their dinners and weekend getaways to the Cape. But just about when Ivy thinks that like she's got this in the bag, a ghost from her past resurvices threatening to take her nearly perfect life and crush it into something.

motherans. Mm-hmm. This was the first book you, I think it was the first recommendation of yours that I ever read after like talking to you. Like when we, I think when we talked before, when we were just like planning if we could have a podcast, you mentioned this one. So I think this was like other than like, I'm sure I read some from your Instagram, but it was the first one that you like physically told me about and I started reading it.

I was like, this is so good. I loved it. I love that book so much. I can't wait to see what she does next. Yeah. Did you say you know she is working on something? I have no idea. I have no idea.

Okay, I couldn't remember if we talked about it recently or not. I don't think there's like anything like on Amazon or anything that I've seen that like alludes to the fact that something's coming out soon. But whatever it is, it'll be worth the way. I just love why I so much. I love that much. And it was so. It had so many layers to it. Yeah, I think the comparison to

to Jessica Knoll was like spot on Because you know how like some books are like Oh like you should read this if it's like If you like this book that was popular last year You know like they did that with Gone Girl Like everything was like Oh, everything was Gone Girl Oh if there's one if there's one couple in the book that's married

You should read this because it's about like it's just like Gone Girl But Or like a psychological thriller at all It was just like Yeah Yeah poor gillian flan like she's probably like i know many book ideas but like i don't want you guys to make me like sick of them by comparing everything to them yeah but um but yeah white iv was one of those

times when like somebody actually like the publisher pitched something to me and like they were spot on with their recommendation yeah it was so good it was very fun oh i love that book and that one scene I know. It's like the first thing that always comes to mind. Me too. And I can like picture it like so vividly in my head and I'm just like, wow. So cinematic. Yeah. Yeah. So now I want to have like a weekend like maybe in like the spring or something where I reread these these three books again. Yeah. Together because that would just be like such a wild trifecta for me. It would be. And for anybody that's. What kinds of things going on. Yeah. And for anyone who's listening who might, you know. So if you're in. reading slump or if you are just looking for something that is outside of your comfort zone, now you have some recommendations on what we think would help you pick up a book and find the joy

reading. Maybe enjoy a non-thriller. Yeah. Yeah. Also, I'm always, um, after I read the real deal, I almost did a post in my stories, but I forgot to. I'm also always intrigued. that if anyone has read books that aren't thrillers and they're like, oh my gosh, you would love this. Like, please DM them to me. Because I'm always interested in that. But it's like sometimes I get scared to like try something that isn't going to have like fun pacing. So anyone else has ideas, send them to us. Yeah. 100%. I'm always willing to like read something that is outside of my comfort zone as long as it's something that's really interesting.