Bookwild - Hyped Books We Want to Read with Halley Sutton

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

This week, Halley Sutton joins me to talk about hyped books we have on our TBRs but haven't gotten to reading yet.  We also, somehow, accidentally, platform men??Books We Talked AboutKate’s PicksThe PlotThe God of the WoodsHidden PicturesWrong Place Wrong TimeTomorrow and Tomorrow and TomorrowHalley’s PicksThe Moonflower MurdersLessons in ChemistryThe MaidensUntamedAnita de Monte Laughs LastThe Searcher Other BooksThe Graveyard ShiftNight Side of the RiverThis Girl’s a Killer Movies We Talked AboutA Girl Walks Home Alone At NightIt's What's InsideThe Substance  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 

So if you guys listened to last time I was with Hallie, Hallie had a really great idea for an episode. We are back this week to talk about hype books that we haven't read, which was really fun to plan for. It was fun and also demoralizing in a way of like there's so many of these I have not read. I know. I know. Yeah.

I was like scrolling and I was like, because I was also having to pick the hype ones too. So it wasn't all of them, but like literally sometimes scrolling through your TBR on Goodreads is just like overwhelming. Oh, yeah. I don't know about you. First of all, so happy to be back. Thank you for having me. Yes. Yes. I don't know about you, but I am an eternal optimist where I'm like, I'm going to read all these books behind me. Like eventually, my life will slow down and I'll just be able to read somehow. And I'm also going to read every book on my TBR and I'm starting to think that may not happen, Kate. And like, that's, that's upsetting. I know. I know, especially because in the context of like, what I realized is I have

more than a thousand on my TBR and goodreads. And the other thing is like if you sort by like the date that you added it, you also realize like how many books you add each year. But like, you never get to all of them even if you like really wanted to read it. You're just like, wow. I've just accumulated all these books. And I'm never going to read them all. It's so true. And then there's books, too, that I added, like, 12 years ago. And it's like, the book sounds good, but I can't remember why I added it.

You know what I mean? Where sometimes there's like, oh, I want to read this because I, like, sometimes you're just like, well, that, whatever that thought is, it's gone now. So. Yep. Yeah, when you go, like, way back to mine, I, like, started or like, whatever, when I created my account about 12 years ago. I was in therapy. So you also get these random, like, it's like, thriller, thriller, thriller, the borderline mother.

These like therapy textbooks that I was reading. You're like, oh, yeah, that was that phase. Totally. I think I have stuff like that too, maybe more focused on like, this would be a little good corporate worker. And I'm like, that is no longer the trajectory I want to be on. We can get you out of here. No, thank you. Yes. Yes. That's the same for me. Have you read anything recently that you loved before we dive in? I have. I'm actually reading one. I'm reading two right now that I really am enjoying. I'm reading ML Rio's The Graveyard Shift, which is a short novella. ML Rio is the author of If We Were Villains, which is also on my TVR.

And Graveyard Shift is just like a novella. It's very like Halloween friendly. I actually think it was like the Barnes & Noble pick for this month, maybe. and it's told in these short chapters, through the point of view of five different characters who know each other because they come to this abandoned graveyard on the campus that they're all kind of lives like, you know, revolve around to smoke cigarettes in the middle of the night. They all have insomnia and they come here. And one night they get there, the night the novella opens and there's a grave.

And this like church has been out of commission for 100 years. There's like nobody knew being buried. there so they're like what's going on so then a couple of them investigate and it kind of like passes the baton to each character in turn and it all takes place over the course of the night so it's really fun really fast read highly recommends that's great yeah um and then i feel like a bottle episode when it like all happens like that exactly exactly and it's just it's really like i find her writing to be a joy And then it's just, yeah, very going down super smooth. And it's always nice to like finish a book in two days and be like, look at me.

On to something new, you know? Mark it is red. Totally. And then the other book I'm reading is a collection of short stories called, I believe it's called The Other Side of the River Ghost Stories by Jeanette Winterson. And so my little spooky. thing I'm doing in the book world is I'm reading one short story a day for the month of October, one like creepy short stories. So I love short stories, but I don't always love short story

collections because it can feel kind of like I sink into a story and then it's over. Like sometimes it's hard for me to keep like encountering a new story and then being like, okay. But doing it like one a day is like a little project and I'm loving it. And it's really, it's really, I love Jeanette Winterson's work. She's like very smart, but also does like really weird off the wall stuff. Like one I just read was about a haunted fur coat. Like it's just I love it. Yeah. Yeah, that's unique.

What about you? That's cool. Yeah. What are you reading or what have you loved? So I can't remember if we even had a Instagram story conversation about this or not. But I read this girl's a killer and I loves it. Oh my gosh. It is so good.

It's out October 29th, I think. No, that is what it is. And it is like Dexter, but a female. But the things about it that are like Dexter, like this is what I keep telling everyone when I keep talking about it is, it is that she's like a female killer killing bad guys. but also her inner monologue is super like snarky and fun and it made me realize because I haven't watched it like when it was on. I haven't watched it since then so it was so long ago. And then I was like, oh yeah, Dexter is snarky. So it like brought me to that realization. I hadn't like thought of Dexter through the context of my love for snarky characters. And I was like, oh yeah, that's

that's him. Love that. Love that. We did talk about a brief. that book is on my radar too and I'm excited to read it. Oh, it's so good. Yeah. It is very, very, very, very fun. I loved it. And the, like, the suspense, like, just rises the whole time. Just like when you're watching Dexter. Like, the stakes just always feel so high all the time. So I was, like, trying to burn through it. It's like 400 pages and it didn't feel like it. But I was like, I need to know. And then actually, so Gare and Steph have both. talked on this podcast about how much they love the weight of blood by Tiffany D. Jackson. And I just started reading that last night. And I did not want to do any work today. So I'm Oh, that's a good recommendation for sure. I love that. Yeah. Yes. So I'm, yeah, I just love it already. That's great. Okay. I think I'm like 40 pages in. I need to read that one. I need to read both of those, actually. And actually, so this girl is a killer makes me think of. So my roommate is doing a thing for Halloween for spooky season that I am tagging along with, which is he watches one scary movie a day.

And he like alternates it between like twitches and hocus pocus and then like scarier stuff. And so last night we watched the Iranian film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at night. Have you watched it? Whoa. No. It's about a young female vampire who seeks out like bad men to kill. And it's like it's more artsy than thrill. ride but I loved it. I loved it. I mean, the premise sounds awesome. Yeah, it's great. Oh my gosh. Well,

I need to add that. What did you, is it, can you just rent it like anywhere or was it on a streaming service? It was on Apple Plus and we did rent it. I don't, I didn't think I, I looked briefly, but I couldn't find it streaming anywhere for free. Okay. So you can yeah. Yeah, so just rent it where you rent movies normally. Mm-hmm. I, speaking of movies, if people have not seen me talking about it, it's what's inside is amazing on Netflix. Oh, I got to watch that. You did watch it?

No, I want to. I actually did see that you had talked about it, but I haven't watched it yet, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So it is very, very, very fun. And I'm like loving finding these. It was another one where I can't remember the guy's name. I saw a TikTok and this guy was like talking about how great this was and it was like needed

be on more people's radars. I was like, okay, cool, sounds good. And it was, it is so fun. It's one of them, so there's body switching involved. Like the gist of it is like eight friends from college, like come together. They haven't all been together, but in years. But one of the friends is getting married. So they come together and this like the tech bro friend brings a game and says, like,

we can play this game where we switch bodies and try to guess who's who. So then there's all these secrets. and stuff in the friend group that basically get shaken up via body switching. So the other part that I love about it is like your brain like has to like work to like keep up with it. And it's so engaging when there's something like that when you're keeping track of like so many things. So I did.

Oh my gosh. I had so much fun. And they like kept raising the stakes and like shifting what was happening with the game. It was so good. I bet that's fun for the actors too. because they get to play their character and then they're playing somebody else. Like, you know, like that's cool. Yeah.

Did you ever watch? Oh, why can't? Orphan Black? I didn't. No. Okay. That's fine. It's another one that is a really cool concept because it's a sci-fi thing where basically

this, Tadiana Maslini is a fantastic actress. And I wish I could see her in more stuff because she had, she was so good. good at it and had so much fun with essentially playing eight very distinct different characters that were all clones. So it's all her playing all of them. And then sometimes there are moments where she is, she's like playing in someone else's life. So it's her as someone acting like someone else. And oh my gosh, so fun to watch. That's really cool. Yeah, that's really cool. And actually it feels very fitting for today's episode that that was like a huge cultural moment. I totally missed.

I don't know. I feel like I don't encounter a ton of people that have watched it. And oh my gosh. Now I'm like wanting to rewatch it. But I think they're like four or five seasons. So in your news is a sci-fi-ass thriller. Yeah, I definitely remember being aware of it. And I know she won some awards for her acting in it.

Yeah. But I didn't, I didn't watch it. Oh, it's so good. Yep. It does fit the subject, though. Yeah. Do you want to go first with your first hype book you have not yet read? Yeah.

So the first one, I mean, I don't have really any reason for the order, is wrong place, wrong time by, is it Gillian McAllister? Is she also Gillian? That's a good question. I also haven't read it and I also don't know how to pronounce her name. Well, hopefully it's Gillian. It's spelled like Gillian Flynn. But this one, I feel like I remember seeing it everywhere on like my bookstore feed when it came out. I just, again, just didn't fit it in.

So this is what it's about. Can you stop a murder after it's already happened? It's midnight on the morning of Halloween. Ooh, even more seasonal. And Jin anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son Todd to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd. when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the windows,

she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger. She doesn't know who the victim is or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life and Todd's have been shattered. After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair,

but when she wakes up, it's yesterday. The murder has not yet happened, and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning when Jen wakes, she's further back in the past, first weeks, then years before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd's terrible crime. And it's her mission to find it and prevent it from taking place. This actually kind of ties in. Totally.

No, I was just saying it sounds great. Yeah. And it kind of ties into what I was saying. As I was reading it, I was like, oh, this is another one where I feel like your brain has to like fully engage to understand it. similar to it's what's inside. But yeah, I like ones with like time loops. That's, that's, like, fascinating for me to play a story structure. I do too.

I think that that's cool. And it's, I mean, in this particular instance, I also like that it feels like it mirrors real life, right? Which is like, when something bad happens, it's almost always because of factors and, like, different things that are on over the years, right? Layers. It's not just like, yeah. This one moment.

I mean, sometimes it is. but, you know, very rarely. Sometimes, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Now I've convinced myself I want to read it. Honestly, I think that's where I'm going to go with most of these.

I was trying not to like, I was trying to think of. So I like looked through a bunch of lists of like biggest thrillers of the last couple of years and there were so many that I was like, nope, I haven't read that one. And I was trying not to pick stuff that was either. I was trying not to pick stuff where it's like, well, actually I've read some of that author. I just haven't read this book because I'm, I was like, that's. too easy, you know? Or I was, and I was trying not to pick stuff where I was like, I'm definitely

not going to read that because it's not for me, you know? So like I don't want to, I didn't want to pick stuff that I was like going to punch down on in any way. So I went to my bookshelves and was like, here are big books I bought that I had read. And then I also picked a book to share that was like, I had avoided this author for a really long time and I finally got ashamed into reading them. And then I was like, yep, as good as advertised, she's now one of my favorites. Nice. Nice. I thought he was going the other way.

Oh, no. No, no. I'm not trying to be mean. Okay. So my first pick is the Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz, who is a UK thriller writer, who has also written like the Magpie murders, I think, is one of his big books. Yeah. I have read none of his stuff.

So I was like, I have this. So do you want me to read the description? of it? Yeah. Which it's funny. I did read the description of it before this and was like, for sure I would read this book. Susan Ryland has left publishing and now runs a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend, Andreas. It should be paradise. But Susan is exhausted and she's beginning to miss London. Oh, sure. Small Greek island. Let's just go back to one. Anyway. Then an English couple, the Treherns, come to stay. They tell her about a dreadful murder that took place at the hotel they own in the Suffolk countryside. It happened on the same night that their daughter got

married. And it turns out that the victim was a friend of Alan Conway, the author of Magpie Murders, which Susan once edited. Conway visited the hotel and based the third book in his detective series on the crime. The Trahearn's daughter, Cecilia, or Cecily, excuse me, read Conway's book and became certain that it proved that the man convicted of the crime, a Romanian immigrant, who was the hotel's handyman, was innocent. Now she has disappeared. Susan realizes that once again, she has been confronted with a mystery within a mystery and must return to England to find Cecily and discover what really happened. That sounds fun. And I also never read any of his books. You and me both.

Okay, so sounds great. I'm like, got to read it eventually along with all the others up here. But I also wanted to read to a little bit of his author bio because writers almost always write their own author bios. And this is, this is something. So this is just like on the back of book. Anthony Horowitz, one of the UK's most prolific and successful writers. Okay, sir, may have committed more fictional murders than any other living author. I mean, that's a good hook, but I'm also like the rankings don't seem official. How would you gauge that?

This is why I don't read male writers. Just putting that in there. I know. So I was going to say, this is what being a man feels like. Exactly. This is what being a powerful, successful white man is. Oh my gosh. That, okay, that's funny because there was, what was it?

I can't even remember what it was. There was some book that I was like, I think I'm going to try reading this one. And I started reading it. And it was from a man's perspective. And I truly think that in the moment, I was like, I just don't think I want to read a man's perspective right now. I often feel that way where you're like, but why? Like,

I'm just not feeling it right now. Not for me. And then I switched. I liked the next book, so I mean, who knows? There you go. Yeah. Well, my next one is publishing adjacent. It is the plot by, is it Gene or Gene?

Jean-Honf correlates. Okay. I can't. This is one that like, This was the first one that came up when I thought about books that I can't believe I haven't read. So it's a long synopsis. Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectively published first book. Today he is teaching a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what's left of his self-respect.

He hasn't written, let alone published anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn't need Jake's help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing. Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as the typical amateur narcissism, but then he hears the plot. Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker's first novel, but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting author would do with a story like that, a story that absolutely needs to be told. In a few short years, all of Evan Parker's predictions have come true,

but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He's wealthy, famous, praised, and read all over the world, but at the height of his glorious new life, an email arrives. The first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign, you are a thief, it says. As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who is Evan Parker? And how did he get the idea for his sure thing of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot and who stole it from whom?

Also, I almost started laughing in the middle of that because I went from saying, I just don't need to read a man's perspective to recommend this book. But eventually I will want to read a man's perspective with this book. I totally get it. And I think when you look back over the footage, you're going to see, especially in the beginning as you're talking about this man's eyes, a lot of, like, on my part, like, do we need this man? You know, even though I believe the writer Gene is a woman, I identify this woman. Yeah.

So my first thoughts about that sounds very interesting. Mm-hmm. Sounds like yellow face, for sure. It does. It came out before. Oh, it did. Interesting. That's what I was going to ask.

Yeah. And then I also think it's, yeah. Yeah, I think it's really interesting. And I think that this is a thing that you could like, I don't think this would ruin the book at all. But like the idea of there being a surefire plot that somebody tells you and you're like, that book is going to be an instant bestseller is like not how it works. But that's an interesting idea, you know? Yeah, right.

I know. I wonder if it, because like the way it says it at the end where it says like, who was he and how did he actually get the idea? I'm like, is there something magical? Totally. It definitely sounds like there's layers there and I'm intrigued and I want to read it. Yeah. I know. I do too because then the sequel for this came out this year called the sequel.

Right. Very meta. Interesting. Okay. I think you and I might have to do a book club of some of these being if we can like get past reading. But yeah, I definitely, I definitely want to read these. I know. Probably.

For sure. probably probably um okay my my next one is truly gonna probably make some people sit up and gasp and throw something at the screen i haven't read lessons in chemistry i haven't either okay cool okay this book was like the hottest thing since sliced bread a couple of years ago i own a copy and i haven't read it um i haven't watched the tv show based on it either even though i love brie larsen but But so I guess I could read the, the description of this, but I also think this book is so well known. It's basically about a woman, mid-century, or last century, who wants to be a chemist, but essentially gets kind of like shifted over traumatic events and like shifted over

into teaching, like having like a cooking channel, a cooking school. And like the, what I presume is like a heartwarming feminist story. and maybe like wrangled with difficult truths and things. And I just haven't read it even though there are so many things there that like tick my boxes. And actually my grandmother was a home at professor and she had a, that's cool. Yeah, she had like a local cable cooking show that she used to do too. So it's like I should read this in honor of her.

I have it. I will read it. But I don't know. It just keeps falling off my list a little bit. Sometimes I find myself resistant to the books that. get all the really big hype in a way. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes, well, yeah, the other thing is like, I don't read tons of contemporary fiction. For sure. I always have to pick up the facts. Um, but I read some of it, but the ones that really blow up tend to be kind of like that. Like, right, that's not

contemporary. I guess it's a little historical, but. Women's fiction maybe more is the way to say it or like, yeah, uh, for sure. I know what you mean. Um, Same with like, I know it has an emotional gut punch like at the beginning. And I like scared me. People's reactions on TikTok. That I think is part of why I haven't read it to be honest with you. I keep being like, am I in the mood? Which is so funny because if I don't know something dark is coming like I can handle it no problem.

But it's almost like anticipating like, oh, it's going to be sad. Like you know, you know, I know. You know, I know. I struggle with that too. which actually brings me to my next recommendation because it kind of has some reviews like that. I guess it's very emotional, but the God of the Woods by Liz Moore is just everywhere right now. I love that book. Yes.

I love it. And like so many people feel that way and I'm like, I've got to fit it in. I've got to fit these 490 pages in. But it's also kind of historical fiction. So early morning, August 1975, a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant Barbara Van Lahr has gone missing. Barbara isn't just any 13-year-old. She's the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region's residents.

And this isn't the first time a Van Lar child has disappeared. Barbara's older brother similarly vanished 14 years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds, chasing down the layered secret of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow. Moore's multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. So I, everyone that I've seen post about this loves it, which that's probably rather posting about it too.

But it's so long that I just haven't fitted in. But I'm like, I just feel like I have to because people seem to love it the way you do. I loved it. I think the writing is crisp. think it's a great story. I think the reveals she thread through. She does some like really high wire act stuff that like she pulls off that I think is incredible. I know what you mean about the length. I chose it to be. I like saved it for okay. So I went to Egypt last month and had a long travel day ahead of me. And I have noticed that since the pandemic, I have gotten more anxious on

plane. So I was like, the thing I'm going to do. is I am going to, my first flight, I am going to start a book. I am like really excited to read that I think will be really good. And that'll help like distract me and get through it. And I loved it. And it was like, it was the perfect choice for something like that where you're just like trapped in a metal cylinder. And it's like, I can sleep. I can watch TV or I can read. And like it was. Yeah. It was, it's a really good book. Yeah. I love it. I'm going to bump it up. The other cool thing about the timing of us doing this episode is I'm caught up on my neck galley through December. And I only have one in December. So I'm like, I actually have a lot of time right now to like pick up some of these books that fell through

the cracks. Totally. That's great. That's awesome. Yeah. Does this one go back to the 50s too? Is that what I? It's sort of does. It's kind of like a family saga. So like she does really interesting things with time jumps and they have like an interesting way they show it because you have multiple POVs. in multiple times. And so you'll see like Barbara Van Largo's missing is like the inciting incident of the book. And that I think is in the 70s. But then it goes back to show like how her parents met. And it's like briefly, it's not necessarily like you're there for 50 pages or anything.

It's just like this is how they met. This is how they got married, blah, blah, blah. And so it's like like this like epic saga of this people in place. And it's really good. I'm excited. It almost sounds like all the. beautiful strangers, I think, is the name that it's reminding me of, because that was another one that it, like, it's showing, like, the effects of a family going back. Yet another book I haven't

read. It is all these beautiful strangers. I at least got the name right. So, yeah, I'm going to have to, I'm probably going to pick this one up soon then. Yeah, it's, I'll be very curious to see what you think when you, when you're, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay, my next. My next. one is the maidens by Alex Michaelides. I have also not read The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. No Michaelides has been had in my household. And I can see your face. You have thoughts. I know. That would have been a good one too for this. Yes. So I, yeah, so I just haven't read it yet. again, I wonder if there's a part of me that's, I don't read as many books by men and I'm fine with that. I don't either is what I'm learning.

Yes, but like that wasn't necessarily a conscious choice for some of these. Like I did buy this book and I want to read it. But yeah, so I'll read the back. My understanding is that it's kind of like a dark academia thriller. Yes. So Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this, Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable.

a handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University. Ah, yes, the untouchable classics professors whose jobs never get defunded. Fosca is adored by staff and students alike, particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as the Maidens. Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on the maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana's niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets and beneath the ancient traditions lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder.

But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rights of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld? When another body is found, Mariana's obsession with proving Fosca's guilt spirals out. of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything, including her own life. I, and I know I'm frozen, but I read that after I read the silent patient. And I, like, it was years ago, but I remember it being, like, very, like, page turnery,

like, all the chapter, I feel like all the chapters, like, revealed, I mean, It's common, but reveal different stuff. Okay. Are we just like talking each other into reading more male authors as this podcast goes on? Is that what this is? Have we turned to a men's rights podcast? I know. What are we thinking?

Dear God. Yeah. I think we're like men and then we're like, here are these books. It's really something. It's really something. we're doing so I don't know but yes I definitely want to read it I've heard a lot of good things I feel like this and the silent patient are always like oh my god you've got to read them and so I need yeah I need to pull the trigger on it yeah the silent patient is so it's just so fun yeah and I'm

not going to say anything because I don't want to give anything away okay okay it is yeah it's worth it to not know much at all. But since we're platforming men today, God. My one offering from a male author, I have not read Hidden Pictures by Jason Reculac. And I feel like it's like in the front of my mind because his other one just came out. And I was like, oh, yeah, I haven't even read the first one. So here's what it's about. I haven't read it either. Okay. So we both don't know. Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell.

She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fair. trees, rabbits, balloons.

But one day he draws something different, a man in a forest dragging a woman's lifeless body. Then Teddy's artwork becomes increasingly sinister and his stick figures quickly evolve into life-like sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long unsolved murder, perhaps replayed by a supernatural force. Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the the images and save Teddy before it's too late. Okay.

It sounds creepy. I don't know that I've ever read the whole synopsis. Me either. It sounds really creepy. I didn't realize we were going to go with maybe supernatural. Like as you were reading it, I was like, what if the twist is the kids just fucked up? Like, he's fine. He just watches a lot of murder shows and it's like, eh, you know?

Yes. I know. People, like, lost their minds when this came out two years ago. So it's got to be, it's got to be good. Yeah, for sure. Actually, I was just scrolling and Jennifer Hillier's review is five stars. And the review says this book was terrifying and I loved it. Amazing.

Amazing. And it's Jennifer Hillier, the queen of thrillers. Right. If she liked it. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Okay.

We got to add that to the list too. That sounds, yeah, kids are creepy for sure. And I'm interested in that. That's intriguing. Yeah. It's interesting that they put potentially supernatural in play on the back of book copy, because then that makes me feel like it might actually go there. Like they're warning you sort of like. It says it in the genres for sure.

It says horror paranormal. And there are actual pictures throughout all of it. So you see the pictures as she's seeing them. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. It's kind of unique. Yeah, it is unique.

Okay, my next one is a bit of a departure, but it is untamed by Glennon Doyle, who also has the We Can Do Hard Things podcast is like, you know, kind of a memoir, vulnerability, like, darling happening. And I definitely bought this at Target during the pandemic and have not rid of it. But it's about, basically, it's about how Glennon Doyle was married, had children, is speaking at a conference and, like, falls instantly in love with Abby Wambach and realizes like, oh, my God, like, I want to pursue this. My whole life is different. And kind of the vulnerability required to get there. Like, how do you find your inner voice again? And, you know, it's just an interesting book. like that's such an interesting idea to me that you could more or less identify as straight or as

whatever and you know even gay and just just be like oh no like this person suddenly I don't know that I believe in love at first sight exactly for me because that's not how I like work but like I don't know it's an interesting idea that memoir was everywhere um vulnerable story to tell and it's one that I have meant to get to even if I don't know if you do this sometimes I pick books to read like I'm interested in her story. I think it'll be well written and informative and interesting even if it isn't totally aligned with my life in some ways. But like I almost want to read it so I have a better understanding of like the zeitgeist around it of like the position that Glenn and Doyle like occupies in society and like what this story is and like really

understand it. That is something I'm interested in. I do. I feel you on that because like I see stuff can't get me to like I'm like I want to have an opinion. Like it was actually part of why we saw it ends with us like the weekend it came out. I was like, I want to have an opinion. Totally. Totally. Colleen Hoover, another author. I've not read a single book by. Yeah. Well, no, no, no, no. I've read Verity. My bad. Oh, okay. Verity is on my list. I don't own it. You did love it? I loved it. Yeah. It's very fun. Yeah, it was one of those where like before I even had a bookstagram, so I didn't even like, I wasn't as like connected to finding like even like new books.

It's just like different. I saw it, I think, on like a Pinterest post. Like someone was talking about it. And it was on Kindle Unlimited. And I started reading it and was like just like bingeed through it. And I was like, oh, that was fun. Like I stayed awake that night somehow and pretty much finished it in one night. So yeah, that one, it's just like really entertaining psycho drama thriller, basically.

I feel like if there was one I was going to pick up of hers, it would be Verity, to be honest with you. Yeah. Yeah. And then I didn't have it ventured. So we're the same on that one. But I do think that concept is very fascinating from her book too. So kind of what's crazy is one of the like, basically the inspiration to have multiple co-hosts on this podcast is a woman who has a podcast. She just rebranded it today. It's called Taste of Taylor. But she has, she puts out, um, episodes five days a week basically does like a radio show and just has different people on it and they talk about pop culture stuff kind of each day but she was married to a man and then it the marriage was not great in general like she wasn't liking the marriage like they're headed towards divorce anyway

and then she met her now wife and just like immediately fell in love with her and had never been with a woman before and she like jokes about how so her name's Taylor and her wife's name is Taylor. Oh my gosh. She jokes that she's Taylor sexual because it was just this one person did it for her, basically. So it's like it is fascinating hearing different people's experiences with stuff like that. Totally.

And I love like I think the more we hear about different experiences like that, the more it broadens like the spectrum of possibilities that we can all like see and understand. You know what I mean? Like there's not just one path to finding love. not just two paths to finding love that could be like all these different avenues, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's why I haven't watched it, but nobody wants this is like so captivating,

you're captivating everyone right now because it is like a more non-traditional approach or whatever. It's a different story. Totally. I haven't watched it either. I have been wrapped up in love is blind, which is perhaps a less, less hopeful story of love. but that's typically oh my gosh that one I haven't watched this season but it's like when I do I know

exactly what you're saying like you start watching it you're like I don't know like how interesting will it be and then you're like I can't stop watching yeah yep yep yeah I'm not going to spoil anything for you but there are some major reveals in it oh my gosh mm-hmm they they figured it out without one. I know they really did. Although we can get rid of the liches in my mind, like just go somewhere else. Thank you. I know. I know. Do they, they did the ultimatum too, right? They're the host for that too.

I think so. I don't watch that one somehow, uh, but don't know. I've only seen season one. I can't. Don't. Don't tempt me. I mustn't. I won't. I won't. Because I haven't watched it since. Because I know I'll just, I won't be able stop. I won't get anything done. I know. I feel the same. I'm like, you've got to put some sort of guardrails on this. Like, you can't. I know. There's so many shows you can just fall into.

Yeah. There are. Yeah. Well, um, my next one, as yours was a little out of your genre normally, um, that's the only segue I have for mine. But, oh, and I also saw that you read it and loved it. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow was everywhere. It was everywhere and I just didn't get to it. So on a bitter cold day in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Macer, maybe, exits a subway car and sees amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then she turns and a game begins, a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimate since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and before even graduating college, they've created their first

blockbuster Icago. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even 25 years old. Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions and the betrayals of their hearts. Spanning 30 years from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond tomorrow and tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redentive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect to be loved and to love. Yes, it's a love story, but it's not one you have read before. That is a very convincing synopsis.

it's so good and I actually put off reading that one for a little while like it was everywhere and I I don't think I read it for like a year or two until after it came out and it's beautiful it's like heartbreaking her writing is so good so deep yeah it is heartbreaking for sure or for sure there was something that happens in it that I had accidentally seen like I had somehow I think was like like flipping through to get to like, okay, how much longer in this part? Because I think they're in parts or something. And I saw online and I was like, what? And then like I had a full meltdown and had to text a friend and be like, I, my, so Lane Fargo who, uh, wrote they never learn in the upcoming the favorites. She loves that book too. And I knew she had read it. And she had been the one who was sort of

like, you got to read it. And so I like texted her and I knew what had happened. And I was like, tell me how I'm supposed to get through it. And she was like, you just got to read. And I'm like, But it's so good. Oh, it's going to break me then. Yeah. It's so good. I am not a video game person. I never have been.

I don't even really fully understand them, which is not a critique of them. They're just not really for me. Like, it's just a thing I've missed. But she writes about video games so interestingly. It's like one of those things where you don't have to be into video games to like follow it. But I'm sure if you are, you probably have like another layer of like, understanding of the story too. It's really good. Yeah, there's a, it's reminding me of, um, there's an Apple show called Mythic Quest.

And it's a dromody, but it's also about this core relationship between two creators of a video game and it, it uses video game tropes in a really fun way where like, I'm not into, I don't play them, but it's a really funny show. but this one sounds like it's a little more emotional than just funny. For sure. For sure. Yeah. Although I have to look that one up.

Yeah. But it's really good. It's worth reading. But it is, it will turn you inside out for sure. So I'll plan accordingly. Yes. I will not be reading it in my ludial phase. No.

Definitely not. And yeah, have like, tissues and like some comfort food next to you. But it's like it's not it's not like a like the I think I came out of it feeling ultimately hopeful actually came out of it feeling a lot of things. But like it just is like it is sad and deals with difficult things. And you want to shake the characters at various times and be like, what are you doing? Like don't make that choice. You know? Yeah.

Well, when it spans 30 years, it's like you're getting into just like the things that really happen over a chunk of your lifetime. Totally. Yeah. So there's just a lot of emotional stuff. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I'm probably going to read it and it's going to be so bleak and I'm going to be like, Garrett's not a thriller, but it's so bleak that it works for you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, bleak is like, it is bleak at times. It's really only a moment or something. Yeah. It's like it deals with difficult stuff happening to people. But it is ultimately, I think, a really beautiful. story and she's magic gabriel seven like really great writer oh yeah i forgot to say it was by her i think i just said the title i think you said her name i think maybe okay good i don't know my next one was a reese pick um um anita demonte die or laughs last um yeah so shill gonzalez who also wrote Ogold Dies Dreaming, which I also haven't read. And I'm very eager to read this one, but I haven't read it yet.

I don't know about you. I'm a mood reader for sure. So sometimes I'm like, I'm saving this for like, this is the vibe I imagine for this. So this is a book where I'm like saving it for a vibe in particular. But here is the synopsis. 1985, Anita DeMonte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City. Her tragic death is the talk of the town until it isn't. And I know Anita DeMonte is based on the Cuban-American artist, Anna Mendiato, who has like a fascinating story that we could also get into after this. Nice. Was probably definitely murdered by her husband.

The artist Carl Andre is my opinion. Everyone was like, no, she jumped out of that window. I know, right? We shouldn't read their books or enjoy their art. By 1998, Anita's name, has been all but forgotten, and certainly by the time Raquel, a third year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose

features are already paved for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities as no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks.

As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita's story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita Demonte laughs last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who has left behind in the rarefied world of the elite. Got to read it. Yeah, I hadn't read the whole synopsis.

I just remember that Greg Wans when he was on, he had just read it and was saying how much he loved it. And I was like, I don't even know what this book is. But that sounds amazing. Yes, it really does. And I'm here for it. I want to read it on its own merits. I also want to read it because I am like, so there's a podcast. The first season, well, excuse me, it's called Death of an Artist.

And the first season is about Onamendietta. And like kind of. So Onamendietta died in the 19th. 80s. She was married to this older, more influential artist Carl Andre, and they were known to have this very tumultuous relationship. And they had been having a fight one night. I think they were both drunk. And she, in his words, quote unquote, goes out the window. And he, that's what he says when he first calls 911. But later he changes it to she jumped out the window. But her family is like she was definitely afraid of heights. It was like the 35th floor of a New York State apartment building.

also the like thing that she would have had to climb onto to jump out of the window was taller than her because she was like a very short woman. So there's all these things that point to like probably that's not what happened. And he it goes to trial and it winds up being kind of like I mean, doesn't actually go to trial because they decide that because he's an artist, he can't get a fair trial by a jury of his peers because his behavior is so different because he's an artist, which is like, I don't know. it must have been wild to be a white man in the 1980s, just like, sure, man. So he gets, I think, a bench trial. And they ultimately decide not necessarily, I think, that he was innocent, but that there wasn't enough evidence to convict. So he's more or less found innocent.

I might be remembering that wrong. I don't mean, I believe Carl Andre's dead. So I don't think I can slander him. But anyway, it's this interesting story. And I just became so fascinated with that story that it's really interesting. to me too like i would be interested in this book either way but i'm also interested to see like how she her fictionalized take on the on amen diana story yes bruce was first was agreeing that's wild and that was the 80s that's like freaky that's like the there was a clip going around

of busy phillips telling um these comedians on their podcast like that women couldn't have a credit car until 1975 and they're like you're kidding she's like no yeah you're like that was not long ago i was listening to a podcast today and i haven't fact checked it but it was about the movie killers of the flower moon which i really liked and it was talking about the way that like native american like so in that movie like basically native americans the osage tribe has the head rights and but basically white people decide that they can't be responsible for the head right so they have to have like a guardianship and I found out on that podcast that that was still happening into the 2000s and I was like oh my god that's fucking nuts like that's crazy it might

still be happening I'm not totally sure but like that's wow upsetting to me yes and needs to be amended yeah yeah man I need to link that podcast maybe yeah it's the newcomers podcast by Cole Byers and Lauren Lapkis and they are comedians who watch like big cultural movies that they like haven't seen before. So they start with Star Wars and then they watch like all the Star Wars and then they do a season on Martin Scorsese and his work. And so they pick 10 of his movies to watch and that's one of them. Okay. Yeah, I love people who have like concepts like that for podcasts. They're always interesting.

Me too. Me too. Yeah. I stay on my podcast. Right. Like, it's so cool when people have a podcast, right? I know, like, wow, it would be amazing. I wonder who even does that.

Yeah. Well, that sounds very interesting. I'm like, I obviously read a lot. But I've had some good luck with movies lately. And I'm like, oh, yeah, like, still fun to watch movies, too. For sure it is. I feel like there's been like a fun wave of movies for sure. I'm still so appreciative you kicked strange.

darling my way because I would have missed that and I really enjoyed it. And we can thank film Joe, film Joe on TikTok for that. Because he's the one who put it on my radar. And I was like, oh, this actually sounds pretty good. I was like, we need to find it. Because I agree. I hadn't seen a trailer of it anywhere. No.

And I think I might have been interested in it if I'd seen it coming streaming. Sorry. Cinema Joe. Film Joe, Simba Joe, somebody Joe. Yes. Yeah, I might have been interested in it if it had come to streaming, but I think I would have also been like, what was this movie? I didn't see it come anywhere to theaters. But then when you were like, go watch it, don't look it up.

I was like, okay. I wish we had so many good movies in a row, movie experiences in a row in like, I think it might have been like May through August. And then there was just not that much out in September that was good. Did you see the substance? Oh my gosh. No. I really wanted to. And then I saw all of the body horror warnings and I was like, that's the stuff I can't handle.

It is for sure. I did see it. I saw it on a date, which was a good lip-mast. I know. Was it like a first date? No, no. It wasn't. But, and he was like, he liked it a lot, red, which is a green flag.

Green flag for sure. Definitely. But I, yeah, I really liked it too. It wasn't like my favorite movie of the year, but it was really good. And the performances were great and like the stylization. It was really cool. But it is body horror. Yeah.

Everyone said like the last 30 minutes were just uncomfortable. And it's just the one thing that typically, especially on a huge screen, like, I typically can't handle it. I didn't find the last 30 minutes uncomfortable because to me it was so over the has to be comical, but like it really is like Cronenberg, body horror. It's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I've did, speaking of like, I see thing. I've debated when it comes to streaming and I could like step away from it and watch it on a smaller screen, like watching it just so I can have an opinion. Yeah. Honestly, I would recommend it. Like, it's really good. And you could probably, like, there were definitely moments. I mean, I think it's part of the artistry of the director's

vision and stuff. But like, Like, there are moments particularly at the end where if you're like, this is a bit much, you can kind of like fast forward and like you'll still get it. You know, you'll be like, I see what you're doing, but I don't necessarily need to watch the like blood spray everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's mainly like, um, like stuff going into eyes. Like it's not, it's not blood. It's like or like cutting open your own skin like saw me. Okay. Then maybe it's not for you.

Maybe it's not for you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. there's a lot of that. That's what I was saying. I was like, maybe this was not quite for me, but I hate the style of it and the satire of it from what I got is what I got from the trailer. And I thought I would be totally obsessed. And thank God, we almost went opening night. And Tyler just happened to have work. He needed to finish. And the next morning when I was like seeing all these people's reactions on TikTok, I was like, oh God. Yeah. I mean, it's really, I really liked it. But yeah, it is, there is a lot of, um, It sounds great. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. But a lot of body horror and a lot of actually like sounds I found very uncomfortable. That's what people said. The sound design was what was like making them feel weird. Shake it off for sure. Well, do you have any others? I just had five. I have one that I want to recommend because this was an author that I had sort of known was a blind spot, especially like as a crime writer.

like some of these are crime or thrillers and some of them are not right and like i read across all genres but this was a writer that i had been kind of avoiding because i had sort of a misapprehension of what her work would be like and then my agent basically shamed me into reading her um so it is the writer tana french who is american and irish she lives in dublin um very famous this is this is the book i had a person close at hand but she's most this is a standalone but she's most well known for the Dublin Police Squad, I think, is what the series is called. And so the reason that I didn't read her was because I was like, I don't always love procedurals. Like I think they're great and I sometimes like watching them. But like sometimes I'm like, I don't know. Like, law enforcement isn't rolling my bag always. Like so so I'd kind of put off reading them thinking that that's what it was going to be. And then she came out with the book, The Searcher, which is a standalone. And it's kind of almost like a Western. It's about a retired police. who moves to Dublin and gets pulled into this, like, ancient mystery. There's, like, this body that comes out of the bog, and it's just like, and so I was like,

okay, my agent has basically told me, like, you're, you've brought shame to my agent household family because you haven't read Tana French. Go pick up a Tana French book. And I was like, okay. So I picked up the searcher and was like, this one I'll read. And I was just like, god damn, she is an incredible writer. She writes, like, her books are so good. And then after that, I was like, well, I'm buying everything she's ever written. So I did on Thrift books and have been slowly working my way through them. And I just love her. Like any, even the books of hers that haven't been my absolute favorite books of hers are still amazing.

And so just like, you know it's going to be a good time. Yeah. I read, I read two of the Dublin Murder Squad ones. That's what it's double. There's six of them now. Yeah. I realize there were that movie. Hmm.

Yeah. Which ones did you mean? I especially remember. reading in the woods was like, so like dark and like deals with like memory and childhood and all of that. Yeah. Yeah. She's she's like to me one of the best crime writers working today. Like, I mean, just is amazing. Every book of hers is incredible. And, uh, yeah. And so that's, I, I guess I included her as somebody where it was like, I had put off reading her and boy, was I wrong. So I'm hoping that's the case with all of these books that I have brought to us today, too.

I know. I need to read more of hers now. You're reminding me. She's so good. And she's so good. And she's so good. I like read some of them, but I need to read more. Have you read the dry?

No. By Jane Harper. Oh. This was the first one. I can't remember. I think the dry was her first one. And it's the one about. Yes, that's the one that I read and love.

That's so good, isn't it? Yeah. Yes. I loved it. And then I haven't read any more in that series. I haven't read any more in that series either, but I read another one of hers, one of her ones that came out more recently. I want to say like 2020 or 2021. She's a great writer too.

She's, yeah. Yeah. So atmospheric. Uh-huh. Yeah. Well, maybe we should go read, I guess. I know. I guess we should. We have a lot of ground to cover.