Bookwild - If You Liked The White Lotus, The Peripheral or Freaky, Here Are Books You HAVE to Read

Episode Date: December 20, 2022

Thanks to @thoughtsfromtheisland on Instagram for suggesting a book/tv show or movie recommendation episode!  We talk about our favorite movies and TV shows and share which books pair well with them.Follow us on Instagram:Garehttps://www.instagram.com/gareindeedreads/Katehttps://www.instagram.com/thegirlwiththebookonthecouch/Books We Talked AboutDark MatterHow to Survive Your MurderNot a Happy FamilyThe Guest ListKismetIt Could Be AnyoneNight FilmFollow MeThe SleeplessTV Shows We Talked AboutThe PeripheralThe White LotusSeveranceMovies We Talked AboutFreakyHappy Death DayThe Hating GameRatterSearchingMegan is Missing 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 

Hey 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. I was thinking of this when we were recording. I was also thinking of this this past weekend because you and I have a lot of things in common. We do.

Obnoxious amount of things in common that I love. But do you have like your favorite lounge outfit? Like if you are going to be stuck on an island for a whole day and all you can do is just relax and lounge or if it's like a Saturday where you just have nothing you have to do, do you have like a sweatshirt and a pair of like leggings or shorts or something that like is your like ultimate perfect lounge outfit. If so, what is that? Well, I live in leggings. So I could like imagine Tyler hearing you ask that question and being like, it's her whole wardrobe. So I'm pretty much always wearing leggings, but I have, I actually just bought some giant hoodies.

Literally the company is called giant hoodies. And it's the, especially if you have sensory stuff is so perfect because it's really lightweight. So you don't get hot if you get hot easily. It's lightweight, but it's still really soft. And then like when they say oversized, like, It's like you're just kind of wearing a light blanket. But you also have a huge pocket where you can like carry stuff in your front pouch.

Front pouch? Is that what's called? Yeah. It sounds really weird. Kangaroo pouch, right? I guess. I don't know. I know what you mean.

I feel you. You know what I mean, though. So that I wore, I got that a couple of weeks ago and I wore that when I was reading this weekend and I was so comfy. And I have those, I have some like knockoff. you know how like the ugg mini boots are in right now i have non-ug versions of those that are so comfy and that's pretty much what i wear in the house all winter love it that's exactly what i wanted when you said like your entire wardrobe is like leggings and lounge clothes and i said the same i just

want to clarify i do not wear leggings that's a good point nobody wants to see that but i know that like what you mean with like your work attire is your joggers. Yes, I have joggers. So here's the thing about me. I hate pants. Yeah, me too. Like, I do not like things touching my ankles. I have a pair of black joggers that I love to like run errands in. But like, even if it's negative 30 here, I am obsessed with like the Jersey knit lounge shorts. Jay crew makes them. I have probably 10 pair in gray and like five pair in Navy and they're just the most comfortable thing in the entire world and I love them. But I was talking to my father because he was like, you know, I want to get you a couple of gift cards for like your stocking for Christmas. Where do you want

them from? Where do you buy your clothes? And I was like, well, the thing that's like awesome is that working from home. Yes. Doing the podcast, working my second job from home. And then the blog with reading. All of my work clothes are lounge clothes. Yeah. And it's like I don't have to buy anything specific for work. So, right.

Yeah, these sweatshirts I get, they're oversized sweatshirts from Abercrombie and their crewnecks. And they're the most comfortable thing in the entire world. It makes me look like I have like huge broad shoulders, but I don't. It's just so big. But they're so comfortable.

and like a pair of like jersey shorts and then maybe like a pair of thick socks if my feet get cold. It's like the ultimate lounge outfit for me. Yeah. I sleep. I can't sleep in anything except shorts that are basically exactly what you're saying. And in general, that's what I would just wear around all day. But it gets cold enough here in the winter to wear leggings. But leggings are pretty comfy.

So it's not much of a sacrifice. Yeah. I can see that. I can see that. If I like, I don't know, I just don't like anything touching my calves and my ankles. So I'm just picky with that. So I just wear shorts and I have like a blanket and I have like, like, like a heating pack that you can heat up in the microwave and put it on your lap and you just stay nice and toasty. So I love that. Nothing like an amazing lounge outfit. And I've been going crazy. You can say we're connoisseurs. I'm just not like. I'm like, I'm not just buying lounge outfits. I'm buying things I can work from home in. Exactly. It's for work. Yeah. It's work attire.

So we'll say for anyone watching on YouTube, the sweater I'm wearing right now, your sweatshirt is from American Eagle. And it is literally called, literally called a big hug sweatshirt. Amazing. And that's what it does. So honestly, this would be up on my list of like, it's a very, thin. It's very flowy. I don't feel constricted. I would definitely read in this too. So, and it was on sale. I got it like last week and it was on sale. So if you want the big hug sweatshirt, just go to American Eagle. That is an endorsement. If I could remember you. I will say my favorite crewneck oversized sweater or sweatshirt from Abercrombie that I love is this really soft gray one, but it's like got the old school like Lakers on it.

And I'm like, I'm not a sports person whatsoever. So people are probably like, why is he wearing that? But like it is just the best thing. It looks cool. It's clothing. I have a sweatshirt that is purple and has Nirvana in my like the pink color I use with everything. And all Tyler's family is giving me shit because they're like, you don't listen to Nirvana. I'm like, I don't not listen to Nirvana.

and I liked the sweatshirt. I will say the same thing. I actually love the, what are they? They're like the old school, like, band teas. Yeah. Like you probably have.

I get them at Urban Outfitters, and that's what I usually wear in the summer with, like, shorts. And I have one that I'm obsessed with, and it's deaf leopard. And it has, like, the leopard on it, but it's two-tone. So, like, one side is, like, dark pink

and the other side's light pink. And it's just one of my favorite t-shirts ever. And my sister came to visit. And she was like, deaf leopard. I was like, I don't know any other songs. I just love the shirt. Yes. We'll put that right out there right now.

We're the same on this too. If you want me to be that person that, like, knows a lot of the music and the shirt, then I'll have to put on one of my Aaliyah t-shirts or my Casey Musgraves t-shirt. Right. And that's it. Because the gays love Casey Musgraze.

Yeah. You had... I'm so fucking pumped. You've got one of the best ideas ever. Yeah. So I want to shout out. Someone DM'd me or sorry. Someone responded to a comment.

And I want to be able, I think her account name was thoughts from the island. I can't remember what her name name is. And she asked if we could do an episode where we talk. about a TV show and recommend a book or talk about a book and recommend a TV show. So for this week, that's what we're going to do, give you some kind of TV or I did all TV shows. I don't know if you did a movie, TV show, movie recommendation that's like related to a book. And we're going to try to keep it to five each. I did movies and TV shows.

Okay, cool. Because some people might not have time. for TV shows. Good call. And also two of mine are like a boom, boom, boom situation. Like they kind of like segue

into one another. I don't know. I don't know what I was doing, but I just like had ideas. And I was like, these are some books that I want to talk about and these are some shows and movies. And so I just, I don't know.

I don't know what I do. No, I like that. Have fun editing this one. We do just keep getting wordier. hear that's okay i'm fine with it at least so i actually got that message or that uh whatever comment from her when i was sick and watching tv all day one day and so i kind of had that in my head and then i was watching the peripheral on amazon tv it is a kind of near future sci-fi gamer gaming isn't a huge part but it's there thriller um where basically uh think like

VR games have gotten really advanced at this point and so you can make money playing them and like doing certain missions and stuff you can make money so i forget the character's names very quickly after I watch stuff. So you just have to deal with that. But the main character is a girl who's brother, like, plays a lot of games to make money. Her mom has some, their mom has some disease and they're trying to take care of her. But like, it's clear that, like, they're very poor because of it. But she is also really freaking good at playing the game. And he gets a new game and she tries it out. And it turns out that the VR she was playing wasn't actually virtual.

It was a headset that took her into an alternate timeline in the future. And that's all in the synopsis. So I love how this is like your light like binge watching when you're sick. Like I'm watching like trashy reality shows or like something that requires like zero thinking. And you're like, oh, I just didn't feel good. wanted to relax and I'm like, holy shit. Well, it wasn't intense enough show that I didn't watch it the first day I was sick. I watched it the second day. So when I did try it the day before, I was like, this is too much for me right now. So yes, like if you're like super sick, I'm not saying

watch the peripheral. However, it was so good. Like the world building was really good. The stories were really intense. Lots of characters going on. Lots of things, lots of twists at the end. So it's really, really, really good. But while I was watching it, it was reminding me of dark matter from Blake Crouch. Like, there are definitely some very big similarities to that. And I was like, wait a second. I think I just thought of an example for the topic that she brought up. So, what's kind of similar about dark matter and the peripheral is there's a split in timelines and basically

um so the main character Jason wakes up in reality that is not his reality and he's trying to figure out he doesn't know how he got there and he doesn't know how to get back to what feels like his real

reality it's so hard to explain sci-fi when you're like you know you know the real reality but he's trying to get back to all science fiction is totally lost on me so I'm like oh yeah you're like cool get it girl so basically

it's another sci-fi thing where it's like your main character ends up in another timeline he's some kind of scientist and he tries to figure out how to get himself back to his present real timeline. And then when he does, realizes that means there are multiple of him there and is like, what do I do now? So it's really good. And so if you like the peripheral, you definitely like dark matter. That is a solid endorsement once again. I've got a lot of them today. I'm really,

I feel like I kind of stepped out of my usual bubble. Like sometimes I feel like whatever our topic is. Like I just talk about these books that like really, but I like thought of when I was doing this, I thought of like what are some movies that I love that I would love to talk about and then try them in with books and then like vice versa. I like it. Although I will say I should. I'm just going to start with.

a different one because I was going to start with something else, but it is not a good example of me stepping out of my bubble. So, oh, after that's true. Yeah. After that, I'm like, so here's another, yeah. So the woman inside. It's not the woman inside, but that was almost on my list. I figured. The only reason I could not do the woman inside is because the the connection to the movie is a spoiler for the movie and the book. There are some, like, I noticed that where I was like, if I say these two are like each other, you probably know the spoiler. Yeah, yeah.

So mine's going to be like, I don't know, some people are probably going to be like, oh, Garrett, you were reaching. And then, like, others are going to have like a little bit of a story. So here we go. Art is meant to be interpreted. Exactly. Exactly. So one of my favorite books that I read this year,

actually was recommended to me because people were comparing it to scream, which is why I checked it out. It is a Y-A book called How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine. And I absolutely loved it. But when I was reading it,

it reminded me of this movie. But basically, the book is about a girl who is the sole witness and her sister's murder. And then a year later it's the trial. So, like, you know, in the past year, her parents have gotten divorced. She's in this apartment and she's like obviously super anxious about having to go into a courtroom and see the man that she witnessed kill her sister for the first time in a year because everybody

doubts her. So like nobody believes her when she says that this guy did it. It was that contrast of like the sister was like the popular, cool, perfect girl and like the protagonist in this who witnessed her sister's death is like the introverted bookworm, loves horror movies, kind of girl.

So... Our kind of girl. Our kind of girl. But on the first day of the trial, when she is getting ready to give her testimony, she runs into a girl who looks like Sidney Prescott from Scream. and is knocked to the floor, unconscious.

But when she wakes up, she's back in time the day that her sister was murdered. So it's kind of that race against time kind of thing where she is trying to like avoid her sister being murdered again and she thinks it's like a second chance kind of thing. Yeah. So obviously there are horror movie references all over this book. Yeah. she literally refers to this character as Sidney Prescott because she looks just like her in Scream, which I loved the book and I do see the similarities in the Scream movies,

but between the comedy and that little, I don't know what you would call it, like the time traveling thing has like almost like a supernatural element, we'll say, because you're time traveling and that's not like super realistic. It's not? It's, I guess not. But it reminded me almost of the movie Freaky. Okay. With Vince Vaughn in it.

I haven't seen that. It is, oh my God, you need to watch it. It is so good. It is about this loner girl who is an introvert and she's kind of nerdy. And she has an interaction with a serial killer who attacks her. But when he attacks her, they end up switching bodies. Whoa. So this teenage girl is stuck in Vince Bond's body.

And he's like, what's going on? And the serial killer is stuck in this, like, 16-year-old girl's body. Yeah. Oh, my God. And it's kind of like a horror, like, freaky Friday. But it reminded me of how to survive your murder because it's kind of that. Trippy horror element. Trippy, like little like supernatural, kind of like comedic horror slasher, whatever.

But yeah, it just, it reminded me. I mean, obviously, if you like Scream, I think you'll like this book. But if you like the book and you can get past kind of something that's not super realistic, freaky is so good and it is so damn funny. It is one of my like feel good movies. Like if I'm, I'm in the mood for a movie and I don't know what to watch. like I'm turning on freaky. It's so freaking funny.

You will absolutely die when you watch it. Yeah, we need to watch that. Yeah, it is so, so, so good. I mean, you're seeing Vince Bonn. Happy Death Day, where like the same, has that same, like, you know, you're going to die, but you get to like restart the day over and over again.

Yes, that was another comparison, but I just love Freaky so much. And it kind of just gave me that vibes. I don't know if it's because I pictured the school and the cast as kind of like freaky. But, yeah. Oh, yeah. So good. That sounds great.

All of those sound great. I need to watch the sequel. Yeah. I can't, I just looked and I can't remember if we've seen both or not. I have a funny, I have a funny story about Happy Death Day. Yeah. When it came out, I don't know if it was like streaming. I'm assuming it came when it came out on streaming.

Or I had rented it or something. But I made my dad watch it with me because I was like, come on, it'll be funny. Like it looks good. And he's been like a ride or die. Like he took me to like all of the final destination movies. Oh, that's cool. Stuff like that. So he's like, okay.

But like you know in the beginning how it like. repeats the first few minutes over and over again. Our Wi-Fi kept cutting out. So we kept having to restart the movie. So instead of watching that opening like four or five times, like it's supposed to be in the movie and it ended up being like seven or eight. And he was like, oh my God, can we fast for this part? He's like, does anything else happen? And he's like, this is part of the movie?

I was like, well, the first couple of times it was now at this point, it's not. Not now. Oh my God. That's why I haven't seen the sequel because he's probably like, I'm not doing that shit again. He's triggered about that movie. He's like never again. Never again. Well, my next one is a TV show that I finished yesterday.

So I had to think of some and I finished the White Lotus yesterday, which was. was just so good. Some people were kept saying how season two is so much better than season one. I was like, but season one was pretty good. And I think here's my opinion. The writing is just as good in general. Like it's, they're both top tier writing.

I think what's different is that they had a bigger budget because second season and you've been approved in one awards. It had a bigger budget. And the first one, I think we talked about this. It was filmed during COVID. And so like they were, it was like just their cast and crew just living on that resort that was just closed for COVID. So they couldn't do as much. So in my opinion, I loved season two.

I thought it was fantastic. But I think for the people who think it was so much better than season one, it was like the production value. The writing is just as good. So there are my thoughts on the way. Lotus. And if you somehow haven't watched the White Lotus, it's an anthology series for the most part is what you would call it. I'm

frozen. I also was like kind of giving you like a, because you're like if you haven't watched the White Lotus that I'm only on episode two. Yeah. And what I kind of think it was like if you're someone who somehow hasn't heard of what it is even.

But you're right, that sounded really shady. It's probably why I It's funny because I deserve that. I deserve that I am going to issue a public apology to my friend Tyler. I know, because we can be talking about it right now. I know. And my friend Tyler's like, you need to watch it. You need to watch it.

And I was like, okay, but in my mind, I'm like, I'm going to wait because I want all of the episodes to be available. So I can binge them all, right? So now they're all available because the finale was Sunday. and I started literally yesterday. Yeah. However, there are so many memes, there are so many TikToks, there are so many things on Twitter. It's just everywhere that I should have listened to Tyler for the most part and binged all of them so that I was ready to watch the finale live when I came out. Yeah.

That's what I should have done. However, I didn't. Some moron spoiled it on TikTok. well, spoiled one thing. Spoiled one thing on TikTok. And I was so annoyed because I've been avoiding anything, White Lotus. Like if I see Jennifer Coolidge in anything or if I see anyone in the cast,

I like scroll really quickly or somebody's like, White Lotus, I scroll really quickly. And this guy was like, so now that so-and-so is dead, da-da-da-da-da-da in the show. And I'm like, oh my God, asshole. Some people don't get it. But like there was no like, this is a spoiler or like anything.

And it was some like shirtless moron. So I don't care who he is. But if you have a really deep voice and a forgettable face and your shirtless with your stupid dumb bro voice and you spoiled it for me, I hope that the next time you eat your favorite meal that you have a stomach egg and it ruined your entire night. or I hope you shit your pants in public. Oh my God. Those are both terrible.

For spoiling white lotus for me. Oh my gosh. That's what you may think of how Vladimir Putin like fell down the stairs and shit himself recently in public. So that's what we wish on that person. Karma is my boyfriend. Karma is a god. So the white love this is if somehow you still haven't caught on to everything we've been talking about, the gist of it is that it's an anthology series where like generally you have a brand new cast every time.

And it's a dark comedy that like really aims to make fun of. There's like satire on wealth and whiteness and everything wrong with the world, basically, in both seasons. So it's like really satirical, really funny, but it's also like a bunch of really wealthy people on a vacation and like funny and terrible things happening. So one of the things that's so great about the show is that it has all of those genres in it together. So I kind of struggled to pick one. I don't think I've read a book that has the same nest as White Lotus. So I picked a couple and explained like, if you like this part of White Lotus, you'd like this book. So those are all of my disclaimers upfront because I had to explain why I broke the rules that I made myself.

So here we are. And our most messiest episode yet. Yeah. So if you, if the thing that you really love on White Lotus is corrupt, nasty, wealthy families and the shit that they do to each other and death, then I think you're like, not a happy family by Sherry Lapina, which is another one where maybe I said the name wrong. but we'll find out in the future. Yeah, I loved that one. It came out last year. The gist of it is a very wealthy family.

Two generations, like the parents and their grown children are the main characters of the story. I'm going to make it through this. And they basically live in a really fancy place where, like, you have to be super rich to even live there. in like one of those places where they think that nothing bad happens. And after the kids leave from the adult kids leave from an Easter dinner, the parents are like pretty brutally murdered in their own home. And then you're kind of flashback to everything that happened leading up to that. And so who did it?

What was going on? Lots of secrets. Lots of betrays. of betrayal. So if that's what you love about White Lotus, all of our favorite things. I would say not a happy family would be a fun one to read. But then the other one that I thought of was if you're like really into, if you really want to like be on an island location with crazy people doing crazy things, I thought the guest list by Lisa Foley would be a really good example of that. And that one's basically like a bunch of friends and people who don't know each other,

but are friends of the bride and groom are all going to an on location wedding on an island. And like there are a lot of secrets between all of them. So you know from the beginning that someone died. You don't know who it was. And so then it's another thing, whereas the week of wedding events progresses, you start finding out all these spider webs of secrets between these friends. So if you really like an on-location island murder vibe, the guest list from Lisa Foley. And then I've mentioned it so many freaking times, but I do have to say one of the closest matches in terms of humor and satire and campiness is kismet by Amina Akhtar, which I've brought it up a lot before,

but if this is first time you're hearing it, like the gist of that one is a woman moves to to Sedona, yeah, to Sedona to kind of like find herself after getting away from like her kind of her overbearing aunt in, I think New York, somewhere there. So she basically moves to Arizona with a new friend she made. And it turns out to be this like satirical thriller on wellness and beauty culture and the way we've turned wellness into capitalism and making money. So that's also one that really is very similar to White Lotus. but I've talked about it a lot, so I didn't want to talk about it forever.

Bam, girl. I mean, you know what? People are going to want more than one recommendation for White Lotus. So I'm glad that you know that all of those because it's so popular right now. This was not one of mine because I didn't finish the second season yet. Yeah. But I will say another one I could see being good for White Lotus is it could be anyone by Jamie Lynn Hendricks because it has the ensemble.

cast and it has like the twists and turns and like unlikable characters and like it's surrounded by a mysterious murder without being like way too I'm gonna say without being way too dark because I just love her writing and

it's not dark dark it's not like it's not Karen Slaughter Dark but like Right. Yeah Jamie Lynn Hendricks. It's shady. Jamie Lynn Hendricks should at least make a cameo in season three of White Lotus because she should Homegirl is like taking what is popular or what is about to become popular in this case because she wrote it before.

Yeah. And just turning it into something that is like so fun and incredible. And Jamie Lynn Hendricks should just be like reading a copy of her book on like one of the loungers by the pool. Yes. Because you know how everyone's reading books in that show? Yeah. It was so perfect. I'm always like pausing and like looking at what they read.

I was like, yeah, he would be fucking reading that. I recently watched the hating game with Lucy Hale. I watched that at the beginning of the year. I watched it last New Year's Eve and it became one of my favorite movies. And then I just watched it this past Friday because I'm just so obsessed with that. It's so cute. I love it. I love it.

I guess I don't know. I guess I'm just like a rom-com kind of guy now or something. I don't know. But I absolutely loved it. And I was like pausing because obviously Lucy Hale, like they both work in a like for a publisher. And she has stacks of books everywhere. And I saw like this one book that is called Night Film. And I don't want to butcher the author's name.

But like it's one that I read a long time ago. And it was such a messed up book. And it was so like dark and crazy that I was like, oh my God, I'm surprised that her character has that book. I want to read it again. Do you ever, like, feel like you go, like, you were like, I was a baby reader and like, like, I could not read and fully love, like, Tana French years ago. But now I can. Do you know what I mean?

And, like, I think at the time that I read Night Film, I was expecting something a little more, like, easy to follow or, like, something, popcorn thriller kind of thing. And when I read it, like, I don't think that I fully grasped what it was. So I really want to reread that book. But I will say there are, like, newspaper clippings and things like that in the book. So if I were you, I would get, like, a paperback copy. You're going to try to convince me. That's going to be your Christmas present.

Oh, my God. Are they, like, raised? what do you mean? Are the clippings like do they feel like something? I don't remember. It's not a pop-up book. I couldn't tell if that's what you meant. I didn't think pop-up.

I didn't think pop-up. But there are like media things like incorporated in it. And I just feel like it probably would be better to read it like as a book versus like on a Kindle or an iPad or anything like that. Yeah. So I'm going to order us two copies. I'm so excited. Okay.

So I will say one of my favorite tropes in a thriller that scares me more than anything is a stalker story. Yes. Especially when it deals with technology and or social media. So one of the creepiest books that I. I've ever read. And one that I loved and will continue to like, like, I will always recommend this book. I will always like, if I'm in a reading slump, like, this will be one of the options for me to pick it up because I just loved it so much is called Follow Me by Kathleen Barber. And it is about an influencer who just moves into a new apartment.

And like, she shares everything on social media. So she just moved to Washington, D.C. Because she got a job at the Smithsonian. But, like, it's that thing where she, like, interacts all the time with, like, her fan base. And, like, she has creepy people in her life. So it's, like, a red herring. But she ends up with a stalker. But it's, like, is it her creepy neighbor?

Is it the ex-boyfriend? Who could it be? But, like, her. her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who's obsessively been following her social media presence for years. So it's one of those. It's really, really, really good. And it deals with like, I feel like people have seen this.

Like, they've set it on the news, you know, safety tips are like people who share in their Instagram stories. Like having dinner here with like so and so. like if you are like somebody who's very well known on social media or you have like a large following, like be careful what you share on social media because you, if you do have a stalker, like this could potentially put you in danger kind of thing. So the story's just so good. And Kathleen Barber is one of my favorite storytellers, but she does a really good job of

things being super creepy and effective without being like grotesque or graphic. I love that. Sometimes you just don't need gory. Yeah. No, sometimes you just literally need unsettling. It's like, I know when I was talking to you about the book Stalker by Lars Kepler, I was like, think about all of those times that you've kind of laughed at yourself when you're like, you hear something and you're like, oh my God, like, I'm terrified.

My heart's beating really fast. And then it's like literally like a bird or a bat, something flying by like a wind. know. I have a funny story about that because one time my friend had asked me to babysit and she was like, literally by the time you get here, you are going to be awake with my toddler for like an hour and a half before she goes to bed. And then I just basically need somebody to be there if she wakes up, if she needs anything and to make sure nothing happens to my child while they're sleeping, right? Like easiest babysitting gig ever, right? The house is like in the middle of nowhere, which my house is also in the middle of nowhere.

But yeah, I'm babysitting and I'm just like lounging on the couch. Child has gone to bed. I'm babysitting, reading a book. I'm like, this is easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Until I hear like pitch black outside and I'm like, oh my God, what is that? So I like have my phone in my hand and I go to the door and there's no one there. And I'm like, what the hell is going on? And then I hear, I go, like, sit back down and, like, a few minutes later, I hear, like,

knocking. And I just keep hearing knocking. And I go to the door and there's nobody there. And I, like, literally texted my friend while she's, like, at work. And I'm like, I literally am about to pack up your child and take her in my car and go somewhere or call the police because somebody keeps knocking on your door running away. And she's like, where's, like, what door? And they had like a back door that most people like came into their home in.

And then they had like their front door. And I was like, it's the back door, which is making me even more scared because I can't see you into your backyard. Yeah. And she's like. Back door. Yeah. And I'm like and it's freaking me out. And I know it's not the front door because I remember right next to the front door.

And she's like, oh my God. Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha. And I'm like, what are you laughing at? Dude. Like your child or teacher. There was a tree above their deck and it was fall and she was like, it's not knocking. Pine cones are falling off the tree onto our deck.

Cool. You're like, that would have been good to know. And I'm like, okay, you're used to that. And it's not anything you would think to explain to somebody because normally people like... Kind of important. Yeah. But to me, that's a very key detail. because I'm like

terrified It's a really key detail. Yeah. So that's my that's my like one time that I thought I was going to be murdered story. Well, one of them. One of them. Yeah. We, one time

Tyler was out of town and oh yeah, this was okay so I was reading Turner the Key by Ruth Ware which is like I don't think is a spoiler to say the gist of it is is the house, haunted what's going on. So I was reading that book in bed and it was like it was dark.

Who knows what time it was because like right now it's dark at five, but it was dark outside. And then it there was a storm coming through. So it was so windy. And all of a sudden it sounded like someone was banging on our door. Like there was no questioning the fact that something, something was hitting our house, something on our house over and over and over again. and I was like like for a couple reasons I'm always nervous about people showing up unexpectedly and I was like oh my God

like what is happening right now and Tyler's gone and I'm like what am I about to have to deal with and so like I'm also like nervous though because it sounds like someone's angry and like banging their way into the door so I get out of bed to like get closer and then it sounds like

like it happens like in the hallway that I'm in. I'm like nowhere near the door. It is a shutter came slightly loose. Like just a little corner of it was loose by our window. And so the wind was making it hit the house like really hard. And that's all that it was. Just a shudder. We're totally fine people. I mean, I think I've told this story too like on here, before and definitely to you, but like, it's like the time I was reading, um, the Rachel Howsell Hall book where the woman goes into her apartment and realizes that a stalker was there and a drunk man had been wandering around in the middle of nowhere. I don't even know where the fuck he came from, but he was like, my door was locked, like the door to my house was locked,

but I could hear him trying to open it. And he's like, phone, phone. And I'm like, get the fuck out of here, dude. He wasn't getting a heart attack. No, I'm not like to use my phone. No. No. But like, yeah, like moments like that. Yeah. So like I am very like nervous about stalkers because that's like one of my most like terrifying things. But it reminded me of one of the most unsettling movies I have ever watched in my entire life. Mm-hmm.

It is called Ratter, R-A-T-E-R. And it has Ashley Benson, who is Hannah from Pretty Little Liars in it. and it is about a grad student who moves to New York City and she, like, lives alone. But somebody hacks their way into her electronic devices, like her laptop, her cell phone, and they're stalking her through her, like, technical... All of it. Devices. Yeah.

Like, so... But the way the movie is set up is that, like, she... She knows that she starts to realize she's being stalked. But the way the movie is presented is kind of like that movie with John Cho in it. Searching. Yes. Love that movie so much. The entire movie is done through your viewpoint of the phone on her camera phone, her laptop camera, everything like that.

And it is one of the most unsettling movies because you, she doesn't know. she's being stocked for some of the movie. And you do. So when this guy's... Ratchets up the suspense. Yeah. When this guy's, like, logging in and he's watching her, like, take a shower and get ready for bed in her apartment and all of these other things, like, she doesn't know she's

being watched. She has nothing to worry about. Mm-hmm. But you know that she is. And it's all through, like, his point of view and how he hacked his way and how easy it was for him to hack his way. into her life through her MacBook, her cell phone, and see everything she's doing, see her routine, you know, because, like, that's kind of what they say about stalkers is that they'll follow

somebody and know exactly what your routine is and all of these other things so that they know, like, how to get to you. And it's just so easy for him to do it without even having to leave his house. But the cinematography is so, the cinematography is so creepy yeah because like all stalkers he progresses you know it's not just like watching her

from a camera in her shower it goes to like stalker things and it's one of the most unsettling movies I've ever watched my entire life so if it's not bloody it's not gory it's not graphic it's not yeah

it's just scary and unsettling, but it is one of... We loved searching, so I think we'll watch that. You should. You should. I want to re-watch it, and I can't remember... I think it might have been Amazon Prime that I saw it on, but I was like, you know what, that would be a good movie for me to re-watch soon, to see. But right now my problem is... Books.

No, right now my problem. is the Idaho College Quadruple Homicide has, I'm so sad and I'm also terrified because it is one of the scariest things that like I have not been able to read the usual crime fiction thrillers that I like to read

because it's so unsettling and scary and it's like free, like right now I'm reading like a queer Christmas romance. Yeah, that is this. Tar from a murdery thriller is possible. Like, I'm reading that or I'm reading like domestic suspense that like, you know, like stuff like that that doesn't have to do with like murder because I'm just so unsettled right now. But yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, this movie is. I go through phases of that sometimes too where like I just, where sometimes I feel too sensitive to read like a like a Scandinavian murder mystery. Like. Yeah. Sometimes I'm like, I'm not emotionally in that place right now. But thankfully there's so many other. choices. But then when I do read them, I'm like, God, that was so good. And you know what I was thinking of, too, is I was like, oh, my God. Obviously, when it's crime fiction or when it's a movie

or a TV show, like, it doesn't bother or affect me because it's not real. Exactly. And like, my friends were like, but you love like true crime and stuff. And I'm starting to realize that like the only time I like true crime is when the killer or the person responsible or the people responsible are caught and brought to justice. I know. And it's so sad. Yeah. And it's just like terrifying because like all I can think of is like all of these families

that are like dealing with us that aren't getting answers that like all the people. Because you know, it's all over social media. And I feel like right now a lot of people are saying like this is taking over like everything. Like all I think about and like it's so sad and it's terrifying. lying and there's like all of these things that like people are saying about this case and it is so unsettling yeah and sad but it's also like some of these people are coming up with theories and they're calling the police okay and it's like it's what like I don't I don't mind when I'm like scrolling through TikTok and somebody's like this is what I think happened because I

think you know it sheds a lot of light on like what could have happened but when you're getting involved with the investigation. It's kind of annoying. Yeah, that's a lot. And sometimes it's suspicious. Yeah. It's really strange. Like there's this one woman that's like, I know who it is. It's the serial killer, blah, blah, blah, blah. And like the police have already said it's not. It's like, this was a targeted attack. And like, she's like, I know it's a serial killer. I talk to the police today. There's like the police in my town are like watching me because they think that this serial killer is going to come after me next. And I'm like, lady, you are literally like, you need to knock it off and get a hobby.

Mm-hmm. Maybe it's one thing if you come up with like a theory, but like just yeah, don't get involved in it. So. Right. That's why I'm like, I will say, speaking of searching and router, I did not get this warning. So I am going to give a, public service announcement. There's a movie called Megan is Missing. Mm-hmm. And it is about like the dangers of being an adolescent female who meets men on the

internet. And it's about a teenage girl who meets a guy on the internet. And it seems like kind of like searching or ratter where it's not very graphic or disturbing for the first half. And then all of a sudden you are walloped with the second half of the movie. that is very graphic, that is very disturbing, and is definitely something that you should look up the trigger warnings to before you watch that movie. Because when I was watching it, this was years ago.

I mean, this was at least 10 years ago. I watched this movie, and that's how much it disturbed me. Have you seen it? I haven't because you told me all of this. And I've never like... I did? Yeah. Not on here.

This was like, it might have been before we were podcasting. One time I asked you if you'd watched searching. And then you told me about the Megan video and Router. And but with the Megan one, you told me like it's, it's intense. Yeah, Ratter is not graphic or anything like that. It's just disturbing and unsettling. But Megan, like when I was watching it, the first half, I was like, this is something that probably all teenage girls should be watching because you think that this is a nice guy because you've talked to him on the internet.

And then, but then like the second half, I was like, I don't know, it was like 25, 30. I was like, I'm a grown man and this is disgustingly. I mean, yes, it is eye opening because these, I'm sure this happens. But I mean, it is one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. It's very unsettling. It shows like there's a rape scene. There's torture scenes. there's just a lot of things that are very disturbing in that movie.

So if you are interested in like searching or router or things like that, please look up the trigger warnings. Kind of consider it an X-rated version-ish in your mind. Yeah. I mean, it's not anything like super graphic and gory. It's just very, very, very disturbing. Yeah. So definitely look up the trigger warnings.

to that movie. Even if you want to spoil it a little bit for yourself, listen. It's better than watching it and being scarred for life. I was scarred for life. Right. So even, listen, it is a, it is a thriller horror movie about a girl who meets a man on the internet. So you know that it's not going to have a happy ending.

Let's just put it that way. So my recommendation is you go to IMDB and you look up the movie and you go to the parental warnings. And you look up the violence part and read what you will be seeing on this movie before you watch it. There are some scenes in Game of Thrones that are like that. When you get to rape scenes, like, when it like really truly feels like you're in the room of a rape, like, it is hard to watch. I remember the stuff that happened to now I can't, Sansa Stark near the end of the series. sometimes you're so hard to watch.

I heard Game of Thrones gets really, really intense with like rape scenes. It does. It does. I will say, I mean, I don't really care about spoiling this movie because it's like, but it's been out for a while, too. It's been out for a while, but it's also like, this is what you should be prepared for,

but it's basically like you're watching this movie through like the lens of the computer and cell phone and things like that, like almost that, you know, voyeuristic kind of way. And then the girl goes missing and her best friend is like, I want to find out what happens to her. And then it cuts to like what you would see like breaking news like on like the news channel. And it's like, oh, like this like 13 year old missing girl like, you know, the stalker, the person that has her sent this picture to like taunt the police. And it shows this girl with like this thing on her face.

that keeps her eyes open and her mouth wide. It's almost like a BDSM kind of whatever. And it's just one of the most disturbing things. And then the movie gets even more disturbing from there. So definitely, definitely look up trigger warnings for that movie because it is very disturbing. I mean, it's a very, very good movie. And it's definitely something that like... It's worth being aware of kind of.

It's worth being aware of. It's worth being aware. It's better to be scarred by that than to be that girl that happens to. Right. Right. So, or boy. Or they. Or they.

Yes. So, yeah, be careful to you online date. And also be careful if you consider watching Magnet is missing. It's the moral of this chapter of the podcast. moral of the story because let me tell you what. Rader gave me nightmares, to be honest with you, but just in the sense of, just in the sense of,

like, there's some really creepy parts. And stalkers terrify me. Yeah. Well, they should. I think this, I think what's so scary about them is the idea that, like, when you realize they've been doing it,

all these moments you thought were one thing are now another thing. And I think that is what brings the impact where you're like, I was just like living my life. And you were there the whole time. It would terrify me to know some of those happy moments or a really good day that you had, had a sinister undertone because somebody who has ill intentions for you was watching you. Like imagine like you go like shopping and you go out to lunch at like your favorite restaurant and you go home and you watch like your favorite movie and you're like reading a book you love and

you go to like you get like a great night's sleep and then you realize that like the booth next to you was a man that had been watching you for a very long time and when you went shopping he was in the same store that you were in and when you went home to read your book he was like out the window. Yes. Yes. Yeah. It would make you never feel safe again. No, no.

There's all of these things, too, that, like, the way that the world is going, it would not surprise me if the amount of people who have agoraphobia has increased by a ton. I think it has. I think there are at least people that struggled more with, like, going out after we'd all, spent so much time inside. Yeah, between COVID, between the overabundance of gun violence and where

you're having gun violence. And all of these other things, like, I will never forget the Ariana Grande concert where somebody put like a nail bomb. And it was so sad and so terrible. And like, I used to love going to concerts. And ever since that happened, it's one of those things were like, no matter how much fun I had at a concert after that, I still was like a little nervous of something happening. And now it's like, if I were a kid, I would not want to go to school whatsoever. I agree. people are getting shot at grocery stores. They're getting shot at shopping malls. Like there's literally like just movie theaters. And it's like I would not be surprised at the amount of people who have agoraphobia like has increased a ton. But it's also one of those things where like if you have a stalker or if you are worried about home invasions and things like a home invasion is my biggest fear.

100%. And, like, I just can't imagine how you would balance that if you were somebody who deals with gorophobia. I think my biggest fear is going to jail. Really? Yeah. Okay. But, like, I also feel like that's, like, in your control, though, because, like, you would know if you were doing something that would send you to jail. Do you know what I mean? But, like, it's probably the books I've read then.

because, like, you could frame someone. That's also true. But the idea of being, like, forced into a space and not getting to make my own decisions. And, like, it's like all of that thinking about doing that forever and, like, not having a lone time, that's what, like, freaks me out. I agree that in general, like, I'm not going to go to jail. So I have the paranoia of someone who's like, but I could. I've been in friendships before where, like, I felt. pressured to do things that I didn't want to do, like to be more extroverted when I didn't want to be.

And I don't really feel like I took over control of my decisions and things like that. Yeah. Until like I was at least 30 because that's when I was like, I don't care if people don't like it. Like I am an introvert. I, if I don't want to do something, I'm not going to do it. Like you're not going to guilt me into it. You're not going to like bully me into it. And like now like, I mean, now I'm, you know, like when I met my friend Tyler, I was extremely

extroverted. I would go out like all the time. I'd go like concerts, whatever. And like over the time, I've just stopped doing that as much. And I've become a lot more introverted. And like, this is kind of the lifestyle that I wanted, but I almost felt like guilty for wanting it because I didn't want to let people down. But then you kind of realize, you know, like my friend Tyler could have been like, okay,

you went from like going out all the time and doing this stuff with me to being like we'll have dinner once a week like if you go out of town to like go have like a fun like wild weekend like I'm probably not going to be the person that's going to want to go with you and like that's how you kind of know like your friends that'll stick with you because like he doesn't like his whole thing is is always like I know you don't want to go out on a Friday or Saturday night and I know that like you don't want to go like bar hopping you don't want to like bar hopping you don't want to like like to like a club you don't want to do yeah like his whole thing is you're always welcome but i'm just not gonna ask you yeah so like if i'm doing something i would prefer that i prefer that too and it yeah like i mean because i'm sure it's not easy for somebody to be friends with somebody who goes from like right always down to do whatever to being like nope i like enjoy being at home and i have like all of these other things going on where i don't really have the time to do it and i also just like prefer to be an introvert. Like, I'm sure it's not easy to be, like, to see somebody go from, like, one end to the other

over, like, you know, eight or nine years over time. But, like, it's just a PSA. Again, if you are extremely extroverted and you have friends that are extremely introverted, be like Tyler. You're always welcome, but I'm not going to ask. Yeah. I think that's great. Yeah.

Because it's like every now and then I am. Like the stars align and I'm like, I could do something with someone else this weekend. And then if I just know, like there are people I know I could just like text. But they're also not like, hey, we're doing this. We're doing this. Because they know that's not going to, it's not going to happen with me. I don't think I'm like a night time. Like I enjoy my Thursday night with my friends.

Yeah. I really do. Like it's very fun. I always have a good time. I enjoy that. But like if it comes like a weekend or something. something, I just kind of feel like now I'm like that, like, grab a coffee and catch up or, like, let's go out to lunch.

Mm-hmm. So I can still have, like, my evening to myself, you know? Yeah, my sister-in-law and I always just go have coffee and then just sit there for however long, like, because we really only even see each other in person, like, one-on-one, like every two or three months. But like we talk on Marco Polo every week for sure. So it's like it's just different. But we'll just like both do it on a day that we don't have a ton of stuff.

And so we'll just do it as coffee and then just sit there as long as we want to talk. And then we can go home and have our afternoons. And it's perfect. Yeah. Like sometimes we sit there for three hours, but then it's only noon. Yeah. or if you go out to lunch at noon and you sit there for three hours, it's only three o'clock. Yeah.

Yeah. Also, like, sometimes I'm like, I think I was telling you this, but it might have been someone else. I actually am so grateful for the personality trait that allows me to really enjoy being at home. And like, it doesn't take much to make me pretty happy. Like, a weighted blanket and being able to read. which is like overall still a pretty cheap hobby to have or watch TV. And like, honestly, that's kind of enough for me. And sometimes I like am overwhelmed with gratefulness that it's that simple for me

because I know it's not that simple for some people. And it's just, they're just different. But I'm like so grateful that that's all it takes. I, that's kind of how like I feel like right now like I am the happiest that I've ever been in my life. Yeah. Because I have taken control and changed the things that I don't, didn't like about my life before. And like you said, like, I go to pretty much the same restaurant every Thursday to meet my friends

for dinner. And we have fun and like we tee-he-he-he and like gossip and eat and then go home. And I know that like when the weekend comes, like, my perfect Saturday is like, I'm going to start a new book. I'm going to like plan content for like my blog for like the upcoming week. I'm 90% of the time I'm going to get takeout pizza and then I'm going to watch like a TV show or a movie that I want. Yeah. And like that is that's like my ultimate like you'll never you're never going to find me bored. No.

That is another thing we've talked about is like I don't get bored. No. And I know some people like really struggle with it. think you would suck to struggle with it. And so I'm so grateful that this works for me. Yeah. Stories. Just stories. Yeah. Like I, there's always going to be a ton of things I want to watch. There's always going to be a ton of things I want to read. There's always going to be something that I can, like, there's going to be pictures I want to take for Instagram. There's always going to be something I'm going to want to do. And if not, then, like, I'm going to find something that,

will keep me home and happy. Like the limit does not exist. The limit does not exist. Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed part one of this episode. If you did, make sure that you come back on Thursday for part two. And don't forget to stay out to date with everything that we're reading and talking about on our Instagrams at Gare Indeed reads and at The Girl with the book on the couch. Links are also in the show notes.

So make sure you follow.