Bookwild - Last, Current and Next Reads with Gare and Steph

Episode Date: March 6, 2026

Steph has been traveling the world, and now she is back with Gare and me, talking about our Last, Current and Next Reads! Kate’s Last, Current and Next Kin by Tayari Jones The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunaseker When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson Alexis Henderson’s Substack About When I Was Death Gare’s Last, Current and Next The Final Hunt Audrey J Cole The Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson The Vanishing Hour by Seraphina Nova Glass Steph Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth Sundown Girls by L.S. Stratton The Two Deaths of Lillian Carmichael by Paulette Kennedy Other Books Discussed The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett The Mothers by Brit Bennett History Lessons Zoe B. Wallbrook An American Marriage by Tayari Jones Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally Breakneck Bay by Faith Gardner The Spin Faith Gardner Heather by Caitlin Mullen Check Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackGet Bookwild MerchFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrianMacKenzie Green @missusa2mba 

Well, Steph was a world traveler in February. So you guys got to hear Gare and I with a few, a few with Ashley Winstead and May Cobb. Nice. But the trio is back this week. Yes. I am so excited. I've been looking forward to this. Me too. I kind of needed it. Me too. Full therapy on a Tuesday.

Everything is falling apart in the world. Not our podcast. Plays are falling from the sky, but we're here to talk about books. The thing that keeps us sane a little bit. If I get one more TikTok witch that is like, keep your eye out for March 18th, that's when Trump's going to die and it just doesn't happen. Well, I'm marking my calendar. I keep, I've been getting them for like two years. Wait, they always say March 18th?

They don't always say March 18th. It's like a random day, right? Like they're like, oh, like March 8th or like February 22nd, like it's happening. And then everybody reshairs it. So like the whole world like believes in it and manifests it. And it just doesn't happen. Well, we are recording on March 3rd for anyone who's listening in case anything has happened between now and March 6th when this comes out. But, you know, fingers crossed, maybe Gair just manifested it completely.

This is how I find out I'm a witch. He does have a pretty nasty rash that just showed up. So, you know, maybe shingles will take him out. You never know. I'd be so jealous if you were a witch. I would be so pissed if I found out at 38 years old. I had all this power that I just like left on my little witchy power shelf. Well, I think it comes with like the rage of age.

Like, there's just like, also true. That's true. sure. Also true. If anything in the past two years taught me is that I am full of rage. Same. Same. Toward most men. Same. Dude, when you said you might be a witch, though,

what's kind of crazy is I just interviewed an author, Alessia Gilmore. Her book is the fortune tellers of Rue de Rue. It comes out March 24th. But it is about Russian immigrants in Paris in the 1920s who are fortune tellers and then a spirit gets like

released into their business and it's an angry one. But the cool thing was she like typically writes historical fiction and she was intrigued by Slavic folklore and spirituality. And so she started researching it and she had multiple generations in her own family that practiced like Slavic folklore and fortune telling and she just didn't even know and so then she like found all of this out in researching the book so you never know sometimes you find out some cool shit later on in your life fascinating actually yeah it's really good um but gear has like maybe my favorite icebreaker of all time

it's so creative I always see things about girl math on TikTok and an example would be like if you spend $100 online shopping and it's like $20 shipping and handling you're like I'm not doing that but you will add something $20 to your cart to get free shipping and not consider it the same amount of money

so I was like huh I do that with shopping because I'm like a shop at a lot but I'm also like huh I feel like I also have like little rules for like bookish math as well. So like for instance, if I can only find a book in a hardcover, I'll buy the hardcover. But then like I'll be like, I don't really like reading hardcover. So I'll buy a copy on my Kindle. And be like, well, that's not money because it's the same book. But yeah. So that's an example. But I feel like my biggest one is that if I, read during work

like on my lunch break or if like work is really slow and I'll cut up and everything I'll read a few chapters or something or whatever or like today I got to read a lot because I couldn't work

that doesn't count as like if I read a shitty book that I don't like it doesn't count as reading time because I'm technically getting paid to work so that's my bookish math is that like I don't really

consider that to be like time wasted reading something that didn't work for me because I'm at work. It's not your free time. You're valuable free time. I like that. That's a good one. Well, I, so there are some, like, audio books that I will pre-order now, especially if it's, like, I know I love the narrator and the author. Like, I'll just go ahead and pre-order it.

But then when it comes out, if I'm. listening to it and it's just so good that I know that I'm going to want to like highlight quotes, I'll go ahead and get the like ebook version. But it feels like it's not the ebook version. It feels like the audio book was free though because I've ordered it so long ago. And so now it just feels like I've spent the like eight to twelve dollars on the ebook version. And I'm like, I mean, it's like I basically got the audiobook for free. even though I did not. Oh, yeah.

I feel that. I feel that. Well, I had, well, two things. One, when we were just talking before we started recording, I was like, I don't really buy that many books, but when I do, I try to exclusively buy it, like, when I'm shopping in an indie bookstore. I'm like, well, I'm supporting an author and a local small business. So I feel like I'm just, like, giving to, like, a nonprofit.

So I feel like it's really, like, a good deed. And I love that one. Who cares? But then also, for example, Libro FM, I will have a subscription and then sometimes I'll just like buy a package of credit. But like when I buy that package of credits, like after that, it's free money. Those are not money anymore. Like I'm just like, whatever credits here, credits there, whatever.

Once you buy it, it's just like not money anymore. I don't know. There's something about it that just is like, well, these don't even, they just feel like they were just given to me. Yes. I don't know. It's the best. Yeah. I did that recently with them. Because I was like, I just want, I just want to have credits there. And now I just have free books there. That's like me when I go to like Canada. Like my mom makes fun of me because I'm like, I'll take her out to lunch, right? And she'll be like, I can't believe it's like 50 something dollars for like two sandwiches and like a couple of Diet Coke. And I'm like, it's Canadian because there's an exchange rate. So like, right.

$50 Canadians, probably like 32 American. Yeah. And she's like, right, but you're still spending money. Like every time I'm like, it's Canadian. She's like, it's not monopoly money. Like, it's still coming out of here, like, still coming out of your checking account. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

I feel that. I also like clean this stupid thing worth my hand. I always clean this out all the time. Uh-huh. And I always like have to be like, okay, like, do I give up this book now? because like I need room for more books and like we'll really sacrifice some things and I'm like if I want to read this again I'll just read it on my Kindle and like get rid of it but then Ashley Winstead Jessica Knoll Liz and Greg like who I have like hardcover paperback art copies of like all of their books. You're completionist. Yes and like the new Elizabeth Arna the secret lives of murderer wives like I'm getting the UK

cover as well. Like I have to have like every edition of that book because I love it so much. I want to look because I didn't get approved for the audiobook and it just came out today as we're recording. So that one is like way up on my TV.R. I remember you talking about it but I didn't hear what you thought about it. So I didn't even request it for my my audiobook but I probably would have gotten tonight. Wow. There's because it's even historical fiction guys. So that's big coming from year. It's. it's got to be in my top five this year. Wow, that's okay. And I'm saving room for Ashley Winstead and Jennifer Hillier that I haven't read yet.

So like really right now it's in my top three. Okay. Yeah. That UK cover is amazing. I see why you want it. Yeah. Both covers are. Oh my God, actually.

They are both really great. Three here. Oh, there it is. I'm obsessed. I love this book so much. That is just, I love it. I love it. I love it.

Oh, the one with the pool. The blue one with the pool. Yeah. I love that one too. Yep, that's a fucking stutter. Yeah. That's a stutter. I don't even know what it is about it.

I just love it. It's just perfect. The vibes, right? So it was one of my favorite reading experiences I've ever had reading this book because I did not rush through it. I forced myself to like take breaks in between like a few chapters to like digest it. But it's like it's sunny and it's warm and it's like California like. During the day and then at night, it's like everything's cooling off. It's creepy.

It's scary. There's a killer on the loose. Like, scary, terrifying shit is happening in California. And you don't have the same resources that you had in the 60s that you had in 2026. And it's three women who are taking the case seriously. I love that. And it's a lot about how women are treated and viewed and not listened to.

in 1966 and not a lot changed in 26 that's what's okay you know what's

crazy is there is one rating on the audiobook on that galley I just shot shot my shot and like requested it

and we'll see what happens but I probably won't get it that's so interesting I would gift it to you well I have a bunch

of credits so I don't bookish math is that when gear wants to send you an audio book you just don't use your credit i just saw i can't remember who it even was but i saw in someone's stories they were like thank god for my bookish friends and it was like one of her friends knew she really wanted to listen to this book and that like it was taking forever on liby so she just sent it to her and i just like was in the mood where i almost started crying

because i was just like this is so nice you know it's hard you know what i wish you could like i i guess i don't know all on all the platforms like the logistics of sharing and gifting. Like I just need to get better at it because that's such a nice and easy thing to do. Yeah. I think you can just email it typically. Oh, nice. When I want my friend Nicole to read a book that I recommend, I just Venmo her. I Venmo her like $15 for like the ebook so she can get on her Kindle. So sweet. You're such a good friend. since we're talking about it because I started doing it and my friend who I did it for was like this is so smart and I never thought of it you can door dash people that are like not yourself oh yeah I did that with Steph too I just totally forgot about and this little monster was sick

in the hospital Kate sent me at DoorDash and it was the nicest thing and I was like that is such a great idea it's like so like I've never even been to her house I just happened know her address but literally anyone what did you doordash her uh nothing like takes which were all amazing they're so good yeah well because i guess do you have to know kind of like look up what places are near them like you like put in the delivery address and then it shows you every yeah i don't know if i can ever do it for you i'm sorry there's nothing around me that door dachers you don't have door door dash they don't have been snail mail slowly getting to you. They do in like some other towns

over, but like I'm like way out in the sticks. Do you ever eat or anything? Like does Uber come by you? Oh, wow. He's like. Out there, out there. Yeah. Like I'm like all right, I'll just drive the 15 minutes myself. So like

Yeah. Like it's 25 minutes for me to go get Taco Bell. That is probably a good thing. Fair point. Like you have to really want to go. Yeah. You have to really want it. That's why I usually just get it after I get my haircut. Get my hair cut and I always get talk about. But do you get prime? Like, do you get prime in like a certain number of days?

If you order something from Amazon or does it take longer? It's like usually two to three. Okay. But I think that's just like the postal service. And I don't think that's like right me necessarily. Yeah. But also like very, there's a lot of privacy. That's true. That part's nice. I think there's. Yeah. If someone's just having a day and you have to know their address, you can send them stuff via delivery services. That's So cool. And sometimes it's so awesome because sometimes you just need to know that someone else cares. Are those the little bun cakes that are like this and they're in the plastic and there's like a lot of different flavors? Yes. They're called buttlets when they're that size. I had been to a birthday party that had like the little little one.

They have mini bunlets. They were good. But like when I tried this one, it was so fresh and it had like the cream cheese frosting. I was like it's the frosting. Yeah, I was like, I think that I, this is the best thing I've had in a really long time. Yeah. And I was like, I know I'm getting older too because I really like lemon stuff. I know. I was just going to say, I love lemon stuff. I never used to it. I don't know.

Raspberry one is being a lot. Oh, my God. We go to, for work, we have like an office lunch every week. And it's always at the same place. It's this like cafe that's like really, really, really. good and they like it's family owned the youngest daughter like makes all the desserts and she's like phenomenal oh that's but i've actually like i'm like what do you guys have today and they're like oh we have like they have like a lemon pound cake cookie oh so good but they like she makes the

best lemon bars i've ever had in my entire life and like whenever they're like oh we have lemon bars i'm like fuck yeah like i will take two of them i will take two of them i fucking love lemon's rich shit. I'm such a fan of it too. But yeah, nothing bun cakes. The fruit ones are the best ones. Lemon or some raspberry white chocolate. Oh, I like it better than any of the other ones. I also love like a specialty donut. Oh, yes. We had this place called dancing donuts that was like that. And it shut down during COVID. Sometimes we still talk about how we have not found a a replacement of that quality. Well, get ready for May.

I know. Because we're going to Harry's Donuts. I am so excited. That's so exciting. Oh, some people don't know. I don't think we've talked about it here because I think I decided. Oh, yeah. It's like I haven't talked about it here, but I am going to, is it the Montreal Mystery Festival?

Is that what it's called? Montreal Mystery Festival. Or just Montreal. I think so. With care. I mean, I'm going myself, I guess. but I'm going to finally meet Gare in person. I'm going to consider it.

And you're moderating a panel. You are? Wait, yeah. Oh, my guess. Because Gare got me hooked up. It's called like glamour and something, but it's Olivia Worley and on Sophie French name. Yeah.

What is her? Okay. On Sophie Jean-Nelle. is what I'm thinking. I would think that's very accurate. Okay. Yeah. So I think that, yeah. So they have, they both have books coming out and then they both have like mystery slash suspense that has like glamour elements to it. So that was the loose title of it. So I'm so excited. Gare got me connected. They, it's so funny because they had reached out to me and they were like, do you know anyone that's going to Montreal that you think would be like a good moderator?

Oh yeah, it was the last time we recorded. Yeah. And I was like, I'm sorry. I don't. I don't know who else is going. Yeah. And then like we recorded the episode and you were like, fuck it, I'm going. And like I reached out to them and I was like, not only do I know somebody who's going,

but like I know somebody who like does their own book podcast that like you need to have moderate. And they were like, this is fantastic. I'm so excited. Yeah, it was. I forgot that that was the chain of. Yeah. Like basically the next day I was like, I've got to do it. Yeah.

So I'm going to, I'm going to travel internationally. Are you guys going to go home on Monday or Sunday? Sunday. I think Sunday night. Yeah. Yeah. I think. But yeah.

Steph might be there too. You never know. I will put a link in case any, because like obviously you can go to it if you're a reader. We're not a reader, but I don't know why you would go if you weren't a reader. So if it was nearby, I will tag, tag that. I was talking about flights sucked, like, just like really long, long layovers. Yeah. So I'm going to keep looking, but like, I don't know why it, why it's like that. Mine were pretty, they're not terrible. It was pretty decent. It was a lot cheaper than I expected. Oh, really? Flight wise, yeah. I think it's a lot of people.

where I live, instead of driving to the closest airport in the U.S., we'll drive to the Montreal airport to fly places because it's cheaper. Okay. So that's part of it. Yeah. I know I have a layover somewhere, but I can't remember where. I think I, but I'm getting there like the night before. So it'll just be a travel day.

And my comfort stuff since Gare also turned me into a comfort, girly. Oh, my God. I'm being heavily influenced by Gare this. You're just like your life coach. I know. I'm like, you're going to fall in love with Montreal. You're going to wear comfort. I really am.

I might not come out. I'm going to eat some Harry's donuts. I don't know if we might stay in Canada is what I've joked. But why not? I would love to. I would love to. I would kind of love to. You would fall in love with Farm Boy.

It's the best grocery store in the entire world. Mm-hmm. It makes me happy to go inside of a grocery store. That's high. praise. That's my especially since you have pots too, yeah. I think there's antidepressants in events

because I never feel like more alive. Like the fluorescence and everything make it worse, right? Yeah, yeah. Like I get it really bad in Walmart. Like I get really dizzy and I feel like I'm going to pass out. It feels like a jail like in looks and then has that really fluorescent lighting.

Yeah. That is the largest. I'll see. No, I was thinking the same thing. I. I know. And it's electrolytes is the funny thing. Like, it's just electrolytes right now. I love it so much. But I got it. When did I get it? I got it a while ago or a really long time ago. Back when I was still making espresso because Tyler wanted the equivalent of Eventi. Is that the biggest one? Trinta. I don't know. It's a 32-mounce mug, though. So, yes, it's very large. I get Trina black tea and lemonade. Oh, I don't know if I've even thought about that. Yeah, when you see it via mug form, it seems a lot bigger than just like the tall. Yeah. Drink.

I will say I do love a nice grocery store. I don't always grocery shopping, but like a nice grocery store can actually kind of calming. Yeah. It's like a very cool concept when you can like the sushi station, you see them behind the counter making the sushi and like putting it out. and like the same thing with like the soup the bakery like they're like you're walking up to the bakery and like the sourdough loaves that they make like they're just like shooting them out like you can see them like putting them through the car like oh you need to slice this or like you want it unslicer or you go and then like it's just like sometimes you grab it and it's so warm it's not like if

Trader Joe's wasn't just a snack store is it's I think it's literally the Canadian Trader Joe's Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Like more high, more like the service. Yeah. It's just. That's pretty cool. Oh my God. It's like my happy. So yeah, I mean, I might, I might not come back. I might stay in Montreal. I'd be happy to go there and visit you instead of Indianapolis. I mean, either way is fine. But I was just. Yeah. But what about all the book events? We would have to go back to Indiana. You're right. Oh, God. Seriously. like your library is like fucking crushing it.

I know. I I'm debating. I don't know if I I'm just going to logistically it'll work out. But actually we're going to talk about our last current next reads. So this is a good segue. Oh yeah. The last one that I read. We do have a topic. Whoops. These are all bookish topics. Yeah. Ken by Tyari Jones was my last read. And she's going to be in Chicago on the eighth. And I'm like trying to convince myself. But I don't know. Like I want to go. Yeah. We just have a lot going on. So. But thankfully, yes, my, my wild is having like Steve Kavanaugh, Steve. Prushlet. Yeah. I did it sound wrong when I said it. It's sound wrong when I said it. And Jane Harper are like the next two that I'm really excited about. And the author of the book thief, which is. like really I haven't read it but it was one where like a lot of people read it in school

oh yeah about like book banning essentially but in a I think in a fantasy adjacent way anyway really big author he's going to be there and I'm like yeah that book is older but it's it's having like a 20 year it's having a special edition come out that is like beautiful gold edges So I think he's doing a tour for that. Nice. But yeah, we do have a topic, too. Which one are we doing first? Or doing last, current next or current?

Yeah. Yeah. I guess since I said last, my last one. Yeah. So Ken by Tigeri Jones, it was when I listened to. And it is my favorite narrative for all time, Angel Paine. And someone who is right up there in my top five now as well, Ashley J. Hobbs, were the narrator.

and they were fantastic. But the short synopsis, two motherless girls raised side by side in Honey Succle, Louisiana, steady, ambitious, Renice, and restless, searching Annie, grow up bound by friendship, but shaped by very different wounds.

As Renice builds a polished life through Spellman and Marriage into Atlanta's black elite, Annie's desperate quest to find the mother who abandoned her, pulls her into danger, forcing both women to confront how the past defines and threatens their futures. It is so emotional.

I cried a lot. I've just been crying, I guess, is just my thing in the last month. But if you loved, like, the Lion Women of Tehran, it is, I'm finding I love stories that have, like, two, like, sisters or friends and, like, they start somewhere, but, like, go different. directions, but stay connected. I think it's, it's cool as like a story arc is what I'm kind of starting to realize because it does just show how like, sometimes it shows how well you can both have so much in common and, and still just make different choices and it's okay. But yeah, it's just, it's very emotional. Very emotional. It reminds me of is it, what's the Britt Bennett book?

That's what I was going to say. The vanishing half is the other thing I put in my review. That made me so emotional. There's like something about people like that one. Sisters or like friends or something like when they like go their separate ways, but they like never stop thinking about one another. Yes. It makes me so emotional.

Yes. It's very much like that. And they just feel, the characters feel so real. I will say I would consider this like literary historical fiction. That was something I kind of noticed once I got to the end of it. You're really just sitting with the character. like as they experience stuff. So it's like I think that and I saw someone in a review saying I wish I knew it was more

literary. So now I'm saying that I would I would consider it like very literary historical fiction. Does this make you want to read an American marriage now? Oh yes. Yes. I want to fit it in so bad ever since you said that and I'm like where are going to fit it? Maybe on the way to Montreal. Yeah. That would be your travel. Then I can talk to you about it when I land. And I'll be like, oh my God, I love that book so much. I remember nothing.

And you're like, I read it years ago. I remember nothing. All I know is that, like, in my mind when I was reading it, I was like, this would be one of the best book adaptations I've ever witnessed in my life if they did. A while that it wasn't. Yeah. Like Carrie Washington would be so fucking. Yeah. Speaking of Britt Bennett, did either of you read the mothers?

I haven't read that one. So I read the mother's first. I actually really loved it. And that was like the first time I read a book like that where it was like kind of more of a like, I don't know, just like so emotional. There was something about it that I'm like, wow. I do want to read it. It was like very addictive contemporary fiction. Okay.

Yeah. And I think you would appreciate the subject matter, Kate. The girls who grew big, I think is what I've seen it compared to. that just came out last year. Has Britt Bennett writing another book? Has she had another book since The Vanishing Half? I don't think she has.

No. Looks like she wrote, maybe co-wrote A-YA with someone. Oh, no, Illustrator. So a kid children's book in 2022. But yeah, not adult fiction since 2020 with the Vanishing

Half. I mean, no pressure or anything. Yeah, I mean, I have you need I want to read the mothers. The vanished graph is always going to be special for me too because it was like the second or third audiobook that I listened to where I was like, oh wow, audiobooks are work for me and I was listening to it on my way to see Julie Clark with you in Chicago. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. It's a cool way to like relate stories. Yeah. Yeah. It was like one of one of the ones that sold me on audiobooks. That's so interesting.

I didn't realize it was that recent that you had read it. Yeah. Yep. When you're like, I think I might need, I might dip my toes in to not only a different format, but like a whole world. Yeah. Yeah. Wowza. Wow.

That's funny too, because I think Britt Bennett was one of the first authors that I had read that was not a thriller. Yeah. That's kind of what it was for me too. It was my first. How is she that person for like all of us? That's a great. That's a testament to how much we love her. If you're listening, if anyone who knows her is listening and she is working on another book, we would all love to talk to her about it.

I need to read. I would like kind of want to reread the mothers because I like read it probably seven plus years ago. Yeah. That's 10 years ago. Oh, wow. Was it a book of the month? Because I know the vanishing half was Book of the Month, and that's how I got it. I think it was.

I'm not sure. I have it downstairs. I don't know. I have it somewhere. I don't know. I don't want to look to those shells right now. Yeah. What was your last book?

Oh, my God. Well, okay. I think you mean my last three bucks because I read a trilogy. Oh. And holy mother of God, I'm obsessed with Audrey J. Cole. Oh, yeah. So no shade. I read Stillhouse Lake.

Everybody loves it. And I was like, you know what? This just like didn't work for me the way that I thought I was going to. And then I picked up the final hunt by Audrey J. Cole. And my life was changed. So this is what I picked up. Oh, it's an omnibus. It's all three of them.

This is my bookish math. I thought that this was a box set. And it's an omnibus. And I was like, this hurts my hands to hold. So I got all three of them on my Kindle. Yeah. And I flew through those little fuckers too. They're so good.

My only hindrance with this series is, It's the final hunt, the last hunt, and then the first hunt. Okay, well, that's different. So the final hunt is book one. The last hunt is book two. And then the first hunt is the prequel. Now, on this, it says the first book is the first hunt, then the final hunt, then the last hunt. I read the prequel last because I read them in publication date or.

I think reading the prequel last. everything I needed it to be. Yeah. Everything I need. And I'm usually like I'll skip a prequel kind of guy. No. I'm going to skip the prequel kind of guy. If I read like if I read like a booker too and then they're like oh now there's going to be a prequel out.

I'm like, oh, I already know how everything ends. Right. Oh. Not this. Dude, except for the one we read together. Oh, is that the Freeman? Freeman. Yeah.

She or Selena? Yes. I remember that KTT episode. We're feeling early so hard. Dare I say the prequel to this series, the first hunt. Even better. Even more disturbing. Oh.

There was something that happened in this that I was like, I don't know if I want to continue. Like, I think that I might just be like, I'm going to dip out. So fucking good. Wow. So the final hunt by Audrey J. Cole is about Cameron. So her husband is attacked by a bear in a hunting accident. And they find like a ton of his blood but like nobody.

And so when she's visiting the cabin that they have together, she finds this SD card with really disturbing pictures of women on it. Like being stalked, being murdered, other stuff. So she takes it to the detective and this detective is like basically like, you know, I want to be honest with you. Like there's this serial killer called the teacher killer who murders the teacher every summer. And we have been looking into your husband. We thought that he was this prolific serial killer in Seattle for like years and years. And now he's dead.

But like this pretty much proves that our theory was right. And then the more she starts to learn about who her husband truly was, the more she starts to learn about who her husband truly was, the more she's like, I wonder if he's really dead or not. And it's like Alaskan wilderness meets like survival, meets like serial killer. Like you don't know who to trust.

Nordic noir-esque? No. Okay. Just the setting is. Yeah. It's very much like if you like Stillhouse Lake, I think you'll really like this, but it's just like she's in Alaska compared to like Tennessee or whatever it was. Yeah. was so good.

It was so, so, so, so good. I won't say what the sequel's about. The last hunt. And then the first hunt, which is the prequel, is her... Is he alive? Her husband's childhood. Oh. What turned him into a serial killer.

Wow. And there's like things in like the first two books that are like, mentioned they're like this case from the 80s this happened in like the early 90s and like then the book starts off in 1985. With this like case and you're just like going along with it and it's very like 80s Seattle like just creepy. It's so, so, so, so good. Yeah, I think I would want that last.

Yeah. Yeah. I think so too. You know what's interesting. Okay. No surprise here. sidebar on it. I, AJ, like, wakes up really early sometimes and he'll, like, watch something.

And he was like, I think you should watch this movie with me. And I was like, what is it? And he's like weapons, which I know what I assumed it was bad. Well, I just was like, wait, sadness horror movie, which I'm like, I'm not really good at horror as like sometimes I can like read scarier things better than watch scary things. I get that. And so he's like, but I think it was really cool because like the way the perspectives were like I just really like the structure of the book. And I was like, okay, the minute it was over, I was like, I need an origin story of the villain.

And then I like saw that there's one coming out. And I think there's always weapons. Who's the witch? Amy Madigan, Aunt Glass. Gladys. There's a, there's a prequel coming out of Gladys. Yeah. And so I think there always was going to be. But when you look at the comments of Gladys, so many people are like, why are they doing this? Well, well, what? And I was like, I immediately needed to know why. Like, I immediately needed to know. But I think one of the things about horror is like, I think there's some people that are like, but you don't need to know why. It just is scary. And I was like, so it's a writer even said that. comment. The writer actually ended up saying that when people would complain about it with weapons. So it's kind of interesting that he's still doing it. But like there is that because he was even like, you didn't need to know for this part of the story. And sometimes you're like, what I want to know.

But the character's fascinating. I know. There's a difference when you're like, like almost like this guy, right? Like yeah. When you find out the stuff he did, you're like, that was actually so interesting. And I'm so glad I read it. Right. I guess, I don't know. Because I'm like, I'm like, I'm going to me more Gladys. I want to know where she came from. I was so happy that she won an actor. I think she won an actor. She did her little Aunt Gladys run when on the stage. I know. I know. I don't know if anyone's ever watched Uncle Buck, but like that was my introduction to Amy Madigan and I love her so much. Oh my God. Uncle Buck's the best. Yeah. Kate, if you if you have to watch Uncle Buck. You give in to your like,

to watch old movies. It's so funny. Like his scenes with like McCauley Calkin are just Oh, okay. It's like a guy who like should not be around children being forced to be around children. Like I have enough. It's still not giving a fuck. Like, oh my God. Yeah. Like it's so funny.

It's so good. Yeah. But it's also really interesting how like I think that the character was so interesting. But I also think the look really made her it. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, would it have been as? like wild if she didn't look like that

it adds to it totally like that wig are you serious well you also like the thing that I found really interesting is like you would think when like somebody is like a witch and they're doing bad things and they're trying to hide from people that they would have like a very ordinary look to like fly under the radar and Aunt Glass

didn't get give a fuck no she did she was like I'm chopping these little red bangs and putting on the biggest purple glasses I can find and like I remember when I felt like I had micro bangs and I really did it. And I was just freaking out. I think that's before my time.

I only... I thought you had microbeck. You don't look like Courtney Cox, I swear. No, God. I... It's so short, but like if I see my eyebrows, it all of a sudden feels like my bangs are so short. Like, she thought that they were getting shorter as the episode went on.

Pretty much. And I thought they were looking longer as the episode went on. And then, like, I was like, are we accidentally gaslighting each other? For YouTube people, I'll find the, I'll find a picture of it. There's, um, there's like a TikTok that I see of like people who like try to cut their bangs. Oh, man. And there's, there's one girl. I swear to God, when she cut her bang, she starts, like, screaming.

And they keep getting shorter every time she, like, does something. And like there were so many people in the comments that are like, are the bangs getting shorter? Or like am I just going crazy? But like at first I was like, oh, they're like a little short and then like they're up here. And then like all of a sudden they're like up here. It's like they spring up. Yeah. They were just like.

Yes. Oh my gosh. I had a fucking dream last week that all of my hair was cut off. Oh, man. I was pissed. It was terrible. But I woke up and it was like cut off to the. the here or like

buzzed? Almost buzzed. Oh my god. Did you watch I know what you did last summer? Is that why? No. What happens that I know what you did last summer and it's like horrifying. Yeah. Why do I not remember? I don't know what made it come up. But when I was um... You don't remember that stuff?

I don't remember which character. Sir Michelle Keller. I was going to say, was it her? But... Yeah. She has this beautiful long blonde hair. Yeah. Like, oh, that's what you're known for. And then she goes to sleep and she wakes up and she like goes to put her hand through her hair. And like it's like he had like chopped her hair off in her sleep.

Oh, yes. That I remember. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay.

I'm going to do. What have you been reading stuff? I'm speaking of redheads or at least on the cover of, um, I recently finished Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth. Oh, yes. Um, and I have seen. like not okay I'll be honest I bricked my phone so like I don't have my Instagram on much anymore but I you can buy this thing where you like tap your phone and it can like you can customize

it to turn off all your social media apps and you can't turn them back on until you go tap your phone on it so you like put it away from yourself so you like physically can't get it back unless you go to the room where your brick is kept and you tap it so it's like helped me be more It's Wisconsin entrepreneurs, right? Yeah. And it's actually like very peaceful. But I haven't seen many reviews, surprisingly, actually. But I saw some mixed ones and I'm like, what the F?

Because you know I love Sally Hepworth. But highly recommend audio if you are an audio person because this has one of my favorite plot devices of like a crotchety old woman who like melts a little bit because of the like extroverted little girl across the street who like will not leave her alone and their relationship is so funny and sweet but also you find out that like mabel's old ass 90-something year old neighbor dies and something about mabel's or her name is elsie these days elsie's uh neighbor dies and people are like aren't you mad mabel did you kill him um and then you kind of go back into her past and find out like why she was like hiding under a different name.

Ooh. So. This sounds, I really haven't read like the whole synopsis. Yeah. It's, it's good. I like, like, it was very emotional at the end. I like cried for sure. There's like a really strong female friendship element.

Really like shitty family situation. But also like the little girl is like, Elsa. and she's like, my name is Elsie. And she's like, but I love Frozen. And she's like, I don't care. And so it's just like this really cute relationship. I had like a lot of boxes checked for me. I'm excited for that one.

Yeah, too. I have it via audio as well. Yeah. I have an arc because I'm not an audio. Well, I'll say this about the audio that finally happened and I wrote it in my publisher notes on NetGalley. Very rarely do they put the. author's note on an on an audio book oh really yes I've noticed that a lot and like people will be like

oh the author's note was like so good and I'm like I didn't even hear it or right like it wasn't on my version it just goes to end credits oh like when it's the net galley audio book it might be neck galley it might be liby like I'm not sure but I just get really mad because like a lot of times the author's note makes me like love a book more oh I know I know Oh, Gary, okay. Are you dying? Right in front of us. Uh-oh.

I marked a clip and I'm sorry. Well, that's okay. I started choking and I didn't want to interrupt. So I tried to hit the, I tried to hit the mic thing and I hit Mark clip instead. And I was like, we'll know forever when it happened. Oh, my gosh. I didn't have to turn a light on.

I know, it got really dark for you all of a sudden. Welcome to Canada. There's a dark and raining here too. Yeah. I know. I was like, am I going crazy? No. I was like, God, Murphy.

Give my little book blankie. I'm turning into Aunt Gladys as we speak. Don't get. If Gare asks for your hair, don't give it. Well, I'm really excited for Mad Mabel, too. I am so excited. Yeah, and it was one of Sally Hapworth. Wait, didn't you see Sally Hapworth?

I'm going to. Oh, yeah. In April. So I think I'll probably listen to it in April most likely. What's the date? I think you, I think we discovered that it was. I don't think I can go. I have book club, don't I?

Yes. I think that's what we. discovered um why and it's one of the ones that i run so i feel oh i get that um here it is she is here oh the 20 something yeah yeah mother trucker why can't you just push the date back for your book club it's in advance i so like i always do it um everybody wants my like schedule of my life. We kind of have like A and B weeks in our house. Oh, yeah. Based on like, um, like custody schedule and stuff. So I always have it on like a certain day of the week of like a certain way. So it would get like shifted that it's either like way

too close to the last book club or way too close to the next book club. Oh. Just because like everything gets a monthly part of it all. Yeah. So, um, and I did it put out the dates for the entire year. So I just was kind of like, Like if I'm going to be that girl that free, free plans, I'm going to like follow through. Yeah. I would be like, sorry guys, I'm really sick. I'm meeting Sally Hepworth and she's the other.

Well, also I can maybe say like, does anybody want to go to Sally Hepworth instead of book club? Oh. Oh, that would be kind of a hike to be like, does everyone want to go to Indianapolis? Yeah, that's true. For like 20 people. Well, it's April 27th for anyone who is in Indiana

or wants to drive to Indiana. which will not be many people I'll see where else she's going actually I want to get those fucking bun cakes and go see I know I need to like somehow bring them to you oh my God well

I'll do my current one and it was so cool that you mentioned Liz and Greg at the beginning of the episode because I saw that Greg wants went to the like a pub day like author event for this one

and I hadn't even heard of it and it just sounded it just sounded fun it's called the Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasakira at 28 directionless and grieving Siriwati Pereira

spends her nights driving a cab through New York City clinging to true crime podcasts in the life she once imagined until she finds a passenger murdered in her backseat. Suddenly the prime suspect, Siri teams up with sharp public defender, Amaya Furnado, to unravel the truth in just five days, racing across the city to clear her name before her own story ends in a courtroom. It is just like, it's very, I've only, I'm listening to it,

I've only listened to like maybe 10%, but the opening is very strong. Like, um, like, a murder legitimately happens while she's driving someone somewhere. So like really thinking of like what would you do if you, and I mean like this is, it's in this nonsense. You like open the door at the airport and the guy is sitting there with a knife through his heart. And like I'm just like I'm just already trying to even figure it out. So the premise is really fun and he really enjoyed it. So I'm listening to.

there's um there's something really interesting to me about how a lot of readers will like say negative things about some thrillers because they're like an ordinary person who's not a detective wouldn't do this to take on their own so i think it's really interesting that like the author's way of kind of like avoiding that or putting a spin on it is to be like this is somebody who's obsessed with true crime yes this is not just like because I read a book recently, but I did not like, because I was like, there's no way this fucking housewife who can, like, barely put two and two together and function is going to take on, like, this, like, wild search in the dark for something.

Right. So I think it's really interesting that, like, but if it was a true crime junkie, and it's kind of cool, because it's like, I can already see what, like, what you're saying. It's, like, prominent from the beginning that she's like, driving around listening to all of these because she's just driving all day. And so there's that element. And then there is, oh, then there's the element that she knows the city so well because she drives it all the time. Yeah. So I think it's going to be very like very New York city like as a character is kind of the vibe I'm getting too. So it is a cool concept. Yeah. I love

the title. I know. I do too. It's listed. I just saw it says cozy mystery. I could see that because it's, I don't get the feeling it's going to be like extremely dark. But I don't know if I would completely call it cozy either from what I listened to, but it's not, it's not bleak feelings. What was the title again? What was the title again? What was the title again? Oh, the midnight taxi. Oh, yeah. Yosha, Luna, Secaira. I feel like I just read something that, like, wasn't super violent and I really loved it, but I can't think of what it was.

You're like, I swear I do sometimes. I'm, like, balancing out the nonfiction I'm reading, and I was like, this sounds, this sounds like the fun one to listen to her. A good palate cleanser? Yeah. Yeah. No, it's, look what you made me do by Elaine Murphy. Like, I loved how much I laughed at that book because of how bitchy the sister was.

Yes. I think that's what it is. is like where sometimes cozy mystery makes me think like baking. Yeah. Like it just like makes me to get that. But it's like there are these little subgenres of like kind of funny. Like murder she roll. Yes.

Yeah. I could see I could see it being comps to like only murders in the building to. Oh yeah. Like vibe wise. So yeah. And history lessons. It's reminding me of how much I loved history lessons by Zoe B. But I would necessarily call it cozy either.

So yeah. There's my intense analysis from the 10%. There's such a spectrum of like thrillers and mysteries that it's not necessarily like baking or. Yeah. Well, I think that's why like it's so fun for us to do this podcast. But it's also like interesting for people to, um, to listen to it. Because like if I saw cozy mystery, I would be like, no, I'm skipping this.

But like Kate being like, it's. says cozy mystery, but it doesn't feel like the blueberry muffin I only know about it because Greg posted about it. Yeah. It's like all those like fun. So it's nice to like get a perspective from somebody who's like, I know it's going to say cozy mystery, but it doesn't feel like cozy mystery. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm really enjoying it. I'm like, mine is my current one. I'm kind of cheating because I'm starting it after the podcast, but I don't have anything in my hands. otherwise. This is not a cozy mystery. I will tell you. This sounds like it's going to be pretty dark. I'm going to be picking up The Missing Sister by Jocelyn Jackson. I just saw like an alert that she had that come out.

Yeah, it sounds so good. But it sounds really dark. But it also sounds maybe it could be good for her book. I don't know. So Penny and Nix were twins who were as close as could be growing up until the day that Nix died in an accident after college. Five years later, Penny is working as a rookie cop and just arrived to her first murder scene. The victim is none other than one of the three men Penny has blamed for Nix's death. The killer appears to be a blonde woman holding a box cutter who reveals to Penny that his murder is part of a larger story about sisters. And then she disappears. Now Penny has to find the woman and try to figure out what her connection could be to.

not only Penny but Nix as well. I can't find it on Goodreads. I just got like the Amazon email that it came out and I was like, I didn't even know if she had one coming out. Her name spelled Josh. Well, I have her like I have her, though there it is. It's like listed like 20th of all of her books. That's what's weird. Because I typed out of losing sister.

Goodreads. They're such losers. I know. Storygraph is pretty amazing. Fable's kind of pissing me off lately too but Wait what? I move something to my

currently reading to my finished and it's like next time swipe But when I But when I swipe it and say that I'm finished It doesn't show up on my finished books Oh Well that's more I'm like next time

Fix your app And sort of trying to boss around bleak billings It's not going to happen That's so weird Probably some fucking man trying to tell me what to do That put it I've never read a book by her actually. I think I've read like one or two and I really like I liked her storytelling.

I loved. Never have I ever. Never have I ever. That sounds right. Yes. I was, I still think about that one and how much fun I thought it was. It is toxic friend shit, but you can't tell who that one who is actually toxic. Oh, that's fun. Wait, what does it call that mean? Never have I ever. I don't think that gives it away. That doesn't give anything away.

I don't think so. It's one of those things too where like someone like this one woman has like a kind of picturesque family life. And then at her book club, I think it's a book club. This like hot stranger comes in who's all cool and sure of herself. and she has she has something on her and instigates it with a never have I ever game oh interesting it was really good isn't the hot friend kind of like bohemian very yeah i love a hot bohemian it kind of gave um it kind of gave little fires everywhere vibes yes between like the two like the differences and their lifestyles and stuff yeah

Oh, that one was really fun. For me to remember that, that's got to be a seller because I have the worst memory. I know. I read it in 2019. So that was so long ago. And it's one I still think about as one of the, like, I think because it's, it was unique the way she executed it. And I still think about it. Maybe I'll listen to that one sometime.

I added it. We'll see. I need to listen to the secret lives of murder's wives. I need to apparently listen to a trilogy. And an American marriage. And an American marriage. I'm just going to keep a list for you. I keep a list for Nicole.

Yeah. When she's like, okay, I'm ready for a book. I'm like, okay, here you go. Here's what I think of. Oh, I love that. So I'm just going to do it. I should do it for you because I feel like I don't think that you take advantage of me, but I feel like I'm being taken advantage of by being like, Kate, I need you to read

this book. It's going to change your life. And then I forget what the book is. So I don't remind you to consistently, you know. So I'll just have to have like. Get through this one. These are the books that I need to force Kate to read before I die. I'm going to have a gear monthly book box.

There's going to be like, that is such a good idea. Billings book box sometimes. That is such a good idea. Or you're just going to arrive to Montreal and there's going to be like a suitcase full of books. You're like, you're going to have to check a bag. Like, here you go. I was like, like, just make your own like shelf on goodreads or like a tag on Kate's story. graph you like here you go this is the whole list but I like the box better like a surprise

it would be so funny that would be so fun but then she would be able to read an audio book well maybe one time but I would want to like make like a theme yeah like an envelope in it of like here's your I could also still listen to it and have the book trophy that is our Or a real match. True. True. Like, you're sent it to me, so these are my Spotify hours this month. Oh, my God.

This is a good idea. That is a good idea. Steph, you might be on to something. It could do. It's a funny concept to, like, have something where you basically tell someone one book they're going to read. Like, you're still recommending thinking they'll like it, but it's like a different take on it. It's also kind of perfect.

like maybe this could be my calling to like not be an onboarding specials anymore because if there are two things I love in the world it is well three there's a themed box oh my god two talking about a book that I love very much and impassioned about and three telling people what to do I know you are meant to have a blue billings book box I will make you a website I'm going to be on we'll have to kind of figure out yeah like some like some people like being told old to read because they don't want to pick it. I think it's really interesting for us who like kind of have our list of like what's coming up next. Right. I think it's cool that like to be like, okay, I'm giving one of my one of my treasured spots to the book box. Yes. I love that. Oh my gosh. I don't know if I have a segue. Segway. I thought you were going to be like, I don't know if I'm reading anything currently. No, I read. I started one. book and then I got my holds came in from the library so for the first I think it's the first time I have like my morning physical book and then I have my evening Kindle book by my bed um because I'm not

I like don't know if I want to DNF it like I'm into it sometimes I'm not into it other times yeah my Kindle book right now um anyway so I think Kate read this one I'm currently reading sundown girls by L S and she wrote um not so perfect strangers and do what godmother says do what godmother says yep and a few other ones um yeah this one is y a i think but it like hasn't i i've not had any issues with the y aness of it um i would compare it to like uh um just complete ace of space oh ace of state not kind of uh yeah yeah so this one it says is like a character-driven suspense seeked in racial history,

reckoning, and a haunting atmospheric sense of danger. Like, I would say that. Like, there's this girl, her family is vacationing in this kind of like new cabin

in Virginia, in the, is that the smokies around there? I think so. Appalachian. I think it's Appalachian. Yeah. And she's kind of finding out

based on some, like, statues and, like, books she, picked up that it could be a sundown town which is bad news for folks of color um historically that means that like once the sun goes down you're not really supposed to be there anymore you're likely other yeah extreme violence is yeah very high increases kind of like the purge yeah don't let the sun go down yeah so there's some missing girls

And the main character, she's kind of like, I think I may, I see a connection between the missing girls, but of course, no one's listening. So I'm trying to figure out what's going to, I mean, I don't know if I'm figuring out. I'm just rolling with it, seeing what's going to happen. It has kind of like a touristy town, but horror. So it's like kind of like creepy that way. too where it's like everything just like seems like and she kind of sees like uh there's like a potential paranormal element so is really really really really really good oh nice i will say i read a hundred pages in the first sitting that's a lot i loved it i really burned through it yeah And you can hear my interview with her.

I'll link it in the show notes. Oh, yay. I wasn't saying, like, you have to go listen to this stuff. Oh, no. I just was saying, yay, that it exists. It sounds like, I'm not going to fucking listen to that. I really want to read this. I think you enjoy it.

Yeah. There's some Y-A bucks that I'm like... You'll love the end. Guess who won a giveaway of the new Megan Lally. You did. I was just thinking of Megan Lally when you said YA for you. Yeah. Wait, yes, I did. Is it a vacation one? It's an open water one. I know that because to enter the giveaway, you had to say what the one thing that scares you the most about open water is. Really? And apparently she liked my answer because I won. What did you say? I said the thing that

scares me about open water is that I can go into it with two legs and come out with none. That is a fantastic answer. I love Bauder series, how Oh That's good But there are like a lot of like What we did to survive

Yeah It has like a little Lifesaver on it Yeah Yeah There are some YA books that I really want to read I want to read this LS Stratton one

I want to read Final Cup by Olivia Warley Her new YA book Sounds really good I don't know This This felt like YA to me, but Steph actually inspired me to pick up a book called Breakneck Bay by Faith Gardner. Oh, yeah.

That was so fucking wild. I like, my first, like, sitting, I read like 50% of it on like a work night and I was like, this never happens. Her books are fast. Yeah. It was really, really entertaining. Like 80s, like theme park. It's kind of.

remind well I don't know all of these are somewhat similar well it's YAA too to um the by Lamar Giles oh getaway no the getaway I just saw uh someone reviewed it recently and I was like damn that was like really good but there's that same like creepy theme park y a dystopia they're all loosely adjacent yeah I love a theme park. You what? I'm realizing I love a theme park and a thriller. I know.

There really are quite a few because there's Jennifer Hilliers, too. Two Jennifer Hilliers now. Right. Yeah, because there's the carnival and her upcoming one. Yeah. Interesting. I'm going to be really surprised if there's not a lot of Easter eggs in her new book. Like, I just have feeling.

I want to read all of her books all over again before I read the new one, because I'm a little psychopath and I love her so much. You should. I want to get a silhouette of her hair as like a tattoo. Because I always like, every time she posts a picture, I'm like, you look like a panting pro-b model. Yeah. Yeah, she does.

She does. Excuse me. Her is amazing. Well, I have a YA segue. Ooh. Yay. Yay. I love this.

I know. So it just came out today. So I'm going to be starting it soon. I might even become a current read if I'm reading multiple. But it's called When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson. And she is Academy for Liars, the book that I've not been able to shut out of about since like 2025, 2024. I can't even remember, but for a long time.

But this is her, I don't know if this is her first YA because I think some of her backlists might be, but it's YA. Rosslyn Vogue isn't herself anymore. It's been a year since her sister, Adeline, died in the woods under mysterious circumstances, and Rosslyn is still tormented by her absence. So in the elusive caravan of girls, the Adeline spent her summer with rolls back into town, Rosslyn joins them to finally figure out what happened to her sister. Strange, beautiful, and intriguing, the girls are closed off from the world, and as it turns out, they're brought together by a force more sinister than Rosslin's nightmares could have conjured. Death itself, himself. because of course death is he um death has spared the girls from untimely endings and to pay for their

lives the girls travel the country reaping souls on his behalf now rosselin must decide if finding closure is worth the price of striking the same deal god damn that sounds good i know especially with how much i already am obsessed with her writing and the cover is so cool like it's kind of like a skull made out of like trees. And so it makes me feel like there's going to be a nature element from the cover. What's the name of it again? When I was Death by Alexis Henderson. Oh my gosh.

And then I have to, I should say this part too. I just saw her substack post today. And she'd had this book idea and worked on it for a couple of years and felt intimidated by the amount of grief the character would need to feel. And so she kept putting it away. And then her mom was diagnosed with a terminal illness and died two months in like a two month period when they were not expecting it. So she returned to this book to like get through her own grief.

And she's like, so that's what this book is for me. And I was like, oh my God. So I'll also link that substack article. I thought that was pretty, I like comment. I was like, well, this is making my reading of it even more impactful. Right. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Speaking of personal history going into a book, I just saw that also speaking of Faith Gardner earlier, did you see her new book coming out is about her grandmother? No. It has a cover that looks like very, um, like madwife adjacent and it's about her grandmother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and like was what like went through a lot of shit. And like it's kind of like rewriting her story. And I like,

oh my gosh, that's so sad and also sounds like a really good book. Wow. So I feel like when there's a personal element, people just like brush it. Right. The spin. It's on her, it's like first on her Instagram right now. Oh. That is a fucking gorgeous cover. I know. Wow. Oh, wow.

Guys, I am just going to read for the rest of my life. Can't feel everything else. I know. Oh, my God. I was like, Tam, you know that I love getting riled up about how women of that era were treated in all eras, but that era a lot. Yeah. It was the beginning of the boomerang we are experiencing.

Great. I don't have a thing, I can't. I can't. I got to go. I don't pick it up from women's oppression. Actually, similar to Faith Gardner, I actually have, I actually have, can you tell that it's 601 and somebody usually eats at 6? Oh my God.

A little fucking monster. He got his haircut today, so he thinks that he deserves, like, more treats. Aw. Um. Um, and he, like, came, like, running in with this grumpy little look on his face and, like, uh, shamrock boat bandana around his neck. Cute. Um. He's so sweet.

I read a book for the, um, Sarahina Nova Glass. I read my first book by her, um, this past year. And I was like, it's called On a Quiet. street and it was so good. So good. And I actually like looked her up and started reading the synopsies of all of her other books. And I was like, that's my goal this year. I'm going to read every book in her back list. So my next one is called The Vanishing Hour and it sounds so good. It's about a woman named Grace. And we all know that all great books have characters that name start with G. Obviously. Yeah. So Grace.

narrowly escaped death when she got away from this guy who kidnapped her. And then she escapes to Maine where she runs like a little inn and she enjoys the quietness of the off season and just like trying to like stay off the radar. But then her past goes back to haunt her when someone begins taking young women who look exactly like she looked when she went missing. And she finds herself like in the center of the investigation, but it's one of those things where she's, like, holding something back that could, like, change a trajectory of, like, the entire thing

if she, like, told it. So I love that. Like, having somebody that's, like, kidnapping people that look just like you when, like, something horrible happened. And it's, like, in the same town that you, like, live in.

And then being, like, oh, I have, like, the secret. Yeah. Yeah. Damn. I think it's just going to be so good. I think it will be. She's like, I feel like I see her more now.

I feel like she's showing up more. I see so much about her like backlist. And like when people, it's her. I didn't realize how extensive it was. And then I started seeing more of it. Yeah. There's like, it's her and Claire Douglas are the ones that I want to read all of the year because there's a new Claire Douglas out and I keep hearing it with like fantastic.

And it's like a woman who like overhears her neighbors talking about a crime that they could have committed. And then like it's like secrets and suburbia and yeah. I love that. It's got a house on the cover. The wrong sister. The new neighbors. I think it's called. Oh, okay. Oh, one of my friends just started getting into reading and she read the wrong sister by Claire Douglas and was like, I think this is the kind of book I like. Oh. Nice. I don't think I read anything ever yet.

I don't remember anything about it, but there was like the one where like the girls like gone to a car accident and like only one walked away and like the other three like completely vanished. That was so wild. Whoa. That was a really good one. And I gave that one to my mom's best friend. Patty because Patty likes to read and Patty was like that book was so good Kathy. Tell Gera I loved it.

Wow. Isn't there one about like a couple moving into a house and they find like body parts too? I haven't read it but I remember I like was about to read it. I'm not sure. I mean I have a list of her and Serafina Nova Glass and like that is what I'm going to be doing because I also like love to like hunt down books too. Oh yeah. Hell yeah. Yep. Get him in your sights. okay um oh you guys okay so i just got approved oh you guys so you guys so i'm talking i'm thinking about my next one so one i have to actually read because the pub date is march 10th so that will be the however i did just i never got approved or denied for katelyn mullen's new book i just got so i just got approved for the audio okay me too through my request for the regular book

I kind of wanted to read. Sometimes when I read about read or listen to an author, I want to do like the same. Yeah. So it was kind of bummed. They never approved me. But I was like, oh, Harper or McAllen Audio. We have a good friendship. So I'm excited for that one, but that's not the one I'm going to talk about yet.

It doesn't come out to June. I just got approved. I'm not going to say what it's about. I'm just excited. But doesn't come up. I'm glad you're excited. And also, FN approved me for the e-book. Come on.

I agree. Like, why did you leave me hanging? Oh, no, we're not going to be able to stop. I don't even know really what was funny, but I like that you're laughing. You just said so much. You set it up so much that we thought you were going to talk about Heather by Caitlin Mullen. And you were like, that's not the buck. That's not my book.

Oh, that's awesome. And it would be because I do think that Caitlin Mullen needs all the hype she can get, but it's not coming out until June, so she's got time. Yeah, you're right. My March 10th book. Oh, my God. Also, an author I have loved another book by her is called The Two Deaths of Lillian Carmichael by Paulette Kennedy, who wrote The Devil and Mrs. Dabbin for.

Yeah. Okay. And so that's actually what I'm going to be talking. about and you guys I'm getting maybe some vampire vibes. Ooh. But condemned for her sister's murder in 1853, South Carolina, Lillian Carmichael is mistakenly declared dead after collapsing on the way to the gallows and is buried in her family's mausoleum. When she awakens and escapes, she hides in low country marshes and begins reinventing herself with the help of an actress skilled in creating new identities.

As rumors spread that Lillian has returned from the grave And a series of blood-drained murders Terrifies Charleston She must uncover the real killer And the dark secrets of her own family Oh my God I was like That sounds really good

That sounds very good So I read the devil and Mrs. Davenport Loved it I read another book by her Which I did enjoy But it was just like a totally different vibe Like just very kind of like Gothic haunted house haunted paintings

Like just so different So I'm I have no eye idea where, like, where this is going, what this is going to land, like, where in style of the land. Interesting. I don't know. We'll see. I've got to get it done pretty soon, though.

Can I get started. 251 pages, though. That's nice. I will take it. I know. That Jocelyn Jackson that I have, that I'm picking up, is, like, very short. I noticed that, too. It said 250.

Nice. Yeah. Nice. Thank you.