Bookwild - Non-Thrillers Steph and I Have Loved

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

This week, Steph and I talk about some our favorite books outside the thriller genre, since we've both been expanding our genres a little.Books We Talked AboutProject Hail MaryThe Road to Tender HeartsSky Full of ElephantsPS You’re the WorstThe Three Lives of Cate KayThe Seven O’Clock ClubAn Academy for LiarsShy GirlThings Don’t Break On Their OwnThe Book Club for Troublesome Women Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

So I'm here with Steph this week and struggling to start podcasts. So generally we're going to be talking about non-thriller books that we have loved. Partially, I have just like gotten into even more genres. Like it like exploded all because audiobooks just started working with my brain. I wish it could have happened sooner, but here we are. So my funny icebreaker though, too, is when, if you remember the time when you started listening to audiobooks, did you all of a sudden start doing more chores? Because I feel like I am like more than willing to like wipe down all the counters more often because I'm like, oh, I can keep listening. I, well, I will say probably lately I've been doing fewer chores and listening.

listening less. So I noticed that it is correlated. Yeah. Because so for people that do or don't know, my husband has two kids. And so like when they're here every other weekend, like we kind of have a chores list. And I usually like plug in my headphones and get going. But they've been doing a lot of traveling sports lately. So I've had the house to myself. So I can. It is a benefit to play my phone on loud. So sometimes they do more audiobooks when they're gone, but other times I also just like watch TV more

when they're gone and so I just read less in general. So I think it kind of depends on like who's in my house. That totally makes sense. Yeah. So, but I will say chores help a lot. Yeah. And especially like if I, because you're not

reading emails, you're not scrolling as much because when I'm reading emails and scrolling, I like have to rewind my audio. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So that was something interesting that I noticed. I also always thought, like, if I was listening to an audiobook, I'm like, am I going to be more likely to scroll? So that was like one of my like thoughts was like, will I just get distracted so easily? And it's actually been so much the opposite because I'm doing it like when I'm doing chores or like other stuff. But then if I get done with that or like if I get back from driving somewhere um sometimes i will just lay there with my headphones in and and i don't even

have harley's having an asthma attack we're all we're all not breathing very well are you okay harley she have like the reverse sneeze thing yeah yeah it's like if anyone i don't i can't remember if i've said it before it's basically what i was about to say but somehow me with all of my breathing problems, adopted pits without knowing that they're like the most allergic dog breed to like everything. Oh yeah. So yeah, Harley was having a moment, but she's okay now. So that took me completely out of where I was headed. Oh, I wouldn't even have my phone in my hands is what it actually ends up being. And it's almost less tempting than reading in the Kindle app. So like I think in some ways it's like easier for me to just sit and actually be.

read to, which I didn't think I was like, I didn't know. I didn't know if that was going to work for me, but then it did. And so sometimes my phone's out in my hand and I'm even less tempted. So it's just been quite the journey for me. But to your point about depending on who's in the house, Tyler's been gone for eight hours and I've listened. All of my work didn't have audio. I've listened to seven hours of Chanking All-Stars and I started it this morning. But he's been gone and I was like, oh, so this this is what I can do when I'm alone. That's so nice. Because I've been noticing when I'm doing like videos for work lately that they are, I like

realize I can't listen when I'm, which is frustrating. That's so interesting. I will say I've done that with like an inconvenient woman at the end. I was like, everybody leave me alone. I have 20 minutes left and it was like the best ending of a book that like are one of the best endings. I love that. I did that with.

And then a couple of them, I remember like going outside on our little porch and being like, okay, I just need to like listen to this because I need to like get. There's like 20 minutes left. Leave me alone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Sometimes you're like, we just took it. Yeah. Have you found your speed yet? Oh my gosh. So that's the other thing that I'm intrigued by. So every time I think about like, oh, I just can't listen to it faster. I'm like, but remember you thought you couldn't listen at all.

So you should keep trying. I still can't get above one. It's stress. me out and it may happen in the future like that's something i also wonder like is it going to get there yeah it makes me feel anxious it makes me feel like someone's trying to like tell me a bunch of stuff really quickly because they need to like rush off and do something i think it depends on the narrator too because there are some that go really slow but like also this last book one of the ones i'll talk about today actually was nice i enjoyed it so much that i like left it on 1.25

which is like for whoever it was reading was like a pretty normal sounding speed and I was like I'm not going faster because I want to be happy yeah happy being here yes rush yeah so I get that yeah we'll see I so far I enjoy it so much that that's kind of also how I feel where I'm like I'm not really trying to race through it and it's like I've already unlocked this power where now I'm reading like twice as many books as I've been able to. to previously. It's just been so hard to have time to read, read when I can't be doing anything else. So, yeah, we'll see. I am intrigued. Like, this whole time I'm like, is there going to be a version of me a year from now? And I'm like, remember when I said I couldn't go above one? I love those reels when people are like, they're like, are you speaking in tongues? Like the, like I don't know how people can do like two. Like my opinion is much like 1.5. 1.6, that is not like a common speed for me. I would say 1.5.

I would say 1.5 is like where I sit. Yeah. Yeah. But one of my friends said that like she posted something once that said like for her to get into a book, she does the first hour at one. Oh, okay. Like to kind of get into the characters, get into it. And once she's into it, then she goes faster. What makes sense.

Mm-hmm. I actually thought you were going to say that. opposite but both of them make sense i thought you're going to say like if it goes faster she can like get into it faster or sooner but that also makes sense to kind of like learn the world building part at the slower speed yeah that was cute mm-hmm it's something you the segue is all of this all of this audio book life that i'm into now has also opened me up to kind of more genres it's like it feels easier to like try out new stuff via audiobook i think is what i've realized so we're going to talk about non-thrillers that we've both enjoyed because you've been reading like you've been reading all kinds of

stuff kind of all of this year right they kind of start at the beginning of the year i think a lot of contemporary fiction i would say yeah how that started i think it started with like the wedding people like I think it started with, I think that was it because I got it for a book of the month or something. And I was like, oh, it sounds all right. I wanted one on books. And then I was like, oh, my God, I love this. Yeah. So, you know, I get surprised sometimes.

Yeah, definitely. Well, I basically got introduced to this is going to be like one of my all-time favorite books ever. that's how good this was and it was a couple of things it was a movie trailer in an audio and hearing how good the audio was they got me to read Project Hail Mary I feel like I've talked about it so much

but I've only talked about it on Instagram so I'm like people might already be sick of hearing about it but I'm going to talk about it I haven't heard you talk about it just because I haven't read it so I didn't know what you're all saying on Instagram if it was like I don't know. So I am interested to hear you talk about it. Yeah. So a quick recap. Basically,

Ryan Gosling is playing Rylan Grace, who's the main character. And it's coming out in theaters, I think March 2026, but for some reason they dropped the first trailer now. And thankfully, I saw a bunch of things that were like, don't watch the whole trailer if you haven't read the book. So like literally the trailer dropped one day. I like went on a to audible and like saw all these rave reviews about it via audio because it's been one that's been on my TBR but I thought it was too spacey for me. Oh. So that's where this one like counts as like out of my genre even though like it's kind of it it is a thriller like you are it's suspenseful. Anyway I don't need to justify my pick. I'm doing that again.

But so many people were like oh my God the audio is amazing. Like I I was seeing it in reviews. And then I was also seeing it. Just seen who's in the book club. She was like responding to my stories. And she was like, it was one of my best audio experiences is what she said. And I was like, okay, what does this mean? So I am going to read the synopsis.

And then I'll talk about what I enjoyed about it. Rylan Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate last chance mission. And if he fails, humanity and earth itself will perish. Except that right now he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning. Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurdling through space on this tiny ship,

it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientist. mystery and conquer an extinction level threat to our species. And with the clock taking down and the nearest human being light years away, he's got to do it all alone. So the hardest thing about this book to me to talk about is like that is what it's about, but it's not what you're going to leave the book being totally obsessed by either. So it's like, it's hard, one, it's just hard to talk about it in general. And then two, so narratively, I love that like he wakes up and he's kind of having his memory slowly coming back to him. And the way he used that like narrative device as a way to kind of get flashbacks really does like up this suspense so much. So I really enjoyed

like that we're finding it out with him and it just really worked for me doing it that way. but also Rylund is like a really like snarky character too so like first time I've read like a male character like that where I'm like oh yeah um this is really fun and so like he's even really sarcastic and kind of darkly humorous about his situation because like it's pretty serious yeah um but also the the narrator ray porter um just the performance is just the performance is just fantastic like I understand there are multiple ways but I'm not going to explain all of them but I understand why people just love this audiobook experience there's so much like there's so much emotion to how he portrays it like even more than just like having it

narrated to you if I don't know if that even makes sense but you just get so invested and it like does sound like you're in a sarcastic man's brain I love that So that part's really fun. And then there's just, there are aspects of this book that are enhanced by having an audio experience. And that's all I'm going to say. But you can DM me if you want to know more information. But I, this was a 16 hour book and I finished it in three days. Good for you.

I was hooked. Like, the dogs would need to walk and I'd be like, I'll get sweaty. I can listen to Project Hill Mary. I got it. Yeah. So as I was looking this up when you were talking about, talking about it. I always like my go-to place to look for audio books is Libro FM. It is not on leave. Well, no, I found something. It was a different, it was a different narrator. So I was like,

what? So audible now. Okay. Yeah, I couldn't tell if you're asking a question. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because I was so confused by that too. I went to Libro FM first. And I was like, why is like the German one, the only one that I'm finding? It was produced entirely through audible so they own there are a couple books like that the Martian is the same way which now I want to

I'm gonna I want to listen to that one at some point because I saw the movie but it was like over a decade ago I think so like I don't remember anything so I feel like I would enjoy the audiobook but that one's also just audible so apparently there's some where like they outright buy the rights to it

but like in this case you can feel that budget yeah i i've noticed that too and i also looked on liby and there was just the ebook on there so that's yeah i went through the same thing and i keep forgetting because then i looked for the martian and i was like well i just didn't know yet that it was all of his books but they bought the rights to all of his books basically is that what it's like i mean i know you weren't doing audiobooks at the time i know that the Lane Fargo, Vanessa Lily widows books.

They came out on Audible first. And then you got the paperback. But I imagine that's another one that's like just there then because it was just an audio, audible book. Yes. Yeah. It was. That one's unique.

Yeah. So it's just a, it's an interesting thing because every once in a while, I'm like, why can't I find this? And then it's, then I usually know it's probably just on Audible. Yeah. Yeah, I've just, I have, that's the other interesting part, like what you were just saying. I've now listened on, let's see, like Libro FM, now I'm listening to One on Libby.

I've listened on NetGalley now and Spotify and Audible. So I've listened to books on five different apps at this point. Well, I guess that's my segue. I'll say into my first one because, was it last week? Yeah, I got a. a hold notification on like the physical book and the and the Libby audio book for my book like the same day. And I was like, I don't know which one I want to do.

Yeah. And I will say I don't always listen. Most of my books have female narrators because they both mostly have female main characters. Same. But I listened to the sample and I was like, okay. And it turned out to be phenomenal. So this is the road to take. Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett.

And I am the way I am obsessed with this book. Like, I loved it so, so, so, so much. So sad when it's over. Like, I, like, didn't even want to return my hold to Libby because I was like, I just want to. I'm going to need to go buy a trophy. Yes. So I was telling Kay before we started recording, a lot of my books lately have... road trips, dysfunctional families or friends, and, like, quirky side characters.

And it so much it's working for me. Yeah. The main character in this book kind of reminds me of the dude from the Big Lobowski. And, like, I love him so much. So, okay, the Road to Tender Hearts, I think this just came out. Oh, nice. At 63 years old, a million-dollar lottery winner, PJ Holiday, would be the luckiest man. in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren't for the tragedies of his life.

The sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. But since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn't have that much time left. He's had three heart attacks already. But when PJ reads an obituary about his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he's going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back.

Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother's grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but P.J. figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. P.J. also figures he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter adrift in her 20s, to come along to. babysit. And there's one more surprise addition to the roster. Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack for predicting death who recently turned up outside PJ's home. This could be the second chance PJ's hoped for, a second shot at love and parenting, but does he have the strength to do both of those things again? It's very possible his heart can't take it. Oh, a cat named

pancakes. Oh my God. So this, this book reminded me of, and I think one of the ways that audio worked is that, you know, when there's like a comedy or a drama you watch where there's like a third party narrator, that's kind of how it felt. It was one of those where like you kind of get, you have the main characters, but you also get these little glimpses of like other things happening in the town because everything is connected a little bit. But like there's some dark shit that happens. like when you find out how the kids get to be with PJ.

But it's one of those books where like somehow you're still kind of laughing. You know, so like the way it's presented is just it hit the spot. I love that. Yeah, highly, highly recommend. Bruce wants to read it. You should, Bruce. You could be friends with pancakes. If you're an author, chances are high that you just want to spend your time writing and maybe reading.

not thinking about social media, what to create, and what to post. And the good news is, I have a solution for you. With just three hours of in-person filming, you can receive 90 days or three months' worth of social media content. The content is a mixture of videos, photos, edited reels, and when you receive the content, you also receive a PDF that's a content calendar that links to all of the content tells you exactly when to post it and gives you an option for captions. And if you've ever felt like you're tired of just talking about your book all the time, we will help you come up with ideas that are

general content for your page that's not just all about your books. If you are tired of thinking about your social media presence and just want to get back to writing, check out the link in the description. So my next one, speaking of all the apps that I've listened on, I got this one because Libro was having Libro FM was having a buy one get one free and this is like a part of it and so I posted about

a couple of the books that were there and like this was one of them that I posted about and I was like has anyone read these like does anyone enjoy it? My friend McKinsey said that she loves sky full of elephants and what? Sorry. So curious to hear about it.

Yeah and so she was like she loved it And so I was like, okay, I'm getting this one. So this was one that I listened to on Libro FM. Loved it so much. It's so good. It has a very cool, unique cover. One day, a cataclysmic event occurs.

All of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charles Brunton is a black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he's now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University. When he receives a call from someone, he wasn't even sure existed. His daughter, Sidney, a 19-year-old who watched her white... I need to go close Harley's window because she's... They were like, oh, you said Dad was complaining about us?

Let's see how much you can complain about us. Watch this. No. Do not bark at me. You have had everything. No, no, no. You lay down. Sometimes you have to get big. with oh trust me there we go now we're being a cute boy with cute ears yeah you should I am a yeller sometimes so like I'm a yeller sometimes it makes him louder so he like he like matches you

yes so it's like hard to stop I let you out what is happening oh my God. Excited? Is this tail wagging? Yeah. Oh. Yeah, look at him. He's just yelling at me. This is playtime. Uh-huh.

Bruce. Okay. This is ridiculous. I took them for a second. W.A.L.K. too. It's like this just shouldn't. This shouldn't be happening. Okay. Traumatized by the event and terrified of the outside world, Sydney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin.

No, I didn't get to even say her name. I need to go back further. He wasn't even sure existed. His daughter, Sidney, a 19-year-old, who watched her white mother and step-family drown themselves in the lake behind her house. Traumatized by the event and terrified of the outside world, Sydney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin.

Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she is always resented. Sydney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across America headed for Alabama, where Sydney believes she may still have some family left. But neither Sydney or Charlie is prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it. When they enter the kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sydney thought they knew about themselves and the world will be turned upside down. That's the end.

The rest is blurb. So this is another one where you can't talk too many details. And it's like very much speculative fiction. I would probably more literary as well. And my mouth is just so dry. So the character development is really fascinating. So it is obviously there's a lot of commentary going on about what a world would be like really without like the undeniable fact that we. We as white people were colonizers.

Not that we all are, but like really examines even just how that affects how a country would run versus if that's gone, how could the country run? But also the character development is so good. And there are just some like really emotional and like poignant moments. It's very much a coming of age speculative fiction as well. So I haven't read coming of age in a while. But that's kind of like the closest arc, like his daughter's growing through the experience, but then he's also growing through the experience. And it was just, it's just so good. I really enjoyed both narrators because there's a male and a female.

And I just loved it. I loved it so much and I posted about it. And the author responded to my story. And so McKinsey and I are interviewing him tomorrow. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So exciting. I know.

So, whole story with Skyful of Elevents right now. Wow. Yeah. The imagery is very beautiful. And I would also say it tackles some very similar themes as sinners, like where sinners use horror. This uses speculative fiction, like very near future. Like, it doesn't even feel futuristic, just speculative. I was telling a friend about sinners today because I was.

I heard this song while she was over and I was like, oh, this would have been a cool song in sinners. And then I did the absolute worst job explaining like what it was about. I had, you know, I should have just centered the truth. You're like an Irish vampire like tries to eat people in a juke joint, but that's not what it's about. It's like, I don't see music parts, but then it's like van Gogh. I was like, oh my God. I know. It's so hard to explain. Did you feel like if you were reading that one physically, would it have been like a little, was it like very literary or is it just more? It's not even very literary.

It's just not thrilling it. Like there's nothing thrilling to it. But it is kind of like imagery heavy. Not like over explaining the like literal environment, but there's more like artistic. language in it, I guess is what I'm trying to say. But like, I think it was relatively short. Yeah, it's 300 pages. It's not like, oh, I couldn't wait to burn through the pages. It's not a page turner or whatever the equivalent is. But it's also not, like notes on an execution was way more literary than this one. So, yeah, it's really good, though. It really makes you think about a

lot of things. Very curious. Mm-hmm. Gosh, I have like no segue. And I'm, maybe I did have one, but now I can't remember what it was. Oh, coming of age. Oh, yeah. Coming of age.

So I have one, when does it come out? I thought it was, couldn't tell you. But I don't know that I read it really early. It's called P.S. You're the Word. by Chloe Seeger. Okay. First, let's see. When does it come out?

July 31st, 2025. It's coming up. Nice. I think I just needed something. And I was like, this sounds kind of different. I'm going to go for it. So what's interesting about like coming of age, especially with, when I say that, I mean adults getting their shit together. Like that to me is like an adult.

coming of age, like especially when I've been reading a lot of the contemporary fiction I've been reading is people really, I think a lot of these books are like coming to terms with something, whether it be themselves or be. And I think sometimes in the beginning, they're a little challenging to, you're like, do I like this character or not? But then like you kind of go through like the melting phase and the walls kind of come down and then you end up liking it. Yeah. Okay, so P.S. You're the worst. Everyone knows the death card in a tarot reading isn't a literal death sentence. Well, everyone except Becky. Becky is not doing well. Her dreaded 30th birthday is looming and she can't help thinking she's falling behind in life. Her smug friends, smug is in parentheses, are all wedding weddings, buying houses or starting their own businesses. But not Becky. She still lives with her mom, hates her job, doesn't speak to her father, and despite numerous dates, hasn't moved on for. from her ex-boyfriend. Things can't get much worse. Becky doesn't believe in the arcane, but armed with a gift card and a desperate need for guidance, she visits a tarot reader,

who tells her she's going to die. Convinced she's a goner and panicked about having done nothing with her life, Becky finally takes action. She writes a series of letters to the people she loves unloading all the things she's been holding back, and she waits. But in the morning, she's not dead, and worse, the mail is already reaching people's doorsteps. Will the letters be the wake-up call that Becky needs or just the next step in a never-ending downward spiral. With sparkling, I will say that this is important. It's like, it's kind of witty and then like you kind of have compassion for her, like one of those things where it's like she kind of is like, oh shit, I shouldn't have done that. Yeah. And then it's like her making up with her friends and like

that's cool. Getting her shit together. And I read it a while ago, but I was. like, wow, really pleasantly surprised by how it all came together. I love how unique the cover is, too. It's very cool. I know. When you look at the cover, you don't think like, oh, tarot reader, like death that is kind of, I will say, like, even though it's a big part of the synopsis, it's like a brief part of the book, but it just sparks a lot. Right. And I'm sure that's not uncommon that people think the death theory. Oh, yeah. Terrell means you're going to die. Yeah, I mean, if you're being literal, I mean, yeah, so I don't know. And I will say I am pretty picky about books that say they're like witty or funny. I know it's so subjective. Typically don't find those books witty or funny. I know.

But if it's like, I like a good dry humor. But yeah, Becky did really grow on me throughout the book. Oh, I love that. Yeah. I wanted to interrupt this episode really quickly. I have a goal of monetizing Book Wild, but I would love to do it without having to have ads in the podcast. And one way that I can do that is through my Patreon community. For those who don't know, Patreon is a community.

platform that allows creators to share what they're creating behind a paywall. And so that means exclusive content or early releases. The book Wild Patreon has two tiers. The first tier is the bookish tier. And at that tier, you get all of the episodes out a day early. And you get access to our private community chat where we can talk about anything book related or TV shows or movies. The second tier is the Book Wilde tier, and it includes everything from the first tier, but also Book Wild's Backlist Book Club. So this year, I've been wanting to also still read more Backlist, even though I read plenty of arcs. And Book Wilde's Backlist Book Club felt like the perfect way to do that. We meet on Sundays.

We are international right now, so Sundays are the best way to do it. And we meet on Zoom and we all pick a book and we talk about it. And then we talk about everything else we read during the month. And then we pick another book for the next month. So it's been so much fun so far. And we'd love to have you join the book club. So if you'd like to support the Book Wild podcast, you can go to the Patreon link in the show notes. And you can sign up for whichever to your interest you.

And if you're looking for a free way to support the show, if you can like and review it on whichever platform you listen to, That helps so much. Well, my next one could kind of, it definitely can be considered coming of age, actually. And we both loved it. And it's The Three Lives of Kate Kaye. Oh, yeah. That I read kind of at the beginning, yeah, the beginning of this year. Another cool cover, too.

Kate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck Box Office Gold as a film series, she's one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Kate Kay doesn't really exist. She's never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret until now. As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars.

But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Kate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Kate understands that returning home is the only way she'll be a whole person again. So it's just like, you just love her and you like understand why she made all of the decisions that she did. And it's like very, it's very emotional. Like it's, it is a very emotional book too. Yeah, I was pissed at her at some of the time.

Like when you feel. Oh, I know. Mm-hmm. Oh, my gosh. It also had some like really sweet like friendship. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

It was really good. I really wanted to get her on the podcast, but I don't think she ever saw my DM. And that's okay. That's okay. That one was really good. And I feel like this doesn't give too much away. It really doesn't. I was noticing that too, which is good.

Yeah, I agree. I have two that are kind of similar. for a while I feel like some of mine were like grief related. Like it was the main theme. Maybe I'll go with this one because I haven't heard about it as much. So I always like to pop up some that I haven't seen as much. So I'll say my drive-by was the collected regrets of Clover. Has kind of similar themes to this one.

This one is called the 7 o'clock Club by Amelia Ireland. and it does have a little bit of, I would say, like, magical realism. Oh, okay. Where is the description? Okay. Freya, Callum, Misha, and Victoria have nothing in common. Well, except for one thing. They've each experienced a deep personal loss that has led them to an unconventional group meeting every Tuesday night at 7.

A meeting they've been particularly selected for that will help them finally move on. At least that's the claim. As they warily eye one another and their unnervingly observant group leader, one question hangs over them. Why were they chosen? To get the answer, they are going to have to share a whole lot of themselves first. Getting Freya Callum, Misha, and Victoria to trust each other is vital because the real reason they're connected will shift the ground beneath their feet.

Pretty vague, but kind of has to get. Vague is good. And magical realism is like, is the, oh, that was what my question was. Is like the cat who could predict death, do you think that falls into magical realism? Or is it typically like more magical, more magic related? In that particular book, I think it was more like an observation. Okay. But okay, like one of the weird things in that book was like the narrator will kind of

of like tell you the thoughts of the cat like very briefly. But it didn't feel magical. It's just more like who he was drawn to. Okay. Okay. Yeah, but I feel like you could almost take that that way. But if you do, it's just like the smallest amount of, I don't think I've read magical realism, but then I'm like, surely I've read something.

I think you probably have. I think when I looked up the different. Oh my gosh. One of my choices has magic in it. But let's see. Does it call it? Okay, nothing says magical realism, though. It says fantasy. So I guess the difference between fantasy and magical realism. Because isn't fantasy that it's kind of like the world and magical? You're in your normal world, but then something magical, like something realistic happens. I think you're right. I think you're right. Yeah. So yeah, I'm still am trying to think if I've read one, I guess. But they do, I see them and I'm like, surely I would like some version of that. Oh, if you've read like some of the. Oh, if you've read like some of the. Oh, if you've read like some of the. the ones like if you've read what's the Alexis Henderson one that was the one I was going to talk about in Academy for Liars that one if you are fine it does take place on a campus but it says fantasy so

this one just has a lot yeah I think that sometimes in magical realism it might be like oh there happens to be a witch but like no one it's in like a normal world but they're like oh what's this like it's completely not like normal in the world yeah I don't know if that's a good explanation. No, that does make sense. But yeah. But yeah, I mean, I guess I could talk about an Academy for Liars. You could.

Which was going to be, was going to be one of my picks anyway. But this one still was the outside. I don't typically read anything that's like fantasy. Yeah. It's really only been this and ninth house. That's that other one that I really loves. But clearly what this means is I like fantasy when there's dark academia and horror involved, I guess. Oh, nice.

So yeah, and the cover is very cool. So I finished to go look at it. But Lennon Carter's life is falling apart. Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because, like everyone else at the school, she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself. After passing the test, linen begins to learn

how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion's heavy toll on her body in mind, she is wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton's lush, moss-straped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating, I'm so, I can't tell it. Is my voice as vocal fry as I'm hearing it? No, really. Like, it's got a little grasp, but it's like not crazy. Yeah.

So our air quality has been terrible, literally since the fireworks even happened. And it just, like, feels like there's glass in my throat. Oh, no. So I couldn't tell. I was like, is it just vibrating in my ears? I think it's just vibrating in my ears. So, but even more captivating is her charismatic advisor Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her. As Lenin continues in her studies, her control grows and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College and the way her mentor's tragic and violent past intertwines with it.

It's just so good. I've talked about it before. I just feel like my voice is giving out on me. It is kind of like in some ways. It's like an R-rated Harry Potter. Like it's like darker, but that vibe kind of. And I just loved it. I burned through it.

One of these days I'm going to read either that or the ninth house because I just keep hearing about how they are. Ninth House is even more like a, more straightforward dark academia and and like crime fiction oh it has a little more this one leads a little more horror but both of them have horror too now i now that i'm an audio book girl i wonder because it's it's it was like it was 460 pages and i remember tyler was gone the weekend i started it and i finished it in like two days because i was just reading it everywhere i went like it was one of those like stirring dinner and reading type moments.

Yeah. What was the last, what was the last topic we had when we were with Gare? Do you remember? It was blue, was it the blue and yellow covers? Oh, okay. Because speaking of horror, because I honestly feel like a lot of my contemporary fiction ones have very similar elements. And so I'm like, I need to do something different.

I did read Shy Girl by Mia Ballard. And she writes female rage horror. Her first book was Sugar, where I kind of realized what kind of campy stuff was, because I'm like, man, is she killing too many people? Like, I don't know. And then I'm like, oh, I think maybe I texted you. And I was like, oh, campy is a good word,

Like where you kind of expect it to be a little bit like over the top. I'm having this experience with too old for this. Same thing where you're like, should be killing so many people and you're like, it's fun. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, okay. So I just wasn't used to it.

So that was a very, I would say this I think is like a slower. It's I think maybe over 200 pages. It's short, but it's got kind of like a slower, more serious tone to it. And it is really graphic in some part. Yeah. That's interesting. So lonely, broken, depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters

on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer. In exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animal is. it becomes. It's so intrigued when you're like, it's graphic. Yeah, it's graphic. I don't know.

I think there are some things that you would maybe have to skip over. That's kind of what I wonder. Typically graphic when it comes to like bodies and animalistic stuff. It's where I tap out. It says for fans of Nightbitch, which I have not read or watched. I haven't either. But it does say it's a harrowing tale of girlhood survival autonomy and revenge. Well, those are all things.

I get out. It's fucking wild. And I loved, loved, loved her authors. No, like it just had some really interesting points of like it wasn't just about, I think some said something like it's not just about revenge. It's about, I'm going to find it. Reclaiming. Yeah.

like was what the synopsis said yeah i just was like i you know in the authors note makes you appreciate like what you just read even more yep that happens so much that was like Lori brand i have so much lorry brand on my brain right now oh yeah she's so good well i must have deleted it but anyway just know that it's like really thoughtful and powerful yeah yeah i love that yeah yeah and And the cover is, it says in the beginning, like, if you pick this up because you like the cover, like, this is not what the book is like. I know it's a very different cover. It's like dainty. Yes.

It looks very soft, soft girl life, but it's not. Yeah. Yeah. Wild times. Yeah. Well, one of the ones that I thought of, what, again, for me, literary is like, it is technically outside of. my comfort zone a little bit. But there are ones that I enjoy. So this was one that I did as well. And it's things don't break on their own by Sarah Easter Collins. Also, I interviewed her.

So if this sounds good and you want to hear more, go listen. So here we go. A heart-wrenching mystery about sisters, lovers, and a dinner party gone wrong. 25 years ago, a young girl left home to walk to school, her younger sister soon followed, but one of them arrived and one of them didn't. Her sister's disappearance has defined Willa's life. Everyone thinks her sister is dead, but Willa knows she isn't. Because there are some things that only sisters know about each other and some bonds, only sisters can break. Willa sees fragments of her sister everywhere, the way the woman on the train turns her head, the gate of that woman in Paris. If there's the slightest resemblance Willa drops everything and everyone and tries to see if it's her.

When Willa is invited to a dinner party thrown by her first love, she has no reason to expect it will be anything other than an ordinary evening. Both of them have moved on ancient history, but nothing about Willa's life has been ordinary since the day her sister disappeared, and that's not about to change tonight. Wow. I'm just like, I read it, it feels like I read it. It feels like I read it. it more than a year ago. I can't believe this came out July of 2024. That just like shocks me. It felt like it was like two years ago. But it's it's so emotional. You get like

so attached to the characters. And what I will say is on Goodreads, the first genre listed is thriller. I would not call this a thriller. I would like for people who especially like want to know if something is super thrilling, like I'm not saying like, oh, it's not mysterious but it is more of a coming of age drama family drama that has a mystery element to it is how I would describe it I think that's really important to get people set up yeah expectations so it's yes yeah yeah it just it just really isn't a thriller I think she and I even talked about that like is it a mystery yes most of it is like a very emotional coming of age and family dysfunction novel.

I do love that. Loving some family drama. Yeah. Gosh, that sounds good. I think I had an arc of that and I don't know where it went. I think you might have. I think we maybe talked about it, but I don't know. I also thought it was two years old and it's not.

I do not have a segue from that. That's okay. Anyway, well, I don't typically read a lot of historical fiction. But this year, I saw the title and I saw the kind of feminine feminist themes, and I thought, let's try it. It is called The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick. This one was really good on audio too. By early 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan, Viv Bouchetti and Bitsy Cobb, suburban housewives in a brand new planned community in northern Virginia, appear to have it all.

The fact that all doesn't feel like enough leaves them feeling confused and guilty. Certain the fault must lie with them. Things begin to change when they form a book club with Charlotte Gustafson, the eccentric and artsy new neighbor from Manhattan. And read Betty Friedens, just released book The Feminine Mystique. Controversial and groundbreaking, the book struck a chord with an entire generation of women, helping them realize that they weren't alone in their dissatisfactions or their longings, lifting their eyes to new horizons of possibility and achievement. Margaret, Charlotte, Bitsy, and Viv are among them. But is it really the book that alters the lives of these four very different

women or is it the bond of sisterhood that helps them find courage to confront the past navigate turmoil in a rapidly changing world and see themselves in a new and limitless light. Nice. I would say that the synopsis, I felt like it was kind of a more fun book than the synops not like fun, funny, but just female friendship and like, like, dealing with like husbands and life in the 1960s like right this makes it seem kind of like literary and boring to me but it is not like this does not reflect how attached to this book I was yeah I don't know I thought it was that's how I felt that's how I felt with Project Hail Mary though it's like hard to actually tell someone the like truly what you're

saying too like what's so fun about it because you don't want them to know what's so fun about it yeah yeah and I think like when a bunch of girlfriends get together and like really have that emotional connection and you know like sometimes they go through hard times and like save each other you know like those like really tight things to me is like it doesn't I don't know anyway yeah it was a it was good and if you're not really into historical fiction but you like kind of being bad for women and like wanting them to be like free to do whatever they want like I think it's a great it's a great book I love that. This is not the same, but I, when you said historical fiction, the other one, since

since audiobooks are kind of like helping me just like try other genres, I remember because you even talked about it and I saw someone else again on book talk here recently talking about the frozen river and how it's like so thrilling even though it's historical fiction. So that has been one where I'm like, maybe I'll be able to find that one on Audible. or in audio oh my gosh i'm all over the place no i get that i think the beginning like you get the mystery right away and then you kind of get like the lay-up land yeah and the ending i was like what holy shit oh yeah so i thought it's it's well loved for a reason yeah um i think it would have been a little more challenging if it didn't have the mysterious elements and like

the wild ending. I do think it was really good, though. Yeah. Yeah, it's on my list. Do you keep separate lists for like which ones you want to listen to versus read? No, I usually have just like ones I'm interested in. And then I kind of like pick between like when I am looking for which one I might be like, oh, what has a short Libby hold or like who's the narrator for this one? And like if it's like January Levoy, I'll be like, oh, obviously I'm going to do audio first.

Yeah. Especially if there's like really long chapters. Yes, it helps. I will say that's like the same thing with Project Hail Mary. Like one of the things I thought of was you talking about how like long chapters are like an absolute no most of the time. And I saw that it's like 20 chapters, but like 500 pages. And it was like, oh no. Well, see,

But it is good in audio Like if there's little page breaks I can handle I read a book, I almost talked about it, I think, but it was like all page breaks, no chapters, but like there wasn't a lot of time between. Yeah. So like it was fine. But yeah, I think there are some authors, though, still,

that I, There's authors I want to listen to if I know I love their narrator. There are authors that I know I want to read with my eyes. Yep. I get that. I certainly have some. Like I just finished the newish, the new Lisa Jewel.

And I have heard, like, I know none of this is true was an incredible audio production. I remember hearing that. I heard it's amazing. I've heard that don't let him in is amazing. But there's like something about her books that I'm like, I want to read this with my eyes. Mm-hmm. I get that. Yeah.

I don't think I would ever listen to an Ashley Winstead one. That was one that came to mind. Oh, yeah. That's interesting. I think I would always read it. I think. We'll see. Who knows?

Yeah, it depends on, like, their writing style, too, of, like, how do I describe it? Sometimes if I know there's going to be, like, lines that make me, like, feel, I kind of want to read them with my eyes. I get that. Yeah. Well, those are our books. Yeah. Do you have any drive-bys? I can think of some.

Oh, I have a few. Yeah, go for it. I have one that is coming out soon that I just finished was called Everything is Probably Fine by Julia London. There's a giveaway on Goodreads right now. That one I listened to it. And at first I was like, is this going to be cheesy? Like sometimes I need to give it a second and then I like I really like got into it. Sometimes it's like that with new shows, especially sitcoms, because it's such a unique tone that you have to like be used to it.

Yeah, especially when it has that kind of like, is the character like kind of snarky or are they just kind of like. Are they being serious? Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Because sometimes it's like is this cheesy? Is it going to be funny? Like is it like worded? Is it not? Like I don't know. Is it trying too hard? Like there's definitely. some of those things but I'm like nope okay I like it yeah um so that one was good and then she's up so here are my other two road trip books she's up to no good by sarah goodman confino um and there's one she's actually a madison author i thought you said this would work by anne garbin those are both like road trip books one with a snarky grandma and one with friends and then my last one is called the other side of now by page harbisoning

and I love when an author reads her book. Yeah, it does just add to it. She could tell she was like a theater major or something. But this one is, it says it's good if you like Taylor Jenkins read. I'm not sure. That's an interesting comparison. But I just like, I loved it because she used to write strictly romance, but this was not romance. Yeah.

This one is, other side of now is like she lives, she acts, doesn't know how she gets there, but she like all of a sudden lands in a different reality. Maybe she has one called Maybe in Another Life that does parallel universes. I bet that's it. Okay. Yep. That's what happens here. And it's, I will say a lot of my non-thriller reads are about like platonic relationships,

whether they be like friendships or sisters or like the found family. And so this one is like that as well. Yeah. I love that I really don't have I've talked about so many of them in our audiobook episode I just I talked about

this American woman was that Zarnagarg's title I think that's what it's called I just loved that one was so fun as a memoir and she's so funny to follow so just forever plugging her

but I mentioned at the beginning I am enjoying chain gang all stars, which is a little, it's not a thriller. That's all we said, non-thrillers. It's just very dystopian. Yeah. He agrees. He's like, it sounds scary there.

We talked about line women of Tehran in that episode. Yes, yes. But yeah, really the one sentence word that, or one sentence actually that does chain gang all stars is two top women gladiators fight for their freedom. with a depraved private prison system, not so far removed from America's own. That's a very short version that just sums it up for you. They actually did start off with a sentence that pretty much explains what you need to know. But I think like gladiator type stuff, like if you're imprisoned, you also could choose to just go fight to the death, essentially.

Do you compare it to, I know you loved hunger games. Some people thought it was like hunger games. Do you agree? I very much agree. Like it's very hunger games vibe. There's a part. Hunger games plus like idiocracy.

What was the other one? I can't remember. There's a part in Chain Gang that made me sob. Oh, no. Do not know. You must not have gotten there yet. I'm at like 48%.

It's a long one, so I wonder if it'll be midpoint at all. I think it's tort. the end. It's not the, you know what was really interesting and like that book took me a long time to read because I felt I had to like put it down because there was so much. So many characters. Yeah. Like there's so many perspectives and not all of them even necessarily repeat or they might repeat once or twice like about the whole thing of it. Right. Yes. But one of the most emotional for

me was not about the main characters. Okay. Oh. I am like, I think you'll know. I'm sure I'll know. Oh, message you crying. Yeah, when you're all so fortunately distraught. Yes. Stop it. Oh, my gosh. Well, goodbye, everyone.