Bookwild - Our Favorite Books from the First Half of 2023

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

This week, we talk about our favorite books we read in the first 6 months of 2023!Follow us on Instagram:Gare @gareindeedreadsKate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouchBooks We Talked AboutAll the Dangerous ThingsThe ShardsCarrie Soto is BackStone Cold FoxNever Saw Me ComingHow I’ll Kill YouDid You Hear About Kitty Karr?KismetThe PushDon’t Forget the GirlLay Your Body DownBright Young 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 

What is the weirdest thing that you have seen newsworthy lately, that you were just like, what the fuck? Has there been anything or like a TikTok or something? There definitely has to have been. Anything weird that you've seen lately. Lately. Have I seen anything weird? Even like a TikTok trend or anything on like social media. anything. Oh, the weirdest thing you've seen lately. Do I not have weird things in my life?

I'm going to give you an example why I thought of this. Okay, maybe that's all right. So I'm, like, watching the local news because like everywhere else in America, it is hot as fuck here. And it is, like, super hot. And they're like, okay, like today's going to be really hot, but tomorrow's going to cool down, but you have flash flood warnings and like storm warnings. And I'm like, okay, cool. Because like, now that I have a puppy, I don't want rain. Yeah. Because I'm like, I don't want to be out in the rain when it's pouring, trying to get you to go to the bathroom, but also coming in and having to grab a towel to wipe off your little like hairy paws and like your face for some reason. His face is always like soaking wet. So I was watching the news to see like what.

the weatherman had to say about this fucking heat monstrosity that we're having. This heat, like active heat stroke that's happening. Yeah, yeah. And apparently, because I'm from upstate New York, so my local news channel is out of Burlington, Vermont. Okay. So apparently in downtown Burlington, there was a man spotted walking down a very, like, popular street in Burlington.

But naked, just a hat on. Whoa. That's like some like COVID era kind of stuff. Only the hat. Because heaven forbid his head gets sunburned or something. You can't lose heat from his head, you know? Right. Like, so he's butt naked walking down.

I believe it was Church Street. And people were like calling it in. But the thing is, I guess, and this is the part that it gets weird. is I guess in Vermont, nobody could do anything because it's not illegal for him to walk around naked in Vermont. Whoa. It's only illegal if he were to have been wearing clothes and stripped naked in public or if he was obviously doing something lewd.

So if someone saw him in clothes and he took the clothes off, that would make it illegal. But just if he walks out without clothes already, it's legal. Correct. Wow. That is weird. I can see why... So if he had shorts and a t-shirt on, I was like, you know what? It's like really hot here and just like stripped down, drop trial. Which is like me all summer at home.

Took his shirt off. It would have been enough for the police to be like, you cannot do that. Maybe give him a warning or I don't know what the... I don't know what the repercussions are. But the fact that he left his house or a car or whatever and was just butt naked walking around. Oh my God. So now I want to go to Vermeux. I want to meet him and I want to be like, tell me.

Can we have a podcast? Tell me your confidence level. Yes. And where and how did you get it? On the news, things were blurred out. Mm-hmm. But I'm assuming that you have to be pretty happy with head to toe if you're just like, you know what?

I would think so. Let everyone see it. Yeah. Just not caring. Sometimes I wish I was like that kind of like able to be like, yeah, who fucking needs clothes? Like a nudist colony? Yeah. It feels like something I should be able to wrap my head around, but it's just not for me.

No. No. I don't like really appreciate people seeing me naked. No. No. I'm like, I have to be like. well, that's a different kind of podcast. I know.

I was like, we don't need to get into details. Like, well, I don't drink anymore, so I can't use that as an excuse. Right. But yeah, that's just been the strangest thing was the, you know, like a guy walking down some street, like, butt naked in this heat, I'd be like, okay, obviously, like the heat had got to him and he was like, I'm fucking hot. And maybe I'm just over it. Maybe like it affected his mood or whatnot.

you know, like you and I get crabby when it's this hot. Yeah. So like maybe he was like, I don't fucking care if I'm naked. But the fact that like the cops were like, you know, we can't really, because people were calling it in. The fact of the matter is like the cops cannot do anything unless he were to be doing something lewd, which apparently he was not. Or if he took his clothes off and then walked around naked.

But the fact that he left his home naked, I don't know, maybe it was laundry day. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, I'm not fully naked. I think he had sneakers on, too, but he was like, I have my hat. Well, I mean, good for him. Yeah. Kind of. But now I'm, like, curious to see if he's going to, like, I wonder, because this is making the news. I wonder if it's, like, enough that, I wonder if it's, like, enough that he's going to be, like, on the news. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah. Yeah. They're just going to be like, what was your, like, decision-making process? Yeah. Maybe he'll answer on social media or something. I know. I'm going to have to follow up with it tomorrow when I edit this, just in case. I'll search and see what I can find on social media about naked, big buns Burlington. Well, I do have something that is equally and more.

weird um and i can't believe i didn't think of it before but once you started talking i thought of it and it is now i can't remember what the documentaries called but it's the documentary about natalia grace i can't remember did you what do they call it the curious case of natalia grace the curious case of natalia grace thank you um it is the strangest thing i've ever seen um and like the pacing is really good so I don't want to even really explain much of it but

what you would probably know even if you watch like a trailer is that this couple in the same state that I live in in Indiana adopted a girl with a version of dwarfism

and over time it became clear that She could not be the child age that she was saying that she was. And she started threatening them, like with knives and stuff. And I'll just completely leave it at that because it really is worth if that intrigues you at all, the idea that someone would like pretend to be younger than they are to get adopted, that kind of thing. Just watch it. But there's so many reveals.

and it kind of makes it fun to watch to not like know how many weird things happen, but it's one of the weirdest stories I've seen in a really long time. I feel like it's also a good thing. I haven't watched it yet, but I've heard it's really good. I feel like it's also something really like it's also something you want to watch if you really like the movie Orphan. Yeah. Or if you watched a movie with somebody who didn't like Orphan and they were like,

that would never happen, bro. like fucking watch this. Yeah. Yeah. It is wild. And we actually haven't even completely finished it. Like I would, when I saw it was six episodes, we were both kind of like, well, let's see how the first one is. Right.

But it like, it does feel like the narrative shifts pretty significantly. Every single episode is wild. Yeah, I can imagine it does. There's, um, God, there's the movie. movie. There's a movie called The Camellion from like 2010. I heard about it because I love Famca Jensen who was, she was the wife and taken. She's Jean Grey and X-Men, House on Haunted Hill. I just think she's fantastic. She was amazing in Nip-Tuck. I love, love, love her. So I heard about this movie that she was in called The Chameleon. And I watched it and I was like,

wow, that was actually really good. And then I realized it was based on a true story. And it's about this family. They're either Midwest or Southern. I believe there's like a Southern state. In the United States, their son had went missing when he was like 10 years old. And then the police in France are driving down the road. And they find this man.

in the fetal position in the road. And he's like, my name is blah, blah, blah. So the French police look it up and they realize that this grown man is this like 10 year old missing boy from like Georgia, we'll say. Whoa. So he goes to this family and they're like reunited. And this family is like, I can't believe you're back after all these years and da da da da da da da da da da. And they come to find out that this is not.

the first time he's done this, but this man will look up missing people in other areas and be like, that's me. I was kidnapped at this age and blah, blah, blah. And like he did it like multiple times. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And they call it like he was called like the chameleon because he would pretend to be, you know, it's kind of like that J.C. Dober story. You know, you know. where like she went missing and was found 18 years later, like it doesn't usually happen, you know? So just like to have these families think that they're finding their like lost loved one is so fucked up. And the fact that he did it to multiple families is crazy. I keep seeing all of these things on social media and stuff. Like even if it's like comedy or like something serious

and everyone's like, you know, now that June is over, half of the year has gone by. So I was thinking we could do like a mid-year wrap-up of like what was your favorite to piggyback off from last week's episode of favorite reading experiences. Like what has been your favorite reading experiences this year? So like then of course I had to be a psycho and like really switch things up and be like favorite January, February, March, April, May, and June. I love it though. I thought it was such good idea. I think that would be so much fun. And I'm very curious because even this is one of the fun things about something like this, too, is that I can't cheat and be like, I know he agreed on six, but I have six and like three honorable mentions.

I was like, wait, what do you mean? Like, I can't cheat. I do have eight picks, but that's only because there are two of them that I'm like, I'm pretty sure. I had two that I was torn on. So I had like two. that. I think February and April are the ones that I'm like, yeah, she might pick these. So we shall see. Good to know. Good to know. Well, do you want me to go first with January? Yeah, kick off you on January. So January, this one got me out of

reading slump. And that's what I remembered when I saw it in my January list. And it was all the dangerous things by Stacey Willingham. Fun fact, when I typed this in my notes earlier today, I typed all the beautiful things. So beautiful and dangerous are apparently equivalent in my mind, which made me chuckle as a thriller fan. I think you wanted to type all these beautiful strangers by Elizabeth Clayforth, which is what I wanted to read. I think it's some of that too, because I bought that and I want to get to it. so I think it's like all in my head.

But so this was her, this was her sophomore, sophomore novel. Why do I feel so, why do I feel like I'm, oh, I'm frozen? I feel like I'm talking like a pretentious character in a book. This is her, why am I frozen again? One year ago, Isabel Drake's life changed forever. her toddler son Mason was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabel cannot rest until Mason is returned to her, literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn't slept in a year. Isabel's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can't go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster. But his interest in Isabel's past life makes her nervous.

Her incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabel start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason's disappearance, as well as second guess who she can trust, including herself. It was so good. So good. she's such a visual writer. I get visual. Yeah. I don't know how this is going to come off.

I am not a misogynist, okay? We know. But I get sometimes a little nervous when being a parental figure is very key in a thriller. Yep. Because even though I can imagine how horrifying it is to be. be a parent, having your child go missing and things like that. Sometimes they focus so much on what it's like to be a parent and the, you know, unconditional love that a parent gives. And sometimes I'm like, like, I just like, let's get to the part. We'll figure out what happened. Um, she did such a good job

with that book of showing a very raw nerve within what it's like to be a parent to make the book, emotional without overbearing readers with the details of, you know, motherhood or parenthood or whatever. Right. Right. I just was very pleasantly surprised at that one. Not that I doubted for writing, but I just was like, I don't know if this is going to be the book for me.

Yep. I wasn't totally sure how I was going to feel about it necessarily either. And then I just ended up loving it. her character like the way that the past and the present come together at the end are just really really good it's great pacing the way they come together I agree um it was almost mine it was almost mine for january i'm glad i chose that one then well i still find a way to cheat a little bit you know what i mean um so basically my january pick is actually a book that I read in December, but came out in January. So I was like, yeah, that'll work.

That works. That works for me. Because I think I read it on like New Year's Eve. Right. So to no surprise whatsoever, my favorite book in January was The Shards by Brett Easton Ellis. That's so perfect. I love it.

I share today. I know. I'm so excited. show on HBO and I'm going to fucking die. You're going to die. We're going to have to do like a multi-part series on it. And I think it's the guy who did call me by your name. Yes, that's what I saw. So, yeah, Timothy Shalame, like, I know. Come Heather. Perfect.

Come hither. But I'm just so excited. And maybe you want to read the book again, which I think I will this fall once I get everything going on in my health. and personal life figured out because just everything. Fuck summer sucks. It does sometimes. But anyway, the Shards is about

a 17-year-old named Brett who is a senior at an exclusive Buckley Prep School when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, charismatic, and shielding a secret from Brett and his friends, even as he becomes part of their tightly-knit circle.

Brett's obsession with Mallory is equaled only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with the trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Brett and his friends, taunting them, and Brett in particular, with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence. The coincidences are uncanny, but they are also filtered through the imagination of teenager whose gifts for constructing narrative from the filaments of his own life are about to make him one of the most explosive literary sensations of his generation. That was a long sentence. It was.

Can he trust his friends or his own mind to make sense of the danger they appear to be in? Doom, doom. I just really loved how, like, it was, like, a character named Brat Ellis. You know, like, and I could just only have. imagine that this character was based off from him at a certain point as a 17-year-old. And, you know, maybe what it would have, like, what he imagined he would have been like, like, do you ever think, like, could you imagine what it would have been like if you were your age now when they caught, like, Ted Bundy or the night stalker?

That would have been so creepy. Yeah. Yeah. So I can only imagine, like, maybe that's where it was from. Because, like, I will never forget being at work and remembering, remembering reading on the news that they found the Golden State Killer after, like, fucking 40 years. Yeah. So. Yeah, I don't think I've, because I didn't, like, experience that.

I don't know if I have, yeah, I don't think I've experienced a, like, whoa, they just caught a. killer like a Brian Colberger too Oh yeah that's allegedly Because he's trying to say that he didn't do it Sure All opinions are my own Yeah yeah

Or whatever I have to say so Brian Colberger can't sue me Yes Yeah he's gonna sue you That's our podcast is gonna blow up Could you imagine if that's how we got like Fucking huge is like Brian Colberger He heard it and just like was really offended the way he said it. I'm like, oh, yeah, like, well, they caught Brian Colberger.

Oh, my gosh. That's amazing. And he's like, I didn't do it. Yeah. Whatever. On to February, Brian Coberger. Don't even get me started. This will be a fucking seven-hour episode.

It really would. You'll be like, it's 2 a.m. I really have to go home and I'm like, I have one more point to make. I am sleep talking. that would be that would be what would happen so oh yeah i'll talk about my february pick um and i already know what i was born this was one that i was torn on and so i went with carey soto was back um for mine so what was your what was your second pick hell bent oh yeah there might i feel like i think this month there might have been a bunch. So I think February and March, I was like, how am I going to make?

So there's just, I just had a really good month in February of reading. But I think I've talked about Carrie Soto at least enough. And it's a little bit in the zeitguise that I won't read the synopsis word for word on this one. But basically, Carrie, when she was young, like a teen and in her 20s was basically dominant in tennis in the 90s, no, in the 80s. And then she takes a break. And then in the 90s, she's watching the U.S. open and she sees a new player who's about to take her record. And so she decides to start training again to try to defend her record.

And her dad is her coach. and it's your typical Taylor Jenkins reader you get attached to all of the characters. And then she somewhat wrecks you at the end. So there's that. Fair warning, I even cried in a book about tennis. Like, cried. Did you cry in Evelyn Hugo? Oh, yeah. A lot. Oh, okay. I didn't cry in it. I know. I was like, this was like really sad or like this was like fantastic. But I'm just not. I don't know. I cry very easily. Once I get my wonky gums fixed, I'm going to go to the doctor to get my eyes checked and be like, why am I not crying?

Yeah. Why is everything dried up? What is wrong with me? And they're going to be like, if you consider your eyes are perfect. Right. Well, I'm going to say, Okay, with my I, if there was a point when you go to edit this or if somebody is watching us on YouTube, I'm going to apologize now. I was not ignoring Kate when she was talking about Carrie Soto. If you caught me looking down at my phone,

it's because my February pick is a pick that I know that you and I read, you and I both read Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Collarcroft. That was my other one that was so close. Yep. But the thing I couldn't remember was if we both read it in February or if you read it in January. And I didn't want to be like, this is my February pick and have you be like, that was my March one. Oh, yeah.

You know what I mean? Because I didn't know. So when you were talking about Carrie Soto, I was listening, but I was looking at my phone. And I found out that you read, you read that January 25th. Whoa. Because you were like, I'm reading Stone Cold Fox and there's a character named Gail and I keep reading Gare. Oh, like I searched our text messages so I could be like, I don't want to steal one of our picks. Oh, I love that. So I did read it in January. Well, I knew I was torn on it for one month.

But it came out in February. So it could have been your February pick too. But right. Either way, I want to make sure I didn't steal your March one. So, um, I'm just such a sweetheart. Seriously. So Stone Cold Fox was like so much fun. I absolutely love this one. Like any enterprising woman, B knows what she's worth and is a turn to get all she deserves. It just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. After a lifetime of forced instruction in the art of swindling men by her mother, B wants nothing more than to escape her shadow, close the door on their sordid pass, and disappear sleepfully into old money domesticity. When B finally, oops, when B finds her final mark in the perfectly dull blue-blooded Colin, she's ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time.

The challenge isn't getting the ring, but rather the approval from Colin's family and everyone else in their tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gail. Going toe to toe to tail isn't a threat to an expert like B, but what begins is an amusing cat and mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous chase. And it was so much fun. I fucking loved it. It was a really, really, really. Did you tell me this, or did somebody else tell me this?

But I believe there's going to be a sequel. I didn't know that, so it would be someone else. I'm excited for that. You told me. So, okay, I had heard then from someone that there was a rumor. Oh. this is going to be a fun one to edit I had heard from someone that there was a rumor

or something that they said that there might be a sequel to this. I don't know if that was like insider information. I don't know if that was like something that is like proven or whatever. So if it doesn't happen, don't come at me, folks, but I could see it being a series. Yeah. Oh yeah. I totally could. That's a fun thing with con characters.

Technically they keep running heists or whatever. Whether they get what they want in Stone Cold Fox or not, you could go either way, you know? Yeah. Because if she gets her way and gets married to Colin, there's going to be more challenges that come about. Yes. Yeah, definitely.

So that was my. February pick. I love that one. Well, my March pick is inspired by you constantly telling me to read it. And it's never saw me coming

by Vera Kurian. I caught that reaction this time. But it's about Chloe. She's a freshman on her student, a leggings wearing hot girl next door who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yoga lotis, frat parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman,

a childhood friend who grievously wronged her. Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinic. You okay? Of an unusual clinic study for psychopaths, students like herself who lack empathy and can't comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study led by a renowned. psychologist requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements. When one of the students in the studies is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous

game of cat and mouse begins. And Chloe goes from Hunter to pray. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she'll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths. It's so fun. It is such a good fucking book. Yeah. it's like serial killer

well yeah yeah serial killer and dark academia and a psychological thriller all of it yeah and there's the part of like her wanting to kill Will but you don't know why and there's that you're gonna fucking die

when you edit this oh gosh I pretended to be dead again Oh, I missed it. And you missed it. And I, like, got up, like, you missed it again. And that's why I was laughing. And you're like, are there really okay?

Because I was, like, laughing. I just can't. I can't help myself. You're going to just love it. It's just going to be, like, an ongoing thing now. All the times I've, like, done a dramatic response. And I'm just like, like, I am going to read the synopsis. Yes, that was such a good book.

I love her. I love her. I love her. Her second book comes out in 2024. It is being like compared to I know what you did last summer. Oh yes. You said that. I'm so excited. I'm so

pumped. Yeah. That's going to be so good. Because I love her and I fucking love I know you did that summer. Yeah. It's like everything. It is everything. Together. For me. Okay. March. March for you. What a time to be alive. My March pick is How I'll Kill You by Ren DeStefano. Yes. I think it's how you're saying her last name. I think I'm wrong. I think so. I'm going to call her

Ren. I've heard DeStefano is one way it's pronounced from another person, so who knows. It's just like that typical thing where you try not to mispronounce. something so you say it very slowly and mispronouncing it. So right. Ren D. as I call her, because we're besties because I'm obsessed with this fucking book. How I'll Kill You is about identical triplets who have a nasty habit of killing their boyfriends and what happens when the youngest commits their worst crime yet falling in love with her mark. Sissy has an interesting family, always the careful one, always the cautious one. She has handled the cleanup when her serial killer sisters have carved a path of carnage across the U.S. Now as they arrive in the Arizona heat,

bless it be like seriously, Lord, Sissy has to step up and embrace the family pastime of making a man fall in love and then murdering him. Her first target is a young widower named Edison. I know. Like Edison, like the bulb. Yeah, I was going to say like, I just picture like, I just picture like overalls and a light bulb. Yes. But apparently Edison's hot as fuck because their mutual attraction is instant. While their relationship progresses and most couples would be thinking about picking out China patterns and moving in together,

Sissy's family is reminding her to think about picking out burial sites and moving on. but then something happens that Sissy never anticipated. She begins to fall protective of lightbulb Edison. And then before she can help it, she's fallen in love with him. But the clock is ticking and her sisters are growing restless. It becomes clear that the grave site she chooses will hide a body no matter what happens. But if Sissy betrays those crazy sisters of hers, will Sissy be in the grave? I don't know.

She might be. You have to read to find out. I fucking love that book. Yes. That was so fun. That was another one. Oh, my God. That I was torn on, but I was like,

oh, yeah, well, never saw me coming as a fucking trip. But I feel like, I feel like they're very similar in the fact of like my reading experiences with both of them was like, this is so complex and intricate

of a plot. with such like interesting characters that like I could not put either one of them down because it was just so unlike anything else. You don't read, you don't read Randy or Vera Curian and be like, oh yeah, what happened in that book? Like you fucking remember what happened in that book. Like it sticks with you for your entire life. Yes. I thought I was about to sneeze. So I was just trying not to sneeze right into the microphone. So yeah, I love our March picks, of course. Me too. My April one has such a long synopsis. I will probably try to summarize it.

It's not going to be the same line. Because it's did you hear about Kitty Car? So it's safe or yours is safe. But it's my Chris, I almost called her Chris. you've got you're like calling a ren rindy and i'm calling crystal chrissey but i am so tangential crystal smith paul is the author of did you hear about kitty car and it is about kitty car tte who is a white icon of the silver screen and she dies in the present time which is i mean i don't know that it's 2023, but it's like present. But in the past, um, she was like an integral part of the beginnings of Hollywood. So she's been a star for a very long time, her whole life. Um, and next door are, is Elise St. John, who would rather focus on sorting out Kitty's affairs than dealing

with the press. So they've been friends with Kitty. She's like, her mom has been for the they've lived next door i'm butchering this by trying to make it shorter um but elise is going through kitty stuff and finds journals about that time of her life and a lot of secrets come to the surface about what she was able to do in hollywood we love i'll leave it at that it is so good i couldn't put it down that was a wreath pick too wasn't it? Mm-hmm. Yeah, and book of the month. And I feel like you knew about it before they did. I feel like you knew about it before they did.

Like it was like on your radar before they announced it. Yeah. Yeah. Because you're. The cats, Neo, as they say. Yes, I saw it somewhere on Bookstagram and immediately requested it on that galley. And I think I got it in the same day and started it the next day. I think I knew I was going to love it. I was meant to love it.

And I'm interviewing her next week. So that's exciting. Check out between the lines if you have read that one. And then get your kitty car on between the pages. Yes. Okay. Well, my March 1 is a little different because I've been like doing thrillers. but I'll tell you what I was leaning toward with this one because I thought you were going to go with one book and I don't want to be like, oh, I decided to like kick this off.

But I mean, I thought about this and I have never shut up about this book. So my favorite for April, right? We're in April. I know. I was doing the same thing. My favorite for April was Kismet by Ashley James. Yeah. It is about...

Yeah, we both have Kismet. Oh, my God. I'm just so obsessed. I know. Oh, my God. It came, too. Like a week ago, I had pre-ordered the special edition cover with the gold foil. Oh, yeah.

Oh, my God. Is he ever handsome? I love that. And I have some things to show you offline, because it came with... Oh, yeah. It came with some postcards in a bookmark, but

I'm not getting in trouble on the internet. Yeah, we'll avoid that for now. So, Kismet is my Jamski. It is about Cash to Marco. Five years ago, Cash gave his heart and soul to his professor, fell in love with him only to be destroyed by the professor's silence, and Cash has never been the same sense. So he finally has the chance to leave his town, start over, and try to move on

with his life. But fate insists that the chapter of his life that haunts him the most is not over. Stone Phillips believes that Cash was the temptation he should not have divulged in. The secret that ruined everything, Cash was the beginning to his end. And when Phillips left, he left a shell of the man he once was. So Cash ends up walking back into Stone Phillips' life. And of course, destruction and chaos ensues. and the universe has a funny way of bringing everything full circle. Opening old wounds and forcing you to face your destiny.

So I did not have a stroke when I was reading that synopsis, but the way that they do like male, male romance synopsis, it's like this is the one person's perspective and it's a summary and then it's like another person's perspective in a summary. So it'll be like, I gave my heart and soul to my professor, but it's like I'm trying to read it in a sense where people know going on. But right, right. Um, yes, it is just an amazing love story. It is like, I don't want to be a corn dog when I say this, but like it is like my version of like the notebook.

Like I don't know if there will be like a greater love story for me when it comes to this. Yeah. Because I don't know. I just love like a teacher-student relationship, which is why I'm disciplinary action by only James. Look at the fucking As your other favorite. Oh my God. My special addition of class act is here. And it's like a hardcover and it's beautiful.

Oh, that's exciting. But it's like a hardcover without like a dust jacket. And I really like that. And it has not safer work, artwork in it. That's what I was thinking about earlier. I love it. Special editions are super special. I know, and I've been spending an insane amount of money on my special edition of

male-male romances and my dog. Yeah. Those are the good things to spend money on, though. I mean, if you've got to spend it, that's what you need to spend it on. Might as well. Well, my May. My May choice. voice is the push by Ashley Audrain. And I ended up reading this right after I read the

Whispers, which I loved equally as much. But I ended up just picking the push as the one to talk about. And it is about Blythe Connor, who is determined that she's going to be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter. She doesn't behave like most children do. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well. Then their son, Sam, is born, and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she'd always imagined with her

child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life, as they know it has changed in an instant, the devastating fallout forces Blithe to face the truth. It is like a devastating story, but it is so good. Yeah. And it's really good for like people who enjoy thrillers, but like need something that's like a little bit more like sinister slower pace. Yeah. Yeah. Like I'd never felt bored, but like it's just this like slow burn of creepiness. Yeah. It's kind of like when you just look outside and you can see the dark clouds coming towards you, but you don't know when they're going to hit. Mm-hmm. I agree. Yeah. It's intense. It is intense. It's a really good one. I really enjoyed the bush a lot. I loved it. I really loved it. Yeah. She's a really, really,

really good storyteller. She's very talented. And I interviewed her about the whispers, so I'll plug that now. She's so sweet. I jump on between the lines, folks. I know. There's something else I was going to say. She, okay, this is going to be, like, I know we don't talk shit on here about like authors and stuff. But I love the book, Big Little Lies, but the other books by Leanne Moriarty that I've read after that just have not really done it for me the way that Big Little Lies has. But Ashley Audrain is is writing the stories that I would want from the same person who wrote Big Little Lies. I really agree with that. And she was one, because I hadn't read any, I hadn't read the push when I got access.

to the whispers. And it was one kind of what you were saying earlier where I was like, is this going to be so much about motherhood or like, is it not going to like connect for me? Because sometimes I have that same experience and it is, it's so bold. It's still really bold story telling that happens to be about motherhood. Yeah.

Yeah. I agree. I remember when I read it, I was like in the mood for something that was like, slower burn that I could sink my teeth into and I was like this might be the one. Yeah. Yeah. I really loved it.

These kind of like coexist because my may pick is a slower burn that is also very dark and bleak. Ooh, nice. Is anyone surprised? No. They're like, oh, they chose dark and bleak. I know I've talked about right, right. I know I've talked about this book so much, but I feel like I can't be like, oh, I read this many books in May and like people are going to be like, you didn't talk about that one. But I mean, this book has stuck with me so much and I've been so obsessed with, don't forget the girl by Rebecca McKenna.

It's one of my favorite books ever. I mean, I just am fucking obsessed with that. I'm noticing a trend between a lot of these books that like these women by Ivy Pachota is one of them. Please see us by Caitlin Mullen. Don't forget the girl by Rebecca McKenna. The Trout by Catherine Ryan Howard. Bright Young Women by Jessica Null. All of these books by these female authors are fucking kicking ass with being like,

the media and people who are true crime obsessed and all of the people that are listening to these stories for the wrong reasons are remembering the killer and not the victims and I just love this trend in crime fiction where it's like I'm not going to say what they call him in like the different books but I love how like it's basically not even a name. Yeah, that's like him or stranger or whatever, but anyway. Right. Don't forget the girl by Rebecca McKenna is, we never remember the dead girls. We never forget the killers. Twelve years ago, 18-year-old University of Iowa freshman Abby Hartman

disappeared. Now, John Allen Blue, the serial killer suspected of her murder, is about to be executed. Abby's best friends, Bree and Chelsea, watches Abby's memory is unearthed and overshadowed by Blue and his flashier crimes. The Friends, estranged in the wake of Abby's disappearance and suffering from years of unvoiced resentments must reunite when a high-profile podcast dedicates its next season to Blue's murders. So good. So, so, so, so good.

And it's got that, like, podcast element to it, too. But, like, in a very realistic way. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah, that does make sense. So that was just my favorite. It's just up your alley. Did you read it?

Did you read it? I still haven't read it yet. Okay. You're going to love it. I know. I know. I have another one I need to read before next week. And then I think it'll be a little bit.

I have a, like, we have some interviews next week. And I have some. And I'm just like, there's a lot of interviews next week. after next week i'm going to read it i'm going to hold you to it i did read a really really really good one at the end of june that i loved called lay your body down by amy suitor clark and um it is about a girl named dell who grew up in a really fundamentalist christian church and she basically left after college and hasn't been back. But the only guy she ever loved back when she lived there is killed in a hunting accident.

And she goes back to pay respects, but I think she knows the whole time that she thinks something is suspicious. So she gets there and starts seeing that there are more and more. she gets there and realizes that there are tons of secrets in the church like way more than when she was even there and so as she looks into it she kind of has to face some of her biggest fears from her past and figure out what really happened to Lars and it's very good the ending is amazing and I won't say anything else I want to read it. The ending is really, really good.

I was dealing with it about it on my Instagram, but it really was funny as Amina Oktar posted about it. And I was like, oh, I need to read this. And then she's like thanked in the acknowledgments for reading early versions of it. So what was crazy, though, is it reminded me of Kismet and the last housewife in that it's like a, fuck the establishment kind of book. So those are always fun. I'm very curious about it because I was a little like, I don't know if I really want to read the religious aspect of it because it kind of goes over my head. You brought up a really good point about Minka Kent that I never really thought of.

I would, it was, it's very similar to that in that like there's like way more plot happening outside of the church and the church is just more like a cult. It's more like, like, it's more like thinking of like, oh, someone has too much power over these people. Okay. There are a lot of really fun, a lot of really, really fun twists at the end. Well, maybe. When you have time. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. I just need to get through July with my life. Yeah. With my life. And like get it to a cool down. I just need, yeah, I need the weather to cool down. down. I need my freaking mouth to

calm down. I need to catch up on my work. You need to calm down. I need to calm down. It likes being too loud. What was I going to tell you? Oh, my June pack. That's a good one.

That's a good thing to tell me. My June pick. My June pick was when I was having a hard time with because it's also one of my favorite reading experiences ever, because I will never forget where I was when I read this author's work. But to no one's surprise whatsoever, my favorite June book is Bright Young Women by Jessica Noel. Yes.

Comes out in September, but as soon as the arc came in, I posted a picture of it on Instagram and immediately had to dive in. And this was like one of those things. things where I started it on a Friday and read it until Sunday and like took my time the entire weekend to make sure that I was like engrossed in every single word in this book because it's amazing. But the synopsis is super long. So I'm going to try to do what I can. But this is a basically a retelling of the Ted Bundy case from a different perspective. that people don't usually explore.

So in January of 1978, a serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn't be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority of Florida State University's campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Shoemaker, president of the sorority,

makes the unpopular decision to stay home, a decision that unwittingly saves her life. life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes a fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence. Two of her sisters dead, two others maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that's captivated public interest for more than four decades. On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings 25-year-old Ruth Wachowski into her life, a young woman with a painful

secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth goes missing from Lake Samimish State Park, I don't know if I don't know if I hope. And broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her. When she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it's the man the papers refer to is the all-American sex killer. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth. She travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela and one last impending tragedy. Wow.

Such a fucking good book. I can't stop thinking about it. That's awesome. I'm very excited for it. I cannot stop thinking about it. Yeah. I think I'm going to read it again in September when the weather is cooler and I can fully enjoy the cooler weather. It's just something that I think I'll read time and time again because I love

I love the way she tells a story. I love the characters in this one. I love her writing. I just don't even care. I could just I could listen to her talk about all the reasons she loves like Basil and be completely satisfied. But I love the random things you come up with to show how much you love someone. You're like, I can listen to them talk about, and it's always new, and it's fun. I could listen to Jessica Connell talk about anything. Literally anything. Literally anything. I just like love the way she presents herself, and I love the way that she writes. And I think this is her strongest written book out of all three. Oh, that's awesome. Like this is, I think if people read this, they're going to feel about this book, how everybody feels about

Donna Tart. Oh, nice. I haven't read, I only read one of hers. I read The Secret History. Yeah, that's what I've read. I know she has other ones, but I haven't read any of her other ones. I really liked it. well we have so we have had a good year of reading