Bookwild - SUMMERWEEN Book Recs with Brian Watson

Episode Date: July 24, 2026

This week, Brian Watson @readingwithbrian is back, and we share our take on Summerween book recommendations! Kate’s Books Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo  Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine Almost Surely Dead by Amina Akhtar Play Nice by Rachel Harrison Fiend by Alma Katsu An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson Brian’s Books Marion by Leah Rowan The Night Shift by Alex Finlay Don’t Turn Around by Jessica Barry Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft Final Girls by Riley Sager Misery by Stephen King Check Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackGet Bookwild MerchFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrianMacKenzie Green @missusa2mba 

So I am back with Brian Watson. I am so excited. We had a really fun episode about a year and a half ago or a year. Yeah, a little over a little over a year, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And then just some life stuff happened, but I'm excited that you're back. Yeah, I'm excited to be back. I always get to see you online, but never person to person like this. And I'm a big fan of your pod and you. And I think you're a pretty stand-up human. So we're the same tribe. It's nice to be back and talking about books. Yes. Well, thank you. I was not expecting all of that. You've been posting a lot more, too.

I've seen you my book for. Yes. I am trying to expand my footprint in book talk. I'm going to be helping a few of my author friends launch their books in the upcoming six to nine months, so I need a bit more of a presence there. Nice. I was on Book Talk before and just some things didn't go super well. And I left Book Talk and I had a great time on Bookstagram, which I'm still there.

But I'm actually leaning into it more and actually enjoying it. I'm sure when you started this, like it's such a weird thing to see yourself on camera and to hear your voice on camera and those type of things. And I have a tendency to overthink life. But I'm kind of at a point now where I just don't really care anymore. So it's made it a lot easier. And yeah, we'll see. Good. Good. I'm here for that.

Is that for, are you helping authors? Is that like through your book club that you have? Well, no. I'm actually, it's actually a new thing that we're going to be trying. That's actually a way to encourage people to buy authors books. Right. By using social media platform a little differently. Yeah.

We'll be rolling out more of what that details later. but it's, you know, what we've kind of, in our research, we found out that these huge mega influencers who have a million followers and stuff, people aren't really reacting to them in the same way they did a year, two, three years ago, because everything they do is influenced. Everything they do is an ad. Everything they do seems disingenuous. Or did they? And not all of them.

Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's the big scandal this week, you know. And, yeah, so it's just trying to maybe moving. past them and seeing that actually it's more than micro influencers who have a lot more full and impact on people yeah my husband I were actually just talking about that last night not necessarily specific to books but he is talking to more like photographers who will kind of what you're saying they'll have like 4,000 followers but they're still uh their they're like uh engagement ratio yes it's so much higher and not everyone knows to like look at like

Okay, how many were there comments? Did people like it? Or do you just have a million followers? Yeah. You know, who do nothing. And, you know, it doesn't take a lot of sales to get a book on the bestseller list. Right. You know, it's no longer the days where you have to sell 50,000 books to get on the bestseller list. You can do it with 5,000 books now. Yeah. So if you can immobilize enough people to make that happen, then it's you get shelf space. You get into libraries. You get into book clubs. and that kind of synergy speeds up the process of that. Well, that's so cool. I love that. I mean, we just had Ashley Winstead on last week.

I love her so much. I love her so much, too. And she was talking about how it's like kind of daunting, thinking about how many people don't read. So I am all here for all the initiatives we can take to get more people reading. Yeah, I was reading a statistic that. that if you read something, the numbers may not be right, but if you read one book a year, you're reading more than 70% of the U.S. population.

That's what Ashley brought up. Yeah. We were like, oh, no. Yeah, and then I recently saw a study where they were talking about, especially with men, not reading that it really dials down the empathy level, you know, and I think that it's, it's been replaced by the manosphere now, you know, where it's just like, oh, bro, all the time and making men out to be a victim and make, you know, yeah. And so, yeah, read people, please. Yes, yes. Although Andrew Tate getting arrested in Caprize was at least a little bit cathartic. Yes, yes, yes. For those ones who hate the atmosphere. Yes, it is nice to be gifted, not just something happening, but the visual. Yes. Like, yeah, I saw someone post it who said, I'm really, really gay, but I've never been as gay as Andrew Tate with you.

That's amazing. That is so true. Oh, boy. Well, yeah. It's like, I know it's cliche. You'll hear people talk about like there really is a book for everyone. But I do think there is. Like, I do too.

I think a lot of people don't even know how many genres there are or like they get scared. by people who act like nonfiction like makes you morally superior or something it's like there are so many things to choose from yes or or their nonfiction was you know sapien or something that's like just so like out of touch and you know most people don't want to read books like that and our attention span has changed and those books are great don't get me wrong but most people don't want to read books like that's not how you're going to like bring someone to reading most likely absolutely not like i i always think you know like i 100% agree there's a book for everybody. And I always think like, meet people where they are, you know, like people talk such smack about

Frida McFadden and the people like that. And it's like, if you're reading a book, read a book. Yes. Who cares, you know, who cares? Because that's kind of the gateway book because people will read four or five of those and go, okay, well, the plot's kind of similar each time. Yep. Hey, do you guys know of anything that's a little better?

And that's when you get them. You get them in the door, then you can keep them reading and you get them into great thrillers. And yeah, I hate to see any sort of shaming and reading. It's like if you want to, if you want to read your Freedom McFadden or your slutty romantic or your, you know, meet cute in a pumpkin patch, do it. Like it's okay. Just read. Yeah. Yeah.

It's kind of the same conversation too about like, then with big readers, like you can DNF and you can like pick up something that you're liking more. It's kind of that same thing. We're like not everyone's going to love every book. But like, no. There are genres for everybody. Like there are. Since most people watch at least a TV show a year, like, yeah, there's the book out there. Well, and it's, and, you know, we have thousands of TV shows to choose from current and past, and books are the exact same thing.

Yeah. I do need to take that DNF advice myself, though. I know. Oh, yeah. I cannot DNF. Don't you or you don't. It annoys me as well. I just, I feel like if I'm going to dislike something, I need to follow through and know exactly why.

I just like it. I get it. Yeah. Mine, I mean, for me, it has to get to the point where, like, when I realized I'm not opening the book, like, the second I have time, that's when I'm like, oh, I'm not going to, I'm just going to, like, kind of DNF this without DNFing it if I keep letting this go on. A quiet DNA. Yeah.

I'm like, it's time. You're ghosting your book. Yeah. Well, we have some good book recommendations. Yes, always. I'm sure we always do. But one of the fun things that I do think is engaging some maybe even non-readers right now is a lot of people are talking about summer ween books. And it is kind of like the kind of like how people do Christmas in July.

This is like Halloween in July. Yes. So yeah, just like some summery vibes that can kind of go whatever direction we decide we want them to go. Yeah, and I really, you know, when you said Summerween, I was thinking, gosh, that's so like horror and gore are so outside of my normal scope of what I read. Yep. But then I started thinking, like, that's a very subjective term. What is scary to you? And the things that I always find to be like the most scariest are things that could actually happen to you.

Yeah. You know, and that's kind of where I went with my summer week. Yeah, I like that. It is, I think also because we're like thriller and then maybe you're like occasional horror readers. I think sometimes like it was so easy to interpret it like directly as horror because it says summer ween. But when I was even like doing the research on like how long people have been doing this, it comes from a movie and now I can't think of what the movie is. Oh really? I didn't know that. Yeah. And it it was saying that people just read like thriller and horror. So like I think. I think we're safe. I also think for people who don't read the genre as much, like it makes sense to them to include thriller, basically. But yeah, it is from, it's a community event. Where did it go?

Oh, here we go. Interestingly, the term summer wean wasn't originally created by Bookstagram. It first appeared in a 2012 episode of Gravity Falls. Oh, so a TV show where the fictional town celebrates Halloween twice a year. and then it's gotten popular on social media. So I haven't watched it, but apparently that's it's like real. I only know about it from social media. It's all the posts have been posting popping up and people that I follow keep talking about it.

So yeah, I think it'll. I Googled it last night. So it was news to me as well. Well, I'll just start with the one. I'm actually currently reading this. this one right now. I'm halfway through it, but I was like, oh, this is actually really perfect. And on my last episode with Hallie, I talked about, it came from Neverland by Cynthia Palio, which was a Peter Pan retelling. Very, very, very fun. And it just came out, I think, two months ago.

But I love that so much. And so now I'm going into her backlist, because apparently she really enjoys doing fairy tales and horror together. Okay. So what I'm reading right now is called Vanishing Daughters. And I wrote like a short synopsis. After her mother's death, journalist Breyer Thorne is haunted by terrifying supernatural visions that seem tied to a string of serial killings targeting women across Chicago. As she uncovers the connection between restless ghosts and the elusive murder,

Brigh must embrace the impossible before she becomes the killer's next victim. So, like, I was so intrigued by this, like, fairy tale. There's some, like, sleeping beauty type stuff woven into it. And lots of, like, psychological horror with sleep and dreaming. And I kind of love that, even when it's in, like, a thriller, like, very psychological mind-bindy stuff. I've really been enjoying it. And then having the serial killer element as well. Yeah.

It has a lot going on. I just love her writing. And she, this is, how many books has she written? She's written quite a few. Oh, she has. Okay. I think I saw, I think some of them are YA. Oh, okay.

I'm going to pull it up. Yeah, that kind of seems like it would stem out of YA. Yeah, I could see that for sure. Yeah, there, she really has. So what's funny is this one's called Vanishing Daughters. And I saw she has one called Forgotten. sisters so somewhat similar yeah she's been publishing since it looks like she had one in 2012 come out there's a short story oh wow so she's been in the business okay yeah i can't even count she has like

10 or more on good reads right now so i'll just i'm going to be slowly working my way through her backlist nice yeah i um i don't read a lot fast uh that involves like paranormal really ever that's like the one that's like the one trope i kind of stay away from like i've always wanted to crack open like a simone st james or like i did read the reformatory which i think kind of touches in that a little bit that is that tends to be the type that was what brought me to horror really okay yeah well that's so well done i mean that's and some of the steven king stuff that i enjoy um has horror but i tend to gravitate more toward his non-supernatural horror. Yeah, it has range. Yeah. The genre and Stephen King. Absolutely, Stephen King. I was just at an event

last week to see Jessica Null, and she was talking about, because I've always heard that term kill your darlings. Are you familiar with this? Yeah. Like the scenes you really like, like for authors. And like I always thought it meant, uh, get rid of the stuff you love. That's maybe not your best work, but you're attached to it. Oh, that's what I thought it meant. So I might know. So Jessica explained it that it's actually sometimes your best idea doesn't fit in what

you're writing. So you have to kill your darling to actually get the full story to come together. And Stephen King talks about his books, how his ideas always stay with him. That's why he's written a million books, I'm sure. Right. But yeah, something he'll have thought of for writing this book. And he's like, God, that's so good. But it's never going to work in this book.

You kill it. And then later you bring that back in a different book. I've learned something new today. I seen Jessica Null was such a treat. Like she's so not that I was surprised. She's so smart. She's so articulate in her feelings and how she thinks. And she has this very like, even though she lived in L.A. most for life.

She lives in New York now. She seems very New York, which is very chic, very, yeah, it was cool. I saw her at a local bookstore here last week, I think it was. Yeah, that looks so fun. Yeah. Oh, I love that. All right. Well, I'll go with my first book, which, interesting, you referenced a retelling in your first.

So I'm going to go with, so this retelling is more of like a reimagining of it. Okay. Think of the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Oh, yeah. Okay. So this is called Marion. Yes. By Leah Rowan, who also publishes under the name Leah Conan. Most of her books up until now, she's one of my favorite writers. So she took Marion. It's kind of the same setup. Marion works in a job. She steals money, except this time it's not, this time it's to help her sister who's in an abusive relationship escape. So she flees New York. She

stops at this little motel. Creepy guy invites her to do it. dinner. She goes to take shower. Creepy guy tries to kill her. Except in this book, she flips the script, fights him, and ends up stabbing him and killing him. Yes. And none of this is a spoiler. This is the setup for the book. And it is the most beautiful story of feminine rage. And just, I think it's so cool how she goes back and takes these iconic characters. Yeah. You know, Like so many people think of Janet Lee and Psycho. And, you know, but she's the ultimate victim because she's, oh, help me. And the way she takes back this power through rewriting Marion as this badass.

And it just goes on this wild ass ride of just, it's just, it's pure high octane fun. Yes. And I'm actually here locally in Los Angeles, there's new bookstore just open called Sons and daughters. It's close to my house and they reached out and said, hey Brian, we want to start a book club. Would you be interested in hosting it? Of course. The answer is yes. And so it's actually the first book we're doing tomorrow night. So we, yeah. So huge. I loved it because I love Alfred Hitchcock movies. I love I go up to Bidega Bay where the Birds was filmed quite often. Just I'm a fan of that type of like black and white scary storytelling we don't necessarily see everything you know like

when maryne was initially killed all you saw was the blood in the tub it wasn't this over the top gorse marian is not like that you get all the details but um i really really enjoyed it a lot yeah i got to listen to it i got like the such a good audio yes i loved it yeah it's so much fun and it's just dawning on me that i meant to include it i just did a post yesterday for what to read if you loved maximum pleasure guaranteed and i'm like how did i forget that marian was on my list yes yes for anyone who enjoyed that show i'm i'm now also saying that it counts toward that yeah yeah it's really fun i love i love that and like the fringe or like the kind of the found family aspect of it too yeah i love that all the time well and i like you know

I just, I thought the way the book played out, the ending. I really, I thought every part of it was exactly what I wanted the book to be. Yeah. Yeah. And the cover is so cool. Oh, right? Let's look at that one more time. I love that cover.

Oh, and it's even shiny. It's not great. It's shiny. It's got texture on it. Norman was her first. I know. I love that. I love that.

That's such a good one. well I would similar with like very cool covers and very cool female authors but I think I picked women for this all anyway but play nice by Rachel Harrison. Oh yes. Came out last year. I think it's September's typically when hers are and it's just like she is like kind of the unofficial queen of pink horror for me. So and this one was kind of like her.

her take on the haunted house trope when influencer Cleo Barnes inherits the house her mother insisted was possessed oh yeah it's kind of possessed more than haunted she returns what would what would the difference be I remember someone saying

something about like the possession is more like the house almost has its own specific personality versus haunted could be like multiple ghosts I think that's like the I only really A house versus a resident.

Yeah, yeah. I think it's like the house itself is kind of like, has a personality. It is how it plays out too. Only to discover the terrifying possibility that the haunting was real all along. As buried family secrets and supernatural horrors resurfaced, Cleo must confront the truth about her childhood before the house to surres the life she's carefully built.

And this one has a lot of cool elements. Obviously, the house is free. key um but she's also kind of like working her way through journals from her mom so it kind of has that like book within a book feeling or just like an interstitial feeling to it too it is it's really good it's just very fun and it's also he's not gory and i always tell people who are like wanting to like dip their toe into something that's considered horror like rachel harrison really any of her books Yeah. That's like the starting point.

They're not gary or like super traumatizing. Yeah. And I think, you know, I think she writes very digestible books. Yeah. I think. And obviously it's working because she sells a lot of books. Yes. I.

Yeah. She's one of the few authors that gets that September slot every year. She does. Because they know it's going to sell like crazy. And yeah, she's created a really cool. brand because even though she branches out into different parts of this pink core she you know what you're getting when you get a rachel harrison yeah she's coming here again for oh nice play replay so she's doing a time loop wedding reception horror so so i'm a treat for this

september very cool yeah very cool nice so it's interesting because i almost always read women authors. But I was just looking over here and I pick, I have six books total and three of them are men, which is so random. That could be how much I read in a month. Right. So I'm going to go with one that I think, again, I always like things that could really happen as something that's a really good horror fear to me. So I chose the night shift by Alex Finley. Have you read this? Yes. Okay. So the premise of this is the starts off, I think the first line is something like December 31st, 1999, they knew it would be a night of tragedy. So it's set as Y2K was turning, you know, and everyone thought the world was going to shut down

and all the systems are going to collapse and all this stuff. Well, that doesn't happen, but what did happen that night is six kids are closing up a blockbuster store. A murderer comes in and kills five of them. And one survives, a girl named Elv. I believe her name is. And the only thing she remembers from this slaughter, she has no memory of it, except this murder whispered to her, you're so pretty.

So creepy. So creepy. So we have part of the book's taking place in 1999. Part of the book is taking place in 2019 when this book was released. And so this has happened again in an ice cream store. And, oh, sorry. The original crime, they thought that the boyfriend of one, one of the girls killed was the guy who killed them.

He disappeared. Yeah. So 20 years later, similar massacre happens in an ice cream store. One girl survives. And what is she here before she dies? You're so pretty. Yes. So the book is basically trying to unravel this current day mystery while Elle is trying to unwrap her.

Because she's become like a trauma coach. she moved to new york she's a different life a boyfriend a whole different life that's so far removed from this final girl situation she was in um and yeah super creepy yes um i like the retro of having a blockbuster video as a main character in the book and i i love this book and i'm a huge fan of alex finley i think he uh he wrote one of my favorite books of the year so far called the anniversary I almost added it, but I thought he was kind of a two-fer on this one. The anniversary is amazing. Again, it's about a serial killer called the May Day Killer,

who kills a girl every year on May 1st. Phenomenal. I would encourage people to read that as well. It's so well done. And, you know, rarely do I say when someone has been writing books, you know, Alex has been in the business about 12 years now. I think he's put out maybe 10 books. I think so.

And this last one was his best book, in my opinion, by far. And he uses similar tropes, never similar storylines, but similar tropes, the serial killer, the multiple point of view years apart. Yes. And a lot of times that falls into being too formulaic where you're like, okay, yep, check, check, check, you know, like a paint by numbers thing. The anniversary felt so fresh, so well done. And, but if you want Summerween, the night shift. Yeah. And what a cool cover.

It's also, it really is kind of a slasher. Yes, it is a slasher, but you don't necessarily see the slashing. Right, right. You hear about it. So I think that kind of for people who, again, don't want to get into that horror format, that's kind of how I am. I can literally sit and listen to a true crime podcast or watch a true crime show and hear about the most horrific acts of humanity. Yeah. And I'm like, fine.

I'm like, hmm, it's time to go to bed. But seeing it sometimes for me is like, okay, that's too much. of the visual yeah yeah Hallie and I were talking about that I can't remember in the context of what but like sometimes there are things that are a lot easier to read than to watch absolutely like the watching can make it just worse basically yeah don't feel that way about our country right now oh my god don't get us started oh oh boy well actually from that i kind of have a good segue so i like a segue if rich people behaving poorly and and wealth being just abused is pissing you off lately um okay by alma katsu is like succession but horror like with a horror

element yeah okay the powerful berisha family has built a global empire on a mysterious streak of impossible good fortune, but when their lifelong blessing begins to unravel buried secrets and betrayals threatened to tear them apart. As each family member schemes to secure their own future, they discover the fortune that made them powerful may ultimately be their downfall. It's also very fall in the house of usher vibes is what I just realized as I was reading that. It's like another one where like the horror is not gory actually. Yeah. A lot of lot of it is psychological and you get, I think, three of the, what are they, siblings, you get their POVs. And it kind of like you also have like that very like psychological

tension of like, did we grow up with an entity or was it like just bad people making bad decisions and like mental health problems? So it has like again, more of that psychosocial. horror element. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Nice. And she's really cool and shameless plug.

I interviewed her about it. So you can also look that up if anyone. Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Well, it's always nice to, I mean, I'm sure as a viewer on this end, it's always nice to see when you're interviewing people that I love because, you know, I, I like to get, you know, I know they say we shouldn't care who writes the books, just enjoy them.

But I kind of do. Like if I like someone, I'm far more likely to like their book. I'm that vibe-based and that impressionable. Yeah. And, you know, like I have people comment on my, sometimes when I post, oh, I love this book. They're like, oh, that's just because that's your friend. And I was like, both things can be true. You know, like, if I have two books that I like equally and my friend wrote this one and a person I don't know wrote this one, I'm going to talk about this one.

Just like nature. Yeah. Just that's human nature. Yeah. Like, why wouldn't I want my. friend to do well. I wouldn't I want you to read my friend's book or I feel that way if someone doesn't share the same core beliefs that I do. It's like, why am I going to promote your book? You know, like, yeah, it's not going to happen. Yeah. Yeah, I had one of those off to tell you about

it later where I was like, do I say yes? I was like, I don't think I'm going to say yes to this one. Yeah, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm outspoken about stuff. I'm like, I can't sit here on a high horse. I'm the same way. Well, I have to tell you, so I'm going to tell you a little anecdote, right? So I went to see. So one of my favorite books I've read in a really long time is the Calamity Club by Catherine Stockett. Okay.

The book is phenomenal. Okay, good to know. 650 pages and it is amazing. It's characters. Like, I know there were, I know the help was problematic. And in this Q&A, she addressed it, which I love. I like people who just head on, address it. She, without even being asked, she just said, I.

understand that there there were problems with me writing the help she goes but everything i'm writing is from my experience i'm not trying to negate anyone's experience take away anyone's experience i'm an ally i'm an anti-racist yes and and i hear what you're saying i've learned from it and she goes if i could remind you this book it's this book was written you know i wrote this book 20 years ago and we live in a much different world now that we did that yeah we do and and i I support everyone's position on this. However, I don't believe we should erase allies show. Yeah.

Okay. So that's how she addressed it. However, Kate, she's telling a story. She starts out about how women are not protected in this world. And she goes, well, like many of you recently, I was watching the White House Correspondence dinner. Yeah. And there was a shooting attempt. And they threw themselves on RFK to protect them.

and no one rushed to protect Cheryl Hines Right And we We are all Cheryl Heinz I'm in Santa Monica Like the ground zero

Of liberal politics In L.A. And literally everyone was like You're like We're not Cheryl Hines Are we trying to care about Cheryl right now? And so And she's standing there

And then she goes See I got you She goes I'm just showing that we need to protect women even if you don't like them. Good for her. And everyone like exhale. This is before she went into the like the help being problematic.

But she like started, you know, she's got this strong Mississippi accent. I was like, have I misjudged everything about this woman? Oh my God. But yeah, it was, she definitely knows how to tell a story and get your attention and get a reaction. That's good to know about the Calamity Club because I haven't read it yet. Did you listen? Listen to it. Listen, I did both.

Okay. Please listen to it. It is January Levoy, Brittany Presley, and some other amazing. Oh, wow. But it is so good. I don't use, I do use a lot of hyperbole, what I'm talking about. It's one of the best books I've ever read. Wow.

Like, I will say that out loud, full chest. I thought it was phenomenal. The storytelling, when it was done, my heart was broken because I didn't get to see those characters anymore. It is just listen to it. You will love it. It is beautiful. Okay. Yeah.

I mean, those are some huge narrators. That's fantastic. Yes. Yes. That's exciting. Some of my favorite. So. Cool.

28 hours. Here I come. Lock in. I mean. Is it my turn? Yes. Yes. Okay.

Okay. All right. See, I get on tangent. Oh, I do too. It's okay. All right. Fair enough. Okay.

So this book. this book is a book that I don't I don't know that a lot of people actually know this book it is about it's about a woman who's married to a very successful politician and he is running for a higher office for like a senator position I believe it is and she gets pregnant and she does not want this child but her husband his politics are anti-abortion so he says absolutely not. He controls every aspect of her life. So she ends up contacting this secret

organization that will drive you out of state to help you get an abortion. So she gets picked up by this woman. So the woman who picks her up has a backstory where she was sexually assaulted by like a musician

years before. And she had written years ago an article about it, but she wrote it anonymously, never mentioned who it was, but somehow in the new digital world, she got doxed. So she had to go into hiding. So she helps drive these women. So this book is called Don't Turn Around by Jessica Barry. I have not heard of this. You're right. And this book. So it's basically they get in the car, they start driving. I think they're driving from, I don't know where, but they're driving to either

Arizona or California. It doesn't matter where. But all of a sudden, a truck starts following them. And then it's following closer and faster. Then it starts trying to run them off the road. So they're fleeing. And they're like in the middle of nowhere. They're like, oh, we see a diner up ahead. They get in. They run into the diner.

They don't see him. So they're like, okay, let's regroup, get some food. Maybe it's just a crazy person. Right. Then all of a sudden, they see him walk in and sit down at a table. So it's them and this cat and mouse chase as they're trying to get away from they don't know who. Right. Because they start learning each other's story, which is far more detailed than what I've told you.

And that starts being unpacked. So they're looking at each other like, well, fuck, are they coming for you? Are they coming for you? Like, this book, I don't even remember why I picked it up, probably just because it was on my shelf. And I was like, oh, that's a creepy looking cover. Yeah. Yeah. So well done.

It doesn't get the best reviews online. And I don't know why. Jessica wrote another book called Free Fall and I thought that was really good too but this book if you want again I kind of go back to that like the best horror is something that could happen

if you've ever been on a desolate road where you're like well there's no one around anywhere like car broke down her and then there's no cell service because you're in the middle of nowhere and then also you're fleeing from your husband who are you going to call so the wife is thinking

the husband has these people after her the woman driving thinks, oh, it's these vigilantes online that have docks me that are after me. So it deals with a lot of cool social issues and very women's specific fears. Yeah, and it's a quick read too. I think it's like 300, like 300 pages. 302 thing. Yeah, 302 pages. So, yeah, check it out.

That I'm adding this immediately. That sounds so good. Anything that deals with abortion, you never know. know you never know what to trust in the reviews even if they don't of course of course yeah yeah yeah it could be mad that that's there that's you're even talking about it like and it's weird because in this book you have both sides the anti-abortion side and the pro-choice side you have both you know and it's uh yeah but some people just can't get past their emotions and feelings to yeah well i'm gonna listen into it. Free fall sounds good too. So you're just adding to my list, which is what this podcast

turns into anyway. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah, that sounds really good. The, I couldn't tell if I had a segue, but I don't. This was one of my friends, though. I love Amina Akhtar and she wrote a book called almost surely dead that is like so perfect for this. After surviving multiple attempts on her life, pharmacist Dunia Ahmed finds herself caught in a terrifying mystery where everyone around her could be a suspect. And ancient superstitions may be more real than she ever imagined. Framed through the lens of a true crime podcast after her own disappearance, the story unravels the chilling events that turned her ordinary life into an obsession. So it has like so many cool elements going on.

Yeah. The like and this isn't a spoiler. The opening scene like my hands were sweaty the first time I read it. The way she describes almost getting pushed in front of a subway, you just feel so claustrophobic and how much like if you're underground and like that close to a subway and like someone touches you out of nowhere. Like you actually are in like so much danger. And it was kind of funny because this book came out in, I think, 2023 or 2024. And then basically I went to New York for the first time in 2025.

And so it was like the only thing in my head when we went down there and I like sent her a video. I was like, I'm literally just standing here. Like almost truly dead is my most context for the situation. New fear unlocked. Yes. But it has a lot. She does a lot. Oh, the like the true crime, uh, podcasters, she, she is the best at writing satire and being like,

you thought that was satire. Like I was just writing that character because like a white girl on a true crime podcast would be like, it's so sad. But by this. So it's, it's really fun. And I'm, I'm such an Omina Oxtar fan. Wow. That actually sounds really good. I'm going to add that to my TVR. Yeah. And the, in the like, the haunting or like the paranormal element is very much like it's not glory it's a and it feels more like a missing person thriller overall it sounds like something would be a really good adaptation too i think so too yeah it'd be very cool because the cover is very cool too well and it's like i i always feel like you know with supernatural stuff being translated into movies a lot of

it just becomes cheesy, you know, where there seems it's a little more subdued. Yes. And the podcast of it would be very fun. Always a fan. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's actually a podcast are one of my favorite tropes. I love it.

And both, me too. I will keep reading them. Yep. Always, always. Like, if there's a pod involved, I'm in on it. Yeah. Well, it's like, I remember when the podcast's book started kind of becoming more of a thing, like, six years ago, I feel like.

Yeah. was at least when we were starting to notice it and gare pointed out like we were we all we loved like books that incorporate documentaries and like it's kind of like that modern version of it now too no it is i mean it's it literally that's uh yeah yeah not the documentarys don't still exist but of course but um that's actually a great segue into my next book perfect um so speaking of podcast um This book is written by a podcast host. So this is written by Daphne Wilsoncroft, who she hosts Going West, which is a true crime podcast three times a week. And she's, yeah, she's written two books.

I actually just had the great pleasure of moderating her event a couple weeks ago for the release of her new book. But I'm going to talk about her first book, which is called Night Watcher. Yes. I mean, that cover is Summerwing. That cover. See that again? So summer read. So I found this book. It popped up on like a net galley read right now last year. And I was like, sometimes I just need someone to tell me what to read right now. And so I started reading it and I was organizing my library. And six hours later, it's like two o'clock in the morning. I finished this book and I'm like, wow. So what do I do? I go online and start stalking. her. And so I'm sending her message like, oh my God, I just read your book. It's so amazing. Blah, blah, blah. And this crackhead is online at 2 a.m. answering my messages. So we got to, you know, kind of started this friendship. It's such a cool story. Yeah. So it was actually my top 10 last year.

Yeah. And then that culminated in this year, me hosting the publication day party of her book. So this is about, it's not a podcast host, but she's a radio show host. And she, she, Nola is her name. She is a survivor of a serial killer called the hiding man that killed a bunch of young women when she was a kid and he killed her babysitter

while she was in the house and she survived. And so years later, she's a radio call-in show host and her show is about supernatural, paranormal events, weird occurrences, survivalist kind of thing. And all of a sudden,

she starts getting calls that are referencing the hiding man killer and i can't say much about it because it will spoil it but it's so creepy it's so dark like physically like you feel like you're in like a in a in a like Seattle at night time yes um and you just it's her books are so atmospheric that's what i love about a summer wean book is that you feel like it's spooky time yes um and yeah and yeah West. I just love a weather there. Yep. Jennifer Hillier, Shady Stevens, like all of them.

Well, Daphne is the next in that great lineage that write about her second book takes place in Seattle as well. Yeah, I think the weather, you know, can be a character as well. You know, when it's raining, things are spookier. You know, like I live in

Southern California, like, things can be scary, but it's never really spooky because it's always sunny and beautiful. and you know what I mean like no one's scared yeah um and yeah so night watcher it is an excellent excellent excellent excellent read i need to read her second one i read i read night watcher last year and it was so funny i was about to ask you i was like is the second one called the art of drowning it's called the season of sinking so like the very sure but the art of drowning's excellent that's uh alexandria andrew's second book the art of line

Oh, that's what it is. That's what I was saying. Yeah, it's very good. She wrote, Who is Maude Dixon? I need to read both of those. Oh, my God. Who is Maude Dixon? So good.

I was just... Very talented, Mr. Ripley, very... I love a con artist. I love a con artist. Oh, yeah. Yes, it's the best. I feel like I just read one recently. It was an interesting take, but...

I can't think of it now. But, yeah, that one, Night Watcher, definitely fits. It's creepy. It's creepy, it's misty. They're big trees. Yeah, yeah. Creepy guys in long gray code.

What more do you want? Yeah. Well, in the vein of how I've said, like, kind of like the reformatory brought me to kind of psychosocial or historical horror. Another one of my like God tier all-time faves is Junie by Aaron Crosby, X-Steen. and it takes place literally in 1863, like the year before, it's like the year before the Civil War ends and then, I mean, slavery's not abolished immediately, but it's right on that cusp. And so it's really interesting because we know that the whole time is the reader, but the like enslaved main character doesn't know that she's like that close to it.

but after a desperate choice causes Junie to awaken the restless spirit of her late sister, 16-year-old Junie, I typed Junie twice, uncovers haunting secrets hidden beneath the surface of the Alabama plantation where she is enslaved. As love, grief, and hope of freedom collide, she must confront the devastating cost of choosing liberation over the only life she's ever known. And the other, I don't think I included that part as much. The other interesting part is like when she does awaken her sister's spirit, her sister has information that she like needs her to discover.

So there's also like this mystery element to like her sister being like, I came back because like you deserve to know this, but you're going to have to figure out yourself essentially. So there's kind of, there's all kinds of, it's kind of a genre mash up. like yeah it's definitely not horror in the again it's not gory um the depiction of slavery is pretty of course pretty is it the reformatory still has more darkness to it i guess is what i agree to say um but it's it's a it's a i loved it so much and this was i listened to it um at the time when i was both starting to like horror and starting to listen to audio books that were

fiction. Oh, wow. So it's like, it has all of these like special memories for me as well. Yeah, it's an excellent book. I think, um, I think it's very, you know, the reformatory and Junie both do something I think is so important. When you're writing anything that is horror or horror adjacent genre about slavery, you have to really walk a fine line because you want to give a realistic view, but you also don't want to sensationalize. I know. So I think it's very much, it's the easy way out to over sensationalize it. Right. Not that you can make it worse than it was. It was horrific. But I think sometimes you, you, when you get too far into that like gore, gore, splatterpunk, splatterpunk genre,

it cheapens the story. Yeah. And it can just be very difficult to read long form. Obviously, people lived it. And that is way worse than us ever reading it. But of course, like you're saying, Of course. It's harder to consume a long story that has a lot of it. Well, and I think it's, you know, again, this is kind of like you were talking about earlier. There's a book for everyone, you know, and I think that these are the type of books. Like, reformatory can be a bit overwhelming because it's so long. I would recommend that book more, except it's just the size of it just turns a lot of people off.

But for people who enjoy historical fiction, nonfiction, like, these are books that you're like, yeah, like check. these out because like i mean for me it's so weird i can sit down and watch a uh a series that has like nine you know hour and a half episodes and binge it but i'm like 21 hours on an audio book are you kidding i'm like that's probably like what i'm listening to a week with audio yeah it's like if it's a good book like just do it i think we get sort of used to like you know i need my perfect nine to our audio book to knock out in my allotted time because, you know, apparently I have a lot of time. Right. I know. Or like people who are like, I have to hit my goal. I'm like, I don't ever want to feel that way. That sounds awful. Like, get a job. Yes. It's a, this is not the book I chose,

but since we are talking about slavery, which makes me think about Jim Crow afterwards, I read a lot of nonfiction books and I'm reading a really cool nonfiction book right now. It's called The Cruelty of Nice Folks. Yes, by Justin, not Justin. I can't remember his name. Oh, yes. All about Minnesota. Minnesota, Minneapolis.

And like, it is so well done because I'm only maybe 30% in now. Okay, I wasn't wrong. I don't know why I doubted myself. Yes. So well done. I recommend anyone because the thing I like about nonfiction books is I don't like them to feel like textbooks. I like stories that are thrilling, but it's a true story, you know. And things I didn't, I don't really know a lot about Minnesota or Minneapolis, except the major things that have happened.

But I didn't know. Fun fact about Minnesota, they are the only state in the nation that is voted for the Democrat Party in every single one of the last 20 presidential elections. Yes. The year that Ronald Reagan won 49 states, the one state he didn't win. was Minnesota. Right. So they're kind of wrapped up in this like liberal left wing ideology, but this book gets into the

what's talk and what's the action really. Yeah, so well done. So yeah, that's my own. I got an advanced listeners copy of it. So I think I listened to it maybe in May, which was, it was wild. We were still having so many. I mean, ICE is still there. It's not like they're not.

But it's jarry. It was so jarring reading it. But I will say I also, speaking of long books that are especially good in audio, I'm working my way through the warmth of other sons. Okay. Isabel Wilkerson, which is about the Great Migration from the South and to the North. And it was made, I was thinking of this book a lot too because. Yeah, because they talk about it. a decent amount of it at the beginning and how like where the railroad tracks went had so much to do with like which cities um black people moving from the south where they where they ended up um yeah so yeah i was just thinking about it yesterday because it's fun seeing some of the crossover when you read nonfiction too and you're like oh okay so like his was justin ellis is very focused on Minneapolis and And how how surprising it really is that, like, a lot of what's happening in America is almost, like,

forecasted by what's happening there. Yeah. It's crazy. It's the barometer of our country in so many ways, which I find to be fascinating. Yeah. Definitely, I recommend anyone watching listening right now to check this book out. Yes. It's really good.

He narrates it, I'm pretty sure, too. He does. Yeah. I'm listening to it in his narration's perfection. Yeah. And it is. It has like the personal element because he's talking about it from the perspective of having grown up there.

Yeah, his family. And yeah. And that's what I think is so fascinating is like he's not a stranger from the outside coming in talking about the city. He talks about his mom and his parents. And it's so personal and his mom's cancer battle. And that's that's kind of where I am right now where they're talking about all of that. And yeah, it feels like narrative nonfiction.

if it's not always narrative necessarily. Yeah. But yeah, I love that one too. Yeah. All right. So my next book, I have one left. Okay. Or I can do a sixth one if you have six.

I have two left. Yeah. So I can. Okay, I'll do both them. Okay. I'll leave that one for last because that's a classic. All right. So I'm going to go with something that's very,

I think it's a very obvious book, but I think this is kind of the epitome of a summer wean book. Nice. Final Girls by Riley Sager. I think you'll probably find this on every single person's summer ween list. So if anyone's just listening to us, Final Girl is a horror term for anyone who doesn't know for the stereotypical last girl to survive a massacre or a killing or whatever.

It comes out of horror movies And this book is about a few of those last girls Who survived different massacres And there's a new killer Who is hunting these final girls So it kind of takes that serial killer up a notch And I love Riley Sager I think he does

Even his bad books to me are pretty good Because I think he makes them very readable you know and I yeah I like him I don't care about his I don't care about any of his problematic issues or anything I am a I'm a fan I think he writes a good book he's really good friends with May Cobb so he's good he's good to me and I think I think he is a kind of author who brings people into the genre that's a really good way to and yeah like this I don't think this is his best book yeah but I think this book is just early on in his career and it's so well done that I don't think he really thinks about being Riley Sager at the time, you know? And this was written a little bit before all the thriller books were expected to have like 45 crazy twist at the end. It was pre-gone girl and pre-the only one left. Yes, yes.

It's everyone's favorite of his. It's probably my least favorite of his. That one has so many twists at the end. Like, aren't you tired, Riley? Like, come on. It's the last 20% you're like, what? Yeah, it's like, stop it. I've stopped caring.

The house can fall. So, yeah. So final girls, I really like because it's this like, and he does in different books, takes, you know, different play on different things. So it's supernatural. Then he has one set at a summer camp and he, uh, like house. Okay. So he takes these different.

And then like the, I don't even know what the one is. Is it lock every door? Is that the one that's in the New York apartment building? I think that's really well done. So he takes these kind of horror story setups and makes them into a good, twisty book. So I, yeah, I think he should be included on any summer list. It is, he is very approachable like his books are. He's coming here for the unknown actually. I feel like you guys are getting a lot of people there.

They like from what I've learned from them like basically so think like 2024 they started getting even more authors and it was pretty and still I still think like 70% of events are romance authors. Okay. So, 2024, I had that, but then, like, some of the thrillers, shout out to my girl, Emma West, who's been on here because she is, like, the thriller reader at that bookshop and is part of the reason that, like, that started happening. So then, and then 2025, they was, like, even busier than they expected it would be and had some, like, thriller, fantasy and romance. 2026, they are, they're so.

busy that they're like almost overwhelmed. It's like. Yeah, just from watching your stories is just the ones you're seeing. I'm like, holy crap, you guys are getting big name. But you know, I did recently hear from a friend of mine who's an author that it's the Midwest and the South. That's why the authors always go to these areas because that's where that's where you sell a physical book. Yeah. Like, you know, if you go to the coast, people are listed audio books or they're doing digital. Yeah. But if you want to sell a physical book still, it's the heartland and the South. And I didn't realize it was like the physical book that was kind of that differentiator. I had heard the owner, her name is Tiffany Phillips, and she has like a really cool story. But she said she like starting in 2020, I think is what she

said. She would just fly out to New York and be like, please come to the Midwest. And her perspective, which I thought was really fascinating too. She was like telling them she was like, we don't, we don't have tons of stuff to do. We make our own fun in the Midwest. So like people will show up. She definitely proved them right. She's like, I'm so glad they're finally sending them to us now. Well, I saw your event video and there's tons of people there. Yes. I mean, I went to see Catherine Stockett, who we've been waiting 17 years to get a book.

And there were maybe 35 people there. They actually moved it to a smaller venue because they didn't get the turnout they thought they're going to. I've shown up to Jessica Null had maybe 15 people. Wow. I mean, it's crazy because. There's so much going on to get people to go somewhere in L.A., especially anywhere around 6.30, 7 o'clock. That, yeah, that's the other, yeah, I just, it's an hour south of me, but it's like a straight drive.

And I'm going 70 miles an hour almost the whole time. And I just listen to a book on my way there and back. So it's like not that bad. But yeah, it blows my mind. They just did last week. I went to the first one there. Ashley Winston was there on Monday. and then Christina Warren, who they're a romance writing duo, they have us come document that one.

But like they had like, they do a whole summer camp week. So they do, they did six in a row Monday through Saturday. Kind of like VB, well, vacation Bible school is very churchy, but like literally like camp for adult readers. That's cool. We're doing here in L.A. this coming weekend. Yeah. We are doing the first ever end. independent bookstore crawl.

So there are 13 independent bookstores participating, and it's cool. So if you go to 10 of the, so it's Friday, 30 Sunday, if you go to 10 of the bookstores and spend a $10 minimum, at your 10th one, you get this really cool enamel pen that says. That is such a cool idea. I love that. Yeah. It's the first time we're doing it. So I've been trying to, I've been trying to promote it here and get people out because, again, it's most. debating people, but hopefully it'll be a, you know, I thought it'd be cool if they did a tote bag

with all the stores on it. That would be cool. No one asked me to plan it. Yeah, we had one like that. I think it was at the end of May here. And I know Wild Geese was a part of it, but it just like fell on a weekend where I was like, I just can't. But it's so fun seeing everyone do it. And I think they had a tote as well. Yeah. I just wish it weren't so hot. We're going through a little heat wave here as well right now. So that's what's insane here. is so I mean our heat wave is 87 I know different but that's still hot it is hot it is especially if you have any humidity which I'm assuming it's not we have a very high humidity right now too yeah yeah yeah it's been in the 90s and hundreds here

call me in October yes like I saw us come on posted something and they're like this air touches you back and I was like ew you're so right yeah thus probably why I was like summer ween let's jump on yes let's think about October well I do have a sixth one because I just have plenty

but this is one of my favorite like I've also learned I love horror and dark academia together is like another subgenre but it is called an Academy for Liars by Alexis Hinnis Anderson and the atmosphere is so summerween. A struggling young woman is invited to a hidden magical college in the middle of South Carolina where students wield the terrifying power to

control minds and in rare cases reality itself. As she falls deeper into the school's intoxicating world and uncovers its dark magical history, she must decide whether she can master absolute power without losing herself to it. So when I I like first read this one. I say first, like I read it again. But I think it was my first like horror and dark academia together. Okay. Also blood over Bright Haven by ML Wang is a fantastic example of that too.

But I remember being like, oh, this is like kind of like if Harry Potter was like more like X-rated essentially. So it's like, it's like very dark psychological, dark academia horror altogether. And like the fact that like the magic being psychological magic, she like really did a lot with the whole mind control thing. So and that's definitely my biggest fear. Actually, my two biggest fears would be someone controlling my mind. And my other biggest fear is being put in jail for cry I didn't commit. Absolutely. So those are my big fears.

My big fears are being trapped in a tight space. Yeah. Especially if it's dark. And, well, reptiles. I'm not a big fan of snakes. So anything involved snakes. Me neither. Yeah.

But that's a segue into my last book. Nice. So it's a classic. This will be on my Mount Rushmore of books. Stephen King, we were talking about him earlier. And again, I think he's written so many that some of them are so well done. Some have supernatural. Some have gore.

This one has some gore. Absolutely has some gore. But the psychological approach of this book is the biggest mind fuck. I read this as a child. I have no idea why anyone let me read it. My mother always had the philosophy of like, well, you're not going to die from a book. So if you don't like it, you won't read another one. True.

I read this one. It's probably like 12 or 13. and it's the book I read the most times in my life, and that is the classic misery by Stephen King. I think it is one of the books that made me just love reading. I remember the first time I read this book, I could not put it down, my hands were sweating, and my heart was racing.

It is psychological horror at its best. The story is, if anyone doesn't know, A very popular author, Paul Sheldon, is driving through the country, has a car wreck. He wakes up, and this Good Samaritan has pulled him out of the snowbank, has brought him in, he's got broken legs, he's injured, and she's taking care of him because she's a former nurse. She's this lovely woman named Annie Wilkes. And he thinks, wow, thanks so much for helping me. And she said, no problem. The phones are out.

We'll call for help. I'm your number one fan And he has written these series of books called Misery is the main character And he's just finished the very last misery book That he's writing, fulfilling his contract And in his satchel, he has a copy of this manuscript When the manuscript, he kills off the main character

Which sends Annie into a talespin Because she loves this character And it goes from there And it delves into the most aggressive psychological and physical tormenting you've ever seen in your life. In him trying to negotiate, rationalize, escape, attack, in any way to get out. But she is a very strong woman and she has a lot of drugs and stuff in her and a lot of rage. Perfection in a book, in my opinion. And rarely do I say this.

The movie is just as good. Wow. The movie, I've only seen the movie. I have not read it. I feel like I would love it, though. Yeah. And it's fascinating too. It's so, it's like Stan culture, horror before we were calling.

I think that came out before. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. This was in the 70s. 70s. Yeah. Late 70s early, maybe 83. Yeah.

I'm not sure exactly. So that's like what it always makes. makes me think about too is like even like even before we had like uh like forums of like crazy fans getting obsessive people were still obsessive they found their ways yeah absolutely there's i the coincidentally um hally was telling me about stepney roble roble's next book called revenge plot and it is about an author who like finally feels like he's written the perfect book after like having a dry spell um and the to keep it very short he basically goes to an agent's house and is like you will read my book so it's like kind of similar she's definitely

also wrote the hitchhawk hotel so i feel like she's someone too who's like doing some fun stuff with like stories we're somewhat familiar with but like doing a little bit different Well, and I think you, you know, you see this, I see misery as an influence a lot of books that have been. Yeah. Robin Harding wrote a book called The Haters. And then also what was the Taylor Adams? Okay. What was the last word? Yeah. I think a lot of these kind of have that like that trope that's kind of filtered down. Yeah. It is cool. Yeah. I think it's a fun one. Especially if you are so bookish that you then just even love a bookish plot in a book. Absolutely. related or whatever.

Yeah. I just read a book. What was it called? The last time we drowned by Saratoga Schaefer. Yes, I've been seeing that cover. And it's about a bookstagramer that gets invited and gets onto a yacht. It gets involved in this murder. I didn't realize this is a bookstore.

Yeah, yeah. So I was like, okay, clearly I'll be reading that. Oh my gosh. Okay, I need to read that. Yeah, it's a cute book. I mean, it's super simple. Like, they had two books come out this year, right? that author?

Yes, I can't remember the other one, but yeah. And yeah, I've been seeing their posts more. Oh, yeah, Tradwife. Well, that was. Tradwife. That was more horror. Yeah. I think it's more horror as well.

Yeah. I, it's actually body horror that I do the least, which is kind of funny because there's definitely someone misery that you just mentioned. Yes. Yes. I can handle it, but it's also like. And it's worse in the book than it is in the movie. Yeah, oh, I'm sure. I'm sure you can, I mean, you can fit more in.

It's just done differently, so it's more permanent. I feel you. I feel you there. Well, we've got a lot of good books for people. Yeah, those are 12 great books that are summerween fun. Yeah, I think this may be the best summer wean list I've seen. Yes. I think so. I think we did it. I love it. Well, thanks for having me on, Kate. I really, as always, it's such a great time with you. Yes, lots of. Yeah, we got to pick another time. Do this more often. Yes. Yes. Anytime we got to get back in the cul-de-sac. That's my sweet spot. It is.