Bookwild - What We've Been Reading and Watching, And Some 2026 Hopefuls with Halley Sutton

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

This week, Halley Sutton is back, and we dive into everything we've been reading and watching - which is quite a lot! We also share a few 2026 books we are excited to read.What We’ve Been ReadingEveryone Is Lying to You — Joe PiazzaAlchemy of Secrets — Stephanie GarberVantage Point — Sarah SligarGood Dirt — Charmaine Wilkerson 2026 HopefulsThe Future Saints — Ashley WinsteadAll the Little Houses — May Cobb The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru — Olyseia Solnikova GilmoreVigil — George Saunders The Story Eaters of Yamm — Kevin HinckerLady X — Molly FaderMurder Bimbo — Rebecca NovakThe Temptation of Charlotte North — Camilla Bruce Movies & TV Shows We Talked AboutPluribusDexter: ResurrectionThe Beast in Me BallardDeath By LightningSlow HorsesThe BeastFrankensteinHamnetWake Up Dead Man  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 

I am back with Halle this week, and I am just so excited. We have a lot to talk about, I think. We always do. That's true, too. These could be four-hour episodes if life was a different way. It's so true. And sometimes they are in that we maybe don't share the full several hours. It's a good point, too. Yeah, like sometimes you and I will just keep chatting. yes yeah some of you guys don't get to hear all of it we're being we're being suspenseful but it fits um so I guess typically we kind of typically start if we've like watched or read anything that we've liked recently I am watching pluribus have you watched any of pluribus no I haven't but how is it because I love Vince Gill like

freaking bad a lot thought it was a great piece of art but the one that i revisit is better call saul i love that show and rea uh sehorn yeah seahorn in it is so good so i'm excited she's so talented yeah yes um yeah better call sol is like a lot better than a lot of people knew i think a lot of people didn't even i mean it went on long enough that clearly people were watching but i think a lot of people didn't realize like it's it's worth it too um so yes so pluribus so here's where i stand we're on we're through episode six of 10 now so there are four left we're past the midpoint the midpoint the midpoint was good there's there's a very good um i explained save the cat to tyler a little while ago because like we would go to movies and i'd be like putting it into my phone and when we got to that episode at the end he was like is this the

midpoint and I was like yes it is sir and the student becomes the master yes so um but okay it's it's not going to be for everyone even more than like severance isn't for everyone like it is there so here are like the vibes first I saw someone on threads last night say like pluribus is the show for people who like can put their phones down and watch there's there's not all this like expository like over explaining stuff and they also go these long stretches without like talking especially at the beginning of most of the episodes so much so that we kind make a joke tyler's like how like how long until someone's going to talk so like you have to actually be watching so the the visuals are stunning um and and then even like the color grading which

this was reminding me of Breaking Bad was like one of the first shows I binged like a lot of people because it hit Netflix at that time. And so then we kind we got to watch like the last two episodes of the entire series like live with everyone essentially. And I remember being in the subreddit and like Vince Gilligan is so meticulous with colors. And it was so fun to like read about. This one is like so the same. So like. not a spoiler to be like if you pay attention to how much almost everything is yellow and blue yeah uh it's fascinating it does make it feel so cohesive so it's like very visual it is a very slow burn there is nothing fast not even a shred of it's almost like literary tv kind of

is what i would almost say i totally agree and i think that's what vinskill is doing too where it's like yeah he's weaving in like throughout any of his projects all of those small details that are all going to pay off and all matter and our symbolic the color grading and this means this and like framing certain shots to get like it is a rich text as they yes yeah that's what's still fun about it um for me even so so it's one of those things where in general I don't know like I know I wouldn't recommend it to everyone if that makes sense I mean it does we've talked about books that way even um but if you kind what I think is what I really enjoy about it there's it's starting to kind of be not a little bit more black and white it's definitely

still not a black and white show but so much of it like oh and the gist i guess for anyone who didn't even know at all what it's about is like a virus happens and everyone on the earth um is like all of a sudden smiling and really happy and just like vacant is is all you really need to know to go into the first episode because that's all I knew yeah um so I won't even explain much past that but the one character there's one woman who is like not sucked into it and it's uh Carol who's Ray a Seahorn um and it's it's exploring like I think it's exploring individualism versus community but also versus hive mind and so it does it's not taking a really clear stance on anything and I think that it's kind of it's impressive like not in a weak way just in a like

we're living in a lot of gray areas and you just don't know where you just don't even know where the like conclusion is going for this first season so that's my complicated review of it that's all great they're selling yeah i want to watch it yeah yeah i think you i think you'll love it and it's yeah it's just he's he's really good at stories Yeah, he is. And he does, I don't know if he does this in Pluribus, but it was such a hallmark of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul to do sort of like, what's the word I'm thinking of? Like, asynchronous. Like, it wasn't always linear. Like, you might start, you'd see something at the beginning of a season. Yes.

Like the end and like, you know, there's a lot of time hopping. Yes. Especially even in the pilot. Oh, very cool. It's very interesting. Yeah. Okay. I got to watch it so we can talk about it. I know. Have you, are you a Dexter? I'm not a okay. Okay. That was the other thing. The first time around and so. Oh yeah. There's a lot to yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then it's really good. I finally watched it. But I have talked, I think I've talked with other people who did watch it. So you guys can go listen to another episode. But if you're Dexter fans, resurrection is so good. It was. was like uh anyone who loves dexter knows that it was one of the most notoriously terrible

finalies like so bad like almost unanimously there is like almost no one who liked the finale it's it is so bad and the fact that this is even called resurrection but so was i can't remember what the i can't remember what it was when he there was a previous season too um but like they're in the stride of like g dexter that's that's how i recommend that one i now for whatever reason that review that the finale is so bad is almost selling me slash i want you to tell me off camera we don't want to for everybody i want to know like what made it so off yeah yeah i can't did you watch game of thrones did you watch game of thrones i did you watch game of okay so i do have a lot of thoughts about it in some way you know how like that just felt disjointed and and it it didn't feel like

it fit the characters i can tell you more off camera or whatever but that was the gist of it like it was that same feeling they're like why did you do this like this this doesn't feel like the same show game of thrones at least had the excuse here's what i think happened with game of thrones is that the pacing was so off because they were waiting for george r martin to come out with the books to finish it and so you've got these seasons like i can argue the like theon torture season was like way too slow but like especially in the beginning they're like taking their time and setting these beautiful scenes and like everything very intimate and like you know you're like taking you're like doing all this character development and then by the end they're like we've got to wrap

this up and like so it just I think I put a lot of blame on the showmakers but I also think they ran into an issue of like we'd be trying to get him to write the books first and then it I think so too I think that was a huge part of it. They weren't their characters. They were adapting them. By the way, we're never getting those books. I read, I read those books. Oh my gosh. That man is not going to finish that series before he dies. I believe it in my heart and he's just like, I got HBO money, you know, like, it's over. He's like, I'm tired. Totally. And like, honestly, and rich. Totally. Yes, my sympathy for one thing, which is like, I do think the show probably finished out what was his vision, but it

probably in the books would have developed a little more organically and everyone hated it so if i was a writer and people knew how my series was going to end and everyone hated it i don't know that first of all i love that there's nothing subtle about it for people who aren't or aren't watching i have a water bottle to try to save the podcast from bruce now i was trying to be sneaky but it does look like i'm just like wielding a weapon all of a sudden. Well, you did it so, like, gently and sweetly. You were just kind of like, I'd be like, you know. I know. Super soaker. Yeah. Anyway, he has my empathy and that I can imagine it would be really hard to have a series that's like your life's work, you know, like the thing you're

known for and a show finishes out the end. And literally everybody went, what a terrible fucking ending. Yeah. I would, yeah. I think I'd be like, yeah, I'm not finishing that. book either no no i agree well have you watched anything you have liked i did um i watched a couple uh one that i'm really that i watched that i was really into um was death by lightning on netflix it is short it's like four episodes hour long episodes it's historical it's got a crazy good cast it's michael shannon matthew mcfadden um lately of succession you know tom WOM scans. And Betty Gilpin is in it, who I love from Blue and other stuff. And so it's about the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guteau. And it's not a corner of history I was

like familiar with at all. And it was very well done, very interesting. Ooh, that's intriguing. Yeah, very well acted. I frequently forget that Matthew McFadden is Mr. Darcy or was Mr. Darcy. I'm always like, what? Never forget it. Although you're right, his like actor persona now. Yeah. It's like it's not that, you know. Yeah.

Well, and for me, like the timing of when I so like I also like watch Pride and Prejudice. Like I was in like high school and like at home. So it's almost like a childhood memory. And then in some way succession was like the next time I like watched him more as an adult. And I remember being like, wait a second. What? like these are going to save people. So different and he's so good in succession.

He has the exact right vibe. But like that actually interestingly translates to this character in a weird way. It feels like casting where it's almost, I wouldn't say meta casting because there's no huge, but like there are ways to see parallels between his character and succession and this character who was based on a real life person. But like this. I mean like internalizes the wrong lesson. about the rich and successful and it's really good a little relevant it's almost like it's baked into

our history right it's almost like it's part of the fabric of america it has a 91% on rotten tomatoes yeah it's really impressive i can't believe i hadn't heard about it yeah i expect there to be some eminoms coming out from it so yeah because i what's what i want to watch on Netflix the beast in me i watched that too i haven't watched watched it yet that's the one i want to watch on netflix but like i haven't been in netflix as much so maybe that's why i didn't see the other one it's really good i love claire dains too so much and matthew reese like if we talked about the americans ever no because i haven't watched it okay oh my god that is still like one of my favorites of all time like there's so much i remember about that show

so i'm excited for that one yeah that's a good one um what did i just finish reading. Oh, I finished reading everyone here. Everyone is lying to you by Joe Piazza. Because Gare loved it. I didn't get it on that galley when it came out. I think it came out in September. Yeah, I went to her book event in L.A. Oh, nice. So have you read it or did you go to the event? I haven't read it yet, but I did go to the event, which was great. She did it, I think, with Jordi from. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, which was really good. cool. And then so I was there with, sorry, I've digress, but I was there with Stephanie Roble and who wrote The Hitchcock Hotel and Darling Rose Gold. And I was also there with Amanda Pellegrino

who wrote Social Climer and so Smile Look Pretty. And so, you know, authors turning out to support authors. And we don't know Joe Piazza, but for some reason she thinks she recognizes Stephanie and that they like lived in Philadelphia together because she kept like pointing to her and being like you know back in Philadelphia and we'd like turn and look at her and Stephanie was just like oh that's hilarious people just like we don't know and she's like I don't know what that was about but it was my gosh that well you answered my question because I was also about to be like do you know her because like I'm trying to interview her um and we'll see she has not seen my DM and that's okay however it plays out but it is so it is so good like I should have listened to

it. I also listen to it. So if you like audiobooks, the two narrators are amazing. I really liked both of them. But it is about a woman Lizzie, yeah, Lizzie, who, her like best friend who they mysteriously, or we don't know why, they had to fall out at the end of college. And she hasn't heard from her in years and now her friend uh bex is i think she has 11 million followers is the type of like successful influencer that she is um and so she's kind of like stocked her but like they just they haven't talked in forever and all of a sudden bex sends her a DM and like says she wants to reconnect and um thriller tradwife version ensues basically it is so good so

um i am not saying this about like anyone specifically there have been some influencer novels that feel gimmicky yeah or it's just it's like i feel like that's it doesn't feel like totally developed like well i guess that's what gimmicky is like it's like oh this is uh popular so i'll write a story about it and so i've i'd kind of gotten burnt out just a little bit on them this one you can like um the best way i can describe it you can feel how she is chronically online you can feel like the naming of like she meets up with her at a convention called mom bomb and like is that

not so like tradwife influencer culture some of her pop culture references are amazing and then like the satire is just like deadly so it is so much fun and it made me it was like the refresher i needed for the influencer thriller. I love that. I love that. Tradwife space is so fascinating, endless fascinating. And then I'm also like, and this isn't about the Joe Piazza book, this is actually quite literally about my feelings about the fact that I'm watching

that stupid Mormon TikTok wives show where I'm like- That's what I was going to tell you. It reminded me so much of secret lives and Mormon lives. And I'm like, I'm consuming that culture. Am I part of the problem because I'm like normalizing it in the mainstream, you know? like it's right but we're in that moment yeah i and i don't know that it's um it's like i don't know that anyone thinks it's aspirational i guess is the other part of that show so it's it's i don't think we're pretending that like the relationships are healthy either no i hope not i god i hope not i hope not uh but yeah okay that one you knocked that one up a peg on my reading list i got to read it i got

check it out yeah i really enjoyed it and i think it's like right out about 300 pages okay if we just giggle for no reason it's probably because i'm shooting off warning shots of water yeah not uh not aiming to hit yet but we will yeah yeah yeah are you reading something or did you finish anything you loved so i just finished one i loved which i think you've read too So I'll mention that. But then I'm also in the middle of reading one that I'm loving. And I had to put it down because of a couple like work engagement type stuff that like have precedents.

But I am so eager to get back to it. So the one that I finished and I loved was Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber. Yes. Did you read that one? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I really loved it. Yeah. I want to hear your thoughts about it. I like there are things that I could note in it that I were was like, okay, I wasn't sure about this or this or I wanted a few things to develop a little faster, but like her world building in it was so incredible and so fun and up my alley. It's so fun. And I'm assuming if you live in L.A., it's even cooler because it's like I felt like

I knew some of the places just because I've read books or watch reality TV, but like if you live there, it's got to be even cooler. Totally. And so it's like she's naming things and she kind of gives them like she's coming up with her own world that she's sort of setting on top of Los Angeles but like yeah it's like oh I think you're talking about this and I think you're talking about that and it just like it really scratched an itch for me of the sort of like idea of like a magical version of Hollywood where old Hollywood like lives alongside current Hollywood and yeah or a bunch of noir-ish elements in there and like it was it was really fun I agree yeah I it was the same it was a four out of five for me

me as well. Yeah, there were some aspects that I felt like it was like, why is there so much of this? This doesn't make sense to me. But it's really, really fun. So, you know, there's that. Yeah, there were a couple of things. There was like a big reveal at the end where I was like, oh, that's interesting. But now you've opened up a whole bigger question I have about this that I don't, where is that going to go? And I think she's setting it up, hopefully is a series, I think. and like stuff like talking about her twin sister and she never actually showed up on the page and so I was curious about that and like um but but overall I was just like I I can't remember the last time I enjoyed world building in a book as much as that one so that was really fun yeah it was I agree and it's narrated by um gosh why don't I just Google it like I do have you know I she's a theater uh she's a theater uh she's She's the main star in Younger. Oh, she's like Foster?

Yes. Who's just... Sudden Foster narrates it. Yep. She and Hugh Grant just left their spouses for each other? That's who are. I was about to be like she's with Hugh Grant, but then I was like, I don't want to describe her by the man she's with.

I did immediately. That's on me. No, no. I mean, I was thinking about it, too, though. That's messy. Whatever's going on there. It is indeed messy. And I'm living...

And I thought, I honestly... I don't. I mean, people speculated. I thought he was like more gay. I thought that's what we were going to find out. So this was like, what? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe he's bisexual, but also, I know. True. True. Totally need to speculate, but it's out there. We don't need to speculate, but we will. You're human. And then. I don't think he's going to be hurt by it. No, I think he's doing okay. And also not that there's anything wrong. You know, There's like, oh, yeah, we're not saying it like that either. We're just, we're just nosy. Yes. And he's in a lot of musicals.

Exactly. So I just, so I finished that one and I loved it. And the one that I'm in the middle of that I, um, I am excited to get back to schedule permitting is, um, cranky, I'm so sorry. Vantage Point by Sarah Sliger. You are the second person in 24 hours to bring that book up. to me. Was Amy Meyerson the first? No, but it wasn't Amy that I'm friends with on

bookstagram. So it's even crazier that you said Amy then too. It must be like making around. She knows her like in real life and I know you just spoke with her but yeah, yeah. But you get and you guys are friends. Is that what you said? We were like colleagues. I would love to be closer friends to her but like she lives in LA. We'd like on to each other's like events and different stuff. She's brilliant. She's a brilliant writer. Left her first book to take me a art this book i think i'm liking even more it's like based on what is considered i think the first american horror novel um from the 1700s but he's updated it so it's about this very wealthy family the wheelins who live in me um and their family is like so famous and wealthy that they have a curse

and so every in the month of april bad things happen to the wheelins like somebody was on the titanic and like she has these like great Wikipedia articles within the book that all the grisly ways that they've died and forgot about that yeah when the book starts she's got um her brother's about to run for senate and then terrible photos and videos of her come out but she's like i don't remember and i can't tell if i don't remember because i was partying a lot or because I have body dysmorphia from my eating disorder or these beef fakes and then it jumps off from there and it's so good so good it is I didn't realize it was I mean maybe I knew I read it when it I feel like it was last year that it came out right yeah or was it the very beginning I don't know

it's very beginning of this year but yeah last year but it's been out for a bit yeah so maybe I knew at the time but I didn't know that it was kind of based off of uh another horror novel but it is such a cool blend of like of the gothic thriller with uh like the tech era you like don't expect those to come together and she does it's so uniquely atmospheric because of it totally totally and yeah yeah i'm loving it it was so good it got a new cover here recently um i can't believe someone random i cannot believe i was talking about that book yesterday and saying the same thing to her i was like it was so long ago that i can't remember when it was yeah and now i've talked about it again but i saw a new cover and i kind of liked it better yeah

maybe for the paperback launch or something oh yeah that would make sense um what about you what have you read and loved lately um so what was the other one that i just finished here recently oh i read good dirt by charmaine wilkerson yeah was it good so I really enjoyed it like I didn't read black I haven't read black cake yet that was like the one that a lot of people know about and then it's a show on Hulu but I think from what I read in the synopsis of that I think she's really really talented at like multi-generational stories and like very like it jumps around like generations and location and like it's very yeah it's just like very fluid sometimes you're getting chapters from someone that you only get like two or three chapters from in the whole book but she's really good at like telling like this one even has suspense to it even though it kind of feels like contemporary fiction or something but well i guess it's historical too though because it goes back but it basically is about the daughter of an affluent black family piecing together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom And I was like, what does that even mean? But there is like this mystery thread going through it. But it also, I think it feels like literary fiction, too, I guess is maybe even what I'm saying.

But yeah, she's really, her prose is really beautiful. She kind of, she uses it to talk about a lot of things. And January, LeVoy narrates it, which is a big favorite for a lot of people. So like, Audible has been having insane. sales so i think i got it for like 399 and i was like if i don't like it i don't like it right um and it sounded like i would like it but um yeah check audible sales okay the PSA yes this is my moment or my i don't know you already said it the PSA um oh i'm sorry go ahead oh no you're fine are you a seasonal reader at all like are there certain things you like to read in the winter

or not necessarily like Christmas or holiday but like I'm really not in a mostly it does not it doesn't change like I mean this one was the season wasn't very related but no it doesn't make me like read more like thrillers in the snow or anything do you sometimes like I find myself but they're kind of odd like I like to read like Victorian mysteries or nonfiction And if I have that on my bookshelf, I'm like, oh, that's very wintry. You know what I mean? Even if it's set in the winter or anything, like, I have one that's started in the space that I might read about Jack the Ripper. Like, I don't know.

There's certain, like, I don't know. I'm like, it's British. And it's not like winter for you. That's like the other thing that was just like dawning on me, though, like, right? Like, it's not like cold. No, it's 79 degrees today in L.A. Oh, my gosh. It hit 39 and we were grateful this morning because we've had frozen snow and ice for like eight or nine days.

And it was raining and now it's snowing again. And it's like in the 20s. That's illegal. That should be illegal. I know. I was telling Tyler because I was thinking about like a recap post of 20, almost I said 20, 26. I'm so in the future.

But I was telling him like I was remembering how I drove up when I drove up to Wisconsin to see Steph and. Lane. Lane, thank you. I knew. I was like, I know. I almost called her Fargo, and I was like, that is not her name. That is a place.

Anyway, how she was like, oh, my gosh, I just didn't Hallie a picture and she'll be jealous. And I was like, it is two degrees right now. And you're like, I, like, no, I'm not even jealous anymore. No, I was jealous of the two of you getting to spend time. Right. And then the weather. And Lane does that all the time. So like, I'm on a writer group chat with her, Wendy, Huron, and the three of us.

And so Wendy is based. in L.A. too. So Lane will be like, oh, yeah, wind chill, it's minus two and we're both just like, like, no. Yeah. Like, oh, it's a little cold today. It's like 63. You might want to put on a sweater, you know? Yeah, we are, it was so cold last week. Like, it was like seven degrees out when Bruce would still demand his walk. And it's like a problem because he will stay out there until he can't put, he like can't keep his feet on the ground. And we're like, I'm sorry, it has to be shorter. Like, I can't carry you all the time. poor baby it gets so cold but do you want to talk about some 2026 ones i do i do yeah um

one i don't understand it what's funny is i ended up not picking any of the ones for january but like i was starting to do planning and i'm like i have like eight people i want to talk to in january and i'm like this isn't going to work yeah yeah there's a lot coming out in 2026. Yeah. Yeah. There is. Always. But always, but it's still exciting. Totally. My first pick is a January pick. And I feel like I'm the only person on Earth who hasn't gotten to read it yet because this arc has been making its way around. But I am waiting. Ashley Winstead's the future same. Yes. So excited for this book. It's been getting great reviews. I love her work. I know it's also like deeply personal to her in many ways. Yeah. I cannot wait to read it. Have you gotten to read it yet?

I haven't read it yet. I have it. I think I forgot it was January until Gare brought it up recently because he read it. And he was like, and it's like next month and I was like, what? Well, also the fact that next month is 2026 is still blowing my mind. That's a good point too. I think the cover made me think June. And like that was what was like stuck in my brain. So anyway, I have not read it yet. Did I just see? Did she just know. That was made. Cobb. Did you see Maycob just posted that Malin Ackerman is going to narrate all the little houses, her new one in January? That's so cool. And she was in the hunting wives for anyone who's kind of like wondering what that cool connection is. But I was like that's like that's another one

in January. It wasn't necessarily one of my picks. But yeah, yeah. I'm excited for me. That's awesome. That rocks. I know. I'm so happy that it did so well. Yes. I got a second season. yeah everybody was talking about that show i watched it a few of times it was fun yes it is very fun yes but uh for people who don't know about the future science it is kind of like what am i seeing i don't have it right in front of me i know it's about a girl in a band and it's kind of like daisy jones and the six yeah i think it's getting compared to taylor jenkins read a lot which i think is probably about the content but also about like being character writing about like so it's a the band i think is called the future saints and the lead singer i don't remember her name but um i think

it's set often in l.A and her sister dies in like a freak surfing accident i think and the sister was the band's manager and so she's kind of like losing her mind with grief and acting out and then also at the same time as like i think it's a dual pov with the new kind of like band manager or person kind of like trying to get them to I think she writes a song that's like about her grief and it really takes off and like they're being pulled into like new heights of success while at the same moment it's like her worst moment in the world and she's like falling apart and so I think they get like either a new manager or a band label person who's trying to like keep them together long enough to like ride this way of success and also I think starts to fall in

love with her and it's just like I don't know I'm honestly like tell me Ashley Winston wrote a book and I'll buy it. Like that's where you're out with that. So like premise sounds great, but I'm like, even if I didn't like, you'd be buying it. Like, so like I definitely didn't know the whole synopsis when I requested it. I was just like, please. Can I please have this? Yeah, and Gare is an Easter egg. He is in the book. So that's exciting. Yeah. Yeah. So that part's fun too. That's rad. I know. Um, so yeah, I'm really excited. for that one too if anyone could not tell um but this was a fun one that i just got from a publicist kathleen carter if anyone cares you know to know but she's been sending me some good ones lately did you

read or i don't think you did dark sisters by christie demester no but i just got a book of the month notification about it like the other day yes it's so good it just came out yesterday as of when we're but um she's been sending me some really fun books and there's one coming out on march 24th called the fortune tellers of rue du rue by alessia salm i'm sorry solnikova gilmore i saw that on i just saw that yeah and she ended up sending me that link and then i saw it too i was like oh i know that one um but since i read historical fiction now sometimes typically if there's female rage involved um a fearless fortune teller in 1920s paris must use her powers to define to divine who she can trust when an exiled romanov princess and her brother come to her

seeking answers about a decade's old mystery oh doesn't it just sound fun and unique and vibey right at my alley like many a woman my age i was obsessed with the anastasia movie when it came out and just had a full romanoff era i wrote a play and made all of my friends perform it like oh i love that i don't know that they loved me for it but i was like here's everyone's parts i'm director i you had a vision i had a vision yeah yeah so also sneak peek she'll be she will be on the podcast in march so cool just have to wait like three months yeah yeah oh my gosh that one i just thought the other day I went on net galley and it definitely got my eye and now I'm even more excited sounds great yeah yeah I agree it's very unique yeah um okay let me okay my next one

is a book called vigil by George Saunders um I don't know if you are have you read any George Saunders no so he was a big staple of a lot of my like literary education which can sometimes be creepy. Not creepy. Creepy is the wrong word. Uh-huh. What do I mean? I mean, there are certain men who make it into like every MFA and creative writing

genre and you're kind of like, okay. George Johnson is not one of those for me. He has this like, he's very funny. He's got this kind of a bullion language. He wrote a collection of short stories called Civil Warland and Bad Decline. It's about like a Civil War-seemed amusement park. And like it's so, but his. one of the last books I read of his oh god I have a funny story I can tell it on the podcast I

I didn't realize I was going in this direction when I told me because I just conjured up so um his book that came out a while ago is called lincoln in the bardo and it's about um yeah lincoln's son Willie died uh while Lincoln was in office and there are like historians who theorized that like Willie's death ultimately changed like a lot of Lincoln's policies around the civil war and like uh freeing enslaved people and different different things and so it's a book that's written both it's written in like verse and also he takes his work of documents and like cuts them up and so you're like getting these like interesting historical pictures i don't even know how to describe this but it is like fully a work of genius and then it's about like the spirits and the bardo

which is like the in-between place like and lincoln goes to visit willy's crypt and says goodbye to the last time and these spirits are like trying to talk to lincoln and it's it's so good and so i love his stuff um if you want to hear a really embarrassing story about me i um it's what we're here for so i revere his writing i think he's a great writer and he's like if you ever get the chance to hear him speak he's wonderful he's so smart and funny off the cuff so my friend and i went to him speak when he was in l.a when i was in grad school and we waited like an hour and a half in the signing line to get him to sign Lincoln and the Bardo and I got up there and he said how's it going and I said I think I'm in love with you but you're married so I'll just have to be in love with you from afar and he said thank

you and he signed my book and away my gosh that's why I'm always scared is going to happen I'm just like not even going to know what I'm saying I lived it I and he took it very generously he was like okay thank you that's nice this is me in love from afar and I was like yes sir and then just like off I go oh my gosh wow

so anyway vigil by George Saunders says takes place at the bedside of an oil company CEO in the twilight hours of his life as he is varied from this world into the next so it looks like it follows

a person I'll read this whole not for the first time Jill doll Blaine falls herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife and lands head first in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. So I think it's about these two people, this woman who died and is now reincarnated as somebody who like helps people transition into the afterlife and basically a billionaire and like maybe being forced to reckon with the sins that he has like committed here on earth. But like George Saunders again, for me,

as another person where it's like I'm going to buy that book. Yes. It's coming out and buying it. It sounds like he's very interested in death and afterlife. Yeah. And maybe like morality is the vibe I'm getting then too

because both of those sound like they kind of address that both those things. Yeah, I would say that's true without ever really being preachy or like more like about it. But I think he's kind of exploring often in his work like what makes a good life, what makes a good person like and kind of trying to get at that all while writing delightful prose that's genius level but also like hilariously fun like he is very funny and very smart at the same time and it's just a delight that is how I have felt about every single Percival Everett book I have read

like it's like it's digestible prose and he's so funny yes he's so funny totally and it's like people like personal everett or george saunders not just men but like plenty of writers where it's like yeah you can marry the high brow and still be like but i also want to tell a good story and like i so appreciate that of like yes well like i love well crafted pros but i'm also get a little annoyed when people are like totally i don't go full purple pros even though i'm covered in purple right now it becomes too much for me yeah Well, Lincoln and the Bartow is one of those titles that I've, like, heard. I don't think I'd even really seen the cover, but it's one of those random titles where I was like, oh, yeah, I've heard this title, but I knew nothing about it.

And now I'm like, so now I think you'd like this. Yeah. Yeah. Fascinating. I'll hardly just woke up. Oh, no. Okay. So another one that I am super excited for, the just.

sounds very unique. I was in my like what's out there that like is so interesting to me on my net galley shelf. But it's called the story eaters of yam by Kevin Hinker. It comes out on June 16th. But this is like the one sentence, but I almost feel like this might be one where I should read the whole one. But an irreverent suspenseful profoundly original novel about a group of science fiction writers hired to game plan an alien invasion led by larry a struggling novelist who can't perceive time oh my god okay that's great that alone and the cover is like really it's really cool like the cover is even very unique and colorful i love some pinks and i think there's some pinks and yellows um but yeah i also love i love sci-fi and then this sounds like a very meta

about writing about sci-fi writers and kind of a sci-fi genre so yeah i am uniquely intrigued by this one love that yeah sounds great that sounds great and i'm going to look up the cover what did you say it's called i'm sorry it's called the story eaters of yam and it's y a m in by kevin hinker is what i'm guessing or hinker um oh oh this does look amazing i'm also sorry i should have uh I'm doped to the gills on allergy medications. I don't know what's the same. Okay, cool. I have bronchitis, and it's like not going away, which is the nature of bronchitis.

So I had two interviews the last two days. And with both of them, I started off. And I was like, if I say something totally dumb, it's because I am cycling through Benadryl and albuterol right now. Yeah. Maybe I have something going on like that, too. I've been hitting my inhaler like a crazy person. Yes, me too.

And I felt like I had a cold the week before Thanksgiving. And so then I think it just did not morphed. Yeah. I guess it's just been kind of since then. But we're so, we're just, we're just so cool. We're so bookish. We're in the allergy girl club. It's made.

Yes, we are. Different parts of the country, different climates and something is still happening. Sorry, go ahead. I, well, I just randomly, are you going to see Hamman? yeah i am uh have you seen it no and i didn't know if i like in general i knew about it a couple months ago i was like i don't know like shakespeare isn't like i'm not like passionate about shakespeare and then i've seen all the press about it and i'm like i have i have to go see it but everyone says you're going to ugly cry that's what i'm like that's the reason i've been putting it off

is i'm same i don't know when i'm going to be in the mood to just i know but like i don't for sure yeah i know just like the interviews from all of them like the director i don't know if she's cloway or chloe because there's an accent on the e but her interviews are amazing paul mescal jesse buckley like their interviews are like okay well i have to see this story yeah i uh i love jessie buckley she's in a very interesting serial killer one that came out a couple years ago oh really the beast let me check almost like i have this amazing oh no i think it's just called beast oh it's just called a british psychological thriller film in a small island community a troubled young woman falls for a mysterious outsider who empowers her to escape her oppressive family when he comes

under suspicion for a series of murder she defends him at all costs wow it was good i need to watch that i saw her in i did watch the lost daughter that's what i'm realizing i saw her yeah I haven't seen her and I haven't seen that but yeah everyone is saying her performance is like insane yeah she's great as well as Paul I think he's so talented and I really hope he's actually one of the good guys or at least good enough you know I know I know it's such a minefield oh my god I have so many things to say here it's such a mind for like a male actor at this point like I know obsessed with Josh O'Connor And I'm like, please just don't be a dick. You know, like, please don't do something bad for many reasons.

My being a fan is not the number one reason not to do something bad. No. Just please don't. That's how I felt. That's how I feel about every clip I see of Jonathan Bailey and David Corrin's sweat. I'm like, can they both be as good as I think they are? Please. I know.

I have to believe. I do believe in my heart, Jonathan Bailey is one of the groups. I think Jonathan Bailey's. never know we think we know these people and we don't know you know they're actors like sometimes it's so easy to forget like oh they give moving performances but i'm like i know what they're like totally i know them that's the very parasycial of it all um okay i'm super excited about hamlet but the other one that oh yeah speaking of josh o'connor um dead men is what is he about to be in what is he about to be in dead men the glat the um bed won't yes and knives out or something like

that wake up dead man wake up dead man yeah wake up dead man and i am so excited for it we saw it in theaters what a good so freaking good okay so good um so without spoiling anything uh it's i mean i think anyone who's seen the promotional materials knows that it's like mostly taking place in a uh like a church but what is it called when it's like that big like a wrecked maybe maybe that's but i know there's like another it's it's kind of like a church but it looks like it's like a gothic church that's what readers will know what we mean it's castley um and so so that that is what he's dealing with and anyone who has watched knives out knows that like there are like themes going on to like knives out or a glass onion was a lot about excessive wealth and like playing those kind of

games and so this one it takes on religion um and i will say very fairly it kind of reminded me of how you and i talked about heretic and how like that ending is cool because it respects both sides is almost what i would say i agree that's what this this feels like too however it's not shying away from like when religion is used for control it's bad like it's it's really bad to do that to people um but like also one of my takeaways when we got back i was like um i'd have had this i had this conversation with my friend mackenzie on an episode she was on where we were ranting about people who are like it's not that deep about like everything in art and we're like most of the time it is sure um and we talked about i don't know did you see the running man huh i did we were talking about

how that one because both of us felt like it was very heavy handed like by the end it felt like they were screaming like this is about class warfare um but i really enjoy the action scenes too and also it's like it some of what it made me think when i left was like um that might be the only genre that is that someone goes and does see that message so that makes sense like that it being heavy-handed might be the first time a lot of people still even think about it. So I was kind of like, okay, there's that. And there were a lot of enjoyable parts about it. But our conversation then because of that was about like things needing to be having, getting some things being very heavy-handed and very overt and very not subtle and whatever lately. And

she's kind of talking about like our nation's sixth grade reading level. Like, you know, anyone who listened to knows everything I'm saying leading up to that then I saw wake up dead man like two days after we recorded that and I texted her and I was like I think one of my takeaways is that some of it feels like villain stroking his mustache yeah because our reality has gotten to like villain stroking mustache so like some of it is it's not heavy handed to have this pastor figure that is in this church because that's actually how some pastor figures are acting right now. So that was like the other thing that I thought was amazing about it. But yeah, Joshua Conner is amazing in it. He's so good. And I totally hear you. And I think that there's different levels too. And like even with like, I not having seen Wake Up Dead Man, but I mean, he's always playing, those movies are always playing with the tropes of like the private investigator, like the Hercool, Porro type figure. And some of those are broader, right? Like some of

them are like mustache twirley like it's sometimes an homage also to like the work that like is influencing this thing and like right um i'm excited to see it i am so feral with lust for josh o'connor that man is so talented and just like he's got such an expressive face yes i feel like this podcast today has turned unexpectedly horny on my side but that's okay george saunders and josh o'connor I know. I think I thought I saw, I think I saw an announcement for something Josh O'Connor is going to be in in 2026, but I can't remember. I can't remember what it is now. Are you, are you watching heated rivalry? I am not. Just because I don't really ever watch romance. I mean, I know it's like dark, darkish romance, but. I know. I didn't watch Ballard. Do you know that one? So I don't often go for like cop procedural shows unless it's like Luther with Idris Elba or something. But like I did actually really like Bosch. Yes, I did too.

Yeah. And I liked. I thought it was. And so this is a spinoche of Bosch. And part of what I like so much about Bosch is like how well they like show like actual L.A. That's not just like Hollywood or the beach, which is kind of like I get it. It was like a much like more realistic portrait of the city. But we just started this one.

And it's like basically she's the head. of a cold case unit in LAPD. And so she's just looking at cold cases. We got a far field of what we were talking about. And it's stories. Stories. Yeah. And they call it the Library of Lost Souls where they work, which I think is like

beautiful and poetic. But like it's a good show too. I'm enjoying it. So far hasn't been too heavy on the copaganda. Actually, is it critiquing the police a lot. But, you know, that's always the risk you run with procedural where it's like. Totally. police are the good guy you're like I don't know yeah don't get me started um what was I going to say about that oh I have a I have like a slow horses that I want to watch that one's like not I wouldn't say it's police procedural necessarily but it is like the what I think they're spies aren't they yes it's like they the spies who basically get kicked out

because they make they're the misfits essentially and every season is so good and there was a whole other season they aired so that's one of my uh it's it's uh procedural adjacent but it is more spy yeah i got to watch that one and i haven't read i have a couple of mcaron's books that they're based on but i haven't read them yet so i tried the writing style is very different and i remember someone telling me that and i thought i could get into it. it and I couldn't. Yeah. Yeah. I what I'm imagining, so tell me if I'm right or wrong, but like there's also a certain, I don't know when those books came out, but I think

they're a little bit older. Oh, that's a good question. And so I'm wondering if they're going to be, like, I've tried to read John LeCarray before and like he's a great writer, but like, and the reason people read his books are like the detail about the Spycraft and stuff. And some part of me is like, yada, yada, like let's go, you know, let's get to the drama a little more than like, You know, these are the thing. And so I'm curious if it's like that or it is, I'm trying to, I tried it so long ago. So it's like, it's so incredibly detached from everything. And then like, like, yeah, I tried it like two years ago. So it's like I can't even remember the specific way that it's so different. But you're like so removed. Like obviously you can do third person, but still feel in the action. And then. And one of the things was he'll take forever placing the setting or describing the setting like so long, but also in this detached way every time you switch scenes.

But his storylines, like the plot is fantastic, which is why I end up loving it on TV. So it's one of those where I just watched the TV show. Okay. Then I'm maybe not going to bump it up on my list. I struggled with it. But some people love it at the same time. but yeah i remember being like why can't i like this and i was like you don't want to try to make yourself there are more books to be read we really are yeah speaking of what else are you looking

forward to in 2026 oh yes um so another one that i am very excited for is called uh lady x by molly fader and it comes out on may 5th um the search for a notorious vigilantee exposes the secrets among three generations of women in this repulsive novel of female resistance and rays sweeping from contemporary L.A. to gritty 1970s, New York. Okay. That's how funny. Like, this was written for me and maybe you. And the cover is dramatic and black and pink and has like a big X on it. So when I saw it on NetGalley, I was like, I've got to check this out. And then I was like, oh, yeah, I want to read this. Yeah. Love that. That sounds great. Um, my next one actually kind of is seems like along those lines. It's called murder bimbo by Rebecca

Novak. Ooh. And it's got black and pink cover with like a American flag dripping blood. Ooh. Some one description of it is murder bimbo is gone girl for the Luigi Mangione era. And it's about a sex worker who turns into a political assassin. We were just talking about how we wanted more books with sex workers as the main characters. Like, that was one of Gare's tropes that he even picked as, like, one of his favorites. Somebody heard you. This sounds so good. That cover is amazing.

Everybody needs to go look at the cover. Ooh, it turns into an assassin. Wow. Yeah, those vibes match for sure. Those, like, go together. I'm into it. I'm going to have to find that one now, too. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I have been on, I have been in such a gothic phase. and there's one on May 19th called The Temptation of Charlotte North by Camilla Bruce. The cover is like so dramatic. I love it. And it says a rebellious young woman desperate to escape her predetermined life, joins forces with an unlikely ally, a sinister spirit in this dark Gothic fantasy. Be careful what you wish for. It might come true. This one just sounds, it's another one where I probably won't even read. the entire synopsis because I'm like I will just that that's enough for me yeah that sounds great yes I love the gothic too so that's right up now did you watch Frankenstein I did watch Frankenstein what did you think I really enjoyed it um I know it's like a it ventures from the source

material so I know that was like what some people obviously like struggled with but I thought it was like very it especially for how long it was it also didn't feel long i thought it might feel long and i did think it was very beautiful and then of course stunning gear mo is just so fun to listen to yeah in interviews so that made me like it even more he's incredible i did like it i didn't i i didn't like it more than some of his others like say pamela florence or one of his early movies is called cronos which i really love it's like a vampire movie set in mexico it's amazing yeah the stunning i could live in watching those visuals i thought everybody acting was great it's like pink things yes and i i appreciated like i don't think it's a spoiler for this

because the story is forever but like you're appreciated how much he was really making the point that like of of the monsters in this frankenstein is the monster it's not the monster it's frankenstein It's frankly much. So I thought that was really well done. I love the use of color throughout, the reds, the green, so vibrant. It wasn't a total hit for me, but it was beautiful, and I did like it a lot. Yeah, I thought it was very beautiful. And it was fun watching it with Tyler, because to your point that this one, like, it points out who the problem is.

Pretty good. Yeah. So, but in the first part of it. Tyler's like, well, what's going to go so wrong that he gets mad at him? Because you get the, there's the way this one's structured, you get like a prologue where you're basically like, you know that Frankenstein's monster or creature, however you want to talk about it, is like hunting down. I don't know if it says his creator.

I mean, you go into it knowing if you know the Frankenstein story. So he was like, I don't understand like, how is this going to go bad? And it was so funny because I was like, oh, but it gave me the perspective that he was doing it that well, the setup that like someone who really was like first experiencing it was like, I don't understand what's going to happen here. And I loved the like record scratch moment at the again, I don't think these are even big spoilers at all. But at halfway through we're basically Jacob Allorty for lack of knowing to call him a creature or not like bursts through. through and is like, he even says something that's basically like, and now it's my turn to tall my side. And I live for those moments. I really just do. I thought it was great. I thought Jacob Allorty was great in it. Oh, yeah. And Mia Goth is so expressive too. She's gorgeous. And I thought it was cool how he, that was the other thing I did think was cool, how he incorporated Hacienda, like, which was essentially.

slavery plantations and there's like also like one other thing that was typically a part of hacienda culture but I thought it was a cool way to bring that story into it as well totally totally yeah I mean he's a master I yeah another person who whatever he puts out I'm gonna watch you know what I mean like he's so good uh there was something else that made me think of I was going to mention I also was lucky enough to be reading i medusa while the same week i watched it and i was like this is my week of who the real monster is absolutely okay so speaking of gothic and jacob alority where are we on the withering heights coming out this and it comes out february right it's like valentine's day yeah

i don't know wayne cracked me up i don't think she's posted it yet but we like did a video with her obviously she's like what the fuck is happening here but then at the end she was like all of that being said i am totally going to go and hate watch so i am and i am so torn i am the kind of person where i'm like i shouldn't support this oh i mean i go see it i mean okay here's my spicy take yes i think the thing that he's most egregious that i think lane is pretty upset about and i there is heathcliff is not canonically white and that's like an important detail and i think that is fucked up it's a weird choice and that said i am so excited to see this whether it's a train wreck or it's wonderful yes it's something to see i also can really appreciate what i think emerald finella's

maybe doing is like this book has been adapted a bunch of times and i personally don't think it's that easy of a book to adapt because you've got the intergenerational thing. They almost always cut off the second generation and just focus on the Heathcliff and Kathy of it. And then there's also, these people are like deeply unlikable. Like this is not a love story that you are like, I know. I mean, you might be rooting for them or find it romantic, but like they're bad people. And I think that translates much easier in a book than it does on screen. Yes. And I think she's I think even like hunger games feels that way to me. Like I feel like you don't even get, you just don't. Anyway, go ahead.

And so I appreciate that from what I've read of her thing about it is like, yeah, this is I'm, this is my interpretation of it. It's not meant to be the definitive or like the only interpretation. It's something else. I think it's going to be berserk and I think it's going to be very weird girl lit vibes almost. Yeah. Like all of this like wall licking. The wall licking the kneading the bread. They're like all these things sexual, but somehow create this like. like really sexual vibe and it's going to be so vibey I think everyone's critiques and Charlie XX doing this there's just layers of like it is going to be unique I am positive it's going to be people are going to have a lot of things to say about it and I think that's all valid and I'm also like I'm going no it's kind of like you're like I need to have an opinion and also just like I'm down like there was some report that came out which I think this might be focused but they were like they did a test screening of it in texas and people were like so repulsed that they were like it's way too sexual and i'm like good what is that good like let's let's go of course

texas felt that way too they're like they're going to have to recut it because there were scenes that were like they're like it was too much and i'm like no that's that's the that's the version i want to see you're like i will be there oh my god please this is this is my other PSA can can we not be obsessed with saying that people want to watch all their movies at home please please to these the stupid fucking okay i won't go all the way into it but i know it was like why can't i think of ted's last name the netflix dude yes was like when it came out that they were going to be buying warner brothers and hbio then they talked about that he was mentioning how they would have shorter release windows in the theaters um and i like i i would that alone made me mad i was like fuck

you don't say that like i love there are pretty short at this point like i mean i feel like that's a good point too for like three weeks at max unless you're like wicked you know and just well and like wake up dead man though in this netflix model like it was here it was in one weekend yeah and i think that's so stupid like i'm so glad that that's why like that's why like We're AMCA listers. I've talked about this. So you can pretty much go to three movies a week, which we don't even do that. But it wasn't in any AMC theater. And I like never go anywhere else. But I was like, I am seeing this one in theaters. I'm not watching it on my TV if I can help it basically. And I, so that made me mad to begin with. I was like, stop saying that. Like be it like also like you could buy. I, I, I feel like you can still be the co-CEO or whatever. He's the co-something of Netflix and even buy something and still be like, but also we're going to make money in theaters.

Like I don't feel like you have to be like people just want to watch movies at home. So that made me mad. And then how Paramount, aka Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia, are trying to buy it instead. And like, these are my two choices. I know. I know. Either be Paramount, which is certainly red-pilled coded at this point, if not fully red-pilled. And then I'm with you, the Netflix of it all. And I, yeah, I think it's a bummer, too. I don't want theaters to go away. I don't want to, like, more siloed in our homes. I know. That's also

part of why I'm like, you're just going to have to go ugly cry and see Hamlet. I know. We have to support these movies. I know. And even that one is only one of the AMC movie theaters here. It's not even at the one closest to us. Yeah. I'm like, come on. That's annoying. Yeah. Well, I think we've given all kinds of recommendations.

We really are. Stuff you can watch, stuff you can read. George Saunders is going to be hilarious for me forever now. Now you know. Yes. Now we know. Thank you. Thank you.

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Thank you.