In Her Good Books
Disappointment and Betrayal: Rereads, Robot Love, and the Idiot Box.
This week Jen and Shanna hash out their feelings of disappointment and betrayal together, as well as discuss all of the reading they've been doing so far this year.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Network Effect by Martha Wells
The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier
We did a whole episode about The Anomaly! Listen to it here!
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Use our code GOODBOOKS at checkout and get two books for the price of your first months membership!
Find us at:
www.goodbookspodcast.com
Facebook - In Her Good Books Podcast
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TikTok - @inhergoodbookspodcast
We are affiliated with Libro.fm, but all reviews are our true and honest opinions!
This week Jen and Shanna hash out their feelings of disappointment and betrayal together, as well as discuss all of the reading they've been doing so far this year.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Network Effect by Martha Wells
The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier
We did a whole episode about The Anomaly! Listen to it here!
Libro.fm.
Use our code GOODBOOKS at checkout and get two books for the price of your first months membership!
Find us at:
www.goodbookspodcast.com
Facebook - In Her Good Books Podcast
Instagram - @inhergoodbookspodcast
TikTok - @inhergoodbookspodcast
We are affiliated with Libro.fm, but all reviews are our true and honest opinions!
Hello everyone and welcome to In Her Good Books.
Speaker 2:I'm Shanna and I'm Jen, and this is a podcast where two friends talk about books. How are you, jen? I am good, that's good, good, I felt like I had a story.
Speaker 1:Was it that you betrayed me and went on another podcast? I did, I did. That's how I choose to frame it, and not I failed you and didn't read the book.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you were definitely invited, but fail.
Speaker 1:You know how it is sometimes You're just so tired.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, yes, yes, I do. Yesterday I recorded with Rachel from the Barely Bookish podcast talking about Wuthering Heights and it was so much fun. I bet it was so fun. It was fun. Plus, she has the cutest cat.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, she just got it when we recorded.
Speaker 2:Rebecca, yeah, I guess it's been two years. Oh yeah, oh, I want to see.
Speaker 1:I'll hurry up. I'll pop in on the last episode, yeah.
Speaker 2:I was like can I just take a picture of your cat? I'm sure she probably has much cat content Probably On her social media, because it's so cute and I was like I didn't really know that I needed one until I saw hers and it was like in her sweater.
Speaker 1:I'm in the market for a cat, yeah Well, anyways, I'll get over the betrayal, don't worry about it. I'll also get over the failure.
Speaker 2:I hope Wuthering Heights is on your list of your guilt books for the year, absolutely is oh my gosh, it's so funny. I was reading it. I had to read the first five chapters because the way she does it is that we go like kind of deeper in terms of like we discuss chapter by chapter. So we just recorded chapters one to five. So I read those chapters in the morning just to be super fresh on them. And oh my gosh, so funny.
Speaker 1:It doesn't sound like it's going to be a funny book.
Speaker 2:Hilarious. And then she's like talking about what's happening. She kind of recaps each chapter and I'm just like I'm like Kate is wait until she's done talking before I start laughing and making jokes about what she's saying.
Speaker 1:I just have no context for what you're talking about. I should have just done my homework.
Speaker 2:You should have because I mean I think it's hilarious and she was laughing too, so I think it is funny.
Speaker 1:Is this going to be one of those demented situations where only you think it's funny?
Speaker 2:There was a few parts where she definitely kind of interpreted things a little bit differently and I thought I think my version was funnier. There's one part where this guy gets attacked by dogs and she was like, oh, and they were just being regular dogs, like jumping on him and barking and stuff. And I was like no, I definitely read it like he was just sitting at chair. I felt these dogs were just attacking him. And the owner comes up and is like what have you done to my dogs? That's like oh, that's really funny.
Speaker 2:So we'll see, we'll see, I think once you finally get there Once the guilt has grown to an extreme amount.
Speaker 1:You know, I had two paths before me. One of them had the book I read. I know, look at that bomb. I read a book. Or Wuthering Heights. Would this one have had more payout with my friendship, my podcast?
Speaker 2:This one was just really fun, they're equal and you're going to be excited.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Did I already tell you? Well, you've Did I tell you, I don't know, maybe you did. Do you know what I read? I don't know.
Speaker 2:No, I don't know, because you seem way more excited than I would think you would be.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, it's not my murder bot.
Speaker 2:I read two books to talk about this week.
Speaker 1:I know, I know, guys, I've been in a rut which also did not help me to pick up Wuthering Heights.
Speaker 2:But it's hilarious and so dramatic.
Speaker 1:Oh well, it has been a long time since I've read a good classic classic, and you know that's one of my favorite flavors. Yes, Okay, I'll get to it. I thought you said that you were gonna get over the guilt.
Speaker 2:I haven't yet. I mean wait failure. I mean you're just gonna wait until her podcast comes out and then you'll just listen to the episodes and then you'll be like I read it.
Speaker 1:I will, because I'll be so jealous listening to you talk to somebody else.
Speaker 2:Yes. I was like, look, I read Wuthering Heights too, love me more, but she just finished doing like a 20 episode series on Jane Eyre.
Speaker 1:Are you gonna do 20 episodes of Wuthering Heights? I don't think so. I will have time to jump in by then we just did one chapters.
Speaker 2:I don't know how many chapters are in the book, but one to five, one episode. I assume it'll probably be like four to five episodes, okay.
Speaker 1:So I've got four to five weeks to read this book.
Speaker 2:But I do want to read Jane Eyre again, because I do like that one as well. I haven't read that one, it's been a long time. The Bronte sisters they are funny.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure I've got that one on my shelf because a bunch of classics I was buying in this cover, which now I think I can only get them secondhand. It's annoying, it's kind of fun. Yeah, I can, like little treasures, be on the hunt. I always look at the one back wall at Ted's that's. Ted's is a used bookstore in our town. It's the best one, woo-hoo.
Speaker 2:Ted's yeah, and it's like the halfway point between our houses, yes, which now we've just told everyone when we live. Oh shit, they'd have to knock door to door, like love actually smelled to find us. So it's okay.
Speaker 1:Probably described our houses in detail accidentally. It's not one of like a Taylor Swift Easter egg thing. No.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, do you want to go first, since you're so excited?
Speaker 1:Well, did you read five books?
Speaker 2:I read three books. Well, two and a half.
Speaker 1:Well, just think about the pattern. You're gonna have to go first. Well, and also I can keep you in suspense.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, Okay, well, so I read Starling House by Alex E Harrow.
Speaker 1:Woo-hoo, I knew about that, that's why I didn't sound all excited. Yes, you did know which now I feel guilty about. Ha ha, ha, ha ha. See as you should, since I said you should read this Well and you gave me all of your library information so I could go and do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Now the whole just loan is just sitting there in the library.
Speaker 1:How many days do I have?
Speaker 2:Let's see Eight days.
Speaker 1:Okay, pressure's on. Yep, it's probably pretty popular, yeah, anyways, why don't you tell me about it, and then we can see if I even want to read it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's her newest book. You are a fan of some of her writing.
Speaker 1:Am I? Is it Alex E Harrow? Yeah, oh yes, I've only read 10,000 Doors of January. Yeah, and you love it, I do.
Speaker 2:That's one of my guilt books.
Speaker 1:Oh, you haven't read it. No, what's wrong with you?
Speaker 2:I started it like I don't know. I had no reason, I didn't, I wasn't not liking it. I think I read like the first page oh, that's not enough. No, I know, I don't know. I am curious cause I really liked this book.
Speaker 1:You've read the Once and Future Witches too? No, no, I haven't read anything. Well, you've read Starling House Now.
Speaker 2:I have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the only one I haven't read. Oh, just kidding, I just told you I hadn't read the Once and Future Witches.
Speaker 2:Oh yes.
Speaker 1:I boldly lie.
Speaker 2:I think someone did and it wasn't good, like I think someone in Book Club read it and was like I was really like maybe Janelle had said.
Speaker 1:I think Janelle read it and she liked it medium Maybe, but worse in her mouth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, probably Janelle's, like that's my favorite book, I don't know. Yeah, this is her newest one. The cover is so good. It's my favorite. There's birds and keys and plants and moons.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's right. It's the very beautiful cover. Yes.
Speaker 2:I got it for Book Club Christmas and everyone was so jealous Like I won Book Club Christmas just because I got the best book that everybody wanted. So this one is about a woman named Opal who has been caring for her brother since their mother died in a car accident and she's like a very prickly character. She's like everything everybody says to her Like I'm making prickly finger emotions right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all I can think is a cactus, yeah.
Speaker 2:An actual cactus she is. Anybody talks to her, she's just like pissed off at them and she's really like mouthy. We've all had this customer. Yeah, they live in a hotel. They don't have any money, they eat only like instant noodles. She's like 27 and he's like 17, something like that, and she's always like the kind of person that's like getting fired from jobs and everything pisses her off. She's mad at everything. She's mad at the world, or. But she's really trying to still give her brother the best life that she can. She was really young when their mom died, so she had forged documents to make it so that he wouldn't get taken away. So she's just been kind of like raising him since he was little. And then in the small town that they live in there's a house called Starling House. It's kind of that creepy haunted house that no one goes to Unless they know they're wanting to knock on the gate and run away screaming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's being brazed. Yes.
Speaker 2:And there's so many rumors about the house. People have always kind of come and gone from it owners, and then they always end up dead. Somehow. There's always some kind of accident that kills them. Opal, the prickly woman she has always dreamt of the house. It's always been in her dreams and then one day she kind of ends up outside the gate and then somehow meets the owner of the house named Arthur, and he offers her a job to come in and clean the house. And she really wants the money because she wants to send her brother to a private school. And so she takes a job and the house is just completely fallen into disrepair. It's like everything's broken, everything's dirty, it's like the hell house is being swallowed by the earth. It's just not a good house, not good. So she's kind of putting it back together and she kind of develops a relationship with the house and then kind of also with the guy.
Speaker 1:There's a house relationship in my book too. Oh yeah, nice, that sounds so weird.
Speaker 2:I love a house, but it'll make sense later.
Speaker 1:It's an intimate relationship, like intimate no.
Speaker 2:No. It's like how does that work? It's like a relationship though.
Speaker 1:I love it when people have relationships with houses. Yeah, you just read one with the under the water house.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did. Yep, that was a little bit too intimate. I'm not a TPH. Then the woman who originally built the house. She wrote a children's book where, essentially, this little girl finds a way to go into a place called Underland and down there's like monsters and stuff. Opal's always read this book since she was little. It basically ends up being about Opal and this guy, arthur, fighting monsters together in the house of the house of Underland, she found a book that says all of this.
Speaker 1:Well, she wrote a book that says all of this.
Speaker 2:The original owner, like the person who built the house, arthur, oh no, no, arthur's the new owner.
Speaker 1:This is many dead people.
Speaker 2:Yes, many dead people. Way back in the olden days, the original woman who built the house wrote this children's book about Underland.
Speaker 1:And Arthur and.
Speaker 2:Opal and they're not in the book. Oh, I see where we went wrong here. The book the Starling House is about Opal and Arthur and the story of Underland.
Speaker 1:I see, yes, I thought they found a book about them in Underland I was like this is not how I thought this was going to go, no, but that's pretty close, it's OK.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really like this book. It took a little while to get going. The first half was a bit slow and I was like eh, but then the second half, I was like, yes, loved it Sweet. So it was just so dark and twisty. The writing was really descriptive and spooky.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I loved that about 10,000 doors of January.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that made me pretty interested in her other writings. I read that this was kind of her first Gothic novel, so that's kind of just more of my alley anyways, but I think I sent it to you. There was once the last line of one chapter was like and then the monsters rose. And then the first line of the next chapter was I could feel them like flies on my bedsheets, just little titters, freak me out, loved it. Yeah, I love haunted house. I love monsters. I love that there's a place called Underland. Yeah, I love haunted little girls. See, I was really spooky and fun.
Speaker 2:It started out being maybe like three stars. It's like, yeah, it's fine. Finished out at like 4.5 stars, woohoo, that's a lot of stars, yeah. And there was a few things that did bother me, that knocked it down a little bit. One thing was that near the end we kind of get that trope. I see it all the time the protagonist. I'm picturing more movies, but I see it in books a lot when the protagonist goes in some kind of quest, finds some weird room somewhere, where there's a person in there and the person's like ah, let me tell you all the information you require, and then they do. It's like, ah.
Speaker 1:We found the Oracle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly so the story when they find this person and this person gives the story. The story's good and it's interesting, but I think it would have been better to actually have been in a scene with all this stuff happening instead of just hearing it from the mouth of this person. Yeah, that was kind of one of those showing in instead of telling things, and I see it a lot. It bothers me more when and I guess this is kind of what happened, but Are we heading into spoiler territory?
Speaker 2:Maybe not, but maybe yes. I don't think so. I think we're OK. But a lot of times in books I find the villains will do their villain monologue Love a good villain monologue it annoys me so much.
Speaker 2:I'm like, oh what? You wouldn't be saying all this stuff. It's ridiculous and in this case too, the person is kind of a villain but also a victim. So I don't know, but it's kind of the same idea and it kind of bothered me. But also it was still good in the end. And then also I've read to look at the physical book before I came here. So I can't say this is for sure. But the book started out having footnotes. I love footnotes, yeah, and that's fine. But I think it just started out having footnotes and I don't think they carried on throughout the rest of the book. So it was almost like, unless I just got used to them and tuned it out. But I don't think so, because she would say footnote Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and that wasn't.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's right, it was audio, yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't think that they carried on.
Speaker 1:If it had been the physical book, you would have just skipped all the footnotes, probably. Because I started reading them Well, especially in this case where it makes me I can't picture reality in which I would ever not read a footnote.
Speaker 2:It's so baffling to me. If I was reading nonfiction then I'd read the footnotes, but in fiction.
Speaker 1:Yes, no, very important. We're all building information.
Speaker 2:No, I was like one line. She Opal write stories and she's like oh, and at this point I stopped writing and then it's like footnote, this is untrue. She continued to write and submit stories to publications, or whatever.
Speaker 2:And I'm like I don't care about that. And also I was wondering are they trying to say that someone else other than the author is writing this story and footnoting it? But that was not really made clear at all At the end. It was like and then there were rumors that someone was writing a book about it and I was like, ok, but it just didn't really pay off. It just didn't really, it didn't seem fully formed.
Speaker 1:I'll have to let you know, because I do have a very steady relationship with footnotes, yeah, so I think I know some good quality footnotes yes, well, you do, and I don't think this will be the case.
Speaker 2:I think you will be like eh you know I'll report back in one year. Yes, you have eight days. Eight days, yeah, I really liked it. I would definitely recommend it, that's so good it was really fun, but yeah, the beginning does start out slow, so it only came out in paperback.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it didn't come out in hardcover.
Speaker 2:And I have the other two in hardcover. That's so weird. Why would they do?
Speaker 1:that I don't know, but it doesn't look good for Michelle. No, and it's a beautiful book.
Speaker 2:It's really it's not very long either. Yeah, they messed that up. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Maybe I'm wrong, maybe something wonky happened and they're doing a run of them now, who knows, maybe. Okay, the first book I read. I'm going to hold you in suspense for the book you don't know about. So I'll tell you what the one you do I finally finished Murderbot number seven, Network Effect.
Speaker 2:Nice that's the full novel right. Is that? Yes, First full novel, Because all the other ones are no. I think maybe eighths the one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a novel. How many pages is it?
Speaker 2:I don't know, because I did it on audio.
Speaker 1:What was it?
Speaker 2:Eight or long, or was it 15 hours?
Speaker 1:Let's find out. It took me over a month because I had a big lull where I just wouldn't listen to the last two hours. Yes, 12 hours, yeah, yeah, so regular. It was a novel, yeah, so I've only got one left. It was fantastic. Everybody at the other book club, everybody.
Speaker 2:Basically everybody who reads cool books, everyone that matters.
Speaker 1:We even have a separate group chat. This is just for Murderbot lovers. Yes, they had said that this one was the first full novel, but it lulled where it could have probably been a novella. But then all of this world building and whatever does end up paying off. But there is a period of time where you're just like, oh, make something happen, but things are happening. So, anyways, it was fine, it was great. The whole book was really good, yeah, but there was a big lull, not helped by my reading rut. Yes, that does not help. No, well, this one Murderbot, it's so hard. Because who wants to hear a summary of book seven?
Speaker 2:Like at this point you're on board with Murderbot or you're not? Yeah, well, if you're not reading Murderbot, skip ahead, but if you are, then you'll love this. Yes, that's true.
Speaker 1:So, murderbot, what the heck did they do in this one? They are with Mensa's Mensa is that her name? Yes, one of her daughters, because she's second mom, or whatever, because they've got like, just that's how they work on that planet. And she's running a mission and Murderbot goes, and I don't. I need to have notes. I don't know how to. I don't know how to describe this at all. What is Network Effect about? I'm going to pull a full Caroline here. Network Effect notes.
Speaker 1:When Murderbot's human associates not friends, never friends are captured and another, not friend from its past requires urgent assistance, murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action. Drastic action it is. Then we meet a character and I believe it's book three called Art, and Art is an asshole research transport, and so he's a transport, he's a big ship, he's the whole spaceship, and Murderbot and Art in this book fall in love. But it's not love, it's like weird robot love when, like, they just love each other but they're not in like a sexual relationship. There's no, like a. And then Art at the end spoilers he invites Murderbot to go on a mission and then they, like meet each other's families. So cute. I was melting and screaming and dying because my favorite Murderbot has art his spaceship. I love it. So yeah, I guess you think Wuthering Heights is funny.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I've never heard anybody say Wuthering Heights is funny, so I think it might be you. Yeah, but also this thought of robot love also excites me, right, oh my God for real.
Speaker 1:It was so cute and sweet and I didn't see it coming, because they're both robots. Robots, well, no, they're not robots, but they're like, they're sentient things, but they're, you know, yeah, they don't have the parts that go together yeah, so like why yes?
Speaker 1:that's just my stupid human brain. But yeah, it was really good and I'm excited sad to be at the last one. But then there's all of the side content because I'm the slowpoke, of course, in the Murderbot fan club from Book Club Everyone else is already done and knows all of the side material and has links for me to like go to after.
Speaker 2:Well good, They've done all the hard work.
Speaker 1:They really have. They've done all of the homework. I just need to read the book and now that I'm done this one, I think picking up the next one will be easier. But also I read another book, so like I'm just starting to read again, which is helpful. Yep, that was a very poor description of Network of Facts.
Speaker 2:The only thing that mattered was robot love. Yeah, the romance.
Speaker 1:But there were so many good scenes, I believe you. So after seven books, murderbot, still good, still good. I'm feeling pretty good about this series. I think we're gonna home run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll see. See if it could fall apart. The last book, oh could you imagine? It's pretty unlikely. Even if it wasn't a good book, it still brings the average. It's still pretty good.
Speaker 1:The average is still really high.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what else do you read? Well, after reading, this always happens to me, but after reading Good Inside that I talked about in the last episode, anytime I read a nonfiction book, I always read another nonfiction book almost immediately after getting the nonfiction groove. Yeah, so I read Big Magic Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. Ooh, so what else did she write? Eat Pray Love? Ah, okay, I have not read. I did watch the movie just because I'm a Julia Roberts fan.
Speaker 1:I don't remember it.
Speaker 2:I did read the book. I don't remember it. Yeah, it's funny, though. Well, this isn't funny, this is just my brain. He has like weathering heights.
Speaker 1:Is it weathering heights funny? I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's things that I don't usually say out loud because it's stupid. But so Elizabeth Gilbert is the author and, like I know that this is not who she is, but the way my brain works, they go. Oh, elizabeth Gilbert, who is in my brain, melissa Gilbert, who is the woman who played Laura Ingalls on the House of the Little House in the Prairie, who then I think wrote the books Little House in the Prairie, but that was like so in my brain.
Speaker 1:Elizabeth Gilbert wrote Little House in the Prairie and I'm like no, stop.
Speaker 2:I know that that is not true, okay, but I can't stop. This is always what I think of every single time I see your name. So this book is about what it means to live a creative life, about ideas and where inspiration comes from. And I read it because I was listening to this other podcast and they were talking about the book and the story that happens in it, where Elizabeth Gilbert had an idea for a book and she was really inspired and really excited about it and she spent all this time researching it and starting it. She wrote a bunch of it and then something happened in her personal life where she had to stop writing for a while, so she put it away, dealt with that and then by the time she got back to it, she had kind of lost the inspiration for it and she was just like couldn't get back on it. She just kept trying to write it and it just wasn't working, so she just gave up on it.
Speaker 2:And then a while later she meets the author, ann Patchett, and they become friends and the book that Elizabeth Gilbert was writing was about, I don't know, peru in the 1960s or something. And she asks Ann like, oh, what are you working on? She's like, oh, just like some book or whatever, and doesn't really go into details about it. And then they become friends a little bit more. And then she's like Ann Patchett asked Elizabeth Gilbert what her book that she had been working on before was about, and did Ann Patchett steal her idea, not from her computer but from the magic of inspiration or ideas. So Elizabeth Gilbert says what her book is about and then Ann Patchett is like shut the fuck up.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's what her book is about and she's like already written half of it and there's like some details that were changed, but the overall idea was the same, like down to the character's back stories, and just it was insane. And so Elizabeth Gilbert is talking about in this case, about how ideas they are like out there and they come to people and you can either take that idea and take that inspiration and do something with it or you can let it go and it goes off to somebody else. So she's like I had this idea and I was really excited about it and I wanted to do it, but then I couldn't and it didn't want to wait around for me anymore, so it left and it went to someone else and it was really, really interesting book she's. I mean, I don't really remember you pray love that well from the movie, but you know she went to India or something and became spiritual.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she went to an ashram and did yoga for like a year or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the book is like she really uses spirituality and magic to describe creativity and inspiration and stuff and it was really, really interesting. I didn't agree with everything that she was saying, but for the most part I'm like oh, Elizabeth Gilbert's a witch. Yeah, it was good. It was short, it was a little like I think it was like five hours. Okay, it was interesting. I liked her Talks a lot about we all have the capacity to be creative and to create things and what it means to do that in like a meaningful way, or like what a meaningful way even is, because people get really hung up on like whether or not they're famous or whether or not, they make money off of their creativity, and maybe it's okay if you just be creative for the sake of being creative and because you love it, and not because of there's like an end goal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you don't have to monetize everything, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, it was really really good. I really liked it.
Speaker 1:That does sound lovely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and yeah that and Patches story. Yeah, it's crazy, it's so weird.
Speaker 1:I love it though. Well, that's lovely for you. Yes, I read, I reread the anomaly oh nice, by Erve LaTellier. Awesome, oh, it was so good. Yeah, it was good the second time. It was good the second time, and I don't reread very often, and I was just kind of surprised how much of it I remember. But it's so fast-paced, it's done in such an interesting style. So this one, what did it win?
Speaker 2:Let me type this in my rewars French award. It's a big French literary prize, maybe the only one.
Speaker 1:Okay, the anomaly by French writer Erve LaTellier was published in 2020. Oh, which was so timely.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And it won the pre-Goncourt.
Speaker 2:It's very prestigious.
Speaker 1:Yes, as you know, and yeah, this book was so good. Oh, it's even better than I knew. This summary says an Oolipian work, which is probably some smart word, Probably. It is structured around three parts as black as the sky. Life is a dream, they say, and song of oblivion, whose names are taken from the poetry of Raymond. Like what, what? Since when? Are you sure it wasn't just like a pretty fast-paced sci-fi book? The novel asks several questions about the reality of the world and fiction. I'm straight up reading from Wikipedia, by the way, so there's me quoting my source.
Speaker 2:These are the notes.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this is about a plane and all of the people on the plane. First of all, you open up with like just kind of learning people's lives a little bit, just a tiny little bit, about these just random glimpses into people's lives. And then they all get onto an airplane for their reasons, and then the airplane hits this crazy turbulence, but then they come out and it's fine, it's a nice day, but the plane's really damaged. When they call down to ground control, they say who they are, that they need an emergency landing, and they're all like what, uh-uh? And nobody up there knows that this plane already landed months ago, in March, and now it's June. Now we've got perfect doubles of two people who've lived the exact same life and are literally the exact same person, but there's two of them. And it's got the scientist's angle, it's got the religious angles, it's got all of these different ways of looking at the situation and just kind of how the world would actually react to these things. And it's, oh, simulation theory. You know, I love me simulation theory.
Speaker 1:So, good, so good and yeah, it was so good the second time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was really interesting to read about everyone's different take on it. And what do you do when you have however many? It was like a lot of people, a whole plane full of people who are now their duplicates.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's 200 people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they all want to live in their houses and have their jobs.
Speaker 1:Well, there's one mother and she duplicates, but her son doesn't, like he wasn't on the plane. Could you imagine, yeah, like no, you can't have my kids, but then also if they're also like your kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And somebody else has them, I would lose my mind. Yeah, that one, they were all bad, they're all bad, they're all bad. Well, no, that's not true the author, oh yeah, oh yeah, there's a self like insert or whatever. It's so good, it's so well written. Yeah, definitely deserved the award, for sure. It's so interesting. Highly highly recommend, five star read.
Speaker 2:It's translated from French, so I don't know if that matters.
Speaker 1:Well, one of the character who's the writer is a translator.
Speaker 2:Yes In the book.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, yeah, it's really I put it on par with Sea of Tranquility. Yes, definitely, they have the same perfect vibe and simulation theory. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's just remembering. I think that I remember when I read it that there were a few sentences that I was like that doesn't really make sense, and I think that was where I was kind of thinking about the translating, the translation of it. Yeah, just when you get translated books, sometimes some things are just not quite Lost a little. Yeah, this is like almost perfect, but like yeah, that was a great book.
Speaker 1:That was my big surprise. Surprise.
Speaker 2:Surprise, amazing. Yeah, I always think about the last page of that book. The last page I always think often.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really do, and I feel like that is a sign of a five star book, yeah, which actually that's not true, because on that logic, queen's Gambit's a five star book.
Speaker 2:Which we all know. That's a zero star book.
Speaker 1:It's a zero star book. I think of that all the time too, and I reference it all the time, like as a point, that if you don't know this book, what's wrong with you? Go read it. Things I say aren't going to make sense until you do. Yeah, awesome. Thank you, ralph. Do you read?
Speaker 2:Well, my last one is actually a DNF. Oh no, I know I had my first DNF of the year and you know it wasn't because I hated it, it was I had said. You know, I just want to read books that I really want to read.
Speaker 1:I like thinking about you breaking up with this book. You're at a coffee shop, like no, it's not you, it's me. I just, I only want to spend time with books. I really want to read.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's not, you, that's not you, I have boundaries now.
Speaker 1:The books, little pages, are roughly.
Speaker 2:That's exactly what's happened.
Speaker 1:Just give me 50 pages.
Speaker 2:No, I can change. No, absolutely not. It was called the Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall. So this one was supposed to be for fans of Gilmore Girls and Practical Magic, which I am a fan of both of those things. So I thought, yes, I love it.
Speaker 1:You got into this relationship a little too quickly.
Speaker 2:Yes, I was like yeah, I'm attracted, I like it. Oh, too fast. So it's about this woman, slash kitchen witch, who owns a bakery with her grandma and she bakes. You know, she bakes all these nice desserts with intentions and the ingredients have all been magic, magic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the town is all like in on it and like like, oh, I need something, for you know, I have a big date coming up and I need something for courage. Oh, eat this Earl Grey tea cake that is infused with star anise or something you know, and it's like. So it was really fun. I really was enjoying it at first, and there's like recipes in between the chapters, and that's always fun. Not really on audio, though. I skip them on audio for sure. One cup of flour, two cups of sugar. I'm like, oh okay, she thinks that she has some love curse. She's cursed from love and she lives in a small little town, kind of like Stars Hollow, with like the same kind of cast of characters from Gilmore Girls. It was like a little bit too close to the material they were referencing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it turns into like a fan fiction, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was like, oh, that's OK, I guess it's fine. But then she had been dating this guy and she was willing to give up her magic to continue the relationship with him.
Speaker 2:No, never give up your magic for a man, yeah, something. Because she thought I don't know, with the curse that if she wanted to be in love, that she couldn't also have her powers, whatever. But he ends up breaking her heart and leaving anyways. And then now it's years later, he's returned to the town and he keeps showing up at her bakery and she's like why are you here? And he's like I'm just here for work. And she's like leave me alone. And he's like, but I miss you. I was like what?
Speaker 1:Whatever?
Speaker 2:But then it was like fine, it's OK, it's OK, it was still fun. But then she is at home and this millennial woman calls her TV the idiot box and I was like, no, that was the line. Yeah, absolutely not. She's like I could hear the sounds of the idiot box in the next room. I can believe everything else in this book. That's too far, you've taken it too far and you know that's not that big of a deal, it's fine. I mean, there are people who speak like this. I'm sure I say things sometimes that are weird, yeah earlier you said TBH.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm not saying I'm perfect, ok, but this is too far and paired with the really annoying romance and the weird Gilmore Girls characters, no.
Speaker 1:How far did you make?
Speaker 2:it. I don't even like 20% or something. Oh wow, All of this happened in 20%.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it was about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that one wasn't for me, but at first it was really fun, so maybe other people would be able to push through and like that. But no, not for me, not you, not for me Wasn't worth it, so I threw it out and moved on to, I think, starling House, which was way better. Yes, yes, nice. So, yeah, I was happy with that.
Speaker 1:So your books today were fine. Oh, really good, really good, fine and ugh.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I started at the top and moved down. Yeah, really.
Speaker 1:I just started at the top, ended at the top.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that is exactly what you need to do when you are trying to get out of a rut. Yes, there's no experimenting when you're trying to get out.
Speaker 1:You just gotta rub it up, what I know Murderbot, check the fuck, else did I read the anomaly.
Speaker 2:The anomaly check. Just move on to Sea of Tranquility.
Speaker 1:Oh, maybe I will. So good, what was?
Speaker 2:I thinking it makes me angry when I tell people to read it and they don't. There's like this one guy that he's like, oh, I just read the Glass Hotel and I really liked it. But I'm like, oh, you absolutely have to read Sea of Tranquility now, absolutely. And he's like, no, I'm kind of over her now.
Speaker 1:No, like you can't.
Speaker 2:No, you can't.
Speaker 1:You're gonna miss the best, you'll miss the best of her.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna kind of ignore him when he comes in the shop because I'm just like no. Have you read the book yet. No, well, get out.
Speaker 1:I feel like that, but about oh, there's this book Seven and a Half Deaths of Beth Evelyn Hardcastle. Have you heard of?
Speaker 2:that. Well, if you want to go in at someone else's podcast and talk to them about it, then maybe I'll be mad at you.
Speaker 1:No, that's okay, you got time, it'll happen. It'll happen, I know, maybe 20 years from now, when I'm still making the joke.
Speaker 2:Maybe on your deathbed. Yes, I'll read it to you as you're dying.
Speaker 1:Speaking of deathbeds, oh no, so the book that I've been thinking about starting, but it's such a commitment I really want to reread the Dark Tower series. Yeah, it's just been in my heart just this longing to reread this series. And the reason it made me think of deathbeds is my ex-husband had started them. He got, I think, four in was on the fifth and he would not let me tell him the ending. And the ending is so incredible and I need to talk to people, but you can't spoil that kind of ending. So I'm just like come on, man, read it Please. Now I'm always starting and I'm like I'll tell you the ending through this series.
Speaker 2:I will.
Speaker 1:And I mean now, I could, but it's actually like, seems, mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but he also deserves it.
Speaker 1:He could have had it coming, but I just want to. It's been long enough now that I haven't like it's not fresh, so yeah.
Speaker 2:I was looking at my bookshelf today and I was looking at it because I have the first two books and I've read the first two books and I just need to read. Now I need to read the third one, best one. It's the best one, that, that's what you say. So I've been really excited to read it and I'm always like but one, I want to buy it, but I want it to be the same as my other ones, and I feel like I just feel like I need to read the actual book.
Speaker 2:I don't want to do the audio, so I need to get the book. And then Do you have the book? No, I have the book. Well, I know you have it, but I want to I have like four of that book. Well, I can take one, because do I have a physical book going at all? No, I keep thinking about it, I keep thinking about it, because I started reading the Starling House physical book and I was like it's impossible, I can't, it's impossible, but I think, maybe, maybe I can do it.
Speaker 1:I just don't have sitting in one spot staring at paper time. No, I don't, I really don't. I mean, I've got sitting in one spot staring at my screen time. Yes, I do so Damn idiot box, I know. Oh, I hate it. It's just so bad.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm like, is it bad because it's bad, or is it bad because I'm like, hey, that is not an idiot box, I love my TV.
Speaker 1:I'm smart, Personally insulted maybe.
Speaker 2:Maybe it's a problem if I feel defensive about someone insulting television, but I don't watch that much, so whatever, no how recently did you rewatch the OC? I've only watched. I only watched half of the first season, really. Oh, starting from that's right Halloween, and then you dropped it. Well, we, just I haven't watched TV.
Speaker 1:I haven't you literally just finished telling me a story about a true crime documentary you were watching?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but that was one episode that we watched today. Oh, I thought it was last night. No, it was today. And then we've been actually playing Mario Kart every night, oh it's so good, isn't it so good? That's just what we've been doing, because Kali's really into it. So then we play with her and it's painful, it's so painful. Sam's always first, he always wins, then I'm second, and then we just wait for Kali to eventually become in twelfth after a long time.
Speaker 2:So then, after she's finally done, gone to bed, we're like let's do this Now. Let's do it for real. Yeah, that was terrible. Who do you play? I play Pink Gold, peach. Yeah, rose Gold, and I like Rose Gold, so I always have her. And then I give her like a cool black bike with cool black tires. Nice, and that's me. I'm not playing any like silly race cars. That's pink and yellow.
Speaker 1:No, I'm cool Cambria. So my children, I just got them Mario Kart and this is their first ever Mario Kart. Like I play Yoshi because he was one of your only options at the beginning and then I just carried that on through my life.
Speaker 1:But my kids I was like oh my God, you've got so many to choose from and like I wonder who you'll pick, and like if they'll stick with them. Of course they can change all over the place, but I mean it sounds like they're choosing their gender. Like this is very important in a baby nerd's life. And they both chose. She chose pink toad and then picked a regular toad you guys are so funny. She had the horse bike with, like the horse bike tires. It's black and gold.
Speaker 2:That's the one I get. That's the one she picks too.
Speaker 1:And then she was an airplane for her thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I used the clouds Nice the clouds. But Kali picked the pink toad and was like I'm like Cambria.
Speaker 1:Aw so cute.
Speaker 2:They played together for like 30 seconds. Yeah, that was about it. That's about it.
Speaker 1:And now we know, you can just bring your controller.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's good. Yeah, we can do that, and then we've borrowed a PS4. Yes, yes, yes, did you set it up last night? Well, I started setting it up today and then I didn't finish it, but not at all last night. No, I was wanted to play it last night, and then couldn't I?
Speaker 1:was trying to catch you in a lie that you're an idiot boss.
Speaker 2:No, I was like I'm going to play and then ended up getting in a fight with Masvid instead, so that didn't work out at all Awesome. So, and then I was going to play it tonight. But then we started this true crime show called American Nightmare and we're like watch one episode. There's three parts, so we're completely invested. We need to find out what's happened. So we'll be doing that instead, but soon, soon we've got it and we will be playing the Last of Us this week sometime.
Speaker 1:Nice. Yeah, I haven't opened my download yet, but my pre-order is in and on and downloaded and ready to go. But now I'm like living in Tsushima, it's just. It's a beautiful place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's going to be a little bit. It's just going to be a bit jarring to go into the Last of Us world.
Speaker 1:And then you have to learn, I mean, like your controls. There's nothing worse than I'm just kidding. There are so many things worse than this. This is pretty bad. On my switch when I was playing Celeste and I was playing Ori, they both have a dash move, but they're both different buttons and for the first 10 minutes every time I switched games I would just not dash or over dash.
Speaker 2:It was very annoying.
Speaker 1:Yes, so these are the things that I would be going through. I should be reading, but whatever.
Speaker 2:You did two books. That's all you need I did two books.
Speaker 1:That's okay, yeah, and what am I going to? Just let the Mongols kill people? No, no, I got to go deal with that. You have duty, I do.
Speaker 2:A samurai does not back down in the face of adversity.
Speaker 1:No, so you got any other stuff, just fighting with your husband and watching TV? Yeah, apparently I'm just kidding. I make it sound like the two things you don't do are the two things you only do. Yeah, come on.
Speaker 2:I am doing lots of stuff. I made soup today. I made two things of broth and one thing of water. Yeah, it's three, yeah, and one pot of soup.
Speaker 1:When I want to feel better about myself, I just put a pot of water on the stove and I say made soup, yeah Well.
Speaker 2:So I made bone broth and then it was so dark and good looking that I was like I could use these bones again. Make another pot. So I filled it up with water, made another one, and then it was also looking really good. So I was like maybe I can get three out of this. So I did it again and then I went to a taste. I was like that's just water. It's just water and soft bones. Oh well, I tried.
Speaker 1:You tried.
Speaker 2:Yeah, then I made soup and it was delicious and, yeah, pretty much all I did today. And then I did go to counseling and then I was sitting there and I was like man, I can smell soup Like so bad, but it's worn off by now.
Speaker 1:Stinky soup lady, I'll see you in two weeks.
Speaker 2:She's like actually you should probably come more often, damn. I also realized I said to Sam I'm like I feel so embarrassed because every time I go I just make jokes the whole time. And he's like you're making jokes. I'm like maybe, if you didn't know I was joking, maybe she didn't either. I don't know if that's good or bad.
Speaker 1:I have a way to test this Next time you go to counseling, ask her withering heights Funny or not funny?
Speaker 2:This is very important because I'm like joke, joke, joke and I'm laughing and I'm like I shouldn't be laughing, I'm in therapy, this isn't funny, and he's like I thought you were fine, I'm like okay.
Speaker 1:Your poor counselor's just scratching away.
Speaker 2:Thanks, this is funny and it's about you, or maybe I'm just hilarious. You are hilarious, naturally.
Speaker 1:You are naturally hilarious, Obviously and I see I'm the worst person Like yeah, no, obviously she's always joking. Maybe you've never been joking.
Speaker 2:Everything is dead serious.
Speaker 1:Like oh yeah, that's hilarious.
Speaker 2:I was just talking about how I thought the part in the book where the guy got attacked by dogs was so funny yeah. I can't wait to read this comedy novel. If anybody else agrees that Wuthering Heights is funny, please tell me. Yeah, well, I just did laundry, so much, so much laundry. I also I did. I folded my laundry Well, not all of it, but almost all of it and then I just have to put it away.
Speaker 1:I literally folded all of my laundry. All fabrics in this house were in this room that we are currently recording in and now, as you can see, it is only five, nope three. Two blankets, one $150 throw and two sheets.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, it's our blanket fort. It's our blanket fort, but there are no clothes on the floor. There's no clothes, which is very impressive. Yes, because when I was recording with Rachel yesterday, I was like maybe I can go to Shannon's and record and I was like, oh, she sent me a picture of her studio, literally waist-deep in clothes. Yeah, there's no way. Well, I guess I would have been fine. I would have been, you know, had it against echoes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could have just taken all the boxes. I just dumped it all straight on the floor. Yeah, I mean like enjoy Such good sound quality, so good. Okay, wow, have any other stuff.
Speaker 2:Well then, I think that's all we have for you this week. We're going to find us. Jen, I'm starting to get out of it. You can find us at inhergoodbooks podcast on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok man, I'm getting good at that.
Speaker 1:That's why I'm always throwing to you, Otherwise we'll see you in two weeks.
Speaker 2:We'll see you in two weeks. Bye.