The Readirect Podcast
Spooky Season Book Draft #2
Do the words, YA books, complex plots, and lovable characters make your heartbeat faster? Brace yourselves as we plunge into the eerie world of our favorite books, perfect for those autumn nights.
Join us as we take you down these chilly paths with our second annual spooky season book draft!
This year's draft picks:
Emily
- The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
- The Raven Cycle (Book #1 The Raven Boys) by Maggie Stiefvater
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Abigail
- I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
- Night of the Living Queers
- Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
Honorable Mentions:
And if you want a good laugh, here's the teacher TikTok inserting himself into the Twilight universe.
Follow us on instagram @redirectpodcast! And stay tuned for exciting things coming later this fall... Like Brittney's book and the Hunger Games prequel.
Do the words, YA books, complex plots, and lovable characters make your heartbeat faster? Brace yourselves as we plunge into the eerie world of our favorite books, perfect for those autumn nights.
Join us as we take you down these chilly paths with our second annual spooky season book draft!
This year's draft picks:
Emily
- The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
- The Raven Cycle (Book #1 The Raven Boys) by Maggie Stiefvater
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Abigail
- I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
- Night of the Living Queers
- Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
Honorable Mentions:
And if you want a good laugh, here's the teacher TikTok inserting himself into the Twilight universe.
Follow us on instagram @redirectpodcast! And stay tuned for exciting things coming later this fall... Like Brittney's book and the Hunger Games prequel.
Welcome to the Redirect Podcast. My name is Abigail Hewins.
Speaker 2:And I'm Emily Rojas. The Redirect Podcast is a show where we shift the conversation back to books. We discuss themes from some of our favorite books and how those themes show up in real-life experiences. On today's episode we're convening for our second annual spooky season book draft, but first, if you've been enjoying the podcast, we would humbly ask that you support us in a few simple ways. You can, if you haven't already, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and just let us know that you love the show.
Speaker 1:And we'd also love for you to follow us on Instagram at Redirect Podcast, if you don't already, and if you do share our Instagram with a friend. Sharing our show with a friend is by far the best way to help us grow a community of book-loving nerds.
Speaker 2:And this is a great episode to share.
Speaker 1:Timely seasonal festive spooky. Yes, I had a lot of fun doing this episode last year and I think this is our first annual repeat.
Speaker 2:Maybe Well, yeah, I mean pretty much, this was our fourth-ever episode. I just went back and reread the outline and it was also our first episode ever where we did the thing where we talk about a book we've read recently.
Speaker 1:Oh, cool yeah.
Speaker 2:So we, you know it was kind of a monumental episode and now we're back with another year and, yeah, it was really fun last year and it's you gave me like I read a lot of the books you recommended last year and then, yeah, glad to be back. Well and it's perfect timing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and before we hit record, I was just telling you it's weirdly here in LA it's like cloudy, chance of rain, high of 67 today, perfect, so this is perfect.
Speaker 2:My windows open here it is, I believe, probably high 60s, low 70s, with not a cloud in the sky. Hasn't rained here in quite some time, for some reason, which is very unusual. I heard that, but yeah, it's 76. So it's still pretty warm, but you know, it's like I've started wearing cardigans to work. You know Not full on sweaters, but you know it's cooling, it's definitely cooling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:So, abigail, what is a spooky season and what is a book, a good book, a good spooky season read?
Speaker 1:There you go. There it is, I worked it out. Spooky season is now it is, you know, probably from liberally I would say mid September, through Halloween. Yeah, and that's the time where we as a society get really excited about overconsumption of Halloween related items, including books, and that brings us joy. And we enjoy participating in that and we pretend that the climate change isn't happening.
Speaker 1:And we get really into it and that's great. And a spooky season book is a book you would read in this season, but I would argue it doesn't necessarily have to be spooky, like it doesn't have to be scary. Yeah, it's a book that evokes a feeling of fall.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So maybe it's set during that time of year or a few weeks ago we talked about wrong place, wrong time. Most of the book takes place in the month of October, but inherently it's not like. It's not like about a monster.
Speaker 2:Yes, it doesn't have to be a witch's.
Speaker 1:Right, but it can be, it totally can be.
Speaker 2:It can just be a vibe of cozy spooky. Totally yeah.
Speaker 1:Mystery.
Speaker 2:And you know what? I think that this is one thing that the younger generations have added to society. There's a lot of good things we've done, but you know what? Let's make a holiday out of everything I like. Like, let's have spooky season, then Christmas, then you can do cuffing season, then there's, you know, Valentine's Day. Let's just celebrate everything. Yes, I don't care if Boo baskets are stupid, I want one. You know what I mean. There's nothing wrong with having more reasons to celebrate things in your life. So I mean, yeah, overconsumption is not great, Don't you know? Probably you don't need to go buy new decor every year. Buy some things and then use them, Bring them out.
Speaker 2:It's so fun, you know you go get your box from your storage closet or under your bed or wherever you can keep stuff in this economy, because I know we don't have addicts in basements. But you know what? You go, get your little box and you decorate your house and it's fun.
Speaker 1:And, as always, this podcast is very pro library. So go buy these, don't buy these books. I mean, I guess you can, but check out your library first.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'll say I mean, for I'll speak for myself all the books I'm recommending have been out for a while, so it's not like a new release where you might need to fight to the death on Libby for it. So, yeah, go, just go, you know, search some scoop boogie books on Libby and get those free things. Or go to the library and look through the aisles and find something. Do what you need to do, Don't spend your money, but celebrate the vibe. That's all I have to say.
Speaker 1:Emily, would you like to go first? What's the first spooky season book you are drafting to your 2023 team?
Speaker 2:Okay, so my first book. This came to me in a flash in the form of a commercial I saw while binging a lot of TV, while I had COVID last week, which, by the way, had COVID last week, so I did not read it all, I was just watching TV straight up. So, but I saw this commercial and I was thinking, Emily, that looks familiar because I read this book a couple years ago when it first came out, and now it is being adapted into a limited series on Hulu. I believe all the episodes are already released. I have watched a few so far, so I'm not all the way through, but it is the other black girl by Zakaia Harris and this book is the perfect spooky season read. So I wrote in my notes and I think if you liked the publishing world horror of Yellow Face, I think you would like this book because it takes place in a publishing company called Wagner Books.
Speaker 2:The main character is Nella, and when she works there she's been there a few years and she's the only black woman who works at this entire company. She's kind of an assistant to an editor who's super famous or whatever really successful, but she's always trying to move up, never can really get ahead. There's a lot of constant microaggressions from her coworkers. And then one day Wagner hires another assistant, Hazel, who is the other black girl in the title of this book. So Nella is super excited at first because she's like you know, finally I'm not the only one. I'm going to have a friend, an ally here who can understand how difficult it is to work here.
Speaker 2:But quickly it becomes obvious that Hazel is. There's something more sinister about Hazel and she's. You know, first it just starts by little minor things where Hazel's undermining her or kind of tricking her in a way or manipulating her into kind of making a fool of herself. That's kind of how it starts, but it kind of becomes darker and darker it is. You know, Eric was watching the first episode and he was like this is just a. You know why is this so creepy? They're making this seem so scary and it's just like a workplace kind of normal thing that a lot of black people face in the workplace. So why is it so spooky? So it does start off very normal but there is a lot of like sci-fi, creepy. I don't want to say like magical realism, but, you know, like stuff that's real but taken to another level.
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:And it just starts as the plot unfolds. So I like how that it's, I like that how it starts, kind of normal, kind of reminds me of like a get out, where at first the horror is just you know, am I going to fit in with my girlfriend's family? But then it becomes obviously more and more creepy as it goes on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the author. I read an interview with her and she wrote this book during the COVID pandemic or kind of finished it during the pandemic and was watching George Floyd and Brianna Taylor being killed and kind of asking the question isn't it just easier for me to just give in versus always struggling for equality and justice all the time? And so there's definitely that sense of kind of hopelessness. Like don't go looking for a happy ending with this, but it is very creepy horror, workplace drama all in one. So I think it's a really good book.
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:And the adaptation. Again, I haven't finished it. I've watched, I think, three or four episodes, but so far it's, I think, a really good adaptation. So you know, it's it's true to the book, but there's a few changes, I think, to bring it up to the 2023 era and kind of make it more adapted for TV. But overall it's a very true adaptation so far and I'm really enjoying it. So yeah, if you like Yellow Face, I think you would really like this book.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Okay, I had heard a little bit about the show but I'm really interested in the book now. Yeah, and that is actually a really good segue to the first book I wanted to talk about because similar theme here. So the first book I'll share is an anthology, actually, it's called Night of the Living Queers. I heard about this book because my local bookstore, skylight Books, shout out. They had an event with some of the contributing authors to this book and so I went, hung out, heard a conversation with some of the authors and ended up purchasing the book.
Speaker 1:So it's an anthology of, like, I think, about a dozen stories about BIPOC, queer teens on Halloween, and it's like it's all on the same Halloween where there's a blue moon. So that's like the one through line of all of these short stories which I think is really interesting and I thought it was a really fun. I thought it was really fun to read a book of short stories, especially like this time of year. Like I could just read, pick up like a spooky story, read it in 20 minutes and put it down. That was really fun. But so, on the similar note of what you were talking about with the other black girl, what some of the things that they were talking about is they're all horror authors. So this is a YA anthology. It is YA horror but because it's young adult, it's not horrifying, like this isn't going to be, like. I'm so scared to turn the next page.
Speaker 2:I'm going to have nine years, like if you're a little bit like totally and and also I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 1:They, you know they had a question about how, how their identities show up in writing horror novels.
Speaker 1:And it was really interesting because a couple of them said, a couple of the authors there, said you know, I think what maybe some of us here on this stage feel is scary is not what the same thing that's represented in like the white horror world and like, whereas Stephen King might need to write about a monster, to me, like there are things in my everyday life that bring me this level of fear and bringing my identity into that is really interesting. And also like they talked about writing these stories and like the identity not being the main part of the story, like the main part of the story isn't like this is a black, queer person on Halloween, this is just the main character is black and queer and they exist on Halloween. So I thought that was really, really interesting and it was really cool. I highly recommend the editors of the book if you need to look it up, because you can't really, the editors are Shelly Page and Alex Brown and the book is called Night of the Living Queers.
Speaker 2:That sounds really good and perfect for, like. Short stories are so great because it's like you can start something and then it resolves pretty quickly, so you can just sit down. If you have a short amount of time to read something, it's kind of nice that it's fully contained in a short story. I guess that's the whole point.
Speaker 1:Totally yeah, I'll mail it to you.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'll look for it. All right. My second choice is the Raven Cycle by Maggie C Vader, and I had to do this one because I recommended another series by the same author last year, the Wolves of Mercy Falls, which is a both of our one of our favorites. So she's a YA author mostly, but so I think if you're looking for a really good series to get invested in, you need to try this. So the first sentence of the first book, which is, sorry, the Raven King, it says Blue Sergeant had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love. So that's how it starts. I just feel like you need to guess exactly. So Blue Sergeant is kind of one of the main characters. She is a normal girl in a family of clairvoyant women, so she lives with her mom and their aunts and they're all clairvoyants. They can see spirits. So this is kind of like practical magic a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yes, where they're, like you know, my love will always be cursed, or whatever Exactly.
Speaker 2:So yeah, she's, she's normal, though she doesn't have the psychic powers. You know, I think one of her aunts can, like, palm, read, they can do tarot, they see ghosts, but she's just normal. But they always say that she's like I don't know the word for it but she kind of amplifies the powers of others, like she doesn't have powers but her being around amplifies these kind of otherworldly powers. And she kind of gets tangled up through a series of events with a group of four boys who attend this elite private school in town, boy school. Their names are Gainesy, ronan, adam and Noah and they separately are the Raven Boys and they are on this quest for this long lost Welsh King who supposedly hid in somewhere in their town. And if they find him they'll be granted a wish.
Speaker 2:And so the book also starts that it's a very complicated plot. So just, you know, know that there's a lot of lines crossing. But the book starts off with blue going to an old church on Saint Mark's Eve with her aunt and her aunt can see the spirits of people who are going to die that year. So she goes and she'll make a list essentially of who she sees so she will know who's going to die that year. But that year blue, who normally cannot see any spirits, she sees Gainzy, who's one of these four boys, and she hasn't befriended him yet. She eventually befriends this group but has seen him and kind of knows that he's going to die in this year. She's also been foretold forever that her true love will be killed by her. So again, it's a complicated plot, so there were times where I had to like go reread a few pages. It's very, very complicated because I think it's such a good payoff it all comes together.
Speaker 2:There's four books in the series. Every single character is so lovable they will break your heart. Even the ones you think are the worst at first, you know they start to reveal themselves to you and you will absolutely love them. So if you're looking for a series to get fully immersed in, I think this would be a great place to start. And again, it is YA, like you said. So it's not like horrifying at the level of maybe an adult read, but it definitely has a complex plot. There's a lot of different moving parts and I think that that makes it a really good spooky season read, because I feel like in the spooky times, you know, if it's getting colder outside. Maybe the rain is pouring. That's when you want to crack open this book because you can really dedicate your time to it. So, the opposite of what, I'll be able to recommend it. If you don't want a short story, if you want a lengthy four book series, I would really recommend this. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That sounds so cool. It's so cool. I love that. I like that. That does seem like a serious commitment. Like when you have that many, it's hard to like put that much detail into just one book. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you got to, you got to keep reading to find out what happens.
Speaker 1:Nice, okay. Well, my next book is I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Ian Reed. This is also a Netflix movie. It's been adapted to Netflix. I'm just going to go ahead and put it out there. Not worth the time to watch the adaptation for me. And so Zach and I have very different tastes and usually he has more appreciation for kind of like artsy, weird, absurd things, because that's like who he is and he didn't like it either. We both hated it. So just go ahead and skip that, although it is really interesting. Well, I actually don't want to say, because I don't want to put a picture in your head of who the characters are like, what actors play them. But after you read the book, google who the characters, who plays the characters, because you'll get a kick out of it.
Speaker 1:But this is a really creepy book. It is not that long, it's like maybe 250 pages. So it's not going to take you that long to read, but it is creepy as hell and it freaked me out. So it starts with this girl has been dating this guy for about a month and she's going to go home with him or to go and have dinner with his family at their home, and starts on the car ride and she's thinking of ending things, and so it's from her point of view, as they're on this trip to visit his family and she's not sure if she wants to stay in it, and when she gets to the house, things are really, really freaking weird and creepy stuff happens. It's a psychological thriller. There are there's a really weird twist at the end. There are little vignettes throughout. I don't want to say too much because I really don't want to give away what's going on, but there are little vignettes throughout.
Speaker 1:In between, the chapters will be like quotes from like community members on the thing that eventually happens and you're like, whoa, what is this? It is creepy, it is psychological. I would maybe pair this with a chapter of a really happy book before it did as a woman and freaked me out. But if you're in the mood for something that's like psychological and dark, this would be my recommendation for that.
Speaker 2:So interesting because I've seen this book obviously recommended. I think it's popular. I've seen it recommended a lot and I always thought it was like a memoir or something. I did not get those vibes at all. So that's really interesting. But I'm very intrigued. Now I feel like I have to read this, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean it's not a hot take, because obviously it's popular enough that it was made into a really horrible Netflix adaptation.
Speaker 2:That's what made it as an option, but what?
Speaker 1:happened was I actually went to the bookstore. I've talked about being like going to the library, but I actually bought this book too. I went to the bookstore looking for the new book by Ian Reed called faux. They didn't have it. But the guy at the bookstore was like, oh my god, you have to read. I'm thinking of ending things.
Speaker 2:So I picked that one up instead.
Speaker 1:But the thing is, it is dark and everything, but it's actually not. It's not that long. So I think, yeah, so that's like, it's not like okay, I'm investing in this sense of dread for like a week, like you can fit them just like a couple sitting. So I really want you to read it now so that we can discuss the twist.
Speaker 2:I will read it by the next time we record. I am vowing that one way or another.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, what you got?
Speaker 2:My final and third. Third and final book is the seven and a half deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton Turton, and I feel like this book got kind of a raw deal because it came out very similar times to the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and the names are just way too close, like why is there sevens, why is there Evelyn's, why is their last name start with an H? So I feel like people get confused between this book and that book. And that book obviously is mega popular and I love that book, so I recommend this one as well.
Speaker 2:Very different, but basically this person wakes up at this manner where there's a bunch of people and he, I guess he he wakes up every day in the body of a different guest of someone at this event, at this giant manner and every single day Evelyn Hardcastle is going to be murdered at 11pm and this person has eight days and eight witnesses to kind of live in the body of and the only escape for this guy is if they find the killer by going through this day eight different times. So the obviously seven and a half deaths. So we'll see how that ends. Yeah, so the main character wakes up every single day in a different guest and has to kind of like figure out what happened to Evelyn Hardcastle.
Speaker 1:So that sounds so fun. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it's kind of like the stakes are really high because you know he has to get out of the cycle and he only has eight days to figure it out. But also someone's being murdered. So it's like, can you stop this in time? It's very like, almost like a magical realism twist on. It's like a very classic who done it? Mystery, but there's other worldly creepy twists to it. Plus, also just like waking up in a new body every day, not knowing how you got there, and then interacting with your previous versions of yourself, like the person you inhabited the day before. Then you see them, you know what's kind of happening. So it's really good.
Speaker 2:It's very long. It's very long. The audio book is 17 hours. So just know, it's a lengthy book and you're reliving the same day multiple times and it's kind of written like in real time, like the whole day by day by day. So it's definitely a lengthy book again. So if you want to be immersed in something, this is another good one and it's, I feel like, has a really good resolution and really good ending. So I think this would be a good one. Creepy a good one. If you like murder, mystery, who done it? But you want like kind of a magical twist. I think check it out, that sounds really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also read the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo another great Evelyn.
Speaker 1:With the number seven in the title. Yeah, I love that. That sounds really good. Gosh, there's too many for me to read and my TBR is already like I know.
Speaker 2:I know, that's my problem. I mean I yeah.
Speaker 1:And, as we know, my little free library is always popping off, so I got a few books from there. I have just I'm, I feel, stressed out. I know how you feel. All right, my last one before I have an honorable mention, but my last one is such sharp, such sharp teeth, by Rachel Harrison.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of a gross book. There's some gross moments. So if you're particularly like, oh, how about that? That's why I mean this is like a truly a horror book. So there are some graphic descriptions. I feel sensitive to that, but if that's your thing, this is a book about Rory, the main character.
Speaker 1:After a night out at a bar she runs into Ian who is an almost thing for her, someone like she almost got with. So she's on her way home. She's driving down a dark road and she hits a large animal with her car and she gets out to check on the animal and make sure it's okay when it attacks her and Rory survives. The memory, if I recall, is like pretty hazy around the events of that night. So she's okay. But things start feeling a little weird and she starts acting weird and life begins to look and feel different and I think you know where this is going Obviously so. She's a werewolf and she has basically until the next full moon to like figure out what's going on Like every month. She's basically trying to figure out like how to stop this, what to do so.
Speaker 1:This is more like a classic monster, like really Halloween book, and I enjoyed it. I read it this year in February, so some of the details are a little hazy for me, but it was kind of a weird time to read it, but I thought it was really good. I will say I read Rachel Harrison's new book this year, black Sheep, and I didn't like it as much. That one was about a satanic cult and so it just kind of like for me, but this one is a lot more fun. But I will say there are moments that are kind of gross.
Speaker 2:Interesting. Did she write Cackle?
Speaker 1:She wrote Cackle and the return, which is also really gross. So Cackle is not really gross. There's like one gross scene.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I can definitely see how that would be something she would do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's like her thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's kind of like you know the return, which is a book about this friend who's kind of been like estranged from the group and comes back. That one is really gross. And this one has a couple of gross moments but they kind of stick with my mind and I don't mean to say this entire. Like there's other stuff that happens in the book. There's like a romance element there, it's like a mystery element, all that kind of stuff. But if you are particularly sensitive, like maybe this is not the book for you, this is classified as horror for a reason.
Speaker 2:And she's very like. When I think about Cackle, I can picture it. She's very good with the descriptive language.
Speaker 1:Very descriptive.
Speaker 2:And when I? Because when I'm thinking about scenes from that book I can visualize the whole thing, which I think is indicative of how well she describes things. So I'm sure that you know it might stick with you yeah.
Speaker 1:And same with Black Sheep that I just recently read. The descriptions are very realistic.
Speaker 2:Vivid yeah.
Speaker 1:Vivid. Yeah, I can see that I do have one honorable mention.
Speaker 2:Please share it with us.
Speaker 1:So why?
Speaker 2:not Okay.
Speaker 1:This is a totally different vibe from I'm thinking of anything, since there's such sharp teeth. So if those didn't appeal to you, this might. Technically, this book series of three books takes place in December and, like January, which is still technically fall, like around Christmas, whatever, but it's called. The first one is you can run, the second is you can die or you can hide, and the third one is you can die. Oh, wow, this is by Rebecca Zanetti.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, this book, the first one it is as if you were inside of an episode of Law and Order, svu, or inside of an episode of Criminal Minds. It is almost campy. Like at some of the end of the chapter is like big, dramatic reviews will happen and someone will like rip off a mask or there'll be, like you know, some sort of like Big reveal. And then you change, you turn the page and it's like a new chapter from a different point of view, like it's classic. It is like that's what I'm saying. It feels like you're about to go to a commercial break, but it's still, it's delightful.
Speaker 1:So it's the story of this like a genius level FBI agent named Laurel Snow and she gets called in to help with a serial murder case in the Pacific Northwest, in Washington, and she's paired up with this kind of like grumpy, of course, grumpy, like Washington Fish and Wildlife Officer named Huck Rivers, and there's like a romance element and they're like enemies but they're like working together to solve the murders and she is like has this like crazy memory and, like you know, she's like a genius. It is so kind of campy, honestly, but it's so fun. And the first one I read I was like, is this good? And then I was like, yeah, no, it is good. And then I read the other two they are literally Kindle Unlimited books, like that's another thing where I thought this isn't going to be good. This is on KU and I actually really enjoyed all three of them.
Speaker 2:You never know, sometimes the Kindle Unlimited, there's some good in gyms.
Speaker 1:It's just. It is what it is Like. Don't get into thinking that this is going to be like Grand Prix the work of literature. But this is definitely like a cozy mist. It's like it's more of like a thriller, like crime, but it's not like scary in any way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that can be a chaser to the other books. Yeah, and you know what my honorable mention is. It is the ultimate spooky season read that we all must partake in in some form or direction.
Speaker 2:Thank you, see it Out loud. Okay, this is unrelated, but lately I've been addicted to this guy on TikTok. I have to find out what his name is so you all can know. But he is an actual teacher, I believe, and he does like if a teacher like the science teacher in the lab with Edward. Oh, my God, I've seen that.
Speaker 1:He's like Edward. Can I get an admin? Okay, I think I've bragged to you, but I actually need to brag to everyone. Share it. So in November my mom and I are going to be staying in Forks, washington, because we are doing an Olympic Nat. Well, as long as the government shutdown is still going on, because then we won't be able to really access the national parks.
Speaker 1:But anyways, we're staying in Forks. I can't wait for that for you. I'm excited I will be living like my 12 year old dream. You will be embodying spooky seasons. So I know yes exactly.
Speaker 2:So anyways, I'll put the link in our show notes. This guy's TikTok, but he's done a whole series of lunch duty in the time. I can't explain it because it's so funny, but it's just. Yeah, that's the ultimate spooky season for me. I'm like when do I rewatch or reread? I don't know if I'm going to rewatch or reread or both, but probably rewatch because I don't really want to invest that much time in rereading books. But you know you have to partake. I mean, that is the ultimate spooky season. Read.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And if you haven't go, listen to our Twilight episode yes.
Speaker 2:I was also sick. Then you can see a theme with my immune system. Oh, poor immune system.
Speaker 1:It's not great.
Speaker 2:RIP. All right, do you want to share a book you read recently, or would you like me to share something first that I've read recently? I'm sure you can go first. Okay, fuck. I just read one book when I had COVID, but it was Once More With Feeling, by Elisa Sussman.
Speaker 1:Alyssa, I'm so glad that we can talk about this, because I read it too.
Speaker 2:Yes, I read it in one day because, I don't know, I just had a spurt of not wanting to watch TV that lasted for one day and it's not very long. So we both mutually loved her first book. Funny, you Should Ask Alyssa, do you know? I think it's Alyssa.
Speaker 1:I think it is too Alyssa.
Speaker 2:I think it is too Alyssa, and she was formerly a reporter who then pivoted into fiction and wrote that book and it was allegedly loosely based on an article that was written about Chris Evans and there was speculation about him and the girl who wrote the article. So that's kind of where it starts. It's a famous actor who it kind of flashes back between the past, when this woman reporter wrote an article on him and there was kind of some tension, and then the future, when they reconnect to kind of revisit that article years later. So anyways, that's the first book which we both really loved, and this book I actually thought I would at first. I thought I would love it even more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:Because it is similar vibes. It starts off at theater camp with this girl, Kathleen, and she gets one chance. She convinced her parents to use her Botnets for money to send her to theater camp and she's like this is my one shot to make it. And while there she gets the opportunity to sing a duet with Calvin and he is like he'll reappear in her life later. Eventually she becomes famous as Katie Rose and Calvin becomes famous as part of a boyband.
Speaker 1:This is very Britney Spears, justin Timberlake. It's very Britney, justin. It's inspired. It's very Britney, justin, coded it was so Britney coded.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was very Britney coded, so you can see the baby page here. This is so cool, yes. So yeah, she becomes Katie Rose and is this like Teen Pop star, rise to fame, and then her boyfriend is the lead singer of this boy band and she obviously eventually cheats on him with Cal and that kind of ruins her career, ruins her relationships, and they haven't spoken since. Now, years later, which obviously is going to be a theme for Alyssa, and I love it. I love that. We both love a flashback. Years later, katie Rose, kathleen's best friend, has written a musical that they're trying to get on Broadway and Calvin is directing and the musical was kind of written ideally for Kathleen to be the star performer in the show, but that means she's going to have to work with Cal, who she hasn't spoken to. Anyways, I thought I would love it more because I really liked her first book and I love the famous.
Speaker 1:I love famous people and we love musical theater and I love musical theater.
Speaker 2:But I just felt like it's good, yeah, and I don't know, I don't know if it's because, like I'm hoping for an Ali Hazelwood style vibe for her, where your first book is really good, maybe your second book sounds good, but then your third book is going to be really good. So I'm hoping for that for her. But I'm worried that maybe the first book was only good because it was so based on real life that she doesn't have the ability to develop a character that's not based on real life. Because I just felt like the characters, like everything was there the dialogue was, he was saying all the right things to make you feel the chemistry between them, and like the plot, everything, like all the ingredients were there. But to me, I was just kind of like not invested, like I didn't really feel like I cared as much about the characters. I didn't feel like I cared as much about the like the romance working out. So I just I don't know it just felt a little flat.
Speaker 2:I still really liked it, though, and I think it was the perfect book for me to read when I was sick, because it required so little brain power and energy and it was kind of just like a chill romance, read and like again. All the ingredients were there so I feel like it was so close. But to me I still like funny. You should ask a lot more. And if you didn't like funny, you should ask, because I know it was kind of like a lot of people loved it, a lot of people hated it. I definitely don't think you would like this. But if you really liked her first book, I feel like if you have, I don't know like if you're going to be on a plane or if you're sick like it's a good book to get you through that kind of thing where you just want something not too brain heavy.
Speaker 1:But yeah, maybe you would like. I don't know I I also read it. It took me a while to read. I was reading it with other stuff and yeah, it's not a long book, but it just I was more drawn to going to finish other things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say it was bad.
Speaker 1:It's just like, yeah, I didn't connect to the characters as much, yeah, but I should have yes. Yes, that's the confusing thing I should have.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's what I'm saying. Like everything was there, every ingredient was there for me to love this book and I don't know why it just wasn't. It wasn't there for me. But anyways, that's a lot of time to really not recommend a book, but that's all I read recently and again, genuinely to me. I can't focus on a plane, but I think I could have read this on a plane because it's just that like it's like like frothy teeny poppy fun, like teen pop star fun, you know with not a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1:I guess, here's what I wish. I wish it was a little bit more Britney and Justin. Yeah, cause like the romance element of like Britney and Justin, like she's a pop star and he's in a boy band, that was like intriguing to me. Yeah, but I think the thing that was a problem was that Cal was supposed to be like well, I guess the other boyfriend was supposed to be like Justin and he ended up being bad.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But like Justin is the bad one, yes, and I just want that like I needed that to be more like I needed to. Like you know, you relive your trauma until it heals.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I want to relive it.
Speaker 2:Well, I had a hard time not to spend too much time talking about this, I guess. But I had a hard time Like I didn't understand why, like they made the pop guy she was with to cheat on that. She cheated on with Cal. So the worst, just the worst, and it really it was kind of hard to understand why she was not breaking up with him. Like there didn't really seem to be a good reason, you know, yeah, and so I felt like it didn't really connect on that. And then I also hate the trope of I'm being a bad friend and I'm not realizing it and that is all over this. She is just being a terrible friend.
Speaker 1:Right, People who don't realize that they're not good friends. It's really annoying. It's hard to read. You're like okay.
Speaker 2:well, you're a terrible person, You're best friend.
Speaker 1:I guess I don't have sympathy for people who aren't good friends, yes.
Speaker 2:So it's hard because it's like not only are you being a bad friend in the past and in the present, but you're also dating a guy in the past that has absolutely no regime equalities. And so despite, like, even if you didn't fall in love with Calvin, you should have broken up with him. So all that to say. Check it out. It was 20% off a target. I bought it. It was worth that. I guess we are so bad at recommending books. We're great at recommending books. We just gave them spot six, seven great recommendations.
Speaker 2:This one is a good recommendation. If you have a long plane ride, I really think that would be the perfect place to read it. Okay, thank you. What have you read recently?
Speaker 1:Okay, so this is complex, but I have been on record many times saying that I did not like a court of thorn and roses, and I have said that and I didn't really get it and I didn't really enjoy it.
Speaker 2:However.
Speaker 1:I was at book club recently and we had recently read forth wing, which I still can't get over and I just love so much and I'm obsessed with it. And someone was like my friend Nikki was like I had to read something else that I, after I finished forth wing, like that I felt like would scratch the edge because like I needed it. So she was like so I picked up a quote like you know, aqatar, yeah books. And she's like yeah, the first one isn't good, but like you have to read this. Like just to me, like the first one was building the world.
Speaker 1:So you've got to read the second one. And so I was like, okay, everyone's talking about it. And I was like, all right, whatever, so I go on Libby and it's like available immediately. And so I was like, okay, fine. And I will say, even through halfway of the second book I was like, but then something changed and I actually finished.
Speaker 1:I finished the second one and I was like, oh, wow, like I'm really starting to like this. So if it's here's the thing not all like, if you're like me and you have the same like pattern with the series, it's going to be hard for you to say I'm going to read one and a half books before I enjoy this. Yeah, but I really actually did start enjoying it. Okay, you know, it's kind of like this thing where you have you know, you got this classic love triangle situation and one of them is like one of the guys is like I really want to protect you and the other one is like I really want to help you learn how to protect yourself you know, and yeah, totally, that's like foundational, that's just you know, out of the playbook.
Speaker 1:But it started coming to life more in the second book and I was a yeah. About halfway through I was like, oh okay, like this actually is good, and now I have the third one on hold. I understand that's not. That's still not a glowing recommendation.
Speaker 1:Not really, and there are people on the internet who are obsessed with the series. But yeah, I feel like once I started like getting a hold of the world a little bit more and I was like, oh yeah, okay, I get this, I got it more obsessed with the romance and it was more fun. So the second one, a court of mist and fury I think people like that one a lot more than the first and I just had to like it's not that I'm necessarily recommending the series. I think what I'm doing is coming on here to say, like the whole, myself accountable and say I've shit talked at guitar a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah but I do have to confess that I'm about to read the third book whenever it comes off hold, so okay.
Speaker 2:So you're just really cleansing your sins.
Speaker 1:I'm just yeah, I'm being honest.
Speaker 2:Yes, I understand that.
Speaker 1:And I just want to put it all out there. Thank you.
Speaker 2:We don't mean, you know, every everybody changed their mind about this Totally, so that's fine. It's obviously popular for a reason, so you know yeah like I don't think you're alone and thinking that.
Speaker 1:I'm I'm sure people like who are listening will be like, yeah, they are adapting it. I'm trying to remember if they're going to adapt, adapt it, I'm sure it would be so expensive. Oh, it is on Hulu. I'm just going to be so curious about who's cast and like what this does for the fandom, because I feel like this is one of those that people are so attached to. Yes, that like if they mess this up, it would be bad people are going to freak out.
Speaker 2:Yes, I agree. I think that's a very risky move. But yeah good luck to the adapters.
Speaker 1:All right, so that about wraps it up. We have some other fun things coming up this fall. I think we had talked about doing oh yeah, because the new Hunger Games is going to come out, yes, so we had talked about doing something about that. Britney Spears is releasing a memoir. Obviously so we'll be clubbing that, obviously, we got some good stuff coming down the pipeline. I'm excited for the fall. You too, so you too.
Speaker 2:Okay, bye.
Speaker 1:All right, bye guys.