The Readirect Podcast
Shifting the conversation back to books. Hosted by Abigail Freshley and Emily Rojas.
The Readirect Podcast
Listener Book Recommendations | Discover Your Next Favorite Read!
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Ever find yourself in a literary rut, wondering what book to pick up next? Fear not, we are here with a treasure trove of curated reads that promise to ignite your passion for books.
We asked our listeners to share their recent favorite and least favorite reads, and created a list of personalized recommendations for them!
Here's a list of our recommendations:
- Anything by Lucy Foley (The Paris Apartment, The Guest List, The Hunting Party)
- Unmissing by Minka Kent
- Force of Nature by Jane Harper
- The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
- A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
- In the Waning Light by Loreth Ann White
- Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse
- The House Across the Lake or The Only One Left by Riley Sager
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- The Secrets we Kept by Lara Prescott
- Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
- The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert
Book Recommendations and Excitement
Speaker 1Welcome to the redirect podcast . My name is Abigail Hewins and I'm Emily .
Speaker 2Rohas . The redirect podcast is a show where we shift the conversation back to books . We discuss themes from some of our favorite fictional books and how those themes show up in real lived experiences .
Speaker 1On today's episode , we are giving curated book recommendations to our listeners , based on their individual tastes .
Speaker 2But first , before we get into that , if you enjoy the podcast , we would really humbly ask that you consider supporting us in a few really easy ways . The first , so easy go tap that five star button on Apple Podcast . It takes five seconds and let us know that you love the show .
Speaker 1We'd also love for you to follow us on Instagram at redirect podcast . And finally , if you really really love the show , we really want you to share our show with a friend . It's really lovely when friends share podcasts that they love and when friends share the love of reading . This podcast is for both , so share our show with a friend .
Speaker 2It is the best way to help grow our community of book loving nerds and Emily falls on Instagram , you might get a special bonus , like today , where we are taking listener comments from Instagram , so even more .
Speaker 1I know I am so excited about today's episode . I'm really excited for these book recommendations . I was like wait , am I smart ? Do I actually maybe have good ideas ? I think it really helped to not to soil , but like .
Speaker 2I do feel like , for the most part , the vibe of what our listeners were looking for is stuff that both of us have read a lot of for the most part . So that helped because it's like , okay , I got a couple for thrillers . I read thrillers more than anything else , you know , so I feel like that helps because you have like a large back catalog of books you've read that you can think about . But , yeah , I'm excited , I'm really excited . I didn't know how I was going to go , but yeah , me either .
Speaker 1We were low key , like are we going to have to like text our friends on the side and be like comment on this but . I'm really happy with what we got , and me too , I'm ready to jump into it . You want to go first ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I am ready . So our first request came from at bookish with Taylor and they said loved the silent patient by Alex make , a ladies when I throw a shot in the dark on that one , and a flicker in the dark by dark by Stacy Willingham and wasn't a fan of the made by need of prose . So I have read the silent patient and the made . I have not read a flicker in the dark , although I read the . This is like this was a great exercise , because now I have more to add to my TBR , because this book sounded super interesting . It's like . For those of you guys who , like me , have not read it , it is like a mystery , I believe , where the daughter of a of a dad , as most of us are , she , her dad , was arrested and accused of basically being a serial killer , like when she was a child .
Speaker 2But then years later she returns to this town or whatever , and murders start happening again . But obviously her dad's already in jail and it's she's like is this like ? Why does this feel the same ? You know so what's happening . So I love that , I love a time jump , I love a like a misdirect . So , anyways , that's at the top of my TBR now . But from here , thank you bookish with Taylor for the recommendation with Taylor . We'll really cook before you get into this . Yeah , go ahead , did you ?
Speaker 1like the maid . Bookish with Taylor did not like the maid .
Speaker 2I did like the maid . I didn't like love it as much as I thought I would . First of all , I think it's really unique but I really liked it . I do think probably like the maid to me is also in the same vibe as like the Thursday murder club , where I think it's less like about the plot and the twists , although those are part of it , but it's way more about like the characters and like what's going on with them . It's more character driven . So I think I see why you didn't like . If you liked those first two which are very twisty . Probably some like the sound patients got some unreliable narrator going on flicker in the dark , you like don't know what's going to happen .
Speaker 2Probably fast paced versus like something that really is more just focused on the main character of the maid .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And like her experience versus necessarily the mystery is kind of secondary , so like a plot plot driven versus character study you know exactly . So my recommendations for you first of all , anything by Lucy Foley I think you're really going to like . Personally , I have read the Paris apartment and the guest list . I think you've read one of the books .
Speaker 1I've read also the hunting party . Yes and yeah , just those three .
Speaker 2And I think she's a great like . I feel like I don't know . She's famous , obviously , but I do feel like her books sometimes don't make the cuts of when people recommend thrillers that are really twisty , but she's really like they're all really fast paced , they're creepy , like you will really get that creepy scary kind of move super fast . They move really fast and they're kind of like always written in big font , like you read them .
Speaker 1Also I . They're like , she's British . All of her books are set in England , ireland , scotland , and I think that's fun too , and maybe why she's less popular here , I don't know . That's true .
Speaker 2I don't know . I mean she obviously is really popular . I see her books a lot . I just feel like you know the silent patient is so big on on like book talk . I feel like you see that recommended all the time .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2So this might be something you have it explored her yet . And I think the great thing , on a tangent , the great thing about thrillers and , honestly , romance I feel like they fall into the same category . Once you find an author that you really like how they write in that genre , I feel like you can just go through and read all of their books , because they tend to follow the same kind of formulas and you know , I think like there's so many authors that I just love and they're an auto . You know , read for me , especially with thrillers . I think if you like one of Lucy Foley's books , you can just go read the rest .
Speaker 1Yeah , she has another one coming out this year . I don't know what it's called , but it's it's publishing in May , so I'm really looking forward to reading that it's like already going to be a read for me .
Speaker 2Absolutely . Another one I would recommend is Unmissing by Minka Kent . Just reading the description of flickern the dark , the vibe kind of reminded me of this book . This book follows , and it's been a while since I read it , so forgive me if I'm forgetting some of the details , but essentially a woman goes missing years past . Her husband remarries or start dating someone else that I remember they fully get married , but like many years past , and then the woman returns and so it's like what happened to her ? Who was responsible for disappearance ? You know it's it's a little giving unreliable narrator , but it's kind of one of those things , much like the sound of patient , where you really don't know exactly what's the full story is till you get to the end . So I think you would like that . And then my last one is Force of Nature by Jane Harper . It follows a group of women who go on a little I think a camping trip against one while since I read this and they all come back , but one doesn't come back with them and there's like conflicting stories about what happened and so you don't really know like what exactly went wrong . But all you know is that they all come back once missing . So this is a great one . It's a part of a like .
Speaker 2There's a detective in this book who is part of a series where that same detective kind of goes and solves different mysteries and there's some of his personal life in there . So this is the second book in that series . You don't have to . I didn't read this in order , actually ended up accidentally reading the first book like a year later and not even realizing it was connected , till I realized the detective was connected . So you can start with this one or you can start with book one , which I just didn't like the mystery as much . So I think if you just want a standalone mystery , you can just go straight into force of nature . So those are my recommendations for you , bookish with Taylor , and you have to let us know if any of them you know strike a chord .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's a . That was a feast of recommendations . I think of those there's got to be at least one that bookish Taylor is going to like . All right , our first .
Speaker 1My first request comes from at the little bookshelf , which I did do a little background research and D little bookshelf a short for Diana's little bookshelf . So from here forth we are referring to D little bookshelf as Diana . Diana says Hi , I really loved the Nightingale by Kristen Hannah girl . Me too . I fell in love with the characters and I cried a lot with the ending and I had really high expectations for about credit . I had really high expectations about credence by Penelope Douglas because of book talk , but for me it was very disappointing story and the ending was kind of meh . So this is . I'm so glad Emily assigned these out to each of us and I got this one because , honestly , I've been on record saying many times that the Nightingale is one of my favorite books of all time and it really you are like Kristen Hannah is number one fan , probably me and a bunch of like 45 old women .
Speaker 1Yeah , but yeah , I mean , it ruined books for me for a long time . It's so good .
Book Recommendations
Speaker 1And so my first thought was , like , okay , obvious recommendation , here is another one of her books . But I was like she probably read them . So , Diana , using the link in your bio , I went to your Goodreads account and I did a quick little search of the books that you've logged . So , considering that , like , let's assume that you keep that updated , you have not read another title by Christina .
Speaker 1This is the lazy answer . So I'm going to do a lazy answer and a good answer . The lazy answer is you should really read Four Winds by Kristen Hannah . I don't feel like it got as much buzz as the Nightingale , but there's a lot of the same elements . It's also a historical fiction novel . There are strong female characters . You're really going to like the story and it's going to make you cry . If you're looking for a book that's going to make you cry , this you're not going to be okay with this one . I mean , you are going to be okay with it . You're going to be okay because you're not going to be okay . But it's a similar thing like just like really well developed , strong characters , a little sprinkle of romance . It's yeah , I think you'll like it . So that's my lazy answer because I'm just recommending a book by the same author . But really you should read that my not lazy answer based .
Speaker 1So I'm looking at the two titles you mentioned . You love the Nightingale . You didn't like Credence . I haven't read Credence but I did a little research on it . So I think you're looking for a very dramatic , engaging story , maybe something that centers family , maybe something that has a romance element , because Credence promised some of those things . There was it kind of tease like there was going to be family , but the story like a dramatic family situation , but it didn't fulfill .
Speaker 1So I'm thinking historical vibe , strong female character , speculative history , because both the Nightingale and For Windsor , with speculative history , I'm recommending to you the secrets we kept by Laura Prescott . I excellent , that's a good recommendation , right , I love it . Okay , so this is a Cold War spy novel but strong female characters , a little bit of romance . We have also speculative fiction because this is centered around real world events , particularly the book Doctors of Ago , and the whole thing is about they're trying to smuggle the book Doctors of Ago out of the USSR where no one's allowed to publish it and help them , like , get their message out to the world . It's . I think it's going to hit the right marks for you , based on the things that you've liked Strong characters , great story , speculative fiction . This is for you crying at the end crying at the end , like Diana .
Speaker 2I think you're going to like this .
Speaker 1It's good , good .
Speaker 2Great recommendations . Honestly , I love that book , so 10 out of 10 . All right , I'll go to my number two , another thriller mystery , semi-thriller mystery . So this is from Amanda Hedges , and Amanda said she loved what wild women do by karma brown and laid them to rest on the road with the cold case investigators who identify the nameless . So those are kind of really different . She didn't like Among the Bros , a fraternity crime story by Max Marshall . So I kind of took a shot in the dark because these go all over the place . So I'm trying to . You know , it's like , what did you like about these books ? I don't know , but I'm just going to make some guesses . So what wild women do ?
Speaker 2I haven't read this one either , but it's kind of like a mystery from the past that ties into the present day , like someone in the present is learning about this mystery from the past and it has an impact on them . So , based on that element , I thought you might like the Villa by Rachel Hawkins . Abigail recommended that to me . I recently read it and it kind of follows these two women who are staying in this house that is very famous for a murder having taken place there , and one of the women ends up finding a journal from the past that kind of starts to tell the story about what happened there and of course it does impact the present day . So if that's the element you liked about that , I think you would like the Villa .
Speaker 2I also think you would like A Flicker in the Dark , which I just talked about . I haven't read it , but Bookish with Taylor . Based on that , you know like it has that element of the past coming back to haunt you and so you know I would recommend that one if that sounded good to you . And then I also put one of my favorite books in the Waiting Light by Lorith Ann White . She's that one of those go-to authors for me . But this book is about a woman who , a family member of hers , was killed when she was very young . She becomes a true crime writer and then she returns to her hometown as an adult to kind of try to write the story of this crime that affected her . And of course it will impact her present day because it is still unsolved , so who knows what happened , and the person might still be out there and not want her investigating .
Speaker 2So those are three that I think take that element of like a mystery from the past coming back to impact your future . So if that's what you're looking for , I feel like any of those would scratch that itch . And then kind of my shot in the dark , because you like this , lay them to Rest , which was a nonfiction book about investigators who kind of work with cold cases and help identify victims of crimes , which sounds really interesting . And then the among the bros is also , I believe , nonfiction . I think maybe now my question because it says crime story but I thought when I googled it it was nonfiction , so we're just gonna go with that .
Speaker 2So I'm gonna think I think you ride among the bros because you were kind of interested in maybe that like fraternity , college crime hit the right cord . So I'm gonna recommend tell me everything by Erica Krause and I've recommended before . It's a nonfiction . Erica is this woman who , for whatever reason , people her whole life have told her their secrets and that kind of leads her to becoming a semi kind of private investigator investigating a crime that happened , you know , on a college campus , kind of a massive cover up kind of thing . So I think if that's what you're looking for in among the bros . I think this is a book you would really like because it has that nonfiction , it has that like horrific men in college .
Speaker 2I mean men being horrible , but it's really really well written . I think it's one of those where I love it but some people don't love it , so I can't say 100% of you love it , but I thought it's just . You know I'm not a big nonfiction person I think you are , amanda a little more but this is one of those nonfiction that read like a fiction to me , like her life is just Very interesting . I think people didn't like so much as she talks . She does talk a lot about her own history with , like , sexual violence and her own kind of trauma and how that is coming back up in the story she's yeah so some people don't like that part .
Speaker 2So that's something that like baby would be sensitive to baby . Avoid this . But if you're okay with that , I think you know any good Like . Some people just want her to tell the story of what she was investigating and leave her personal stuff out of it . Personally , I like it when the author is going to talk about their own life . I think that's .
Speaker 2You know , that's their life so and it's impacting her and how she's processing this and like how she's investigating this case . So I think it's relevant , but again , that's not for everyone , so you know , kind of use your own judgment , but those are my recommendations for you my next one is out , logan Smith , who is also my personal friend .
Speaker 1Logan loved shark heart . Honestly , was so underwhelmed by none of this is true by Lisa Jewel . Okay , this is a toughie because I have not read either of these books . However , I am very intrigued by shark heart . Let me allow me to read a brief blurb about it to you . Okay , for Lewis and ran , their first year of marriage is also their last . A few weeks after their wedding , lewis receives a rare diagnosis . He will retain most of his consciousness , memories and intellect , but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark . As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean , his complicated artist heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams . So that is so unique , right , that is fascinating .
Speaker 2I know rid of this .
Speaker 1So I did some reading in the reviews . The description goes on longer . I won't read here , but here's what my impression of this is . This is a book that uses an absurd metaphor to tackle a big topic like grief , love , family , and it uses this absurdity and as a situation , as a vehicle for that . So the first book that immediately came to mind is Lily and the octopus by Steven Rowley .
Speaker 1This book is also about grief , but it is not about grief and it uses an absurd , meant metaphor of an octopus that is living on his weiner dog named Lily , his , his doxin , and his fight against this octopus to save Lily's life .
Speaker 1And it's like nobody else can see the octopus , but he can .
Speaker 1And there are moments where like he's kind of in his own internal world , like fighting this octopus , but like the rest of the world has no idea what they're talking about .
Speaker 1And so it's about grief , it's about being afraid of letting go , of starting over in your life , of what your big feeling could be holding you back from . It's obviously going to be a tearjerker , I mean , but it's also like just with so much heart , and really makes you think about your own self and your own big feelings and it's like it's almost like play therapy . It's like we're allowed to like work out some of these big , big things and big feelings , like through drawing or , like you know , like playing with dolls or something like we can't actually talk about them , so they come through in these other ways . That's the feeling and the vibe that I got from shark heart and you know it's it's a big love story , it's whimsical , it's lyrical , it's poetic , and I felt like you're going to get a really similar vibe from Lily and the octopus . So , logan , I hope that that works for you and I hope that you like it .
Speaker 2I love that and I'm very intrigued by this shark book , so I'm gonna have to investigate that separately . But thank you , this is so fun too , because I feel like I got so many books I wanted to read out of this episode
Book Recommendations
Speaker 2.
Speaker 2Okay , my last one is at Ashley Elizabeth Smith . I loved All I Want by Darcy Bell . It was a mystery thriller , but I loved the imagery of the home . And then this is a spoiler for the House on the Water . So if you don't want to be spoiled , do 10 seconds at .
Speaker 2The House on the Water is an audible original novella , but I didn't enjoy the ending because it gave absolutely no hints or leads that the narrator was the murderer . The ending was basically just written for shock value and the way she confessed was rushed and not well executed . So it's giving verity . It's giving verity . It's giving another one . I don't like , not that we're airing our grievances , but the perfect marriage , same vibe . So don't read that if you didn't like that . You're like okay , that's a great twist that the narrator is the murderer , but you have to like lead me there . You know you can't just make that up and then retroactively like well , that makes no sense now in the context of the story . So I feel your pain . So first , based on All I Want sorry , by Darcy Bell . You said you loved the imagery of the home and you loved a mystery thriller . So I'm gonna recommend to you , based on that , anything by Riley Sager , especially the two that I have read . I'm just gonna assume the rest of us are like this , but I have read the House on the Lake and the only one left by him and I liked real . I really liked both the only one left . It's a little more traditional of a murder not a murder but a mystery thriller .
Speaker 2It follows I've talked about it before on the pod so I'll just do a quick recap but basically this woman is a caregiver . She takes care of elderly people . For her job , she lives with them and she is assigned . There's an incident that happened that you don't really know exactly what it was . Because of this incident she was at risk for losing her job or license , but she's given a second chance and she's basically told no one else wants this job . So if you really want to come back , we will let you you know on a probationary basis to go take care of this woman in this house up on this big cliff , and her entire family was murdered when she was young .
Speaker 2Now she's a very elderly woman and she's the only survivor and it was presumed that she did it , but they were never able to convict her . So she may be a murderer , but now she has . She can't move , she can't talk , she can't walk . So it's giving a better version of Verity , because this character is like kind of locked in . But is she really ?
Speaker 2So that's a really good one and it has great like this house is really a character in the story because it's on this cliff . Eventually the house is gonna fall off the cliff according to you know , the experts who are architectural because it's slowly sinking off the side of the cliff . It's , but it's this big mansion , but it's creepy , like you know , no one goes in or out . Really . So I think if you like a good setting but you also like a mystery , that's gonna make sense and I love Riley Saker now that I've read his other books he will give you like a big twist . But then he'll also give you like maybe two or three other small twists where you're like , okay , I thought that was a big twist and then I wasn't even expecting another twist is coming , but it all does make sense in the end . We're like , okay .
Speaker 2I see the foreshadowing . You know it all ties together . House on the lake is a little weirder , so I just want to give a warning . I wouldn't read anything about either of these books because I read some reviews and it kind of spoiled a little for me , so I would just go into it . The house on the lake , though it is a little weirder , so just no , you're gonna have some weirder elements in this one , but it's kind of giving like woman in the window , like this woman . She is in her family's lake house . She's a former actress who's kind of like fallen from grace after her husband passed away . She's basically become an alcoholic and her mom sends her to this , their family cabin , to kind of like detox her , but of course she's still , you know , illicitly getting alcohol to continue to numb the pain of her husband's death . And across the lake , this supermodel and her like tech bro husband have purchased this house with these big windows and she kind of begins to watch . You know what's going on over there .
Speaker 2So this is yeah , it's dangerous game , a dangerous game I've learned from these mystery books is don't ever do that . You will get involved in something you do not want to be involved this is like a lesson for me .
Speaker 1It's a good lesson for me because I'm so nosy and I oh , if I hear a conversation from my neighbors , like in the hallway or like out on the street , like I'm gonna be listening and I'm I'm meeting the TV .
Speaker 2I want to know your business , but maybe I don't because I could be implicated in a crime .
Speaker 1You know what I'm saying ?
Speaker 2yeah , it's like look out for your neighbors but don't watch them obsessively look out but don't look for yes so , anyways , this is a really good one again , like this . How this cabin she's in is kind of like a really strong setting . The lake itself . There's a couple other characters who live on this lake , this big house . So I think if you're looking for a really good imagery , really good setting , riley Sager is gonna be good for you and then , if you like a good twist , that makes sense , I assume . I think this goes for all these people who are looking for thrillers . These are things I assume you have checked out , but if you haven't , if you haven't read Gone Girl by Jillian Flynn and , for that matter , all of her books , they're really dark though they're very dark okay gone girl is probably like the least dark , but the other ones yeah that's you prepared , it's
Speaker 2gonna be kind of dark yes , prepared for the darkness , but I think , especially gone girl , like if you haven't read that , start there also . I think , if you haven't read , like these are so basic , you know for a reason . But like the woman in the window , the girl on the train , that whole genre of books , you know , they're all , they're the , the backbone of the genre , one of like , the , the formula of like , the descriptor of human being on a yeah , piece of architecture or transportation .
Speaker 1Woman in the window the girl on the train the man and whatever the biggest trope .
Speaker 2That I love , I have to admit , and I know it's the biggest trope , but it's the alcoholic woman who realizes something . That's true , but no one will believe her because she's like blacked out every day and she has to , like , take matters into her own hands . I love that , but I think those are all great . And then one last like out of left field recommendation for you is the seven and a half deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle . This one , I think , fell victim to the what is it ?
Speaker 2seven has been seven yeah , okay , it's not seven and a half , yeah , but the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo . People get confused because it's an Evelyn , it's a seven , it's written very similarly . But anyways , this one basically , is a little weird again , it's very weird but the main character , aiden , he is informed that Evelyn Hardcastle is going to be murdered at 11 pm this day and he has eight days to figure out what happened . He's gonna live the same day over eight times in eight different bodies of eight different witnesses at this big party that is happening at this big house , like this big estate , and he just keeps living the day over and over again until he could find out what happened to Evelyn Hardcastle . So it's definitely it's a long book . So settle in if you want to do this one
Book Recommendations and Discussion
Speaker 2.
Speaker 2The name I'm looking at it right now the , the audiobook is 17 hours , so it's a really long one . So maybe if you have like a really long road trip . But it's a great , a good place , like a good setting and it's very weird . So there's a lot of weird twists . Obviously got some like supernatural elements , because how else is he living the same day over and over ? But yeah , it's kind of like twisty , mysterious and a great setting . So that's my , that's my out of left field recommendation for you , ashley . You may not like it , but definitely start with Riley Sager , because I think he's got a really good formula great settings and the twist . I just read the house across it's the house across the lake , sorry , not on the lake , the house across the lake . And the twists were crazy , but they , when I looked back on the book , they made a lot of sense . So you're not gonna be left feeling like that came out of nowhere . But anyways , that's my rec another great job .
Speaker 1Thank you , ashley , be blessed . Okay , my last one is at dollhouse books , famous for her appearance on the red podcast and also my real life friend and part of my book club .
Speaker 1Okay , so dollhouse book says how about a super spicy , dark , twisted romance with like a medium to fast-pacing , but written by an indie author very specific ? I've been mostly wanting to read only smutty romance these days and have been getting worn out of all the fluffy rainbows and cheesy cliches of contemporary romance , so wanting that change of pace and for books I've loved , like this haunting out of line in the addicted series books , I haven't liked a touch of ruin . First of all , I also didn't like a touch of ruin . I DNF did , I think , because expectations versus reality . So a touch of ruin is the Hades and Persephone's book . Hmm , I thought it was going to be like song of Achilles , like it . You know it's like set in modern day , which is not it for me . Yeah . So I'm with you , hannah . I didn't really like it , okay . Second of all , hannah , you are the person I would go to for a super spicy , dark , twisted romance .
Speaker 1I know fast-pacing , but written by an indie author , so I am going to try my best , but also know that this is doing your best .
Speaker 2Yeah , this is really your lane , ok .
Speaker 1That being said , over Christmas or like over Decemberish , I read the Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert and I know you're thinking Princess Trap . That sounds pretty fluffy and rainbows and cheesy . It has word princess in it . It is not and actually honestly that's why I picked it up was I was like , oh , like this will be fun . Yeah , it is , it's actually not . There are just like some warnings here . There are some themes of abuse and like flashbacks and things . The male main character in this story is a prince . He is super clean cut on the surface but below things are complex and that comes out in ways Dot dot dot Wink for you , I think that you'll like the Say no more .
Speaker 1I think that you'll like the spice in this book . It's very much a departure from the mainstream . The tropes here are fake dating , celebrity , normal person , forced proximity , and I think you'll enjoy the . You know it's Pre , it's like what ? Not as one of her more popular titles . I don't think that you should have to hold for it if you get it on Libby , but also OK . So warning that there is an audiobook version of it that I did a little bit of while I was reading . It is available on Spotify for free with your premium subscription . However , the prince in this book , the male main character , is not like English , he's like Swedish or something I don't I forget . So the accent work in the audiobook . It's really hard to Stuff , get on the level with this man being attractive when you hear the accent , so I would probably just go straight for reading it and that way you don't have to have that in your mind Good advice .
Speaker 1But anyways , all that being said , that is my best shot for you , hannah , and I don't know if that's going to work , but I really hope that you give it a chance and that it does work for you , I think that was great .
Speaker 2You know what I also thought when I read this comment . Harry or no , draco and Hermione fan fiction . I actually I almost thought that I was like you just need it .
Speaker 1I was like actually At the house , you just want to read fan fiction , and I think that's okay too . Like I think that you want something very specific and guess what ? Everyone on fan fiction is an indie author , that's what I was going to say .
Speaker 2Indie authors , there's a lot of you don't even have . Obviously , manacal does a lot , but I've been exploring and there's a lot of like , also dark , that aren't even quite that dark , or you know like there's . That pairing lends itself to a lot of dark fan fiction , so that could be a great you know expert . Well , you know what .
Speaker 1So with with our , our dear friend , all house books in mind yesterday , I was like I need to read , like I just know like an audio book for when I'm walking my dog . I got a hoopla . I was like what's available right now ? I don't have to wait , whatever . Yeah , and it was one of the books that she recommended to us or she didn't recommend to us , but she said it was one of her favorite books of the year when she was joined .
Speaker 1And it was um twisted love , and so , as I got it , I got the vibe of it . I don't know if it's necessarily for me All the way , which is totally fine , but based on that , I'm thinking like , if you like this , then there are certainly like elements of the princess trap I think you're going to like . So yeah , go with God , hannah . Go with God , amen .
Speaker 2That was great , I think Good job yeah .
Speaker 1So , with that , so fun to talk about books that we've read recently . So anything you'd like to touch me up on , I do .
Speaker 2I do because I specifically wanted to recommend this to you . Um , maybe you saw my Instagram post about it , but it's . I don't want you like a best friend . By Emma Alban Albonne .
Speaker 1Oh , I did see your Instagram post , but tell me about it . Okay , okay . So you guys know I'm not always into the historical fiction , but this is I was so shocked when they use , and I saw that you read a Regency era book Like on purpose I was .
Speaker 2here's how I found this .
Speaker 1I was delighted and happy for you .
Speaker 2Yes , I've been looking for I was tricked by book talk , that's all I say . But I've been looking for um , like good , I really wanted to read more . Like I feel like so many romance I keep picking up and it's like they instantly get together or there's like instant attraction , and I just don't like that . I want a good plot . You know what I mean . So that's not for me . That's for some people , but not for me . I want a good plot . I want them to be friends first , like I love a good friend's lovers .
Speaker 2Um , you're slow , just like a slow burn , yeah , and so I've been looking for that .
Speaker 1That's why you love Draco Malfoy and the more defying ordeal with me . We'll talk about that Slowest possible brain , but we'll talk about it .
Speaker 2Um , so I've been . I put a bunch on hold that I got recommended this one . I don't even know how it just was released . Um , so someone I guess out there recommended it , so I uh put like a notification on my library didn't even have it yet . So I said notify me if you get this . And then they did , and I think I must run the first person to get it , because then there was a huge weight after me . But I got it and I read it and it is so fun . It's so fun .
Speaker 2So this is a Regent Sierra , it's um London and it follows um Beth and Gwen Beth is they're both debitons and so they're coming into China . By the way , just sounds horrible Trying to find a husband . Beth , her father died um semi recently , like a little over a year ago I believe , and her mom , basically because in this era women can't have things . So her father's estate went to her uncle and her uncle is going to give it all to her cousin once he becomes of age , which is the next year . Um , unless Beth can marry and have someone , a descendant , to pass it on to , which is insane .
Speaker 1Wait . So she has to get married and have a son in a year ? No , no , she just has to get married . Sorry .
Speaker 2And then her husband would be able to inherit the money . But Beth .
Speaker 1I hate it here .
Speaker 2I hate it in this era . I hate it here . Additionally , her mom like doesn't have enough money , like she has some , I guess . Uh , I guess she's been given part of this estate , whatever , to live on for a little bit , but she doesn't have enough treats . Yeah , she doesn't have enough to fund more than one season , which they have to fund themselves . That's always the thing for husband . No , no , no , yeah , that's always this is always the .
Speaker 1this is the crux of like every British and book . It's like okay , you know , there's usually like a poor person . It's like I got this is my one season .
Speaker 2Yes , yeah , so I'm learning a lot about the region Sierra . But Then Gwen is another debutant . This is our fourth season .
Speaker 1Her dad is crazy rich starting to get washed up though .
Speaker 2Yes , why having you on ? And she's only 21 . She's only 21 an old , an old spinster and she is like has a really bad reputation among the moms and she like gets drunk and Like she doesn't have any interest in back then .
Speaker 1Yet girls were not supposed to drink any alcohol back . No , it was like you could have one . You could have like a lemonade at the yeah , I eliminate at the the ball but she was getting hammered .
Speaker 2So Then these two become friends . Gwen , kind of like , takes Beth under her wing and is like I'm gonna help you not get with these gross Like . There's so many gross guys , you know , trying to just be gross . So she's like I'm gonna help you . But Quinn's dad is also widowed . Many years ago his wife died in childbirth and he and Beth's mom Seemed to have a history . There's some tension , there's blushing , there's anger , there's heartbrokenness , and so Beth and Gwen decide as friends that Instead of trying to get Beth married , why don't they try to get their parents married ? Because Beth or Gwen's dad .
Speaker 2Yeah , it'll solve their problems . And Gwen's dad is like crazy rich , like insane levels rich . So that's like you have nothing to worry about . If your mom would marry my dad , what's the problem ? So that's their scheme . It's like the parent trap . And Then , of course , gwen and Beth have to fall in love , and that's even better , because then they have even more stakes to make this work out .
Speaker 1Yeah , but then I really like step sisters who are in love .
Speaker 2Look , how else can you solve this problem in the 1800s ?
Speaker 1Look back then . This is your in love .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's fine , it's , it's okay so it's so good , it's like it's , it's like nice , because they really this really is a friend's lover is . I would say , if you're just looking for a really fun book , that's gonna have you like giggling and kicking your feet and like there's really good dialogue between them and I just like their friendship is very genuinely built up and then them falling in love is very genuinely built up .
Book Recommendations and Discussion
Speaker 2And I think it's probably difficult to write a Regency era like queer novel because it just like either you have to make things happen that wouldn't have really happened , like you have to make it unbelievable , or you have to make it depressing . But I think this is a really good , like Well done version that's not sad and it's not unbelievable . It's like it kind of works and Obviously you know people have of all kinds , have always existed . So it's just a nice little read and it sets up a great sequel which is actually coming out later this year . So this author's , she's on it , she's on it ?
Speaker 2I'm assuming she kind of wrote them , you know , in tandem , because you know it very clearly segues into a next Book . So I'm excited to read that sequel . I feel like this is right up my alley . Yes , I was reading it in God , you would really like this and it's . I learned a lot again . They did not know very much at all about the Regency , you know era .
Speaker 1Maybe this is your , maybe maybe this is your gateway drug . I'm really looking forward to May , when season Three of Bridgerton comes out and I have to make you read the Bridgerton four and yeah , we have to talk about it because I Think you're gonna like it and I think I'm gonna give you All right , Love it Um All right . What have I been reading ?
Speaker 2Let's see .
Speaker 1I've read . Okay . So to kind of pick up on a conversation we had in our last it's a last time you had just read Jacob Malfoy in the mortifying ordeal of being in love . I have read that now , Internal screaming . You were so right that it's like the . The . It is a great cleanser after reading man's cold .
Speaker 1It is the . The seriousness is low . Like things work out . Yeah , like , yes , it's just like oh , thank God , it's fun . Yeah , it is fun it's . And also one thing I liked about it is that they're like in their 30s , which I Really liked that . I really liked that . I like that . That they kind of just had their things like yeah you know , whatever anyway they're established is their own people .
Speaker 2They're not like figuring things out together . It's like , okay , I have , you know , they're very independent people , and then they , you know yes , totally , for me it was the slowest .
Speaker 1We're like I'm , this is a long , ah fanfic . Okay , this is long , and halfway through I texted Emily and I texted you and I was like Hello , they have grazed fingertips , the yearning , and also , because it's from Draco's POV , like you don't know if she even reciprocates anything at all or if she's having any feelings whatsoever at all until , like , really close to the end . Yeah , so it was , it was really sweet and it was , it was good . It's delightful . But , like be warned , like this is a Hello burn and when , like , like in that dad does make the payoff , like when the , when the main characters finally get together , it makes it , yeah , very satisfying . But also , you're like y'all come on Please .
Speaker 2Yeah , years , I Think it does take over the course of a year .
Speaker 1So it does . It takes over the course of year , but I honestly realistic , like if you have kind of always been enemies , yeah .
Speaker 2Exactly that's why I don't like these enemies . To lovers where they're like . Oh , suddenly , one day later , I love you . No , that's not real right . I mean that's that's for some people , but I did binge read this , so I think that's the way to do it . Like , if you can devote a whole weekend reading this , I think that's the way to go . Don't drag it out , because it is quite long there is also etl .
Speaker 1Echo did up another . They did the an audiobook of this on Spotify .
Speaker 2Love that .
Speaker 1so for for society , I will say I will say , like God bless the people who did this . The Hermione voice is giving Hermione . It's very like Mmm . What is it From ?
Speaker 2you know , yes , you know , I love when I love when voice actors do voices and not like I don't like as much when they're just like I am going to the store and yeah , you know , like when they have no , they just are reading it , you know , in that narrative voice . I mean , I understand why people do that , but I like it when there's more , you know , artisticness .
Speaker 1So me too great , excellent Okay .
Speaker 1On top of that , I'm taking a more serious turn . I read cast by Isabelle Wilkerson . It's called cast subtitle the origins of our discontent , and it compares cast systems across the world over time and to the cast system in the United States . And so her argument is that like Not only is like a America , like structurally and systematically like a racist country , but it's also a cast system and comparing it to the , the Nazi cast cast system and the Indian cast system . And so she uses a lot of great stories to discuss that and how , advocacy , like how Germany has like made true reparations for and like healing from the , from their cast system and the negative effects of the Nazi regime and the ways actually like some really like Interesting comparisons that really put things in perspective in America , like the way that our country has been built . So , but it's also I'm kind of used about how it's gonna be a movie Because it's being made into like it's being fictionalized in some way or like made into a story , a movie coming out called origin or origins . So it's gonna be That'll be interesting , I think . Probably it's using like a narrative form , like this researcher who's researching about the cast system . Sure , but it was really really good .
Speaker 1I've . I've read quite a few books Around this topic over the last few years and this one really stood out . So I recommend if I mostly did the audio book on this one it's the audio book is included in your premium subscription of Spotify , although I did run out of listening hours because it's quite long . So then I was like , okay , what am I gonna do ? And I I ended up getting the regular copy from the library and finishing it that way . But I recommend , and at the very least , maybe seeing a movie would be really interesting for people who are interested .
Speaker 2Yeah , it sounds really good , You're welcome .
Speaker 1You're welcome . All right , that's all we have . This is a good episode , well done .
Speaker 2This is great , very fun . See you guys next time . Catch you guys next time you .