Episode 26: They Can't All Be 5 Stars

Hello, Hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads this is episode 26, “They Can’t All Be 5 Stars.”

In this episode, Erin and Jillian share their latest books, even those that may not have been 5 stars. This allows you to choose whether to read them or not! 

In This Episode:

• Both ladies check in on how their reading lives are going. 
• It’s time to jump into the heart of the episode, Jillian and Erin share their latest three reads. To know what they’re sharing tune in to the episode. 
• This episode’s Hot Takes are up next! Erin found this great question and blog post that both she and Jillian weigh in on. If you want to read the blog post about book tropes, just click here.
• What are the ladies sharing on their holds lists this time? Be sure to listen to find out!
• Mentioned in this episode: Episode 24 - Welcome Back to Season 2 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
• Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
• The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
• The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
• Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters 
• The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson
• Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
• The Summer Pact Emily Giffin
• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
• The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri
• Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
• Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
• Love, Off the Record by Samantha Markum 
• The Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• The Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
• By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
• Sandwich by Catherine Newman
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Transcript

I think that's just as useful in the sea of possibilities, in the endless choices that readers have.

Jillian and I, we're just as happy to tell you we think you can skip a book, and you can make that decision on your own, but we're just as happy to tell you what you don't need to pick up.

As much as we're excited to tell you what you might really, really love to read.

Absolutely.

[Music] Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads.

This is episode 26.

We've got a reviews lined up and our colleagues are ready to say goodbye to Summer, and hello, fall.

[Music] Hi everyone, I'm Erin, I'm a mom of three, a hospital administrator in Ontario, Canada, and the host and founder of Medium Lady Community and Medium Lady Talks podcast.

I'm Jillian, an Instagram content strategist for Bookish people, a mom who's too based in Buffalo, New York.

Together we're thrilled to bring you another episode of Medium Lady Reads, a podcast about reading a self-care, a passionate love for the public library, and all of our thoughts and opinions on book culture having its moment.

Hi everyone, welcome back to Medium Lady Reads.

This is episode 26, airing on what'll be the first day back to school for me, Jillian, I'm not sure about you.

Happy first day of school, everyone.

I think it is our first day.

Is it going to be your first day, too?

I think it is.

I think September 3rd, right?

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah?

Are you happy to have your kids back to school, Jillian?

What does that mean for your reading life?

Yeah, I'm super excited about them being back to school.

My reading in life probably won't change too much, it'll stay the same.

I will read a little bit in the mornings and then most of my reading happens in the evenings anyway, but it'll just mean more freedom to work on things in my business and hopefully get back to the grind because it's been a really easy going summer around here.

I know what you mean.

I haven't had too much structure, which has been good, but at a certain point you need a few like guardrails to live your life.

Yeah, and I miss them after so long.

Oh yeah, yeah.

All right, well let's dive into our reading check-in and our current reads, Jillian.

What are you reading lately?

How's your reading going?

Reading's going well.

As of this recording, I'm reading The Frozen River by Ariel LaHon.

And it's really good.

It's historical fiction.

And as I said in the last episode, I'm not a huge historical fiction fan, typically, but this is really good.

I am speeding through it very quickly.

It's about 400 pages, so it's a little bit on the larger side, but really good, really good stuff.

How's your reading going?

My reading's going well.

You know, I came back from the cottage.

I thought I would be slowing down.

I'm not seeing that happen, so I'm just going to write it out.

I feel like if someone were to say, like, "Oh, how do you read so much?"

It's, I'm always thinking about books.

I'm always thinking about when I can get my next 10 minutes of reading.

I will read in uncomfortable positions, weird situations, small slivers of time.

I'm constantly cramming a few extra minutes of reading into my life.

Right now, I'm currently reading Promise Boys by Nick Brooks, which is on audio.

This is an award-winning audio production.

It's a YA thriller about a boy's prep school following the murder of their dictatorial principal.

And the second book I have is "Print Copy."

My print book on the go is "The Book of Doors" by Gareth Brown.

This is about a secret society of magical books and their owners who are all in a race to possess the most powerful of them all, the Book of Doors.

Both sound really good.

Yeah.

You know what?

Actually, I think I'm like in a bit of a four-star reading stretch.

So hopefully I can keep that streak alive.

Yeah.

You don't want to invite any of those three-star reads in.

No, and then you're like, "That one."

Oh.

Yeah.

Although, three-star reads can, three-star reads could still be okay.

It's one for me anyway.

When I get to two or one, that's usually when they're really, really rough.

Yeah.

And I was debating, and I'll share a little bit of this with the audience, Jillian.

You know this.

I was sharing in our Book Club chat, our Buddy Reads chat, that I had been debating a DNFing experiment.

So stay tuned for that.

I'm not going to, I don't want to reveal too much because it still makes me feel a little clenchy thinking about pulling it off.

But I think I've first, the month of September, I'm going to conduct a DNF, a do not finish experiment.

So, you know, listeners, you can stay tuned for that and see what that experiment will entail.

That'll be fun for sure.

All right.

It's time for Book Chat and the heart of the episode.

Jillian, we're ready to dive in.

Tell me about the layout of your last three books.

What are we in for for this episode?

Hmm.

So, for this week's books, I'm going to be sharing a spicy LGBTQI plus romance, a mysterious historical fiction, and a somewhat blayhen to summer read.

They can't all be five stars.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And maybe something you might want to leave off your list instead of put on your list.

What are your three books like, Aaron?

Today, my books are kind of taking us around the globe.

I've got a book that covers New York, Dominican Republic, NYA fiction, Charleston, South Carolina with a sports romance.

And finally to the Silk Road of the 11th century with a five star audiobook.

I hope you brought your passport, Jillian.

I don't have one.

I know I don't need it, but you don't need one for books.

For bookish travel, you don't need you just got I hope you got your bookish passport.

Maybe that's what I should have said.

Always.

Esther was at camp last week and gymnastics camp and it was the around the world.

And they made mini passports like pretend mini passports.

And I should just use hers.

Thanks Esther.

All right.

So the first book I'm sharing today is The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, which Aaron I spoke to about in our last episode.

But I've officially read it now and can give you a true review.

Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed the book.

I gave it four stars, but there's a darn miscommunication trope that just drives me bananas in it.

This is primarily why I got four instead of five stars, but it is still a great book.

Here's the premise.

Theo and Kit, once best friends and lovers are now estranged X's who haven't spoken since their painful breakup.

Four years later, they both decide to use their unused voucher for European food and wine tours separately.

But when they discover they're on the same trip, old tensions and desires resurface, leading to a playful hookup competition that forces them to confront their unresolved feelings for each other.

As they journey through the romantic landscapes of France, Spain and Italy, Theo and Kit's competitive game starts to blur the lines between lust and love.

Each city brings them closer to the memories of what they once shared and the possibility of rekindling their connection.

The more they try to outdo each other, the more they realize that the true prize isn't a fleeting fling, but the deep bond they've never truly left behind.

In the end, they must decide whether to embrace the love they thought they'd lost or let go of the past forever.

Reading that gives me the warm fuzzies.

And I know what the book's about.

It still gives me the warm fuzzies.

The comfort of being with someone you truly love and with someone who accepts you, which is huge in this book, it is just so magical and makes me feel so happy.

This book is absolutely perfect if you're looking for some romance with an open door, sexual experiences, feeling true acceptance into the story and you love love because it really does prevail in this book.

There is a lot of love and like I said, it's very open and accepting and I like that because when I mean open, I mean of all types and all pronouns and it's just very LGBTQIA+ friendly and I definitely think it's worth the read.

Aaron, I know you got this book out of the library.

Have you read it yet?

I haven't read it yet.

I was sort of waiting for your review and I'm going away on a girl's trip this weekend.

So it will be one of the books that I bring with me to we're going up to our cabin.

Me and my girlfriends, our plan is to eat and read and sleep and so I'm pretty sure I'll make it through this weekend but I'm really grateful to have your review on board because there's so much about this book that hits my like pros column and I'm looking forward to just diving into something that will give me the warm fuzzies at a relaxing getaway.

I think it's going to be a perfect fit.

Oh my gosh, it is so perfect for a weekend away, especially by the lake.

There's lots of travel stuff in this book.

I mean the whole book is travel and it's it's perfect.

You'll you'll love it and I think it'll fit right along with the weekend.

It'll add to the ambiance.

Oh, I'm excited.

Okay, what is the first book you brought today, Aaron?

My first book for the episode is called Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo.

I read this book to fulfill the August prompt for the 2024 bold reading challenge, which I've talked about off and on on the podcast.

The prompt for August was to read a novel or a book of poetry by a Caribbean author.

I've had Clap When You Land on my TBR for a really long time.

I think Jillian, our mutual friend Stephanie Swiley recommended it to me a long time ago and it fit the bill for the challenge perfectly because while it is a novel, this is why I fiction, the book is also written in poetry prose.

Here's the setup.

The story follows two sisters Camino Rios and Yehira Rios who are connected by a father they both adored but never knew they shared.

Camino lives in the Dominican Republic and Yehira lives in New York.

Unbeknownst to them their father has been living a double life with two separate families.

When he dies in a tragic plane crash, their worlds are turned upside down and as they struggle to navigate their grief and the secrets he left behind, they discover each other and the unexpected bond they now share.

It's such a good premise for story.

I gave this book four stars.

It's a really incredible novel in verse.

It explores themes of grief, of love, the complexity of our relationships that often shape our lives, how much memory affects the decisions that we make in the present moment.

The story starts at what is a really tragic end for a significant character in the book, which is the father.

He plays a very dominant presence through the entire story, even though the beginning of the story is his tragic end of his life.

There are so many after effects for both Camino and Yehira.

As I found with other books I've read while making my way through the fold reading challenge, this book is unlike anything I've ever read before.

The poetry style makes each chapter take on its own evocative nature.

The dual setting of the two sisters make each point of use stand out.

The book bounces between the Dominican and New York.

Yet Elizabeth Asvedo manages to keep the plot moving.

Things move forward, there's a lot happening in the story, and it keeps the reader caring about what happens next.

Which is not often the reason people read poetry.

Usually you read poetry to capture a feeling and an emotion.

You kind of move on.

You're not waiting for the poem to give you that propulsive feeling of a plot line.

This is a really rich reading experience that will stick with me.

If you liked our book club pick earlier this year, pride by Ebisa Boy.

You will enjoy this.

And if you like poetry but you always find yourself feeling like it doesn't quite scratch the itch, you'll probably find this a perfect fit.

Asvedo's lyrical writing captures the raw emotion of loss on this difficult journey towards forgiveness and healing.

The crash in the story is based off of a real and devastating, but something forgotten by me, a plane crash that happened in November of 2001.

Jillian, what are your thoughts around this book?

Have you heard of this story?

I have heard of it.

I haven't read it and it's been on my TBR for a long time.

And now after that synopsis and review, I definitely think I'm going to be picking it up.

It sounds like a book that I'm not typically one to pick up.

I'm not a huge poetry person.

And I don't always love prose when the prose is written as poetry.

But I'm interested in this.

I'm interested.

I think I'm going to pick it up.

Yeah, it's also kind of a quick read because because at least in the print copy I had was about 300 odd pages.

But because of the way poetry is laid out, right?

There's not a lot of words per page.

So you do you can really kind of propulsively move your way through it.

Sounds good.

I'm excited.

I'll have to add it.

And that it's an older book.

So it'll come in right away.

I also think this is a really good one for a book club.

If you're looking for something a little different, you know, you can take a step back from the thrillers and the romance and the contemporary fiction.

It's it's it's very different.

And the poetry piece gives a lot to kind of talk about and think about.

I kind of wish I had suggested this to our buddy reads group because I feel like I might have gotten even a little bit more out of the poetry aspect of it especially.

Just pretend you haven't read it yet.

Okay, Jillian.

What's your next most recent read?

I thought you were going to be like, okay, Jillian.

Here everybody hears the book I haven't read.

That's on public record.

Yeah.

Oh, you're funny.

All right.

My next book is The Barry Pickers by Amanda Peters.

I love this book and I gave it five stars.

Here's the premise.

In July of 1962, a Mac Mac family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer.

Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family's youngest child, banishes.

She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of the Berryfield.

Joe will remain distraught by his sister's disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family.

Her father is emotionally distant.

Her mother frustratingly overprotective.

Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination.

As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren't telling her.

Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.

This book is both heartbreaking and in the end, heartwarming, going through and feeling what Joe went through when his sister went missing and how he carried that with him for nearly his entire life is devastating.

It makes up a good chunk of the story and it's just you follow him through it and it's hard, but it's beautiful too.

Thankfully, there is a positive outcome.

It just takes ages to get there and I don't mean that in the sense that it took ages because the book is too long because it's actually rather short book.

It just takes ages within the time that spans the book as it takes a while to get there.

Once again, love prevails.

I guess I should have said from the beginning, my theme of my books was love.

Once again, love prevails and this time it still remains even after time passes.

So that's really good.

If you love historical fiction, you will love this book.

Aaron, have you read it?

I haven't read it and I don't even know if I it was not really on my radar until I saw you were going to bring it to the show.

It sounds like a really incredible story and I think it's one of those stories that hasn't been told.

I think it's one of those stories that I'm really glad to be a reader at a time when stories are so diverse and the stories are sharing the lived experiences of people that I might not meet or I might not cross paths with, but I'm definitely going to add this to my TBR.

I think it's it sounds really beautiful and I love your summary of the story.

So I'm excited to kind of get to this one.

Good.

I look forward to hearing what you think of it because I think it's a pretty good book and it's it with us both saying we don't love historical fiction.

We got to pick the good ones.

Those ones that are different.

Like you said, the story hasn't been told a million different ways.

So it's it's good to pick those books up.

All right.

Thanks, Jillian.

Great, great pick for the show.

What is your next book, Aaron?

My next book is a book I just finished a few days ago.

Jillian, I texted you about this.

It was not in the original script, but when I finished it, I just knew I had to bring it to the show.

It's The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson.

This is a contemporary sports romance that took me on a roller coaster ride of my own angst.

Here's the setup.

The story kicks off with Daphne Brink, who's fresh off of signing her divorce papers.

She finds herself at a ballgame with her best friend, despite not being a fan.

After a few too many beers, she heckles Chris Kepler, a player for the Carolina Battery, and embarrasses herself in the process.

She feels terrible.

She feels guilty.

She's all over social media.

So Daphne sends Chris an apology on social media.

But while she's crafting that apology, she accidentally forgets to mention she's the heckler.

Chris, who's going through his own rough patch, usually ignores fan messages, but something about Ducky, Daphne's online alias resonates with him.

They start chatting and before long their connection deepens.

The only problem?

Daphne's keeping her heckler identity a secret, and now she's working with the team, getting closer to Chris in real life.

As their feelings for each other grow, Daphne knows she can't keep lying forever, but when the truth comes out, will it be game over for their budding romance?

I was influenced to read this book by Goshdarn Instagram.

It showed up on so many new release flatlays I could not resist.

My husband Nick is a huge baseball fan and all three of my kids play baseball.

So I thought, why not bring baseball into my reading life too?

So if you heard that premise and felt a bit skeptical, Jillian, did you feel skeptical hearing about this premise?

A little bit.

Yeah, there's a red flag or two for a regular romance reader in that premise.

And I know just what you mean.

And frankly, I wanted to love this book so much.

And I actually, I did really love it, but I eventually had to talk myself out of caring about all of the lying that Daphne, the female main character, was pulling off to drive the entire plot forward.

You have to realize if she stops lying, the book ends.

And this book also was so cute.

And it was so annoying.

I loved the chemistry between Chris and Daphne, both by text and then later in person.

I thought the plot device to build chemistry online that later develops into chemistry in real life was very compelling and very propulsive.

But I kept waiting for her to fess up or get busted for about 75% of the book.

And it was stressful.

It's just not a great experience as a reader to suspend your own personal morals just to enjoy a juicy story.

Daphne, she is kind of messed up in the early days after her divorce.

That's sort of the framework for why she decides to keep lying.

She's not okay, but she's going to kind of proceed anyway.

Her husband was not a nice guy.

I do wish that we had got to understand her healing post divorce as part of the plot.

I think that might have brought a little bit more resolution into the choices she makes earlier on in the book.

Okay, Jillian, all that angst, I still gave this book four stars.

If it hadn't been such a like gut clench of all the lying, I would have probably given it five stars.

The art of catching feelings has chemistry and banter comparable to Ali Hazelwood.

Five on the spicy scale.

This is open door.

My friends, I just kept reading.

It would have been a five star romance without the lying, but without the lying, the story wouldn't exist.

I'm so torn on this book, but I won't forget it easily.

And it had so much going for it.

That's the art of catching feelings by Alicia Thompson.

Okay, so I was not going to even think about putting this on my TBR just.

It just didn't seem like something I would like.

Baseball romance, Jillian.

Well, I mean, partially that.

And it just seemed, I don't know, a little goofy.

I don't know, it just seems.

Yeah, goofy.

That's good.

A good word.

But then you compared it to Ali Hazelwood.

Yes.

And I'm thinking maybe I would read it.

I mean, if nothing else, it's a nice simple read that kind of wipes the slate clean, a palette cleanser.

After your frozen rivers, after your tear jerker books, after your, you know, your berry picker book, it's a great, it is a great sort of like moderate book to kind of like pick up, enjoy the ride, disconnect yourself from the like, oh, I just like, I don't understand why she keeps doing this.

But yeah, man, the chemistry was great.

I've talked about Canadian boyfriend.

I don't know if I ever brought that book to the show.

I don't think you did.

Oh my god.

It's so sad.

I'm so sad that I never brought Canadian boyfriend to the, maybe for cozy Christmas reads, I will.

Anyway, Canadian boyfriend by Jenny Holiday came out earlier this year.

It's a hockey romance.

And man, I fell hard for the male main character in that book.

I still think about him.

Chris Kepler is probably second to Mike Miller on the on the book boyfriend scale.

So I have a thing for sports, boyfriend for sports.

I get the hype.

I get the hype because Chris Kepler, he was, you know, he was scratching an itch for sure.

I would love to know what you think of it.

And I would probably recommend it to staff and Ali as well.

I will have to read it.

I'm going to have to add it to my list as soon as we're off our call or off recording.

I feel like with our new format, it's really just like constant cross-pollination between you and I.

Our TBRs, it's just going to be one giant one giant Aaron Gillian TBR.

Hopefully we read enough different books on each other.

Now we have topics that we can bring besides.

I know we're going to be like, okay, when I read the Barry Pickers, I can't bring that to the show because Jillian already brought it to the show.

So oh man, we'll have to.

It's a good problem to have.

It is.

It's a good problem to have.

It really is.

Okay, Jillian, what is your last book for today's episode?

All right, so my last book is kind of a want, want, but that's okay.

This is The Summer Packed by Emily Giffin.

I gave this one three stars.

I really, really wanted to love it, but it just wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Here's the synopsis.

Four college freshmen from different backgrounds.

Laney, a dramatic California party girl.

Tyson, a brilliant DC scholar, summer, a perfectionist, athlete from the Midwest, and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner, recombast friends after meeting in their dorm.

Their bond deepens over the years, but a tragic event just before graduation changes their lives forever.

Ten years later, as Hannah faces a major life crisis, the friends reunite each at a crossroads to support one another in a journey of self-discovery and healing.

Their reunion brings both joy and tension as old wounds resurface and new challenges arise.

Each friend is grappling with personal struggles.

Laney is battling her demons from the past.

Tyson is questioning his life choices.

Summer is overwhelmed by the pressure to be perfect, and Hannah is dealing with the uncertainties of her future.

As they navigate their complicated lives, the friends must confront hard truths about themselves and each other.

Through hard-to-hard conversations, shared memories, and their enduring bond, they begin to heal and find the strength to face the future.

The journey is not easy, but together they rediscover the importance of friendship, forgiveness, and the courage to embrace change.

In the end, this story is a reminder that even in the at-face of adversity, the support of those who truly know and love us can help find our way back to ourselves.

When life falls apart, it's the people who stand by us that make all the difference, reminding us that we are never truly alone.

Did I want to love this book?

Yes.

I really did, because I'd been looking forward to a summer beachy read.

There were beaches, and there were friendships, but it wasn't just a great read.

I really wonder if Emily Giffin had been forced to speed-write, or maybe she didn't have a good story and had to pull something together.

I don't know.

It wasn't the greatest story, and some of it didn't make sense, like characters getting together with characters who couldn't stand each other in the beginning of the book.

It was frustrating.

So, reader, read at your own risk.

I think that's great.

I actually like, I used to a long, long time ago now, when I was, I would bring books to medium-lady talks.

I would do like a probably past list or something.

I was like, here's what the book is about.

Here's why I don't recommend it.

And I think that's just as useful in the sea of possibilities in the endless choices that readers have.

Jillian and I, we're just as happy to tell you, we think you can skip a book, and you can make that decision on your own, but we're just as happy to tell you what you don't need to pick up, as much as we're excited to tell you what you might really, really love to read.

Absolutely.

It allows you to call your list and cut down all those ones.

So, this is one last book.

I know one of our listeners, Molly, had said she was looking forward to reading it, and now maybe she won't.

So, it absolutely is worth sharing the not so good along with the really, really great.

Yeah, and listen, if you read it and you love it, that's also great too.

That's really allowed.

Absolutely.

Not going to hurt our feelings.

If you read a five-star book of ours and you're like, I gave it a three, we'll be fine.

It's used to that with Stephanie.

I can't say Stephanie.

Yes, it's true.

And then she'll say, "Three is good."

And I'm like, in what world is three good?

But she gave Tom Lake four, which I was shocked about.

So, that is exciting.

Well, that...

Gosh, that's like one of my favorite books.

I know.

It is such a good book.

It is a five through and through.

Read Tom Lake.

Read Tom Lake instead of the summer packed.

Yes, please.

That's not a very good substitution, but...

No, I mean, they don't really, they're nothing like each other, but they are still, they have a summary vibe going for them.

So, I guess, and friendships.

So...

Read Tom Lake.

All right, Aaron, what's your last book?

Okay, my last book, and I apologize, you might give me my dog snoring in the background.

I have a bit of a story before I tell you about my last book.

So, I have invented a new personal tradition for summer cottage reading.

While I'm at the cottage, I do a ton of reading, and sometimes I also do a ton of like book researching, because one book leads to another, needs to another, and sometimes I've got my phone out, and I'm just, my curiosity is peaked about something, and I'm googling an author, or I'm going into deep dives on good reads.

Anyway, I do like to look up the winners of audiobook awards, especially audiobooks for young adults and children.

And then I download them to enjoy on the drive home, not to share with my sons.

No, just for me to enjoy.

Jillian, I don't know if you know this about me, but I do get terrible motion sickness.

It's actually gotten quite a lot worse as I get older, and audiobooks will help to distract me from our long car rides home.

Last year, I did this, I downloaded the winners of audiobook awards, and I had such a great time with the books that I discovered.

So this year, I was thinking, oh, I should try that again.

And that's how I found this book, The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Cellar of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri.

Daniel Nayeri, have you heard of Daniel Nayeri, Jillian?

No.

So Daniel Nayeri is an author that really tugs on your heartstrings.

He writes from a beautiful place of wonder and authenticity.

I loved his other book, Everything Sad is Untrue.

I read that last year.

That book is Beyond Five Stars.

It is so authentic and bittersweet and beautiful.

So when I saw that his audiobook, The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Cellar of Dreams, published last year in 2023, was on a few of the best audiobook lists.

Plus, this book itself was a nominee for the New Burry Award, which for listeners is the literary award given annually by the Association of Library Service to Children.

It was an instant decision.

I didn't even add to TBR.

I just downloaded it from Libby and started listening.

Here's the setup.

The book The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Cellar of Dreams, is a short four-hour audiobook about our main character, Monkey, a 12-year-old boy in the 11th century on the Silk Road.

The story starts with monkeys escape from the monks who wished him dead, into indebted servitude to his new master, Samir, who is a merchant of many things, but firstly, stories.

Monkey joins the caravan of merchants traveling the Silk Road, and the many adventures brought upon him and Samir, thanks to Samir's less than honest dealings with many angry customers.

Daniel Nairi narrates this himself, "I cannot imagine anyone better suited to do it."

From the minute the narration starts, Jillian, you're transported away to the 11th century Silk Road, and completely under the spell of the story.

You will love Monkey and Samir, as well as the characters that surround them.

The book made me nostalgic for Disney's 1992 Aladdin.

It's giving the same Arabian Knights characters.

The narration also, Daniel Nairi's narration really took me back to the Robin Williams performance of the Genie.

It made me giggle.

It made me cry.

This is a children's book, but it is still a solid four hours, and the story takes a few twists and turns, deploys ironies, sarcasm, there are some key plot twists.

So it is really best suited, I think, to older kids, maybe age 11 or 12, not due to content, but actually just due to the complexity of the storytelling.

I wasn't looking for this book, but I'm so glad it found me right when I needed it most.

That's the many assassinations of Samir, the seller of dreams.

I wish that I had somewhere to go, like a long drive.

Yeah.

So I could listen to this.

It sounds really good.

Well listen, here's the thing I'll tell you is like this might not be at the top of your TBR, but the next time you find yourself on the drive, Jillian, you or listeners, you can DM me and say, what was the name of that book?

What was the name of that really good children's book?

And I will just send you the link.

Perfect.

When you're ready, it will find you.

It'll be there.

This is a book you can keep in your back pocket.

Perfect.

All right, those are our six books.

So that means it's time for hot takes and our current thoughts on book culture, a hot take is an opinion usually formed off the cuff and with little research, sometimes provocative.

Today's hot take is this.

Our tropes, spoilers.

So I found this question and a great blog post exploring it.

I had to bring it to the show.

We're going to assume most of our listeners know, but in case you don't, tropes are generally this short form way of describing a plot device or a hallmark characteristic of storytelling.

They're most often used in romance, but they're also used in other popular fiction genres like fantasy and young adult.

More and more often, a book will be promoted or summarized on social media or in promotional materials with the trope.

So for example, here on the show, we talk about found family.

That's a trope.

Enemies to lovers is a trope.

Miscommunication is a trope.

Tropes have become shorthand for quickly describing what you can expect from a book.

Many readers have favorite tropes or tropes they hate, and this can be really useful when you're choosing what to read from the vast amount of choice there is out there in the book world.

But tropes also dance a fine line between helpful and harmful, especially if you care about spoilers.

So Jillian, what do you think?

Do tropes count as spoilers?

Have we become overreliant on tropes as a means to talk about books?

So I guess my answer is kind of a cop out, but I'm going to say it depends.

It depends.

It depends on the trope because if you're telling me that there's a miscommunication trope in the book, I don't think it gives any spoilers away.

Yes, there might be something in there that tells a little bit about what is going to happen at some point, but that doesn't tell you the story.

It doesn't tell you what's going to occur.

The plot?

Yeah, yeah.

But if you tell me something like friends, there's a trope, friends to lovers, then it absolutely is a spoiler in my opinion.

And I've always thought this.

I never really put it to words, but I thought this because you're telling me exactly what's going to happen in that book.

There's no question in my mind that they're going to be friends to lovers because you're telling me that.

They're going to start as friends.

They're going to be lovers.

Exactly.

Exactly.

What do you think, Aaron?

I mean, I think tropes have gone wild.

I think that right now the book world is bananas for tropes.

It seems to be, you know, last episode we talked about books as fast fashion.

I think tropes propel that because they allow people to quickly summarize in a really easily consumable way.

What is this book about?

But I think they're kind of going crazy.

I've seen people invent tropes that I've never heard of before.

I've seen people give tropes that give away characteristics of the lead characters.

So things like grumpy sunshine.

I think the things like the black cat golden retriever trope.

They're sort of going a few steps deeper than the short form.

We might say something like, oh, a comedy of errors or we might say, oh, this is the even found family to me is not as much of a spoiler as telling me that like, oh, there's a shadow daddy in this book, which is like the latest whenever, which is basically where like the girl falls for the villain who's not really a villain.

He's sexy and dark.

It's the fourth wing zander.

They zander.

Types of characters.

I don't even think he's like the he's not the originator of that.

But like even things like the tropes will also kind of fall into genre categorization.

So like romantasy in my mind is a trope.

That's a trope.

That's not a genre of fiction.

It's a way of you telling me what's going to happen in the story.

Same with dark academia.

I feel like is dark academia genre or is that that's a trope of storytelling?

Then there's some other tropes that I really love and I'm like happy to gobble them up.

Yum yum yum.

Like give me a sassy elder.

Tell me that there's a sassy 80 year old in this book and I'm just gonna immediately want to read it.

So sometimes the tropes really help me.

Some people are really right or die for their trope.

And I don't get that.

I don't identify with that because sometimes I like friends to lovers and sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I like enemies to lovers and sometimes I don't.

It depends on the writing.

It depends on the author.

It depends on the setting.

It depends on the choices the characters make.

Normally the like the lying fake relationship or not fake relationship.

The lying trope from the art of catching feelings would be something I would probably DNF.

But because of the writing by Alicia Thompson, I kept going with the book and I really, really loved it.

Even though if you told me oh this book deploys the lying trope where one character is lying to another character in order to move the plot forward, I would have been like pass like I don't need it.

So I don't know like I just rambled a lot.

That's my hot take is like I think I think they're sometimes like they're cheating.

They're like a short form way of giving a review is like oh here's my review.

This book is friends to lovers.

That's not a review.

That's that's just a fact of your interpretation of the story and you're matching a trope to the story.

Tell me what you thought about it.

Yeah, I agree.

How did they become friends to lovers?

What were the plot devices used to help those friends become lovers?

I don't know like I don't know but I also feel like the art of the review and maybe this is another hot take.

The art of the review is like long gone.

Yeah, I think people are not as invested in giving high quality book reviews as they once were.

Huh, maybe that is a good hat take because we could save your opinion.

We could go spit off on that one next.

We'll save it for episode 27.

I don't know.

I feel like I really popped off Jillian.

Did I say anything that resonated with you?

Yeah, I agree with everything.

I think the thing that resonated the most with me is you saying that people were get really hardcore for their the trope of their choice and I don't understand that either.

Like there are people who will just read Romanticie and trust me, there's nothing wrong with that and I'm not going to yuck your yum.

I just don't understand that.

I like too many different types of books to just settle for one.

So yeah, there's that.

All right everybody that's our hot take.

We'd love to know what you think.

If you want to share your own take on the question are trope spoilers, then you can go ahead and DM us on Instagram @mediumladyreads or you can DM Jillian directly at Jillian finding happy or you can find me at medium.lady.

All right time for the holds list.

We're going to wrap up with the holds list.

Aaron and I are very passionate about the library and because we're both avid readers, we both have very active holds lists and we feel like that's something we don't hear a lot about on book podcasts or book talk or even on Instagram.

So we know it's something we can offer the bookish community.

Plus for season two, we're going to add on or what's up next to let the listener know what we'll be reaching out for for on our TBRs.

Aaron, what's on your holds list and what's when you have coming up next.

So because it's an evens episode, I'll share my digital holds list right now on Libby.

I'm waiting for spells for forgetting by Adrian Young.

Jillian, if you read this, I think you read it.

I have not.

Oh, I thought you read it.

This is a perfect fall book and somehow I got it from the library in the spring and I opened it up and I read three pages and I was like, no, I'm going to read this in the fall.

So thankfully that looks like it's coming up sometime after tomorrow and I might actually like delay the delivery of it on it Libby to just kind of push it further into that actual fall season.

And then up next, I have a new release by Samantha Markham called Love Off The Record.

And that's like a romance.

I think it's a young adult fiction about teen romcom, about two rival journalism students.

So they're competing for the same position on their university paper.

So that'll be kind of like a fun palette cleanser between what I've got going on.

Next up, I'm reading The Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Mayer.

This is the follow-up to the assistant to the villain.

I have a bit of a beef because I think assistant to the villain and apprentice to the villain are too close together and that's confusing.

But this is a delightful Disney-gone-wrong fantasy romance about a woman who gets roped into being an assistant for the fairy tale villain, but turns out he's kind of a dreamboat.

So I'm excited.

I'll be also reading that at the cottage along with the pairing by Casey McQuiston.

Jillian, what are you waiting for from the library and what do you have coming up on your TBR?

So I just quickly looked up spells for forgetting.

I did get that out last fall, but I never got to read it.

And then by the time that I did have the time to read it, it wasn't fall anymore.

So I decided to hold off.

So I haven't read it yet either.

All right.

So waiting for me at the library, I have the last bookshop in London, which is a recommendation from the last episode.

And then I also, it isn't up yet, but I think it actually came out two days ago by any other name by Jody Pico.

Oh, her latest one.

I'm waiting for such a pretty cover.

Yes, it is.

It's gorgeous.

And then up next for me is Sandwich, which I have to say, Erin sent me two books as a little gift.

Sandwich.

And then the God of the Woods, she sent me.

And I'm very excited.

I was very, very touched that she sent those to me.

Thank you.

Oh, I had to send a little book love your way.

I love it.

So next up for me is Sandwich, because I want to get that would read before summer's overs since Erin said it's a must read for summer.

That's by Catherine Newman, brief little synopsis during a family vacation in Cape Cod, Rocky caught between caring for her aging parents and her growing children confronts the emotional upheavals of menopause and her changing life.

As past memories resurface, Rocky must face her family's history and come to terms with the secret she's kept hidden.

If you want to hear a longer synopsis of that, I think Erin reviews it in episode 24, I believe it was.

So tune into that.

I'll link that up in the show notes too.

But I am very excited about that because when she was giving the synopsis in that episode, in episode 24, I started tearing up, just hearing her talk about it.

So like I'm prepared to be bawling my eyes out.

I should probably make sure I bring my own tissues this weekend.

And so I'm not using the hotel's rough ones.

Oh, but Jillian, tell everyone about your getaway.

I don't think you mentioned it on my.

Oh no.

So this weekend, I am going away for 36 hours to a local hotel just alone.

No kids, no husband.

And I am going to be reading the entire time.

And I'm I actually leave tomorrow after I pick my daughter up from camp.

I'm going to drop her off at home and take right off to the hotel.

It's very close to my house.

So it's not it's like a five minute ride.

But I'm very excited about it.

Are you going to do one of those like 24 hour reading vlogs?

No, I I feel so old saying this, but I I don't like number one, I don't know how people do all that.

Like how do they set up the scene?

So these people that are taking videos of them getting out of bed, do they set that up at the night before or or do they get out of the bed?

They set up the camera that may pretend to go back to bed.

Okay, see that just doesn't make sense.

That doesn't make sense to me.

But I will admit to say to loving watching them.

I love to watch them.

It's true.

Yeah.

Deaf cunning hymns are my favorite because I know the people in them.

So I like watching hers the most.

So no, to answer your question, I won't be doing any day in the lives.

But I probably will share some stories about what I'm reading and you know, maybe when I'm eating or something like that since that's the joy of this is eating what I want and reading what I want when I want.

Oh, it sounds heavenly.

We're both going to be enjoying those reading weekends not together, but still at the same time.

In spirit will be together.

Well, I hope you can like text me whenever you're in the middle of sandwich.

And I think you could probably do that book in one sitting.

It's very it's it's pretty fast-paced.

It moves by really quickly and it's a short book too.

I absolutely will.

I'll make sure I keep in contact while I'm reading it.

Please do.

All right, everyone.

That wraps up episode 26 of Medium Lady Reads.

Medium Lady Reads is a spin-off of the Medium Lady Talks podcast and Instagram community.

You can find me, Aaron at medium.lady and you can find Jillian at Jillian finding happy for more of our current reads and other shenanigans.

And of course, you can follow the podcast itself on Instagram @MiamLadyReads.

If you liked this episode, please share it with another bookish friend or post on Instagram and be sure to tag us.

We would be tickled pink to hear from you.

Thank you for listening.

I'm your host Jillian and I'm your other host, Aaron.

Until next time, we hope that your holds arrive with me and your next book finds you right when you need it most.

We'll talk to you soon.

Bye.

Bye.