Best of 2023

[00:00:00] Alba Take Projection

[00:00:11] Welcome to Check Your Shelf, the official book podcast of the Alba Take Network.

[00:00:15] I'm your host, Jaime, and I'm here with my co-host, Jennifer.

[00:00:21] And this episode we're discussing several different things including our top book picks of 2023.

[00:00:28] How does it feel to be back on the podcast after a nice long break, Jennifer?

[00:00:32] Oh, it's so exciting. I mean, like, I missed it so much.

[00:00:36] We just had such a hard time. You were so busy and life was happening.

[00:00:41] And so, Jaime and I have decided we're going to attempt this podcast not face-to-face.

[00:00:48] So, I'm at my house. She's at her house.

[00:00:52] And we're missing each other, but we're keeping on.

[00:00:57] Yeah, because we have quite the commute to get to each other to podcast.

[00:01:02] So, we think that this is going to save some time and simplify something.

[00:01:06] And allow us to record. But we'll be face-to-face.

[00:01:09] Yeah, yeah. And this will allow us to have more episodes.

[00:01:12] Which is what we wanted.

[00:01:14] Yeah. Which is what we want and which I will never say again

[00:01:19] because every time I predict, like, when we're like,

[00:01:21] this is what we have coming up.

[00:01:23] Like, you can just go ahead and stick a pen in it because I've ruined it.

[00:01:27] I've jinxed it. It's not happening or it's not happening when I think it's going to happen.

[00:01:31] So, but yeah, so we're, I'm excited to try it in this format

[00:01:35] and see if we can maybe get some extra episodes out.

[00:01:38] I hope so.

[00:01:40] I do too.

[00:01:41] Okay, so let's start with, you had really good ideas for what to talk about this month.

[00:01:48] So where do you want to start?

[00:01:50] So let's start with our book of the month.

[00:01:52] Like, you know, our box.

[00:01:54] Okay, that sounds good.

[00:01:56] So I actually skipped January, but that's okay because I had some real winners in December

[00:02:11] and I have an add-on that I'm looking forward to putting in my box for February.

[00:02:17] I've already actually already listened to the book and I want it as my trophy

[00:02:21] because it might go into my top books of 2024.

[00:02:25] So I need a book trophy.

[00:02:27] Okay, what is that?

[00:02:30] Okay, I noticed on Goodreads that you have it marked as Want to Read

[00:02:34] and it is Butcher and Blackbird.

[00:02:38] Yes! I almost started it today.

[00:02:40] Okay, the audio is actually hilarious.

[00:02:43] Like, I don't know how it would read.

[00:02:47] I was trying to envision that because you know, you and I have discussed multiple times

[00:02:51] how sometimes a book actually reads sad, but then when you hear it as an audio,

[00:02:55] it's actually funny.

[00:02:57] And this one was actually very hilarious.

[00:03:01] And I don't know if it's, it was, I don't know if it's because the audio,

[00:03:04] the narrators, I mean, you know, there's a lot of inflection and I don't know.

[00:03:10] Oh my goodness, I mean, it was absolutely amazing.

[00:03:13] I love it.

[00:03:15] And it's about two serial killers who fall in love.

[00:03:18] Yes, so they challenge each other to a killing competition.

[00:03:24] And I know this sounds so dark, but it's actually not.

[00:03:29] And it really, a friend of mine though, she said to sum it up,

[00:03:34] it is two very broken people who find companionship in each other.

[00:03:41] And I thought that was a really great way of putting it.

[00:03:44] There are some, there I mean, there are some really sad moments in it,

[00:03:48] but overall it's really funny even though they're killing people.

[00:03:54] When I saw it, and I don't remember where I ran across it,

[00:04:00] but I read the synopsis and was like this, now okay,

[00:04:04] this is the romance book I could chat about.

[00:04:07] This is the, this one was written for me, serial killers falling in love.

[00:04:12] I'm good for February.

[00:04:14] Yeah, I mean, God, it's so good and it's an add on.

[00:04:18] Or meh, is it an add on or was it?

[00:04:22] Yeah, it is.

[00:04:23] It's an add on.

[00:04:24] No, it's an add on.

[00:04:25] So I already have it in my cart.

[00:04:29] I just can't get it yet because I need a initial book, you know,

[00:04:33] a pick to, I don't know what you can do later on,

[00:04:37] but I'm still not a BFF.

[00:04:39] And so I can't just buy any old book.

[00:04:44] Yeah, we, I have the frozen river.

[00:04:48] I put it in my cart today and it's just like awesome,

[00:04:51] but you got to wait for February's book of the month before you can actually.

[00:04:55] I've actually heard multiple people who are very well read say that

[00:05:00] that is probably one of their favorite books in quite a while.

[00:05:05] Okay.

[00:05:06] So and that is it's Butcher and Blackbird by Brian Weaver.

[00:05:10] Yes, Butcher and Blackbird.

[00:05:12] And it is the first in the ruinous love trilogy.

[00:05:16] There will be three books.

[00:05:20] Audio is done in duet format, which I love duet.

[00:05:25] It's like, it's like, I don't know, like, I don't know how to word it.

[00:05:30] Like when it'll say, when he's talking, he actually talks.

[00:05:34] And when she's talking, she actually talks instead of like the person doing a guy voice,

[00:05:39] even though something makes sense. Am I making sense?

[00:05:42] Yes. Yeah.

[00:05:44] Yours truly was that way.

[00:05:46] There was like a male reader for the guy and a female reader for the girl.

[00:05:50] It's very good.

[00:05:52] And they're just really great narrators too.

[00:05:55] So it was great.

[00:05:58] Okay.

[00:05:59] Awesome.

[00:06:00] Well, you know, I can't ever skip a month.

[00:06:03] I did one time by accident, like at the very beginning and I griped the entire month.

[00:06:08] I was so mad.

[00:06:09] I had no idea how I even did it.

[00:06:11] I had no idea where the credit went.

[00:06:13] Like I just, and I will say with Book of the Month, they have great customer service,

[00:06:19] but only after you become a BFF.

[00:06:21] After you become a BFF, they do everything short of just coming to your house

[00:06:25] and hand delivering a replacement book if you're not happy.

[00:06:28] But that first year, you're just kind of on your own.

[00:06:31] And that's when I accidentally skipped my month.

[00:06:34] That's where I am right now.

[00:06:35] I have one box left to be a BFF, which you and I discuss this.

[00:06:40] So February puts me at BFF status.

[00:06:44] So I bet I will not receive the extra Book of the Year book this year.

[00:06:50] I bet I have to wait a year.

[00:06:52] You think?

[00:06:55] Oh, I don't know.

[00:06:59] I don't know.

[00:07:00] I would just assume as long as soon as that your switch clicks over to BFF.

[00:07:04] Have you been thrown in there?

[00:07:06] I don't know.

[00:07:07] That's a good question.

[00:07:08] You'll have to let me know because I don't know.

[00:07:11] I mean, they only made us wait forever to get to the Book of the Year stuff.

[00:07:15] I know.

[00:07:16] And we still don't know, do we?

[00:07:20] Well, we know who the nominees are.

[00:07:21] Yeah, we don't know the winner.

[00:07:22] Or the finalist.

[00:07:24] Yeah.

[00:07:25] So I'm guessing they'll announce that with the February picks maybe.

[00:07:29] So yeah.

[00:07:30] So my book of the month, my book of the month pick.

[00:07:35] And I went with my gut like total intuition.

[00:07:39] I got Marker Mercury by Amy Tobars.

[00:07:43] I have heard that's fantastic.

[00:07:45] Oh my God.

[00:07:48] Oh my God.

[00:07:50] It is one.

[00:07:51] I gave it five stars on Goodreads.

[00:07:53] And the only reason I ever give anything five stars is if I know I will listen to it again or I will read it again.

[00:07:59] And I was like a third of the way through and I was so in love with the book and the characters.

[00:08:04] I was like, I will probably this is going to go into the reread pile for me.

[00:08:09] And it's about sitting the nannies and there's a family.

[00:08:16] It's three brothers and their parents.

[00:08:18] And this girl named Marley moves into town when she's in high school and just immediately kind of falls in with this family.

[00:08:29] And she becomes this really important part of their story.

[00:08:35] Like to each of them, like she marries one of them and she's like a mother figure for another one and she's like a sister to it.

[00:08:42] And it's just really beautiful.

[00:08:45] And the friendships in it are really good.

[00:08:48] Like her best friend, Jay, they made in high school and you follow them through the years and it's lovely.

[00:08:54] And my favorite part of the book was the relationship she has with the youngest brother.

[00:09:03] I don't know.

[00:09:05] It was just like she was exactly who everybody needed.

[00:09:09] I can't even, I just everybody needs to read this book.

[00:09:12] It was so good and I knew I was in.

[00:09:15] I had done the right thing.

[00:09:17] Laura Lawette had posted on her Instagram about it.

[00:09:19] So I had a text her today and I was like, I finished it.

[00:09:22] It was so good.

[00:09:23] I was like, I don't know if I need to call my therapist.

[00:09:25] Yardy, Yardy unpacked a lot yesterday.

[00:09:30] I had to look just now.

[00:09:33] I'm now part of Libro, the audio book company.

[00:09:36] I'm part of their influencer program where I get free audio books.

[00:09:40] And it was actually one I could have gotten last month for free.

[00:09:44] They put out new ones every month.

[00:09:47] So I didn't pick it.

[00:09:49] So now I'm going to have to find it because I want to listen to it now or read it or something.

[00:09:55] Yeah.

[00:09:57] Yeah.

[00:09:58] The audio book is, is excellent.

[00:09:59] I went back and forth with it and it was, it was really good.

[00:10:02] It's funny though that we're talking about that because I kept thinking if they had had the male,

[00:10:10] like they had had different narrators, like it would have been even better because it's just a female reading the whole thing.

[00:10:17] And the book's not perfect.

[00:10:18] Like as I was reading it, I was like, ooh, they, she really needed to go into more depth to make this connection.

[00:10:25] And she really could have done a better job, you know, fleshing this character out.

[00:10:30] But I mean, ultimately, ultimately it was just a five star book.

[00:10:37] So I was very, very happy.

[00:10:39] And I also got the, the fear.

[00:10:41] Yes.

[00:10:42] I have seen that everywhere.

[00:10:44] The, okay.

[00:10:46] The theory by Alex McEliti's and I have not started it.

[00:10:50] It's a thriller, right?

[00:10:51] But I've heard it.

[00:10:52] It's like really good.

[00:10:57] I don't even know what it's about.

[00:10:59] I can't remember.

[00:11:00] I did start Northwoods.

[00:11:02] It was an add-on.

[00:11:03] I did not buy it, but I got it from the library and because I haven't read a, I haven't read anything with murder in it for a minute.

[00:11:10] Well, there was one out that one too.

[00:11:13] I think let me look.

[00:11:14] There was one I thought about getting.

[00:11:18] But then I, I swear, I think I'm supposed to be getting a copy of it from Simon and Schuster.

[00:11:25] So I didn't.

[00:11:26] I think it's called the bullet swallower.

[00:11:28] Have you seen that?

[00:11:29] Oh, yeah.

[00:11:32] Isn't that?

[00:11:33] Yeah.

[00:11:34] That was one of January selections.

[00:11:36] Um, I was going to make it mine.

[00:11:39] And then I was like, I think I'm supposed to already be getting this from somebody for free.

[00:11:43] So I didn't.

[00:11:44] But it has like magical realism in it, which is one of my favorite things.

[00:11:48] It says, hold on to your hat cowboy.

[00:11:51] The bullets whizz freely and magic hides within everything in this epic family border saga.

[00:11:58] It sounds fun.

[00:12:01] Yeah, it does.

[00:12:02] You'll have to let us know if I ever get to.

[00:12:07] Well, and I guess we should say that one of the reasons we released so late this month is because, um, I wanted

[00:12:13] to have a chance to, for us to get the book of the month and get it in and hopefully get at least one of the

[00:12:20] ones we get read before we do the podcast.

[00:12:23] So we can kind of talk about it each month because I live in a, I'm constantly behind like I will read

[00:12:29] book of the month books all the time, but I'm reading the one I got like June of 2022 that I never picked up.

[00:12:35] So this way I kind of still have four that I haven't read from this one year.

[00:12:45] Oh, that's okay.

[00:12:47] That's right.

[00:12:48] That's okay.

[00:12:51] You read a lot.

[00:12:52] Yeah, you read a tremendous amount of books.

[00:12:55] So I feel like you get a total pass.

[00:12:57] Yeah.

[00:12:58] So yeah, that actually made me sit and kind of think I was trying to decide if I wanted to renew my subscription because there

[00:13:07] were so many I didn't read.

[00:13:09] The add-ons alone make it, make it where I don't know.

[00:13:16] I don't want to end my subscription.

[00:13:17] I want to keep going.

[00:13:19] They have great add-ons.

[00:13:21] Well, they, yeah, yeah.

[00:13:24] And I just, I'm so picky about fiction like just having the opportunity to get, to get something every month where there

[00:13:33] is a 95% chance I'm going to like it.

[00:13:36] That's, that's a real big deal.

[00:13:38] I haven't, in this one year that I've been a member, I have not had a book that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

[00:13:45] Might not have been five stars, but I will, I liked it enough that I would recommend, you know, the book to people each month.

[00:13:53] Yes.

[00:13:54] Yeah.

[00:13:55] Yep.

[00:13:56] Yeah.

[00:13:57] Well, do you want to go into our 2023 favorites?

[00:14:01] Yes.

[00:14:02] Okay.

[00:14:03] So I will preface this by telling our audience that earlier today I sent Jamie a picture of my notes and for this one book alone,

[00:14:15] I wrote an entire page of thoughts on it.

[00:14:18] So I'm going to try not to be long-winded.

[00:14:22] I read this three times this year because I loved it so much.

[00:14:26] Oh my God.

[00:14:27] I know.

[00:14:29] The first time I, I'm going to tell you the first time I read it, I didn't like it.

[00:14:33] But it also, I don't know how to, all I can say is like it got under my skin and I couldn't quit thinking about it.

[00:14:41] And so I wanted to read it again knowing how it ended because the whole time I was reading it, I thought I was,

[00:14:50] I thought it was going to end in like a tragedy.

[00:14:53] So I'll just explain.

[00:14:55] So it's Alone with You and the Aether by Oli V. Blake.

[00:14:58] And I think it's categorized as romantic academia.

[00:15:04] Both characters are like super duper smart and they both have mental disorders like he's OCD, she's bipolar.

[00:15:15] She has a court-ordered psychiatrist because she was arrested for counterfeiting art.

[00:15:21] He's like compulsively thinks about time travel and his three things he compulsively thinks about are time travel, perfect circles in nature and bees.

[00:15:31] So they're both like very, they're just very intellectual.

[00:15:39] And when they meet, it's like they finally have met this person that makes them feel seen because no one like gets them because they, they're just, they're both neurodivergent and all of that.

[00:15:54] Okay. So they agree to have six conversations and she, you know, she's like six conversations is not going to make us know each other.

[00:16:04] But throughout these six conversations that they have, they become very close and they fall in love because it is a romance.

[00:16:12] And, but this whole time it felt, it felt like the trajectory was going towards some, like a negative ending because they're both so messed up.

[00:16:26] Both of these characters are just messed up people.

[00:16:29] And I kept thinking, there's no way this is going to have a good ending.

[00:16:33] And that kind of like tainted my first read because the whole time I had this feeling of like foreboding, like something's going to happen to one of these characters.

[00:16:41] This is not a happy ending book.

[00:16:43] So, um, but it, one thing too, I did have to look down on my notes just now.

[00:16:55] So, um, one thing that I thought the author did brilliantly.

[00:17:00] And I think this is actually a turnoff for some people.

[00:17:04] She made the writing style reflect the mental disorders of the characters like it might jump from first person and then the third person.

[00:17:16] And the writing suddenly feels like when you're reading it, you feel like it feels manic.

[00:17:21] Like if someone was having a manic episode and it, it reflects the personality of the person, the writing style she picks during that moment in the story.

[00:17:31] Um, but it, it is a romance and that is not going to appeal to everybody, but it is so beautiful.

[00:17:40] And I've never been one of those people that annotates.

[00:17:44] Um, I didn't even really know what that was until this year where you have all those little like sticky past sticky sticker thingies that hang out of your book to show where you've underlined and have you, you know, I'm talking about.

[00:17:57] Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

[00:17:59] Well, I had never been one of those that annotated.

[00:18:02] So my second go round on this book.

[00:18:05] I filled it up with little sticky tabs.

[00:18:09] Um, actually I listened to it and read like whenever I would, whenever I would hear it on the audio book, I would run and get my book and like underline it and stick my sticky tab in there.

[00:18:21] Um, but both characters.

[00:18:24] So the female character she's kind of hard to like, but the male character, his name is Aldo and he's just precious and he's got this precious father relationship.

[00:18:35] Like a relationship with his father.

[00:18:37] And I don't know, it was just a beautiful story of some messed up people.

[00:18:44] And I'm an author's note reader.

[00:18:47] Do you read authors notes?

[00:18:50] Okay, so at the end I read the author's note and I think this book was a little bit autobiographical because all the bipolar disorder and a lot of the same same scenarios.

[00:19:05] Happened like the author has bipolar. She's not medicated for it.

[00:19:10] Um, so I feel like she pulled from that tremendously in writing this character.

[00:19:15] So maybe that made it feel very real as well.

[00:19:19] But I don't know, this is one of those books I've noticed from Goodreads that people either love it and it's like their writer die book or they hate it.

[00:19:29] There seems to be no in between.

[00:19:32] So she's most well known from the Atlas, the Atlas six series.

[00:19:42] I think, I think that's the name of it. I haven't read it.

[00:19:46] She she kind of writes like academia. It's like fantasy academia that series is but um, yeah.

[00:19:54] So that I love that book so much that I have seven copies of it.

[00:20:07] Okay.

[00:20:10] I mean, I'm sure every one of them is different and special.

[00:20:14] They are. Yeah. So um, there's all these like companies that have you know, like little subscription boxes and they'll make special editions of books that people love.

[00:20:25] So each one of them is different.

[00:20:27] But the my most the one that I was so excited about.

[00:20:31] So she originally self published this book and then it got picked up by a traditional publisher and her self published version.

[00:20:42] Um, so sells like on eBay and stuff for a couple of hundred dollars.

[00:20:48] And so I found one that was not a couple of hundred dollars, but it still wasn't cheap.

[00:20:54] And it was like my Mother's Day present this past Mother's Day.

[00:20:59] So I have quite a few, quite a few.

[00:21:03] Yeah.

[00:21:07] So and that is alone again.

[00:21:11] If they're along with you in the alone alone with you.

[00:21:17] Okay.

[00:21:19] And funny thing.

[00:21:20] So I have a tattoo of two bumblebees because it's like a thing with my two daughters.

[00:21:26] And one of my book friends who hears me talk about this book nonstop, she's like, just tell the truth, Jennifer, you got the bumblebee tattoos for the book because bumblebees are like a really big part of of the story.

[00:21:40] She's like, just admit it. You got the bumblebees for the ether book.

[00:21:44] I didn't. I didn't.

[00:21:48] So I did not do that.

[00:21:53] So what is yours?

[00:21:55] I will have to add that one to my list.

[00:21:58] Um, I'm trying to decide which of these I want to do first.

[00:22:02] I think I want to start with I have some questions for you by Rebecca Mackay.

[00:22:08] I've already talked about it a lot on the podcast, so I'll keep it brief.

[00:22:12] But it is about a woman who has a famous she has a really popular true crime podcast and she's invited to go back to her private high school to teach like a basically like an interim class, like a very short run class on podcasting to this small group of high school students.

[00:22:36] And when she was, when she was at the school, when she was in high school, her roommate was murdered and it was like a big mystery.

[00:22:45] And she's back and she's thinking about that again.

[00:22:50] And then a couple of her student podcasters are wanting to do a podcast about it.

[00:22:56] So it's like that, that whole mystery gets reopened and it's just it's so good.

[00:23:02] And it's told like when like her story from the 90s is one, like it's one time line and then the present day is another one where she's there as a teacher and it's just it's so well written and it's very.

[00:23:19] It's a page turner like it's, it's a really good.

[00:23:23] It's a really good thriller for people who don't like thrillers like this is when you think it calls more into mystery that I would or is it thriller because I don't know the difference.

[00:23:35] Like I think it really toes the line because there's some really like tense parts in it but it's not.

[00:23:46] Yeah, I guess it's more about the mystery than the than the murder like my mom had texted me a while back and asked about like good books for people who want to start reading thrillers and this is one that I would that I would definitely recommend and it's a it's a big old book to like you got to

[00:24:06] You know how I feel about it.

[00:24:08] I'm looking at the page number.

[00:24:10] Um, yeah, it was it was worth the commitment.

[00:24:14] I have actually had it on my TBR for so long and then you keep talking about it and I'm like why have I not just jumped in and read this.

[00:24:23] Okay, it's on the the the NPR books we love list for 2023.

[00:24:30] I did see that when you sent me that list the other day.

[00:24:35] 438 pages so that's that's a midway chunky book yeah.

[00:24:42] Yeah, yeah.

[00:24:45] But that's I have some questions for you by Rebecca maca m a k k a i.

[00:24:51] Okay, what's your next one.

[00:24:53] Um, okay so I feel like sometimes I'm like a broken record because I mostly really do just read romance but each one really is different and I just I just love them so much I'm just a romance girlie so

[00:25:08] But this one I will say I don't my romance books have they're not just like all fluff this one like this one had some serious depth to it.

[00:25:20] The seven year slip by Ashley post them.

[00:25:25] And I love time travel books or like slips of time or like Groundhog Day kind of things.

[00:25:33] I love that all that kind of stuff in my books.

[00:25:37] So the quote I had to look it up.

[00:25:42] It says my aunt only had two rules in this apartment one always take your shoes off for a while and then you can just go back to the book.

[00:25:51] In this apartment one always take your shoes off by the door and to never fall in love because anyone you meet here anyone the apartment lets you find will never be able to stay.

[00:26:02] Okay, so um this is a story about Clementine and she her very favorite person on this planet was her aunt and every year her aunt would take her on like these exotic travels and they were the very best of friends.

[00:26:20] So her aunt dies and Clementine is like she's just when this story begins she's she's on the other end of some very debilitating grief from the death of her aunt.

[00:26:35] And her aunt willed this apartment to her.

[00:26:39] And so she she's moving into this apartment that has like every you know it just feels like her aunt all through the apartment.

[00:26:48] But um her aunt always told her and she didn't ever believe it that the apartment has a secret and it can randomly take you seven years in the past.

[00:27:02] So one night Clementine comes home and she opens the door and everything looks different in her apartment.

[00:27:11] She realizes it's happened um and it has taken her seven years into the past which was also a time when her aunt was still alive who she's now has now passed away.

[00:27:24] So so there's this you know of course this is romance so there's a guy and they develop a friendship because she's home like for a weekend but when you leave the apartment everything you know you may never get back to that seven year time thing.

[00:27:40] That's why the aunt's rule was never fall in love with someone you meet in the apartment.

[00:27:45] So this takes us through the back and forth of the time travel and then present day.

[00:27:55] And I don't really want to spoil anything because there's a lot of little twists but it's just how the relationship manages to work out with the time travel and all of that.

[00:28:07] But more importantly and why it made it to my top list was her depiction of grief and how she how you continue.

[00:28:22] It was very hopeful.

[00:28:23] It was like how do you keep on with life when the most important person in your life is not here anymore.

[00:28:30] And it was like very emotional and raw and and again in the author's note I read it afterwards and she had her first draft of this book and then her grandfather passed away who she was extremely close to.

[00:28:50] So she went and rewrote all the basically I rewrote the book and I feel like it shows like it was very it just felt very real and the grief part and I cried.

[00:29:07] I cried a whole bunch with this book but it was good.

[00:29:12] That sounds so familiar.

[00:29:15] Was that a book of the month?

[00:29:17] No but it was it's been on a bunch of lists this year.

[00:29:22] It came out during the summer I think and it has been on a bunch of lists.

[00:29:27] I think it may I think it was in the.

[00:29:30] It was a Goodreads Choice Award.

[00:29:32] It wasn't a winner but it was in the you know in like the final round when we voted and I'm trying to think it's been on it may even be on this NPR list.

[00:29:43] I think it is that you sent me so you've probably heard of it is so good.

[00:29:50] So good and tell us the name and author of the Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston and her books.

[00:30:04] She has a new book coming out this summer and all her books have a little bit of magical realism in it.

[00:30:09] That's kind of her her thing.

[00:30:12] So it's just wonderful.

[00:30:15] And I have two copies of it.

[00:30:18] So they have they have different covers.

[00:30:26] Well I can't laugh at you because I do that with Stephen King books like I like to collect like different yeah the different covers and it'll be because like it'll be something like

[00:30:41] sentimental like oh this was the copy I read from the Stephen King book club in 1993.

[00:30:46] I've got to get it and then the next thing you know you've got five copies of Carrie and they all have different covers so I get it.

[00:30:53] I get it.

[00:30:54] I'm not I'm not laughing at you.

[00:30:56] It's okay.

[00:30:58] It's hard not to and then all these special edition companies put out so you remember I sent you my other copy is actually the library binding.

[00:31:10] The library is apparently get a different cover than the general public.

[00:31:15] It was so beautiful.

[00:31:17] Yeah.

[00:31:18] Like the original cover captured one part of the story I guess you could say but then the library edition had a whole other part of the story on the cover.

[00:31:32] Does that make sense?

[00:31:34] Oh that's neat.

[00:31:35] Yeah.

[00:31:36] There's two very there's two pigeons that are a very important part of the story and they're on the lab.

[00:31:41] They're like a little they have a little section on the library edition.

[00:31:45] I don't know so it's they're both just beautiful.

[00:31:48] It's a beautiful book.

[00:31:49] Awesome.

[00:31:51] I'll have to put that on my list.

[00:31:53] Okay.

[00:31:56] My next one I have tried to work this into every podcast we did since last summer and I didn't put it in.

[00:32:08] I didn't want this to be like a throwaway book you know where it's just like what are you reading?

[00:32:13] Like it's very good and important so like I've saved it for this last so it's one that I will not have probably even spoken about yet but it's called did you hear about Kitty Carr by Crystal Smith.

[00:32:27] You told me you got that in your book of the month box one month didn't you?

[00:32:32] I did yes and I got it because it was you know I'll read anything set in Hollywood or the movie industry or Malibu or California like any like like any of this is like a this was like a Hollywood situation.

[00:32:51] And I was just it's such a there's so much going on in the book.

[00:32:56] I was like I don't even know how to describe it but Goodreads calls it a multi-generational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern day show biz.

[00:33:08] So Kitty Carr is she's a white icon of the silver screen and when she does she bequeathed her multi-million dollar estate to the St. John sisters three young wealthy black women and it prompts questions.

[00:33:24] So it's you read you read about it's like reading the the biography of Kitty Carr like from the time she was a child up until she makes it big in Hollywood and then the whole time you're like what is her connection to these sisters because you're like at the same time you're

[00:33:42] reading about them in a different timeline.

[00:33:45] And it's just and they feel very like one of the sisters feels very obligated to Kitty and Kitty is a state and making sure that Kitty is remembered the way she wants to be remembered.

[00:33:57] And you're like this is just her neighbor. Like what what is going on. So so it's really it's really good and it's it's really well written and there's lots of Hollywood lots of Hollywood stuff.

[00:34:11] And just like what because you know things were very very very different like in old Hollywood and how like the industry was run and who was taken seriously and things like that.

[00:34:26] And I don't know it just it made me think more than any book I read last year like it really made me think about some things like regarding race like a little deeper than I had before.

[00:34:39] And I just I think that's the sign of a really successful important book when you have you know when you when you leave it and you're and you're thinking about like these real world issues and these real this real social element to it that also is applicable to the real

[00:34:54] world and not just set in this fiction world that you finish so I highly recommend it. And it again is I never remember the author let me like it's called did you hear about Kitty Carr by Crystal Smith Paul.

[00:35:08] Well you know that is kind of one of the important things that books do you know to to put it like if we hear about something in a history class for instance.

[00:35:23] We are not going to relate or feel as strongly about it usually and let like as we would reading it in in a story because something about that puts it like relatable.

[00:35:38] Right.

[00:35:41] Right.

[00:35:42] Yeah, kind of humanizes it but like the people behind the facts you it makes it it makes it a different whole different thing.

[00:35:49] Yeah.

[00:35:50] Okay what is your what's your third right so of course this romance but these are all different. So it's called the undertaking of heart and mercy by Megan Bannon and it's cozy fantasy.

[00:36:03] Okay, so this is this is probably one of like the most original plots for fantasy. I can remember reading.

[00:36:15] It takes place in a fantasy world called Tanrea.

[00:36:19] So heart is a martial who protects the people from creatures called drudges and the drudges are like zombies.

[00:36:29] Heart is also like he's just he's an orphan he's just very lonely he's kind of a loner he doesn't you know he doesn't really want people in his life or he thinks he doesn't.

[00:36:41] So mercy is the daughter of an undertaker and she has taken on the role of undertaking for her family's company birds on sons.

[00:36:55] So she and heart they cannot stand each other they're like oil and water they they net like from the get go they just couldn't stand each other every time he brings one of the little drudge zombie bodies to her undertaking service they fight.

[00:37:11] But one night.

[00:37:13] Okay so this is a you've got male retelling I'm just gonna put that out there.

[00:37:19] Oh, that's fun.

[00:37:20] So but set in a fantasy world was on these.

[00:37:26] So heart he was like kind of in his feelings you know just super aware of how lonely and alone in the world he was and he just wrote a letter.

[00:37:38] And he just addressed it to a friend and it was basically just his thoughts almost like a journal entry but then he just on a whim put it in one of their mailboxes and because this is a fantasy anything.

[00:37:50] You know the rules are out the window.

[00:37:53] So right the letter arrives at mercy at her undertaking business and she reads it and so they begin a friendship of writing letters back and forth kind of like the the you've got mail with the emails you know and they don't know who the other is.

[00:38:12] And so this is what I would call an enemies enemies to friends to lovers cozy fantasy.

[00:38:22] It does it's the little village it set in has a lot of real quirky fun characters.

[00:38:28] I laughed a lot.

[00:38:30] You know it's it's pretty light hearted but it does touch on things such as loneliness and I mean she she has an undertaking service so talks about Dylan with death without giving anything away.

[00:38:48] I know it sounds like I always say I cry in books but I actually don't cry very often in books and the end of this but like I cried like really really cried.

[00:39:03] And I have a friend who read it and she is very she never cries books never make her cry and she sobbed when she read the end of this book.

[00:39:10] It's just but it leaves you with a very hopeful feeling and it's it's a lot of fun.

[00:39:16] And it's so unique and I don't know wacky.

[00:39:22] So the undertaking of Heart and Mercy by Megan Bannon.

[00:39:26] Okay I'm definitely add that to my list because that cozy fantasies got me ever since that legends and lattes book absorbed everything in my brain for the first time I read a cozy fantasy.

[00:39:41] I didn't I didn't like it because I thought I'm so used to reading very high stakes fantasy where it's like an end of the world situation you know so the first book I read I was like oh no baby I won't hire Steve.

[00:39:55] I don't have any stakes but I just kept on and it this year I read a lot of cozy fantasy and it probably became my favorite.

[00:40:04] I guess that would be called a sub genre would you say a fantasy.

[00:40:10] Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and cozy fantasy means like I mean there is obviously a problem that has to be solved with any book.

[00:40:23] But the problem isn't going to cause destruction of the entire universe like an epic fantasy or a regular fantasy.

[00:40:32] This is a lot lower stakes and they typically should leave you feeling I don't know like what the legends and lattes are based on like a warm hug they leave you feeling happy so.

[00:40:47] Yeah yes and also like with legends and lattes even though it was not high stakes I was just as invested in the plot and the characters as if.

[00:41:01] I mean yeah because there was a there was a high stakes fantasy.

[00:41:04] There was a problem to be figured out I mean you know in it.

[00:41:07] Legends and lattes is on my list but I decided not to talk about it because I feel like it's everywhere or maybe it's everywhere because I because I'm attuned to it.

[00:41:20] I don't know because I liked it but I kind of just wanted to bring out a book that maybe not everyone had heard of so.

[00:41:29] Yeah no I think you did.

[00:41:32] I think you did a good job because I really do want to read.

[00:41:33] I really do want to read.

[00:41:35] I mean I say no not a lot of hard of it but it has like 30,000 reviews on Goodreads so it might have been heard of by a few people.

[00:41:46] 30,000 people have reviewed it so.

[00:41:49] 30,000 people were down with it.

[00:41:52] Okay yeah cool.

[00:41:54] Well my last one is the last word by Taylor Adams and it is like the thrilleriest thriller that I read last year.

[00:42:06] It was absolutely terrifying.

[00:42:09] I went from reading it at night to reading it during the day to reading it during the day when Cory was home to reading it during the day when Cory was like next to me on the couch watching TV like it was so scary and so creepy and it's about a God and it's like it's just something she gets into this mess doing something that everybody has probably thought about doing but just use like

[00:42:39] the good judgment not to.

[00:42:41] She was she's how sitting in this isolated place she's only got one neighbor within like site difference and within site distance sorry and she reads a book and it's total garbage and she trashes it in a review on Amazon.

[00:43:00] So the author reaches out to her and is like hey this is like my livelihood I'm sorry you didn't like my book but could you please take it down and she just digs in and refuses to do it and then all of a sudden.

[00:43:15] Crazy scary stuff starts happening at this house that she's how sitting out you know by herself in this isolated place and you're like is it the author like who like who could this who could this be because you know that's automatically where your brain goes is where her brain goes it's just.

[00:43:33] Oh my god but it's so scary and so tense and it's a lot of like this almost like hitch cocky and like something's happening in the backyard and she's trying to like realize like she's trying to see what's going on but it's dark and it's right and then she remembers at the front doors locked and she's got to run back through and it was so tense I was I was a wreck I was an absolute mess rain this book but it was so good it was so good the ending was good everything about it was great.

[00:44:02] It scared you I would I would die I would just dive right.

[00:44:07] You would you would you would yes you this is not this is not for you or my mom.

[00:44:15] But it's called the last word by Taylor.

[00:44:18] We are such different readers it cracks me up all the time.

[00:44:23] I will all the happy butterflies and you want to be scared out of your wits.

[00:44:32] Yeah, I just don't like to get bored.

[00:44:37] I think that's why I liked Mercury so much is like if I'm reading just like a regular fiction book or an historical fiction book there's going to be somewhere where I'm just a little bit bored and I wasn't bored.

[00:44:48] How bad the book so.

[00:44:51] Okay, so let's okay that wraps up our picks for our best books of 2023.

[00:45:00] So another topic you suggested that I'm really intrigued by is changes how we're going to like how we plan to change our reading habits in 2024.

[00:45:11] Yes.

[00:45:14] Do you have some thoughts on that I have a few thoughts.

[00:45:20] Well, yeah actually and it was so funny because I've been working on this when you texted me about that.

[00:45:26] So last year, I wanted to read a book from all these different categories every month and the list was so huge like it was never going to happen.

[00:45:36] So of course I failed like at the beginning of the year and then then it just snowballed into me not even finishing my Goodreads challenge and all this stuff.

[00:45:45] So this year I'm like I'm going to be way more realistic.

[00:45:48] So every month I'm going to read my book of the month pick.

[00:45:55] I'm going current cannot be last year can't be one from two years ago right right.

[00:46:01] I'm going to read a nonfiction book, a book on a book of poetry because there are so many yeah there's a lot of really good contemporary poetry out there.

[00:46:11] Oh and that's the only other thing I wanted to say about the NPR books we love list if you want a really good cookbook.

[00:46:18] Or you want to know what's happening in like the world of poetry and you don't have time to sift through everything their list is great for that.

[00:46:26] So that's probably where I'll pull most of the poetry books from.

[00:46:30] And then I'm going back through I've assigned myself every month a book from when we did the podcast or October November podcast where it's like our to be read list.

[00:46:45] And we did 12 each over those two episodes.

[00:46:48] So I've assigned like I have to read those I can't just talk about it I have to follow that actually yeah I'm doing that about that too.

[00:46:58] And then my last one I think you're going to laugh so hard at this.

[00:47:01] So I was like an early adopter of Goodreads I have been on there forever and I'm pretty sure I'm on my second account so even as far back as this one goes I had another one that I think I probably been on Goodreads.

[00:47:15] Oh yeah.

[00:47:16] So I have a very extensive to be read list so every every month I'm picking a number between like one and a trillion or whatever.

[00:47:28] And I'm swiping up on my phone on my to be read list and Goodreads that many times and then I have to pick a book from wherever I like.

[00:47:38] That is so fun.

[00:47:40] I want to do that.

[00:47:41] Oh my gosh.

[00:47:45] Because I'm like this is too many books I can't just start at the top I've got to do something crazy and also I like I throw something on that to be read list and then I don't think about it again so I was like there was probably really good books in like 2012 that I added that I never went back.

[00:48:01] I actually called my so yeah that's what I'm doing list recently because back when I was doing a lot of business classes and stuff I put a lot of business books on there and I don't want to read.

[00:48:11] I don't want to read not one of those books so I recently went through my TBR and I probably I mean it's still I still have several hundred about 600 books on it but I took out about 100 so yeah they were all business books

[00:48:31] or a whole bunch of those books where they're all the same like someone has struck really good in the business world and then they write a how to kind of you know.

[00:48:43] Yeah yeah I kind of have the same issue in mind with philosophy books because every time one of my philosophy professors would mention something I throw it on there and like going back through those I'm just like God I needed to settle down there's no way I'm reading all of these books especially not now.

[00:49:00] Not with this not with this.

[00:49:02] You need to time to like really sit down and think it over.

[00:49:10] Yeah I don't want to do that right now with my rating so I probably you're you know that's probably a really good idea should probably go through it.

[00:49:17] So what are what are your what are you thinking about so I'm.

[00:49:21] Um bookstagram is dangerous in that you see every new book that's coming out and so it's easy to won't I call it like you know the next shiny thing and there are a lot of back lists.

[00:49:40] I was thinking about this year I sat down and I actually read 90 new new to me authors authors I'd never heard of until this year.

[00:49:51] Um I know I was kind of astounded um I want to go back and read their whatever you know their back list of because if I loved the book I want to read the rest of their books I have a whole like.

[00:50:11] Rebecca Yaro that wrote wrote forth wing well she's written a lot of stuff besides fourth wing you know and I want to read her back list.

[00:50:22] I loved Rebecca Rosses divine rivals duology.

[00:50:29] And I've heard that all her other books are equally good so there's I just want to read a lot of back lists.

[00:50:37] I want to sit down and look at you know the the authors I love this year and then what else they've written because it is so easy to want to read.

[00:50:48] The next shiny thing and I think it's probably obviously it's helpful to an author if we read their brand new book.

[00:50:54] But I'm sure it's also helpful if we read their older stuff so.

[00:51:01] So that's that is one of my goals I have a whole list of back lists that I'd like to read.

[00:51:08] I love that idea because also if you like one book by the author like you at least know you like their style and the types of things they write about.

[00:51:18] Of course you know there's I'm good there's going to be growth in their writing style so the earlier ones probably won't be quite so polished or whatever but.

[00:51:29] You know if I liked if I like one or two other books I'm betting I would like a lot of their other books.

[00:51:36] So that's a goal of mine is reading back lists not chasing the new shiny books.

[00:51:42] So did you have anything else you wanted to talk about or does that how we got it all covered.

[00:51:46] Do we want to talk about the NPR list.

[00:51:51] Oh yes yes OK so every year NPR releases their books we love list and as part of my job at the library I order nonfiction books.

[00:52:06] So this usually December and January as people like Barnes and Noble and Amazon like people are releasing their best of lists.

[00:52:13] I go through and make sure whatever's on the list that's nonfiction is available in the collection because as people see these lists the Cirque for those books is going to go up so you want to make sure you have them all.

[00:52:24] And the NPR books we love list is my favorite and it's very long and very long.

[00:52:31] I'm looking I'm scrolling right now.

[00:52:33] There's several I've read and several that are on my TBR like the Golden Spoon.

[00:52:39] I've heard it's really great.

[00:52:41] I've heard that one.

[00:52:44] Yeah I've got quite a few on this list but it's a great list.

[00:52:49] It covers every genre.

[00:52:55] There's one on there I was really excited to see because I knew it was coming out and then I completely forgot about it.

[00:53:01] It's called Monsters of Fance Dilemma and it's by Claire Dettorer who wrote this.

[00:53:06] It's a pretty famous article she wrote in 2017 called What Do We Do With the Art of Monstrous Men.

[00:53:12] And it's basically about if you have I think it was written during it was in 2017.

[00:53:21] So that was probably pre-Me Too but we were already thinking like in terms of OK well this guy was a real terrible human

[00:53:30] but he wrote this beautiful book or he was a great movie director.

[00:53:33] What do we do?

[00:53:35] How do we justify that?

[00:53:37] And then also you know I don't know if it was I guess it probably was around that time like everything was coming out like J.K. Rowling couldn't keep her mouth shut on Twitter.

[00:53:47] So I was working with a lot of teenagers who were kind of really torn between these are my favorite this is my favorite book series but this person basically I feel like she hates who I am fundamentally.

[00:54:01] So it's like what do you what do you do with that and then how do you how do you have that conversation.

[00:54:07] So but yeah that that book was on the list.

[00:54:11] So I've got it ordered actually I ordered it and I checked it out.

[00:54:15] I have it in my living room right now and then one other one that I wanted to point out one of the other nonfiction is a book called Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kitter.

[00:54:24] And it is about a doctor in Boston who provides health care and he creates this like health care network for homeless homeless people.

[00:54:35] And it was so good and the the doctor I think his name is Jim O'Connell like he just kind of fell into this job because of his empathy for other people.

[00:54:47] And it's it's really it's just really really wonderful because you know what working in a public library.

[00:54:55] That's a population that we see on a regular basis and you want to make sure like that they're treated just like everybody else because they deserve dignity like everybody else and he this this doctor in this book is just he is a beautiful human

[00:55:11] like the way he remembers everybody's name and he remembers their their circumstances and he remembers like where they stay on the street.

[00:55:20] So like if they don't show up to get their you know monthly prescription refill at the clinic he goes out to them like he has a specific vehicle that he loads up with supplies and he goes and finds them.

[00:55:31] And it's just like some of these people have nobody and you've got this one doctor who has really poured himself into this you know this this large group of people in Boston.

[00:55:42] So it's really it's really really good.

[00:55:45] So what were a couple on there that stood out to you.

[00:55:48] Hold on let me get back up here.

[00:55:50] Okay so the Golden Spoon because I realized this year that I do like I like cozy and the Golden Spoon falls into cozy mystery.

[00:56:02] I didn't realize that friend of mine described it as that.

[00:56:11] And she reads a lot of thriller and she felt like it was more of like the cozy the cozy vibe.

[00:56:17] Here's and that's here's one that I can hear in about Richard Osmond's The Last Devil to Die a Thursday murder club mystery.

[00:56:29] I have heard that series is fantastic.

[00:56:32] Yes, I've heard good things about it too.

[00:56:36] So you haven't really made me talk about the ones I have read.

[00:56:39] There's quite a few I have read.

[00:56:42] Yeah.

[00:56:44] Oh, hold up.

[00:56:49] I went away from it.

[00:56:51] I lost it.

[00:56:53] Okay.

[00:56:55] I loved.

[00:56:57] Let me get to it.

[00:57:00] The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren.

[00:57:04] But you have to read the first one first.

[00:57:07] It can't be it's like a duology and it is the soulmate equation by Christina Lauren.

[00:57:13] And it it's a romance.

[00:57:17] But so this guy has developed this almost like a DNA service and like you can and you can be matched with your soulmate based on like your DNA.

[00:57:31] And so they decide to put his like him in it and find his soulmate and and it's just like their story and and it's like whether or not they had free will or or whether or not they were forced together based on the the science and it was it was really good.

[00:57:55] None of this is true.

[00:57:57] Okay.

[00:57:59] So I've kind of seen mixed reviews of none of this is true and I think this I think this might be an audio versus eyeballs on the page situation because the audio it's surrounded by a podcast and like this this podcaster gets this woman on her show and you slowly realize like the woman is nothing is what you think about the woman and she's telling her story of her life.

[00:58:27] And it's like this messed up story with her children and her husband.

[00:58:31] But it's done like a podcast like podcast interviews and that made that made it so entertaining for me.

[00:58:39] I will say I did not find that it had any major twists.

[00:58:44] Nothing like shocked me but I found it to be a satisfying story.

[00:58:49] And I recommend it on audio because it's people they're just they're just out doing themselves on audio.

[00:58:58] Wait, they really are put a lot into it.

[00:59:03] Okay.

[00:59:05] Unpopular opinion.

[00:59:08] I'm going to do an unpopular opinion.

[00:59:11] Okay.

[00:59:13] Wayward won so many awards.

[00:59:16] Did you read wayward?

[00:59:19] No, I own it but I have not read it.

[00:59:22] I didn't like it. It made me I just I didn't like it.

[00:59:28] It left me just feeling like it.

[00:59:31] I don't know it like follows these three women who are throughout history you have three timelines and they've all kind of been done wrong by the men in their lives.

[00:59:43] And it's their story like and I read one of them.

[00:59:49] And I read one reviewer and it made me laugh so hard because the review just said, okay we get it you hate men.

[00:59:57] I think that was the feeling I was left with like every man in the whole story was just a piece of crap and I don't know.

[01:00:08] And I mean I feel like I have some strong feminism in me but this one I just it don't know it gave me it gave me the egg.

[01:00:20] So that's my unpopular opinion but it won it won in two categories on Goodridge Choice Awards.

[01:00:27] So I'm for sure in the minority with it.

[01:00:29] Well that makes me feel better because that Riley Sager book I hated was one of the books we love for 2023.

[01:00:39] What was it called?

[01:00:41] One of us is.

[01:00:43] Oh what it was I can see the let me look it up real quick.

[01:00:47] One of us is left is that did I just make that completely up.

[01:00:52] No it has said that's I don't know if that's it exactly but it's your clothes.

[01:00:58] Yeah, the only one left.

[01:00:59] Yeah, the only one left.

[01:01:02] Yeah I just I did not like that and it's like every time I see it on a best of list like I feel shame but not enough shame to reread it because I hated it.

[01:01:13] So we're in this together you hated wayward I hated that one they can all be cowboys.

[01:01:19] Fourth Wing is on this list and it's it's fantastic.

[01:01:24] I always recommend fourth if you like fantasy fourth wing is a very easy approachable fantasy book.

[01:01:31] I have seen so many people say I don't even like fantasy and I love fourth wing.

[01:01:35] I think it's an it's easy to follow it's not all it's not hard hard on your brain.

[01:01:41] Have you read it yet?

[01:01:42] I'm trying so hard Jennifer.

[01:01:48] I was one of the things I was gonna I was gonna tell you about the other day when we were talking that I cannot get into it like and I'm trying really really hard Tom but that main character is just I just wanted to calm down and I don't know.

[01:02:06] I don't know I feel like I'm not to the point where I love it yet and to be fair I started Harry Potter for Tom's like I forced the Sorcerer stone I started four times and it was that fourth Tom where I kept reading past Hagrid getting him to Hogwarts that I was like okay I love this so I'm gonna read it I'm gonna finish it because there's gotta be it's it's coming I like everything like the other people like that much usually so well I didn't like the second book so it don't pull too sad if you.

[01:02:37] If you don't end up loving it because I felt like the second book was a big disappointment for me and the when does the is it there's how many of them didn't you say there's like an obscene number of I feel like five is a lot for a fantasy series when they're really big books.

[01:02:56] And we just got iron flame in November so when does she has any of it.

[01:03:04] She did say she's going to take it slow because writing iron flame writing them both so quickly was very hard on her mental health.

[01:03:11] So she's slowing down a little I did see that interview.

[01:03:16] Well y'all better hope she's not.

[01:03:18] Exactly what I was thinking like what if what if she has no story left.

[01:03:22] Well it's being adapted so they would just do what they did with Game of Thrones and just go ahead and throw that ending together for her and that way that way you still got the show.

[01:03:37] Yeah and that's that one has mixed reviews to write that ending.

[01:03:43] Yeah.

[01:03:45] Okay the last one that I'm seeing that I loved my daughter and I actually both loved it.

[01:03:49] Emily Wilds Encyclopedia of fairies.

[01:03:52] So I think about Anna Faith every time I see that book she loved it.

[01:03:58] And for Christmas I got her the UK version because the UK books are so much prettier than American books.

[01:04:06] Oh yes.

[01:04:09] Really?

[01:04:11] I've never seen all the UK covers of books.

[01:04:13] I don't know why they get such pretty books.

[01:04:15] No.

[01:04:16] I don't know.

[01:04:18] Oh I've taken some.

[01:04:20] But it's about she's she's she studies like fairy lore and like fairy circles fairy rings all that stuff you know like I guess like the Irish.

[01:04:30] And so she she goes to this she moves to this little village where there's supposed lots of fairy activity and she's studying it but then like her arch nemesis her rival at work follows her there.

[01:04:43] And it's a I guess a rivals to lovers cozy fantasy and you know I don't really remember how it ended though.

[01:04:57] She kind of read almost a little.

[01:05:05] Well I think I think I don't know.

[01:05:08] I think the author wrote her as neurodivergent.

[01:05:11] She's just very think like Sheldon Big Bang Theory like doesn't get a lot of things and but but she's researching like fairies.

[01:05:23] She's trying to find proof that fairies exist.

[01:05:26] So it was it was just so cute.

[01:05:29] But I don't know how it ended.

[01:05:32] Yeah I think that one's on the list.

[01:05:34] And is that a series too.

[01:05:37] That was what I was actually have the early copy it comes out next month of the no no it comes out in two weeks and I've heard it's really really good to Emily Wilds map of the other land.

[01:05:54] But I don't know anything about it and I got to read it in the next like two weeks so I'll let you know.

[01:06:03] Okay.

[01:06:04] Well okay I think that is going to wrap us up for this episode.

[01:06:11] I always think like oh we're going to come in right in right at an hour and I mean well but it's just we just get to talk and so many books we've got it.

[01:06:20] We do.

[01:06:22] I will give our listeners a tip because our episodes do run long and in your podcast I mean in your in your controls of whatever wherever you're listening you can increase the speed.

[01:06:32] I always speed us up so that it's not quite as long when I re-listen later I speed us up to like 1.5 so we sound slightly chip monkey but I get to listen to us.

[01:06:44] So.

[01:06:46] Also in the show notes I've I'm listing all of the books that we talk about.

[01:06:52] Yes.

[01:06:54] So if there's ever one and then you're like oh no I don't remember what they said and I'm sure as heck not listen to that whole thing again it's in the show notes like and if we just mention it off hand or in relation to another book I'm not listening it but if it's like you know we really kind of dig in and talk about it for a minute or so I'm putting it in there.

[01:07:13] All right.

[01:07:15] Well OK well I guess then until next month when who knows what we'll be talking about probably.

[01:07:25] Romance.

[01:07:27] Romance seems so it seems so cliche to talk about it in February and I kept thinking last year while I'm going to throw this romance episode in like in August or September and it never happened so guess what we'll talk about it in February because this episode that episode will come out right around Valentine's.

[01:07:41] I think that's perfect or we could we could be really we could throw it in an October when everybody's doing witchy stuff we could talk about romance but no I think it's perfect to do romance for for February.

[01:07:53] Well until then you want to let everybody know how they can.

[01:07:58] Yes OK so I have taken.

[01:07:59] Not only have we had a little bit of a sabbatical from recording but I also had a little sabbatical from posting in our Instagram but you can reach us at.

[01:08:11] Is it check your shelf podcast.

[01:08:15] Drawing a blank.

[01:08:17] Yes.

[01:08:19] I don't know where they're reaching.

[01:08:20] Jamie.

[01:08:23] Well and what's funny is I didn't know that we had taken a sabbatical from social media until Jennifer texted me to apologize that we were taking a sabbatical.

[01:08:32] I just forgetting to post it on the check.

[01:08:36] Check your shelf podcast.

[01:08:39] And where and what is our email address if someone wanted to email.

[01:08:43] Check your shelf podcast.

[01:08:44] Yes.

[01:08:46] Yeah check your shelf podcast at gmail.com.

[01:08:49] And if there's any books that you want us to talk about or you think it would be fun to assign us to raid.

[01:08:54] I mean we're open to to whatever.

[01:08:58] It's exciting.

[01:09:00] OK.

[01:09:02] OK well thank you for listening everybody and we will be back next month with.

[01:09:08] Thank you all.