The Readirect Podcast

Listener Book Recommendations 3 (Chaos Edition)

• Emily Rojas & Abigail Freshley • Episode 81

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SPEAKER_03:

But still, God bless A3 authors. God bless TikTok editors. God bless Jewelry Thieves. And on that note, we have welcome to the Redirect Podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

My name is Abigail Freshly.

SPEAKER_03:

And I'm Emily Rojas. The Redirect Podcast is the show where we shift the conversation back to books. We discuss themes from some of our favorite books and how those themes show up in real lived experiences.

SPEAKER_01:

On today's episode, we are doing listener and reddit-subit book recommendations.

SPEAKER_03:

But before we do that, a lot of fun. Um, we would love for you to support the show in a few really simple ways. First, you can go on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, leave a five-star review, and let us know that you love our show.

SPEAKER_01:

You can also follow us on Instagram and Blue Sky at redirectpodcast. And if you really, really love the show, uh consider sharing our show with a friend. Sharing our show with a friend is by far the best way to help us grow our community of book-loving nerds. And I think I say this like every other month, but what a great time of year to share to grow our community. Really, what do we have right now if not books? You know.

SPEAKER_03:

So true. And you know what? I've been thinking there's so many, like, like this next six-month stretch, we're getting a lot. We're getting like the wicked part two. Not that we liked that book per se, but Project Hail Mary's coming soon. Um people we meet on vacation. That's next year. I'm saying next six months, you know. That's early next year, I think. People we meet on vacation, early next year. So a lot of good things coming. Yeah. Um, to be excited.

SPEAKER_01:

I will say, I don't know if I sent this to you on TikTok, but I saw this video and it was this just around the love of books. Yeah. It was um uh like a children's librarian, like at a at a school media center, and she was recording herself, and off-screen was uh a student, uh it sounded like a little boy, who um was returning a book to the library, but um he was in tears because he was like, I was reading in my tree house, and I left the book in the tree house, and then it rained and the book got rained on, and he was like so about it. Crying. And then she was like, Were you reading in the tree house? Because it's part of like the reading challenge, because they had like a challenge, and like one of the days was like read outside. Oh, and he was like, Yeah, and she was like, It's okay, I'm not gonna make you pay for it, whatever. My god, but it was also just like and then everyone in the comments was like memes of people crying, and they were like, He was reading in the tree house. And then like I get it, yeah. Anyways, the whole point of that is I feel like I'm trying to follow. Okay, here we go. Bringing it back. Yeah, it's cute to see young people with the love of reading, yeah. Make reading cool again. That's so true. One of the ways we make reading cool again is by building community around reading. Love it. Okay, and that's what I was trying to get. That was genuine. I didn't have to make that up. That was where I was starting with this. Yes. But um, yeah, make reading cool again. Love of reading. Do a little reading challenge, go read outside. That's fine. In a coffee shop. Yeah, yeah. Reading is fine. Reading and the carpool line for your kids. Yeah. Get those books in.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Hello. I'm coming to you from the future. Basically, Abbey texted me a few minutes ago and said, Can you hop on to record some news that I want to share with you urgently on air before we record our next podcast? And I said, duh, of course. So, what you're about to hear is a recording of that conversation very briefly. And I didn't know where to put it in this episode, so I'm just sticking it up front, and then we will go back to our previously recorded episode, which you're here for. So, exciting news coming from Abgil right now.

SPEAKER_01:

I'll just start recording. How's it going?

SPEAKER_03:

Good, how are you?

SPEAKER_01:

Good. Thank you for meeting me here today.

SPEAKER_03:

Of course. Five hours come always with summoned.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Okay. So I needed to tell you something, but I had to have us recording because and I couldn't, I we just recorded, so I couldn't wait till the next time we recorded. Obviously. I listened to our podcast a couple weeks ago that you edited, and I heard your note from the future. Uh-huh. And I heard you lamenting that you had no one to talk about heated rivalry with. Uh-huh. And that usually I'm the person who does that. No, tragic. So I decided to reread it. Okay. And I did.

SPEAKER_00:

And I liked it. God is real. God is real.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Gave it another shot. I started it yesterday and I finished it this morning. Oh my god. Congratulations.

unknown:

To me.

SPEAKER_02:

I get it now.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I was in the wrong headspace.

SPEAKER_03:

I totally get it. Yeah. Honestly, even if you had still not liked it on the reread, I do feel like it's probably not for everyone, but I am really glad you gave it another try.

unknown:

God's real.

SPEAKER_01:

I I think the thing that got me that I that I liked so much about it. Yeah. Was that it um like the one of my favorite things that can happen in a book, in a romance book, is that one of the characters is like, oh no. Oh my God. Yeah. Do I like them for real? Like, oh my god. Oh shit. Oh no. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my god. Okay, are you gonna read the long game? Um, I guess I I mean I hadn't thought about it, but I can have two, yeah. Is it a continuation of their story? And then also, did you read Game Change?

SPEAKER_03:

I read Game Changer, I didn't like it. Okay. I don't recommend that. Is that about that guy, Sam, or what's it's about, yeah, the one who kisses his boyfriend. Yeah. I like that moment, but their whole rest of the relationship is not for me personally. Um and then there's a couple in between. The long game picks up a few years later, and it's about it's mostly Ilya's point of view. And it's them being like, are we gonna do this for real? Because their plan at the end of this book is kind of just keep it a secret. And so then the long game is like, how do we maybe not keep it a secret anymore? And it's it is it's peak. It is peak. I don't think you have to read any of the rest. Like wait, so there's more in between, there's more in between, and then that's the last one in the series. And I'll say, like, Ilya shows up in all of the other ones. He's like the fairy godmother kind of of the series, like he kind of helps out all the other people along the way, but it's not plot relevant. Um, but the long game is definitely to me, it's better. So I think you should read it if you liked he did rivalry. Okay. I I potentially will. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But we might space it out. Um space it out.

SPEAKER_03:

Take your time. But it is really good.

SPEAKER_01:

So, anyways, just have to tell you. Thank you so much. So now you have someone you can send edits to. I get it.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I care. And then when the show comes out, I understand.

SPEAKER_03:

We're we're in.

SPEAKER_01:

I get it. Thank you. I will say this. You can might cut this out for like a huge spoiler, but the um the part out there's one part where I was like, and that was when his dad walked in on them. Yeah. Insane. And I kept getting really scared that there wouldn't be a third act breakup.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought that they were gonna get outed somehow. Like I just I was waiting for that to happen, and I'm really glad it didn't, but I just kept waiting for them to get outed, or like, oh, anytime his phone rang, or like I was waiting for a notification, like, oh, like Shane and Ilya seen together.

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

But they didn't do it. It's so good.

SPEAKER_03:

There you go.

unknown:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03:

That's it. This made my day. When you started talking and you said, um I was listening to your edited episode. I was like, Did I leave something insane in? And this is gonna be like you telling me, like, hey, by the way, you left this part in. So this is a bit way better news.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh no, I just had to tell you. Okay, I just knew that this would made my day. Be important to you. Thank you. Okay, that's it. Bye. Bye bye.

SPEAKER_03:

Personal news. I have met my reading goal for the year.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So, yeah. The crush is off. Can do whatever I want.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you can do whatever uh you can do another book.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I will, but you know, I uh just wanted to share that. So congratulate me, everyone.

SPEAKER_01:

I am so proud of you. Thank you. And I'm also particularly, I mean, we've been doing this podcast for like what?

unknown:

Three years.

SPEAKER_01:

Three years. Oh my god. It's sick. It's actually sick. Yeah, that's that's strange. Yeah. But um, I will say, um, you know, the last two years you've kind of struggled to meet your goals. I know. Or at the last you were doing it, it was like in the final minutes.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, down to the wire.

SPEAKER_01:

It was like the last two weeks of the year. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So very exciting news. I'm interested to see, like, I don't know, this is like I've been reading an inordinate amount this year, like more than I nor obviously more than I normally do. So I'm interested to see if like I can hit a hundred again next year or if I'll regress. So no pressure.

SPEAKER_01:

But I'm just I mean, I hit it for two years in a row and now I am. I'm at 76 books. So I'm I'm four books behind. That's not bad. Still. Uh the pace I need to keep. I believe I will do it again, but in the last couple years, let's see, in 2023, I had read a hundred books by September. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And in 20, in 2024, I bear I made I read 103 books by the end of the year. So you're a dead client. I was so I still, but yeah, so I don't know if I can ever have a 2023 year after. 2023 was crazy.

SPEAKER_03:

I do remember that. You were reading a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I was reading so many freaking um historical romances. I'm looking at this. It was like that'll do it.

SPEAKER_03:

That will do it.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I think if you had counted all of your like Kindle unlimited hockey books, you would have reached it by September.

SPEAKER_03:

I did put I did count the most recent series that I've been reading. Uh I backdated it so it wouldn't show up in people's um feed. But that's what pushed me over the edge. Which is which is yeah, thematically true to myself for the year. I mean, the thing is, I would have counted them all. I know, I know. When I found out about backdating, that you can like not it's just yeah, like those back seeing what you're reading. And the look, I am begging you, I know people look, this is my soapbox. People don't like the cartoon covers. I need the cartoon covers to become the only cover for romance books because some of these are insane. Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, like one of the heated vibrally covers is the original, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

The mass market paperback with the two, it's just abs. Like, I don't want that showing up on my, you know, like that's just embarrassing. So I am a fan of the cartoon covers, is what I'm saying. We need to bring those, those need to be what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01:

Bring back cartoon covers.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, okay. I mean, not really bring them back. They're kind of the main thing now, but I get it. I get it, whatever. I get the Kendall and Lemon that you're trying to. But like the one I read, it's like not even that. They're not that, like, I'd say I would say they're less explicit than Rachel Reed's books, but the covers are insane. So I'm like, why are we doing this? Like, this isn't even the content does not match up with the cover, you know what I mean? Please. So, anyways, all right, let's uh let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01:

Out of curiosity, just while we're still on the the reading goals, do you what was the first book you read this year? Oh, okay, let me check. Because I'm looking back at the first the first book I finished this year was The Stranger Beside Me by Anne Rule, which is about Ted Bundy. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, wow, that feels like a really long time ago that I read that book.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. I mean, the year passes fast, but it does feel like okay, let me scroll all the way back. I want to say it was something like, let me think. What is this year? I think it was something serious like that too. I feel like always in January I read more serious books. Because it's so bleak, you know. Oh, the first book I read this year was a reread of Fourth Wing. That was my second book.

SPEAKER_01:

My second book was Fourth Wing before Iron Flame.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, before Iron Flame came out, I did reread that. And then or before Onyx Storm came out, I reread the whole series. So that was the first book I finished this year. That's crazy. On January 1st. Alright.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, cool. Let's get into the real content of this episode. Yeah, what are we doing? First of all, we need to beef with our listeners. So I get that we've done this series a few times now. Yeah. And in the past, you guys have really come through with asking for the recommendations about the books that you wanted. So true. And this time y'all did not. We got two freaking listener submissions. And I know that hundreds of you guys saw it. Yeah. So, Ergo. Ergo, we had to fill this episode with a bunch of uh like reading prompts like suggest me a book from Reddit.

SPEAKER_03:

Which is fine. Look, it's okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And they probably will apply to you too.

SPEAKER_03:

But if you're listening to this and you don't follow us on Instagram, let this be your sign because you this could have been you. We could have been talking about what you wanted to read. And uh yeah, so go follow us. Yeah, come follow us. But anyways, we do have two listener requests, so we'll start with those.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, we'll start with those. So the first is uh looking for cozy mysteries for fall. Nothing too spooky, but keeps me on my toes. Yes, Emily, I feel like this is a great prompt for you to start with.

SPEAKER_03:

Cozy mystery, not too mysterious. I think I think the Gillian McAllister books. Yes, everything by Gillian McAllister, I would say for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I would say, yeah, Famous Last Words and Um Wrong Place, Wrong Time. We've talked about those on the podcast before, but that that is really centered around the mystery and trying to solve what's happening without like a horror or like killing element. Like it's not like a serial killer book or it's not, but it's um the the the plot really keeps you like, what's going on? What is going on? Yeah. And it's like a fall theme, like it's fall time, like it's Britain, it's like cool weather, it's trench coats and stuff like that. I feel like that's that would be good.

SPEAKER_03:

I like that one. Uh everything but yeah, everything by Jillian McAllister is so good. We're we're big fans of hers on the show. I would say um what I would also recommend if you haven't read That Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, um, and Everyone on This Train is a Suspect is the sequel. I think those are really good. If you like a mystery, but you don't want to be like spooked out. Um, those are very more like if you like more the like Agatha Christie style, I would say, like where it's like a clear mystery, there's a lot of suspects, um, there's like little red herrings, and then you get an answer. Yeah, a very classic. But they're funny and um yeah, they're just funny and fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you have any other suggestions? I think I would also say, um I'm gonna also say the the these are kind of campy, and I think I've mentioned them on the podcast before, but the you can run, you can hide, you can kill books by Rebecca Zanetti, they are uh short, snappy. They are like crime and like solving a crime with also like a slight romance element, and they're fun, they're set in um like Washington State in the winter. Yeah. Um they're they're like a little bit goofy, like they're not gonna, they're not gonna freak you out, but like they're fun and like the mystery is fun. I like that. I think that I would call those cozy. That's why I would I would classify them as cozy.

SPEAKER_03:

I would put all of these in the like kind of the same category, but I think all of Emily St. John Mandel's books, if you have read Station 11, probably her other books, they are like they're not like mysteries, but they're they are like a little they remind me of like a foggy day, or like, you know, like there's like uncertainty and you never really know what's going on, and it's kind of like speculative fiction in a way. Um, so I really like her other books, The Glass Hotel and The Mystery kind of is the plot. Like, what's going on? Like, what is going on? And then similar to that, if you like her books, um oh, The Sea of Tranquility is the other one by her. The Ministry of Time by Kaylian Bradley. I've recommended this on here before, but this is about like um it's like a near future UK where the government has this technology that allows them to go back in time, and they use that to grab people out of time who were gonna die anyways and bring them to the present so they can study the effects of time travel on like the human body. Um, and there's a love story, but there's like an overarching like government mystery going on, like bad actors, conspiracy, conspiracy. So, yeah, it's not scary, there's no murder, but it's like more of yeah, more of a conspiracy, and the love story is really unique and interesting because it's a present-day modern woman, and then like a guy from like your who's adjusting to the modern world and and they're learning about each other's experiences in life, so I think that's fun. But it's also very like sinister and spooky, but not scary. So, yeah. Also, Conclave, Robert Harris. I was gonna say that too.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not really Conclave, but man, is a cozy and it is the perfect one. It would keep you turning that page. That is, I wish gosh, I wish I could read that book for the first time again.

SPEAKER_03:

So good, and the movie is great too. Like, it's so good.

SPEAKER_01:

Everything about that book, the drama, the key. The interesting thing. It was so good. I love that freaking book.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that book is so good, and it's short, it's not very long. So I read it in one night.

SPEAKER_01:

I just couldn't stop. I was like, I have to read this.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it was so good. Concrete's great. You got your money's worth.

SPEAKER_01:

That was a lot of recommendations. So many good books. Okay, next, I'm currently reading Alchemized, and I will need something very light-hearted, preferably like an Emily Henry vibe. That's really interesting, Allie, because I don't actually think Emily Henry is that light-hearted.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, like I don't think of Emily Henry as being a light-hearted author. I think of her as being like, yeah, like that's who I go to to cry.

SPEAKER_00:

If I want a romance that's gonna make me cry.

SPEAKER_01:

Interesting. I would like to take this opportunity before we get into Allie's recommendations to talk about Alchemized because I got it from the library and I started reading it. Oh, how do you feel? And I did pause it. Okay. And I paused it because it is a shot four shot of Manacold. And I was like, well, I've I've already read this book. And I think also I couldn't I maybe I need to give it a little bit more time. But when she she literally renames the main character Helena. So it's really hard for me to like not imagine who the characters are really supposed to be, and to like get lost in that in the new world she's created. I'm just I keep on thinking about what the substitute is. Like what's the real thing? Yeah. And so it's not like so. I don't know if it's I'm gonna spend I mean it's like a thousand pages, so I don't know if I can fully commit.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, I haven't started or read it or thought about reading it, but um I know Allie just finished it and really liked it and thought it was like really interesting, the changes or whatever. But um I which Allie's the person who left this comment if you're wondering who we're we're talking to. Um, but anyways, I feel like, yeah, it's hard for me to separate, like, and I feel like this is the year for me to read it, right? Because I already met my goal and might as well waste a thousand pages. But at the same time, it's like hard for me to be like, well, what's the point of reading this? So I'm with you. I've been very ambivalent.

SPEAKER_01:

In the first chapter, I was like, oh, I literally remember reading literally this.

SPEAKER_03:

And maybe it just hasn't been long enough, like you said. Like, we read this pretty recently. Um I read it like two years ago. Really? God, time is so such a son of a I know how long have we been doing this? Anyways, uh, I guess we did read it a while ago, so forget that. But yeah, put me, I don't know, bully us if you think we should read Alchemized, or if we shouldn't.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so I don't know if I'm not gonna continue reading it. I just paused it. Yeah. But, anyways, I get it. I think also to getting to the the heart of this comment, it is obviously an extremely heavy book. Yeah, yeah. So, um, yeah, so you need a a chaser, Allie. Um I think so. There's a book I actually want to talk about that I just recently read that I think would be a really great chaser to this. Okay. Um, which is called A A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandana. It was so delightful. It is a um a book about a um a young witch in England, and she is um what is her name?

SPEAKER_02:

Always with the name. Oh my god, I love this book.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I'm also reading another book by the same author right now, and now I have to add that main character's had a name in my head. I see. Hold on. Holding Sarah Swan. That's easy. So um, yeah, I know. Damn it. Okay, so keep going. Sarah is uh a young witch who lives with her great aunt in um rural uh England, and she is one of the most it's like witches live among normal people. She is uh an exceptionally powerful young witch, and um she's like going through training under this like very, very powerful male witch. And um she comes home to visit her great aunt. She finds that her great aunt has passed away in. I know this is a this is a light-hearted book though, okay? In in the garden, and so she uses she uses a lot of her power to cast um like a resurrection spell on her to bring her back to life, but in so doing, she like burns out and like almost all of her power goes away. And the secret for how she could get her power back is being hidden from her by the guy who was training her because he doesn't want another witch to rival his power. Oh, wow. Evil. So she ends up like leaving her training, staying at the inn, and um, there's like this special spell on the inn where like only people who need to stay there will be able to see it. And um there is a cast of extremely lovable characters and people who like long-term live at the inn. They're quirky, they're cool, there's non-magical people, there's magical people, and there is a professor at the witch at the at the guild, which is like the witch school, who wants to try and help Sarah get her power back. And her way of doing that is by sending a young Scottish witch named something, but he's so cute and wonderful there to help her gather the ingredients for a spell that will restore her powers. Okay, of course. Okay, that's cute. Scottish, and it's so and it's about um, it's about community, it's about home, it's about love. It's so cozy. Okay, it's like the coziest book ever. I'm pretty sure. You should totally read it. Okay, it's the coziest book ever. It's it's like sweet and interesting, but I think the thing that really makes it a banger is that the characters are so well thought out. Like it it without the characters, it would just be like a regular three-star, like contemporary romance. Sure. But the characters are all like they could all have a book written about them. It does, they're so good, and this would be a fantastic chaser. Um I love that. This is a happily ever after, and read it like in the next couple weeks to get like maximum joy. You're probably gonna have to buy it because it's probably not available at the at the library right now because everyone's reading it, but it was fantastic.

SPEAKER_03:

That's a great recommendation. I love that. Yeah, it was also it has the magic. That was a great perfect. It has the magic, the windows.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you're gonna stay in the magic world, right? But it's like just like the coziest possible. Like, imagine like the coziest inn that has all these little quirks because there's like a magic spell over it. So little flowers are sprouting everywhere, and like what every Thursday there's like apple blossom tea that rains in one of the rooms. It's kind of like I know you haven't read this, but if any listeners have read House in the Cerulean Sea, it's like a romantic. I found it similar to that in the way that the characters are really unique and quirky. Sure. And it's kind of like a bunch of oddballs living together and like helping each other out and being a village for another. I like that. It was wonderful.

SPEAKER_03:

You sold me, you outsold me. Um, I was gonna say, if you want like a a composite version of um Emily Henry, Annabelle Monacan is probably who you're looking for. Especially Summer Romance is my favorite book by her. Like, she writes these really great romances about older protagonists, so they're not like 21. And there is like always an undercurrent of something like Nora Goes Off Script is the other one I really like by her. That character is divorced, and this one it's dealing with like parental loss and uh grief, but it's also like a happy romance. So if you are truly looking for an Emily Henry, I would say that's that's a good one. Um, or like I don't know if she's gotten into the Allie Hazelwood world, but Allie Hazelwood, which we'll get to, we'll talk about her. But her books are so funny. Like her They're hilarious, they're very funny. So it's like it'll give you that romance, but they'll also make you laugh. Um, and like they're also like tug at your heartstrings a lot, but they're also just like funny. Like to me, she's the funniest romance author on in the game right now. Also, I'm gonna I'm gonna say, like, if you really want to stick in the magic world, I'm trying to like convince everyone to read The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steve Water, but it's like magical, it's tense, it's gonna give you like a sweeping story, but it's also YA, so it's not gonna be as dark, and it ends in a happy place, and you get a whole series to get invested into. Um, and they're not very long, so I'm gonna recommend that one.

SPEAKER_01:

Or sorry, one more alley. If you want like a holiday book, uh Kisser Once for Me by Alison Cochrane. Oh, yeah, that's that's super lighthearted and wonderful, and just like a cup of hot chocolate. Yeah, like a mug of steamy hot chocolate with like lots of marshmallows.

SPEAKER_03:

I know I was thinking Allison Cochrane and I'm like, oh, but sometimes her books are kind of like booky side, but that one is like very cozy and happy.

SPEAKER_01:

Cozy, happy, cute, and like the best characters ever. Yeah. Great side characters in that. In all of her books, but in that one, especially. Exactly. The side characters, it makes it takes a book from like three, four stars to five stars.

SPEAKER_03:

When there's good side characters, especially in a romance. Tell me why though I got distracted because I filtered my red books like all time by lighthearted. And why is all the young dudes' serious perspective coming up on your dude? That is not light-hearted. Do not chase with that, don't do it.

SPEAKER_01:

If you want to chase with like another fic, yeah. Waiting and waste high water.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh my god, don't tell me about that.

SPEAKER_01:

If you want to be happy and you also want to read something that feels like a fan fiction, I'm begging you to please read Waiting and Waste High Water by long.

SPEAKER_03:

Like in my mind, it was such a sweeping story, and then when I just reread it, it took me like two days, and I was rationing it because it's not that long, it's like I would say a normal short book length. So that one you can get through, and it is so happy and and perfect for this time of year. So I know yeah, if you want another thick, definitely chase with waiting in wayside water. Okay, bye. Alright. Okay, two read it.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, change of pace here. Books for my conservative parents that will trick them into being a little bit more progressive. I love that. This is such a great request. This is art. I mean, thinking about okay, what can I do to get I'm gonna get my parents to read something that they might just enjoy, but I have a secret agenda, which is teaching them empathy.

SPEAKER_03:

I love that. Yes, okay, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So what do you think?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, okay, so I'm gonna say two, these are two recent books I've read actually. If you're are looking for something fictional, first of all, I think Margot's got money troubles, genuinely. This is a oh my god, I can't wait for you to finish it.

SPEAKER_01:

I am halfway through and I am obsessed with it. It's so good.

SPEAKER_03:

It's so good, but I think it it gen I don't even almost and I almost took off stars because I'm not sure if the book is. Self-aware that it's doing this. I think it is. But it's in a very real way highlights like the struggles that like a single parent might face. Um like where they might fall through the cracks, where benefits aren't helpful for them, where like the system might be stacked against them, and um, especially like single women. So I think this is really good if you are like to dip your toe in to have empathy for a life of a person who like maybe like this this person chooses to keep a child even though her situation is like really bleak. So I feel like it appeals to someone maybe who is more conservative um in the choices that she makes, although yeah, it does diverge.

SPEAKER_01:

But I don't want to spoil anything.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't want to spoil it, but like um, I think Marg is a very empathetic character, even though you're like, what are you doing sometimes? Why are you making these choices? But I think you will you will love all the characters. Also, that it deals with like um addiction and mental health and medical systems, and like there's just a lot of like the system as a character in this, even though it's like really fun and lighthearted. So I think that's a good one. Um, and then also I think a depressing one is the Bear Town series by Friedrich Bachmann. Because I think I think Friedrich Bachmann in general is like a very empathetic author. He makes you empathize with his characters, and in this, like, it's definitely it's like he's not American, so it's not like a one-to-one for America by any means. But it's like what happens when the thing that you focus on is like hatred and bitterness and anger instead of like empathy, and what happens, like what your actions can lead to ultimately being very bad. Um, and there's just like a very diverse cast of people in the books that again like he makes you really empathize with all of them, even some of them like are good or bad people or whatever. Like so, I think Bachman in general, but the series in particular, um, yeah, it's like a good way to like have some some empathy, you know, microdose empathy. So those would be those would be two of my recent reads that I would recommend.

SPEAKER_01:

Interesting. I think I'm gonna take a more aggressive approach.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, you go aggressive. I could figure I can count no one.

SPEAKER_01:

Shocking no one. Um well, okay. I would recommend a couple of dystopians, like wool by Hugh Howie. Um and I think it's like you give you give somebody like an environment and like a permission structure to imagine basically how like capitalism and white supremacy are bad. Sure. But like not in our world, but in a world that looks extremely like ours.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so similarly, Chain Gang All-Stars, I think because of because of the footnotes, yes, if your if your conservative dad happens to read the footnotes of this book, chain gang all-stars is a great one for this because it's also like the pitch is like, hey, this is not our world.

SPEAKER_03:

Like we don't do this, but then you're reading it and you're like, oh, what kind of it's not that it's not as far off as I wanted to think it was. So yeah, that's a great suggestion.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and then I had one uh careless people, but I don't think you're gonna get your well, I don't know. Maybe you could get a parent to read that. There was one other, hold on. Oh, uh Leave the World Behind by Roman Alam. Yeah, that's a good one. That would be a really good one. Um, kind of thinking about like in difficult moments who do you turn to when we are all people, we all bleed the same blood. And um there was one more. Hold on. Shoot, now I can't remember. Oh, you know what? Actually, the will of the many. Yeah I think the will of the many would be a great one to help um like kind of trick a conservative parent. Like specific specifically like a fantasy dad. Like if your dad likes like Lord of the Rings or something like that, yeah. That could be a gateway. Yeah. Green, good recommendation. Christmas ideas, Hanukkah ideas. Okay, next. I need a book that completely pulls me out of reality for a few days. Okay, look.

SPEAKER_03:

The answer is Bride and Maid. Which we can talk to talk about later. Those are two answers. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

No, talk about pulling you out of reality.

SPEAKER_01:

That's like just completely into a different world. Uh yeah, I think anything paranormal. I mean, you gotta have a werewolf, you gotta have a vampire, yeah, you have to have like a shifter, or like there's gotta be. I think it's gotta be paranormal. Let me see. Oh, um wolf song series.

SPEAKER_03:

That's what I was gonna say. Like, you want a series because yeah, Bride and Mate, you're gonna get two books in the same world.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I'm gonna have to open a new book. I'm gonna have to open the next one.

SPEAKER_03:

You can just keep going. Like when you finish the book, it's not over.

SPEAKER_01:

Honestly, fourth wing. Yeah, fourth wing. Like, I I mean, if you're if you if this is you and you need not fantasy, yeah, then I think you have to go like romance.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. What you want is like an interconnect, this is what I do to dissociate, an interconnected standalone romance series. You want to find an author that you like who is doing these that where like every character has their own book, but they show up in the other books. Yes. Um, that's what you want. Because like I have a lot of those, but again, they fall into a very specific niche, which you can DM me about. But like they there's that's there's there's like whatever you're looking for that's out there where people are just pushing out. Or like the Brown Sisters trilogy, that's a good one by Talia Hubbard.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I would look, I went through a lot of this with um with all of the Julia Quinn books. So the main Bridgerton series, and then you can go the you can do the Rokesby's series, and you can do um there's another one too. Um oh, the Smive Smith quartet. Yeah. Look, that's 15 books right there. Yeah, you can't. Oh, I know that character for some oh these are their bad. And it's all just so separated from our reality.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. It's the same like mental like shortcut as reading fanfiction to me, because it's like, oh, what once you read one of these books, then all of a sudden you're like, oh, I know these guys, like, I know these characters, I know what's gonna happen. They normally follow the same like pattern, you know, like the beats of the story are similar, and so it just feels like really fun. Another one is that's good if you don't want like a strict romance, is um the Trouble in Paradise series by Ellen Hildebrand. If you want something a little like mysterious, there is romance, it's like family drama. That's like a really good series that it it locked me in for a few days. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I think the key here is pulling you out of reality. Yes. So you need a setting that is foreign to you. And I think werewolves are the perfect way to do that.

SPEAKER_03:

Personally, yeah, personally, I do think uh bride and mate or the wolf song series, those are what you're looking for.

SPEAKER_01:

Heavy on bride and mate. I really hope there's gonna be a third one. I fear that there's a there will be.

SPEAKER_03:

No, there will be. There will be. Should we talk about it now? Should we?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Yeah, we're here. Who are we getting? Okay, I finished it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Right? Okay, so catching up, if you aren't if you haven't read these books, they are a paranormal romance duet by Allie Hazelwood. It's kind of with like some STEM vibes still thrown in there a little bit. Yeah. Um, but it involves vampires and werewolves and mature themes.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So I would read more about that before you decide to just dive into the book.

SPEAKER_03:

Correct, correct. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

But maybe read a synopsis, whatever. Um, I mean, we ate up Bride. Um that was about uh a vampire in like a marriage of convenience to a werewolf in like a political marriage, uh, like enemies to lovers. So good type thing. And then this one is more like forced proximity. Forbidden. For forbidden kind. Yeah, forbidden, like off limits. Um where but and this one was about a werewolf and then a werewolf human hybrid. Yes, yes. What should we say? I mean, the yearning was crazy.

SPEAKER_03:

The yearning went so insane in this one. Holly Hazel of When I Catch You.

SPEAKER_01:

I just I actually have so many questions about her marriage.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

You know what I mean? Like, you know, yeah. But also, like, I think you can write stuff that you don't necessarily like experience one-to-one firsthand. And she is from the the fanfiction streets, and I feel like that's true, it it shows. Um complimentary it shows. Yeah. Um, and yeah, so in this one, the the like, first of all, the girl, she thinks she's dying. This is spoilers, okay? So just skip ahead if you don't want to hear that. But the girl thinks she's gonna die, and then the guy has taken a vow of celibacy.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, what the and she's and the girl is also like, I'm trying to like not inconvenience the world, like, and I don't want to tell anyone I'm dying because I don't want anyone to be sad.

SPEAKER_03:

Very relatable, unfortunately. Um, I would do that. Like, yeah, if I ever like died suddenly and they're like, it was a long illness, and everyone's like, what the f are you talking about? That would be on brand. So I do understand her and um also. Did you get like purity culture flashbacks? Low-key from I was like, this feels a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01:

So the the deal is is that the main character what's a male main character's name? Cohen. Cohen. Yeah. He is the alpha of a specific, like basically the Pacific Northwest um pack of wolves, uh, werewolves, and um he because of like some long cultural history of their pack, the alpha has to take a vow of celibacy as to not um have any conflicts of interest. Yeah. Um they also have like DNA, like pre-cro programmed like mating.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, like faded mates.

SPEAKER_01:

He's like faded to be mated to her, but he can't do anything. Oh my god. He felt yeah, it was the the yearning was crazy. It was so off the charts. And I really don't want to ruin this. I know. Go read it, you guys. I don't want to ruin this for the readers, but um I did see the twist coming. Yeah. And when it when it finally landed, I was like, okay, let's go.

SPEAKER_03:

Go. Literally, so good though.

SPEAKER_01:

I would have the biggest book hangover after this.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, and it's just like I like I said earlier, she writes the funniest books, like you're just giggling. Um, in this particular series, she does this insane thing where at the beginning of every chapter you get like the male main character's thoughts, like just one or two lines of like what he's doing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's all from her POV, but you get his thoughts, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_03:

Like, and it's just it's so different.

SPEAKER_01:

He's doing this whole like gruff, like, I don't really like you thing.

SPEAKER_03:

And then in his mind, he's just like desperate and like popping.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my god. Oh, that's so good. The thing is that Allie Hazelwood is still posting fan fiction. I don't know like under a different name.

SPEAKER_03:

Because you know why recently she's gotta be doing it for the love of the game. She has to be, at least on the side, right? Like, because um, maybe not because she does write a lot, to be fair.

SPEAKER_02:

But do you write like out of time?

SPEAKER_03:

Paige Powers, I recommended one of his books, he posts on his Instagram openly, like links to his AO3 and like continues to post fix. Like, probably not that frequently, but like we'll link to them. And I'm like, that is life goals. Yeah, because you just that doesn't die within you, you know, the flames of loving something. She's out there in the Relo streets, probably. I'm not there, but I wish her well, and I hope that she continues to write in this world. Um, I could definitely see it. I could definitely see it. Either that or I just think she keeps getting weirder. I think she's gonna keep getting weirder now that she can't. I love it. And I'm here for it. This was so good.

SPEAKER_01:

This was so good. Yeah, because she's been testing the waters. I mean, she had the problematic summer romance. So good, by the way. Deep obsessed with it. Yeah. Obsessed. This deep it, I keep, I always think about that book. Like, I might reread it low-key. That's fair. That's fair.

SPEAKER_03:

Her books are just so much fun, but like she also, to me, there's nobody okay, there's people doing this, but she doesn't have a lot of peers of people who can write books that are like this, where both characters also feel like real people who have reasons to be interested in each other and who are like complex and like interesting and like do things you don't always expect. And I don't know, like the dialogue is so good. It's not just like I don't know, it's not just like cheap formulae writing, even though like the characters are very similar, like the male main characters are all very similar, but like they're all also very compelling. So I think she's got a gift. Keep giving, keep feeding us, Allie Hazelwood. We love you.

SPEAKER_01:

Please keep feeding us. She won't. I mean, she won't stop because I don't think it's within her like ability to stop.

SPEAKER_03:

And exactly fan fiction writers, respectfully, so many of them are built different, and I am so grateful for them. Like, there are people out here writing like tens of thousands of words every week, and like God bless you for free, for the love of the game, you are doing God's work, and we love you, and we are grateful for you.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, also like Zach, who is a writer who is trying to write for his career, yeah, as for fun, he also writes on fan, like on A03, because it's like it's amazing. Oh, it's reconnecting to the love of doing it for and this is why we've said many times. And if we ever make merch, we gotta eventually make merch because we always merch. But uh like if we ever make merch, like I want like a mug that has like a super long sentence, like that's almost like a paragraph describing why AO3 is like uh like anti-capitalist, like communist, uh like you for like utopia, like the one thing that we have, like fandom will save us kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03:

Because it's a community thing. You give and you get back, and like you do it for free and just for the love of doing it, and then like people give back to you. It's just amazing. AO3 is amazing. Fandom is will save us. Uh, you guys, if you're not in the fan fiction streets, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_03:

You if you're not in the fanfiction streets, but you're reading out of Hazelwood, you are in the fan fiction streets, you just don't know it yet.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my god. Speaking of reading community, I just got a text saying that the Los Angeles Public Library has opened holds for the strength of the few. Oh my god, okay, lock in. I mean, I'm gonna buy it, but yeah. Oh my god, there's already 284 people waiting. Okay. Well, okay, next rec. Okay. Last one, last prompt. Christmassy short book recs. Boy, do I have some free? Okay, go. I can't wait to hear this. Well, first I have the Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, Winter Solstice series by Ellen Hildebrand, which I read and then you read last year. Um, in the Winter Street, sorry, is the first one. Winter Street series by Ellen Hildebrand. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it a yummy little snack? Yeah. There's also a series of, I think they're like Amazon exclusive uh Christmas novellas from last year. Oh, yeah. Um, they're like Christmas romance novellas. Um, my favorite among those was Only Santa's in the Building by Alexis Daria, and probably the only one I could really like recommend for my chest. Um there's also Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood, which I thought was just fine. But Only Santa's in the Building by Alexis Daria. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I'm actually not really a fan of any of Ali Hazelwood's uh novellas. I just don't think that's her She's more long formed.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. Long form girl. So those would be my Christmas recs. Okay, I have one. Um Oh, oh, and there's a Talia Hibbert one that's really good. Mary Inkmas and Wrapped Up in You are little novellas by Talia Hibbert that are really good.

SPEAKER_03:

I love that. Oh, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Allie Carter. I think I talked at length about this, but it's pretty short. It's a it's like I am still thinking about the romance in this one. The like, if you want yearning, you want this, but it's also a crime, but it's also holiday, so you get like a little bit of everything. You told me about this one before. It's really fun. It's like it's yeah, the the two, these two sort of rival romance or crime authors, sorry, are invited to like this famous crime author's house um for Christmas, and you know, hijinks and Sue. They have to solve a murder mystery while they're there, which brings them close together, which leads to them falling in love, which maybe they've been in love the whole time. Well, you know, we love it. So that one's really fun. Also, um, by Taylor Hahn, what's this book called? A Home for the Holidays by Taylor Hahn. I like her books. This one was like fine, but it's short, and it's like kind of giving a found family vibe, and like when the past comes back to the present and falling in love and second chances, and you know, it's cute. It was fun and short, and I like her writing, but yeah, this one was fine.

SPEAKER_01:

One last one I would recommend is which I can't believe you didn't say this, but Time to Shine by Rachel Reed. Oh my god, I forgot that's kind of a Christmas ebook. It is a Christmas book. Yeah. Christmas happens in the book. No, that one's so good. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta read that. That's a short Christmas ebook. I think I'm gonna reread that this Christmas because what a treat. That was so good. That was so good. I bought it. Um, on it's like in my Kindle library sales.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I don't have that one, but I keep wanting to, I wanted to buy Heated Rivalry to like show my support, but it's sold out everywhere. This show has to come to the US, is what I'm trying to tell you. So I'm not gonna go on about it again, but I just want you guys to know it's completely sold out.

SPEAKER_02:

Last week, like last episode when I made the graphic, I was like, no, this just needs to be about Emily like talking about heated rival.

SPEAKER_03:

All I'm saying though is it is sold out. But yeah, but maybe I'll buy Time to Shine instead. Because that one was that is her that's her best book. It's so cute and good.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, it's so good.

SPEAKER_03:

So good. So I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna reread it. Yeah, yeah, okay. Merry Christmas. Cute. Okay, all right. Um, anyway, what books have you read recently? Okay. So you we talked about we talked about mate. Yes, I just finished that one.

unknown:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01:

So again, just again, it was so I immediately I honestly immediately wanted to read it again. I know. I was like, should I should I read this? Then I was like, should I reread Bride? I know.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm like, maybe I do I own Bride? I don't know. Anyways, I don't think I do actually. I think I got that one uh on Libby, but I should buy that one so I can have both. Anyways, I'm I'm not gonna get into this, but I did read the Puck Boy series by Saxon James and Eden Fenley.

SPEAKER_00:

Again, I understand what that sounds like, but Loki, these were actually really good.

SPEAKER_03:

So I just want you guys to know if you're in the if you're in the same hockey romance uh Kendall Unlimited World that I am, these were shockingly good based on the cover and the title of all of them. I thought they would be truly horrible. They were not, they were good. Um, this one is though a five-star. I read The Darkness Outside Us by Elliot Sheffer. Shreffer. Um, I have seen this book recommended a lot and have skipped over reading it because it is a YA. But then I saw someone on TikTok and they said this doesn't read like a YA, and that convinced me to finally read it. And they are right. It does I think at some point I would love to have a longer conversation with you about what's going on with YA because I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think I've read a YA book in Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I just saw this article the other day. Maybe this is the conversation. I saw this article the other day about how most YA books are are actually purchased by adults, um, like for adult reading. And I feel like there's a lot of like authors making an entry into YA, but with books that don't feel like they're YA. Like this definitely the only thing YA about this is that the characters start out at 17. And even that's like kind of old, you know? And like, anyways, really interesting. Like, I don't I'm wondering, is it like easier to get into YA publishing than it is to like be an adult publishing?

SPEAKER_01:

I know. That's what I'm wondering. And I look, like I'm happy people are reading. So if you need to, if the entry point for you is reading at a like a lower reading level, yeah, by all means, I'm just happy you're reading. Right. But I wonder if it there's something to do with that. Like, you know, that might be a recommendation for someone who hasn't read a lot or is trying to get into reading to start with something kind of easier. Right.

SPEAKER_03:

Or I'm wondering too, is it like I just feel like there's also this gulf of like romance being pushed more because this is a it's not, I wouldn't call this a romance, it's more like sci-fi, yeah, futuristic type book, but there is a romance element, and I'm wondering how much of like romance being pushed by like book talk and like more explicit content and like closed door romances sort of falling off, how much that's pushing like the gap of like YA romances existing for people who might like not want to read. I don't know. That's just really interesting to me, but I don't know. I have a lot of thoughts that I don't know what the truth is, but anyway, for whatever reason, this is a YA. I don't feel like it needed to be a YA. I almost don't I do feel like there's some content in here I wouldn't want like a young high schooler probably reading personally if I was a parent, but and it's so good. I don't care that whatever. But so it follows these two characters. The main character um is Ambrose, and it's like the distant future of Earth, it's like 2400 something, um, and there are only two countries left on Earth, um, and they're kind of like loose country conglomerates, and they are Earth is like not doing well, and so um there was a mission sent up to Titan, the moon, um, because they thought it would make like a good possible like colony for humans, and that mission failed. There's like a distress signal, and that was Ambrose's sister, and so they are now sending him to like check on what happened. Like, was that a failure because something is not right on Titan, or was it just like a random failure? Can they be rescued? Um, and so he thinks he's going to like go rescue his sister by himself. That's when he wakes up, that's his thought. But then he finds out quickly that he has no memory of the launch, and there's someone else on board, and his name is Kodiak, and he is from the other country, and like historically these countries have been like at war, not get along, but they have this coordinated effort to go to Titan. And the reason they send young people is because like the radiation in space, it's like there's a fine line of like they're 17 and 18, so it's like we have enough training, they've been training their whole lives for this where they can like successfully do this, but also they're young enough that like the radiation won't affect them by the time they get there as much, like it's not gonna wear down their bodies, whatever. But like, pretty quickly, uh, things are not what they seem, and I don't want to spoil anything else because the twist in this was so insane that I had to stay up reading till like one in the morning to keep going after I found out what was happening. So if you like like a Project Hail Mary, because this is very similar, like waking up, no memory, but and like genuinely also incredibly moving. Um, it's like what does it mean to be like human? What does it mean to like have a good life? What does it mean to like have purpose and meaning? Like all of that, um, to have hope. Yeah, just like all of that is in this book, and I would say like the first 20% kind of hard to get into because it's like a lot of setting up the characters and like what their mission is. But once like things start happening, things start happening, and I could not put it down, and it was so insane. And there's a sequel to this as well that I'm that's great. I just picked up from the library, so I'm excited to read that. Um, but yeah, like it was I I was just surprised by like a the romance in this was really nice, like even though it is YA, um like it was just really I thought well written, and then like I was surprised how emotional it was of like yeah, I can't talk about it without spoiling it, but I was just surprised by like how much it just makes you think about what it means to be like a person, and wow, like it was really good. So I recommend. Uh what's it called again? It is called The Darkness Outside Us by Elliot Shreff Schreefer, Shreffer, something like that. Okay, yeah, I highly recommend this one.

SPEAKER_01:

I put that down.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Okay, what have you read recently?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I read so one of the books I read was Mate. One of the books I read was uh Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping. Um, and so I've started so um the thing is I would never have picked up that book because of the cover. Yeah. Because it just kind of looks like uh it's just the cover makes me think, oh, this isn't gonna be a very good book. Yeah, no, I know what you mean. But um, but she actually, this is her second book. Uh last year she had a different book that is not the same universe, but it's also about witches. And um it's called um The irregular the very irregular or the Okay, yeah. Some some Society of Irregular Witches. Yes. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. So I've started that. Okay, I've heard of that. Um and similar writing, it's really good, actually. Um, so I don't know why I'm saying actually. Just I I kind of just assumed it wouldn't be good. No, I know what you mean, yeah. Just based on the branding of it, the title of it, the cover, everything. It was great. Um and then also I needed to really make up some ground, and so I read some novellas that I've counted towards my reading goal, um, including Hot for Slayer by Allie Hazelwood, um, which was fine. Like, I think you're right, her novellas don't hit like that. Um but anyways, uh so that was uh about a vampire and a vampire slayer. And then um, okay, I read a wild Halloween novella from the same like novella series called All My Boyfriends Are Monsters by Kimberly Lemming. Okay. Um yeah. I don't even know what to say. That one really blew my mind. Um I I thought I was down for a lot of stuff. I thought I was open-minded. I was not. I I was You were pushed. I actually was shocked, and I and I That's crazy. We just talked about reading published Omega Verse. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

I I was You've read The Ice Planet Barbarians, you've read the Bull Moon Rising. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So you can leap this out or you can do music or whatever. But basically, this is like a normal book, all like a normal novella bit through about this girl who like gets lost in the woods and on a hike, and then like anyway. It turns out that this she's basically fallen in love with this monster.

SPEAKER_03:

That's the most insane thing I've ever heard.

SPEAKER_01:

And then I realized I had read another book by this another novella by this author that's called um it's about like that it's called The Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yo. And that was crazy too. Um I think I quit that book. I it was like someone from Book Club wanted me to read. Anyway. Proceed with caution. I have a friend who's into monster romances. Sure. Yeah. And you know what? No shame. No shame in the game. No. But if it was a lot for me, I just want to say it was a lot. Yeah. Know yourself. So that was crazy. Oh wow. And yet I continued. And I nevertheless, she persisted. And nevertheless, I persisted because I did see that Ruby Dixon, the author of Ice Plan of Bright Varians and Bull Moon Rising, had uh one of the novellas. And that one was actually my most highly rated. Um that one's called Space. vampire she's really good about writing about like aliens and stuff this is basically like an uh an alien vampire and a human are trying to escape this like space station where being like held by slaves like held as slaves nice and they fall in love and uh that one was I actually really enjoyed that one. Okay. So um that's also what I've been reading.

SPEAKER_03:

It's for taking one for the team and reading those for us.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. If I if you were gonna read any of them I would say Space Vampire. Okay. There was two there's like there's two more in the series I just didn't I was like I'm done. Yeah. Back to reading real books. But then um I am I can already tell Margot's got money trouble is this gonna be a five star. It is yeah it's so good. Halfway through I cannot like I I get so excited every time I sit down to read it I'm like I can't wait to read more of this. It's just so insane. Like everything that happens in the book is insane. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

But also not yes anyway it's very lovely.

SPEAKER_01:

I need to know this author's life story.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um anyway couldn't recommend that one enough and I'm only halfway through so I'm I'm feeling it's gonna be like one of the top books of the year. For sure. Yeah it's okay. So yeah that's what I've been reading recently. That's great. Thank you. That's a lot and you're doing a big week coming up we do we do because Twilight is going to be in theaters for one night only. Oh you're so right you're so right that's upcoming this week I can't believe that I forgot that yeah can't wait yes I am so excited we have so much to look forward to I'm going to Twilight and New Moon are you which ones are you going to just Twilight? Just Twilight yeah but I can't wait for now maybe I don't know now I'm gonna be by myself next week so who knows I truly can't wait I might pick up another set of tickets yeah yeah we are to be able to do that what a great timeline we live in yeah kind of look what a horrible timeline we live in and yet we still look have you seen people saying that um the Louverheist has set us back on the good timeline because like like Harambe diverted us and now the heist we're back I'm gonna just believe in that we would talk about the heist a little bit okay why not how great was that the heist I don't know why it was so I think this is like honestly it's it's an indicator of like where our world is yeah that we're like it's giving stole a freaking stupid ass crown like yes I love that like that really it genuinely gave me a pep in my step it did because to know that some rich like to know that some precious item was stolen from some institution that probably stole it in the first place.

SPEAKER_03:

Right like it's the hubris of it first of all to like like it was that easy to steal and I love that delicious there's no victim here. It's not like they're not it's not a work of like to me a work of art is almost like more difficult because it's like okay well like that's like I don't know art is like meaningful and an artist creative like don't stick with the paintings yeah I don't care about that it's a gross display of wealth. Yes and just like they just climb like it's such a goofy heist it wasn't even like that high tech or like well they didn't even like fake what they were they were just like they literally just did it.

SPEAKER_01:

There was no like hijinks they were just like with a saw and then the fact that the Louvre people were like we'll probably never see it again.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like And have you seen the investigator? Have you seen him?

SPEAKER_01:

Um yes I know like it's just so glorious it's so beautiful I'm so happy about it's just like come on guys manifest good things get it together a little bit together twilight's back in theaters the loop's getting broken like this summer whenever the um the CEO like got busted for cheating on his wife that felt so good it did we're having it's it's ramping up the good things are ramping up like in in real ways and in more subtle ways we have to keep sacrificing billionaires. Yes whatever we have to do public humiliation steal their jewels egg gigs yeah throw tomatoes I think we should bring back like a classic like yeah bring back throwing a rotten tomato at someone I think these are these are things that would make us all feel really good. I think we would feel great so stealing jewels. I mean I would say don't steal art yeah don't do things that hurt poor people victiml this is a victimless crime. I mean what is the victim the no one's hurt by this it's amazing it's just glorious the guy who made the crown he's been dead for years and years and years and guess what people aren't going to the Louvre to see the f crown they're going to go see the Mona Lisa for the Mona Lisa yeah leave that alone you know and they were in the exhibit where the Mona Lisa was and they didn't trace went for the jewels which makes that yeah amazing great work because they you know what you gotta look out for you Lucius you gotta you gotta liquid you gotta like liquidate yeah the jewels from the crown and then sell them to billionaires yeah so that the billionaires can have their jewels and you can have the cash and you can be free yeah and do it I loved it got God bless you guys God bless AO3 authors and God protect thieves God protect the movies okay one last thing that I really want to say oh this is unrelated but I've been dying to tell you and I wanted to save it for the podcast. Sure.

SPEAKER_03:

So I've been trying for like 10 years to get Eric to understand TikTok edits and he um TikTok hasn't even been around for 10 years but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_01:

He has no concepts of this and I've tried desperately to explain that and now though he is like deeply into uh Shrek edits to the fate of Ophelia and he loves the song and they keep showing up on his for you page so I just wanted to share thank you to Taylor Swift for putting that song out and to the tick yeah okay TikTok editors AO3 authors jewelry thieves we know what I love about the TikTok videos that come up they're like how how Wolf Star edits look to non non-fans it's like just random like random and and I showed Zach and he was like no that is exactly right what are you guys even talking about this is just videos of people you don't understand the lore you don't understand the fan casting it's random people and like the same three clips like the from Prisoner of Askman and then the leaning one from Warner the Phoenix but there's there has been some tea in the Wolf Star community recently sure because on TikTok because there have been a lot of debate made about who is the real sure Remus fan cast is it Andrew Garfield or is it the guy who actually plays him in the movie as a young man.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes correct uh I am I do not like the Andrew Garfield fan cast personally I hate it actually. First of all because I have like a deep like abiding affection for Andrew Garfield and I can't I can't like he can't disappear into a role for me. Like I just love him too much respectfully to my marriage I just deeply love him. So uh that that one I'm out for me to me yeah David Theolis Theolis Theolis I don't know how to say his last name he's a better one or like I don't know there's someone else on as a young man like the clips of him I actually there's like a few clips of him from a movie when he was a younger man. Playing the like smoking yes correct looking on like yeah I need my my Remus like not hot and like um depressed and like you know yeah definitely smoking I need that version of him I don't need like hot Andrew Garfield I'm sorry and I don't like Ben Barnes's serious either and I'm sorry to say that. So yeah I actually don't like either of those guests but do I watch the edits and do I cry and and like save them to my folder. Um you know who's a good one?

SPEAKER_01:

He's like not in anything so he's not in any of the edits but it's Gary Oldman's son oh but the thing is it's less about who I like it's more about will I just be able to recognize you.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly exactly like I don't like Andrew Garfield as Remus but I do like the edits with him in it and he does have a wealth of clips the James ones yes yes all the James fan casts to me are great all of them the the Indian James the white James like all the James I love you all and Regulus is Timothy I'm great with that yeah Timothee. I do think like this is so off I might cut all this out but the I do feel like there's like a sauce I wish I could be a Jagulus fan and not a Wolf Star fan because I do think I mean or both but I don't like Jagulus but I do feel like there's a sauce in the Jegulus community like they've got something else going on you know and it's like it hits a little bit the problem is I just like Jelly too much. I love Jelly and yeah I'm not interested in in Jagulus at all. It's it's horrifying to me. I read a fic one time where like um untagged Jelly breakup and like the next fic in the series was Jugulus. I felt genuinely sick to my stomach for like three days like I couldn't even go near any fanfiction for like a month. It was just so like you have to tag that you can't do that to me like unsuspecting. Like they had been together for like 10 years and then they broke up and it was way too realistic and it was just like it made me ill so don't do that. No way. But still God bless AO3 authors God bless TikTok editors God bless jewelry thieves and on that note bye