Episode 24: Welcome Back to Season 2

Hello, Hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads this is episode 24, “Welcome Back to Season 2.”

In this episode, Erin and Jillian introduce the new season of Medium Lady Reads and all of the new changes that will come along with it.  

In This Episode:

• The ladies check-in with each other to see how their break had been. 
• Erin introduces the new format of the podcast.
• Time for the reading check-in: Jillian and Erin share how their reading is going.
• Jillian and Erin take turns sharing their last three books.
• What’s the Hot Take in this episode? Tune in to find out!
• Finally, the ladies end the show by sharing their Holds List. They’ve added a couple new check-ins during this section - to hear what those are, TUNE IN! 
• Episode 20: Our Last Three Reads - where Erin shares her thoughts on Butcher and Black Bird.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

• Nevermoor Book 3: Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• The Rom-Commers by Kathering Center
• Taking Care by Sarah DiGregorio
• The Midnight Feast Lucy Foley
• The Only One Left by Riley Sager
• Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
• Sandwich by Catherine Newman
• We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
• Happy Place by Emily Henry
• Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
• Positivity by Barbara L. Frederikson
• The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson
• Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi 
• You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
• The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

Transcript

Oh, I love that.

I just love talking about what's coming next, what we're gonna be reading, what we are reading.

This is so good.

I know.

I'm so happy to be back.

It's like, I just want to stop recording so I can go read.

Okay, well let's wrap up then.

Hello, hi and welcome to Medium Lady Reads.

This is episode 24.

Welcome back.

We're excited to kick off season two.

Hello everyone.

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

And I'm Jillian, an Instagram content strategist for bookish people, a mom to two based in Buffalo, New York.

Together we're thrilled to bring you another episode of Medium Lady Reads.

A podcast about reading is self-care, a passionate love for the public library, and all of our thoughts and opinions on book culture, having its moments.

Hi everyone.

Welcome back to Medium Lady Reads.

We're excited to be back with what we're sort of calling our new season, which will come with some small changes to our format and a lot more of what has become our style.

That Jillian and I have been able to hone over season one.

Jillian, it is so good to see you.

How was your break?

It was good.

It was, well, it was rough, but it's good to be back and it's good to see you.

I injured my back and it was bad.

It was really, really bad.

I herniated a disc and I was in immense pain.

If you've ever had nerve pain, do you'll understand what I was going through?

If you've never had nerve pain, I hope you never have it.

It's literally one of the worst pains in the world.

I was out of commission for a bit.

My husband, Shamus, was picking up the slack, but I am thrilled to be back.

My back is better and I'm ready and excited to record with you again.

I'm so, so, so glad you're feeling better.

How was your break?

My break was good.

Really, really busy.

I think we hit June and then we were looking at July and it just became really, really obvious that we both had a lot going on and getting together to record and brainstorm podcasts and set up the scripts and make arrangements to protect the time and then to edit.

It was just really feeling like we both needed a little bit of break and we both really needed the extra time and we needed that time for different things.

It was good.

It did feel long, though.

I definitely was going back into listening to some old episodes and thinking about kicking off our recording today and being excited to take a look at everything we learned after one season and put all of that to use to really continue to hone our style for the audience so that they know what they're coming to get every time they tune into an episode.

We've been talking about this new season.

We've been talking about this break and we want you to know for this new season we are going to take your and our favorite format for last season's episodes which were the last three reads episodes.

We're going to use that as the new backbone for the podcast.

So every episode we realize that what people really come to the podcast for is to hear about books.

I mean, it is called Medium Lady Reads.

It's a book podcast.

You really just want us to talk about the books.

You want to get recommendations.

You want to get inspiration for what to read next and the best way for us to do that is to just really use our own reading lives as inspiration and continue to actively come on Mike and share what's going on in our own reading lives.

Absolutely.

So for season two, we're going to start with our reading check-in and share what we've been currently reading and what we're experiencing in our reading lives.

Then we'll dive into the body of the episode to share our last three reads and give a bit of a review.

What we rated the book, how we felt about the story, any comparisons, recommendations, etc.

And to wrap up, we'll continue doing the hot take segment and our favorite segment, the holds list.

And we're anticipating what will be up next and what's on our TBR.

I'm pretty excited for these changes.

That's good.

I'm so glad to hear that.

I kind of know you were excited, but it's nice to hear that you're excited.

I'm also excited.

I'm really excited about this new format.

I think it's going to give us so much more freedom and flexibility to create episodes.

And I think it's also going to help us make sure that the podcast is actually a balance between what we as hosts want to do.

We want to really just talk about books all day and what you want as the audience, which is more book recommendations, more book chat.

One thing we've heard from our listeners is that they find themselves joining in on the conversation between Jillian and I.

You know, you're like agreeing with us or disagreeing with us.

You're like the third person in the room.

And I love that.

Jillian, I know you love that too.

We really, really love our listeners.

So we hope that this format will emphasize the book chat.

It will make you feel like you're a part of the conversation with each and every episode.

Okay.

So that's enough preamble without further delay.

Let's dive in.

Jillian.

Let's do our check in.

How is your reading going?

It's feeling pretty good.

I was in a bit of a slump in June and from a bit of July.

But I picked up and I'll be mentioning it later in the episode.

I picked up a murdery book and it was a fast page turner and I felt myself falling back into the whole of reading.

And it was wonderful.

I don't often have a reading slump.

I usually am pretty just book after book after book.

But I've been struggling a little bit with May and I think even in June too.

And like I said, really July.

So I'm happy to be back into the meat of reading and really enjoying the books that I'm reading.

I actually DNF to book that I had high hopes for.

It just and I might go back to read it someday.

It just wasn't for me.

So that felt good too.

I think that would be number three for the year for a goals check in quick.

How is your reading going, Erin?

My reading is going really well.

I'm in the swing of summer reading.

Like without a doubt, just like making my way through tons.

I don't know where I'm finding all this time.

But I had a great and breeding month for July.

I mean, July is not even over yet.

But I've read 15 books this month.

That's impressive.

It is, I guess impressive is though it makes me feel awkward to say impressive.

But like it's a lot of books.

It's a lot more.

I usually read maybe between like nine and 10 a month.

And this is so that's quite a lot.

Even like today we're recording.

It's not quite the end of July.

I did something a little different that I don't usually do, which is I set a TBR of about seven books.

And I was like, these are the books I'm going to read this month.

And I think it actually helped me to read quite a lot because when books came up that weren't on that TBR, I could evaluate them but then always return back to that list.

And I kind of was like, I had a little bit more discipline, I guess, about my TBR.

So I'm going to try that again for August.

Currently, I'm reading Hollow Pox by Jessica Townsend.

I am honestly obsessed with the series.

It's a middle grade fantasy series on audio.

I've been, I've read the first two in May and June.

July, I will finish Hollow Pox, which is number three in the series, probably between like today and maybe August, the beginning of August. 2024 will definitely be my like never more summer.

Jillian, what are you currently reading right now?

Currently reading Margot Scott Money Troubles, which is by Rufy Thorpe.

It's so good.

Oh my gosh.

I love it so much.

I loved it.

It was so it is so good.

Yeah, that was a five star read for me for sure.

I feel like you and I are reading a lot of the same books right now.

Yeah, yeah.

The one book, I think you might have read it in June, but the one book that I DNFed was Ministry of Time.

But I don't remember who.

Kelly and Bradley.

But don't take my opinion on it because I know Aaron, you loved it, right?

I think it will be my favorite book of the year.

I adore it.

Yeah, but it's not without flaws, but I really, really loved it and you DNFed it.

So I did.

And you saying that it might be your favorite book of the year makes me want to go back and try reading it again because you and I have such similar reading styles.

And there's very, there have been very few books that you recommended to me that I haven't loved.

But I just, I didn't care about the characters and usually if I'm feeling that, it's like, it's just going to be a slog the whole way through.

So yeah, I DNFed it.

No, and I don't even think you have to go back to it.

I think like if you didn't want to read it, you shouldn't read it.

And there is a lot of the time when our tastes overlap.

But I like to that for listeners, they're going to get, they're still getting two different readers with two different reading lives, even if there is a lot of stuff that we both like that we overlap on.

True.

That's a very, really good point.

All right, everyone.

So let's get into the heart of the episode.

We're going to talk about our last three reads, but I really did miss the check in.

Jillian, it's always so nice to just hop on mic and chat with you about what's going on in our reading lives.

Me too.

Jillian, tell me about the layout of your last three books, common themes, wide range.

So I have two different genres that my books fall into this time.

Romance and mystery thriller that area.

I didn't really have a murderous spring.

I was in a bit of a book slum.

So like I said earlier, so I read a murdery book now and really enjoyed it.

And it got me in back into the swing of things, I think.

What do your books look like?

Mine are pretty varied too.

I have one nonfiction, one thriller and one perfect summer read, but they're all highly rated to me.

So I'm excited to dive in.

Okay, Jillian, you're up first.

What was your first last book?

My first last book was the ROM Commerce by Catherine Center and I really enjoyed this book.

I cried and I loved the banter in it and I just loved the two characters very much.

There were a couple of things that I didn't love.

There was the miscommunication trope where they weren't communicating and telling each other the full truth whole time.

And the cover of the book was a little meh.

All these romance authors are sort of making their covers look the same.

And I get it.

That's the gimmick right now.

But hers was just frustrating because they talk about address in the book and it's not the dress that's on the cover of the book.

And it's just it's frustrating.

Anyway, here's the premise.

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter.

She spent her life studying obsessing over and writing romantic comedies.

Good ones that win contests.

But she's also been the sole caretaker for her kindhearted dad who needs full time care.

Now when she gets a chance to rewrite a script for a famous screenwriter, Charlie Yates.

The Charlie Yates, her personal writing god, it's a break too big to pass up.

Emma's younger sister steps in for caretaking duties and Emma moves to LA for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime.

But what does it they say?

Don't meet your heroes?

Charlie Yates doesn't want to write with anyone, much less have failed, nobody screenwriter.

Worse, the romantic comedy he's written is so terrible it might actually be on the apocalypse.

Plus, he doesn't even care about the script.

It's just a means to get a different one greenlit.

Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma's not going to go down without a fight.

She will stand up for herself and for rom-coms and for love itself.

She will convince him that love matters even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it.

But what if that kiss is accidentally amazing?

What if real life turns out to be so much more real than fiction?

What if the love story they're writing breaks all Emma's rules and it comes true?

It was so good.

It's a very good publication blurb for sure.

I know, I know.

So I guess this is the episode we sort of like talk about where our taste converged.

I also read the rom-comers, but you tell tell the listeners what you loved about it.

Go for it.

It was an absolute delight.

It made me laugh and cry and it gave me the warm fuzzies.

And I did, even though I mentioned a couple of things that drove me crazy about it, I did still give it a four and a half stars.

So I don't know, Erin.

Are tastes do do differentiate, I suppose?

What, what didn't you think about it?

I gave this book a three.

I had the paperback from the library.

I started the paperback and then I had to do this long road trip.

And I thought, well, I'll treat myself to an audible credit.

I'll get the book on audible credit.

And then I'll be able to keep going.

And I think it was the narrator from like the first 30 minutes or so.

I was like, oh, I'm really struggling with the writing style.

Like I was attributing it to the writing style, which is a little bit clipped.

And it's very kind of quippy.

You get actually quite a lot of that quippy style from the publisher blurb where it's like Charlie Yates.

The Charlie Yates.

And I feel like they said the word Charlie Yates like 7,000 times in this book.

It definitely did.

The narration just like wasn't a good fit for me.

And actually made me really not like Emma and Charlie as a couple.

And then as the rom com shenanigans ensued, I think I just started to kind of disconnect from the plot a little bit.

And so then when you when I got to the end, by that point, I turned off the audiobook.

I'd gone back to the paperback, the emotional tones of the book hit hollow for me because I'd already kind of disconnected from the narrative.

And I would mostly blame that on the audiobook narration.

That makes a lot of sense.

And I can see why that would make you dislike a book or, you know, not love a book.

But I felt like all the moving pieces were so good.

Yeah, it really was.

And the only thing is it's not really a book that you reread.

No, it's unfortunate that you didn't love it because it's not you're never going to get the chance to reread it.

Just because there's too many other books in the world.

No, but I might pick up Catherine center again and give it a try.

Just not on audio.

Yeah.

Okay.

So what's your first last book?

Okay.

My first book is nonfiction.

I've been driving a lot.

And so audiobooks have been a super go to for me last weekend.

I think I drove like 10 hours over the Friday to Sunday.

And I was actually kind of fine being in the car because I got to read taking care by Sarah de Gregorio, which is just published last year.

The subtitle of this book is the story of nursing and its power to change our world.

Something I occasionally mention is that I am a nurse and I work as a nursing leader at a hospital here in Ontario.

Unfortunately, what I don't make a lot of time to do is read books about nurses.

But this book was recommended by a colleague at work and a fellow nonfiction book lover.

And when it was immediately available on Libby, it was a go for me.

It was like a no brainer.

So here's the setup.

In taking care, Sarah de Gregorio dives into the history and significance of nurses from the battlefields of war to the front lines of COVID.

She showcases their vital roles in various settings such as schools, prisons and even NASA.

This book is a heartfelt tribute to nurses exploring how their work intersects with issues of misogyny and racism.

And it calls for a much needed change in the profession.

It's not just a history lesson.

It's a powerful narrative that celebrates the impact and resilience of nurses.

I gave this book four stars.

I would really recommend it to anyone who likes feminist or healthcare nonfiction.

Anyone who has a mom, a sister, a grandma, sorry, that's gender biased, but over 90% of the profession of nursing is women.

If you know anyone or you're married to someone who is a nurse, you probably really like this book.

The story has got me revisiting an old idea that I've had back and forth for quite some time, which is to start a book club at work.

And if I actually make the time and the space to pull that off, then I would really love to start with this book.

Jillian, do you have any nurses in your life other than me?

I don't.

Only you.

And that makes me a little sad because I'd like to recommend this book to them.

But I maybe I'll just read it for myself in honor of you.

For sure.

Well, that would be very sweet if you want to.

I do think it's pretty niche.

Like it's a hard book to recommend.

But I think again, like if you like feminist nonfiction, it really talks about like the power structures within a female dominated profession and how that can be really interesting over time in terms of women who are oppressed and nurses generally are a profession that have been oppressed in the medical system.

But then how they then might enact or create oppression in other groups as they try to sort of like navigate power structures and work work through that as a profession.

So it's a very interesting look at sort of those the political dynamics within the profession.

So I think if you like history, if you like health care, if you like feminism and you like nonfiction, then this book is a really great way to spend eight hours on audio.

It sounds really good.

It does.

It was very well written, really, really well written.

Okay, Jillian, what is your next most recent read?

Okay, my next book is a mystery thriller book.

It's The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley and man, did I get the good creepy chills from this book?

Here's the premise.

It's the opening night of the manner and no expense, smaller large has been spared.

The Infinity Pole Sparkles, Crystal Pouches for gas ceiling have been placed in the seaside cottages and woodland huts.

The Manor Mule Cocktail, grapefruit, ginger vodka and a dash of CBD oil is being poured with a heavy hand and everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs, old friends and enemies circulate among the guests and just outside the manners and macularly cap grounds and ancient forest bristles with secrets.

And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called some things not right with the guests.

There's been a fire.

A body's been discovered.

The founder, the husband, the mystery guest, the kitchen help, it all began with a secret 15 years ago.

Now the past has crashed the party and it'll end in murder at the midnight feast.

Doesn't that give you the chills?

I got them all over again.

It also sounds beautiful.

Like I want to go to this party, this retreat.

That sounds amazing.

The opening night of the manner.

Wow.

I feel like that's what Lucy fully always does and I've never read her books, but I think she's really known for like a very immersive setting at the beginning so that you almost feel virtually like you're there in the book and you don't want to leave because the setting is so appealing and beautiful.

And then she gets you with like murder vibes.

Yes.

Yes.

So in the beginning of the book, like in I think it's a prologue.

It's about the setting of the party of one of the parties and it just made me think of our buddy reads again that we had just so like cozy and pillows and just it was a little different because you know there was more alcohol involved in the book, but it was just it was perfect.

And then you go into the book and there's murder revives and I don't know it was really it was really good and I got to be honest I sometimes feel like I love this so much and I don't read enough thrillers because I read a book like this and I realize how much I love it and it gets my pages turning faster and I'm like, why am I not reading more of these.

But there's just so many books to read that I can't help myself and so sometimes I just don't get into the murdery ones lately.

I mean, I think that's like an amazing goal for us all to like help you find more murdery books and I have a recommendation if you're in the mood for another thriller.

Yes, please.

My second book is a thriller.

Have you ever read Riley Sager?

I have not.

I have not.

Okay, my next book is the only one left published last year and finally enough, it also features the nurse.

Here's my pitch for this book.

The story centers on Kit McDear, a home health aide who arrives at the eerie cliffside mansion hopes end to care for Lenora Hope.

Lenora was accused of a gruesome family massacre back in 1929, a crime she never confessed to and hasn't spoken about since.

Now in her 70s, mute and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora communicates with Kit through an old typewriter and offers to reveal the truth about that night.

As Kit delves into Lenora's chilling account, she begins to uncover layers of secrets and realizes that the harmless seeming woman might be more dangerous than she appears.

The tension builds as new revelations come to light, making you question everything you thought you knew.

The book comes with a rhyme that had me spooked from the start.

Here it is.

At 17, Lenora Hope hung her sister with a rope, stabbed her father with a knife, took her mother's happy life.

It wasn't me, Lenora said, but she's the only one not dead.

Oh my goodness, chills.

Okay, so this book was a ride and I was happy to hop on.

I gave it 4.5 stars.

While it got a little draggy in the middle, it was a great summer read, an ideal thriller, Jillian for you or anyone who wants a paint turner, but doesn't really want a lot of gore or violence.

This book takes place in the 80s.

So it's actually set in 1983, which is the year I was born.

If anything, I think I actually would have loved a bit more of a vintage feel to the book, but I liked that kit kind of she comes to the story.

She has her own mysterious background.

You're curious about kit, you're curious about Lenora.

And I really enjoyed the creepy nurse patient dynamic as well.

Part of my rating is for vibes while reading I totally enjoyed this book experience.

And I will likely check out more from Riley Sager in the future.

Tell me, did you read this book at the cottage?

No, but I started it at the cottage.

Because I just feel like reading books at the cottage would be, especially if you're reading it at night, it would be just to be creepy.

I think I've started it.

I started it while I was at a friends place.

Then I put it down.

I finished another book at the cottage and then I picked it back up on my way home.

And it was like, I was home alone when I finished reading this book.

And so I just like completely I was like, I'm not I'm not loading the dishwasher.

I'm not folding.

I'm just going to finish this book because it was just like so enjoyable.

Nice.

That's how it should be when you're home alone.

All right, Jillian.

What is your last book to share?

My final book is not in love by Ali Hazelwood.

And if you remember from previous episodes, I absolutely love Ali Hazelwood.

But this book was slightly different than her previous books.

It also brings up some tough topics and some serious spice, which Ali Hazelwood does address in the front of the book.

She has a little letter.

So you know, I had a time which you're getting into and to not expect one of her typical books.

Anyway, here's the premise.

Ruth Seabirt might not have all have it all, but she has enough a few friends.

She can always count on the financial stability she learned for as a kid and a successful career as a biotech engineer a client.

One of the most promising startups in the field of food service.

Her world is stable, pleasant and hard fought until a hostile takeover and it's offensively attractive frontman threatens to bring it all crumbling down.

Eli Kilgore and his business partner want Klein period.

Eli has his own reasons for pushing the steal through and he's a man who gets what he wants.

With one burning exception, Rue, the woman he can't stop thinking about, the woman who's off limits to him.

Torrent between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out of the lab and end the boardroom windows.

There are fair secret no strings attached and has a built in deadline.

The day one of their companies will prevail.

But the heart is risky business one that plays for keeps.

Despite it being a bit different than what Ali Hazelwood has previously written, I really enjoyed it and I gave it for stars.

Aaron, I know you read this book to what did you give it and what did you think?

Yeah, I gave it for stars to I liked it more than I expected to.

There is as Jillian says the letter to the reader from Ali at the beginning and that kind of made me feel apprehensive, especially after reading butcher and blackbird earlier this year, which also kind of comes with a letter at the beginning.

But I actually I really thought it was great and the story really stuck with me, which I was surprised because it's more spice than story in my opinion.

And really even though it's different, it is still the Ali Hazelwood that we all know and love.

Yes, yes, it's still got the science and you know women and stem and all that it's the characters are still lovable even though they have their own issues going on.

It was it was really good.

I enjoyed it very much.

Yeah, I would agree.

What is your last book?

Okay, I'm nervous and excited to share my last book, which is sandwich by Catherine Newman, which was recently released in June of this year.

Jillian, this book made me feel so much and so many things I do not think I have read anything that captures the chaotic and meaningful internal world of motherhood quite like this book.

Here's the summary for two decades.

Rocky has cherished the annual family trip to their beloved albeit humble Cape Cod rental.

This cottage with its sunny days and emotional messes has been the backdrop for countless memories.

This summer, however, brings new challenges as Rocky navigates the middle ground between her almost grown kids and her aging parents all well battling the tumultuous effects of menopause.

As if that weren't enough, a series of events pulls Rocky back into her past, forcing her to confront old memories and secrets.

This precious week becomes a journey of balancing the joys and sorrows of family life leading Rocky to a deeper understanding of herself and her loved ones.

That it just like doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

So I gave this book five stars in case you can tell from the first few chapters.

I was immersed in this family.

The pros brings the reader into the head of the main character Rocky and you feel you see you smell you taste everything that is going on for her and there is a lot going on for her.

The book is almost visceral in the best way.

Usually I would use that word for like a thriller or a horror genre book.

This is not that.

This is a story about being a mother, being a woman, especially an older woman.

Rocky I think is in her early fifties.

She's experiencing menopause while also remembering the experience of pregnancy, pregnancy loss and the experience of mothering very small children.

The inner monologue and external dialogue are sparkling and raw at times with this roller coaster of emotions that women experiences mothers, you know, Jillian, there's bursts of joy, burst of melancholy, you feel anxiety and rage regret.

And then you're feeling desire all of a sudden.

This book is just so amazing.

I gave it five sandwiches out of five.

A hot tip if you start this book and you don't feel it from the beginning, you're like, I'm not sure maybe I'll give it another chapter.

Just trust me, set it aside because it will be like that the whole way through the tone of the book is set from the jump.

Don't tell me if you hate it.

I just want to live in the perfect bubble of this book forever.

I think contemporary readers who love banter in their romance novels will also love this book.

It is not a romance novel, but it's high on the banter scale.

And if you want the feeling of summer, this book delivers, it's called sandwich.

It's kind of about being in the sandwich generation, but there's also sandwiches and and a lot of food talk in this book.

And every sensation will jump off of the page.

And that's sandwich by Catherine Newman.

That sounds incredible.

And I have to tell you when you're talking about being a woman, you know, you were saying being a woman experiencing men of pause, what else are remembering pregnancy and pregnancy loss.

I started to tear up because I am, I mean, I'm not, I'm, I'm married, maybe Perry men of pause, who knows, but I know I'm done having kids and I think about that.

And it makes me sad and happy.

And all the emotions and like, I'm already tearing up and I haven't read the book.

So, oh, dear.

Yeah.

That's going to be happy to add to my list.

Yeah.

So so Rocky is at this cottage with her husband, Nick.

My husband's name is also Nick.

So I, and she also talks about how she's still like super attracted him, which I also like could relate to as well.

So I like just felt immediately connected to her.

And then she has these two adult kids who are like legit moved out adult like adult adult, like I think her daughter is 2023 and her son is 26 maybe.

And then her son's girlfriend is with them as well.

And then her aging parents there in their 80s joined them later on in the week.

So you get this like multi generational feeling, but she's the matriarch and and she's, you're like, I felt like I was in her head.

The whole time and it's so beautiful.

It's very, very funny, like it's very funny.

And then, and then in a heartbeat, you will just like have a lump in your throat immediately.

And I will say there is a content warning for a pregnancy loss in this book.

The book also talks about abortion.

So I would give that if that's not going to be for you.

But I just also want to tell you is that even if that maybe gives you a little bit of a niggle in the back of your head.

This book is so tender and beautifully written.

I hope if you have any interest at all that you will check it out.

But if you hate it, I don't want to know.

Don't tell me.

I love this book so much.

Catherine Newman's other book, which is called We All Want Impossible Things.

I think I read that last year is also very, very beautiful.

But this like I couldn't believe she talked that book, but she did she managed to somehow.

Oh my God.

I'm so excited to read this.

It's not happy place vibes, but it's setting wise.

It's very happy place vibes takes place in Cape Cod.

It's like about like, oh, we're going to go to the beach.

Let's go to our bathing suits on.

What are we going to eat at the beach?

They have a lobster dinner one night.

Like it's very summertime.

Very exciting.

I want to read it.

I'm trying to see if I can find it.

They don't have the regular book on my library.

They have the CD.

Oh, I read it.

The ebook.

Your book.

CD.

Well, like who?

It has there are 14 holds on it.

But I mean, I'm the CD.

I got an e reader copy.

Yeah, that's what I got was an e reader copy.

I might have to.

I really love physical books.

They have the large print book coming on order, but I really don't enjoy reading large print books.

I know.

I know because they're chonkers.

They are.

Chonkers and print and chonkers and in size.

Anyway, that's half the episode on sandwich by Catherine Newman.

So I'll have to I'll have to look into it and see if maybe I can request the regular one.

I can't believe no one else has yet.

That's weird.

Let me know.

But Jillian, if you hate it and you need to DBR it, just just let me down easy.

Okay.

I will.

I feel like I don't know.

It just the topic itself just sounds so.

This book will make you cry a thousand percent.

Well, then it's going to be a winner.

I have a feeling.

Okay.

Good.

I hope so.

Okay.

Let's move on to our next segment.

Hot takes in book culture.

A hot take is an opinion usually formed off the cuff and with little research.

Sometimes provocative.

Today's topic for our hot take is publisher blurbs.

Do you read them?

Are they helpful?

Too many spoilers or just another marketing gimmick?

Jillian, what do you think?

I read them and I think that they're pretty good.

I will use them especially this year.

Last year I wasn't using them very much, but this year I'm using them to decide between one book or another.

And I don't think they're giving too many spoilers.

I when I think of that, I think of like the Netflix previews where they give everything away.

You're like watching the entire movie in a minute.

I don't think they give too much away.

I think they're pretty good, but I don't know.

Those are my thoughts.

What about you?

I'm torn.

I usually read the publisher blurb after I've read the book.

And sometimes I read it and I'm like, that's the book I want to read.

I don't want to read what I just read.

I didn't like that, but I like this blurb.

And I, again, but you're in blackboard.

I think was a really good example of that where I felt like the publisher blurb was very compelling.

And I felt like it was a bit of a bait and switch partway through that book.

If you want to hear my thoughts on butcher and blackboard, I think it's the last our last three reads, which was maybe like episode 21 or so.

Anyway, it doesn't matter.

But I do really recognize that the blurb is both designed for a couple of purposes.

It's to encourage you to read the book.

And it's also to encourage you to buy the book, right?

Is like I can picture myself in a library in a, not in the library in a bookstore flipping it over.

You have to have the book usually you have to have the book in your hand and flip it over to like read the blurb.

Unless you go and seek it out, usually if you're reading the summary on good reads or anywhere on the internet, Amazon, you're reading that publisher blurb.

I would typically probably have a book recommended via a podcast or somewhere on Instagram or a friend before I actually read the publisher blurb.

So I don't know sometimes I like sometimes I feel like they're designed.

They're not designed to represent the book.

They're designed to make you buy the book or read the book.

But I can't imagine a world without publisher blurbs like we were complaining to our book club about our buddy reads chat about the fact that publisher blurbs went away for a little while.

And it was a lot of like Emily Henry's take on the new alley hazelwood like it was like it was like what do you call those the reviews?

Yeah, like like a review or like sentiments from popular people on the back of the book instead of a summary of what the book is actually about.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of those.

I'd rather much rather have the publisher blurb back.

All right, listeners, those are our hot takes.

What are yours?

What do you think about publisher blurbs?

Too much, too little helpful and helpful.

We want to hear from you.

You can always DM us on Instagram @mediumladyreads.

You can find me @medium.lady or Jillian@jillianfindinghappy.

We want to know what you think and what is your hot take.

And if you have any suggestions for hot takes for future episodes, we would also love to hear those too.

Yes, please.

That would be a lot of fun to get recommendations from the readers and our listeners rather and actually talk about it on the show.

We'll shout you out too if you give it to us, especially if you do it on Instagram, please.

All right, we're going to wrap up with the holds list.

Aaron and I are very passionate about the public library.

And because we're both avid library users, we both have very active holds lists.

And we feel like that's something we don't hear a lot about on podcasts or book talk or IG.

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

Plus for season two, we're going to add a WhatsApp next so that we can let the listener know what we'll be reaching for on our TBRs.

So Aaron, give me the scoop.

What's on your holds list?

What are you currently reading?

What's up next?

My holds list because it's an evens episode.

I'm going to pull up Libby and tell you what's on my digital holds list because I'm pretty balanced listeners between physical copies from the library.

And digital copies from Libby.

I have an audiobook called positivity coming up very soon.

This is a book that was quoted in a book by John A.

Cuff that I really enjoyed and he quoted this book positivity twice.

And I thought, oh, I really identify with positivity as a general trait.

And I thought it looked like a good book.

So I've had that on hold for a little while.

That's a nine hour audiobook and they'll probably keep me company while I'm doing all my hours of driving.

And then after that, I have the art of catching feelings, which is a baseball romance.

And that I think will be pretty fun.

That'll mix like two things in my life.

I love romance novels and I have a lot of baseball in my life.

That's by Alicia Thompson.

It looks like kind of like a comic book almost the catching feelings cover.

It's been pretty popular.

I was influenced to get that from Instagram.

And then what I'm currently reading, I mentioned I was reading hollow pox on audio and next up after that, I'll be reading Little Rot by Aquake Amizi.

I read, you made a fool of death with your beauty by Aquake Amizi earlier this year, which is one of my probably be one of my top 10 for 2024.

I'm excited to get into this one, which is a queer thriller about five friends trying to outrun a tangled web of lies and corruption.

Amizi is actually known for genre jumping.

She's written young adult.

She's, this is her thriller.

The other book I read was a very sexy romance.

So she really likes to kind of hop around.

And I just find that really daring and inspiring.

So I'm excited to read that next.

Okay, Jillian, you're up next.

What are you waiting for from the library?

What's on hold?

What do you have coming up?

What are you going to be reading next?

We want to know.

All right, so on hold, I have the return of Ellie Black by Amiko Jean.

Someone on Instagram read this or was reading this and told me that not told me where's telling her audience that it's a must read.

So I'm trusting them and I'm going to read that.

I got to pick it up first.

And then I had to get out the idea of you by Robin Lee.

I had to get that out a second time because it had too many holds and I didn't want to be the one holding everyone else up.

So I returned it and now I have it back and I got to pick it up.

So those are the two that I have on hold waiting for me.

That's a great habit to share with listeners because honestly, if you really are excited to read a book, but you don't think you're going to get to it, just put it back in the circulation and it will come back to you pretty fast.

Like I did that with Shark Heart earlier this year and I was like, I'm not going to get to this.

I'm just going to return it and put it back on hold again.

And when it rebounded to me the second time, it was perfect.

I picked it up.

I read it, et cetera.

And I think that's a great, great habit.

Good for you for doing that.

But we'll be excited to hear what you think of that book.

Thank you.

All right.

So what I'm currently reading, Margot's got money troubles by Rufy Thorpe, which I just want everybody to read, although I'm not everybody's going to love it.

But I really want everybody to read it because it's really good.

Yeah, I'm so great.

After that coming up next will be well, it'll depend if I get to the library earlier in the week.

It'll be the return of Ellie Black.

If I don't get there until later in the week, it'll be the Barry Pickers by Amanda Peters, which my sister read and said was probably one of her top books of the year.

So I'm excited to read that.

Nice.

That's great.

Oh, I love that.

I just love talking about what's coming next.

What we're going to be reading.

What we are reading.

This is so good.

I'm so happy to be back.

It's like, I just want to stop recording so I can go read it.

Okay, well, let's wrap up then.

That wraps up episode 24 of Medium Lady Reads.

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

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

And of course, you can follow the podcast itself on Instagram at Medium Lady Reads.

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

We would be tickled pink to hear from you.

Thank you for listening.

I'm your host, Aaron.

And I'm your other host, Jillian.

Until next time, we hope that your holds arrive quickly.

And your next book finds you right where you need it most.

We'll talk to you soon.

Bye.

Bye.

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