Episode 32: Romanticize Your Reading Life

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 32, “Romanticize Your Reading Life.”

This week, Erin and Jillian are here to remind you that when the world is a dumpster fire, you can still count on your books! Take a break from the doom-scrolling and come join them for book chat, library love, and, of course, hot takes!

In This Episode:

• The ladies begin with their regular check-in. They share how their reading is going and what they’re currently reading.
• Jillian and Erin discuss the layout of their books to get to the heart of the episode.
• It’s time for the heart of the episode, each woman shares their latest reads.
• If you’re looking for a way to ethically use ChatGPT, this episode has the examples for you. 
• It’s time for Hot Takes and this week the ladies are asking whether children’s books count when it comes to the books you’ve read this year. Listen in to hear what Erin and Jillian think.
• Are you wondering what Jillian and Erin have on hold at the library? Tune in to find out! 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

• At First Spite by Olivia Dade
• How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
• The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
• The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
• Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell 
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
• Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
• The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
• The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri
• Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
• What We Sacrifice for Magic by Andrea Jo DeWerd 
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
• When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker
• 52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life by Farzana Doctor

Transcript

I'm gonna do that proactively.

Usually if I want to put a book on my TBR, I just tap want to read and then I don't... yeah.

I don't categorize it further, but that's like a really like fun idea.

Okay, great.

Hey, side tips here on medium-lady reads to just make your reading that much more enjoyable. [laughs] [music] Hello, hi and welcome to Medium Lady Reads.

This is episode 32.

When the world is a dumpster fire, you can still count on your books.

Take a break from Doomsgrolling and come join us for Book Chat, Library Love, and of course Hot Takes.

Hi 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 the Medium Lady Talks podcast.

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

Together we're thrilled to bring you another episode of Medium Lady Reads, a podcast about self-care, a passionate love for the public library, and all of our thoughts and opinions on book culture having a small impact. [music] Hi everyone, welcome back to Medium Lady Reads.

This is episode 32, airing the week of November 26th.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American listeners.

Let's check in.

Jillian, how's your reading going?

It is going really, really well.

The reading slump seems to be over.

I've been picking up more.

I know, I know.

Let's celebrate that because that is huge and it feels good.

I've been picking up books more than scrolling, which I'm really proud of because I was scrolling a lot there for a while.

I am still dozing off in the evenings after reading for just a short while, for whatever reason I felt super tired.

So that's still going on.

But that's okay.

And we've had some busy weekends.

Esther started swim lesson, which I believe I mentioned last episode.

It just adds another taxi service that I have to do.

But it's going well.

It's going well.

My current read at this moment is "At first spite by Olivia Dade."

Let me give you a quick synopsis.

When Athena Grayden is forced to move into the narrow spite house next to her ex-Fiancé and his meddling older brother, Dr.

Matthew Vine, she plots petty revenge only to find herself unexpectedly drawn to a man she thought she despised.

Between the cramped walls and mounting tension, her spiteful payback zoomblers into the undeniable attraction.

So it's really good.

I'm really enjoying it.

I actually am excited because as soon as I'm done recording with you, the kids will have their tablets for a little while before the bills game today.

And I will be reading.

And I'm very excited about that.

That sounds like a good one.

Kind of spicy.

It is.

It is a little spicy.

What's going on in your world, Aaron?

Yeah.

So in terms of life updates, Jillian and I, we were chatting a little bit about this off mic.

I do feel like I'm having a bit of a downswing in my mental health, a little more anxiety, a little more overthinking.

And sometimes I beat myself up about this because I'm someone who's been talking and sharing about mindfulness and mental health for five years.

But the first thing I learned was it's really important to be honest and to avoid shame.

It's really okay to not be okay.

So I'm sharing that with the audience today.

Thankfully, this anxiety hasn't affected my enjoyment of reading and books too much.

But life is just honestly Jillian similar to what you're saying.

Life is just very busy.

Sometimes I'm running at a pace that's really hard to settle into a good book.

I have read much less in November than any other month in 2024.

I'm set to finish the month in like single digits, which is totally okay.

But I definitely feel like both with the busyness of life and just kind of managing a low mood that I'm not really sinking into books as fast as I once was.

I just don't feel like I have the attention span to read as quickly as I was reading before.

I don't think I'm spending that much less time reading.

I think I'm just slower generally.

My brain is like a little bit more sluggish I guess.

In terms of current reads, I am totally loving How to Read a Book by Monica Wood.

This is a story of hope and healing between a widower, the young felon who killed his wife, and the former teacher who leads the prison book club, and how their lives converge in a season of transition for all three characters.

I am loving it so far.

This is the kind of books that makes me want to avoid all of my responsibilities.

And hopefully I can carve out a little bit of attention span to finish it later on today.

That's a book that I am excited to read too.

I don't know if I'll get to it.

I currently have it out of the library, but I don't know if I'm going to get to it before I have to return it.

I got it pretty quickly.

It's a new release, but it doesn't seem to be like hot on the list of people.

Yeah.

I bet if you returned it, you would get it.

You wouldn't be on hold for very, very long getting it.

But listeners, if you're looking for like a home run book, this is a home run book.

Not a lot of triggers, really deep storytelling, really empathetic character building.

It's really, really, really spot Monica Wood.

She's just a really special writer.

She's doing, she's doing something that not everybody else is doing.

Long time listeners will remember that we read one and a million boy for one of our buddy reads.

I think we've talked about it on the podcast.

That was one that we all could agree that we loved.

Yeah, definitely.

All right.

So now it's time for the book chat and the heart of the episode.

Aaron, I'm excited to hear what you're bringing to the episode today.

Tell me about the layout of your reviews.

What are we in for?

Okay.

I've got a perfect book for anyone going on vacation.

I've got an audiobook that leans into magical realism and a feminist retelling of Macbeth.

I do really love to read all over the place.

Jillian, what are your books like?

Today I'm bringing a suspenseful psychological thriller, a fun Christmas mystery romance, and it's a completely quirky and off the wall middle grade book.

Kind of a mixture as well.

Jillian, is it cheesy to say that this Thanksgiving?

I'm grateful for books.

No, it's definitely not.

Not cheesy.

No, no, no.

I can't wait to hear your reviews, Jillian.

You're first today.

So kick us off.

The first book I'm sharing today is The Silent Patient by Alex Michael Eadies.

The hype around this book is huge, but being that I was dealing with a bit of a book slump, I was skeptical that it would live up to the hype, but it really totally did.

Here's the premise.

Alice Sparinson, a celebrated painter, mysteriously stops speaking after shooting her husband, transforming her crime into a compelling enigma that captures public attention.

Driven to uncover the truth, psychotherapists Theo Fobber takes on Alicia's case, but this pursuit of her silence leads him to a maze of hidden motives and personal darkness.

This book had me neglecting responsibilities and staying up late, just so I could finish it and it was worth every tired moment.

I love this book and if you're into mystery suspenseful books, then this is a must read for you.

That said, I realize I'm late to the party and so many people have read this book.

If you haven't read it yet, then I'd recommend that you stop reading reviews about it and stay off good reads.

Well, I'm almost done talking about it, so you could probably okay to the finish list thing, but you don't, but you want to avoid reviews.

Even if they're spoiler free, because the level of expectation can be ruined simply by reading reviews.

This book is absolutely worth going in blind.

It is really, really good.

That's the silent patient by Alex Michael Eadies.

Wow, Jillian, that's a pretty rave review and I'm really, really happy that you enjoyed it that much because I know there was a little bit of this book has had buzz for five years.

People have been raving about this book.

That in the book world is such a longevity to have.

It was published in 2019 on good reads.

The rating is 4.18, which isn't unheard of on good reads, except this book has 2.5 million ratings and it's maintained a higher than a four star average.

It's bonkers.

That's crazy.

It's like the people have spoken.

The readers have chosen.

They love this book.

I've never read it.

I need to.

It's really good.

I highly recommend it.

If you're into thriller, psychological, thrillers and all that, I would recommend it.

But if that's not your bag, then that's okay too.

You can skip it.

It caught me off guard and took away that book slump.

I'm thrilled with it.

That's great.

It's an easy one to recommend if people like thrillers.

That's true.

All right, Aaron.

What are we in for for your first book?

Okay.

The first book I'm going to bring to the show today is a book that I would highly recommend for anyone planning a trip, especially if you're going to have a plane ride, maybe to somewhere hot.

This book is called The Villa.

It's by Rachel Hawkins and I gave it 4.5 stars.

The villa is a genre mashup of everything that really works for me personally as a reader.

The late 60s, sex drugs and rock and roll.

It also has a shifting timeline.

It has an unreliable narrator.

It's a book within a book and it also comes with a mix of media to tell the story.

I hear what you're thinking.

That's too many things, but trust me.

In The Villa, it all comes together beautifully.

I love this and I loved it even more by audio.

It comes with three narrators and that held me completely captivated by the stories unfolding within the book.

The villa tells the story of two best friends, both writers, who spend a summer at The Villa, which is an Italian property designed for R&R.

While both of them struggle to find traction on their latest work, they slide into different versions of another summer at The Villa.

One in the late 60s, where a coterie of musicians, authors and drug dealers spent another fateful summer that ended in the death of one of their own.

As the story pulls back the layers on what really happened that summer long ago, the tension builds between the friends, leaving the reader worrying not only about what really happened back then, but what might actually be unfolding further under their very noses.

What makes this book truly memorable, Jillian, is the audiobook experience.

With multiple narrators, you get a distinct voice for each piece of the story.

You know exactly where you are in the mystery.

Whose voice matters in the moment, which makes you feel even further like a sleuth, as the plot progresses.

While there was one choice, the author made that felt a little unhinged for me, the rest of this book felt cohesive, propulsive and kind of sparkly.

This is something a little special when it comes to contemporary thrillers.

If you have travel coming up for the holidays or you're hopping on a plane somewhere hot, I think this is the perfect book to pass the time on your journey to a fresh destination.

That sounds really good.

I think that I might have to add that one.

Yeah, I would also say this is, I'm sharing it now because I think that it's a good counterbalance to maybe cozy mystery or counterbalance to some of the spooky books that you might be reading.

But it's also a good summer read.

If you feel like you have a lot going on on your TBR right now, this is a good one to plan for a future read in the summertime.

Okay, so maybe that's what I'll do.

Maybe I'll add it.

Maybe I need to make a tag on good reads and tag it summer read so that I can come back to it in the future.

Oh, I like that.

Yeah, I like that.

I have a couple of tags on there already.

I have personal development and memoirs.

Then I think I have one for the kids too, but I don't have one.

I've never broken it down into like seasonal reading, but maybe I should because then it'll I'll have that list going for me when it comes time for the summer.

And what do you you tag your TBR?

Yeah, you can create tags in good reads so that when you put it on the list, you can put it on your list for you know to read your our write want to read.

That's what it is.

You can put it on your want to read list.

And then if you have tags available to you or if you've made tags, I'm doing this on a computer.

So on a phone, it probably looks a little different, but on the computer, you click on whatever you're putting it on whether it's want to read currently reading or read.

And then it says continue to tags.

And when you click on that, you'll have all your tags there.

Nice.

And you can create new ones.

You know what?

I've always used those tags after I've read the book.

I've never used them proactively.

That's really smart.

I love doing that.

Just something I thought of with the summer ones.

So it'll have to be something I actually start doing because I haven't yet.

And I do have some fall books that I'm waiting for from the library.

But now I put them on my list, you know, months ago.

And then they're still not here.

So now when they come in, I'll probably just return them right away and put them on my list to read, you know, come next fall.

Oh, and you know what I love that Goodreads does is they call it shelves.

You tag them, but they call it like shelving the book in a specific place, which also kind of just like makes my brain a little bit happy.

I'm going to do that proactively.

Usually if I want to put a book on my TBR, I just tap want to read.

And then I don't, yeah, I don't categorize it further, but that's like a really like fun idea.

Okay, great.

Hey, side tips here on medium lady reads to just make your reading that much more enjoyable romanticize your reading.

Absolutely.

The best way possible.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Okay, Jillian, what's your next most recent read?

Okay, my next book is perfect for anyone looking for a fun Christmasy romance mystery novel.

I'm referring to the most wonderful crime of the year by Ali Carter.

This is a fantastic who done it locked room mystery and I was hooked from the very first page.

Here's the premise.

When mystery writers Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt rivals with clashing personalities that are invited to Christmas House Party, hosted by the famous author Eleanor Ashley, they expect an eccentric evening, not a real life mystery.

The night takes a strange turn when Eleanor disappears from a locked room, leaving the two writers snowbound and suspicious of each other unsure if Eleanor is in danger or testing them.

Maggie and Ethan are forced to work together to find her navigating complex clues and rising tensions.

As they race to solve the mystery, the stakes grow and so does the spark between them.

The main characters Maggie and Ethan are absolutely perfect together.

They play well off each other.

Even when Maggie thinks Ethan's being a big meanie, their chemistry is fire.

One thing I love about this book is that there's no game playing when it comes to the romance.

You know how Ethan feels pretty early on and Maggie expresses what she's feeling throughout.

You're not left guessing or dealing with lying, which you probably know I can't stand in books.

As for the murder mystery, it is a full cast of characters that will have you guessing who did it from one moment to the next.

While this is a holiday romance crime novel, it doesn't feel like a hallmark movie.

It feels so much better.

Oh, and one more thing, there is a cozy element to it as well.

It's full of tea drinking, warm fires, cuddling, Christmas trees and presents.

I definitely felt the warm fuzzies while reading this.

This was the perfect holiday mystery and I couldn't get enough of it.

This is my first book by Ali Carter, but it won't be my last.

This is the most wonderful crime of the year by Ali Carter.

Okay, I've placed an immediate hold on this and I have terrible news.

I have a 22 week wait.

So I probably won't get to read this by the holiday season.

I probably won't get to read this by the holiday season.

You'll have to get it next year.

Yeah, so I'll probably, I'll just put it on hold.

I'll let it cook.

And then when it comes available, just like delay delivery until 2025, but this sounds so fun.

It is.

You said it caught you from the first page, Jillian.

And I know for you that that's like a real key to like a winning book.

What is it that like catches you from the first page?

You are absorbed into the story immediately.

Instead of there being a lot of build-up, it's just like you're in it.

And it felt really involved, but not in a high 10 stressful way.

It was just it was really good.

It just from the moment it do open the book, you were in it.

Oh, I love that.

I love that, but unfortunately, I mean, I guess unless I do the audio on Spotify next month, because I'll have I'll have some more hours available on Spotify next month, maybe I could do the audio.

Oh, if you do, you'll have to let us know how it is.

I will.

I will.

Okay, Aaron, what's your next book?

The next book I'm bringing to the show is The Life Impossible.

This is the new book published by Matt Hague.

I adored this book.

I gave it 4.5 stars.

This book unfolds like a flower.

And just when you think it's reached the peak of its beauty, another wave of petals unfolds and it continues to delight and inspire you.

Similarly to the Midnight Library, this new novel from Matt Hague provides the reader with a comforting and philosophical fairy tale that weaves together a stoop reflections on what it is to be human with themes of curiosity, guilt, discovery, and faith.

Here's the setup.

We meet Grace, a retired math teacher who hears from an old student who isn't doing so well.

In her reply, she provides him with encouragement, inspiration, and support by sharing a recent experience she had while traveling in Ibiza.

To tell you more, Jillian would rob you of the fun of this book, which is a tiny bit magical and also a little bit weird or maybe a lot of it weird.

I want you to experience this book for yourself if you choose to read it so I'm giving a very brief plot synopsis.

One thing I loved about the life impossible, which isn't a spoiler, is how it does this really fun thing of weaving practical theorems of math.

For example, why there can be more than one kind of infinity.

And it weaves this practical math component with the magic of a story that is essentially what happened when Grace opened herself up to experience more of what life has to offer.

And because Grace is a math teacher, it kind of grounds the way she sees the world as she's sort of gone on this adventure.

The chapters are written in really short bursts, sometimes in vignettes, that don't really drive the plot forward but help us get to know Grace really closely.

So we begin to sort of feel like her story is happening to us.

I remember the same feeling while reading about Nina in the Midnight Library, and it's what really compels me to read more of Matt Hague.

I did this book first in print, and then by audio, and I must also encourage you to do the audio, which is performed by Joanna Lemley.

She embodies Grace so perfectly, but she also manages to perform the male main character Alberto in a full Abitzen Catalan accent.

The audiobook is so excellent.

It made me feel almost as if I was experiencing something beyond a book.

If you enjoy the Midnight Library, and I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy the Midnight Library, I think you will love this too.

And that is my review of The Life Impossible by Matt Hague.

I love the Midnight Library, which I know you just said you haven't met anybody who didn't.

So I'm sure that this is so good.

I haven't added this one to any list or anything, but I think I need to.

I think I need to bump it up there too.

I think if you feel like you're looking for an audiobook, it's a really, really good performance of audio, but also I did also have the print copy from the library, and there's something really soothing about the short chapters.

It's like a lot of really short chapters.

And so you sort of like love, I love short chapters.

Yeah, me too.

You consume the book really quickly.

You feel like you're making progress because the chapters are so short.

All right, Jillian.

What is your last book for today?

The final book I'm bringing to the show today is The Millicent Quibb School of Atticate for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon.

That's a mouthful.

This book is a lot, but this is a wonderful thing.

If you've ever watched Kate McKinnon on SNL or an any sort of interview, then you'd expect nothing less than a lot in her books.

Here's the premise.

The porch sisters, Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dede don't fit into their prim proper town or their Atticate obsessed adoptive family, preferring science over social graces.

After being expelled from yet another Atticate school, they receive a peculiar invitation to a new school run by eccentric med scientist, Millicent Quibb.

At two three one, Mysterium Way, they encounter bizarre experiments, dangerous meals, and odd teachers, making it the most thrilling place they've ever been.

When they're called upon to stop a group of villainous scientists threatening their town, the sisters must embrace their quirks and decide where their loyalty is lie.

Be forewarned that this book does sort of have some meandering paths that seem to lead nowhere, but in the end, it all makes sense.

There are footnotes galore, which is kind of silly, ineffictional novel, but there are footnotes galore in this book, and they all help to make either sense of what is going on in the page or as levity to a tense situation.

I loved this book and will be encouraging friends who also love Kate McKinnon to read it.

It is a middle grade book, but as an adult, I still enjoyed it.

That was the Millicent Quibb School of Atticate for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon.

Wow, what a winner.

That sounds so fun.

I can't wait to read this.

Yeah.

I did put it on my hold list as an audio, but I'm wondering because you mentioned the footnotes, what's that going to be like on audio?

It might be a bit of a mess.

I don't know, but I do know somebody who listened to the audio book and loved it.

So you might be okay.

I feel like they probably do a good job including it.

I guess Kate does it with her sister, who I can't remember.

I think her name is Emily, but she reads it with her sister.

Yeah.

I absolutely will be getting an audio book copy of this at some point just to listen to it.

So I can hear both versions.

So I'll have read it, the print copy, and I'll then be able to listen to it as well.

Now, when you say middle grade fiction, is it like what middle grade like age 8 to 12, or is it more like 12 to 16 or sort of like 10 and up?

I would say 8 to 12.

It's definitely a safe, there are some murdering, not murdering.

There are some deaths of animals in there.

So that's tough.

Yeah.

But it isn't the most difficult, they make it fun.

It's really hard to explain because the book is just so much, but it is definitely 8 to 12.

I would say for the age range.

I would give this to Esther to read if she won.

Okay.

And Esther is 8.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The reason I'm thinking is because Henry's really kind of like hit a reading streak.

He's gotten into this reading habit.

And I'm always kind of like thinking about what I'm I'm the manager of his TBR.

So I'm always kind of thinking about like fun things that he might enjoy.

So he loved the Wild Robot series and then he just finished the one and only Ivan, but he was like, this book isn't really for me.

And that focuses heavily on animals, animals who are sort of trapped in a zoo with caregivers that don't really take good care of them.

And I think that he just he's an animal lover, like what kid isn't an animal lover.

And he sort of was like, I don't need to read the rest of this series.

So now he's reading a Beverly Cleary book, the most in the motorcycle, I think, or something like that.

Anyway, so I'm always kind of thinking not just about my TBR, but about Henry Henry's TBR too.

Knowing that he struggled with the animal, because I saw his review on your stories.

And knowing that he struggled with the death of an animal, that might be this might be tough for him because there are animal deaths.

Maybe I'll read the common sense media summary of it.

Yeah, that might be a good idea.

Common Sense Media for listeners is a really great website.

You can go and it will generally, it will pull consensus from parents and kids and teachers.

And it will sort of like, it will do almost like a good reads, good reads aggregate of everybody's review, except what it will do is it will aggregate the things that triggered kids, the things parents might want to know, and the general reading age for the group.

So I'll probably maybe I'll just check it out on Common Sense Media.

And I can also ask Henry and say like, we might have this experience in this book, do you still want to read it?

And he can decide.

He's very decisive that way.

So oh, thanks for bringing this to the show.

I love this.

I love my pleasure.

For key kids books.

And Kate McKinnon is like such a gem and that you gave this rave reviews.

It's like it's going to be a home run.

Yeah, I definitely recommend it to people.

All right, Erin, you have the last review for today.

Let's hear it.

Okay, last but not least.

Oh, my next book is a five star read, maybe beyond five stars.

This is Lady McBeth by Ava Reed.

This was the most intellectually stimulating reading experience.

I've had all year since I read against the Loveless world by Susan Abel-Hawa earlier in the year.

I read that back in January.

This book really got my brain juices flowing.

Here's the setup.

Roceeal, our heroine, is a 17 year old woman.

Girl woman girl.

I don't know.

She's 17.

Traveling with her handmade in from Brittany to Alba Scotland in some unnamed medieval gothic time.

We learned that as a bastard born child, Roceeal was raised in her father's household as a beautiful commodity who would someday provide her father's household with value.

That time is now come and she is wed to McBeth.

The third generation saying of Glemmas.

After they are married, McBeth agrees to fulfill three of Roceeal's wishes before taking to their marriage bed and the plot begins to unfold.

From the beginning, I was challenged by the language in this book and this medieval sort of like a lack of place, territories and people kind of shift and move within really short time frames from one territory to another.

And it was hard to grasp what country is she from, what country is he from, how are they different.

However, once I became oriented to the world, I started to wish I could remember more of McBeth than whatever stuck during grade 11 English.

And that's where reading this book got really, really fun.

I couldn't for the life of me find the mental traction to think about McBeth the play while reading this book, Lady McBeth.

And that started to bother me through the first 30% of the book.

So I did what any self-respecting millennial would do.

I went to Chatchy Pt.

And here is my prompt.

I'm reading a feminist retelling of McBeth from the point of view of Lady McBeth, but I'm having trouble remembering the full plot of the original. summarized McBeth for me with an emphasis on the scenes that contain or make reference to Lady McBeth.

Boom.

But that was an all my friend.

And from there, I kept reading my novel and then returned occasionally to chat within my thread about Lady McBeth as a witch, the relationship between Lady McBeth and various characters, the evolution of Lady McBeth as well as feminist reinterpretation of her tragic character.

I felt like I was getting so much more out of the book by doing my own personal study of the story.

There is so much in Ava Reads writing that subtly and subversively, which is something she's known for, explore power, patriarchy, and the inner lives of women and their outer expression, women as property versus being autonomous beings.

And that doesn't that resonate even more in the conversations after this year's US elections.

Jillian, I love this book.

It is not for everybody, and I did get more out of it by going that extra step, but I'm so glad that I did.

It was an exceptional reading experience for 2024.

If you know or love McBeth or even if you hate McBeth, you will enjoy this book.

And if you like a Gothic feminist plot, you will love this too.

It's hard to compare to anything I've read recently, but that's my summary of Lady McBeth by Ava Reads.

I don't know that this is something I will read, but I want to say that I think you're a genius for using chat GPT to summarize McBeth and to pull that in.

That is so smart.

I love using chat GPT as like a collaborator, as like saying, "Hey, what do you think about this?"

And what are the ideas out there about that?

And I'm thinking this, how can I expand on that thought and letting it kind of talk back and forth with me?

I was recently on a Girls Weekend with my Sisters in Law and my Sister-in-law Katie is an English teacher.

Hi Katie.

I don't know if you're listening, but hi.

And Katie was saying how much she struggles with thinking of how to use this as a teacher because the rhetoric around chat GPT or AI generative predictive text functions is that people use it to cheat, that you're using it and you're a cheater if you're using it.

And so as a teacher, she's like, you know, how do I use this as a teacher?

I don't want to be a cheater.

And how do I also like prevent my students from using it?

And I said to her, this is one way that a student might get a lot out of using chat GPT.

Now I didn't have to write a paper.

I certainly like the biggest thing I had to do was write this review for everyone today, but and I didn't use chat GPT to do that.

But it honestly, it was kind of like I was in my own English lit class, just me and chat GPT.

And I loved it.

I had such I had such a good experience reading this book.

That's awesome.

You're very good at using chat GPT.

You use it and have different prompts for it all the time.

And I love that.

One thing I wanted to recommend, if you were looking for another Gothic feminist type story, I know your friend, your Australian friend recommended it to you, but the marriage portrait is also falls within that type of storyline.

And I would recommend reading that in here, if that's what you're looking for, if you want more of that.

Yes.

I've had the marriage portrait on my list for years, like it's at least since it came out.

So thank you for reminding me of that because I'm going to bump it up on my TBR for this winter for sure.

Good, good.

Lady Macbeth is also a very good winter book.

I think Ava Read, Ava Read generally Ava Read's books are very good in the winter.

I don't know, Jillian, if you know what I mean, like some authors just write like a specific season of book, like Mhen is like summer through and through, Carly Fortune is summer through and through.

Someone like Alex E.

Herrow, Alex E.

Herrow's books are like staunchly in the fall, you know, it's like the 10,000 doors of January.

The the sterling house, those are fall books, V.E.

Schwab, I think of also being like a fall author.

But Ava Read's books are very wintery.

They're very gray.

They're very like cold.

And I just like, I think that that's also kind of fun.

So thank you for the recommendation.

I will definitely put the marriage portrait coming up soon.

You are also welcome.

It is time for the hot takes and our current thoughts on book culture.

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

Today's hot take is kids books don't count when it comes to the books you've read this year.

So Aaron, what do you think?

I mean, I think your rave review of Millicent Quib and the rave reviews that I've given of like some of the other books that I've rated this super highly this year, books like The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Cellar of Dreams by Daniel Nyeri.

These are incredible, drop dead beautiful children's books.

Yeah, heck yeah, I'm going to count them towards my goodreads count or the count of books that I've read through the year.

I think that it's a way that the conversation has evolved and we're like fighting back against some of the ways that reading has to be high class or high brow or academic to be valued.

And if you're reading for any other reason, then it's sort of seen as low class or a lower on the social standing, you know, this like reading kids books don't count or even the ways that you know, women read romance books like these rules, they don't exist, they're not real.

You can count whatever you want.

You want to count a picture book in your goodread, like what's it to me?

How many books you say you've read this year?

It's honestly like such a way to dilute and divide readers when we all agree that reading is awesome.

That's the only thing that we really need to like land on here.

I don't know, Jillian, I think I know what you think, but you let me know.

I completely agree with everything that you said.

And obviously I count children's books in my TBR, I'm sorry, in my totals for the year.

I'm counting Millicent Quib.

I have read a few others this year that I'll be keeping, you know, have been added to my totals for the year.

When Esther and I read a book together, that's a chapter book, I count it.

I absolutely think that any sort of reading is good reading and can be counted towards your totals, whether you use good reads or you use a spreadsheet or any other platform that you might use.

I think it would be silly to discount anything.

It's like discounting an audiobook and saying it's not reading.

It's along the same vein as that.

Exactly.

Exactly.

These are the rules that we're breaking in 2024.

They just don't exist.

That's not a real thing.

Yes.

Saying that kids kids don't count.

Agreed.

But let us know.

Maybe you disagree or maybe you think, well, for me, I count this kind of book, but I don't count this kind of book.

And that's okay.

Those are your personal rules.

I think the most important thing is that you don't like prescribe them on everybody.

Not everybody has to be following your rules.

But of course, Jillian and I, we always want to know what you think.

You can go ahead and send us a DM at Medium Lady reads.

And we would love to chat it out with you in the DMs.

We are now going to wrap up with the holds list.

Jillian and I are very passionate about the library.

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

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

We know it's something we're happy to offer our own bookish community.

Plus, we're sharing what's up next to let you the listener know what we'll be reaching for on our TBR and what you might hear about on a future episode of the show.

Okay, Jillian, what's on your holds list?

Sad to say I have nothing currently unhulled for me at the library.

It's a big empty wasteland.

That's just that's not true though.

I don't have anything waiting for me, but I have let's see like 15 books unhulled.

One that's going to be coming soon to me.

It says in transit is Blue Sisters by Coco Melores.

And then what we sacrifice for magic by Andrea Joe DeWord.

What we sacrifice for magic, I believe is a bit witchy.

And I may put that off until next fall.

I haven't decided yet.

We're going to get it.

Read the synopsis about it and we're going to make a decision then just because I don't want to ruin something that would be perfect for fall.

But also I've been waiting a really long time to read this book.

So we'll see what happens.

Well, you never know like the secret history kind of surprise.

Do you said that maybe you didn't have to read that in the fall?

Yeah, that's true.

That is true.

And then for next up for me is Love Light Farms by B.

K.

Borisin.

Here's a quick little synopsis for you.

To save her struggling Christmas tree farm Stella Bloom enters a contest claiming to run it with her non-existent boyfriend.

Forcing her best friend, Luca Peters to step in as a fake partner as they navigate their pretend romance to win the prize.

Their long time friendship begins to blossom into something real.

That, I think I mentioned last episode that a friend recommended this and it just, she said it sounded delightful or she said it was delightful.

So with that synopsis, I'm like, yes, it sounds so perfect.

I can't wait to read it.

I never hate fake dating.

Yeah, same here.

All right, Aaron, what are you waiting for from the library and what do you have coming up next on your TBR?

So actually, Jillian, it's funny, like similar to you.

There's not a lot going on on my digital holds at the moment.

So because it's an evens episode, I'll share digital.

A lot of stuff hanging out there with really long wait times.

The one thing I keep waiting for is When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A.

Parker.

You might have seen this on Instagram.

It's a really buzzy romanticy.

It's been making the rounds getting rave reviews for its fast paced plot and it has a very immersive world.

So I'm just kind of waiting and seeing whatever kind of comes up there.

I am going to be pulling some books off of my personal shelf for a winter TBR.

So perhaps my plans I had mentioned in the last episode to cool my library use as the year wraps up.

That actually might be set in motion after all, just like by the natural ebb and flow of what's on my holds, which is like not actually that much.

Next up, I'm going to be reading Nonfiction, which is 52 weeks to a sweeter life for caregivers activists and helping professionals.

This is a book by Farzana Doctor, a practical guide for self-care and community care.

I'm reading this for myself, but also for the beta group that is helping me test content.

Jillian, you know a little bit about this.

I do.

I'm testing content for a future subscriber offer for the medium-lady community, which will hopefully launch in the next year.

And I'm wondering if this book might be a good little bit of research for me in that endeavor.

It's very exciting.

I can't wait to hear up for the show, of course, but also for personal level.

Very exciting.

Yeah.

I really like the idea that it's like 52 weeks and it's like segmented into weeks.

So, um, and that's sort of similar to how this subscriber content is unfolding.

So I'm kind of interested in the structure, the content, and then how the content will be supportive of what we're going to do in the subscriber group.

So that'll be fun.

Awesome.

I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Yeah, me too.

All right, everyone.

That wraps up Episode 32 of Medium Lady Reads.

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

If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it.

If you just take a moment, share it with a friend, text it to somebody, a loved one, one person, two people, just share these episodes, tell people what you love, ask them what they're reading.

It really helps us to find other listeners for the show and to build community.

On Instagram, you can find me, Aaron@medium.lady.

You can find Jillian at Jillian Finding Happy for more of our current reads and other shenanigans.

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

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

We would be tickled pink to hear from you.

Thank you for listening.

I'm your host Jillian.

And I'm your other host Aaron.

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

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

We'll talk to you soon.

Bye!

Bye!