Episode 39: Are Celebrity Memoirs Clogging your TBR

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 39, “Are Celebrity Memoirs Clogging your TBR?”

Welcome back to Medium Lady Reads! Be sure to get settled in, cue up the latest episode, open your TBR tracker, and get ready to add 6+ more books to your stack.

In This Episode:

• The ladies check in, sharing how their reading and life is going.
• Both women share what types of books they’re bringing to the show for this episode.
• Time for the meat of the episode, where Erin and Jillian share three books each. Books you should definitely add to your TBR.
• What is the hot take for this week? Tune in to hear what Jillian and Erin are giving their 2 cents on. 
• After you listen to the hot take, share with us on Instagram - @mediumladyreads
• What’s on our holds lists? Listen in to find out, and add even more books to your TBR.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

• Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
• Beyond Anxiety by Martha Beck
• Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
• Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
• The Heartstopper Series by Alice Oseman
• The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi
• The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
• Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Favorites by Layne Fargo
• Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley
• We Were Dreamers Simu Liu
• Taste by Stanley Tucci
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
• The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
• The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin
• Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
• Heavenly Tyrant (Iron Widow 2) by Xiran Jay Zhao 
• The Unseen World by Liz Moore
• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston 
• Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
• Women Who Work Too Much by Tamu Thomas
• Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
• Penitence by Kristin Koval

Transcript

MLR Ep 39 Are Celebrity Memoirs Clogging your TBR
[Music] Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reaves. This is episode 39. We'll bring our six new book recommendations. You bring the coffee or tea. Together we've got one fantastic episode. Hi everyone, I'm Jillian and Instagram content strategist for Bookish People, a mom of two based in Buffalo, New York. I'm Erin, a mom of three, a hospital administrator in Ontario, Canada, and the host and founder of the Medium Lady Community and being Lady Talks podcast. Together we're thrilled to bring you another episode of Medium Lady Reaves, a podcast about reading his self-care, a passionate love for the public library, and all of our thoughts and opinions on book culture having in small things. [Music] Hi everyone, welcome back to Medium Lady Reaves. This is episode 39, airing the week of April 1st. I can hardly believe I'm saying that. We want you to get settled in, queue up this latest episode, open your TBR tracker and get ready to add six more books to your stack. Hi Jillian, it's good to see you. How's your reading going? Hi Erin, reading is going. It's going. It's been quiet in my world, which you would think would mean more reading, but instead it's translated into more scrolling of the Instagrams. [Laughter] March was a slow month reading wise. I only, for me, only read six books. You can tell I've been scrolling a little too much. But I found that when I forced myself to read, when I really don't want to, I end up taking in much of the book and I have to go back and reread the pages. So it's better to sometimes just let myself scroll and then get back to the reading when I'm ready. Current reads for me, I'm reading The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Clune. I am loving it. I'm about three-quarter. [Laughter] I'm about three-quarters done. I hope to finish it this weekend. If not this weekend by the end of the month. Here's a little synopsis for you. In 1995, a lost and broken Nate Cartwright retreats to his family's empty cabin, only to find a mysterious man and an extraordinary little girl, Artemis Darth Vader, already inside. As he unravels the truth about Artemis, Nate is drawn into the fight against powerful forces, who seek to control her. Based with the choice between his past and an unexpected future, Nate must decide what and who is worth fighting for. Oh, it's so good. I can't wait. Maybe next episode for episode 40 will be able to bring our double review for it. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, nice, nice, nice. So how's your reading going, Aaron? My reading is going really, really well. And I have had this interesting personal realization lately on one of our core principles, which is reading as self-care. And this is actually thanks to one of my current reads, which is Beyond Anxiety by Martha Beck. So in this book, Martha Beck shares the concept of curiosity and how it's really important quality in managing your wellness and balancing your anxiety. And I realize that reading is one way that I flex my curiosity muscle keeps me asking questions, it keeps me engaged with the writing when it's especially really good writing. And this is not just like reading, picking up a book and putting down a book, but also about like reviewing books and researching books and recommending books and that my whole reading hobby is doing so much more than just being a good way for me to spend my time. My obsession with books and readings is actually like a really important part of my self care because all of that curiosity is part of my toolkit when I manage my mental health and I manage my anxiety. And so when I came to this realization while listening to Martha Beck's new book, I just felt like I had to bring that realization here. I was like, yes, reading a self care and there's so many layers to why that's true. But otherwise life is life in Jillian, I don't know like you know when you run into people and they're like, hey, how's it going? You just say good because. Yep, anything else would be like 20 minutes of explanation, you know, I feel like everything is happening in hyper drive it's going to be my birthday next Saturday I'm going to be 42 and I feel like my life is passing faster than ever. Plus I just need the friggin spring to show up I don't have anything else left in my mental health tank to handle these crappy zero below zero at least here in Canada below Celsius below freezing days of rain and clouds and blood. Yeah, you know, we had that like taste of warm weather and I had a week of vacation in early March, but unfortunately that already feels like a year ago it feels like this like stupid cold snap, you know, it's just dragging me down and it happens every year, Jillian, I know we live in similar climates. Every year, there's this early like fake spring, it gets everyone feeling a certain way and then when it goes back to that season, the leak colder temperature, it's like a harder mental hit than the dark nights of November. Otherwise kids are busy work is busy reading is still happening quite a lot. I think I'll have read 12 books and today. Nice. I think I'll probably land around 12 which actually really surprised me. I didn't realize I was like still making my way quickly through them current reads so I just finished last night, Juni by Aaron Crosby X team. You've probably seen this book making the rounds it's getting rave reviews and for many, many good reasons it's about a young enslaved girl who must face a life altering decision. After awakening her sister's ghosts, she's navigating truths about love, friendship and power as the Civil War looms. The book is set in early 1860 and I believe the Civil War started in 6061. So historical fiction isn't usually my thing, but this is a very beautiful book. It starts with the cover. I can't stop looking at that cover. It's so gorgeous. And I can really see why it's getting rave reviews and I did I'm calling it my current read, but I I stayed up late last night to finish reading it. So what a check in, Jillian. These times these times. But that's like for me, it's one of the most fun parts of the episode is just checking in and seeing how you're doing. Yeah, it's true. It's true. I mean, we're talking pretty much every day, but you know, carving out time for a check in is really, really nice. Like I said, like, you know, you could pass someone by and say, oh, things are good, but like make time for the check-ins with your friends in your life, whether you have a podcaster, don't. It's really, really lovely moment. It's worth it. We also have to like make sure we keep the episode on track because then we could just like banter back and forth and like sit here with our coffees or drinks and like, you know, maybe you want that listener. Maybe you just want, you know, a chill and chat with Jillian and I, but we know you're here for the reviews. So let's jump into those reviews for today. Jillian, what do you have on deck for this week's episode this week? I'm bringing a nonfiction self-health book, a historical literary fiction and finally an obsessive sports romance. What are you bringing to the show this week? Okay, I'm bringing an energetic YA romance, a complex mystery that takes place at the end of the world and maybe my favorite fantasy novel of 2025 so far. I have had a really good reading month and I'm really excited to talk about these books. All right, well, you're up first, so that's what you got. Okay, the first book I'm bringing to the show today is a really great palette cleanser. This is a book you can probably find on Libby, probably find in your library immediately. If you want a book, you don't have to take too seriously and you like the YA genre, you're going to want to pick up Dungeons and Dragons by Christy Boyce. Here's the setup. Riley, our main character, has one goal. She wants to revive her high school springs musical so she can boost her resume and chase her Broadway dreams. But when she borrows her mom's car without asking, this is like one of my like deepest fears as a parent. When she borrows her mom's car without asking, she's grounded and forced to work at her dad's game shop after school. As she gets desperate to escape, she strikes a deal with Nathan, one of the shop's employees. If he covers her shifts, she'll help him get the attention of his crush. What Riley doesn't expect is that her plan requires joining Nathan's Dungeons and Dragons campaign and she starts actually enjoying it. She gets drawn into the world of roleplaying naturally as a theater kid. There's that roleplaying aspect of D&D and she's enjoying that. And there's these kind of unexpected adventures as you go on quests together. She starts to wonder if the lines between acting and her real feelings for Nathan are beginning to blur. I really enjoyed this book for what it was. It's a high school romcom. The stakes couldn't be lower, but there's those big teenage feelings and teenage emotions. The characters to me felt like real teenagers. I love the dynamics between the drama kids and the D&D group. It reminded me so much of how different high school cliques would sometimes merge in these unexpected ways. Like for whatever reason, you'd find your friend group overlapping with a new friend group and it was kind of like this like new exciting unexpected chemistry. And I felt like that really came to life in the book. You can create these new kind of fun and like it's a little bit of chaos. It's a little bit of unexpected dynamics in your friendship. That said, this book is not perfect. Well, it is fun. It's best to kind of take it for what it is. I didn't love some of the relationships between the kids and adults. And that's sometimes where YA can kind of veer off if you're an adult reigning YA. There is a semi absent parent structure here and some rule breaking that doesn't seem to come with real consequences. That's a small gripe for me and what was otherwise a really enjoyable lighthearted story. If you love a classic teen romcom, you know, fun pop culture references, a little bit of found family energy. This is a great, you know, easy pick to add to your TBR. I would definitely recommend it. I think it's perfect for fans of the heart breaker series. Any of Lynn Painter's YA fiction. If you like your YA with a balance of humor, heart and a little bit of nerdy charm. This one's for you. Well, knowing that you recommended if you read the heart breaker series. And I think I definitely need to check it out because I loved heart breaker series. I loved it. It's just sweet kids growing up basically, you know, yeah, yeah, I love that. Especially the drama aspect. Yeah, there's a lot of theater, a lot of fewer theater kid. It's pretty good. I don't know much about D&D, but I feel like I actually learned a little bit more about D&D through this. And I got to try to get my sons into D&D and theater actually to be quite frank. It reminded me of like when you're a teenager and all your brain space is taken up with like the things that you're obsessed with. It goes back to my kind of like talking about my reading obsession and how like how much like verb and passion that brings to my day. Even when I like have to pay a mortgage and have to talk to my boss and have to pick up my kids from school. When you're a kid, you don't have those things on your on your plate. And you're really you can really be obsessed with things. And it reminded me of that side of myself as a kid, especially being a drama geek. I just enjoyed I like pictured myself in my old high school. I pictured myself in some of the old like game stores or the mall that we used to hang out at. And I really kind of I kind of felt like I was there with them. And I like I said my birthdays next week. I'm 42. It's been a long time since I've been in high school. But I just like I don't know it just really the writing really kind of tapped tapped into that into what my experience was. And that's not going to be everybody. But yeah. It's a nice one to pick up. Okay, Jillian. What's the first book you're sharing with the pod for today? The first book I'm bringing to the show is the plan manager time like a lazy genius by Kendra Adachi. It's not often that you find a book about productivity written by a woman for women. But Adachi does that in the plan. I gave the book three stars. Here's a synopsis. Why do so called life hacks leave us drowning in tasks schedules and unfulfilled expectations? In her straightforward humorous style Kendra Adachi reveals why the problem is not you. Most time management systems prioritize optimization and greatness and service to an imagined future. But what if that's not your goal? What if you long for a book that helps you live wholeheartedly today? The plan is the answer using the memorable acronym plan you will learn to prepare, live, adjust and notice like a lazy genius. All through the lens of what matters to you in your current season. Discover two beliefs that will change your time management forever. Integrate your hormones personality and life stage into your planning process. Learn the light in the load to do list framework to help you get your stuff done. Use the plan pyramid to help you visualize a balanced life. Experience freedom from the crushing pressure of greatness potential and hustle. You tend to find that most productivity books are written by men and have the hustle culture mentality baked in. But you don't get that with Kendra Adachi is the plan. And this book you get her steps to setting up a daily weekly monthly and seasonal plans, which is what women often need. There are steps and tips on getting setting up your plan based around your cycle syncing, which you do not find in books written by men. Overall, I liked the book, but I did feel like there was a lot built into every step. I like to read productivity books and feel like I walk away with basic knowledge with this book. I feel as though I need to go through the entire book again, maybe even more than one or maybe even more than twice before I'd be getting anything worth working with. Not a bad book, lots of positives, but also not my favorite. That's the plan. Manage your time like a lazy genius by Kendra Adachi. I actually bought this. I'm a big fan of Kendra Adachi. You know, she's a bit of a like podcast hero of mine. And I haven't read it yet. I haven't read it though. So you're kind of motivating me to pick it up. And I know what you mean. Like even when you talk about all the things that are included in this book to like walk away and not have to be pulling the book out as a reference or like. As a like textbook to get it right or as a textbook to really learn the skills. That would be challenging. Yeah. It's a great book. Lots to know from there, but I borrowed it from the library. So I couldn't highlight in it. And I'm not. I don't often make notes on books. And less it's like a book for research or I'm looking to really pull something from it. But it was good. It just I read very well. It was easy to read. It was easy to see how her methods would work. But it was just too much almost which is weird because she's so. You know her whole stick is efficient. Yeah. But maybe it's just me. You'll have to read it and let us know. Yeah. You've motivated me to bump it up on my TBR and those books that I own, they're always like. I always laugh. I've been reading to the deadline quite a lot lately. I think I talked about that in past episodes. Yeah. You got in trouble with the library. I know. I'm a good so far. I've been a good girl so far. Good library girl. All right, Aaron. It's your turn. What's up next? My next review. So my next two books are like six out of five. I love them. And this book was such a good book. I'm reviewing the last murder at the end of the world by Stuart turton. So here's the setup for the 122 villagers and three scientists who call the island home. Life is simple and structured. They fish, farm and follow the rules that keep them safe, including a strict curfew and absolute trust in the scientists who protect them. But when one of the scientists is found brutally murdered, everything changes. The island's security system, the only thing keeping the fog at bay begins to fail. If the killer isn't found within 107 hours, the fog will consume them all. There's just one problem. The security system has erased everyone's memory of what happened the night before someone among them is a murderer and they don't even know who it is. As time runs out, secrets unravel, suspicions grow and the fate of the last survivors on earth hangs in the balance. I hate to like give anything more because that's pretty much all I had when I picked up this book, but I loved it. It is a Beyond Five star read for me. This one came highly recommended by Amanda from Australia, who always knows exactly what I'll enjoy and she was right yet again. What I loved most about this book is it kind of feels like a Shakespearean play. There's a tight-knit cast of characters, and as they interact, we uncover this long complicated history that they've had together. And you find a lot of that in Shakespeare's plays. There's stuff that's happened before the play started that Shakespeare often brings in to make the story more rich. But as the story unfolds, the assumptions about these relationships are shattered and we see a lot of hidden layers of character and motivation that push the plot forward. The writing is so amazing. It weaves character development and suspense together so seamlessly and it created just this really deeply satisfying reading experience for me. On top of that, the book is delightfully weird. The setting is futuristic. It is the end of the world. The fog that I referenced in the premise has consumed all of the world except for this island. So there's this futuristic idea, but it's also strangely primitive because the fog consumed the world about 100 odd years ago. And so because everything that keeps them alive is on the island itself, it is sort of a pre-industrialized society. This is unlike anything I've encountered in dystopian fiction before. It's such a unique combination of clever structure, gripping mystery, and amazing world building that makes me want to recommend this book to everyone. And I've never read Stuart Terton before, but I clearly need to dive into his back list. And that is my passionate review of The Last Murder at the end of the world by Stuart Terton. The sound is really good, but I'm I'm almost wondering if it would be a little too worrisome for me the whole end of the world thing and sometimes like spike my anxiety. So I wonder I wonder if I should skip it. It's kind of it's a kind of ambiguous end of the world. Like it's it's it's definitely after like it's definitely after events have passed. And you know you kind of have to you have to know yourself. It's definitely not like it's not it was not as like depressing as like private rights. It was not it did not like shake me up in the way that even the I'm starting to worry about this black box of doom kind of got under my skin a little bit. It felt kind of fantasy it feels like fantasy. It doesn't quite read as dystopia, but you got to know yourself. Yeah. And if you feel like that's not a thing for you, then it'll be there whenever you whenever you decide to pick it up. Yeah, absolutely. All right, Jillian. I'm looking forward to hearing your next review. What do you have next? The next book I'm bringing to the show is Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson. This is a multi generational family drama written from multiple points of view and I gave it four stars. Here's the synopsis. When ten year old, Abby Freeman heard the gunshot time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by shattered pieces of a centuries old jar. Life is Abby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved and because the Freemans are one of the only black families in a particularly well to do enclave of New England. The case has had an enduring voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers. But when Abby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get. So Abby flees to France only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about other loss her family suffered on that day 18 years ago. The stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations brought north by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history. It might also hold the key to unlocking her own future. I really enjoyed how the author jumped from one frame to time frame to another to show how the current timeline was affected by tragedy. And how the ceramic jar heirloom came to be and stood the test of time. My heart broke for this family after experiencing such tragedy, but they showed that with the strength of family, you can overcome almost anything. If you like family dramas that include historical fiction, this is the book for you. That's good dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson. Oh, that's like another Charmaine Wilkerson book that I have to add to my list. I still have not read black cake, which would you recommend I start with? I was just going to say if you were going to pick one, I would start with black cake. Okay. Black cake is so good. This one was not my favorite. Okay. And why not? Black cake is good. It was a little slow. Oh, yeah. And sometimes I struggle with slow books. Mm-hmm. But it was good. It was an excellent story. It was just a bit slow. Black cakes a little more fast pace. Yeah. Nice. All right, Aaron, back over to you. Tell us about your final book. My last book is another one that left me satisfied and smiling. I have been a very happy reader this month. This is also futuristic sci-fi, but think more like thousands of years into the future, not just a hundred or so. The book I'm reviewing is Iron Widow by Ziren J. Zhao. In Huaxia, the boy's dream of becoming pilots of giant transforming mecca called chrysalises, battling the alien creatures beyond the Great Wall, the Great Wall of China. Girls, however, are mere concubine pilots sacrificed to fuel the machines. Their deaths are seen as an unfortunate but necessary cost of war. And when our 18-year-old Zey-Shan signs up as a concubine pilot, she has no intention of dying. She is out for vengeance. The ace pilot responsible for her sister's death is her target. But when she takes her revenge, it happens in a way no one could have predicted. Now, she's being labeled as an Iron Widow, a dangerous and feared female pilot. Zhang-Shan is paired with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial pilot in Huaxia. But Zey-Shan refuses to be controlled. And as assassination attempts stack up, she's determined to uncover the secrets behind the pilot system, dismantle its misogynistic foundations, and change the fate of girls like her forever. This book is completely insane and completely immersive. I rushed to add the sequels to my holds list the moment I finished this book. I could not imagine waiting to see what happens next. And thank goodness it was available at the library. So I already have the second book in my clutches. Iron Widow reminded me of Red Rising by Pierce Brown, but with a much more nuanced and culturally rich take on the sort of like mech fighter. I don't know if you've ever read these sort of like sci-fi stories that rely on like humans piloting bigger machines. It's very like Transformers in some ways. But there's also this like peasant girl turned revolutionary leader trope, you know, like think of the Hunger Games. Zerun Jae-Jiao masterfully critiques the historical oppression of women in Chinese society. They weave that critique into a fierce action-packed sci-fi fantasy. There were moments when Zey-Shan's monologue or her inner dialogue had me internally shouting like, "Yes, I'm with you." On top of that, the book delivers a really compelling twist on the traditional love triangle we've seen so many times before. It also challenges the simplistic good versus evil narrative that dominates sci-fi. And it replaces it with something a lot more thought provoking. And it does all of this without being preachy or heavy handed. I love this book, but I'll say this. If sci-fi fantasy isn't your thing, this one might not be for you. But if you love sophisticated world building, a fresh feminist perspective and a story that feels like a battle cry, then Iron Widow is an absolute must-read. It sounds very, very female empowerment. I love that. Yeah, it's exciting. I would definitely recommend you check for triggers. There's a fair bit of violence in this book. But it's just like, it's so fresh. I've not read anything really like this book. I'm tossing around the idea of adding it to my TBR. I'm not really a sci-fi fantasy, although I did love Andy Wears book with the heck is the name of it. Oh, Project Hail Mary. I did love Project Hail Mary. So maybe I would like this one. Maybe I will add it. I mean, this is like Power Rangers Transformer Hunger Games. It's a totally like, it's a totally wild ride. It might be one that you like, give yourself 10%. And if you're like, if it's a no at 10%, then you're good to go. That's a good idea. It's good to DNF. Time for your final review, Jillian. Let's hear it. All right. The final book I'm bringing to the show is The Favorites by Lane Fargo. This was so good. So compelling from the very first page. Here's the synopsis. She might not have a famous name, funding or her family support. But Catering a Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Roca, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on ice. Clinging to skates and each other, to escape their turbulent lives, Caden Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and rollercoaster relationship until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the tenure anniversary of their final skated approaches and unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Roca, claiming to uncover the real story through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Cat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can't stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy either. So, after a decade of silence, she's telling her story from the childhood tragedies that created her, all consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational rumors having haunted their every step for years, but the truth may even be more shocking than the headlines. So, the main characters in this were messy, but it was clear that they were truly in love, even with all that mess. The way the book was written, you feel like you're reading a real account of couple who didn't, who did I stance in the Olympics? It's really neat how they write it. Oh, cool. You get sucked in like it's a real documentary. I was fully immersed and truly rooting for Cat and Heath. I kept hoping something positive would happen for them, even with all the twists and turns. If you like books by Taylor Jenkins' read, you're gonna love this book. That's the favorites by Lane Fargo. Oh, I have had this unlibby popping up a couple of times and I just haven't been ready to grab it. So, I've been using the Delay delivery feature on Libby. I actually just this morning, Libby was like, "The favorites is ready for you to borrow." And I was like, "Delay for 30 days." I'm constantly reading to deadlines. But I think you've convinced me the next time it pops up on Libby, I'm gonna definitely borrow this. This makes me think of, there's a real life, I stance in couple. And of course, now, Tessa Virtue and Scott, oh, I can't remember his last name. But there could this Canadian ice dancing duo and they've always had this incredible chemistry on the ice. And even off the ice a little bit, and it was always this sort of like, what is this relationship? What's the real story behind Scott and Tessa? Those are the people I would cast if I were gonna read this book. So, I'm excited to pick it up. And I didn't realize it had this unique storytelling style in terms of the documentary piece of it. Yeah, it was really good. I loved the way they did the different, and they start right from the beginning. They start the documentary, and then they go into the story of the book back and forth. And it was good. It was really good. Nice, love it. It is a bit of a chunker, so just be ready. Although if you're reading it on your Kindle or your Kobo, you won't notice that. I can pretend it's not, yeah, I can print it, it's not a chunker. It was fully unaware. All right, it's time for Hot Takes and our current thoughts on book culture. A Hot Take is an opinion formed off the cuff with little research, sometimes provocative. Our Hot Take today is our celebrity memoirs clogging up the best seller shelves. Aaron, what do you think? You know? Probably? Probably? Like, probably? I've never thought about this. I just assume that at a certain point, your story is compelling enough to write a memoir. Some publishers are going to approach you, and the celebrity's got to make a choice about the value of that, bringing them into the cultural zeitgeist. I feel always like a celebrity memoir is a bit of a PR move for something bigger. I never feel like a celebrity memoir is sort of like a standalone. It always feels like part of a bigger strategic PR move by that celebrity. So I always kind of like think about that a little bit. But I will also say I read very few memoirs that aren't celebrity memoirs. So they probably are clogging up my TBR in terms of the memoir category. A lot of my favorite memoirs are from celebrities. I think about the Sarah Polly memoir is incredible. She's a masterful writer. I don't know what we call Sarah Polly's like a bit of a celebrity. Bit of an artist celebrity. So yeah, and then seemingly use memoirs. The other memoir that jumps out at me. We read Taste by Stanley Tucci, He's a celebrity. I've recently finished Ina Gartons memoir. Like, would I have read that if I would never have read that if I wasn't famous? And there's probably amazing memoirs out there that I'm missing out on. There's definitely what I've realized is there's a lot of nonfiction that I never reach for. Like nonfiction about like historical nonfiction or like environmental nonfiction or, you know, here's a cool story about murder nonfiction. Nonfiction is a genre that I have not even dipped a toe in except in the celebrity memoir. It's probably like the majority of the nonfiction that I read that and personal development. So I probably it's probably clogging up the best seller shelves. What do you think, Jillian? You reviewed Britney Spears memoir last episode. I feel like they probably are clogging it up a bit, but I'm not mad about it because they're usually really, really good. They satisfy, they hit what you're looking for in a slug. Yeah, they do. They do. And I don't always just go for celebrity memoirs, but it does seem to be that there are a lot of them. And for a good reason, publishers are looking to write, have books go out that are going to be well, or well purchased. And what is going to be more purchased than a, you know, a memoir by Britney Spears, right? Yeah. So there's good reason for it. But I try to read memoirs that aren't just famous people like right now. Like right now I'm reading Mama Love by Laura Love Harden, I believe is what it is. And it's really, really good. Mama Love may not be the name of it. It's I'm listening to it, but it's really, really good. The many lives of Mama Love by Laura Love Harden. She was addicted to drugs and went to jail for crimes and all this. So it was really, it's really good. And I don't think she's famous. Although she was, she did get put on Oprah's bestseller list. So that probably is what made her famous. Either way, I think it's a good thing. But she's famous because of her book, not like she didn't get a book because she was famous. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, I'm reading the premise now. I'm like quietly reading the podcast content. I'm like, oh, this, like the premise is very compelling. This looks really good. Yeah, I mean, I think there's such an interesting thing in the publishing world that like we don't question things until they're brought to our consciousness. And I love this hot take because what it's making me think is actually like, what do I have on my TBR? And how much of it is nonfiction? And how much of that nonfiction is celebrity memoir? And is that really scratching the itch that I want to get from my reading? A lot of the time, like you're sort of like you're intrigued by the celebrity. So you want to, you know, you want the tea. True. Is that taking me away from another kind of book that I would be missing out on? I mean, I guess that's always the case with your TBR. It's like, if you're reading this, you're not reading that. And oh, no, what if that's better than this? Yeah, and I feel like for myself anyway, it's not taking me away from anything else. Because for the most part, the only way I listen or, you know, read a memoir is by listening to it. I, there have been a few memoirs that I read, and I can't think of them right now off the top of my head. But for the most part, I've listened to them. I just, I prefer often because it's the author reading them. And I just enjoy them that way. Me too. Me too. Yeah, definitely. Good hot take. I don't know what you think. Let us know fellow readers. What's your favorite celebrity memoir? What's the worst celebrity memory you ever read? What nonfiction would you recommend? What memoirs would you recommend outside of the celebrity category? And we want to hear your thoughts. You can always DM us on Instagram @mediumladyreads, and we'll get that book conversation started. All right. We're going to wrap up with the holds list. Aaron and I are very passionate about the library. And because we're both avid readers, we have very active holds lists. And we feel like there'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, we'll also be sharing what's up next to let the listener know what we'll be reaching for on our TBR. All right, Aaron. What's on your holds list? Okay. Right now on my holds list, I've picked up a couple of different books. I recently picked up the new alley Hazelwood. I think it's called deep end. I've picked up that second book in the Iron Widow series. So I've got those books sitting at home with me right now. And what I have on my TBR is the unseen world. This is by Liz Moore. This is actually Liz Moore's back list. This was published in 2016. But I had recently heard on currently reading the host raving about the Liz Moore back catalog after everybody loved the God of the woods, which was her release last year. And this is a story of a daughter's quest to discover the truth about her beloved father's hidden past. This is also takes place in the 1980s. And I think where Liz Moore's sweet spot is this mystery writing that also comes with the sort of like a very clear sense of time. The God of the woods is written in the 70s. This book is written in the 80s. So I'm looking forward to getting that probably in a couple of weeks. Awesome. In terms of current reads, I'm currently reading Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall. Oh, that's supposed to be really good. Very busy Reese book club pick after I put off reading first lie wins, which was a risk pick. And I was like, oh, Reese's book always get the buzz. I'm going to read other things. Then I read first lie wins. It was amazing. So I was like, okay, fine Reese. We'll see what you got this month. And so Broken Country is this really compelling. It picks up with a lot of action in the beginning. And then it kind of slows down a little bit story of love, loss and the choices that shape our lives. But it's also a masterfully crafted mystery that will keep you guessing until the very last page. And Reese's quote is seriously that ending. I did not see it coming. So I, I actually picked this up this morning. It was my morning reading with my T while my five year old bounce dollar around me. Mama, Mama, Mama, so I'm already about 20% into it. It's pretty short. So I'm probably going to whip through this. And that's what I'm currently reading. Nice. All right, Jillian. Yeah. What's on your holds list? All right. So on my holds list, I have famous last words by Gillian McAllister, women who work too much by Tamutama's your recommendation. Blackwoods Blue Sky by you and Ivy. I'm not really sure how to pronounce the first name. So I apologize if I mispronounced that. And that's it. That's on my holds list. I have five books that are overdue that I really need to read. That I don't know that I'm going to get to before I have to return them because I feel guilty. Living that overdue life these days. Yeah, there's just so many books that I want to read. They're always is that famous last words book. I have heard really good things about you'll have to tell us how it goes. I will. I have that on my TBR too. I absolutely will. All right. And then up next for me, I have penitents by Kristen Koval. When a shocking murder shatters Angie and David she hands lives they seek help from the small town lawyer, Martin Dumont, whose son Julian is also Angie's first love. As Julian Angie reunite buried secrets and unresolved guilt resurfaced forcing them to confront their past. Spanning decades and cities penitents is a powerful story of loyalty redemption and the price of forgiveness. So that one sounded really good to me. So it's up next. Even though I should technically read one of my overdue books before I read that one, but we'll get to the other ones. We're having murder spring. Yeah, that's right. We're having murder spring. That was so funny last year. I want to get into my murder books for some. Jillian's murder spring everyone if you're reading for murder spring read along with us murder spring pick a murder book and tell us what you're reading please we would love that. All right, that wraps up episode 39 of medium lady reads medium lady reads is a spinoff of the medium lady talks podcast and Instagram community on Instagram. You can find me Aaron at medium.lady and you can find Jillian at Jillian finding happy for more of our current reads and other shenanigans and of course you can follow the podcast itself on Instagram at medium lady reads. If you like this episode, please share it with another bookish friend. It really helps us continue to grow the show to reach more readers. Thank you for listening. I'm your host Jillian and I'm your other host Aaron. Until next time we hope that you're hold to ride quickly. And your next book finds you right when you need it most. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. Bye. [Music]