Episode 43: Our Best Recommendations for Your Summer Reading Pile

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 43, “Our Best Recommendations for Your Summer Reading Pile.”

Summer is just around the corner, and that means it's time to talk about the books that’ll keep you company on park benches, road trips, backyard loungers—or wherever your sunny days might take you. Whether you’re deep in your TBR, building your summer stack, or just here for a cozy bookish chat—Jillian and Erin have got you covered. So grab your iced coffee or a tall glass of lemonade, find a comfy spot, and let’s get into this week’s bookish goodness together.

In This Episode:

• To kick this episode off, the ladies share how their reading and life is going.
• Next up, it’s time to talk books! Erin and Jillian each bring 3 books to the show.
• Time for hot takes. What are the ladies dishing on this week? Tune in to find out! 
• Let’s wrap up with the Holds List - Jillian and Erin share what’s on their holds list and what they’ll reach for next. 

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

• One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
• My Friends by Fredrik Backman
• Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
• Beg, Borrow, and Steal by Sarah Adams
• Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
• Tilt by Emma Pattee
• The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
• The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• The Unseen World by Liz Moore
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
• Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
• Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie 
• Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
• Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

Transcript

MLR Ep 43 Our Best Recommendations for Your Summer Reading Pile
[Music] Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 43. Whether you're out for a walk, folding laundry, or hiding in the bathroom for five minutes of quiet, this is your time. Let the next few minutes be a little pause in your day, and let's talk books. Hi, I'm Erin, a mom of three, a hospital administrator in Ontario, Canada, and the host and founder of the Medium Lady Community at 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 reading self-care, a passionate love to the public library, and all of our thoughts and opinions on book culture having its moment. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 43, airing the week of June 9th, and we're so glad you're here. Summer is just around the corner, and that means it's time to talk about the books that'll keep you company on park benches, road trips, backyard loungers, or wherever your sunny days, hopefully sunny. I haven't had many sunny days yet. Wherever those sunny days might take you, and whether you're deep in your TBR building your summer sack, or just here for a cozy bookish chat, we've got you covered. So grab your ice coffee, or a tall glass of lemonade, find a comfy spot, and let's get into this week's bookish goodness together. Hi, Jillian, it's good to see you. How is your reading going? Reading is going very well. I've had a series of great books. I had "Great Big Beautiful Life" by Emily Henry. Then I read "My Friends" by Fredric Bachman. And now I'm reading "One Golden Summer" by Carly Fortune. Oh my goodness, it's just been one good book after another. I am loving it. Awesome. As for life updates, the craziness of May and early June is slowly wrapping up. Track for Emmett is complete for the season, but we still have Esther's gymnastics going on. Pretty soon before I know it, the kids will be done with school. We go into the end of June. I know you guys go to the end of June as well. I would be doing it. And we'll be in summer mode, but for now we're enjoying the weather when it's not raining, which we've had a lot of. And we're getting outside when we can meet to read and the kids to play. It's been great. As for my current read, I am currently enjoying "One Golden Summer" by Carly Fortune. Here's a brief synopsis for you. "Fotographer Alice" returns to Barry's Bay, hoping in the "Staljic Summer" with her grandmother will rekindle her spark. But peace turns into possibility with Charlie Florek. Once just a grinning teen in her favorite photo reappears, all charming and piercing green eyes as old memories stir and new feeling surface. Alice was decided she's ready to step out from behind the lens and into her own story. It is so good. Oh my gosh, I can't wait to read this one. Summer isn't summer without Carly Fortune. So... Oh my god, you're right. You're so right. I can't wait to hear what you think of this one. I will. You know I'll bring it to the show. All right, Aaron. How's your life and reading going? Yeah, I mean, life updates. I just haven't been feeling like myself. I think I've been alluding to that. Maybe the last couple episodes. I don't know. I just feel like I need a little bit more breathing room, but it's often so hard to find. And the usual things that I do for self-care are not necessarily working or not necessarily maybe like working as much. I'm definitely self-suiting with a lot of scrolling. I'm going to have to try to find a phone freeways to rest and play this summer. But that's okay. Listen, like I'm the reason I'm sharing this is that it's not always ups and it's not always downs and it's usually a combination of both. I definitely think this weather. I feel like I have like seasonal effective disorder, but in the winter, I wouldn't have that. But right now, I'm really feeling affected by the cold. It's been really cold. And when it's not cold, it's raining. And I'm just done. Like I right now, if you said, Aaron, do you want to hop on a plane to Mexico? I would pretty much drop everything to Mexico. But fun fact, in a couple of weeks, I'll be going to Finland to Helsinki for a conference for work. And the sun will be setting at 10.30 pm while I'm there because Helsinki is much closer to the north. And so I'll be getting tons of sunshine. Now Helsinki is certainly not Mexico. But I think maybe I'm hanging a lot on this trip to kind of get a bit of a reset. And just get enough of a change of perspective to come back to my life with renewed energy. It sounds very exciting. It is exciting. I'm nervous and excited. You know, I have these kind of like happy butterflies in my belly, but yeah, I think it's going to be really fun. And if anyone's been to Finland, please give us a DM and let me know if there's something I should check out. In terms of current reads, I'm currently reading, "Practice makes perfect by Sarah Adams." I'll probably finish this book today. This is a really... Sarah Adams is a really great romance writer. For me, she's underrated. Like she's been under my radar despite, you know, she's a New York Times bestseller. She writes these small town romances. I am just absolutely loving. Right now I'm reading "Practice makes perfect," which is number two, in like a series, but I'm using the phrase "series loosely," because I actually started with number three in the series, which is "Bagbaro and Steel." And then "Practice makes perfect" came up next. And I'm not finding any issues reading them out of order if anybody wants to pick up Sarah Adams. I would prefer... I much prefer her over Catherine Center. I'm sorry. You know, I'm excited to even read number one. I really am just like loving her writing. All of these books focus around a series of four siblings as each of the four siblings heals from the death of their parents back when they were younger and continues to put down roots in their beloved hometown of Rome, Kentucky. So yeah, that's what I'm reading right now. And really enjoying balancing the romance reads and the tender-hearted stories with things like "Changing All Stars," which I'm also reading right now. The action starts on page one. Not sort of being hearted. But, you know, balancing "Changing All Stars" with a tender love story is helping me pace my way. Pace my way to more intense content. All right, let's jump into our reviews for today. Jillian, what do you have on deck for this week's episode? This week I'm bringing a contemporary romance, a historical fiction with some touches of magical realism baked in, and another romance. This one, a super-busy one. Aaron, what are you bringing to the show? This week I'm bringing three five star reads, a way back list. Yeah, a way back list that I hope everyone reads this summer. A new release. I mean, I'm going to call it a novella, a slim novel that had me holding my breath the whole way through. And finally, a book that is in contention for my favorite book of the year so far. All right, Aaron, you're up first. What's the first book you're bringing to the episode? Okay, let's start this episode with the unseen world by Liz Moore. And if Liz Moore's name sounds familiar, it's because she's the author behind one of the most talked about books of 2024, the God of the Woods. But today, I'm taking you back to her back list and let me tell you, the unseen world first published in 2016 is just as brilliant and maybe even more personal and resonant for me. Moore is such a distinctive writer of mystery. Her books have all the pull and pacing of a thriller, but without the usual tricks, there's no blood, no jump scares, no violent plot twists. Instead, she builds tension through puzzles, emotional stakes and character driven intrigue. The result is books that are sometimes sort of intimate and cerebral at the same time. You feel like you're trying to solve something with the characters. You're not just watching the mystery unfold from the outside with your popcorn in hand. In the unseen world, we meet David, a brilliant, quirky computer scientist running a cutting edge lab at Boston University in the 1980s. His daughter Ava is 11. She's homeschooled, precocious and raised within the walls of the lab. The backdrop is filled with early models of artificial intelligence that feel really close to what we now know through things like chat G.P.T. But Moore goes even deeper asking, what are we really trying to build when we create machines that think like us? David's behavior begins to shift. He becomes more erratic, more unpredictable, and as his mind starts to unravel, so does the careful world that he's built around his daughter Ava. The story becomes a reflection on memory, identity, legacy, and the heartbreak of watching someone you love slip away. There is a moment at the end, no spoilers I promise, but this completely undid me. I was sobbing. And not because the scene was sensational or manipulative, but because it gave words and shape to something I've experienced in my own life. And for some of you who may know, and I've shared this online, my dad has early onset dementia and the unseen world captured that slow, painful shift in a way that felt deeply empathetic and profoundly true. Moore's writing balances logic and feeling in a way that really few authors can. She builds characters that are messy, human, and impossible not to care about. You want to reach through the page and comfort them or beg them to make a different choice. It's the kind of writing that makes your gut twist but keeps you reading because you have to know how it all turns out. Even if it's not perfectly okay, you're sort of rooting for something okay-ish. If you love the God of the Woods, don't miss the unseen world, and if you haven't read Liz Moore yet or you've been on hold at the library for God of the Woods for what feels like ages, it's a very popular book. This is the perfect place to start. The unseen world is beautiful, brilliant, a very emotionally layered, and nearly impossible for me to move on from. That's my review of the unseen world by Liz Moore. That sounds so good. I haven't read God of the Woods yet. I haven't read any Liz Moore, so I'm one of those people that should probably get on that, but it sounds excellent. Yeah, I don't know how she does it. They're like, propulsive but very literary. You know, and sometimes literary writing can like be its own worst enemy. It gets too dense, it gets too character driven. You lose the plot. You are invested in a way that's not about turning through the pages, but I find her books like, I don't know how she does it. It's a very, very unique mix of writing style. I gotta read it. I need to read one of her. You're like pulling me in. Your review pulled me in. And I hope listeners, if you choose this one from the back list, let me know what you think. All right, Jillian. What's the first book you're sharing with the pod for today? The first book I'm bringing to the show is part of your world by Abby Jimenez. This is my first Abby J book, but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this book and gave it four and a half stars. Here's a synopsis. After a wild bat, Gorma grilled cheese sandwich and a cuddle with a baby goat. Alexis Montgomery has her world turned upside down. The cause Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter whose 10 years younger than her and cat as casual as they come. The complete opposite of sophisticated city girl Alexis, and yet their chemistry is undeniable. While her ultra wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn't need glory or fame. She's fine with being a quote unquote "meer" ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel in the tight-knit town where he lives, she's discovering just what's really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people. Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can't just give up the joy she's found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his? I know I'm a little behind the times with reading this one, it was published in 2022, but it was worth the wait and finding it when I did. I read this as the buddy read with Aaron and my other buddy read group friends, which made it even more fun, I've more fun read. We got the chance to banter about the parts that made us laugh and the few parts that annoyed us. I did give this 4.5 stars because it was a little slow in the middle and I started to get bored at moments, but overall I loved it. There's no miscommunication trope, which, you know, between the main character, we all know that I can't stand that. Plus a star. And I love the way the love of the develops between them. It's believable, at least it was to me. That's my review, A Part of Your World by Abby Himmenez. Nice. Yeah, I had never read Abby J. Eater, it was really fun to read as a buddy read. I've picked up another Abby J, which is called Just For The Summer. And I enjoyed that one a lot more than part of your world, but this book was really, really fun. I would highly recommend reading a romance novel with your friends. I think that you can just kind of get something a little bit more fun out of it. And the other thing I will say is this is a romance novel and there's a lot of like chemistry, but not a lot of a lot of like graphic. It's not graphic. Yeah. But it's like, it's like you'll fan yourself, but it's not graphic, which is kind of like a very unique in my opinion when I read and it's similar in Just For The Summer too. The open door scenes are open door, but not graphic. And I never really read anything like that. I thought that was really interesting. For people who are like, Oh, I really don't like when it gets graphic or people might label that as muddy. I would really say like these don't really go in that direction. What do you do? Yeah, I agree. I agree with you. All right. It's your turn again, Aaron. What's your next review? Okay. My next book is a new release from a debut author. I'm reviewing Tilt by Emma Patti. This debut novel just landed right in my gut. And it's slim. It's like technically, it's 229 pages. We talked about novellas. I think in the last episode, I don't know if this would count as a novella and don't let the page count fool you because this book really hits hard. Released at the end of March 2025 and I'm telling you, it reads like a boulder rolling down a mountain. The action starts on page one and doesn't really let up until the final chapter. We meet Annie, our main character on a scorching summer day in Portland. She's very pregnant, standing in IKEA, looking for the crib she knows is supposed to be in stock. She's annoyed, hot, uncomfortable, and running out of time. And as she follows a young employee back to aisle 32, shelf 13, a massive earthquake hits. And suddenly Annie is thrust into survival mode. No phone, no car, no bag. Nothing but her body, her shoes, and the baby she's about to have. And so she starts walking. And from there, the novel toggles between two tracks. It's this raw, high-stakes intensity, high-stakes reality of navigating a city and crisis during a natural disaster. And then a series of flashbacks that trace Annie's emotional landscape, her marriage, her decision to leave her creative career behind and her complicated relationship with her motherhood as she becomes pregnant. What I really loved about tilt is how much of a journey the reader gets to experience with Annie. As she walks, her thoughts unfurl and were invited into the really deeply personal changes that so often go unspoken in narratives about pregnancy and womanhood. This is a very visceral read. Personally, I've been pregnant three times, and this book made me kind of feel all of that in my body. For me, that was a good thing. It kept me empathetic as Annie goes through some really crazy experiences. But I'll also say this book won't be for everyone. If you have sensitivities around pregnancy, childbirth, or natural disaster trauma, please check the content warnings. I definitely wouldn't recommend reading this if you are pregnant or you hope to be pregnant in the future. But if you're in a place where you can handle it, I think this book will grab you. There's so much to think about and talk about. This would be perfect for a book club. It's fast paced yet thoughtful and it forces you to ask, what would I do in this situation? Annie's experience is singular, but her questions about identity, agency, who we become when the world shifts beneath our feet, whether literally from an earthquake or philosophically as we become parents, those questions and thoughts are universal. This is the kind of book that lingers long after you turn the last page. And that's my review of Tilt by Emma Patti. Another one that sounds so good. You had me with the from the beginning when you were talking about how she's just standing in IKEA and then in the earthquake hits just because it sounds like it's action from the very beginning. Yeah. And sometimes natural disaster writing can get a little bit like dystopian to the point of being kind of cartoony. But so much of this is like what she's smelling, what she's seeing, how she's feeling. The discomfort in her body, the pain she experiences, the pain of other people, what she sees happen to other people. There's scenes in this book that will be really hard to forget. And yet, I didn't find it traumatic. I didn't find it sensational. It wasn't horror by any means. There's parts that are scary, there are parts that resolve. I just felt like it was really smart. It's really well written. And I step back and I still can't really believe that it was 229 pages. Yeah, it sounds like it packs a punch. Yeah. This is going to be one of those books that like if it's for you, it will be for you. And if you don't like it, if you don't like that premise at all, don't just like Jillian's got another review coming up. Just listen to maybe check it out. Okay. So speaking of moving on, Jillian, let's hear about your next book. I'm looking forward to hearing your review. The second book I'm bringing to the show is The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner. I gave this book four stars because I did struggle to get into the book in the beginning, but once I was in, I was hooked. Here's the synopsis. Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the Sunsoak Village of Pasatano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi coast, but Haven is helping to find more than old artifacts beneath the Azure waters. She is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones, her father spotted on the final dive. Upon Haven's arrival, strange melstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town, as if nature are something more sinister at work. As Haven surges for her father's sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries old tale of ancient sorcery, and one woman's quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary arts of Stregeria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Could this magic be behind Pasatano's latest calamities? Haven must unravel the Amalfi curse before the region is destroyed forever. I really enjoyed the book in all of its multi-layered timelines. You think it might be a little confusing because there are three different people telling a story here, but Sarah Penner does an amazing job of keeping everything straight and unconfusing. The witchcraft storyline was quite good, showing how women in Pasatano were using their witchcraft to protect their homes was gripping. I also really loved the timeline with Haven Ambrose and her investigation into the boat stinking and how they happened. She uncovered so much in her research and added to an interesting element to the story. This is my first Sarah Penner book, but it won't be my last. In fact, I believe we have the lost apothecary on our buddy reads list, so I'll be reading that eventually. That's my review of the Amalfi curse by Sarah Penner. This one sounds great for the summer. I just think like multiple POVs, a bit of witchery, a bit of lost treasure, a beautiful setting. Perfect for the summer. Perfect for an airplane. Maybe I'll bring this to Finland. Yes, sitting, I could see this, I mean, not that you're going to be by the coast and Finland, but you're going to be, you could read this on your airplane trip to somewhere tropical or somewhere warm. It would be really, it would be perfect. Love that. I actually have this already out from the library. So maybe I will, Joel, just add it to my like Helsinki pile. I hope it's not going to be overdue by then, but we'll just figure it out. I think I'm definitely putting this on my Finland TBR. Perfect. All right, Aaron, back to you. Tell us about your final book. Okay, I have been saving this one for last because it just might be the standout read of the year so far, and I am really attached to this book, and I'm nervous that I can't review it enough. I want to review it in a way that will encourage every single person to read it, because I want more people reading this book. The Mars House by Natasha Pulley. This is a queer sci-fi novel that combines so many of my favorite reading experiences. The chemistry of a TJ Klun Romance, the immersive world building of Andy Weir, a little bit of political intrigue, not a lot, and big, beautiful questions about belonging, identity and power, all in a genre-bending package that is heartfelt, weird, funny, and so, so, so so good. So here's a basic setup. We meet January. He's a principal dancer living in London right before Earth really starts to collapse under climate change. The floods come, the infrastructure fails, and eventually January makes an incredibly hard decision to leave Earth as a refugee to Mars. But like any story of migration, it's just not that simple. Mars has been settled by humans for seven generations, but life there is still difficult, politically, socially, and physically. The Earth-born are stronger, literally, because of gravity differences, and that makes them objects of both suspicion and fear. Without spoiling too much January crosses paths more than once, with Mars Senator Aubrey Gale, and through a twist of fate, they agree to a marriage of convenience. But as you might imagine, what starts as a reputation saving arrangement quickly becomes something else, and then there's an assassination attempt. And then there are mammoths, because, of course, there are. Now, I know that's like a lot of setup, but there's no spoilers here. Every bit of world building in this book matters. Pulley does what all the best sci-fi writers do. She creates a complex world that feels just a few steps beyond our own, and she uses it to ask really big questions about naturalization, class, gender roles, colonization, and what we owe each other when the world feels broken. But here's the other thing I loved. This book is funny. January is self-deprecating, neurotic, anxious, kind, and razor sharp. The supporting cast is just as vivid. The banter sparkles, the emotional beats land, and the humor never undermines the gravity of the themes. If you're not into world building, this one might not be for you, but honestly, I'd still encourage you to try it. It did remind me of the Ministry of Time from 2024, which I loved, but none of the elements that rubbed other readers the wrong way in that one. That book gets a lot of polarizing reviews. This book will win your heart, I promise. I really want to say more, and I don't, because part of the joy is just discovering this one. So if you're building your summer stack, or looking for something totally original, smart, and widely enjoyable, please, please, please, consider adding the Mars House to your holds list. That's my review of the Mars House by Natasha Pulley. You texted me this, a picture of this, telling me that I had to add it, and I did. I added it immediately to my TBR, the library. It hasn't come in yet, but it'll be there. I don't think I had anybody who had me. It was just waiting for it to get to that library. My library. This book, honestly, I would give like a six out of five. It had so many of the things that I have loved in other books in one package, like genre bending of the Ministry of Time. It had the funny quirky banter of like a Casey McQuiston book. It had the sort of like sweetness and tenderness of a TJ clue novel. It had this like wide eyed like world building of Andy Weir. I honestly, like, I just feel like it was written for me and all the things that I love, but I could see it appealing to so many people. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. I wanted to come in now. Okay. I wanted to come in now so that I can read it ahead of all my other books because I have so many. Well, I don't want it to suggest that you abandon your TBR, but just at least put it on your TBR, and it'll hopefully find you right when you need it most. All right. Time for your final review, Jillian. Let's hear it. The final book I'm bringing to the show is Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. And boy, is this a Buzzy Book right now? Rightly so. I loved it, and I gave it five stars. Here's the synopsis. Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize winning Human Thundercloud, and they're both on a balmy little crescent island for the same reason to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years, or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be Margaret ives. Tragic Ares, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied and scandalous families of the 20th centuries. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period after which she'll choose the person who will tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice's head in the game. One, Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice, and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over. Two, she's ready for the job in the chance to impress her perennially, unimpressed family with a serious publication. Three, Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing the book, is glowering at her in a shake into the core way that suggests he sees her as competition. But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story, pieces they can't swap to put together because of an iron clad NDA, and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they're in the same room. And it's becoming abundantly clear that their story, just like the tale that Margaret's spinning, could be a mystery, tragedy, or a love ballad depending on who's telling it. This was another great Emily Henry novel for me. Wow! It was so different than her other other M-hand books, but it was oh so very good. I loved parts of the book where they interjected the multi-generational story, and left you surprised and guessing throughout the entire novel. I've heard this compared to the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and I firmly support that statement. It's just so good. I love the dynamic between Alice and Hayden, and I enjoyed the way their story was written, which is with open communication and deep passionate love. Such a great book. That's my review of Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Perfect. Oh, I can't wait to get my hands on this and enjoy it like everybody else is. Where would you rank it with her other books? I know happy place for you holds like a special spot in the ranking. Would you say that like can you even compare it to her other books or does it like create a new category on its own? I think it creates a new category on its own. It's so unique and different than her other ones, and she even says in her acknowledgements that she wanted to try something different, and she appreciated the people who supported her in this new endeavor. So she knew what she was doing. I hope that this is a new direction she's going to be taking for all her future novels, getting a little bit deeper. She's just I know she's the people are either a lover hater and there's very little there's very few middle ground people, but I love her. I really love her books. Even the ones that aren't that great, I still love her. Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel like the people who love Emily Henry, there's also wide variety within that group of people. There's people who I feel like everybody has a different favorite. And there's a lot of debate among people about what her best books are. And I just I think that that's really interesting too, because I think that that creates a little bit more like depth, a little bit more to talk about in the context of what people like and what people don't like. Yeah, I agree. Definitely worth the read, and it's you know taking a lot to get to people because it is so busy, but it's worked away. Yeah, I have no idea. I'll probably get mine in September, my copy from the library. Speaking of September, Jenny Bayless's Christmas book is I was looking on. So I announced I don't think she announced it and I didn't see it on Amazon to order for preorder. I saw it on good reads. It's I will be home for Christmas, I think, is what the title was. I see it. Oh, I'm like I'm like about to Fred Hallowheart isn't in love with the idea of returning home to Pine Bluff, but after a bad breakup and subsequent eviction, she's fresh out of options. God knows she loves her mom and eccentric aunts and who could forget the Christmas cracker family business. She's always felt a little out of place in her small town. Well, I'm not going to read the whole thing. But it's a really pretty cover of this like pinkish. Oh, Jenny Bayless is the best. There it is. It is on Amazon. I didn't couldn't find it yesterday. Maybe it just popped up. I can't wait to I can't wait to read this. Oh, I'm so glad that you reminded us of that. Jenny Bayless is one of my faves. Me too. All right. Well, that was a little uh, a little a little a little bookish sidebar. 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 and sometimes provocative. Our hot take today is can you give a bad quote air quotes book five stars. This is based on a real by creator at bookmarked dot b y v who joked. I didn't say it was a good book. I said it was five stars. She was talking about romanticy as a genre. What's your take on this? Aaron? Yeah, I mean, I definitely, I definitely have it's like it's not good. But I gave it five stars like I'm sure I said that. I'm sure I said that and the number one book that comes to my mind, Jillian, can you guess? It's like not good, but I definitely gave it five stars. No. Fourth wing. Oh, yeah, I should have guessed that. A thousand percent. A thousand percent. Like I think for me a book can be bad and get good five stars. Like I think even like, I don't want to author bash, but I think Colleen Hoover books fall in this category. Yeah, you know what, you're right. Propulsive, exciting, sexy, and bad. Five stars. I don't know, Jillian, what do you think? What's your take? I was going to say that I don't see a book. I honestly, when I read a book, it's whether it's good or bad. Yeah, but it can't be five stars and bad. Yeah, like I just I just can't do it. But now that you've mentioned Colleen Hoover, I'm like, you know what, you might be right. You might it might be possible to have a book that isn't good, but still get five stars. Yeah. And I guess you can give five stars in so many different ways. Like you could give five stars for writing. You could give five stars for plot and propulsiveness. You could give five stars for for jokes and vibes. You could give five stars for coziness. You could give five stars for like, here's another thing that I'll say. Another book. And this is only I feel like that it wasn't good, but I gave it five stars. Only happens in the afterglow of the book because like you finish the book. You're like, oh yeah, five stars. And then you get a bit of perspective. And you're like, I did give it five stars, but it was not good. Another book and like, please, like, I'm saying this with a lot of love is I would say legends and lattes by Travis Baldry. Yeah. It's not it's not bad, but it's it's it's not like the unseen world by Liz Moore or the Mars house by Natasha Pulley, which are also five star books, but I gave legends and lattes five stars. So it's like, I give it five stars for what it is, not what it isn't, but then that but I'm that doesn't make any sense. I guess maybe what we're learning is that like the star rating is subjective and it's not that serious. Give books, it looks whatever you want. I think that's the bottom line is that it's, you know, very subjective and it's not serious. Yeah. And so if you see us giving a book you loved not that many stars or if you see us loving a book that you didn't love, that's great. It's not that serious. That is Aaron's theme for June. It's just not that serious. Yeah. I think a part of my like mood, my low mood is I've just like been taking everything so seriously. I've been like, oh, it's too cold for me. Well, it's not that serious. Just like put a sweater on. Move on. Don't make it mean something. It doesn't mean. Anyway, and maybe that maybe that helps somebody else. It's not that serious. Thanks, Jillian. Yeah. All right. Let's wrap up with the holds list. Aaron and I are very passionate about the library. And because we're both avid users, we both have a very active holds list. And we feel like that's something we don't hear a lot about on book podcasts, 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. Let you go listen or know what we'll be reaching for on our TBR. All right, Aaron. What's on your holds list? Okay. So I am on hold's time out, but I will not stop putting books on hold. Someone should ground me. The library should come. They should take me away, but I will not stop. I need the whole hold button for my sliver of dopamine every day. And I need the reminder of abundance when six books come in at the same time. I only have time to read one. I do not care. I'm going to keep putting books on hold. And I'm going to keep taking them out, even if my TBR is untenable right now. So I'm just going to say that by the way. I hear you. I hear you. And I am right there with you. So what I have ready for pickup right now is a travel book about Helsinki. And then I have a novel waiting called Sky Falling. This is by Mia McKenzie when she was 26 and broke. Sky didn't think twice before selling her eggs and happily pocketing the cash. But now approaching 40, Sky still moves through life entirely and unrepentantly on her own terms, living out of a suitcase and avoiding all manner of serious relationships. Maybe her junior high classmates weren't wrong when they voted her most likely to be single instead of most rider die homey. But at least she's always been free to do as she pleases. And then a 12 year old girl tracks Sky down during one of her brief visits to her hometown of Philadelphia and informed Sky that she's her egg. Sky's life is thrown into sharp relief when she decides it might be time to actually try to have a meaningful relationship with another human being. Spoiler alert, it's not easy. I picked up this book because Mia McKenzie has another new release and that one looked really good. But of course it was like I could either couldn't put it on hold yet because it hasn't been published. But I saw while I was searching at the library that this book had come out in 2022. And I don't know, I just kind of like I like the premise. I like the cover. So yeah, why not? It made me feel good to put it on hold and that's that's all I have to say. I hope it's a really good book. Who knows if I'll even read it? Okay, Jillian, what's on your hold list? All right, I don't have anything on hold currently. Well, I mean, you know, I have plenty on hold. When I went to the library on Friday to pick up my books, one of the books wasn't on the shelf and I had to ask the librarian if it was behind the counter. And she's they have to like, I guess they have to do their due diligence. And so she opened my account and she's like, which book are you looking for? You have an awful lot on hold here. Yes, ma'am. I do. I have a library podcast and I teach people how to maximize the hold list. Thank you for noticing. So I was a little embarrassed like not not fully. I mean, that's what the library is for. And I'm using it to the best of its abilities. She called you out behind the curtain. So anyways, I picked up all my books on Friday. So I don't have any on hold. Nice. But in transit, I have problematic summer romance by Ellie Hazelwood, which I'm very excited about. Once that comes in, that'll probably go move to the top. The rest are all pending. The other one that I'm excited about is the Mars house, which is still pending. But hopefully it comes soon. And then as for up next for me, I have run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson. Madeline Hills, quiet life on a Tennessee farm is upended when a stranger shows up claiming to be her half brother and invites her on a road trip to find the father who abandoned them both. As more half siblings emerge, each with their own story of them same man, the journey becomes less about finding him and more about discovering what family really means. Along the way, Madeline must decide if she's ready to trade solitude for connection and the mess that comes with it. This was fine from the modern Mrs. Darcy Reed summer reading guide. So I'm excited to read that next. Yeah, I saw that one too. I definitely have that one on my hold list. It hasn't come in yet, but I think I'm probably behind on the list there. It has a really fun cover of like kind of like a bright, sun-shiny summer cover. Yeah, like a PT cruiser. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. With a chicken. Nice. All right, everyone. That wraps up episode 43 of Medium Lady Reads. We hope you found a book or maybe six to add to your summer stack. Whether you're reaching for a story that tugs at your heart, fires up your curiosity or just keeps you company in the sunshine. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together. Medium Lady Reads is a spin-off 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, please, please share with another broker's friend. It really helps us to 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 your holds arrive quickly and your next book finds you right when you need it most. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. Bye.