Episode 50: Celebrating Fifty Episodes plus the Book Review We've All Been Waiting For

Hello, hi, and welcome to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 50 - “Celebrating Fifty Episodes plus the Book Review We’ve All Been Waiting For.”  As always, Erin and Jillian have new book recommendations to share!

We’re so happy you’re tuning in for episode 50!! The days are getting a little shorter, the reading spots a little cozier, and we’ve got some wonderful books to keep you company this season. Pour yourself something warm, settle in, and let’s talk about the stories we’ve been loving lately.

In This Episode:

• Erin and Jillian open the show with some celebratory words for their 50th episode! 
• The ladies check in to see how their reading and life is going.
• Time to jump into the meat of this week’s episode; the ladies share their 3 books each. 
• Next up is hot takes! This week’s hot take comes from our buddy read friend Stef Cunningham. Tune in to hear what it is!
• The Holds List wraps up the show! Jillian and Erin share what they’re waiting for from the library and what they’ll be reading next.

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

• The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
• Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
• The House of My Mother by Shari Franke
• Dream By the Shadows by Logan Karlie
• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
• The Hike by Drew Magary
• Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia by Jason Pargin
• Lauryn Harper Falls Apart by Shauna Robinson
• The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O’Clover
• The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
• Mate by Ali Hazelwood
• Flashlight by Susan Choi
• The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee
• Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
• People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young
• ReWitched by Lucy Jane Wood
• Wreck by Catherine Newman 
• Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake
• It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard
• If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia

Transcript

MLR 50 Celebrating Fifty Episodes plus the Book Review We've All Been Waiting For

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hello, hi, and welcome back to Medium Lady Reads. This is episode 50. Can you believe it? We're so glad you're here to celebrate with us, whether you've been listening since the beginning. We're just discovered the show. We're grateful to share this space with you. Today, we've got a fresh round of book talk, cozy vibes, and hopefully a few new titles to spark your curiosity. Hi, everyone. I'm Jillian and Instagram content strategist for Bookish People, a mom of two based in Buffalo, New York. And I'm Erin, a mom of three, a hospital administrator in Ontario, Canada, and the host and founder of the Medium Lady Community and Medium Lady Talks podcast. Together, we're thrilled to bring you this 15th episode of Medium Lady Reads, a podcast about reading as self-care, a passionate love for the public library, and all of our thoughts and opinions on book culture, having its moment. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Medium Lady Reads. We're so happy you're tuning in for episode 50, airing the week of November 11th. The days are starting to get shorter. The reading spots a little cozier. And we've got some wonderful books to keep you company this season. Pour yourself something warm, settle in, and let's talk about the stories we've been loving lately. Hi, Erin. It's good to see you. How's your reading and life going? Hi, Jillian. It's great to see you. I am just like-- I have so much warm fuzzies for hitting our 50th episode. And we had a little celebration moment before we hit record. But I just really want to thank you for just being a partner in this journey, in this podcast, and labor of love, and a little moment where we show up together and kind of pour into our cups and share that with an audience that has been so wonderful and loving. And yeah, 50 feels really special. So I just had to acknowledge that. And I did actually bring my own cozy drink today, because usually we have something about being cozy in our intro. And I always think like, oh, I just wish I had that nice hot tea. And today, the weather actually aligned up with having a nice hot cozy drink. Yeah. That's what I have. Last week, in terms of life and reading updates, I had said very hopefully, maybe the Blue Jays will be in the World Series. So tonight, I'm going to say maybe, as people listen to this, the Blue Jays will have won the World Series, because tonight is game seven of the World Series Jays versus Dodgers, Jillian, everything in my house has revolved around the Playoff baseball season. We're letting the kids stay up late. We're getting meals around game time. My husband and I are sharing tasks based on when the games start. We've had plans canceled and changed because of these games. I even actually challenged the president of the hospital at my work to write a poem about the Jays. And he did with chat GPT, of course. So Jays fever is everywhere. It's really, really fun and it feels good. So any of my life updates have to include me saying, go Jays go. As for my reading life, I am making the awkward transition from good reads to Fable. I just felt really-- I kind of had it. I felt really sick and tired of good reads. They're ugly app. They're clunky user interface. And while I personally am not at a place where I'm completely cut off from Amazon, I do feel like I can definitely try in areas of my life that are less essential, like good reads to not need Amazon in my life. And the Fable app is so great. It's really different. There's definitely a learning curve that made me-- for the first little week, I was probably like, just go back to good reads. But like anything, I've found a way to make it work for me. And I'm actually really enjoying it. It was nice. It did a lot of like reading summaries for the month of October automatically for me. So that was kind of fun. Plus, I will tell people if you're considering moving, the import of my good reads data couldn't have been easier or faster. It was like, happened with a couple of clicks and a couple of sign-ins. And it was done. In terms of my current reads, I'm currently reading The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidji. This book centers around three triplets who live in a government-run home. The triplets are the last remaining boys in the home. And every day, they take medicine and undergo tests to protect themselves from a mysterious illness that they describe as the bug. Their learnings come from the book of knowledge. Every morning, their dreams are recorded in the book of dreams. And should they ever break the rules or disobey the staff, they are recorded in the book of guilt. Hmm, that sounds good. It's actually amazing. Amanda from Australia really encouraged me to read this book. And then she actually mailed me her copy from Australia. So I got book mail from Australia. I'm reading the Australian version of this book, which actually released-- so this is a fall book through and through. It's a little bit eerie. It's a little bit like on the back foot. It's a little bit ominous. And the Australian cover really gives fall vibes. And so I think it was released in Australia in April, because that's when their fall is. And then it was released in North America in September with a different cover. And I can't believe-- anyway, if you're interested, you can Google the different covers. The difference in cover is really surprising to me, because I think the Australian cover is like a work of art. And the North American cover is fine. So it's just really interesting. The marketing choice is that book publishers make in different markets. So that's what I'm reading. Is it YA? No. No. It's like speculative-- it's kind of like speculative fiction. It takes place in 1979, but it's like an alternate history after World War II. I'm only halfway through it. So it'll be hard to kind of-- definitely, like a little-- I don't want to say spooky. It's not supernatural, but it's a little bit like evil behind in the shadows type of story. Really good. Awesome. Yeah, that was a big update from me, Jillian. But how about you? How are you? How's your reading and life going? Life's been good. I don't have any complaints. Emmett's wrapped up soccer. Soon, basketball will start. Esther's still doing her gymnastics. We celebrated Halloween yesterday. Or-- Oh, well, yeah, it'll still be yesterday, regardless. Oh, dear. Emmett was a blueberry. He bought this costume that blew up. It had one of those air vents in it that blew him up. Oh, I love those. Yeah. The inflated bulls. I'll blew and-- And then Esther was Zoey from K-Pop Demon Hunters, if you're familiar with that. Oh, my gosh. Zoey's so cute. Yeah, she really likes Zoey. And we had to do her hair up in the space, the braided space buns and everything. So it was fun. That's great. As for my reading, it's going well. I've been really enjoying the books I've been picking up, which are the books I'll be bringing to this year's cozy Christmas reads. Right now, I'm reading Good Spirits by B.K. Borisin. Here's a little synopsis for you. When rule following Harriet York is visited by the ghost of Christmas past, she doesn't expect him to be handsome, funny, and oddly familiar. Nolan Callahan was supposed to haunt her and not fall for her. But they explore her past together. They're more tangled their lives and hearts become. With Christmas Eve approaching, I'll have to decide if love between the living and the lost can rewrite both their fates. And it's pretty good. Is this like a spicy Christmas Carol? I might be. I'm not there yet. I'm only 100 pages in. OK, great. That's great. But yeah, it's going to be one of the books I bring to cozy Christmas reads. Oh, that'll be great. That sounds great. All right. Let's jump into our reviews today. Jillian, tell us about the books you have for today's episode. What are we in for? This week I'm excited to bring a heartbreaking memoir, a dystopian fantasy, and a contemporary romance. What are you bringing, Erin? For today's show, I'm a bit mixed about what I'm bringing. Mixed stars, that's for sure. I have a YA fantasy, a workplace comedy/coming-of-age novel, and finally, a fancy book that's really worth checking out. OK, Jillian. You have today's first book. What do you have for us? The first book I'm bringing to the show is The House of My Mother, a daughter's quest for freedom by Sherry Frankie. This book was beautiful, yet heartbreaking. It was a memoir. This book definitely received five stars from me. Here's the synopsis for you. From eldest daughter Sherry Frankie and the shocking true story behind the viral A Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother and how in the face of unimaginable pain she found freedom and healing. Sherry Frankie's childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Frankie, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a facade of the picture perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel, Eight Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for the staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface. Ruby's wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined. As the families used to notoriety grew, so too did Ruby's delusion of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of rate-lacenture coach Jody Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime. Ruby and Jody were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that faithful day, Sherry shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word, finally. This story was impactful and needed to be told. I give Sherry Frankie a lot of credit for putting it out there. I'm sure after having her life on camera from childhood to adulthood, it was difficult to then put your life out there in book form. But I'm glad she did. I don't know Frankie, but I feel proud of her for what she's accomplished in the world despite all the negative things that have happened to her. I'm glad Sherry got to tell her story and I'm honored that I got to listen to it. That's my review of the House of My Mother, a Daughters Quest for Freedom by Sherry Frankie. - Whoa. - That sounds heavy hitting. - It is. It's really heavy, but it was very good. And the author reads it, which you know I love. So it was a really good book. - I had heard through the fringes about this story, but I don't know the YouTube channel at all. And it's just so interesting that 2.5 million people could be watching something that another group of people have never heard of. It sounds so scary to me. You know, like you just like, you really have no idea with what people are putting online, what their lives are really like. And you know, in this, like, I've had this quest to like find freedom from my phone this fall. And it really reminds me that like, you can feel like you're living an online life. And then when you go to your real life, you're like, oh, this isn't feel as like, flashy as what's online. And that can be kind of like this. Like, it can feel like living two lives. And I'm like, you know, just like a simple person putting ideas out there. And I'm nowhere near like, and also like, oh my god, like the child abuse thing. And it just seems like so wild that you would put forth one thing and then be completely different in the background. And then be further manipulated by this relationship coach. I just like, like, I guess maybe my, I have a question I'm kind of reacting to the story, but without having read it. But like, does it feel like it makes sense? Or like, do you get any, I mean, why would any of that make sense? But like, do you feel like you get any closure for Sherry? Yes, you do. Because of them being arrested, you get a lot of closure from that. Mm-hmm. And when you look at her Instagram, she seems to be doing pretty well. Like, as far as her life is concerned. So I do think that there was some closure for her. Wow. Great recommendation. That's a good one for those who love the memoirs. Yeah. You haven't had a memoir from you in a while. You're so good at the memoirs. I haven't read one in a while. So this was, it was time. Mm-hmm. I'm glad it was five stars. All right, Erin, you're up next. Your first review. Okay, the first book I'm bringing to the show is Dream by the Shadows by Logan Carly. I was influenced to read this as it was billed as Beauty and the Beast meets Labyrinth that David, that old David Bowie movie from the, do you know the, that movie Labyrinth? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it was billed as like a genre mashup of those. It was pretty well reviewed by a romance to see bookish influencer that I follow online. Well, that may be the last recommendation I take from this influencer. Because this felt so flat for me. But once I realized it, I kind of felt like it was just too late to turn back. So here's a bit of a setup. In Dream by the Shadows, we meet Ezmer, a teenage girl in the realm of Noctis. Ezmer and her family take an elixir every night to prevent them from dreaming. Because those who dream become vulnerable to the corruption, which is a sickness that trades their soul with a demon. Ezmer is still haunted by the death of her sister, Eden, who fell ill with the corruption. And this all happened because Ezmer begged her sister to dream with her just once. Driven by guilt, Ezmer protects her younger brother, Elliott. But a shortage of elixir has everyone dreaming more often. And as the risk of sleeping and dreaming increases, Ezmer starts to find herself in strange places and falling into other realms even when she's not asleep. I've kind of oversimplified the storyline there, but let me tell you why. If that sounds compelling, you've fallen into what is called a good book in theory, but not in practice. And I've tried a lot to think about why this book didn't work for me, because when I bring a negative review to the show, I want to be able to unpack it in a way that's helpful, not in a way that's like, let me just take a big dump on this book, because I didn't like. And to our point about Michael and Michael's advice that if you can't give it five stars, don't talk about it, I think there's a little bit of a happy medium there. So let me tell you this. I really hate to say this. Ultimately, it did come down to the writing for me. And I typically actually don't like to critique writing. And for the most part, when it comes to YA Romantic-y, like, you get what you get, and we're here for the plot and the vibes, there's another comparison that this book doesn't make, which is not just beauty and the beast in labyrinth, but also the movie inception. Like, there's layers of dreams that start to become confusing as the plot thickens, and the reader becomes disoriented, or actually starts to think of Esmer as an unreliable narrator. And she isn't. It's just the writing. So I think communicating the layers between reality and dream it starts to get really out of hand about halfway through the plot. Not to mention, for me, some of the descriptions of the action scenes were really missing something, and I caught myself starting to skim a lot of the chapters. So why didn't I DNF and why am I bringing it here? Well, I thought it would be useful to share that sometimes. You get a recommendation online. It doesn't quite fit. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, or anything wrong with the person who liked it. There's plenty more YA Romanticie out there to try. But I have made an important distinction for myself that when it comes to Romanticie and young adult fiction, I am going to be a little bit more careful before I add this genre to my hold's list. I'm going to read a few more reviews. Check out the ratings a little more. Be a little more buyer, beware, so I don't end up with another two-star read like this one. And that's my review of Dream by the Shadows by Logan Carly. Was it too harsh, Jillian? What do you think? Definitely not too harsh. I think you handled that very well. And it's too bad that it didn't work out. It always stinks when you have a book that doesn't work out the way you want it to. Yeah, I was really pulled in by the beauty and the beast meets the lab ripped. When as soon as you said that, I'm like, "Ooh, that sounds wonderful." Totally. Right? Yeah. And then I kept listening and well. You're right. Thanks. But listen, if you read it and you loved it, we want to know. Go ahead, you can DM us at Medium Lady Reads on Instagram and say, "Hey, I just heard episode 50 and I totally don't agree with your review of Dream by the Shadows and we'll chat." All right. Jillian, you are next to give us your second book review. All right. The next book I'm bringing to the show is the Long-awaited Review for Dungeon Crawler Carly by Matt Deniman. Wow. I feel like this is perfect for episode 50. At episode 50, Jillian reviews Dungeon Crawler Carly. Special request. Nine months in the making. [laughter] I don't know. All right, Jillian. That was not-- it was not at all what I expected from a book. It's well written and engaging, which is why I gave it four stars. But it just-- it wasn't what I expected. Here's the synopsis for you. The apocalypse will be televised. You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That's what. Join Coast Guard Vet Carl and his ex-girlfriends cat, Princess Donut, as they just try to survive the end of the world, or just get to the next level in the video game-like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that's actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins, magical potions, deadly drug-diddling llamas, this ain't your ordinary game show. It just sounds so ridiculous. Yeah. But it was actually quite good. If you're not a fan of multiplayer games, or you've just never played them before, I would not recommend this book. They'll probably be confused as to what is happening. However, I have played those games. And once I got into the meat of the story, it flew by. I may even read some of the future books, but we'll see. My TBR is long, and honestly, it's never ending. Matt Deniman did a great job writing this book like the video game, so I'll give him a lot of credit for that. That's my review of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Deniman. Yay! I want to read this. I'm going to read it. I definitely want to read it based on your review. And the synopsis just sounds really fun. I've read a couple of books that seem like they might be adjacent to this. I read The Hike by Drew Marguery. I read a couple, Jonathan, not Jonathan, what's his name? Jason Pargin is another author that kind of makes me think of this. He wrote the book, Zoe is too drunk for this apocalypse. These kind of tongue in cheek, but they don't have the video game factor. They have the end of the world factor. So this is like, well, actually The Hike has the video game factor, but not the end of the world factor. And the Jason Pargin books have the end of the world factor, but not the video game factors. So this seems like-- and it's a series, right? So like, listen, as if you're looking for something you want an eight book adventure. Maybe you finished Akatar, and you're like, what do I read now? If you suffer from decision fatigue, an eight book series can be a really good one. I think he just released a new one, too. He either did or is about to one or the other. I can't remember. It's definitely kept me interested. And I flew through it. So I like that. I can't berate it too much. It was good. It just was not what I expected initially. I knew it was an apocalypse book, but I did not expect the video game element to it. Princess donut. Princess donut. But it was good. It was good. Nice. Nice. All right, Aaron, you're up next with your second book. All right. The next book I want to share is Lauren Harper Falls Apart by Shana Robinson. I think I must be kind of the Grinch for this episode, Jillian. I also gave this book a lower rating. But I think this actually might be more of a hit for some people. It just wasn't a fit for me. I saw this book on the Fall Preview List. And Shana Robinson was a new to me Black Female Author. So I was really happy to get this once it was released from the library. Here's the setup. Lauren Harper is not quite 30, but on the right track to retire at 40. Sure, it means she has to work a soul-sucking job at Reiser, a morally corrupt company that's made billions by treating its consumers as less than human. But once Lauren retires, she'll be able to do some good and reverse the damage from some of the shady things she's had to cover up while working at Reiser. But after a terrible misunderstanding with the company VP in the elevator, Lauren is reassigned to Reiser Care's the shell front for Reiser's charitable work. What's worse is this move takes Lauren back to her hometown, the washed up once vibrant community of Greensted, and back in the orbit of her once dear best friend who dumped her after she took the Reiser job. But Lauren's determined to do a good job, dazzle her boss and get her old job back. So she decides to resurrect the old Greensted Fall Festival with the Reiser Care staff as a fundraiser to help the Greensted Community Center stay open. And what follows is a sort of platonic romance about friendship, an office comedy, and a bit of a reckoning with stories and assumptions we tell ourselves about who we are and why it matters. So even as I read through my summary, I do wonder if I was just too hard on this book. It was maybe just like not the right time for me and I should have just DNF'd it. But I have a confession. I thought this book was a romance. It looks like a romance and the plot synopsis that I originally read started out sounding like a romance. And because I was waiting for this romantic counterpart to enter the scene and I realized like 40% in WTF, what's happening? There isn't one. I was actually kind of annoyed. And that's on me or it's on the marketing as well. I mean, nevertheless, this kind of felt like it was just kind of had this hole in it the whole time. It was missing a key plot component. And I think Shana Robinson was trying to make the will they want their relationship be with the best friend. But I don't think there was enough with her friend to make it feel that important. And Lauren also there was this one thing that really bothered me. Lauren has full hearing loss in one year. And I thought that was really interesting point of view to like bring to her character. But I hated how this was like not really a part of the story at all except when it resulted in somebody screwing up. Like it was basically only the bad guys were dismissive or thoughtless about her hearing accommodations. And otherwise it was like not a part of the story at all. So her hearing loss is important because it sets up the whole series of events in the first place. And it kind of felt like something that could have been really interesting but instead was a bit of a throwaway plot point. I did like the end of this book. And things are wrapped up very nicely by the end. If you want things tied up in a bow, you're going to get it with this book. I would say this is all in all a cozy book to read in the fall. It has the makings of a fall read, the fall festival, the work colleagues are awesome and really funny. It gives a very much parks and rec kind of vibe. I wanted more of the good things in this book and less of the bad things and maybe more of a romantic story. But I would definitely check out Shana Robinson again because there was a lot of moving parts here that appealed to the reader. And me appealed to the things that I usually like. For me, I just couldn't line up with this book while I read it. And that's my review of Lauren Harper Falls Apart by Shana Robinson. You know, it sounds good. And you had me, you kind of got me with the parks and rec vibes. Because you know I love that show. It's a great cast of characters. There's some very funny scenes. But I think it was me. We say the right book finds you or the, and your next book finds you right where you're at, or right when you need it most. I should know where I'll take line after 50 episodes. What the hell? But it just like, it found me and I was reading it and I probably should have DNF'd, but here we are. That's two you should have DNF'd. I know. I think I, I think I, I can kind of maybe reflect a little bit on that later on in the episode. Yeah. Okay. Good. Because I feel like that meme I sent the other day in our group chat about wasting time on DNF's. Where you're reading books that you shouldn't be reading when you should be just letting it go. Yeah. I've been thinking about that a lot. I have a few thoughts. I'll circle back to that. I think I put a couple things about this later on in the script. It's our final round of books, Jillian, what's your last book? The final book I'm bringing to the show is The Heartbreak Hotel by Eleanor Clover. I love this book no question. There was emotional depth and the right amount of trauma to bring the love story full circle. I gave this book five stars. Here's a synopsis. Luis O'Walsh emerged from a tumultuous childhood with a degree in counseling, a wealthy boyfriend, and her sunny outlook on life mostly intact. But that optimism is tested when she's dumped and left unable to afford rent on their gorgeous house in the mountains of Colorado. Even with their life in disarray, Lou knows losing the one stable piece she's ever called home is not an option. She asks her reclusive landlord, Henry Rhodes, to let her stay for free in exchange for renting out the house as many rooms as a bed and breakfast. She shocked when he agrees to her terms and even more surprised to discover Henry is a handsome 30-something veterinarian with silver at his temples and sadness in his eyes. One who does not take it well when Lou starts marketing her B&B as a retreat for the recently heartbroken. But as the comeback in opens its doors to its weary hopeful guests, Lou and Henry find themselves dancing around both their undeniable connection and the closely health secrets that threaten to topple this fragile new start. A chance at love here could hit close to home or it could be exactly what their heart needs to finally heal. I tried to savor this book because it was that good. But I zoomed through it, enjoying every single second. I loved both main characters. They had their own set of baggage, but as is always the case in romance novels, it went perfectly together with each other. This isn't Eleanor Clover's first novel, but it is the first one I've read, but she'll now be a go to author for me going forward. That's my review of The Heartbreak Hotel by Eleanor Clover. I have not heard of this. I have not heard of the author, but I definitely would check this out for sure. This reminds me of "Birding with Benefits" by Sarah T. Dubb that I brought last week. Yeah, the sort of like second chance romance, people nursing their broken hearts, but also kind of like coming back. I love the idea of like the comeback in, cozy. Yeah. Anything with an in. It was. It was very cozy. It was the way she ran it, the verbiage around the cooking of meals, and the tea at-- There's tea. Teas for sure, five star cozy. Tea and an in. You got it. Tea plus in equals cozy. Yes. Oh, awesome. I'm going to check this out too. Awesome. You'll love it. Aaron, you have our last review of the show. What are you sharing today? OK. My last review is a book I actually liked, everyone. OK? I'm really sorry. I do feel like a Grinch in this episode, but you mentioned DNF in Gillian, and in September, I DNFed a lot. I only finished seven books. In October, I only DNFed 2, but I finished 12 books, so I don't know. I think it kind of like compelled me to read books I don't like because it does end up with like a higher volume of like completed books. Anyway, that's something I kind of have to think about. The last book I'm reviewing today, I gave five stars. It's The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy. This book is getting a lot of buzz during book award season, which we are in the middle of right now, and with good reason. I have seen people describe The Wilderness as a future classic, like a book that future generations will hopefully read and understand just how nuanced and kind of weird this time period has been. Here's a bit of a summary. The Wilderness centers around four friends and their unique and distinct experiences as black women through their 20s, 30s and 40s. What I love about this book is the way friends come together and move apart over time as each of them develops individually. They need one another in different ways. So here's our four characters. There's Desiree. She's estranged from her sister after the death of their grandfather and surrogate parent. There's January who's about to have the baby of a man she feels ambivalent about. There's Monique, a librarian aspiring for so much more who's caught up in the bloom of unexpected online fame. And finally, Nakiya raised in privilege, but wanting so much more as she gets her restaurant opened and off the ground. Even there, I think I've oversimplified a little bit how these women interact, what they think of one another, how they talk about each other with each other. You know in a group of friends, you can have conversations, you know, one on one, two on one, everybody's all four together. And I felt like that is a very like real part of my life and my friendship groups. And I felt like that was a really interesting part of the book that felt very real to me. This book also talks about how each character's family of origin deeply impacts their friendship and their relationship. This book honestly feels like a painting. There's so much to look at and consider. It always feels like a whole. It always feels like the each chapter is part of something bigger. I think I could reread this book three or four more times and discover something new each time. And the ending is really powerful, gave me more perspective on that whole, on the book as a whole. And endings don't always do that. This book really feels like a jewel. It's something precious to enjoy in your 20s. And then you can enjoy it again in your 30s, in your 40s, in your 50s, every decade to come. The wilderness is having its own literary moment. And I have labeled it. I would label it as a fancy book because of that kind of painting quality that I mentioned earlier. It is currently a national best-selling book, a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and it was long listed for the National Book Award. But all in all, this is a great book to add to your list when you're looking for something different or even a TBR reset. I loved it. And if you can't tell, I gave it five stars. That's my review of The Wilderness by Angela Flarnoy. I am so shocked that you gave a fancy book, Five Stars. It must really be good. It was so good. It was so good. It was really good. I went back and forth between the audio and the text. That probably helped. And audio, when you have alternating point of view, it was just done really, really well. Really, really well. Each of the four characters felt really distinct. And so when I went back to the text, I felt even kind of more grounded in their voice. It didn't feel like I was hunting for literary clues while reading this book. And that's kind of what can make fancy books annoying. It's like you can read it, but you could also read it. And I don't like the feeling of sometimes feeling like I might not be smart enough to catch the nuance. And this book never made me feel that way, but there's really a lot there to look at. And it does feel really painterly in my mind. That's great. All right, those are our book reviews for today. It's time for Hot Takes and our current thoughts on book culture. A Hot Takes is an opinion formed off the cuff and with little research, sometimes provocative. Today's Hot Takes comes from our buddy, Reed, friend, Steph Cunningham, and she asks us, do you read the synopsis first thing before you read a book or do you just dive right in? So, Jillian, what do you think? I dive right in most of the time. I am someone who likes to go and blind, likes to be surprised by the book. And it's definitely bit me in the butt a couple of times. But I really love going and blind. It's kind of exciting to not know what's going to be happening. What about you? I think I go and blind too, but I'm wondering-- I think there's probably two camps. There's one camp where I hear about a book enough that I add it to my list. So at that point, I feel like I've had repeat instances of the plot and the benefits of the book to put it on the list. Like, the wilderness, I think, was one of those. I didn't have the wilderness on my team yard. The minute I read the synopsis. But I heard one person talk about another person talk about it. You know, I saw it gaining traction on the book awards list. And then I had it come available at my library and went into it. Then there's books like-- sometimes I watch a-- like the Romanticie book where someone's like, this book had me in a chokehold. What a great plot, mix of beauty and the beast and little aberrant. You're going to love it. Add it to your holds immediately. And then I just go ahead and add it to hold without thinking. So I do-- or one thing I actually do most often is I look at the book previews. I know you do this too, Jillian. There's a spring-- a summer book preview season, a fall book preview season. And generally, it's somewhat even shorter than the blurb synopsis than the publisher's blurb. Yeah. It's like, who is this book about and what happens to them? And why do I want to read it? What is it compared to maybe? You might get that. And that's all I go off of. Yeah, I've definitely done that too. And I think that's probably the extent of when I will read a review is when it's in one of those fall or winter spring reviews. Because then I want to know what the book's about and before I add it to my TBR. But if it's a book that I just pick up, then I typically will just read it without reading any sort of synopsis. We've talked about before. I don't know if you remember this in one of our back episodes, because now we have 50 episodes. So it's way back in the past. Going to the library and just being like, I'll take this one. I like-- never do that anymore. I think you talked about going and looking for pink books or did I make that up. No, no. Yeah. Years ago, I used to go to the library and I would just pick books based on the color of their cover. And it was pink. Pink was always the color I chose. I had no idea what the books were going to be about if it had-- but if it had a pink cover, I was in. Now, do you still feel that way when books have pink covers? Because I know like, happy place by Emily Henry has a really bright pink cover. You love that book. I do, but no. I could-- I mean, I do enjoy covers of books. And I like to look at them, but I don't have a preference on what color they are anymore. I mean, I feel like book jacket-- book jackets in general have changed so much to kind of make that synopsis a little bit less accessible. And I don't know if that's because of like, spoiler culture, where you really have to go hunting for that synopsis. And that means you're not going to stumble on it by accident. Because I do think some synopsis give away way too much. But then other ones, you know, they're like-- like, even this Beauty and the Beast labyrinth comparison, I heard the influencers say that. And I'm sorry, I actually don't remember who it was. And I don't even have it saved anywhere. It was just like one of those spur of the moment things. But she mentioned the Beauty and the Beast, the labyrinth comparison. But the publisher's blurb also says that. So then part of me was like, well, did you even read the book? You're just-- did you? [LAUGHS] But then those publisher blurbs, like, they get mentioned over and over and over again. But sometimes a synopsis will help me not pick a book. Yeah. Like that new book, The Correspondent, that was kind of busy this summer. It's an epistolary novel. I'm like, I don't really like epistolaries. So I'm just going to pass. And then I saw enough synopsis over and over again that I was like, no, I'm really fine not reading this book that everyone's talking about this summer. Yeah. I'm sure that there are some instances where I've read a cover and decided not to read it. But typically, that only happens if I've already picked up the book. And it's already-- I already have it in my house. And then I'm like, do I read this one? Or do I read another one? Which doesn't happen a lot. Usually I am pretty decisive on what I'm going to read next. But everyone's real. Yeah. Everyone's in a while. I'll struggle with what's next. But for the most part, I know what I'm going to read. Or what's my next book. Do you ever use the synopsis for your catch and release? No. No. Catch and release is usually because I know I want to read a book. But I know I'm not going to get to it anytime soon. It tends to happen a lot with seven day loans for my library. Yeah. Like, mate. I'm sadly had to return that. I knew I wasn't going to get to it, but I had to return it. I'm sure stuff will have a nice review for us. I mean, it's always nice to know you have an unread Ali Hazelwood just out there in the universe waiting for you. It's like a breaking case of the emergency. Ali Hazelwood. Actually, I have two. I have one of her first few that I didn't read. I still haven't read. And then now, mate. You know what I still haven't read is her YA book. Yeah. You're right. I haven't read that one either. Yeah. I've heard that one's really sweet. Okay. Well, we managed to bring Ali Hazelwood into this episode with Ali. All right. Well, what do you think, everyone? Do you read the synopsis? Do you read reviews? How do you decide on a book? Or do you just dive right in? Do you go off on fumes and vibes alone? Like Jillian and I do. Tell us. We'd love to connect with you on Instagram. You can find us at Medium Lady reads and let us know what you think of this hot take. Okay. We're going to wrap up with the holds list. Aaron and I are very passionate about the public library. And because we're both avid users and we both have very active holds lists. 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 to let the listener know what we'll be reaching for on our TBR. Okay, Aaron. What's on your holds list? Okay. I feel like I'm not in terrible shape with the library right now. Yes. Yes. And I have also been reading some of the books that I own, which also feels good. But today, in terms of the holds, Beckett and I will go and return some books after we record, after we finish recording. Well, you know, I'll wean him off of his screen time and we'll go and walk to the library. I do have three to pick up. I have Flashlight by Susan Choi. This is a novel tracing of father's disappearance across time, nations and memory. I have The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sukfang Lee. This is the horror-tongued intergenerational saga as a single mother's doppelganger. Forces her to confront the legacy of violence that has shaped every woman in their family. I also have this on Libby. I haven't really been getting into it. So I don't know. I think I'm kind of hoping maybe a paper copy will help or maybe I should just be DNF and catching releasing this before I've been getting into it. And then finally, I'm really excited to pick up Sisters in the Wild by Angeline Bouli. This is her new YA mystery. We love Angeline Bouli. She's the author of The Fire Keepers Daughter. This is a mystery about a foster teen claiming her heritage on her own terms. And then in terms of next up, I'll be back. I'll be reading People Watching by Hannah Bottom Young. This is about a small town, women's journey to spread her wings, which intertwines with the arrival of an adventurous newcomer who brings out the best in her. Oh. Mm-hmm. Jillian, what are you waiting for from the library and what do you have coming up on your TBR? So I only have one waiting for me at the library, but that's because I picked them up yesterday. I have rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood. I may pick this up and return it right away or may cancel the hold because it is past witchy season sort of. Oh. But really, like a full stop to witchy season? Not sure. I haven't decided. And mainly because, like, if I was going to get to it and I was definitely going to read it next, then I would have a few. Yeah. I have too much going on. I don't know if it's over fall books, but the witchy ones it might have to wait till next year. It might be more fun to wait it out till next year. But the books I picked up yesterday were rack by Katherine Newman, which I'm very excited about. Girl Dinner by Alive Blake. Oh, yeah. And it's different this time by Joss Richard. Ooh, a nice mix there. Yeah. And then as for what's up next is if it makes you happy by Julie Olivia, I've been itching to read this book since mid-October. I'm looking forward to diving in. Here's a short synopsis for you. Freshly divorced and floundering, she retreats to her mom's old bed and breakfast and copper run, Vermont. Only to find her new neighbor, Cliff, is basically perfection. Smeltown Golden Boy devoted single dad and unfairly attractive baker. It's everything she shouldn't get attached to, especially since she's leaving in three months. But between shared pastries, cozy mornings and sparks, she can't ignore it to stay just friends. That might be the hardest recipe to follow. I'm excited about it. Cozy Smeltown Baker. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. We're going to read it. All right, everyone. That's a wrap on episode 50 of Medium Lady Reads, 50 episodes of talking books, sharing stories and connecting with all of you. It really does feel very special. Thank you so much for being here and for making this community what it is. Here's to many more conversations and many more great reads ahead. Medium Lady Reads is a spin-off of Medium Lady Talks podcast and Instagram community. On Instagram, you can find me, Erin@medium.lady. And you can find Jillian @jillianfindinghappy for more of our current reads and other shenanigans. And of course, you can follow the podcast itself on Instagram @mediumladyreads. If you liked this episode, please share it with another bookish 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, Erin. Until next time, we hope that you're holding it right quickly. And your next book finds you right when you need it most. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. Bye. [Music]