Episode 52: Romantasy VS Your English Lit degree

Hello, hi, and “Welcome back to Medium Lady Reads! This is Episode 52, “Romantasy VS Your English Lit Degree.” As always, Erin and Jillian have new book recommendations to share!

We’re really glad you’ve joined us today. As we ease deeper into the holiday season, maybe your reading life feels steady and cozy… or maybe it’s a little chaotic. Either way, we’ve got some great books to share that might meet you exactly where you are.

In This Episode:

• The ladies start the show the same way they usually do by checking in on how their reading and life is going. 
• Time to jump into the meat of the episode! Erin starts the show off with her review, and Jillian’s review follows it.
• Next up is hot takes! This week, the ladies discuss this Instagram reel from @kaila.books.
• Erin and Jillian wrap up with the holds list and share what they’re going to read next. 

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

• Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
• The Will of the Many by James Islington
• Primal Intelligence by Angus Fletcher
• If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia
• Sisters In the Wind by Angeline Boulley
• The Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley
• Wreck by Catherine Newman
• Sandwich by Catherine Newman
• We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
• Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Brimstone by Callie Hart
• Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
• An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister
• The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill
• Katabasis by R. F. Kuang 
• Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
• The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson 
• Hagitude by Sharon Blackie
• Alchemised by SenLinYu
• Snowed In For Christmas by Jaqueline Snowe

Transcript

MLR 52 Romantasy VS Your English Lit degree

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hello, hi, and welcome back to Medium Lady Reads. This is Episode 52. I'm really glad you've joined us today. As we ease deeper into the holiday season, maybe your reading life feels steady and cozy, or maybe it's a little chaotic. Either way, we've got some great books to share that might meet you exactly where you are. Hi, everyone. I'm Jillian, an 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 on the podcast. Together, we're thrilled to bring you another episode of Medium Lady Reads, a podcast about reading itself care, a passionate love for 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. We're so glad you're here with us. This is episode 52, arriving just as we're settling into these early December days. And we've got another stack of book recommendations we're excited to share. So get comfy, pour yourself something warm, and join us as we chat through what we've been reading lately. And as always, you are our honorary third reader. And with any luck, you'll come away with your next, can't put it down pick. Hi, Jillian, it's good to see you. How is your reading and life going? Hi, Erin. Life is moving right along. This time of year, everything seems to be moving so fast. We recently celebrated Thanksgiving in the US. Usually we do this with my side of the family before the holiday. And this year, we celebrated the week before, and it was so nice. We had Chinese food, if our meal, instead of Thanksgiving food, because it's not my favorite, and nobody else seemed to care. So we had Chinese food. It was perfect. Hopefully. I got to spend time with my mom, my sister, her husband, and their baby boy. It was just wonderful. Then for Thanksgiving Day, we actually were supposed to go to my in-laws, but there was a big snowstorm in Syracuse. So we'd ended up staying home. We made homemade pizza, and just hung out. And then yesterday, we put up the tree and made our home Christmasy. It's been great. It sounds like you are in your full holiday season. That all sounds lovely. I bet everybody listening is like, oh, yes, Chinese food, how my pizza tree up. That's what I want. Well, it's not always perfect over here, but the last few days have been pretty good. I'll admit it. Lovely. My current read, which actually I finished last night, was "Sweet Heat" by Bolu Bebo Lola. Amazing. It'll show itself on another episode. But here's a short synopsis for you. Kiki's life is already unraveling when her ex Malachi returns as best man to her maid of honor. Forced into close quarters, their unresolved chemistry becomes impossible to ignore. As family career and wedding chaos collide, Kiki must face the spark that never burned out. It was excellent. I have this in my library stack. Did you read "Honey and Spice?" I did. Yeah. I read it first. But I will admit, you probably don't need to read-- The first one in order to get this one. Because as readers, or rather listeners, probably know, I am not great at remembering books from one page to the next, almost. So I don't remember what happened in "Honey and Spice," other than reading the synopsis of it. So I was able to go into this book, pretty blind, and had a great time with it. Nice. Great. So how's your reading in life going, Aaron? Yeah. I'm also feeling the days are speeding up as we hit December. I think it's that feeling like, oh, there's something going on every weekend. And there's this really growing to-do list. Not to mention, there's always after-school celebrations, or after-work celebrations. I'm still right now getting a lot of reading in. Hopefully I can keep that up through December, especially because I'm doubling down on my efforts to have a phone-free fall. That's a series I've been doing over on our sister podcast medium-lady talks. And I think that spending less time on my phone will help me soak up the season, and it will keep time from passing so quickly. But my current read is "The Will of the Many" by James Islington. This is a chonker of a book. It's a fantasy novel. "Viz" is our main character. He's plucked out of his orphanage by a high-ranking official to be trained in order to attend the country's top academy. There are hopes of him going undercover to reveal a broader conspiracy that's at play. This book is really good. Like all fantasy novels, there's a solid 50 or so pages where you're learning the world. But the action starts on page one, and I've really been enjoying the main character of this. It's also kind of Roman inspired. There's a lot of Latin adjacent vocabulary. I've wanted to read this one for a while, and because it's so huge, I actually feel like it's perfect for those dark winter nights when I don't want to reach for my phone. I'm reaching for this huge book, and I'm like, I am a reader. Look at my huge book. So I've been loving that. - I was actually gonna make a comment about you reading a chonker, that's great. - I know. I know. I think there's a season for me when it comes to chonkers. This one's working really well. I can't bring it on the train with me. I can't commute. Spotify doesn't have it on audio books, so I'm really like, I'm reading this 600 page print copy. Yeah. - That's wonderful. - That's wonderful. - It's all good. - Sounds good too. - All right, let's jump into our reviews for today. Aaron, tell us about the books you have for today's episode. What are we in for? - Okay, so today I'll be reviewing a nonfiction novel about thinking and problem solving, a YA mystery by an indigenous author, and the best horror novel I've read in 2025. - Hmm. - What about you, Jillian? What are you reviewing today? - Today I'm bringing a contemporary romance, a family drama, and a juicy memoir. Aaron, you're starting us off. What's the first book you're bringing to the podcast? This week. - Okay, so the first book I'm reviewing is Primal Intelligence by Angus Fletcher. I know we are all being swept up in AI technology, and how to use it to make it work easier, how to use it to get ideas faster, how to stay organized. Personally, I love using ChatGPT to cut down on my decision fatigue or my overwhelm. There's also a lot of times when we kind of discount the human advantage, and sometimes I find myself being like, oh, I'll just like ChatGPT first, instead of like just using my own brain. So I have been following a few AI influencers and some AI ethicists, and a couple of them were recommending this book, Primal Intelligence, it just kind of kept coming up and again and again, and I have to say, ever since I read it, I have been thinking about it a lot. So here's the premise. You're smarter than you know. An Angus Fletcher, a neuroscientist obsessed with understanding what helps some people think faster than others, details his experiences and experiments to unlock the core of human problem solving. What will AI never be able to do when it comes to real world problems or advancement and innovations of society? Fletcher details the core of human thinking and problem solving as curiosity, instinct, imagination and emotion. All four things AI will never be able to replicate. I like this book a lot. It gave me great ways of thinking about my own life, my own work, as well as some of the things I've tried to outsource to ChatGPT or other AI programs, but kind of felt unimpressed by the answer, or kind of like I was getting something copypaste. If I use my strengths in imagination, curiosity, emotion and instinct, then I can lean on AI in all the other domains where I can benefit like organization, streamlining work, or as I mentioned decision fatigue. So I'm going to keep reading more books about AI and more thought leaders because I'm really certain that AI is not going anywhere anytime soon. And I want to make sure that I'm embracing AI in my life, but never losing sight of the values of human-powered thinking and human-powered problem solving. So stay tuned for more AI book reviews in the future. This is the first of many probably. I did this book on audio and print, and I would sometimes do both simultaneously. I think that helped me absorb some of the ideas in the book. Audio book is read by the author, and he does a really good job engaging with the content. I gave this book four and a half stars, and I would definitely recommend it. That's my review of Primal Intelligence by Angus Fletcher. - Does he talk about any of the negative side effects of AI? Like the what, how it's affecting the earth and stuff, or is it all? - So the book isn't about AI. It's very much about human thinking. It's very much about human decision making. He spent a lot of time with special intelligence in the US Armed Forces. So he talks a lot about what helps them kind of codify good problem solving versus normal or regular people problem solving. How to kind of harness your imagination and curiosity, thinking about things that have never existed before, and when AI is giving an answer, it's always built off of a database of things that already exist and kind of leaning into that. It's not really a critique of AI. It's just kind of about like having a competitive advantage in a world that's gonna go faster and faster towards AI thinking, and knowing what you contribute as a human being to any kind of work that you're doing. He also talks about how much our society is powered by logic, but a lot of the really creative ways of solving problems never come from logic, logical thinking. So it's not really about AI, except in the fact that he's sort of talking about like the power of the human brain and the power of like neuro-cognitive science to come up with really good solutions to wicked problems. - Yeah, that sounds like a really complex book. I'm sure doing it in print and audio is worthwhile. - Yeah, I've made it sound complex. The audio book I think is only five hours. It's not a long book. There were times when he really oversimplifies things, and I'm like, I kind of like as a neuroscientist, I would have loved for you to go even just a one more layer deeper, but I think it's definitely written for like the average nonfiction reader for sure. - Gotcha. Cool. - Yeah. Jillian, your next, what is your first review for this episode? The first book I'm bringing to the show is If It Makes You Happy by Julia Libia. What a wonderful hug of a book. A lovely flashback to 1997 with all the 90s nostalgia you'd ever want in a book. It fulfilled everything that I wanted in a romance novel as well, and I gave it five stars. Here's a synopsis. My new next-door neighbor seems to have everything figured out. Small town golden boy, check, single-dad extraordinaire, check, hot baker forearms. I didn't notice them, I swear. I, on the other hand, don't have it all figured out. Trust me, I didn't take over my mom's dream, bed and breakfast, and copper run Vermont was going to be easy. It should be a good place to heal after my divorce, but apparently my scones belong in the garbage with small talk skills, as pointed out by none other than Cliff. Cliff is inescapable. He knows exactly what people need, always. His charm, the way he wears flannel, and even his pastries make not wanting to be friends with Cliff and his daughters, pretty hard. Friends, I can make them, that's safe, except I'm leaving in three months to pass the enough to my little sister and get the promotion in Seattle I've been working towards. So ask me why I'm thinking about kissing my hot neighbor. This book takes place from September through December, so it is most definitely a book meant for autumn. If you're gonna read it, get on it soon, and you won't regret it. - Nice. - This is a slow burn, friends to lovers rom-com. So if you don't like those tropes and you may as well stay away. The female main character, Michelle, is strong and independent, but not to the point of annoying. She is still full of emotions and feelings and bring those to her love interest, the main character, Cliff. Cliff is funny and heartwarming, and apparently, as mentioned above, has great forearms. It always makes me laugh when the main characters go crazy for the male forearm. I don't personally get it, but to each their own. I'm not gonna yuck someone else's y'all. (laughs) If you love cozy, heartwarming romance novels, you're going to love this one. That's my review of If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia. - I personally am a forearms girlie, so yeah, that's good. There has to be something for everyone. - I love it. - It's such an angelic thing to be attracted to, too, because like-- - So innocent. - That's the word I was looking for. Innocent, not angelic. Yes. - This sounds perfect for a bunch of our listeners. I know for sure. I think I have a ton on my TBR. I'm gonna put a pin in this one for next August, and I look forward to it, but I'm really appealed to it by the '90s nostalgia. - Oh, so much fun. And it wasn't over, I personally did not find it overdone, 'cause you know sometimes when somebody will make that part of their book, it's like every possible reference is thrown in. And there are a lot in there, but it's not obnoxious. I didn't find it obnoxious. I really love the book. - Perfect. - Okay, you're up next, Darin. What are we reviewing? - All right. So my next book is one I was really looking forward to, and when I got it from the library, I immediately bumped it to the top of the list, which is saying a lot, because usually I kind of put things in queue when they come up, but not this one. And I'm talking about Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulee, the third book in her series of YA mysteries. I still recommend Fire Keepers' Daughter all the time, and I'm really happy to say this was another five-star read in the series. Here's the publisher's synopsis. 17-year-old Lucy Smith is on the run, years of hell as an Ojibwe child and foster care have taught her to be smart and cautious. But when the kind I'd Mr. Jameson tracks her down and shows interest in her case, Lucy begins to wonder if things could be different. Still, you can't escape the past, no matter how fast you are. And soon, Lucy is under investigation with the police. She knows she can clear her name from the chaos that has followed her everywhere, but saving the people she loves could cost Lucy her life. This book really swept me up. Things fall into place from the last two books very quickly, but in a way that was kind of unexpected, and tied back to that first book and that first reading experience in a really satisfying way. I thought the writing was extremely moving, and like with the first two books, the mystery at the heart of the story is compelling and had me on the edge of my seat. I really love the character of Lucy, and going back in time to revisit key memories of her experience in the foster system, following the death of her father, plus the systemic racism through the story is really powerful. At times, it's overt and at times it's nuanced, but I feel like it's always written in a way to help the reader understand and witness the lived experiences of the indigenous characters. If you've read this, I'd love to know what you thought of that ending. I still can't believe it. And that's all I'll say. I don't know if Angelina Buley has a fourth book on the way for this. Things tend to kind of come in threes in the publishing world, and I haven't heard if there's another book on its way, but you can be sure if she does, I will be once again putting it at the top of my list. And that's my review of Sisters in the Wind by Angelina Buley. - I have this one in my, I have a bag of library books. That's where I keep my library books, but I have it in there. I don't know if I'm gonna get to it. I might be a catch and releaseer, but oh my gosh, you make it sound so good. - It was just really good. And the mystery is kind of unlike anything else that's out there. It feels really original. The characters feel really original. If you're looking for something different, but easy to read and excellent, I just like, I always love recommending the Fire Keepers daughter, but this one is really, really great too. - Now I've read the previous two. Are they all in a series? I didn't realize that. - They're all kind of part of the same family of Indigenous women. - Okay. - They're kind of connected in different ways back to that first story of the Fire Keepers daughter, but they're kind of aging. So the main character in Fire Keepers daughter, her name is Donnis, and she shows up in number two and in number three, much more in number three than in number two, but she's like an aunt in number two, and then in number three, she has ties to the main character Lucy. I don't wanna spoil the plot. - Okay. - But she's getting older as the books go on. So they're all kind of in the same community. - Okay. - Yeah. - That makes sense. I do remember that now. - It's pretty satisfying the way she does it. Yeah. Okay, Jillian, time for your second book. - The second book I'm bringing to the show is "Rack by Catherine Newman." This book was amazing. I loved Sandwich, so I had a feeling I'd like this one, but you can never be too sure with second novels in a series, but I guess in the case of Catherine Newman, you can be sure. I gave it five stars. Here's a synopsis. Rocky, still anxious, nostalgic, and funny, is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick and their daughter, Willa, who's back home from college. There's unjamies taken in job in New York, and more, Rocky's would-out father has moved in. It all couldn't be more ridiculously normal until Rocky finds herself obsessed with the local accident that only sort of affects them, and with a medical condition that she hopes won't affect them at all. With her signature wit and wisdom, Catherine Newman explores the hidden rules of the family, the heavy weight of uncertainty, and the gnarly fact that people, no matter how much you love them, are not always exactly who you want them to be. I love the writing, how it feels like it's Rocky writing in journal every day to us, just writing away for us to read it to take in. Because of my driving anxiety, I was concerned with the accident that occurs in the book, but the book is so well written that it didn't phase me at all. - Hmm. - This book is all about life and its many complexities and is worth reading if you like Sandwich. That's my review of "Rack" by Catherine Newman. - Oh, I love her so much, and I'm so glad that you loved this one too. I can't wait to get it from my library. - So good. - I think I was slow to put it on hold, but that's okay. I'm excited to know that it's really, really good, that it lives up to her signature style. Rocky was a very levelable character in Sandwich, and her voice is so distinct that I'm really excited that we're gonna get more of that character. - And it takes place over the summer to Thanksgiving. So it's perfect. So if you get it relatively soon, it's perfect for this time of year. - Nice, nice. And her books are never too long either. I feel like she's really got a sweet spot in terms of storytelling. - Yeah, I read this one in a day. It took me a day. It was so good. - Wow, nice, nice. Such a satisfying experience. - Yeah, they are. And the one book I haven't read by her is her first one. No, of course I can't remember the name of it. - We all want impossible things. - Yeah, that one. - Oh my gosh, that's it. - I haven't read it. - That's a tear jerker, yeah. - Maybe I'll add it to my back list TBR. - Mm-hmm, yeah, that's a good idea. - Okay, you're up next, Aaron. What are you bringing for your final book? - Okay, my last book is getting my vote for the Medium Lady Book Awards Best Horror 2025. - Oh, Jillian, in our check-in, we didn't mention the Goodreads Awards. They've been open for the last month or so. - Oh, yeah. - I'm sure you've been voting. You're very good at being on top of that. - I am. - I've also voted. They're going into the final round of voting. As usual, I'm super annoyed. I go category by category and I'm like, I read a lot of books every year. And then I'm like, but not I read none of the Goodreads books. - Yeah, well, do you remember the one year that I think it was not, I don't think it was last year. I think it was the year before where I tried to read all the most popular books so that I would have been able to talk about the Goodreads. - Oh, yeah. - The Goodreads. - I think that was last year. - Was it last year? Okay. It's funny, I don't remember, but you do. But this year has been much more enjoyable in my reading world. I did have a slump, but I'm not having to force myself to read books that I really am not that interested in has been much better. - Yeah, 'cause you were reading like you read the Blue Sisters, the Wedding People, oh, some of those other books that ended up on the like best of the year fiction, the fiction category. Yeah, I remember that. Jillian, if we were to give a medium lady reads or a Jillian and Aaron book awards, this would be my nomination for Best Horror. Here's my vote, my review, whatever, for Bat Eater and other names for Korazeng by Kylie Lee Baker. Here's a bit of a premise. Korazeng is a lost and anxious 20-something woman living most of her life at the direction of her older half-sister Delilah. But when COVID descends on New York City, Delilah is prepared to make a life-changing decision that Korra can't follow. Korra might have to start growing up. Until Delilah is brutally murdered in front of Korra on the platform of the subway, and her killer is never found. Before fleeing the scene, the murderer whispered two words, Bat Eater. Koraz' life becomes frozen in time, replaying that one horrific night and working the only job she can find as a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. The bloody messes don't bother her, not when she's already witnessed the most horrific thing possible, her sister being pushed in front of a train. As the months pass, and the city moves deeper into the pandemic, Koraz starts to unravel, becoming more mentally unstable without Delilah's influence, and starting to see things that aren't really there. As much as Koraz tries to pretend everything is fine, things at home and even at work become more and more dangerous and gruesome for her. And eventually, Korra will have to take her place in the world of the living to fight the ghosts that just keep coming for her. This book will stay with me for a long time. If that synopsis sounds simple, it's in the writing from Kylie Lee Baker, where the real horror comes to life. This book is very gory. It definitely does not pass Jillian's lunch test, but there's also a great story underneath about the commodification of Asian women, the total mental health toilet bowl that was COVID, especially in those early days, and how easy it is to live a life in the shadows. I really love this book. I love Korra. I did not see the end coming. This is a full five stars for me. Definitely the best horror. I mean, it's a short list of horror that I've read this year, but still the best horror of 2025. And that's my review of Bat Eater and Other Names for Korazeng by Kylie Lee Baker. I don't think I knew that you liked horror. I don't think I know that I like horror. It's not something I would reach for, but I think it was the title of this book. And I've been listening to a new to me bookish podcast called TBR, et cetera, where the two hosts Hannah and Tina, they love new releases. Like they're very into new releases. So they talk a lot about what's been published, what's coming up, what they want to read, what they don't want to read. And their reading tastes skew much more to the thriller horror genre. So I've been exposed to kind of book reviews outside of the normal circle that I'm normally influenced by. The fantasy influencers or the books that Meredith and Katie would read on currently reading or the books that you're reading, those are the people who generally influenced me the most. Amanda from Australia influences me to read those fancy books. And now I kind of have this pocket of Tina and Hannah from TBR, et cetera, who are sort of influencing a little bit more of that side of my reading. And there was something about, I think they were doing a new release, like what they want to read, what's on their radar, new release something. And this book just kind of captured my attention. - I've seen this book around. People are talking about it. So it must be amazing. I don't know if it's something I'll personally read. The premise sounds a little anxiety inducing. - Yeah, honestly, I didn't realize how much I read while eating until I read this book because I could not read it while eating. (laughs) I could not read it while eating. And I could not read it around my kids, which gave me very specific windows of time to actually get through it. But it was honestly, if you like horror or if you like, I haven't read horror in a long time, this book is really good, really good. - That's good, that's good to know. - All right, Jillian, you have our last review of the episode. Let's hear it. - The final book I'm bringing to the show is Careless People by Sarah Win Williams. Wow, just wow. The things that Facebook, now Meta got away with, oh my goodness, this memoir was completely eye opening to the evil that has gone on it, Meta. I gave it five stars. Here's a synopsis for you. From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, the steering memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unbettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite. Sarah Win Williams tells the gut wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with Mark Zuckerberg's reaction when he learned of Facebook's role in Trump's election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Cheryl Sandberg urges her and others to just lean in. Careless people is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade, told in a sharp, candid and utterly disarming voice, a deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives. Careless people reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook, how the most power they grasp, the less responsible they become, and the consequences it has for all of us. This was informative and very interesting. The book takes us on a journey through Win Williams career at Facebook, does start before she was an employee of the company, but the majority occurs while she's employed by Facebook. It is appalling, the treatment and harassment she received and it is disgusting how much Facebook was able to get away with. If you like controversial memoirs that keep you thinking, this book is for you. That's my review of Careless People by Sarah Win Williams. - I heard a lot about this book and a lot of people echoing what you think, Jillian, which is like such an eye opening sort of expose. I don't think I realized how much of it was memoir, like how much of it was about her experience. I thought it was sort of, she was sort of exposing the things that she was a part of, but I didn't realize how much of it was also kind of about her experience as an employee. That's really interesting. - Yeah, they talk a lot about the way the male employees were able to get away with certain things and it's what they said to her and just the stuff they swept under the rug, it was unbelievable. Or maybe it is believable knowing what we all know about Facebook, it's just not good. - Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I go back and forth on wanting to read this. I just feel like, I don't know, sometimes books like this make me feel kind of helpless 'cause I probably would still hop in Instagram after reading this book. - Yeah, and I mean, most of Instagram is part of Meta. We all know that. But everything she talks about for the most part is around Facebook and the role Facebook itself had, even though she refers to it as Meta at times. Most of it is in that time frame that part of it is even when Instagram wasn't even part of Meta, I don't think. - Interesting. - You can still jump into Instagram safely. (laughs) - Yeah, I mean, the deeper I go into phone free fall, the more I realize that like playing in the sandbox of social media to like be an advocate, try to help people to share my own experience is like the other side of the coin of the, the way it sucks you in or the doom scrolling or like it being a sort of terrible heartless corporation at the end of the day. Yeah, I guess it's just kind of like as millennials, we have to get really good at both things being true. - Yeah, I think you're right. - Yeah. Great book. Great book. I bet many of our listeners have that on their list too. So if you have read it or if you are going to be reading it, please make sure you go online on socials and connect with us on Instagram. (laughs) That medium lady read. (laughs) - I did do the audio version of this. - Oh, okay, great. - And Sarah, when Williams reads it. - She narrates it nice. - Yeah, it's good. I think it makes a difference that she read this. - Hmm, that's cool. All right, that's a pretty good stack of books. - Yeah, get reading people. - A lot of broad genres today. - Yeah, way across the board. - Hmm, very nice. 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. Today's Hot Take comes to us from a reel that Akayla.books put out. She'll be linked in the show notes in case you're curious. We'll have, and I'll link up the reel as well. Here's the Hot Take. The way a book was edited never kept us from reading or enjoying a book. How do you feel about that, Aaron? - Hmm, so I guess this is a reaction to, I think that new book, Brimstone by Kelly Hart. Have you seen that? - Yes, I think. - I don't know, like I've never heard of Kelly Hart. I've never heard of Brimstone, but I'm out. I'm like not cool enough to know. I'm just over here reading like Korazang, Batyder Hor. I did not know, but I guess people were really excited. This is a spicy romance to see that people have been eagerly anticipating. And then there was a lot of content about, oh, it's poorly edited or this and that, or like I couldn't enjoy it 'cause it was like there were mistakes in it. I guess it's like the Hot Take is that we don't really buy the sincerity of people saying they can't enjoy a book when they catch a mistake or when the sentence structure doesn't quite makes their brain kind of like squish a little bit that that actually takes you out of the book. Like a good book is a good book. And a missing comma or a slight typo that didn't get caught in a 500 page book is gonna ruin a reading experience. It's just that feels insincere and it feels like people are just complaining for complaining sake because we've talked about negative book content here before. And it's just like negative book content is worth making because people will click and watch and follow and engage in a dialogue or a rant. I have to say, I think there's like a fine line with this. I do think that, and Jillian, you and I have talked about how much Romanticese is an interesting genre 'cause we've talked about whether Romanticese is just marketing. It's just marketing of a type of book towards a type of reader in a way that pulls in more of those sort of book buyer dollars. I do feel like Romanticese as a genre has probably had exponential publishing output in the last like five to 10 years. There's way more books in that genre than there ever have been before so that more people will buy them. And I don't know how much that churn of like fast publishing. We've called it like fast fashion for books, right? - I think so. - Where it's like, there's so many books from so many authors, does that decrease the quality control that editors are able to keep tabs on these books as they, you know, we see authors publishing more than one book a year. That's like a huge task. That's a huge task and does that mean that more mistakes kind of fall through the cracks? That's kind of how I see it. I think we've all as readers had an experience where we're like, huh? Oh, that, wait, I don't, and it snaps you out of the reading experience and you're kind of like, oh, that was misspelled or that was a typo or that didn't read the right way. If it's good enough writing, I can get back into the story and forget, like I couldn't even tell you a book that had a typo in it, but I've definitely read books that had mistakes in them. You know what I mean? Like, so I do, sorry, that was wow. I really like could not formulate my thoughts around that at all. I do think that when people complain about editing, they're just doing it for content. - Honestly, I feel the exact same way. I don't think that I've read books with missing, I mean, I've never, I don't think I've ever noticed a missing comma or other type of punctuation, but I've definitely made notice spelling mistakes. And for the most part, I don't think I could ever say that it's taken me out of my writing. I think it's just always, oh, there's a spelling mistake. Let's keep moving. So I don't personally think it takes me out of the element or it takes away my reading enjoyment by reading a book with spelling or grammar mistakes. And I really do think people are just doing it to make content like you said. - Now that I sit and think about it, I have read some books that I really did not enjoy and I would have blamed it on the editing. - Yeah? - Yeah, like, and actually James Patterson comes to mind. (laughs) So just hold that thought because I don't like James Patterson anyway. But I read a James Patterson book that was co-written with Dolly Parton. And I just felt like the editor was like, "Let him write whatever they want." This is gonna sell no matter how much I, no matter how many associate editors and editors and chief and whatever we put it through. 'Cause also editing is like a multi-person process, right? And it's very subjective. And there were parts of that book, I think it was called Run, Rose Run, where I was like, they just let them mess around. They didn't put any bumper pads around this story at all as editors because like, this is so dumb. So dumb and bad. And that, sometimes I do kind of say, like if you're willing to let your author get away with murder on the page, then I do think there are some personalities in the publishing world that are bigger than life and that probably get a different white glove experience with their editors. - Yeah. - But I don't know. I don't know, I'm not in the book publishing world. I have no idea what it's really like to work with an editor, but I love reading the acknowledgements and a lot of the time-- - I do too. - A book that's really well edited, you'll hear the author call out that relationship from the start. - Yeah. - And that editor relationship, I think, is really important. I've read a couple of romance novels about editing, so that probably makes-- - That makes you an expert. - Qualified to comment, a lot of meet-cutes happening in the publishing world. (laughs) - According. (laughs) - Yeah. But I don't know, I don't know, like I just think if it's a new book, and I have, there have been Rebecca Yarrow's books that I've read where I was like, "I just think we could have put those words together in a better way." But it's hard, it's hard to write, like it's hard. It's hard to write an action sequence. It must be hard to write a love scene, like, you know, if I'm playing a movie in my mind of the words on the page. And then the other thing I think is the editing for audio, because I don't think everything that gets to the page necessarily always translates an audio. I've had that experience with Rebecca Yarrow's and Romanticie, as a genre in general. Sometimes it doesn't translate as well to audio from an accessibility standpoint, so I don't know, I'm sure that's another thing that our audiobook editors are kind of thinking about what translates into an auditory narrative. It's not gonna be the same as the way that we read words on the page, 'cause you can't see the comma. You don't have the cues. You have to have a really good narrator and really good editing to keep that together. - Yeah. - Oh, I guess I had a lot. I guess I had a lot. (laughs) - Do you even know about you? - I've been talking way too much. - No, no, I agree with everything that you said. I agree with everything. And I think that reading books is supposed to be a relaxing experience. And yes, a spelling error can pull you out of it, but does it really ruin the experience if there's a spelling error in your book? Like, I get what you're saying about Ron Rose-Ron or whatever you said the title was for the James Patterson, Dolly Parton book. Like, that makes sense. That book, the whole premise sounds kind of silly. But that's not just a spelling error. - Right, right, right, exactly. - So I don't know. I just think people are taking things a little too seriously. Chill out. - Like we're all getting our English lit degrees on Romanticio over here. - Right. - Get a grip. - Get a grip. As Emma would say, get a grip, kid. - Get a grip, kid. Thanks, Emma. That's a good one. That's a good one. Oh man, well, we wanna know what you think. - Oh, and maybe you disagree. Maybe you think like if it's not edited, then that's gonna totally make for a bad book. And not even not edited. Like we're talking about 100,000 words of precision here. Yeah, that's interesting. And it makes for an interesting case in the context of AI. I'm sure we're gonna see publishing houses start to disclose what's been edited by AI. - For sure. - Soon, if not within 2026, I'm sure that will start happening. They'll be books that are published exclusively, our AI authors are gonna be out there. Like we already have Ghost Writers. Why wouldn't we have AI authors too? - Yeah, absolutely. - All right, we're going to wrap up. We're gonna wrap up with the holds list. Jillian and I are very passionate about the library. And because we're both avid users, we both have very active holds lists. And we feel like that's something we don't hear a lot about on book podcasts or book talk or Instagram. So we know it is something we can offer the bookish community. Plus we'll also be sharing what's up next to let you the listener know what we'll be reaching for on our TBR. Okay, Jillian, what's on your holds list? - I am ashamed to say this as a library patron. I do not have a single thing on hold. - That's all right. That's a refreshing place to be. - But is it, I feel like I-- - Nothing, like nothing like coming in nine months to you? - Well, I do have an academic affair. I guess I have that. That one's coming to me. I don't know when. The book's on order. So who knows when it'll get to me. It's by Jody McGalister. But otherwise I have nothing. I don't have anything waiting for me. I only have one book on hold. So I need to add to that. - All right, everybody help Jillian. Add your books. - Yeah, please. Come tell me. - Add your books. - Add Jillian, finding happy or at medium lady reads and tell me what I should add to my holds list. - Next up, though, because I do have library books at home, is The Irish Goodbye by Heather Amioneal. Here's a synopsis for you. Years after a tragedy shattered their family, the Ryan sisters reunite at their Long Island home for Thanksgiving, each carrying secret, shaped by grief and guilt. As old wounds reopened, forbidden love resurfaces, marriages strain and hard truths demand to be spoken. To survive the holiday and each other, they must finally face the past and decide whether forgiveness is possible. I'm very excited about this book. I've heard it's very good. It has to do with Thanksgiving timeframe. So it's perfect to read right now. I can't wait. - This is a read with Jenna. You love the read with Jenna's. - Yeah, I think there was one that I didn't love. - Oh, nevermind. I take it back. But that's okay because I mostly I do. I tend to love a lot of the book club books. Like I love the Reese's ones too. - Mm-hmm. So I'm excited. - It does sound really good, really good. I've seen that cover floating around The Irish Goodbye. Well, we'll look forward to bringing it to the show. - For sure. All right, Aaron, what are you waiting for from the library and what's coming up on your TBR? - Okay, as per my routine, I'll be going for a walk to the library after wrapping up this episode. I have a lot going on today, but getting to the library is a huge priority for me. I have six books ready for me. That is not sustainable. That is not gonna be sustainable. I'll probably have to be the Jillian Kitchen Release while I'm there. So here's what I have. Jillian, you can tell me what you think I should catch and release. Catabasus by RF Klong. Cover Story, which is a romance by Mahari McFarlane. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny by Kieran Desi. This was nominated for the National Book Award recently. That's a fiction, literary fiction. The Raven Scholar by Antonio Hodgson, which is I think Romanticie. Hagotude, which is the reimagining of the second half of life. This is nonfiction by Sharon Blacki. And Alchemized by Sennlin Yu, which is fantasy horror. Yeah. So yeah, I don't know, what are we gonna, that's untenable. That is an untenable list. - I vote for a catch and release on Catabasus. - Yeah. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny. - All right, done. Easy. Putting them back. I had a feeling Catabasus. So I'm not a big RF Klong fan. - You read Babel, right? - I've read Babel. And that's the only one. Actually, I should not say I'm not an RF Klong fan. I've only read Red Babel. I gave it 3.5 stars. I know it's some people's favorite book of all time. But I figured Catabasus is getting mixed reviews again. So I thought, you know, why not? But I think I'm gonna just catch and release it 'cause I don't know that there's so many books that I think I wouldn't wanna read before that. - Okay, well that's great. That takes me down from six to four, much more tolerable. And if you don't see me on Instagram, just know I'm under a book or a pile of books somewhere. (laughs) Next up will probably be Alchemized. My friend, Stephanie and I have been planning to buddy read this over the holidays. - Yeah, we've done this before with some of the Rebecca Yarrow fantasy books, so that should be really fun. Plus, we have our own book club buddy reads, "Node in for Christmas," which is a cozy Christmas romance. And that will be fun to enjoy together. So there's that too. - I'm excited to read that one together. I hope it turns out to be halfway decent. - I think no matter what, we will enjoy the experience of bringing it together. - Yes, that is true. (laughs) - Well, that brings us to the end of episode 52. Thanks for being here with us. It means so much to share our reading lives alongside yours. We hope you walk away with a title or two that feels exciting, comforting, or exactly what you need. Medium Lady reads is a spin-off of the Medium Lady Talks podcast and Instagram community. On Instagram, you can find me, Jillian at Jillian Finding Happy, and you can find Aaron at medium.lady for more of our current reads and other shenanigans. And of course, you can follow the podcast itself 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, Aaron. - And I'm your other host, Jillian. Until next time, we hope that your holds arrive quickly. - And your next book finds you right when you need it most. We'll talk to you soon. Bye. - Bye. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)