BONUS Book Club: We Ride Upon Sticks

June's book club was We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry. This one was DIFFERENT for sure! If you've read it before, we want to hear what you rated it!

Follow along for a goofy conversation with our special guest, Morgan Kertz, who's one of our girlfriends, book club besties, and sis-in-laws! We really had fun with this one so let us know if you enjoyed it!

CHEERS!

Transcript

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You mean what we're drinking? Yeah. I just have a coffee, but yeah. Okay, cool. Well, let's do it then. Okay. Ready? Mm-hmm. Three. Welcome to the Fill Your Cubs podcast. We're your host, Morgan and Bailey. Hello everybody. It is a bonus book club episode and today we actually have a special guest here, so it might get confusing. Actually, I didn't think about this, but I'm Morgan and our guest here today is Morgan. Also Morgan. Morgan J. Yes. Both of us are Morgan JI was gonna say that's not an easier No, Morgan J. Yeah. We both have middle names that start with J, so. Yep. But Morgan is Bailey's sister-in-law. Mm-hmm. And also one of our book club besties. And. Is that, are those the main connections? I guess so. Okay. Because I was like, besides also our friend. Yes, yes. And one of our very good friends. So she is decked out. If you're watching on YouTube, you know this, but she's decked out in her book club. It's a good day to read a book. Sweatshirt. I think you got this for me. I, I was wondering if I did like two Christmases. It either es ago it Either you or Jordan. One of you two got a, I think it was, I think I got you that one and I think Jordan got you another one. Okay. Yeah. I that's, but I, I loved that one because I thought it was cute. It's, you're so cute. A good thing. It must've been like two Christmases ago because I bet that we were both reading books and I was like, she'll love this. Yeah, it's cute. I love it. I wear it all the time. Good. I, I like it a lot too. And then we both also have our bookworm socks on. They're our book club socks. I wish I had worn mine. I would like cabin socks. I have another pair, but I think we're good. I think we're good. But yeah, so Morgan's here because we are talking about, we write upon sticks. Which was by Qua Berry, right? Mm-hmm. By Qua Berry. Good memory. I did not remember that. I dunno how I did. Yeah. But we, Bailey did not quite get through this one. Actually, several people in our book club did not get through this one, or didn't even start it. Yeah. But do you wanna tell'em how far you got? Um, yes. So at book club I kept claiming that I got 11% and I thought, I thought that I did. I looked last night at my Kindle, I got 5%. Oh my gosh. I felt like it was at least 40, but it did. It was a swan. Yeah. That is so funny. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So Morgan's here to kind of supplement the conversation because. The other 95% that Bailey didn't read might have gotten lost in our conversation. So I really think, yeah, we would've had about 5% to talk about. Yeah. And then I would've been like, let's talk about other cooks. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So Morgan did finish. She's here to help supplement. Mm-hmm. We usually on our book club episodes, we don't do like a shout out or like a, what's filling in your cup or whatever. But we did this morning, have some fun, we all have different drinks this morning. Yeah. So, Morgan, tell us what's filling in your cup today? I have a, uh, shaken espresso for summer moon. It's like my favorite. Yum. It's got a little bit of mocha in it and lots of ice. And I love some remote. Yes. Summer Moon has moon milk. Yes. So it's like a, their own recipe that they won't share. Yes. It's some special concoction of, I'm pretty sure it's like milk and cream. Like sweet sugar and sugar. Yeah. Yes. It's really good. And they have oak roasted coffee, which I feel like tastes so different than Starbucks. Ooh. Wait, what does that mean? That's like their whole thing, like the way they roast their beans is like with oak. Oh. And so it has like a little bit of like a woody, like a darker yes. And it's way less bitter to me than like Starbucks chicken espresso. It's like a lot smoother. I like that. I get so confused with how to order at Summer Moon, though. Do it in the app. It's way easier. Really? Yeah. I just feel like you said like a shaken espresso. I feel like when I go, I'm just like, oh, I don't know. I guess like a half moon. Yeah. With coffee, I'm like, I don't know what to say. Yeah. I usually, when I go, I just get, I just ask for a coffee with like a splash of moon milk. Hmm. I don't know. I get too confused. I feel that a little bit, but thank you. I love some, it is kind of, it is kind of confusing Their, their menu is, there's a lot going on. There's so much going on. That's why, that's how I always get confused because I'm like, am I supposed to put it together? Am I supposed to choose just one? What am I supposed to do here? Yeah. But anyway. Yeah. What's going your cup? I just have water now. We did. Today's a double episode day. So I had my coffee and our first episode be recorded, but now I have some water. What about you? Um, it is a double episode day and I had coffee in the first episode and I got a coffee now, two different coffees. I'm feeling good, but we checked the milligrams and it's fine. Yeah. Of caffeine. Yeah. It was only 45 milligrams of caffeine and I can have 200 a day. So let's just dive right in. Let's do it. Okay. So we ride upon sticks, which I have to say from the beginning that I always think about it. I, I always wanna say we ride upon dicks. Oh my gosh. See, that would've been a better book, I think. Oh my gosh. Well, when I first started reading it, Jared always asks about like, our book club books, or he just asks about what books I'm reading in general. Yeah. I don't think he can really keep up, because it's always like something different. It's nice to be asked. Yeah. But he'll ask, you know, what are you reading now? And I, one day I joked, I like sat down and I opened the book and I was like, I'm starting in the book club book. We write upon dicks. And he was like, wait, really? Or he was like, oh, wow. He was like, oh, that's what it's called. And I was like, no, it's not. It's, we write upon dicks. But he like, kind of believed it because sometimes we read like smut. Yeah, smut. Okay. But we have only done like an. Actual, I don't feel like we've ever done an actual smut smut book. So the Tessa Bailey one that we did for Christmas Wreck The Halls. Oh yeah. That one was smut. You didn't like it, but it wasn't that smutty it. Yeah, it was pretty tame comparatively. It it, yeah it was. Mm-hmm. And then the only other one was the February, the balance you review. Oh yeah. That one had some good smut scenes. Yeah. But Neither's the one that gets mean on all the time.'cause they're having sex in front of grandpa. Yeah. Oh yes. And you're like, had some good sex scenes. Yeah. I don't think I finished that one. Oh my God. I, I think that was my first book club I missed. It was your first book club you missed, I think that you did read the book though. Maybe I did. Yeah. Because I do remember the grandpa sex scene. Mm-hmm. Part that was like one of the last chapters, wasn't it? It was towards the end there. It was like really, really far in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes I get confused with that one and the Pumpkin Spice Cafe.'cause they also have like some weird sex scenes in that one, one. And so sometimes I mix them up a little bit. Yeah. So all three of those have like sexual scenes or like SS muddy ish scenes in them. But they're steamy but not s muddy. Yeah. The three of the, yeah, none of those are like full on smut. Okay. But then we go to something like credence, like I don't think that's smut. That's like straight up horn. Yeah. So like where does the spotlight get drawn? I don't think credence should exist. So, past the line. Oh my gosh. Very far past the line. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Well we write upon dick's was not smut. Oh yeah. No, not at all. And it, and it's, we write upon Dick, not dick's. So, yeah. But because we have read some, some like explicit stuff in book club and because I do read explicit stuff regularly, Jared, Jared thought that there was a chance that it was called, we write upon dicks. So now like I, every time we say we write upon sticks, like I wanna say dicks, but, which is actually funny'cause it, there was really not that much male female sex happening in this book. No, no. Like at, at the most there was more like female female stuff going on sexually. It was very much like a girl group book. From what I'm, yes. Hearing from what I'm hearing.'cause I got 5% of the way in. But it felt like it was supposed to be very female empowerment and like, um, coming of age. Like young teenage girls. Yeah. So the pitch of it is that it's a group of women or girls who are in high school Uhhuh, who are on a field hockey team, which already like, is foreign to US American. Like, yeah. This, that was a hard concept in America. Right. But like, I don't know anyone. I don't never heard of. Okay, so it was like in Salem? Yeah. Was it in Salem? Yes, it was outside of it. Yeah, it was a neighboring city. Okay. Somewhere in Massachusetts. But like, their claim to fame, is that Salem's next door or something? Yes. But it's a group of field hockey, uh, players who like band together to, they perform like this ritual that they think is gonna help them win the field hockey championship. Yeah. So there's like a little bit of like witchcraft in there. Mainly the whole thing is like them banding together, like believing in each other. Mm-hmm. Growing up, winning games. Mm-hmm. You know, whatever. And, and there's like obviously all this like character development during that time. Yeah. And. You know? Yeah. Turns out it goes through their lives. Yeah. Turns out they don't actually win the championship, but then I know what the heck, and then at the end you get to see all the characters like 30 years later or what, however many years. Yeah. We love a good epilogue. Yeah. Yeah. It was nice to see them all because when you're in the heads of the, these teachers are so you're like, oh, they, they're kind of crazy. Oh, true. They're kind of ridiculous. Yeah. But I really love the epilogue. I think I said this in book club, but like the final, maybe quarter of the book or even like fifth of the book was my favorite part. Mm-hmm. Because, and I did like the epilogue because we see them and we're like, okay. And it sums it up, and I love a good resolution. Mm-hmm. But I felt like for the duration of most of the book, my general thought was like, what the fuck is mowing on? Yeah. I think that was most people's terms. This book is so hard to talk about because like 80% of the book is just. Each chapter is like dedicated to the team that they're playing against. Yeah. Yeah. But only like 10% of that chapter is actually about the game. The rest of it's like, okay, what are we doing to prepare for this game? Okay, we gotta make some sort of, we have to act bad and, and make some sort of sacrifice to our who they believe is like helping them win. Yeah. Yeah. Estelle, wait, what's the, what was Esteban? Emilio. Emilio? Yes. Was it Emilio? Esteban? I dunno what it was. Was that, I have no idea. Oh, wait, because they named it after a famous person. Yeah. I think it was Emilio. Esteban Bitches. Is that a real person? I don't know. I You said he was real? I thought he was made up for the book. I think he's real. He's like a real celebrity. They made where? Estevez. Okay, but that's Estefan. It's estevez. Yeah. They, it says teenage girls, hockey players turn to ridiculous witchcraft and keep all their spells in, in Emilio Estevez notebook. Yeah. Dude, whenever you say that line, this book had such potential to be so funny and like cute and exciting and I feel like it was just the opposite of that, in my opinion. I felt like the author, I feel like the author has a, has a very specific sense of humor. Yeah. And I feel like the author. Feels like they are very funny and people that have that same sense of humor. I could see liking the book. Yeah. But I just felt like the sense of humor was too much. Like, it was like the jokes were too, like niche meta, almost like, like you had to, like, throughout the book, you had to like, have gotten this joke in order to get this joke. And I, it was, to me, I was like, this is too much. Didn't you like everyone on this train as a suspect? Because that was Yeah. That's why I didn't like that one. Yeah. I, because it was so meta, it was like breaking the fourth wall all the time. Yeah. This book, I feel like, wasn't meta, but a lot of the references and the jokes and stuff were so tied to eighties culture. Yeah. That I knew nothing about'em. I'm just like, this reference is completely lost on me. Mm-hmm. Okay. Haven't we, or you guys talked about this at book Club, that this is like a really well liked author, right? Yes. So, or like, so Shelby picked this? Yes. And me and Shelby both like this Canadian. Book, YouTuber book, YouTuber, Uhhuh, her name's, books and Lala. And this is one of her favorite books, like of all Time. Oh wow. And part of it, I can't imagine calling the anybody. Okay. Calling this their favorite book. This is why, um, like me, I feel like this is what me and Shelby have in common with this book. Tuber is, well, I will a hundred percent always saying believe it is that it is a bigger crime to be boring than it is to be like bold and daring. Oh, for sure. Like quirky. Yeah. So to me, I liked this book because I read over a hundred books a year usually. Yeah. And this stood out so much, like it was definitely weird. Wait, you liked this book? I gave it three stars. Oh, okay. Okay. I, it was, she said it was like solid. Yeah. Solid. Yeah. I think there was a lot of things I didn't like about it, but there's a lot of things that I thought was what I liked the characters. I liked how quirky they were. I think they were very quirky. I think the sex stuff kind of was like, where it lost me a little bit in the eighties, references and stuff. But like, I like a good coming of age. Yeah. I like a good, like female empowerment. This book was told in first person, plural. So like weird. I never ever read a book. What does that mean? So that means every time it was like, we did this, we did that. But you never know who we is. Like you think it's the narrator and somebody, but in this case it's, we as the collective team. Like they're, it's kind of like enforcing that thought that they are all like, bound together. Like they are one Yes. Oh, first person. Which, which is kind of like, they, they were supposed to be in the book because they were supposed to be connected through Emilio or whatever. Yeah. Which, okay. Tell me your thoughts on that. Do you feel like we were actually supposed to believe that they were like hearing each other's thoughts? No, I was just gonna ask that. I think you're supposed to believe that like the power of delusion was strong enough that they believed it because like, that's how I felt about the witchcraft and like the being bad and stuff. But when it w when it came to the. Mind stuff. I was confused because in the physical book, did you, you said you did both physical and audio, right? Yeah. So in the physical book, whenever they were talking through their minds, it was in italics. Mm-hmm. Which, like, in a normal book, those thoughts are private. Yeah. But they were taught, they were literally responding to each other. Yeah. I think it's more of like, um, kind of like when you can look at somebody and you can, and know what they're thinking. Yes. Yeah. But it was definitely like more exaggerated. Yeah. And I think it was like, again, just like reinforcing the belief that they, they really did believe that this, which crap was what was causing the weight gain. I know. So that's why I got the feeling that it seemed more like a middle school age. Yeah. Than high school age. Yeah. Because I'm like, I mean, seventh and eighth graders totally would've been like, oh yeah, like. The witchcraft stuff is helping us win this because are we not supposed to believe that the witchcraft was like actual witchcraft? No, I don't think so. No. It was just power delusion. Yes. I thought so. Power our sisterhood and power Deion. But also, yeah, when you're like, I, I don't know, do you ever like hear people talk about like the friendships that you form at that age or like the most intense Yeah, like the relationships you have with the most intense, like, it's just like it, it's supposed to be like that. Like when you're a teenager, everything is just so extreme and you bond together so quickly and so dramatically and like For sure. That's so true. I'm sure. Yeah. Actually I'm sure in high school I definitely would've thought me and Sophie could read each other's minds. Yeah. And like I still kind of do think that sometimes. So. Yeah. Yeah, I could see it. I, I do get what you're saying though.'cause like the bracelets thing, I remember having like friendship bracelets or it wasn't even a bracelet, it was a piece of a sock that they were tearing off. Oh, okay. I thought you were saying I like, that's the same thing they did. No, but that's what I'm saying. Like I could see that more in like middle school than in high school. Yeah. Yeah. But I do agree that I, the, the team did feel I, like, I could relate to the friendships or like the things that they talked about and the intensity, like you said, can't really relate to the, like dancing naked in the woods thing. Yeah. But I wouldn't have done that as a high schooler. Totally would've done that in college. At 20, we did go 19 skinny dip. Yeah, we did baby shower. I pretty much will be naked anytime I can Here at your bridal shower, not mine, at, at a bridal shower. We were drinking and their, her, it was, it was at, it was at her aunt's and their yard leads into like kind of a lake, like a shared lake among, and it was really, really late and dark. And we were all like, let's get in the water. And we did. Mm-hmm. Anyway, so back to the book. So the dancing Naked in the Woods thing, that was where I was like, what? That turned so fast. Mm-hmm. And wasn't it part of their like ritual? Some? I think so. Yeah. I there was more than just dancing. They were like kissing and, oh yeah. Yeah. Like a full on orgy. Yeah. It's West Mu I think again, it is kind of like the coming the age thing. Yeah. Explore sexuality. It's definitely exploring the sexuality. Well, they were also like, maybe in the eighties they were more bold. That's what I was, maybe I was just more reserved as a kid.'cause I would never, well there was that line where they're talking about, um, practicing Safe Sex by Douching with Dr. Pepper. Is that what it was? Oh yeah. Yeah. I hope that was not something somebody actually has done before. I feel like probably people have done it before. It's like the, you hear old wives tales of whatever, like. I feel like, no, that wasn't practicing safe or it was contraception. Her form of contraception. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So, so yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I, I do feel like people hear things and then they just assume it to be true. Well, and there was such probably like little, I mean there still is, but even then it was probably even more taboo to talk about sex. Oh, for sure. You weren't talking about sex in the eighties. No, sure. Unless it was the rock bands. Yeah. And we're talking about sex. Nobody else was, I'm sure sex education was lacking. Yeah. That makes me feel so bad for them, that that's what they resorted to. I don't know. That's crazy. I know. I wonder. Yeah. I mean, there's gotta be someone in the billions of people in the universe that have actually done that. But I'm like, was that a thing or was that the author being funny with you? Yeah, it was kind of funny. I feel like it, I feel like it was both. Yeah. Like I feel like she was trying to be funny and maybe she did just conjure up what is the weirdest thing that I could say right now. But also, but also kind of like making a play on that. I could actually see somebody doing that because they heard that it prevents pregnancy. Yeah. And they think it works. Yeah. That's insane. Wait, okay, now I wanna know, did people actually think that in the like eighties Google did people douche Douching Doctor Pepper with a Doctor Pepper? Oh my God. Yeah. What if it's like a huge thing that people actually were doing? I don't know. I mean it probably wasn't. It just is probably something that like, again, I feel like she's kind of making a play on that. We will believe anything, but it's the AI overview is like, it's important to understand that Douching with Dr. Pepper or any other solution is not an effective me method of birth control. Dude, that's crazy. It does say while rumors. Yeah. Read it. Oh my God. Rumors about using Dr. Pepper or other concoctions as douches for contraception may have circulated particularly in the eighties. That's so wild. But it's unsupported. I wanna go ask people that we knew in the eighties. Did you ever hear about that? Parents generation? Yeah, it is. But yeah, it does say that Douching in general, like not necessarily with Dr. Pepper, but Douching in general was really, really popular in the 19 hundreds. Well, does that include the eighties? This part out, but have you ever douche? No. No. Me either. I didn't really know because I've always heard it's not good for you putting liquid into your vagina to flush it out. That's so weird. What are we flushing out? All of your good stuff that's in there. Like it's a self-regulating system. That's why people don't do it anymore. Okay, cool. It was like cool. Part of the whole like shaming women for like having discharge and stuff. Yeah, and like making them feel like they're dirty. Dirty. Yeah. It's definitely a lot to do with that. That's so sad. How many people like. Older than us are still douching like, ew. Hopefully nobody, they might be though, if that's what they grew up hearing. Yeah. I guess. And they've been douching since they were like 10. Yeah. But it's well known now. I feel like. Well, maybe not in every country though. Yeah. I dunno. I mean, even for this one, like, I don't know, I'm just thinking about the people that like still shaved their legs every single day. What I do that shave your legs every day. I was like, that doesn't seem as bad as douchie. I Okay. Not as bad, but I hate having stubby legs. That's like 10 legs every day. Yeah, that's like top 10 egg for me. Like I shave mine like probably once a week. I mean by like every three weeks. I was gonna say'cause people shave legs all time. Yes. That, yeah. But, but do you see what I mean about like douching, like a concept? Like bring that No, but I'm just saying like a concept like that, like Yeah. You wouldn't know the difference if someone tells you, this is just fact. Yeah. This is what you do. Yeah. You don't question it. Yeah. Yeah. You wouldn't know. And if, I mean, or your friend tells you, like, yeah. When you're that age in high school, your friend tells you like, oh yeah, you need to be doing this. Yeah, yeah. Like, oh shit. Okay. Yes, exactly. Oh, I remember, I remember one time, this is again personal, but I don't care about it. But I, I remember one time a friend telling me. That her sister shaves her ass or something. And she wa and I was like, whoa, that's weird. And she was like, no, it's not. You'll probably start doing it one day. And I was like, oh my gosh. And then I thought about that all the time. Like, when am I supposed to start shaving my ass? I totally shaved my butt crack over. Me too. But, but I'm just saying like, I never would've thought about it if that person hadn't said that. Yeah. And so it's just like you hear these things and especially at that age, they're formative. Yeah. So like they, they live in your brain. Mm-hmm. And you think about'em forever and you're like, oh, should I be doing that? Should I not be doing that? Yeah. And whatever. So I don't know. It was a weird. It was a especially weird one because the Dr. Pepper especially, but I, I dunno, I felt like some of those comments I was like, yeah, it, it was weird but it actually didn't, like we talked about that in book club for quite a while and I was like, it actually didn't really phase me that much.'cause I feel like kids just think the ran weirdest stuff. Well I also think that was so real because like mm-hmm. When you're that age, you're like every, everything is new. Everyone's sharing their experiences. Everyone's like, oh my God, have you done this yet? Or, yeah, whatever. Google was not around back then. No. So you're learning only, you're learning everything just by word of mouth and that's like, you take it as truth'cause you don't know. Yes. So I thought that was so real. I actually really liked that. Mm-hmm. Especially, I think that added to the whole coming of age thing for sure shows their age. Shows like. The sisterhood of it. Yeah. Yeah. How they were all doing that. It was such a sisterhood book. I know a lot of people were like, they wanted it to be more of a wholesome sisterhood and book club. Mm-hmm. But I still liked it. Mm-hmm. I liked how kind of like dark and funny it was. I love a good coming of age book and I think that had this book been a little easier to follow, I feel like I would've really liked it, but I just do feel like the whole time I was like, what? What's going on? Or like the sentences would be like entire paragraphs. Yes. But one sentence and I'd be like, where are we? It was almost stream of consciousness and it was because it was the collective stream of conscious, stream of consciousness, like what you were saying about it being. First person, plural. And I, that was the reason that it was so hard for me.'cause we set this in book club. A lot of people echoed this thought in book club that the concept is strong. Mm-hmm. The concept is funny. Like there's a lot there. You could do a lot with it. The synopsis of the book. Great. Yeah. But then when I was actually reading it, I found myself having to reread over and over.'cause I was like, what did that just say? What is the claw? And then I would, yes. Oh yeah. Yeah. It and it, that's the thing, like if you miss that, which I read it physically, but whether you read it physically or audio, like if you accidentally like miss something. Mm-hmm. And then they start referencing the claw, which is basically another character, but some girl's hairstyle. Yeah. You're like, what is going on? Is this real? And I think because they're like, we've already talked about was that supposed to be real or was that supposed to be fake or whatever. Like, were they actually doing that? Were they not? I feel like because that was so. Confusing. That is what made it hard for me. Mm-hmm. And made it like a slower book for me. I only gave it two stars because I was like, I did like the end. Yeah. And I did think that the concept was interesting and it was different. Mm-hmm. But I was like, it, it was too hard for me to read. It was too rough of a read. Yeah. I think the biggest attracting thing from the way this book is written is that it's, it is told in this very meandering way where it's like, okay, they're gonna play this team today, but first we're gonna check in on them at their lockers and there's gonna be this niche eighties reference. And then yeah, they're gonna have this dialogue or whatever, and then we're gonna get to the like it was a very like winding road Yes. Incident. And most stories are told very straightforwardly. Yeah. That get to the point pretty quickly. Yes. And the eighties references were a little much, I think. Mm-hmm. It's. I think maybe if this was told with references that we knew about, like, like nineties references might, well, instead of a claw, maybe it was the 2010s bump. You know what I mean? Like no bump. Right. So like I think just being in on it would've, like, made it more enjoyable for a lot of people. Yeah.'cause it was not very highly rated. Yeah. Like if the, if the notebook was Justin Timberlake instead of Yeah. Amelia Emilio es es, yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. I do wonder. Yeah. I, I actually feel like that's really true. Yeah. Like, I feel like the pop culture and the media of it would've been more fun to read. Yes. And we had understood it. Yes. Yeah. I feel like the drawback of the writing style plus what you said about not being in on the references mm-hmm. Made it really, really tough. I don't know if correcting, like if making the references today would've helped enough for me with like the writing structure and style and like you said, how winding it was and. I discovered I don't like first person, plural. Yeah. In this book. But I, I don't know if it would've been enough, but it definitely would've helped it because I, I do think that those were two things that I was like, that was part of why I was like, what is going on? Like Yeah. I don't, I can't tell if this is a reference or if she's actually saying like, I, it was confusing. Yeah. So that's what is speculative about this book? Like, you don't know really. I don't think the witchcraft was something you're supposed to believe in, but technically it could have been real. Right. Like, I feel like that's self, we did not talk about that at book club. Yeah. I didn't even have that question at book club. Like, are we supposed to believe it? Yeah. It's definitely weird. That's what it's an out there book and it is a little bit speculative. Mm-hmm. And like, stuff like that is just like so fun to read because it's just so out of the realm of anything else you will ever, you'll probably never read a book like this ever again. Probably not. Yeah. Does this book, does any of it have elements of like magical realism? No, not really. The magic is like very secondary, you know, like it's not talked about a whole lot. It's not like a core plot point. You just see them like committing their names to this book and they're believing in it and they're committing bad deeds to, you know, so their bad deeds are supposed to be like sacrifices. Yes. Yeah. And that, and the worse they are, the more likely they are to win a game or whatever. Yeah. The thing is though, I don't actually feel, it doesn't feel magical in the book. I felt like the book was way more about like coming of age and then I. Like these things that they're going through as teenagers. And it didn't feel magical to me or like mystical even. It felt to me like what you were saying earlier, like it was just about their belief. Mm-hmm. And that they, they were just like, oh yeah. You know, I, I don't know. It, it was less about the actual magic because even at the end, one of the characters, I can't remember which one, who loses the game for them? Is it eight? It's Abby, you mean Abby? Abby? Yeah, that's right. The Smoothie Girl. Yes. Abby's Organics or something like that. Mm-hmm. But yeah, so she like loses the game on purpose and then she makes a point of saying like, basically her kind of the final thought as them as teenagers is like, I wanted to miss it because I wanted to show you guys like we. It wasn't the witchcraft that made us win all season. Like we actually were like practicing really hard and we were like implementing strategies and Well she was team captain and she never signed the book. Oh, that's right. Yeah. So she was never a believer in the first place. Like she participated like reluctantly, like okay, yeah, I'll put the arm in on, or whatever. Yeah. But I don't think she ever signed the book. Yeah. Oh. And so her whole thing all along was like she didn't really believe in it and then she threw the game to prove to them that it wasn't real. This is like a great movie. Yeah, I think so. Make a great, especially like a great like kids movie.'cause it almost reminded me of Inside Out too, where I haven't seen it yet. Okay. So Ri the main character. Oh, she plays hockey. She plays hockey, but she's, it's like her trying to fit in with the team and like her trying to choose if she's more part of the team or like her other friends who may be team. So like it's, it's not the same, but it did remind me of it a little bit of just like that they're in high school and things like that. Yeah. It might have been in the middle school. Or something, but, um, yeah, all that stuff, yeah. Just the dynamics of finding yourself when you're that age. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And when you are tempted to do like this thing with this group or whatever, but mm-hmm. Yeah, I don't know. I did not feel like we were actually supposed to believe the witchcraft was doing anything either. Just more so that like their belief and I feel like even them, like bonding more and gaining chemistry together and stuff like that was helping them improve. Yeah. Mm-hmm. But yeah, I feel like straight up at the end they, it, they're basically saying like, no, that wasn't the, the witchcraft wasn't legit. Yeah. But it's so funny whenever we talk about books that I haven't finished because I'm like, it sounds so good when we're talking about it. It sounds so like, it sounds like a four or five star book. Yeah. I don't think you would love it that much. I can tell you I didn't, I got 5% in Yeah. But when we talked about Abby, it did remind me that this was a big discussion. Um, about like, she had a perceived like eating disorder. Mm-hmm. And I feel like this was the thing I was picking up as you guys were talking, that it seemed like a lot of the characters were like a minority of some sort. Yeah. Or like had a minority of some sort. You guys should talk about that. Yeah. Pretty much. Just every girl. There was some, I think that again, it was kind of highlighting that at that age, everybody's going through something. Mm-hmm. And like Abby, they didn't straight up say she had an eating disorder, but it was really clear she was always eating like a fruit or a ve like raw vegetable or something weird like that. And so clearly, like she's going through some whatever nutritional thing, there's a word for it. It's like, I can't remember. We'd have to look it up. It, it's like anorexia, but it's hyper health. Vigilance. Like you only eat healthy food and you will not let yourself eat anything. In vi, I can't remember what it's called, but that was like something she was going through. And then there were other characters that were going through like being a different ethnicity or there's a couple Asian characters, Uhhuh were not treated great. Mm-hmm. Which was a little, I mean, it's definitely. Apart for the course for the eighties, right. Yeah, it was probably accurate for what was happening. There was a black character that was also, uh, probably went through some microaggressions and comments. I think they talked about her hair too. And Yeah, they did. Really? Um, but I think the most, like diverse charact, I don't know if that's a thing, but what I thought made a good pride month read for was because Boy Corey. Yeah. Oh yeah. There's a girl, Corey and a boy Corey, and boy Corey, uh, is on the women's field hockey team, which already in the eighties is like, yeah. Pretty crazy. Yeah. Yeah. But then on that team, later in adulthood, I don't know. How was that? I don't know. They didn't really ever explain that he was just a part of the tv. Just wanted the get go. Wanted. Yeah, I guess so. But wasn't he also like, he stayed with the boys, or like Yeah, I think he, well, he had the, he was separated. He had the boys' locker room. Um Oh, okay. Maybe just a boys' locker room. Maybe. I was thinking like the boys' camp or something. Oh my God. No, I think he was at their camp. But, um, anyway, he, he was a boy through the whole field hockey team, and then later in adulthood. Transition to a woman. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, which I thought was like pretty cool for a story for the, like, that is very unexpected, I think. Oh, for sure. Don't hear a lot of stories like that. It was surprising. I feel like, I wonder, I,'cause the author that wrote this did grow up in Danvers, Massachusetts. Yes. San that's what it was. And in the eighties and like she, I, it made me wonder, I feel like she was writing from experience mm-hmm. And maybe not all of those characters existed. Yeah. But I'm, I think that she probably, I would a collection of, I would guess that maybe today she's like talked with her friends from that time and been like, oh my God, remember how we felt about this thing? And that was crazy. And yeah. Like, and now it makes so much sense like, boy Corey, or, you know, that sort of thing. Mm-hmm. I'm sure the. Person in her life isn't actually, boy Corey. But it makes me wonder, like if there's someone in her life that transitioned and she's like, mm-hmm. Oh, that made so much sense. Like yeah, once you reflect on it, it makes sense. But we were all just so worried about our own problems, that sort of thing. Yeah. I know this book was own voices in the sense that she was black. The author in AJ in the book is Black and also playing Field of hockey. I think that was the self insertion. Oh, that makes sense. Um, yeah, and then I'm sure some of those people reflected real life people too, so Yeah, I did like that you guys were talking about how like I did not know she went to Danver High School and like the mascot was her mascot and like all that stuff. I thought that was pretty cool. Yeah. In the book, the physical one. At the end, there's like a picture of the author at like that age. That's so fun. I think like cheering or something like that. Yeah. Think she was like in marching band or something. Oh, okay. Yeah. That sounds great. I think she had, I don't know, like the plume something. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that that's really fun. I always love when I love a good author's note, especially when it has to do with the book itself. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I, I liked, once I discovered that, I liked that because I was like, oh, I think that she probably, a lot of this probably is realistically like what she experienced. Yeah. And so she, she wants to highlight that time and kind of kept capture it in history in a, in a, I mean, it is fiction, but in a way that I don't know, in a creative way. Mm-hmm. And so I did like knowing that I just, I still like struggled with the execution so much. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I. I did like this book. I think I was the only person who knew it above two stars. Yeah. But I think a, like, it's really unique. I've never, I am such a sucker for like unique writing style. Yeah. Like I read a book, that was all, um, do you know what Slack is? Yeah. It was told all in Slack messages like I and stuff. It was really interesting. And I think, like I've read lots of books that are mixed media, so there'll be like podcast, trans text message. Yeah. Podcast transcripts, text messages, emails, whatever. I think that is just such an interesting way I do like when they add those in, I like those too. So the fact that this was told in a unique, I've never read a book in first, first person, plural. Probably never will Again, it's, it's so rare. There's like probably 1% of books are ever written in that. Yeah. So I think like that already was like, that was so cool. I don't know. To me, I'm like, when we read, um, last Christmas in Paris, which was told in letter format Oh, letters. I liked that one. Epistolary. Mm-hmm. I just think that's, it's, so that's word fascinating. Like that is like one of my favorite things about reading is like just unique. Experiences. Yeah. So I liked it. Yeah. I, I like, or I liked that last Christmas in Paris I really liked. That's hilarious. I, I don't think that, I don't know, I don't think it's just because it was first person, plural, because I like didn't love that writing style. But I think it was just also like some of her, the way that she, her syntax. Like style just of confusing. Yeah. It definitely was meandering. There was way too many eighties references that I did not understand. Mm-hmm. But I was willing to overlook that because I really liked the characters and how strong their bond was. And yeah, you got a little bit of time with each character. For the most part. We didn't get, yeah. But you really got to like, know them and see them like bond. And I don't know, it kind of reminded me like I'm not that nostalgic for high school sports, but it did remind me of playing soccer. Yeah. Like me and Bailey used to play soccer together, like mm-hmm. Riding the bus and I don't know, like it made gave me a little bit of like, nostalgia for that. Yeah. Um, and obviously there's a lot of weird aspects to it. Like the group touching, kissing under the whatever. I, I honestly didn't even mind that, like the content was not bad. It was just like so hard. To, I think I could without the sexual content in that way.'cause it was just so like distracting I feel like. Yeah, that's what, um, Lindsay said it was really crude. Is that the word she crass? Yeah, I think that's what she said. Uh, and that it was just really like, like the sexual content could have been there, but they talked about it so outrageously. I liked So like the part where Julie's like he thumbed my nipples or whatever. Yeah. I liked how like real and like raw. That was Uhhuh. It's just the parts where they're like under the moonlight and they're like trying to, oh, everyone's taking their clothes off. They're like, okay, this is weird. I think it's probably because it's less relatable like the Yeah, the to my nipple thing. Like I could see someone that I knew saying that. Yeah. Oh yeah, that happened. It's funny. It's like, oh my God. Yeah. Like that probably did happen. Whereas like, I. Maybe people did this, but like I did not know very many people that were stripping down naked on a field. No. And like kissing and touching and like all sorts of things. Like with multiple people. Yeah. In high school. Yeah. Like, I don't, I don't, or in general, but specifically in high school. And like we said this earlier, like, oh yeah, I would like, I would maybe like. Get naked or something like maybe in college, like I could see myself getting drunk and getting naked and running around or like something like that. So it's not as much about that, but specifically like basically like the orgy vibe. Yes. Yeah. I don't, that's not relatable, especially with teenagers. Yeah. It's a little uncomfortable, but it does get weird reading about sex lives of teenagers. Yeah. A little bit. When you're like, Ooh, I'm an adult now. Yeah, yeah. You know that trend that's like, Ooh, is this illegal? No, it feels illegal. I, we don't know. We're too old. But you guys are too old. Are you? Are you on TikTok at all? Oh, a little bit, but not a lot. Okay. It's definitely a TikTok trend for sure, but it reminds me of that. That's funny. I feel like this book reminded me so much of summer. I don't know. Is that weird? It just gave me so much. No, it gave me summer vibes. Yeah. Like it gave me like. Summer night, like Friday night, lights, vibes, I don't know. Like outta game, I think because it was like, isn't it a spring season sport or something? Like, it felt like it was leading up to finishing school. I see. And like going into summer. I think they had like summer training camp. Was that one part of it? Oh, that's right, that's right. Because it was hot and they were like, yeah. And I'm like, that was so relatable because we had soccer training camp in the summer. I, I think also when I think about being like in school or like a teenager or something, or a kid, like the summer stand out. Yeah. I don't know. I, it made me a little bit nostalgic for likes like high school summers and whatever. Yeah. Which I like, would never, ever go back to high school. No. But like, I don't know, this gave me a little bit of nostalgia for it, which is crazy.'cause I'm just, I'm always like, high school was like not a great time. Yeah. Like I wouldn't ever go back. But there were some nice parts of it. I guess it could be nostalgic for They put the rose colored glasses. Now you, yeah. Okay. It did gimme a little bit of that. Like nostalgic high a little bit. Yeah. And remind me of summer. Yeah. I don't know. I liked it. Yeah. There was some, it, it did remind me of like being that age, which I think is the point. Yeah. I, another element that was like relatable, not nostalgic at all, but when we were talking about,'cause the 30 years later. They're all getting together for the wedding. Mm-hmm. And it's the, like, throughout the story, there's like a rumor that one of the girls is sleeping with the teacher. Oh yeah. And he's like a few years older than her, I think. Mm-hmm. And then, but it's like really taboo, which it is taboo. Still mad. Yeah. They're bad. Yeah. And we actually like know people in our, in our community that like there's stuff being talked about with this and stuff. And so it was interesting. That sounds crazy. Makes just sound like people that like are in our immediate lives. Like we actually know people. No, our community, our city, our community, our schools. Yeah. Like that's our community. It's happening right now. Yes. I don't think when you say community, uh, I didn't say friend group. No, you didn't, which was good. I wanted to clear it up. Okay. Yeah. We don't know. Just people that we've heard about in our school system that we grew up in. Yes. That there's like some taboo stuff happening with like. Teacher student relationships or whatever. Yeah. And it was interesting reading about it in the book because I do feel like she implemented her voice a little bit there too because she's, and it was confusing because when you say, when you do first person, plural, you're saying we and stuff. So she, she's had a little like note about it at some point where she was like, look, we're not saying that. Mm-hmm. Teacher, like that they're not abusing power, like if they're whatever, like she was saying, like basically there's nuance to every situation. Yeah. I think her comment was, we're not, I'm not saying this is okay by any means, but this is definitely something that was happening. Yeah. Like, and she said, she did say that. She said like, but we. Saw this happen. Yeah. Like we saw this happen. This in the author's note? No, it was like a, a side in the book. Like it was written in, it was in the, it was in the book. Like breaking the fourth wall a little bit. Yeah. It was one of those moments that kind of felt like, oh, she's talking, not like one of the characters is talking. Oh, weird. Yeah. I did not know that. That, yeah. Which the breaking the fourth wall thing. I know earlier you said that everyone is a suspect, did that too. And I did really like that book. I feel like that works better though in like a mystery like Yeah, sst, I think, well I hated it was, it was so meta like you're gonna learn who the culprit is in 256 pages. Yeah. It was like, oh my God. I was so specific. Yeah. Steve mentioned Berts name 87 times. Yes. That was crazy. But that felt to me like, like a fun mystery. It felt like watching Clue or something like that. I was like, this works for this genre to me. Yeah. I thought that was fun. That was my pick. I like already like, yeah. I don't know. Uh, that. That was one of our first book club episodes, I think, actually. Oh my God. Everyone on this train is assistant, I think it was, it was a year ago because we just moved into our house and we host it. Yeah. So, wow. That's awesome. So checks out. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, how fun. Yeah. I don't know. Are, are there other things that you feel like we didn't talk about with, we write upon? Sticks. Yeah. We didn't talk about the car smashing scene. The, that was crazy. Oh, that's just wild. Yeah. What's that? It was so Julie, it was when Julie got her nipples, Julie, her nipples thumbed. And they're like, what? No. And she said it and like a destroy, like he found my nipples and I'm like, we're gonna fucking kill him. They're like, no. So they start smashing his car and then she's like, wait, but I liked it. Oh no. And then they're like, oh. And then they just go on smashing more cars. Yeah. It's like Halloween or something. Mm-hmm. Oh my God. And they're in Salem. They got away with a lot of shit. Like they destroyed property with the cars. They set their lockers on fire inside the school. Never got in trouble. Multiple times. Multiple times. That was definitely the part that I'm like, oh, okay. This is like way beyond the realm of. Realistic. There's no way you could set multiple fires in the school. No. And nothing would happen. Yeah. There's no way. I agree. It was random. Yeah. One of'em was like really bad at like the fire spread to other people's lockers. Yes. Yeah, it was, I don't know. It was, oh, it was, um, AJ burning Huck Finn in her locker. That's why it got so big and outta control. She burned all of them. Yeah. All the h all of the copies of Huck Finn. Why? Because it says the N word, right? Yeah. Because it's Mark Twain. Yeah. Um, and she's black and she is annoyed that they have to read it, which I think is kind of fair. Yeah. I, I actually really liked her perspective when she was talking about that, not just the book, but then she was talking about the, how your teacher almost like, looks to you to ask like, well, what do you think? Like, what's your perspective in Georgia? Oh yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. It does. And it's like, um, okay. Just because I'm like the single survey able person Yes. In the room doesn't mean that happens way more with black people, but like any minority gets that, like you become the spokesperson for your entire race culture. Yes. And it's just, it's not fair. Like you're not a single unit, single mind. You don't have the same opinions. Like, I don't know. Yeah. It's, yeah. You can't just ask. I, I don't know. And, and it puts like a burden on that person too, because to teach. Yes. That's also another thing. You have to be the person to educate them on why this is racist, or why this is a microaggression, or why you can't touch my hair or whatever. Yeah. Like, yeah. I really, really liked her perspective in the book for that reason. Mm-hmm. But yeah, she was like burning like 50 copies of Huckleberry Fin, or she stole them like it was in a locked cabinet or something, and she like broke and stole it and burned it. Crazy. Yeah. Damn. Damn. They got away with a lot of stuff. They did. Sure did. It definitely felt like, I feel like there are shows like Jenny and Georgia or something like that, like they do crazy stuff. Mm-hmm. In that show. And it's like just, I don't know, you just do crazy stuff'cause you're doing so much experimenting. Not like just physically, I mean, but like experimenting with ideas and experimenting with like beliefs. Yeah. I think that's also why you say we would make a good movie. Mm-hmm. I kind of think that movies can get away with being more unrealistic and weird than books can. Oh yeah. I feel like people take books so seriously. Yeah. And wanna analyze every bit of it and be like, this isn't realistic. I think it also has to do with the imagination. Yeah. So seeing it is easier than having to That's true. Think of it yourself. Yeah. I think, um, sometimes in book club they'll be like, I don't like this. This wasn't realistic, or this was too far, or whatever. Like, I think books get judged way more harshly, way more seriously than movies for sure. I, I think they come across way more like, movies can be a lot weirder than book scan. Yes. Books Being realistic does not like, or being unrealistic is not something that really bothers me at all. Like I think that part of why our book club has a hard time with that is because we've got a lot of experts in different things. Yeah. And like, especially clinically. And so Oh yeah. We've got a lot of people that are like, that just would not be, and a lot of books have medical elements to them. Yeah. And so like for me, it does not bother me at all. Yeah. You know, but they're, I'm like not an expert in anything that a book is written about, I feel like. So I think it entirely depends on what the genre is. Um, yeah. But I totally like sympathize with, if this is your profession and you know a lot about it and they get it completely wrong, it feels like there should be like a very minimum level issue. Like a fact check at least. Yes. Like somebody should be looking at this and be like, oh, this is really wrong. Yeah. This would never happen. Yeah. I do. So that, yeah. I don't, I don't know. Realism is not like something, A book being realistic is not something that it turns me off necessarily. Mm-hmm. But I do. I don't know. I feel like I have, I feel like if it's. If it does get something wrong, I don't know. What about a book being weird? You know, like I would say this book is weird. Does that prove up? Yeah. But I let no, I was fine with it being weird. It was the way it was told that it was written really hung me. I respect Shelby so much for this pick. I know she didn't like it, but I think it's such a bold pick and I think that is so, I think we need more of that kind of stuff. Uhhuh like just really out there, Uhhuh, whatever. We usually try to go like, oh, we think people will like this book. Like it's really high ratings like that. Like that because you, you want people to read the book first all. Yeah. You want people to like it. Yeah. You want people to like it. You want there to be good discussion points, which I think even though this was the lowest rated book we've ever had Yeah. That we had. So I think our lower rater books have way more discussion. Yes. There was so much to talk about with this. Mm-hmm. I think it is just as good as picking a book that everybody liked. Yeah. But there was a lot less to talk about. Yeah. I agree. I agree. I feel like I say this all the time, that this is why I love book clubs so much is because everyone is so different. Everyone's views are so different. Everyone's like. Interests are so different. Mm-hmm. And so we do read books that we probably never would've read. Mm-hmm. And also people just react so differently to them. Yeah. So I think it's just a fun, I think it's cool too. Um, it really depends on like where you're at as a reader. Yeah. And at the time how much you enjoy the book. So like for me, this came out a really good time'cause I was like in a reading boost, like I wanted to read everything. And so I read this and it was super weird, Uhhuh. And a lot of people were like, it took me two weeks to get through. I read it in like two days. Just'cause I was like, in such a. I just wanted to read a kick. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, this is so weird and interesting. I'm like, I can really get through this because it, it's so new and novel. Yeah. But, um, yeah, I don't know. It just depends. And that's another thing I like about book club. Like, it just, it, the book Right book comes to you at the right time. You're like, wow, this is really good. Yes. Yeah. You said that one time. I think it was the Pumpkin Spice Cafe book, but you were like, you are like Yeah. It was definitely like a right time write book for me. And I, and I think about that all the time now when I read books about like, if I didn't like it, I'm like, Hmm. Right. Book wrong time. Yeah. Or something like that. Well, it helps.'cause I think we had just read Recursion before that, and that was such a huge like mind, kind of a heavy list, like, yeah. Yeah. So having a really easy, like cute read was like, oh, that was literally the perfect little break that I needed. This is what we needed. So, yeah. No, I think about Right place, right time. A lot. Yeah. With books now I do too. And it, yeah. Where you are at with. What you're reading matters and then what mm-hmm. You expect from the book matters. Awesome. Expectations that what's going on in your life. Yeah. Yeah. I think this book suffered from expectations. Yeah. Because a lot of people thought this was gonna be a cutesy, like, almost like Halloweeny Salem, like witchy all witch bags. And that was not at all what it was. I didn't expect that. I actually remember someone saying, oh, it's like a field hockey team in Salem. And I was like, I honestly, like, I, I didn't actually think that the synopsis actually sounded that interesting to me, really at the, at the time. But I feel like the content actually like, actually was really good. I just had a really hard time reading it'cause it was so, yeah. Confusing to me. But I, I also, I did tell Bailey this, but I am reading that storm. I feel like I talk about this on every book club episode because I'm been reading these books for so long, for so long. But these like. A thousand to like 1500 page books. Like the current one I'm reading is 1300 pages. It's the Stormlight Archives. And I've been reading those and I was in, I was in the middle of the fourth one. Mm-hmm. And I was like, I'm gonna need to start. We write upon sticks and I actually, the fourth one has been my favorite so far. Oh. And so I was kind of like, I feel like it's drawing me away from that. Yeah. And so that also I think, impacted how I felt about it because I was like, place once. Yeah. And I would be reading it and I would, and I would be frustrated because like I said, I had to like reread. And at some point I was like, you know what, whatever, if I didn't get it the first time, I'm moving on. But I, at first I was like, try, I was rereading stuff and I was like, this is so frustrating. Like, I feel like I'm reading this book twice, basically. Yeah. Because I have to reread everything and I have another book that I really am wanting to read. Yeah. And so that, that was. I do think that that makes a big difference. Mm-hmm. I agree. Well, I hope we get another weird pick in book club. Yeah. Uh, our next, our next one's not weird, it's a romance, which we haven't done. It's great. Big, beautiful life by Emily. He, yes. Yes. And Brittany picked this one. We haven't done a romance in a little while, I think. Yeah. It's been a minute. Yeah. And yeah, and we were saying that last book club, I think we were like saying we haven't really done romance in a while. Those pictures of you romance kind of, it was sad. It was another race and romance and it was another coming of age kind of too. Yeah, a little bit. Because you kind of go back to their past of like being teenagers and stuff. Yeah. There were romantic elements, but I wouldn't classify it as romance. Yeah. I'm excited for this next book. I think this book for me will be right place by time. Okay, good. Cool. I'm, yeah, I haven't started it yet, but I'm looking forward forward to it. I've already read it, but I read it when it came out a couple months ago. You and Brittany both have already, Britney, the other Britney saw have both read it already and. When Brittany Hole was asking me if it was a good book, I was like, I, I know that Morgan has read it and I know Brittany's read it, but I don't know if anybody else has read it and I don't think anybody else has. But a lot of people like Emily Henry. So Emily Henry is always gonna be like a must read for me because I love Me too. Me too. I've, I've never. Disliked one, which maybe this one will be different'cause you didn't love this one. Yeah. Spoilers. We'll talk about that in next episode, but, but yeah, I Great. Big beautiful Life. Yes. Okay. Emily Henry. Yeah. Great. BBL. That's what, that's what it gets MeMed on. Wait, what's BBL? I feel like you asked this last time. Oh my gosh. The Brazilian, but, oh, yes, yes. I have asked that. Yeah. I was gonna say, you, you know what it is, I just can't pull like acronyms. I remember. I remember asking that, but I couldn't remember the answer. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Maybe I just need to listen better. Well, I'm excited for that one. I thought this discussion was fun, even though I got 5% in Yeah. If you have read this book, we write upon sticks and you Well, I was gonna say, and you ranked it really highly or rated it really highly, but whatever you rated it, if you just read it at all. Yeah. Yeah. You should leave a comment and tell us your thoughts, because I'm so curious what the internet thinks about this book. Appar. Apparently people really like it on the internet. It's like rated four stars. Yeah, it's rated really highly. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna hear why. I wanna hear If you like it, if you liked it, if you like other weird books. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.'cause if you've never read something like this, you're probably like, either are gonna love it'cause it's so new, or you're gonna be like, what the hell is this? Like, there's gonna be no in between asked. Yeah. I Yeah, I wanna read a couple and then get back to you and tell you if Yeah. Okay. If the weird bothers me or not. Yeah. I think that's everything I had. Yeah. Do you have anything else for this book? No, just. We love you, Shelby. We, sorry. Love you, Shelby. Nobody liked your book, Shelby? Except for me. Oh my God. Oh yeah. Including her. She also hated it. She hated it. She didn't like it either. Yeah. She was roasting it more than anybody. Yeah. Also, we all kept saying like, the ratings of your book do not reflect you as, as a person we feel about you, uh, in any way, shape, or form. No. So, yeah, Alright, well on that note, next book club episode will be in a month-ish. Mm-hmm. Yes. Otherwise we'll catch you on Monday. Yes. Thank you for joining us. Morning. Thank you for having me. Fun book club episode. I'm like in the middle of this one. I was like, we should have you on all of it because I love talking about books, so Me too. Yeah, it was fun. Alright, well, okay. Yeah, let's all get our cups. Oh, okay. And cheers. Cute, fun. I'm tired. That felt like a long chat. A long chat.