Recent Reads

In this episode, Tyra and Tabitha are talking about their recent reads, what they thought and what’s to come next! We definitely have some recommendations! Tune in to hear about the books you need to add to your tbr! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey book lovers, it's TNT BookKaven.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Where Tyra is chaotic and free-spirited. Tabitha is organized in type A. And our TBRs are totally out of control. So today we are talking about our recent reads, what we loved, what disappointed us, and what we can't stop, um, what we can't stop thinking about. Just a little reading catch-up episode. And right off the the beginning there, we are not covering any of the books that we did in our book club. So we've done our um actual full episodes on The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros and Next of Ken by Hannah Bonham Young, which was our April and May book club reads. So those are not included in this list. These are just the three recent reads that Tyra and I have gone through that were separate from the book club.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Yes. Um, so apparently, the my most recent three books, I literally just focused on fantasy. Because I got hooked. I literally got so hooked. Um, so my first book is Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole. Um, so it's a popular romantic fantasy, so romantic series about a young woman named DM Balator who uncovers secrets about her past in a world ruled by gods and their magical descendants. Um so yeah, it's a romantic in general, um, the whole series. And so I was hooked immediately.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

You've told me about it, and I think it's one that I was literally just talking to someone at work about this because obviously you got me to read Fourth Wing because you totally sold me on it. And then we read Quicksilver together, and I'm like, I just don't know if fantasy is my thing. And now after hearing you talk about this one, I'm like, okay, I need to give this one a shot because I feel like, yep, I feel like I'm gonna love it just like I did with Fourth Wing. Like, obviously, a much different fantasy story, but I think it's gonna be um one that I'm really gonna enjoy. So I'm excited to add this to my TBR. I just didn't personally read them. So um one of the most recent ones that I went through was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelly Van Pelt. Um I oh gosh. Okay, so just a quick little summary. It tells the heartwarming story of an elderly widow who forms an unlikely bond with a highly intelligent, captive Pacific octopus, which when I first heard that that was what it was about, I was not interested. Um, but it is a contemporary fiction with magical realism, um, and it does have elements of literary fiction and mystery in there as well. So, overall, just the summary. Obviously, I got that from Google, but heartwarming is exactly the way that I have described that. It was, it was just such a sweet story, and I know you have that on your TBR for your summer reads, and I cannot wait to hear what you think. That book is one that was a very surprise favorite for me. I was not expecting it to I was not expecting to like it like I did. I loved it and I've recommended it to everybody.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Um, I'm I am so excited for that book because it seriously, well, you I've seen it everywhere. And then I didn't even know they were making a movie out of it. And then I saw it on Netflix, and I know I came to you and I was just like, I'm so tempted to watch this movie. And you're like, No, don't do it! Read the book. So I'm I'm very excited to read the book and then be able to talk to you about it and then watch the movie and kind of be able to have a discussion about the book versus the movies.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Yes, it is so good, so so good. So, what was your second one that you've read recently?

SPEAKER_02 4:14

My second one that I read was Glow of the Everflame.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

The second one in the series.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

So it was following Spark of the Everflame. Um, like I said, I I got I got so hooked. So I I really don't want to say too much about Glow of the Everflame, of what it's about. Uh obviously, it's a romantic. DM Ballator is the main character. Um, and that's as much as I want to give you because I don't want to give away what is happening.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yes, no spoilers because it definitely is going to be read. And hopefully, whoever's listening, um, you are also adding it to your TBR. So spoiler-free zone here. Um, but my next one was Ask for Andrea by Noelle Eiley. I this one, so it was the genres psychological thriller, horror, and mystery. This one, I can't remember. I do a lot, um, like when I see books, I do screenshots on my phone. Um so I don't save a lot of them like on Instagram or TikTok because I feel like I always forget to go back to them, but I do screenshots and then when I'm looking for a book that I want to pick up, like if I'm at Barnes and Noble or whatever, and I'm walking through, I'm like, oh, I remember this. The whoever was posting about this said that this one was so good. And this was one that I had done a screenshot of, but I haven't seen this one talked about anywhere. Um I have it. No, it is it is definitely different. So the summary on it, it says, um, so it's a twist on the typical serial killer narrative. It's told entirely from the perspective of three ghosts, women who were mortared murdered by the same dating app predator who team up in the afterlife to stop him from killing again. And it is just so unique, it is so different from anything else that I've ever read.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

It's so interesting.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

It was very, very good. And what's so funny is we just did an episode recently on Frida, all things Freedom McFadden. And this was on her list of books that she recommended. And I had read it before we had gone through that, and I'm like, yes, Frieda McFadden knows what's up because that book was so good. And so now when I need an idea for a thriller or a mystery, I'm gonna go back to her list and I'm gonna pick more from there because this book was awesome. I literally just added it to my list. It is so good. I think you would definitely enjoy it. It was it was so unique. It was diff, like I said, it was different than anything I've ever read.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

That is awesome. Um, but yeah, so my third book is obviously Heat of the Everplay. The third book in the series. The third book in the series, because I like I said, I I got hooked and it was like I need to read immediately, immediate, immediate like I it is not a finished series, but the last book is coming out on September 8th. So I literally, each of these books I have been left with I need to know what happens. This is the type of book where you need to know what is going to happen, and it just keeps you reading. So yeah, I I loved the books. I'm so excited to read the fourth book when it comes out on September 8th.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

So yay! Well, I am definitely, it's on the TBR, so I am I'm excited to pick those up. Whenever I have a slump of like, okay, I need I need to shift something around. Who knows? Maybe like that's gonna be my summer thing is I'm gonna read my three romance that I have picked out, and then I'm gonna do those three books as well. So it's gonna be like romance, fantasy, romance, fantasy, romance, fantasy. So I'm excited. I think that those are gonna be good ones. Um, but the the last book that I read recently was The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez. It is a contemporary romance. Um, so little summary, it's a slow burn friends to lovers romance where the female main character is dating the male main character's best friend. Um, but they grow close and she realizes that the things that she really loved about her boyfriend were because of his best friend intervening. So really she loved his friend because all of the things that she loved came from him, like all of the sweet gestures that he did and the ideas and the gifts and the all of that stuff came directly from him. Um it ended up being a really cute story. It was a little bit slower of a read for me. Um, usually with Abby Jimenez's books, I like fly through them because I think they're so cute. I'm like, oh, I need to know what happens. Um, this one was a little bit more of a drawn-out one, but it was still really, really cute. Just not, it was slower. It was not my favorite of hers. Um, yeah, but it was still good. I I would still recommend it to people who like contemporary romance um and have read other Abby Jimenez books, but I would say it's it's definitely not my favorite of hers.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

So going through the books that you've currently read, um what do you feel your rating is on each of those?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Ooh, um, so Remarkably Bright Creatures, that is a five-star read for me 100%. It was so, so good. Everyone needs to read that book. I love it, love it, love it, love it. Um, Ask for Andrea. I am I gonna say it's five star. It was just so different. Like, yeah, like can I say like 4.8? Like, I don't want to give it five stars, but I'm like, it was, it was very, very good. Um, and then the night we met, uh sadly I'm gonna say like three, maybe three and a half stars. Um, like I said, it wasn't my favorite, but it was still, it was cute, and I'm I'm glad I read it. Um as far as like the ratings on I feel like I don't know if yours are gonna be different with it being the same like series. Do you have different ratings for each book?

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Honestly, I don't think I have different gosh, I this is truly like every single book has been amazing and you're so hooked. So I feel like I truly just as like my rating as uh for the series as a whole, it's five stars. I think it's just it's just it really captures you. You just want to keep on reading, you want to know what's going to happen.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

So it's definitely gosh, it's just it's just such good books.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Would you say like overall star rating? Are those five-star reads for you? Or are you like a bit lower on the rating scale?

SPEAKER_01 11:07

I don't even know.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

I don't even know because I literally think about like what is my five-star book, right? What do I consider a five-star book? And my thoughts are literally just like something that I just want to keep on reading, and I want to know what's going to happen next, and that I'm enjoying reading it. And that is that hits every single box. It just it's such a great series. Like she like So you're saying it's a five-star. I feel like it is. I feel like it truly is.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Like it's someone's given uh Rebecca Yarros and Fourth Wing a run for its money.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

I know. I love Fourth Wing. I think Fourth Wing will always be my favorite, but this truly like this, it it really just captures you and you just keep on wanting to read. Like, there's always something going on, and you're always wanting to know what's going to happen next. It just she, yeah. I Pen Cole really just draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. It is a great series, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Even more excited now. I'm gonna I'm gonna pick it up.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

You have to. You don't have a choice. I'm forcing you to.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

So out of the three, I know it's the same series, but which of those do you think is the best that you've read recently?

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Oh which one have I liked the best so far?

SPEAKER_02 12:55

I'm gonna say book two because um the first book is kind of always just like especially with romantic, is like the introduction to things. Like things aren't popping off like they're gonna pop off in book two.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Well, yeah, and I feel like they it just seems like with um fantasy and romantic, they it's the world-building part. Like they have to get you invested in not only the characters, but like where they are, because it's obviously not set here in what we're used to. It's not like oh, they're walking down the street to the grocery store, blah, blah. It's like, no, they have to like make you so like you have to like dive into where they are so that you can visualize all this stuff and feel like you're really invested. So it does make sense that the first book is like that piece of it, building it, getting you invested. And then book two is like, okay, now you know everything. Here's it's about to go down.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, book two, I I I really enjoy book three. Gosh, it's just yeah. I just all of a sudden book two, you're book one, you're like, oh my gosh. And then you get into book two, and it's like bam! And you're like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

That's amazing. I love it. Well, I think that everybody could guess based on my uh summaries, but the best one out of those three was Remarkably Bright Creatures. It was loved it, no notes. Best book I've read in a long time. Like drop. Yes. It was it was so good. And if you haven't read it, do not watch the show. Read the book first, then watch the show. Um, it's my only ask. But you have to, you have to read it first. So currently reading, um what are you currently reading? I am about to start Remarkably Bright Creatures. So you're like in between. You just finished the last um Yeah. I already forgot what it was called. The glow of the Everflame.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

He of the Everflame. He of the Everflame. Yep, and I cannot wait until September 8th so that I can start reading Burn and finish the series, which is also sad at the same time. Um, but yeah, I'm like right, I ended. Now I need to begin again. So I'm gonna start Remarkably Bright Creatures. Um, but then I also, of course, we'll be starting Women Down since that is our um June book club book.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

But by the time you listen to this episode, we'll already be reading. So June.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Oh yeah. Yeah, because I think this one's gonna drop mid-June-ish. Yeah. Um, so yeah, we'll be we'll be in it. Hopefully done with it. Honestly, I'm hoping that it's a very quick, yeah, um, easy, good read. But I am finishing up the I know I've mentioned this in past episodes. I am a psychopath and I'm usually reading at least two books sometimes in summertime. That's crazy. I don't know why. It just it tickles something in my brain that I just need all the stimulation. Um, but the Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, um obviously a contemporary romance. Um, it is super cute so far. And I have her other book, Love in Other Words. We just did that on an episode of um what are like our summer reads, and I'm so excited to pick that one up and see if it is as cute as this one, but really like the story so far. I'm about halfway through. And then um my thriller is Kill For You, Kill For Me by Steve Kavanaugh. Again, it's a little bit of a different, like I I can't really compare it to anything because there's like a lot going on, and um, I'm interested to see there's gotta be some twist that's coming up that's like, oh my, I didn't like it, it was there all along and I didn't see it, so I'm excited to see how this one wraps up. And then obviously starting woman down um for our June book club. So very exciting reads.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yay! But yeah, if you are, if you've read a book recently that you're like, oh my gosh, this was the best book I've read um in a long time, or even just recently, please tell us what those books are. Um, we always love the recommendations, we always love picking up new books. So yeah, tell us why it's your favorite book. Convince us to read that book so that we can add it to our TVR pile and get started on that too. Um yeah, that's it for our mini episode of TNT Bookhaven. So make sure you're following the show so you never miss a bookish moment.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

And also come chat with us over on social media. We're on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook as TNT Bookhaven, and again on the Fable app for our book club, TNT Bookhaven Book Club. Um, and we are currently reading Woman Down by Colleen Hoover. So we would love for you to join. Um, but we will see you in the next one. Happy reading. Bye. Bye.