Hello, everybody. Welcome back to I'll read what she's reading. I'm Reggie. I'm Michaela, and I'm Kennedy. Today we're sharing with you guys our book recs that are under 350 pages. So if you are, you know, into the year already and you're behind your reading goal, we're here to help you out with some shorter books. Um, some standalone, some that are probably part of a series, maybe series that have a lot of short books. So hopefully you have your your ears are perked up, your goodreads is out, ready to go. Uh, because hopefully we have some good recs for you guys. But before we begin, we're gonna share a little update on what we've been reading. Because I feel like it's been a while. So starting with Michaela. Oh, starting to put you on the spot.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so I did, I feel like I'm in a teeny bit of a reading slump. Just a just a teeny bit. Same. So I did start um this book made me think of you only like maybe an hour in. Maybe. And you're listening to it? Yeah, I'm listening to it. It's it's good. I think I just I needed to switch up from my other book that I was like filling like a little wall in. Um, I will continue it after I finish this other book I'm reading. I'm reading the second A Fate Inked in Blood, and it's A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen. And um I don't know how I quite feel about it yet. I feel like I have a problem. I don't know if you guys feel this way, but I really like the first book, and then I get to the second book, and for some reason it doesn't feel as good to me. Is it a duology? Yes. Okay. And I felt that with the past like few duologies that I've read, and I don't know if it's like a me problem where like I'm reading a new, like a new book, and like that's exciting, and then I read the second one, I'm like not as excited. I don't know. But I just got to a part where I did I didn't see it coming, but I'm kind of like this is this is kind of interesting, like a little far-fetched, you know? So I don't know how I quite feel about it right now, but that's what I'm reading right now. Two very different books, but I love it. Yeah, I love it. I'm reading one book and it has put me into a large slump I haven't read in like four days. So really I started this like four days ago while I was golfing with my husband, so I didn't have anything else to read. I made it like 15%, and um, I'm at 17% today. So it's Jade City by Fonda Lee. And I know it's won a ton of awards, like a ton of fantasy book awards. I just don't think it was what I was expecting. Also, I'm only 17% in it's a trilogy, so I need to be a little bit more patient because it's an urban fantasy book. I think I was just expecting maybe more fantasy. It's very much kind of two rival, I don't want to use the word gangs, but two rival like families and they are fighting with each other. Very much like mafia kind of vibes. Yeah. And they basically just have jade, and jade gives them powers very similar to Mistborn. Like they can do certain things depending on the jade they use, I think. But I'm just kind of bored because it's just kind of like Yeah. The beginning phases. Yeah, and they're talking about the family dynamics, and I just don't know. I don't care. I think it's going to be a very character-driven story, and I think I was wanting something that was a little bit more epic. Yeah. So are you just listening to I mean, just reading it, or are you listening to both? Both. Yeah, I have the audiobook on Everand, and then the physical book and the Kindle book because it's on Kindle Unlimited. Yeah, that's the way to do it. The ultimate so I shouldn't be in a slump, but I am. I think I just need to get a little bit farther. I'm gonna finish the first book and then decide if I want to continue. But I'm thinking about maybe starting into the blue. Have you guys seen there's been a few different people that did a sponsorship with Olay. And I don't know if they had to talk about that specific book with it, but there were two creators that I saw that didn't add with Olay and talked about that book. Yeah, I did see that. I thought that was really interesting. So I don't know if it was like a a collab between the book and Olay. I think it was just happenstance. Oh. But I also saw another creator sob while reading the book and say it's one of the roman best romance books she's ever read.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I might start that. I might listen to it to help get me through a few books. Nice. Because I haven't finished a book in probably over a week. So that's setting my reading goal back. So I'm really excited for this episode so that I can put some short books into my TBR to get me back on track.
SPEAKER_02Nice.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh my current reads. Uh I just barely this morning started the dramatized version of Shield of Sparrows. I really wanted to start Rights of the Starling. Like, I just haven't the itch, and I've seen people who had arcs of it, who had already read it, that were like, this is the best book ever. And I was getting really excited. But because I felt like I remembered so much from Shield of Sparrows that I was like, I don't feel like I need to read it again. But then I was like feeling some guilt for sake of book club. I was like, I should probably reread it. And then also I saw a TikTok that was like everything you need to know before you start right to the start of the day. And I was like, there are a few things that I was like, oh yeah, definitely remember that, definitely remember that. And then just random things within just how the world works, I guess, that I completely forgot. So um, I mean, it's hard to say where I'm at in the book because the dramatized versions are they don't have challenges chapters. Uh, but I'd say like in part one, I'm probably like 20% of the way through. I listened to it a lot this morning. Um, however, yeah, anyways, yeah, there's a lot of info dumping in the first bit that I had to like skip a few parts back and be like, wait, to make sure I was like remembering everything correctly. Uh loved, loved it the first time I read it. I'm sure I'm gonna love it again the second time. Um so if you it's uh this is not a book that's under 350 pages, but if you didn't know our uh Spring Book Club book is Shield of Sparrows and Rights of the Starling. Uh second book just came out yesterday. So as we're recording this, it's gonna be so yeah, as we're recording this, it's gonna be really fun to talk about the books with you guys. So you can join us on our fable, and then we'll be doing our uh episode on that soon. But yeah, that's what I'm reading. I'm also I'm so close to being done with the third Emma M. Lion book. And I'm not gonna say too much about those because we haven't yet recorded our update on the books we picked for each other.
SPEAKER_01So journal entries from a what's the time period? Bridgerton era? 18? No, it's it's later than the Bridgetan era, uh yeah. Anyways, just some journals from our girl Emma in London. Yeah. Love her.
SPEAKER_02It's it's a hoot. It's a hoot. Uh more on that later, but yeah, I I feel like that's not much of an update on what I'm currently reading since Yeah. I did finish Abby Jimenez's book, new book the other day. But I also don't want to say anything about that because these two haven't read it yet, and I want them to just go in without knowing what I think about it.
SPEAKER_03So I've seen very mixed things online, so guess we'll see.
SPEAKER_02Anyways, let's get into our 350 pages or less book recks. Amazing.
SPEAKER_03Amaze, amaze, amaze. Okay. Um who's starting?
SPEAKER_01I gotta go find my screen shirt. Let's go in the same order. So you go, Michaela. So me? Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_03This technically is in the middle of books, but I think it could be read by itself. Six Scorched Roses by Chrissa Broadman. Chrissa Broadman just blinked on her name. Um I think obviously I think you guys should read um the series that goes with it. Uh Crowns of Nyx, yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah, Crowns of Nyx. So what's the first one? Serpents and the Wings of Night. Yeah, Serpents in the Wings of Night. So I think it technically is Serpents and the Wings of Night, Six Scorched Roses, and then the second one. Um gosh, her titles are always so hard for me to remember.
SPEAKER_02I don't know why it's. Ashes in the Star Cursed Kit. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Thank you, Reggie. I know I should know this. I should know this. It's been a while since I've read it. It's just a really good novella. Probably the best novella I've ever read. And I just think she did a really good job at it. I don't want to like give away too much, but it has Beauty and the Beast-esque vibes. Not the same exactly, but just like I feel like she drew inspiration from that. Yeah. Yeah. Obviously, there's a rose in it, you know. Two and two together, beauty and the beast, you know. So it's literally in the title to say swort roses. So take that with what you will. Um, I just really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend. And it's so short and it's beautiful.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it was didn't we all read that five stars? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And it definitely stands on its own. So, like, if you're thinking of starting wanting to start a new series, but you get intimidated because you're like, there's so many books, or they're kind of long, you could definitely start with the novella first. Yeah. Um, and it would kind of introduce you to a bit of the world of all that. Vampires and romance.
SPEAKER_03If I'm remembering correctly, the characters in that book they don't play a huge part in the complete main series, but they do make a cameo-ish-esque appearance. So it's not gonna spoil anything for the main series, but yeah, I think it's a great introduction and it's one of my favorite novellas I've ever read.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. It's so good.
SPEAKER_03It was amazing.
SPEAKER_02So good. That's a great, that's a great wreck.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. So that was my first one. Yay. Okay, my turn. Um, you can read any Blake Crouch book, they are all under 350 pages. Specifically, really quickly, I want to talk about two that I haven't talked a ton about. I've talked about them both on the podcast because I'm desperate for someone to read them. So the first book I'm gonna talk about really quickly is Waward Pines. So every single book I believe in the series is under 350 pages. Lately I've been hyper-fixated on the TV show Paradise. I think if you like the TV show Paradise, you would probably enjoy Wayward Pines. They give off similar vibes to an extent. So the plot of Wayward Pines is you're following your main character, it's a little fuzzy. I believe he gets in a car accident, and he wakes up in this town and they don't let him leave. He's not allowed to leave the town. And there you have it. There's three books. They're a little creepy, a little eerie. They're thrillers. Blake Crouch is always just a good solid read. I usually rate his books at least three stars or more. Three books in the series. Try it out, see if you like it. And then the other one I'm going to recommend by Blake Crouch is Run, because I don't see a lot of people talk about it. Actually, it was republished, I think, last year. And it's kind of like a post-apocalyptic world, and you're following a main character just basically trying to survive. It is pretty crazy. Honestly, it made me feel really unsettled. And there were a few times reading the book that I actually got nauseous because the imagery was so vivid. And I'll just tell you guys one of the things. There's a scene where he drinks toilet water because he's so thirsty. Ooh. Interesting. He runs it. It's it's literally just like a post-apocal post-apocalyptic world, and um these people are I don't want to say infected. You don't really know what happened, but these people are trying to kill the main character. It's pretty crazy. So try either one of those out. They're they're all really short, and Blake Crotch is always a solid read.
SPEAKER_02He's great. I've only ever read Dark Matter, but I know I need to get to his other ones because I know they'll be good. They're fun. So nice. Okay. Uh I'm gonna start with a book. This is one of the first one of the first books I remember talking about on the podcast, I believe. The Mind Deaf series by S.T. Abbey. It's been picked up, you guys. It's being adapted by who? It's a really good director. I ooh.
SPEAKER_03Amazon. I want to say it's Amazon. Yeah, I don't know how I know who the director is. It's been picked up, but I can't remember the details of it.
SPEAKER_02I'm a little scared to watch it. Produced by Sophia Stallone. Yeah, that's who it is.
SPEAKER_03Celester Stallone's daughter.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So yeah, it I'm a little scared to watch the show too, but it is these are all on, I think there's seven. Hold on, let me tell you how many books there are. I think it's right. I think there's seven books. And they're all under like maybe two hundred and something pages, maybe even less than that.
SPEAKER_03You used to be able to get all of the books together bound. I don't know if you still can. Um, but all the all of them separately are on Kindle Unlimited, right?
SPEAKER_02Uh yes.
SPEAKER_03I think I binged those in one weekend.
SPEAKER_02Oh, insane. I remember like sitting at family dinner at a restaurant, and I was like reading on my phone, and my family was like, What are you reading? Like, I I can't put this down. Uh so essentially, like, this is the one line that sold me on uh this book, which is essentially there is this female serial killer, and she starts to catch feelings for an FBI agent. Uh it's crazy. It's crazy, and it's so so bingeable, but very exciting. There are some moments that made me a little bit nauseous. So you can skip. There's things you can skip. So if you're like, ooh, I'm getting a little queasy around gore, so do I. Uh but you can you can just skip it. Uh it's which makes it even faster to read. But very thrilling. Uh does this switch point of views? Or is it just her point of view the whole time? There are flashbacks. I want to say, but I don't maybe I won't include that. Because I don't know for sure. Because I want to say there's times that you're in his brain? Mind. I feel like that's correct. Isn't it? Don't you get his point of view? Sorry, the I'll cut this out. Don't you get his point of view when he's like in the closet? Yes, it is dual point of view. Yeah, okay. It's also dual point of view. Yeah. I when the TV show gets more announcement, like more updates on that, I will definitely be reading this again. Cause it is it it's just a wild time. A wild time. And uh you there are a lot of twists that I didn't see coming, some that I did. You just you have no idea what you're in for.
SPEAKER_03So it's also pretty messed up. So yes, maybe if you're triggered by anything, check the trigger warnings because it's it's pretty dark. Yeah. Uh my sister read it and loved it. It's one of her favorite books she's ever read.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. Yeah, it's uh dark and twisty, also hilarious, also funny, also romantic. So uh it's got a little bit of everything in there. Yeah, so I I recommend it cautiously. So, I mean, everyone listening probably has a feel for like our reading tastes. If I can handle it, no, I'm not gonna say that actually. I forget there's a lot of other triggering things in this book. Anyways, let us know if you decide to read it because I feel like it's been a long time since I've seen anyone talk about it. But when we first started the podcast, I feel like that was one of the first book talk things I was seeing. Was about the Mind F series. I don't even know what the first one's called. I don't even know what any of the cards are. Sidetracked. No. No, The Risk. Yes. And then there's yeah. So it's the first book is 132 pages. But you can binge them so hard. So I listened to all of them. Oh yeah, you listen to them. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Where's the audiobook? Like, are they? I had them on Libby. Yeah. It was really it was really nice.
SPEAKER_03They're less than the first few are less than like three hour listens and then put it on two times speed. 1.5 hours.
SPEAKER_02Amazing. Great way to meet your reading goal. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I need that right now. Maybe I should do a little reread. You may consider it actually. Cool. Maybe it when as it gets closer um to like the release of the show. Amazing. Okay. I mean, I feel like I had to include this. I know we've talked about it a lot, but M Lion? Mm-hmm. I think it's inevitable for that to also be made into an adaptation. I think so too. I think it's just, you know, it's just gonna happen one of these days. Um, you know, we've talked about this. If this is your first time listening to our podcast, it gives off Vin Bridgerton vibes, but it's a little bit after Bridgerton with the time era. Um, like I want to say like 50-ish years, maybe. I know they say dates. I can't remember. The dates get mumble-dumbled in my brain, but it's a diary of a character called Emma M. Lyon and or her journals, I guess. And her life is just so interesting and so a fun to be a part of. You would think that it would be very mundane, but I feel like there's just things that are so intriguing, especially about that time period, because there are like a lot of society rules, like etiquette, and you know, she has a hard time sometimes following those things. She's like Eloise, but better. Yeah. Yeah. And so she, yeah, it's just there's eight out so far. Right? Mm-hmm. Eight. That sounds right. And I think there might be a lot more to come. So I'm waiting with bated breath for the next one to come out. And I don't think there's any release date, but they are so I want to say like the first, I want to say almost all of them are under 350 pages, especially the first three are like really short. I think I read up to four, and I think they all have been under eight hours, which I think equates to about like under 350 pages. So they're just so easy, really short books that I think if you like the thing is is I feel like a lot of people are like, I don't know how I feel about like historical fiction, you know, like that time period, but like think about the it and the fact that it's just like fun. Like it's almost like reality TV, but in that time period. I don't know how else to describe it. No, 100%. That's exactly how it works. I think it's enjoyable. And if I feel if you feel like that's a little bit outside of your comfort zone, I think still give it a try. At least like the first like three books, because I feel like The first book is a little bit like setting up the storyline, you know, the setting and everything. And then I think it just gets more fun with every single book. So I think the writing style and how Emma talks, she's just kind of sassy and witty. I think that's what makes it so fun. Cause yeah, like you said, it is kind of mundane because it's just going through her day-to-day life, but who she is as a person is what makes the books special. And so I agree. You have to at least I think make it through the first three books. They're so short. Yeah. I think the first book is like a three-hour listen. You can't get attached to a character or get a fill for a book in three hours. So give the first three books a shot a shot. And I think you'd probably end up really liking them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Sorry, it just had to be said. I know we've talked about it a lot in the past few episodes. Um, but it's just it just fit this episode really well.
SPEAKER_01So I know what's going on. I don't know why it stresses me out that it's all there's gone actually, I don't know how to turn it off.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna switch it up from happy fun read to one that's depressing. So sorry. This is actually on Reggie Spring TBR. Um The Bright Years by Sarah Demoff. I've this is supposed I'm pretty sure this was her debut novel, and it was so good. I cannot wait for her book, her next book to come out. So this is just strictly fiction. Um, there is a couple who is married, the wife has a secret son, and the dad has a secret addiction to alcohol. And so you're following there, there's a lot of time jumps because you're following the couple, but then you're also following the couple's daughter that they have together, and kind of just how um the the secret son and the alcoholism affect their relationship, their family when she's young, and then also when she's an adult. It the ending of the book had me absolutely sobbing. It's definitely a book when you're in the mood to cry. And I think if you like books that touch on like obviously alcoholism, drama, not even drama, but it's just so emotional. And I think when I finished the book, I ended the book having a respect for a lot of different types of people, especially people you know who do struggle with alcoholism and like families who have to deal with that because it's a very big part of the book and just how hard it really can be on everyone around you. Um I read it four stars. I think anything that makes me cry, honestly, is gonna get four stars or higher, but the way that she packed a punch in such a small amount of pages was incredible. And so I just once again can't wait for her next book. And I think if you really like fiction, you're probably going to really like this book. If you like Kristen Hanna or Frederick Bachman, this is right up your alley. I think this author is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. So and I think it's 288 pages. Oh dang. I think I read it in a day and a half. Wow. That's impressive. Loved it. Try it out. Reggie's gonna try it out because it's on his own TBR.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've got a lot of sad books on my TBR first playing. So I'm just in the mood to cry with the April showers. I don't know. Okay. Okay. Uh MyRec, and I'm going to double check and make sure these are still on Kindle Unlimited, because when I read them at the time, they were, and they also had a dual, like you could listen to them also on Kindle Unlimited.
SPEAKER_01Uh I just don't want to say they're on there. They're not.
SPEAKER_02Yep, they are, and you can listen to them and read them. Uh, the book, so I read two by this author. The one I'll talk about. One of them is they're kind of like these twisty mystery thrillers that she writes. Her name is A. R. Tor. T-O-R-R-E. I don't know if that's how you say it, but anywho, uh yeah, there's one that's about a murder of a bunch of teens in a town. And just trying to figure out this case and if they have the right person behind bars. Very bingeable, very bingeable. I wouldn't say it's the most epic thriller I've ever read, but keeps you guessing, keeps you on your toes. Very quick read. Um, but I'm going to talk more about her other book. It's called Every Last Secret. And this one, I wouldn't really call it a thriller. It's just one of those more like twisty family next-door kind of books where there's a lot of secrets and you're trying to figure out who is in the right and who is in the wrong. I really enjoyed listening and reading to this one just because it was a good change of pace, because it's not strictly just like fiction, it's not strictly a thriller, it's just drama, okay? So basically the blurb is welcome to the neighborhood, watch your husband, watch your friends, and wash your back. So there's there's some drama. Um, there's this girl, this first couple that lives in this house, they're very wealthy. They've worked really hard to get what they have, they have like a really good social standing. And then there's this couple that moves in to the estate next door, and there's just this weird infatuation. Like this other girl is starts to become really infatuated with this other wife and wants to be like her, and things just start to escalate. So yeah, um, wealth and temptation, secrets, toxic jealousy. If that sounds like something you're in the mood for, I feel like it's a good book to start if you're not sure what you want to read next. You know, if you need like a little a break from reading some romance, a break from reading some thrillers or fantasy or whatever. It's just kind of in its own little, I don't know, it's like in a gray area.
SPEAKER_03And um genre bends a little.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So I was just picturing it as like a soap opera in my head, but like in a good way. And yeah, and there's she has a bunch of other books on Kindle Unlimited that you can also listen to and read. And pretty much all of them are under 350 pages. So that's a plus. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I feel like when they're shorter, it definitely entices me to be like, okay, yeah, I'm gonna read that. Um I okay, this next one that I'm gonna talk about. I we were lucky enough to get an early release of it. And this was like when we very first started the podcast, you guys. Her husband was the one that reached out to us. Oh my gosh, yeah. It's Rebecca Yarros. It was like when Fourth Wing like very first came out, and then this was her romance book that came out after it. Like her husband reached out and was like her manager at the time. And so Reggie was the lucky one to get the signed copy of it. So she has a signed copy from Rebecca Yarros. It's in the likely event, and I think it's her only book that's under 350 pages. I think you're right. Um, it's if you haven't read like her contemporary romance yet, you need to. They're so good. And there's something about her writing that I just I just love. I just love. And I will say a lot of her contemporary romance, I'm pretty sure almost all of them have some sort of aspect in the military. Um, hence the military school in Fourth Wing. If you guys didn't know, her husband was in the military. Yeah. So I feel like she's got a very good insight into the military world. Yes. So um I don't even know where to even start with this book. But is she in inner she's a ballerina? No, that's variation. Oh, which one is this? In the likely event. I don't remember what it is. She works at a bar? No, she's like in the government. Yes. And he's a bodyguard. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm I think he's her bodyguard. I'm just trying to.
SPEAKER_02Oh, in the flash forward, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. He's her bodyguard. Yeah. She's a part of government somehow. I don't know what her government thing is. She goes there to is she a negotiator? Yeah. Well, it doesn't ever say in the synopsis. She has some type of government job that requires a bodyguard.
SPEAKER_02I thought she was a journalist, actually.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it doesn't say anything about like her like military.
SPEAKER_02Like her career.
SPEAKER_03Oh, she's in politics. I can't remember this book. Like a political I saw she's in politics. Okay. Pretty much the whole premise that will get you to read it is they are on a plane together. He's in some sort of military, she's in the politics area, and the plane goes down. That's all I'm gonna say. Yeah, yeah. There's some And it's crazy. There's a lot that goes down. Flash forwards, some flashbacks. I love that man. You need to reread that. Yeah. It's been a long time since I I know, I need to reread it too, because it is a little fuzzy when it comes to what it's like actually about and the details of it, but I remember really liking it, and my review was Nate has raised the bar for every man.
SPEAKER_02She's like the only male main character of her books besides Zaydan Ryerson that I can remember his name. Beckett? Beckett.
SPEAKER_03You don't remember Beckett's.
SPEAKER_02Actually, that's true.
SPEAKER_03She just writes really good men. She really honestly does. And maybe it's also something just about military men. Because every single one of them, you know, if you're a military man, not to say you have to be this kind of like hard exterior, but I feel like military men tend to have this hard exterior. Yeah. They're always soft for that female main character. We're soft for the the one girl. The one girl. She writes men very well. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Anyways, that that's her shortest book. So if you haven't read any of her romance books, like Michaela said, let this be your first one because it's short. Yep. Yep. Amazing. We read that so long ago. It's been a long time. Like three years ago. Yeah. I think that was my first contemporary romance I read by her.
SPEAKER_02Has that one been picked up too?
SPEAKER_03I I bet all of them have been in some capacity. I'm not sure. I know variation has.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it has. Does it have a cast? No. I don't think so. Or is it just a I just think out of all of her romance books, the ones I would want to see made into a film, I feel like that's the only one I can think of of her like newer romance books that hasn't been picked up.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Okay, okay, okay, sorry. I was reading this article. So obviously we have fourth wing. Yeah. Michael B. Jordan.
SPEAKER_03In the likely event. Yeah. The things we leave unfinished. Okay. The last letter. The last letter. I hate that they met into a movie. I don't want to be able to do that. Variation. That's what this article says. Those are the five.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm surprised that In the Likely Event wouldn't be on there.
SPEAKER_03No, it was. It was. It was. That was the first one she said after Fourth Wing.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay. Guys, I'm telling you, my brain isn't working.
SPEAKER_03No, it's not like that was a different order than what we were talking about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So pretty much all of her newer romance books.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the things we leave unfinished, I think is pretty old.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02She does have a ton of other ones that I haven't even read. Yeah. They've just been from a long, long time ago. But yeah. I love it. Get your bag, Rebecca. Yeah. Ah, love it. Get your bag.
SPEAKER_03Okay. I'm going to switch gears just a tiny bit. Um. And when I say this recommendation, I'm going to preface it by saying I grew up on the simple life. So if you're around my age and you grew up watching Paris Hilton on TV, you absolutely need to read this memoir. And if you didn't grow up watching Paris Hilton, I still think it's a really interesting read or listen because her life is crazy. So, Paris, a memoir for young women in the age of influencers. You can listen to it or you can read it. I think both avenues would be really great. I listened to it because she does actually narrate it herself. If you don't know anything about Paris Hilton, you obviously know what she is, her persona, but she's so much more than that. So a lot of this book takes place during the time period of her life when she was sent to Provo to this. And I'm putting air quotes around that. It's absolutely wild. They literally picked her. Her parents hired these people to literally pick her up out of her sleep, almost like kidnap her, and ship her to a house in Provo. How well how old was she when this happened? I can't remember. Um, it's crazy. It's she's gone as far to she's came, she's come to Utah quite a few times to the Cat State Capitol to do a lot of um reform work so that these types of houses aren't legal anymore. I do believe that like a bill was passed. I don't know if it was so interesting to me because I live in Utah, but it was really interesting just to kind of hear her talk about her life and how she's so much more than what you see on her Instagram or on TV. She actually her baby voice she does is actually not how she talks. It's like a part of her persona. So when she narrates the book, that's not how she talks. It's it's a crazy, crazy memoir, and I think I rated it. Well, I don't rate memoirs, but if I had to rate it, I would have rated it five stars. It's really, really interesting. So if you have any type of interest in Paris Hilton or celebrities or pop culture, I think definitely pick this book up because once again, if you're around my age, I feel like Paris Hilton was a huge part of like my tween years and my teen years. And so I grew up watching her, grew up seeing her in all the gossip magazines with like Lindsay Lohan. Anyways, crazy. Try it, pick it up. Have you read it, Reggie? No, but I want to. It's really, really interesting. It's actually quite sad. So try it if you're in the mood for a celebrity memoir. Nice. Actually, I know who Paris Hilton is, but I have no idea why she like is famous or I mean she's famous because her family is the Hilton family. Like Hilton hotels is her family. Okay. So, and then around just I think because her her family was so wealthy, um, obviously she was in the like pop or the magazines, like the paparazzi magazines. I also want to say, and all the Bravo people are gonna come for me. I wanna say her mom was one of the OG housewives on Re Housewives of like, what is it, Beverly Hills? I don't watch India. So that also got her famous. Um, also she was she hung out in the circles with all the famous people in that era. So yeah, like Lindsay Lohan. Do you know who Nicole Ritchie is? That was like her best friend. And then her and Nicole Ritchie had a lot uh TV show called The Simple Life, where they would go and they would like literally live with these families and do like farm work, and he was crazy. It was actually so entertaining. I remember sorry, I'm going off on a tangent. I remember in high school, this is really aging me. High school, middle school going to like Blockbuster and renting the seasons of a simple life to watch at home. Wow. So it's crazy. I don't think I've ever entered into a blockbuster. Oh, they're such a vibe. Well, you probably do you remember when Netflix would like you would have to go online to Netflix and you'd have to request DVDs to be mailed to you? Um guys, the age difference between Michaela and us is literally only five years. Wait, yeah? But it's crazy, yeah. Six? I remember the red boxes. Is that what they were called? Oh, yeah, that you could go out and get away. Red box too, yeah, yeah. That's what we did. But Netflix used to be online and you had to request movies and they would ship them to you. Wait, I think I remember that. Yeah. I remember thinking that was the coolest thing. Wild. Right? Age difference is five years. Yes. That's crazy how five years difference really is just four and a four and a half. That's that's wild.
SPEAKER_02This year. So yeah, I remember the blockbuster that used to be by Lee's.
SPEAKER_03I don't know if it was a blockbuster, but that's the only one that could be. Yeah. Wow. We had a membership there because I would, yeah, that's what I would do on the weekends. I would just go and I would wreck all these employees.
SPEAKER_02Try Parasel in the memoir. All right. Guys, I haven't talked about this book in such a long time. And it popped up when I was like scrolling through, I was like, oh, every time I think about this book, it like brings a little tear to my eye. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Stein? Stein. It's a great book. And let me tell you, before I say anything else, huh? Okay. So this is a book, and I tell this to people, and they're like, what? Keep in mind, okay? I'm not a dog person. I don't own a dog. I like dogs, but I just when someone told me that this is a book told from the perspective of a dog, I was like, I'm gonna hate that. I'm not reading that. I don't, I don't read dog books, okay? I didn't like them because of Win Dixie movies and books. Like, I was just like, no. And she was like, no, this is like the best book I've ever read. So I was like, okay, I'll give it a whirl. I read it in like an entire day, could not stop crying. It is such a it's like a heartwarming book. It's such an interesting premise, too, to be reading about a dog through like his eyes and just seeing everything that unfolds within his family, his owner and his family. It's so it's so good. And I remember like reading the first paragraph, and I was like, oh I'm in for a retreat. I knew it was gonna be good just from the first like page. So uh yeah, so the owner of the dog is does he start off as a race car driver? He is a race car driver, right? Mm-hmm. The owner of the dog is a race car driver, and the dog, yeah, he's just telling the story of their life together. And that's all I'll really say about it. There is a movie that has come out a few years ago with what's his name? Milo. Yeah, I don't know how to say Jesse on um It Ends With Us. He's on It Ends With Us. He's the dad and It Ends With Us. Gilmore Girls. Gilmore Girls. Anyways, love him to death. He was perfect. However, they did change some themes of the plot to make it PG. Also, isn't Amanda Seifert, the wife? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, they changed some things to the movie to keep it more family friendly. I didn't like that they did that, because I just didn't. I don't know. But I can see why they did. Anyways. Very good book. It's 336 pages. So if you're a dog lover and you haven't read this book, you it's like a must read, I would say.
SPEAKER_03Also, like, yes, it's told in the the perspective of a dog, and I am a dog person, and I th feel like over the last three years I've read a few books that are books told in a dog's perspective. This one just does it a little bit differently. You almost at times kind of forget that it's told in a dog's perspective because it still feels mature. Yeah. Like some dog books that I've read, you can tell that they kind of play into this like happy-go-lucky, like very naive dog persona. But this I think is more mature. It just feels different than others.
SPEAKER_02Written very beautifully.
SPEAKER_03So yeah. That's a good one. Enzo. Sweet Enzo. Still have not watched the movie. I turned it on. Wow. Started sobbing within five minutes, and my husband said, We're not watching this and turned it off. We're not watching this. Okay. You guys want to hear something sad? You'll have to cut this out. Still keeps peeing the house. I don't think he controls bladder anymore. You're kidding. It's really sad. Oh. Poor guy. He's fine. He doesn't want to. I know. That's so sad. No.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that is really sad. Yeah, it's really sad. Okay. How many more are we doing? One more?
SPEAKER_01Okay, we can do one more. Or do we want to stop it now? No, we'll say one more. I gotta pick my one more.
SPEAKER_03Okay. This is a book that I feel like is severely underrated. And I feel like we wouldn't have even known about this book unless we would have done the collaboration with we did. But The Other Side of Now by Paige Harborson, and she has a new book coming out in July, and I am giddy for it. Me too. So excited. But um The Other Side of Now, I was pleasantly surprised of like how much I enjoyed it. It's I feel like this one also genre bends a little bit, and I was like, okay, like I'm gonna read this, I guess. Uh, and I I absolutely adored it. I think Paige has this, she's just a silly gal. I love the way she writes, and she has a lot of comedic and relief and like a lot of kind of serious hard things that happen. Um okay, correct me if I'm wrong. How does how does she get into she walks through a door? Through a door? Mm-hmm. Okay. Pretty much the premise of the book is, right? Is she on a plane? No.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, she goes, she's flying to Ireland.
SPEAKER_03And I want to say she walks through a door in a theater in Ireland. Maybe just leave that detail out. Somehow she gets to I can't remember, but I swear she walks through a door.
SPEAKER_02I thought she was like on an airplane. Because she like lands in Ireland and when she wakes up, she's like how she gets home is she walks through a door in a theater.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I don't know. Anyways, she decides to go on an impromptu trip and um to Ireland, and then she gets there and she sees her best friend. But her best friend died a decade ago. And so she's like navigating this trip trying to figure out what is going on because her best friend is there, like, and people know her. Like sh it's like she has a life there, and so it's like this really weird, kind of like trippy book, a little bit about like this life that she could have had, or like yeah, because it's like magical realism. Yeah, yeah. Um, and it's just kind of like her story of this life that could have happened if her friend wouldn't have died. It I don't know, it was just it's kind of hard to explain, but it's done so well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and she also narrates the book, and yeah, she is just witty, funny, but like there's so much heart within the book.
SPEAKER_03I loved it.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03I loved it. She has like fun pop culture references. Just it the way she wound humor into this really heartfelt, emotional book was really, really cool. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03I also think Paige Harbison's gonna be a force to be reckoned with. I could see I I know I say this about a lot of movies, I could also see that being a really good movie as well. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's a 320-page book. Highly suggest listening to it because the narration by her is just so good. Oh, yeah. She narrates her own book, right? Yes, yeah. So good. Um, so I highly suggest it's really good. I mean, I only listened to it. I don't know if you guys listened to it. Listen to it only too, but it was a good experience. Really enhanced that read for me. So we love you, Paige. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Alright.
SPEAKER_03My final recommendation. I don't know if have either of you read Dial A for Antes?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03You read it? Uh-huh. Okay. Um, 299 pages. Uh you are following your main character who accidentally kills her blind date. And if I'm remembering correctly, she stuffs the body in her car. I can't remember. And your main the main character is a wedding photographer, and her whole family basically is just this family of wedding vendors. So there's a florist, there's a cake decorator, whatever. And so her blind date accidentally dies, but she has to go to a wedding. And it is the most outrageous, fun, it's a rom-com. All of the aunties try to get involved in like trying to figure out how they're going to cover up this death at a wedding when they're all wedding vendors. So partly it might have been really fun because, you know, I'm a wedding photographer, so I get the wedding industry. Uh, but it just was so what's the word I'm looking for? Outrageous and fun. And you love these little aunties who are meddling in the main character's life. If you just want a light fluffy read that you might get a few chuckles out of, this is the perfect read for that. It's a great palette cleanser. It's 299 pages, like I said. I rated it three and a half stars. It's not anything to write home about, but it was fun.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02It sounds fun.
SPEAKER_03It was fun. And there's three books in this little series. I've only read the first two, but I wanted to be a part of their family. The aunties are crazy.
SPEAKER_01I haven't watched what is it? What's the movie? The eight Crazy Rajations?
SPEAKER_03Is it kind of like that? I've never seen Crazy Rajations. You've never seen Crazy Rajations? I know. I know. Um I know it's a book. Yeah, amazing. Does it give similar vibes? No. Okay. I wouldn't say. But you know, I feel like it has that uh theme of like family being a little maybe a little too involved. Overbearing. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So is Crazy Rich Asians at a wedding as well? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I've never seen it. So, anyways, I think you'd really like it. It's really good. It's I've seen a TikTok about that being like the ultimate plane watch. And I've watched that on the plane many times. I didn't know that that was like almost like a universal experience to watch that on a plane. Alright, I'll watch it the next time. I'll watch the next time on the plane. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Cool. Or maybe you could read dial A for Anties on the plane. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, I guess I'll end us with a bang. Uh I'm gonna try to not sound like a broken record, but you guys are just gonna have to get used to me yapping about my boy Steve Kavanaugh. Steve! But I just discovered him and he's just like, I'm obsessed with him, okay? So his very first book is 308 pages. I just finished it the other day. Uh most of his books are under like 350 pages. Some of them are not. But what's great about his books is that you don't it it's in a series, but you don't have to, you're not gonna like end one book and being like dying to pick up the next one because of like a cliffhanger or anything like that. As far as I know. Uh but if you like courtroom dramas, if you like criminal minds, you would really, like Law and Order, you would really enjoy his books. Um, I started with book five. I'll talk more about that when we do our next TBR episode. And I decided, I'm like, I loved it so much. I'm like, I'm gonna start from the beginning and start with book number one. I probably would have rated this a lot higher had I not read book five first, but it's so it's so good. So it's called the first book's called The Defense. It's the series is called Eddie Flynn. He is the lawyer. And I just have to, I feel like the book description is just so good that I just have to read part of it. So uh Eddie Flynn is this lawyer. He used to be a con artist. And uh so it says, it's been a year since Eddie vowed to never set foot in the courtroom again, but now he doesn't have a choice. Oleg Volcek, the infamous head of the Russian mob, is in New York and he has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and has kidnapped his 10-year-old daughter, Amy, and he only has 48 hours to defend the leader of the Russian mafia and make him win the trial. And if he doesn't win the trial, then he basically, if he doesn't win, if he loses the case, he loses everything. And it is like starts off with a bang, and I like was sweating. Uh it's very intense and there's it's crazy. It's there's so much that happens, and just very fast-paced. The courtroom scenes are the best part of these books. Like there's so much action that happens outside of the courtroom, but when the courtroom scenes begin, I'm sad. I'm like, I am, I'm I'm sitting, I feel like I am on the jury. It is a great time.
SPEAKER_01So if you're looking for a fun, kinda twisty, fast-paced, yeah, courtroom drama.
SPEAKER_02The Eddie Flynn series by Steve Kavanaugh.
SPEAKER_03Every time we talk about the series, I can only picture Saul Goodman. So if I read the series, that's exactly who I'm gonna picture.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I picture Eddie Flynn's. I mean, I don't know what his description is. I don't know what his description is, but like what what would you say like his age is? I mean, first book, he's got like a 10-year-old daughter. Okay. I'd guess he's like 30s? Late 30s? Yeah. I picture him to be I don't know. I mean, in my mind, because I'm picturing him the whole time, I imagine he's really hot. I don't know. So not all good man. Uh I don't actually really know what he looks like, but in my mind he's easy on the eyes. I mean, he's gotta. Yeah. He's gotta be. He's a charmer. I mean, he's yeah. So very fun. I would love to see this as a these books as a series. So badly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I really wanna. I really do wanna read them. Me too. I think it will it sounds like a good fun time. Like it's like a full, it's a full October vibe, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Anywho, we hope you enjoyed these recs. Hopefully, I feel like we gave recommendations from all across the spectrum. Yeah. All over the place with the genres. So hopefully you're able to find something that you can add to your TBR. Hopefully, enjoy. Uh, we love recommending books for you guys. You can always slide into our DMs with more specific requests. We love your book recommendations for us as well. And thanks so much for listening. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram at what she's readingpod. Uh, and we have a Patreon where you can subscribe for extra bonus content. When does this come out? I don't know. Thank you. We'll just say new merch coming soon. May.
SPEAKER_03I sure hope by the time this comes out our merch is live. So we have two episodes recorded.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I don't have to say anything about merch, but maybe you just say we have merch. Yeah. If you like cute bookish merch, Kindle cases, all that jazz, you can head to our website, allreadwashheesreading.com, for some bookish goodies for you or the reader in your life. Thanks so much for tuning in. We will see you next Wednesday. Bye.