Hi guys, welcome back to I'll read it cheese reading. I'm Kennedy. I'm Mikhaila. And I'm Reggie. And today we're doing an episode all about if you like this, read this. We haven't done this in a while. A very long time. I don't even know when it was. I can't even recall what was said in that episode. I mean, I do remember getting offended when you guys compared Magnolia Parks to Gossip Girl, but we won't talk about it. During that episode? Yeah. Oh, then that was ages ago. Yeah, it was a really long time. Over a year. Two years ago. Yeah. So we're back with another episode. If no one's gonna get offended. No one's gonna get offended this time. If you haven't listened to our first episode, go ahead, go back to listen to that one. Because it's good. And I hope I don't repeat myself on one of the ones I'm going to say. But this is always fun. So if you haven't listened to our last episode, if you don't know what we're talking about, basically we say if you like this certain TV show, music artist, author, other book, then you should read this. But before we get into if you like this, read this, we're gonna update, we're gonna update you guys on what we've currently been reading because it's been a hot second since we've done that. Michaela, you want to start us off? Yeah, I'll do it. I think all of us are in a horrific reading slump. So this should be fun for you guys. It's gonna be so fun. Okay. Well, I'm still reading Lonesome Dove. I don't know if you've talked about it on the podcast, actually. Have I not? I don't think you have. Um, I'm reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McGerther. McMurter. Um, my husband really wanted to read books together. Cute. And so he started like a little impromptu book club with some of our friends, and he he's like, we should read this. And I was like, you know what? I'll read a book with you because I've been saying no.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's a thick book. It's a thick book. Because he's been reading like um 1984. Um yeah. And East of Eden, you know, all of those things, very classic books. That's not usually my cup of tea. So I decided to jump into this book. Are you guys going to watch the Western? Watch it? Mm-hmm. Yeah. He's just waiting for me to finish it. He's already finished it. But it's been really fun because I he's like, let me know, like your reactions to things. And I texted him one time when I was like at a wedding because I had just listened to it in the car, and he like called me. He's like, Can you believe it? Oh, that's really cute. So cute. So, what's it about? Yeah, let me get into that. Um, it's about uh, oh my gosh. I don't even know how to explain it. It's very, okay. I will say with this book, there's not very much plot. Okay. It's very much like almost like you're reading a journal. Hmm. Um, it's just uh you follow a bunch of characters. That's what has been the hardest part about me is that it changes like point of view, but it doesn't have like when it changes. It just like changes in the middle of chapters. And so there's Lonesome Dove, it's like a ranch, and it follows a bunch of characters that they're like going across country to like deliver cattle. There's sheriffs and deputies and wives running away. Oh, it's just very like the most western thing that you can think of is exactly what is in this book. Okay. Fun. You know, Indians, cowboys on the border of California and Mexico, just like all over. I don't even know how to describe it. Whores literally everything. Literally uh bars, gambling. Western. Western. Alright. Yeah. It's funny because I was talking to my husband and his uncle about westerns yesterday, and they brought up well, my ki my Kyle. My husband didn't, but his uncle brought up Load and Sub Dove. Yeah, you should watch it. I'm like, well, I have the book. I'm gonna read it. I'm curious to know what the synopsis says, like on Goodreads. It says a love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier. Sounds about what you just described.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'd say Journey to the dusty little town of Lonesome Dove. Texas. Oh, okay, so the town's called Lonesome Dove. You think I would know this. Indians settlers, yeah. I don't know how else literally the thing is with the description, it doesn't say anything about the actual story because I wouldn't know how to accurately it's like just character-driven, uh, very character-driven. It's really bad though, because my husband wants to name all of our children after these characters. Like, give us one of the names. Like Augustus. Gus is his nickname. Julie. Oh Roscoe. Roscoe's kind of cool. Kind of sounds like a dog name, but kind of cool. He's very much into the Western names right now. He's like adding them to his kid list, name list, and I'm like, okay. Alright. Anyways, sorry, that was a really long tangent. It's taken me a really long time. It's a 34-hour listen. Wow. That's long. And I have 14 hours left. Oh my okay. Ouch. Alright. Yeah. That's pretty much it. Nice. Ye freaking ha. Ye freaking ha.
SPEAKER_03Reggie? Um, I mean, we haven't updated our reads, I feel like, in a long time. Did I talk about Direbound? I feel like this was forever ago. I don't think you don't think you have. But I just feel like I need to talk about it because I I just don't know if I should continue. So if you are listening to this and you felt the same as I did with the first book and you've already read the second one, I need you to tell me if I I know it just came out, but you gotta tell me if I should continue on because I'm feeling very iffy on whether I continue or not. Everyone said that this book, if you like Fourth Wing, you would love Dire Bound. Well, no duh, because there's so many similarities. And I was trying so hard to like separate things, but then like something would come up, like, oh, this little like plot twist or new element to the story, and I was like laughing because I was like, that's actually hilarious. That this is like there were so many things that felt so similar that it almost like it was taking me out of the story a little bit. And I know maybe some people will disagree with me. There's definitely more unique elements to it that aren't exactly fourth wing, but there were enough elements to the story, especially in the beginning, where I was like, You're kidding, like you're kidding. Uh it just I I wish I could say that there was something there. I mean, there's a kind of a unique system to it, but that was a little different. There was like a plot twist that I didn't see coming that was really exciting, but for the most part, I was just kinda I just wasn't super satisfied with that, although so many people love it so much because like I would gave an update that was like you guys weren't kidding, when you said that this was like fourth wing butt with wolves, and I had all these people messaging me and commenting on my update that was like, oh yay, now I can't wait to read it. And I was like, I don't know if I meant that as like a super positive thing. I don't know, but like essentially if I had to describe the book for you, it's literally feels like fourth wing butt with wolves. Girl competes in this thing to I don't know, it's like hard for me to like say because I think some things are meant to be a surprise. Uh, but yeah, there's there's wolves that bond with riders. Sounds familiar. There's intense competition that reminded me of another book where you're trying to get to the top of this mountain and you're fighting against all these other people to get to the top. Moody, morally gray, male main character. There is kind of like a love triangle-ish, yeah, that I kind of was like, this is kind of cool, but I don't know. Like, I just I'm struggling with there was one thing at the end that I was like, ooh, yeah, I think I'd keep reading for this one element, but it did get spoiled for me.
SPEAKER_01Uh already.
SPEAKER_03So that's why I'm kind of just like eh. So I felt very mid. It was felt uh it was very mid for me. But I can see why people really like it. I just hate like sometimes when people say, like, oh, it's very similar to this book, it's can either be a good thing or a bad thing, and for me, Unfortunately, it was a bad thing. So that's a book I recently read. Uh, I also read The Burning Side by Sarah De Moff. I haven't really talked to Kennedy about this, but I did like The Bright Years a lot better, which Kennedy thought I would like The Burning Side a lot more. But The Bright Years, very good. I think Sarah De Moff is, she's an instant autobi author for me now. I've read both of her books within a span of like six weeks. Phenomenal writer. There's just something about her writing. She just writes stories about just real life, uh, different point of views, and the way I don't even know how to describe her writing style, but it's so satisfying. You really feel like you are in this fan these families that she is writing about. Uh so I like the bright ears a lot more than the burning side, but the burning side is also so well done. And I actually might be talking about it a little later in the episode, but yeah, she can evoke a lot of emotion out of me.
SPEAKER_02So she's incredible. I love her. Yeah. Love her so much.
SPEAKER_03So what about you?
SPEAKER_02Nothing. No, I'm just kidding. I have not read very much, unfortunately. Um, we'll talk about We Burn So Bright by TJ Clun. I finished this like two days ago. Um, my review was, I actually haven't updated my review. This reminds me any too. It said, My heart hurts very much after finishing this book. I'll be back with my full review. It was, it's very short. So it's 170 pages. I think it's a six-hour listen. You're following uh, how do I forget the name? Don and Rodney as they travel across the United States during the end of the world. So there's a big black hole that's approaching Earth that's going to just like eat up the earth. And they're traveling across the United States because they keep saying that they like need to make amends with this person. Like there's somebody they're going to meet in Washington, I believe. And along the way, they meet a whole bunch of different walks of life, people from different areas, people of different ethnicities, whatever, people going through basically how they react to the world ending. And I cried at the end. It just was like I don't even want to use the word wholesome because I don't want to say it's wholesome, but it just was like, it was good. It just, it's just good. I just love books where you learn to be a little bit more empathetic towards other people, and that's exactly what this book did. Super short, so if you need to catch up on your reading goal, highly suggest. If you read anything else by TJ Clun, I feel like it's very on par with what I've read by him. Just kind of like not sickly sweet, but kind of. So. Um, and then I actually reread Vicious and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. Vicious is about two best friends in college who are very, very intelligent. And one of the best friends decides that he's going to write his, I don't know exactly what it's called, but picture like a senior thesis on extraordinary people. He has this theory that when people go through a really traumatic event and almost die, they get superpowers, basically. Um, and so you're following Victor and Eli, the most iconic duo, and just kind of their villain origin story, basically. Because neither of them are great people, truth be told. Felt very similar. I rereading them, I felt very similar to how I read them the first time. Vengeful is really hard to get through, it's just really slow. But I reread them because we got the arc for Victorious, which is the third and final book in the series, and I've been waiting three years for it. So I'm really excited. Which kind of leads me to my first if you like this, read this. You guys ready? Yeah. Okay, go for it. I'm pretty sure I said this in the last episode, but it stands very true. And obviously it's on my mind because I just read it. If you like X-Men, read Vicious by V.E. Schwab. Um, I think it's on the second book they compare Victor and Eli to Magneto and Professor X. So if that tickles your fancy, go ahead and give it a try. Um, the only main difference is neither of them are good. So just know that all the characters in this book kind of live in this gray area, which I find really interesting because you kind of love one more than the other, but the one you love really honestly isn't a good person. So I don't remember very much from those. Did you read the second one? I don't think you did. I think I did. Maybe? Because I swear maybe I was wrong, but I swear I went on there and maybe I don't know if you marked it as ri red. Red Vengeful. Is it vengeful? Yeah. Oh no, I didn't. It's not my favorite. I don't really I don't really remember it. I will say, so I listened to them this time around. I do think that the books are meant to be read. It's a definitely a better book read than listened to, which I feel like is very true about most of V. E. Schwab's writing, because I think she's a little bit more slower paced, and so I found myself kind of drifting off and thinking about other things because I was kind of not paying attention. So recommend reading this. But if you like X-Men, you'd probably like those. Yeah. At least Vicious. Vengeful kind of strays away from that, but Vicious is good. Vicious. Dang. Michaela, let's have you go. All right. What's on my list? Um, okay. I think I made this comparison not that long ago. So Suits, the TV show. If you watch Suits, I feel like it's a very highly watched rated TV show. I had never seen it before until a few weeks ago. And I started watching that while also reading the Eddie Flynn series. And there's a lot of similarities. You know, lawyer high stakes. A little out there when it comes to the law. They kind of live in a gray area. Yes. Yeah. Um, so highly recommend if you enjoyed suits reading the Eddie Flynn series. The first one is oh my gosh. The defense. The defense. Yeah. So I've only read the first two. I'm actually having a hard time finding the third on audio. I know.
SPEAKER_03I think I'm using uh either an Everend credit or I'll use my Amazon. Yeah. Is it on Spotify? I don't know. Maybe they are on Spotify. I don't know how I haven't looked on Spotify. I know that like there's some of them are on Hoopla, but not all of them. Yeah, only some.
SPEAKER_02That's weird. Anyways. Um, yeah, that's my recommendation. It's a good comparison. Yeah. I love Harvey. I feel like now I feel like I'm gonna picture Eddie Flynn as Harvey, the guy that plays Harvey. Really? I would see him as the other I can't remember the other guy's name.
SPEAKER_03But I've never really fully sat down and watched it.
SPEAKER_02I made it, me and Kyle watched it and we made it like halfway through. I don't know why we stopped watching it. It wasn't because like we didn't like it. But I'm only on the first season, like episode seven or eight. But it they're just fun. They are fun.
SPEAKER_03The Eddie Flynn series would be such a good TV show. Yeah, one.
SPEAKER_02So let's bring it up in popularity, everybody.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So that it can be picked up. Pick them up. Yes. Audiobooks are great. Yeah, I'm sure physically reading them would be great, but I think we've all done the audiobooks. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03They're great. Um, okay, I said I was gonna talk about Sarah DeMoff again. I might bring her up one other time. But if you ever I'm I don't think you've ever seen the show. Have you ever seen This Is Us?
SPEAKER_02I literally have that on my list.
SPEAKER_03Oh, no way. For both her books. Yes. Um, if you have ever seen This Is Us and you enjoyed watching that TV series, you would love Sarah DeMoff's books. Uh just because there's just so much, it's just they're f it's following the story of a family and dual timeline, which is also like This Is Us. The first book of hers, um, The Bright Years follows. It's like so hard to explain. It's just like all of her books really capture just the true essence of family, of grief, of trauma. Trauma, loss, uh love.
SPEAKER_02I also think they tackle I I wouldn't say this is a spoiler and maybe you disagree. So one tackles, I feel like they tackle really hard subjects. So the burning side is it tackles like infidelity in marriage, among other things. And then the bright years tackle it tackles like addiction and alcoholism. And she does it in such like a respectful way that you just find yourself having a lot of empathy and understanding people who maybe make mistakes in their lives a little bit more, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I just felt like so deeply connected to these families in this story, and I feel like that's the same feeling I got when I watched This Is Us. Like, I remember it's been a long time since I've watched a TV show that's was coming out each week. I feel like now they kind of just throw seasons out, like, okay, here's the first season. But This Is Us is one of those that from the day that it first came out, like episode the pilot episode, I was like had it recording every single week. And I feel like you just got to know the the Pearson family so well, and you just have so such love for them, even when they make mistakes, or you like watch this family grow up, and Sarah does such a great job doing that in her books with them being as short as they are. They're very powerful, and so I just think she's incredible. You want like family drama that's gonna something that's gonna make you cry, but also make you feel good. She can just um evoke so much emotion.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they're not books that like you cry and you feel like crop after. I can think of a few books that I've read that like I didn't take anything out of it, they just made me feel really sad. Um, her books make you feel really sad, but in a good way.
SPEAKER_03Because even with all those underlying themes that we talk about, there's also just like a lot of hope and love in the stories as well. So yeah. They're so great. I'm already like, when is she when does she have another book? Same. Like I need another one immediately. So same.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02All right. On a um less serious topic, this is like the wackiest comparison. And I was kind of scrolling through my Goodreads and I was trying to find books that like I haven't talked about a lot, and also just I don't know, maybe something that these guys wouldn't recommend. I know these two haven't read it, and maybe this will convince them to read it. Okay. If you loved Doofin Schmerz from Phineas and Ferb, okay, just just just stay with me, okay? Okay. Read Starter Villain by John Scalsey, okay? I read this, I don't know, two and a half years ago. Same author that wrote The Moon is Cheese. Yeah. On par. Yeah. Very on par. Yeah. So in this book, I vividly remember there's like talking dolphins, talking cats. It's just, it's a sci-fi book, but it's so wacky. It's the wackiest thing I have read. And now John Skalsey also writes like epic sci-fi, but um, this book is about Charlie. He's a divorced substitute teacher living with his cat who can talk in a house with his siblings that his siblings want to sell. Um, his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves him his super fillin' bit supervillain business. Okay. So Charlie goes off on this journey to be a supervillain.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so like parry the platypus and doofinchfirts. Yes. Perry the potipus and doofinch. Okay. I get it. I can see it. Okay. It's just wacky. Like, I never thought those would be words that would ever like be on our I'll read what she's greeting bingo card that we would ever speak. Here you go.
SPEAKER_02I love it. Doofinchfurtz. So yeah, I was sitting there trying to think. I'm like, I have to come up with a comparison for this book because I know most people probably haven't read it. Phineas and Ferb, baby. Wow. Yeah. That's a very specific thought. Wow. I just come out of your brain. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03But that also sounds like a very niche, very stand-on zone kind of book.
SPEAKER_02It like, I'm not saying you you listener, or if you guys decide like to use, look it up on Hoopla and it's available and you're like, sure, whatever. It's very short. How many pages is it? It's 264 pages. It's so short. It'd be a fun listen. I read it, but I'm sure it would be fun. I don't know if they do voices for the animals, whatever. The dolphins are so sassy. It's just like wacky out there. You want a fun sci-fi read that's not serious. Okay. And you're trying to meet your reading goal. Okay. And you really like Doofenschmurtz. Mm-hmm. Start a Villain by John Scalsey. Dang, that's quite something. Thank you. I love that. I love that. I don't think I can top that ever. No. I straight up don't think I can. I just think we should end the episode. Okay. See you later, guys. Bye. You know how when you finish a romantic and you just need the next thing immediately? Hatch made that a thing.
SPEAKER_03It's called Ophelia, an original audio drama inspired by Hamlet, where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character. Forbidden Magic, A Crumbling Kingdom, A Slowburn Love Triangle with the Prince and his very guarded, very intriguing best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will not be quiet about it.
SPEAKER_02Book one of the three-part series is now available for free wherever you stream, with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books two and three, check out Hatch.co slash Ophelia. Stay until the end of the episode for the full trailer of Ophelia by Hatch. Maybe this is just recency biased, but if you liked The Housemaid, the movie or the book, you should read My Husband's Wife by Alice? That's all she wrote. That's all she wrote. I I need to look up. I have to be very, very careful with what I say because I just finished it and I don't want to like spoil it, give anything away.
SPEAKER_03I've seen a lot of people talking about that recently. So I loved when you posted and said you're reading that because I've been tempted to start it.
SPEAKER_02My sister's reading that right now, actually. Really? Or no, she said she loved it. Let me just explain the very beginning of it. Okay. So there's this girl, a Eden Fox. She is an artist. She lives in this manor that they just moved into with her husband a few months ago. And she goes on a run. She goes like on her morning routine run. And when she gets back, her key doesn't fit into her, like her house key doesn't fit into the front door. And she like knocks on the door and a woman opens the door that looks very familiar to her. Like that looks very similar to her. And she's like, What are you doing in my house? And she's like, What do you mean? This is my house. Huh? And then her husband comes out and is like, Who are you? Huh? And she's like, I'm your wife. And he says, No, you're not. This is my wife, Eden Fox. Sounds like literally the housemate, but a different font. Yeah. And that's how it starts. Interesting.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I might need to start that one. I don't think I've read a book by Alice Veney, right? I don't think I've read it. Is she the one that wrote Rock, Paper, Scissors? That's me too.
SPEAKER_02Oh, JK, I have read Rocky Scissors. Yeah, she does. I have read Rock Paper Scissors. I think this is my first book by her. What did you rate it? I rated it. It'd be very interesting to reread it with a different lens. Um I think I rated it like 3.5, maybe four, depending on the day. It's just like it'd be interesting to read it now, knowing what I know. So yeah. It was really interesting. It was such a fun listen. Ooh, okay. There's like, it has some kind of like, it's not a graphic audio, but it has like some running stuff, like footsteps, doors opening and closing, kind of stuff like that. And then there's like a FBI police investigation part of it, and they have like tape. It kind of sounds like you know how they do like a podcast kind of recording of things, so they have like where it sounds a little muffled, like they were yeah, anyways. So the listen was really fun. Okay. All right. Well added to my listen TBR.
SPEAKER_03Soon. Yeah. I'm more convinced. I don't sell.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I don't know. I just I don't know why I started reading it, but I saw some people rated it pretty highly. And a lot of people said the reviews, like the twists they didn't see coming.
SPEAKER_03So all right. Cool. I'm gonna go. This isn't like super, super, super similar, okay? But I feel like if you're enjoying watching off-campus or you like the off-campus books and you haven't yet read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, they give not the exact same vibes, but a similar trope. There's like a fake dating trope. And it's about like these two scientists. One of them is like a professor, I think he's a professor, right? And then Olive is she's a third-year PhD candidate. So like college settings. So kind of like same kind of setting-ish, just a lot more, you know, science-y and more smart. Like there's a lot of I love some women in STEM. So you there's a lot of like science-y kind of talk, but it is just like slow burn. The romance is so fun. The fake dating element is just so exciting. And if you there's gonna be a movie that's supposed to come out this year, there's not a release date for it yet.
SPEAKER_02Is it prime? I actually don't know.
SPEAKER_03I'm not sure. Because it's not gonna be in theaters, it's gonna be streaming somewhere. I think it's prime. I feel like I recommend that one. I wouldn't say like they're the most similar thing on the planet, but I feel like if you in if you haven't if you're really enjoying off campus, like chances are you're gonna enjoy reading The Love Hypothesis, and then you get to have like the fun experience like of watching off campus. You get to have the fun experience of watching the adaptation in movie form coming to prime.
SPEAKER_02Man, Amazon is a release date though.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know it doesn't have a release date, but I'm pretty sure it's done. Yeah, it's supposed to come out this year. Yeah, so I can't wait for that trailer to drop. I just think that the casting is so well done. I freaking love him. Yes.
SPEAKER_02I can't perfect. Have you guys watched the TV show where the couple runs a murder podcast and then they start interviewing the murderer? It's got Kelly Kelly Cucko. Kelly Cuckoo. I don't know how to say your last name. He's one of the guys in it, and I am obsessed with him.
SPEAKER_03I also just think it's the most iconic move to cast him because not only is he perfect for the role, but because this book was set as a Kylo Wren and Ray fan fiction.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say if you like Star Wars, read the love hypothesis.
SPEAKER_03Which I still don't really understand how the fan fiction worked, but like it is a Star Wars fan fiction, okay? Kylo Wren and Ray. I would assume she wrote it on AOL.
SPEAKER_02Daisy Ridley.
SPEAKER_03Daisy Ridley's husband is the male main character lead in this movie.
SPEAKER_02I would say that she probably wrote it on AO3, and there was a lot more Star Wars references, but obviously kind of like alchemized, she had to take all that out when she was traditionally published. But I love that little tidbit.
SPEAKER_03She's so it's so perfect. And I I just think it's such great casting. So I just think it would be a fun thing if you're looking to forward to you know, something fun to watch on Amazon Prime after you're done with off campus, it's coming sometime soon this year. Definitely read the book before you watch the movie because I do think the casting is perfect. From what I've even like, they haven't even released a trailer yet, and I'm like, Chef's kiss, perfect. So I can't wait to see Lily Reinhardt and something other than Riverdale.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's gonna be great. Yeah, I think it's gonna be done so well. I'm really glad they chose this book of Ali Hayeswolds to do first. I'm really, really glad.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So Amazon is just really they're pumping them out. They are on it.
SPEAKER_02They really are. Alright, this is my last ditch effort for any of you listening who have not read this yet to get you to read it. And then I promise I'll shut up about it. If you like Noah Khan and his music, you will like Beartown by Frederick Bachman. The whole series. When I tell you guys that every single Noah Khan song I listen to, I can relate to one of the characters in the series. I genuinely believe it. The same feeling I get listening to Noah Khan's music is the same way I feel felt when I read Beartown. If you're in the mood to be all up in your feels and to cry, Beartown is a series for you. I think about these characters all the time. I cannot wait to reread it because I love it so much. And yeah. Paul Revere by Noah Khan is my favorite song because there's a certain character that I think of every single time I listen to that song, and it just makes me want to cry every time. So if you're in your fields and you want to go to a small town where a lot of people can't wait to get out of, that's very good, very good comparison.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And I've only read the first book, but keep going, please. The second book is my least. I feel like I would have to read the first book again because I genuinely like I remember how it ends, don't remember anything else.
SPEAKER_02Here's the here is the um caveat I will give about Bear Town. It's very character-driven. There is, there's obviously a plot, but in order to fully enjoy the series, you have to love the characters. And so there's a lot of information that is told that you kind of feel like, what's the point? This doesn't really make sense, but it's to get you to fall in love with these characters so that by the end of the book you feel for them and it just carries on throughout the entire series. If you're unfamiliar with the plot, you're basically just following a whole bunch of people who live in a really small town, and hockey is the driving force of the town. It they like the eat, sleep, breathe, hockey. Everything is tied into hockey, their politics, their social status, everything is hockey to them. And so, yeah, I'm trying to remember the first line goes something like someone's holding a gun to someone else's head and they pull the trigger. And that's like the that is literally the sense of the first line of Bear Town. And so then you go back in time and figure out how they got there. So I'm begging, begging it to be adapted in English. I know it was adapted in Swedish, but I can't find the adaptation anywhere. I've literally searched Google. It used to be on some streaming service, they took it off. So if anybody out there knows where I can watch it dubbed, please let me know because I would die to watch it. So yeah. I don't know. I can't can't tell you if that's a good one or not, but I'm sure it is. I'm sure it is. What you got for us, Michaela? Oh man. This is what I have in my notes sports. It's just sports. Sports ball. Sports. Okay. I have four things to compare to sports. Okay. If you like sports, any sport, you enjoy watching them, you enjoy playing them. Obviously, the Windy City series. I don't feel like I have to say much about this because we've already said so much about it. If you haven't read it, please. Please. Like I'm begging you. I remember when people used to talk about it, and I'd say like, it can't be that good. It is. And if you're one of those people that read the first book and decided to give up, keep going. You know that meme where that guy's like picking and he makes it just the short of the gold? Yeah. That's you. If you only read Windy City. No, Mile High. Mile High. Keep going. Yeah. Keep going. So yeah, Windy City, it's I know we get like the off-campus, there's hockey in it. But I and like I feel like there's a lot of books I read there's hockey or sports in it, but I feel like the sports are a main part of it, which is like fun to me because in a normal life, when a sport is your job, it's a bigger part of your life than just like that being your job and just like a little blurb. They went and played a basketball game, or like, you know, so I like that ser the series because of that. And then also The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata. So good. Her books are just really long, but like it's about a football player and his publicist. Yeah, she does something like that. He does she does something like that. It's Grumpy and Sunshine Tro. Yeah. And he is freaking grumpy. He's a frumpy. He's a frumpy guy. No, a grumpy guy. But like football. That's like the storyline. The plot is he is a football player. And Colty by Mariana Zapata is soccer. Like that is the just the world in the book revolves around the sport, which I really like. Um, so those are my recommendations for if you enjoy sports. Sports. Sports ball. I feel like both of those, I haven't read Colti, but I feel like a lot of people when they want a sports romance, people immediately recommend, yeah, off campus, Windy City. And so I'm trying to think there's any other ones. Those are the main two I feel like people recognize or recommend. So those Mariana Zapata ones are a great recommendation.
SPEAKER_03So sports. Amazing. Alright. Here is my I'm trying to tie a bunch of things together. If you enjoy, if you like growing up, loved watching YouTubers, specifically like YouTube families. If you enjoyed Yesteryear by Carol Claire Burke, I believe is her name. And if you like any of those twisty documentaries about families that aren't who what they seem, you would love House of My Mother by Sherry Frankie. Especially like the yesteryear comparison, because I feel like yesteryear has just been talked about so much recently. And I finished that book and I was like, it's giving a little bit of Ruby Frankie, you know? And so if you want to hear like the actual story of one of her children sharing about what it was like growing up as a kid child YouTube star because of your mother, like it, I don't know how familiar people are outside of Utah with the Ruby Frankie case, but I feel like it got a lot of national attention because Ruby Frankie is one of the biggest YouTubers out there. So Ruby Frankie had a YouTube channel years and years ago called Eight Passengers, and it was just her documenting her family's life on YouTube. And uh a few years ago, things started getting a little people started noticing things were a little off with her channel, and she starts this partnership with Jody Hildebrand. And Jodi is this like life coach, things just escalate, and basically, come to find out, she moves her and some of her kids down south to St. George, Utah to live with Jody. And one day, one of her young sons knocks on a neighbor's door, and he says, I need to call the police, and he runs away from his quote-unquote home, and the police get involved and find out that Ruby and Jody have been hiding, like just abusing these children, and there's so many sad things to it. But Sherry, who wrote the book, House of My Mother, is the oldest daughter, uh, and the oldest in the family, and so she writes this book, just sharing the story of what it was like growing up as this kid YouTube star and just the behind the scenes. And if you've seen like the documentary that I think it was Hulu put out of everything, it's crazy. I had like it feels like close to home because her sisters like live in the same well, one of her sisters does, I think one of them moved out. Her family is just very well known, especially in Utah, even here in northern Utah where we live. And so it is just a very sad and crazy story. So if you really, really enjoyed yesteryear, chances are you would find House of My Mother by Sherry Frankie really, really interesting and quite sad. Uh, but the work that Sherry is doing right now, I just am so impressed with her. And she is just doing everything she can to make yeah monetizing off of your children illegal and just her perspective as a child. Like, I think we're gonna start to see a lot of books like this coming out, yeah, which is really sad. Kid's I don't know. So well, I saw the hype of that book right now. I was like, gotta talk about House of My Mother. She did a very great job, and she also narrates the book and very well done. Such a sad story. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I've talked about this book pretty recently on the podcast, so I'll keep this short and sweet. But if you liked the movie, P.S. I Love You, starring Gerard Butler. Who else who's the girl in Gerard in P.S. I Love You? Anyways, P.S. I Love You. If you want if you love that movie, you'll probably love this book, Made Me Think of You, by Libby Page, the female main character in this book. She has her husband, husband, right? Mm-hmm. Husband passes away, and he leaves her a book for every month for an entire year, and every book has like a handwritten note to her. And he's just like helping her navigate her grief after he passes away. And that's very similar to P.S. I Love You. So if you love P.S. I Love You, you'll love that book. There's a little bit of a romance subplot, which is nice. I listened to the book and I really, really, really wish I would have read it. Because I would have rated it a lot higher.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_02That's a good one. If you like rom coms, just movies, books. If you haven't read the rom commerce, do you see where I got that? Oh, she's so smart. So good. By Catherine Sunder. Um it's about uh a screenwriter, and she has to collaborate with another screenwriter to make a rom-com. Cute. You want to know what? I'm kind of offended none of her books have been picked up. I know. I know. Yeah, so it's just kind of a story about them trying to write a rom-com, and they have very different tastes when it comes to they're like also writing their own romantic. Are they writing at the same time? No, I wouldn't say they're I wouldn't say they yeah, I would say they don't get along very well because they just have very different tastes in what they would deem a good rom-com. So it's just about their their story of writing a rom-com. Cute.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's cute. Cute. I need to read more Catherine Sutter's books. I've literally only read one and I really loved it. So I'm I don't know why I haven't picked up another one, but that one sounds really fun. Uh I'm gonna go with if you like the TV show Severance, you would most likely enjoy Dark Matter or Recursion. Frick Yeah! By Blake Crouch. Um I Hey, season two Dark Matter is coming out soon. It's coming out soon. I'm a little nervous. Is it gonna be good? I'm a little nervous. Like, I'm excited. What are we gonna do? Because I trust, I do trust Blake Crouch, but I just feel like the ending of Dark Matter is so perfect that I'm like, uh, why do we have to like continue on without spoiling anything? I'm like, why do we have to continue on? But I'm still excited to watch it nonetheless. So uh yeah, if you liked Severance and you have like if you have listened to this podcast for a while and you have not yet read Dark Matter, what's wrong with you? What are you doing? What the freaking you need to pick it up because one, the TV adaption, it's pretty much perfect. They did they did change cinema, they did change some things, but it almost makes it better. It 100% makes it better. So good, so good. We were just watching The Boys in the Boat and the guy that plays Calum. Jason Jason? Isn't that his name in Dark Matter? Oh, yes, Jason. Jason. The guy that plays Jason is the the coach in Boys in the Boat, and like the whole time we're watching the movie, we're like, should we re-watch Dark Matter? Should we re-watch Dark Matter? It's so good. So um, I mean, if you're familiar with Severance, like, you know what I'm talking about, but if you're not even familiar with Severance, it's like, what do they call it? When they s they say they sever you, and you can have you have this job, you don't know what the job is, but when they sever you, you go into this like elevator and you go to work. You go to work and you have an innie and an outie, and your innie is working at this working at this job, and then when you leave work You leave and you don't remember anything from being at work because it's like you're two different people. Uh, so that's like the plot of severance, essentially. This man trying to figure out these questions he has about his in-ie versus his outie. Not his belly button. It sounds really funny. It sounds really funny, but it's so good. But if you're wanting like a book that gives that kind of vibe, yeah, Dark Matter is so cool. It's about this man who gets abducted and he gets like knocked out when he wakes up, he's in this room with a bunch of people who know who he is, but he has no idea who any of these people are. And he's on this mission to make his way back home. And listen, it doesn't sound that cool. But it's cool. Okay, there's a lot of like science-y and listen, you don't have to understand the science. Yeah, you can't do it.
SPEAKER_02I don't remember reading it being really concerned because there's it's very science because he's a he's a sci he's a science professor. He's like, he's like a he does something, he teaches something at a school and it's he's very smart. Yeah. And so it goes into the science of a lot of things. Physics? Yeah, I think it's probably physics. Um you don't have to understand it. Yeah. Just be there for the vibes for that portion. And then the rest of it.
SPEAKER_03So like I've said this before, but even though it's a sci-fi book, it's like a really romantic book at the same time. So you probably really like that. I did just read Recursion. I won't talk too much about it because I'll be talking about it on a future episode when we talk about the books we picked for each other. But recursion gives very similar vibes. It's also by Blake Crouch, but um sh so yeah, just different lives, sci-fi, romantic subplot. I feel like those three stories can kinda that's severance. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Sci-fi, yeah, romantic subplot. Yeah. Severance.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I need the next season so badly.
SPEAKER_03It's gonna be like another year and a half.
SPEAKER_02I know, and but Ben Stiller is no longer involved. I don't have high hopes now that he's not involved. But also, how crazy that Ben Stiller is the creator of Severance. Like, you would never think that Ben Stiller would create that chest.
SPEAKER_03Of all people, I'm so sad he's not part of it anymore. Right? I don't think he is. Why can you let that go? Like it's it did so well, and then not be involved in it anymore.
SPEAKER_02I wonder if it's just kind of like he's over it. Like he was, you know what I mean? Almost like Kristen Chenwith and Wicked, when you know, you do it for so long and it's I don't know, I guess. Anyways. That's it. So if you like this, read this. Um hopefully you guys got some good book recommendations. This is always a fun episode, even though we don't do it very often. I feel like it's a good one. Because I don't know about you guys, but whenever people whenever people find out that I have a book podcast, they'll be like, oh, can you give me a book recommendation? And the first thing I always ask them is what's your favorite movie or what's your favorite TV show? Because typically what you like to consume with your eyes, well, I guess you consume both with your eyes. Whatever you spend your time watching, I can usually give you a book recommendation based on what you like to watch. So, or I guess music too. I don't know. I'm tired at this point. Um, thank you so much for listening. We appreciate it more than you guys know. If you want to follow us on social media, you can find us at what she's reading pod. We also have some cute merch. If you like reader-specific merch, um, you can find it at allreadsheesreading.com. And if you want some more exclusive content, go ahead and find us on Patreon as well. As always, if you guys have a book recommendation for us, our DMs are open. Also, we recently released signups for our next bookish retreat. It will take place in Park City, Utah, and it is on October 1st through the 4th. So if you're interested in coming, hanging out with us, please come. Yeah, it's really fun. We go to some bookstores, we do bookish crafts, there's time for reading. We might even all go see Verity together because it happens to come out that weekend. Uh, you can look at our Instagram and the Highlight Bubble Reader's Retreat and find all of the information, or you can always DM us and we can kind of give you the lowdown. So coming out, it's always a good time. That's all we've got for you this week. Hope you're reading something good, and we'll see you next week. Bye. Bye!
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Ophelia, a Shakespeare After Dark series from Hatch. Inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet, this romanticy reimagining gives Ophelia the story and the fate she never had. Ophelia's story will be told over three books, with each chapter fitting within 20 cozy minutes. Ophelia has always been expected to be small, but on the eve of her 21st birthday, something ancient awakens inside her. As she reconnects with the charming Prince Hamlet and his brilliant, guarded friend Horatio, Ophelia finds herself caught between love, loyalty, and a power she cannot ignore. So, warm yourself by the hearth and enjoy the tale of Ophelia.