Friends of the Library | Christy, Briana, & Friends

Join Briana & Christy as they interview Friends of the Russell Library, Sandy Becker and Mary Keating.  Learn all about the big upcoming Booksale on June 14-15. Sandy and Mary will discuss what it takes to become a Friend of the Library and why you should consider joining the team. If you're looking for a way to build community surrounded by thousands of books, this might be the volunteer opportunity for you! Stay tuned after the interview for important Russell Library announcements with Kim & Shannon, followed by our staff recommendations with Stephanie, Kate, & Briana.

Book Recommendations

The Prospects by KT Hoffman
Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice by Anna Lapera
Dear Wendy by Ann Zhou
Harley Quinn trilogy (DC Icons) by Rachael Allen
The Princess Who Flew With Dragons by Stephanie Burgess
Deadman's Castle by Iain Lawrence
Felice and The Wailing Woman by Diana Lopez

This podcast uses music by Ashutosh, under a creative commons license:
Time by ASHUTOSH | https://soundcloud.com/grandakt
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
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Transcript

Speak: 0:21

Anne Marie Keating. Thank you guys for coming. Glad to be here. Our pleasure. I'm going to start off our questions. So, Sandy, as president of the Friends of Russell Library, how did you first hear about the organization and when did you step into the leadership role? I think I first heard about it through Wendy Berlind, who is a very old friend. And when I had first retired, I was rather bored and she made this suggestion for sorting how I fell into becoming a member of the executive committee. First, I was treasurer for a while because the previous treasurer wanted not to do it, and I rather foolishly he said, Oh well, okay for a little while. And I realized that was not actually a perfect match for me. I'm not I'm not that good at. What is that? The financials, right? Well, yeah, I mean, I run my own financials very, very well. Right. But this is a little different. Yes. And then the president, Howie, wanted to step down. And since I was already on the executive committee, I said, you know, I'm kind of willing to be president if somebody else is willing to be treasurer. And sure enough, Laura stepped up and said, well, I don't want to be president, but I would be willing to be treasurer. And that's where we've been ever since. Perfect. That's great. So we appreciate the friends of the library sponsor a lot of our programming. When you have a book sale. These kinds of funds are the things that we get to take and do summer reading with. We're going to have a llama come this summer for our kickoff for summer reading on behalf of Long Live Llama. Yeah, June 15th. You know, in Peru, they actually call them Yarmouth's Yarmouth Sea. Not too well. Fascinating. Sure. Right. So of course it's Yarmouth. Well, that makes a lot more sense. Yeah, but nobody will know what you're talking about, you know? No, they will. Just assume that that's some other beast of something. So, yes, we'll continue to call them llamas. Great. I love it. So, Mary, my next questions for you. We understand that you're a newish volunteer to the Friends, despite being a fantastic library patron for many years. How did you hear about the friends and why did you join? I'd heard about them a long time ago when I worked, and I had a lot of other things. They didn't have much time. After I retired, I had retired, but then I took care of my grandchildren. Well, then they went to school and I. And one of the employees here kept saying, Boy, you should join the friends. And I said, I don't know. You know, I come in all the time, but I read. And she said, No, go down. And if you don't like it, you don't have to stay. So I went down and inquired and I and I said I was interesting. And I said, you know, I'd like to start. And they said, When do you want to start? I said, I don't know. They said, Well, you can start today. And you go, It must have been a Tuesday. It was fine. So I was I said, okay, well, right from the start I said, Boy, I really love it here. And they're the nicest people to work with. And I'm around books and I love books. And I said, How can it get better than this? The only thing is we have to get an ice cream shop in the back, get books, ice cream, picnics, people. What can get better than that? Exactly. You know, so. But I'm happy with it. This is the nicest. It's the best 2 hours of my week. I can tell you, we're still working on the ice cream shop project stuff, so I just. It's just any anybody that. And it's. It's just. It's not hard work. It's just nice. And everybody is nice. I mean, you know, you can work your job. I work for many years, and my husband, I love to work, but you always sit some once in a while to hit somebody that they're okay. But you say, well, I'm glad they go home, but everybody is nice and the work is just it's not really work, to be honest with you. I think it's just fun. So, you know, really, you have please come and join us. If I get why they said, if you don't like it, you don't have to come back. Of course we will find you. But that's all I've ever known, that. It's just that it's just it's really a neat place. So I know you take in the book donations and you get them ready for the book sale. So what kind of work Sandy goes into the Friends of the Russell Library book sale? Kind of getting this. It's a lot of time to get all this together. An answer is a lot of work. One part of it is what are. Cathy Boone does, which is organize the volunteers to be clerks at the book sale. Oh, right, right, right. Somebody has to sit there and take their money. Right. But the other part, which is not very related to that, is we have to move the books which are sitting on the shelves onto the carts because we take the carts up to whatever that the main reading, the main reading, that's what you call it, the main reading room, which is where we're now holding the book sales. And then, of course, on the day of the book sale, the carts have to be rolled up one by one. Fortunately, the elevator has not quit on us, knock on wood yet. I think the elevator is as old as I am at least, but I'm in better shape. Three on that 139 is not old. 39 but it's true. So all the sorting is done in the basement. We call it the Hitchcock Room, which was a name that was given by one of our former staff. But it's sort of apt. Right. It is kind of a spooky basement. But where you guys are, it's it's fun and there's a lot of energy. Whenever I've come in on a Tuesday, I just am always amazed at how much is getting done just in that short span of time. And when is our next book sale? 14th and 15th is the Friday and Saturday. Perfect. That's perfect. That's great. Since the library's not open on Sundays, right? The 16th. Right. So in the summer, this the sales are a little truncated because it's just the Friday and the Saturday. And I know people always want to know if they can come in early,

but they have to come in at 9: 6:55

00 when the library opens. Right. That's that. Well, we certainly can't let anybody in for the

library open. So they're at 9: 7:01

00, man, and be there. So, Mary, we understand that in between the big book sales, there is an ongoing mini sale set up on the second floor of the library and the info area. Tell us about the ways you refresh the books in the space and what are some of the books that go the fastest? Well, every Tuesday, that's when we do it. We call it the exchange we bring up. Of course, all our books are donated, so we bring it up, we take it down some of the old ones, and then we bring up the newer ones. So Tuesday morning is what the adult books for children books have done on Tuesday afternoon. And, you know, it's hard to say. Novels, of course, go pretty quickly. We have paperbacks for$0.25 a penny candy, dollars$0.20, which is kind of I of get it. Maybe inflation, I don't know. But but the other books we do pretty well. Cookbooks go pretty well. But we also have a foreign language doesn't go too well because of course, that's that's very English. Yeah. You know, it's just. But I'm trying to think of like, are there any popular authors that you notice go? Well, you know, it's like, for me, it'd be almost anybody. Yeah. I read everything you do. Yeah, but except science fiction. And science fiction does. Okay, I just don't read it too often. Yeah, but I'm trying to think of what else? Oh, graphic novels. They. You. Can I You. Wow. I swear to God. Let them professors the men and we will just somebody wait, and they'll just go so fast that, you know, even in kids graphic novels, too. I think kids love them and adults love them. But it depends upon the time. I think like summertime, you're going to that that paperbacks are going to go like crazy, you know, because you can pop open for $4. You can buy four books. Well, if you go to the beach or something and you leave it there, what do you care for? A quarter? Doesn't matter. Right. Right. But I and I books are cheaper that I go to all the book sales and all the local libraries and outside the cheapest. Oh, here that everybody. You got to come here and I go and I, I buy books all the time, but our prices are really the cheapest. That is amazing. We have our own, like, coffee table books and they're pretty expensive if you buy it. I know, but we pay. I think at the bookstore there's $3. Wow. You can't even get a sandwich for, you know, the whole book, you know, And and people come and they go, Oh, I just came to look. But then they buy all these books. Yeah, but you spent$7 and you have a bag full of books. I mean, that's pretty cheap. Yeah. You know, And so, I mean, I come here myself, I buy these books, I read them, and then I bring them back. I'm really borrowing them in a way. Yeah, I know, but it's so cheap. It doesn't matter. It doesn't. You know, it does now. And the children's books are wonderful. Yeah, wonderful. I just. I buy a lot of the children's books for different friends that have little kids and everything. It's just. I can't use the book. Not this one that you get off the elevator and you can just spend all the time. You think just a couple comfortable chairs there. If you just want to take a look at some of them, it's just wonderful. But they now they have wonderful gardening books, you know, And it's like they say, what goes the fastest? Well, some do go faster than that. I think it's just interes. Yeah. You know, and I mean, like we have a lot of books on politics. I think people get kind of sick of politics. Yeah. See, I kinda look at the books and. Oh, boy. Yeah, but you know, but everybody, even if you didn't want to join in for a volunteer cup and that is open, you don't, that's not just for the book sales. That's open all the time. All the time. Whenever the library's open and it's all by the honor system, they have a list of the places you take what you want to do so you don't even have to. We don't even handle the money. So there's a little box and you put it in. So I just even like I said, if you don't want to be a volunteer or whatever, come and check up them. And it like this every Tuesday we switch. So there's always new there's always, always new merchandise. I know there's people that buy something at least every day I encounter someone who's got like a little pile from the book and then they have their pile of library books when they leave. Like, I bought these and I'm going to check out the. Mhm. So yes. But you know, so I mean I just myself I just love it, I, I come home sometimes. Wow. Why come to that. And I'm going to make a recipe out of it. Well you don't get No, don't get crazy good pictures. And then I ask my husband where are you taking me out to eat? So I'd love to hear what kinds of books you guys are reading. Sandy, did you have one that you wanted to recommend? Well, I mainly for for fun. I read mysteries. I love puzzles and. Mysteries are puzzles. They are? Yes. What I'm reading right now is called The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman. Nice. Good author. Yes, I like him. Yes. There's. I don't like things to be really gruesome or what. Let's call the thriller. I love a good thriller, but, like, sometimes thrillers can be disturbing. I mean, there's there's such a range mean, like the amount of violence. So yeah, I but my that's just what my taste is. I'm in a non-fiction book club, really. And I admit I have to, you know, just force myself to read these books. But it's probably a fun discussion. It's a fun discussion. And I can't. I feel like I'd be cheating to try to participate in the discussion when I didn't fully read the book right of the book. What was the last book that you read for that book club? I can't remember. And so that just says it all. I. But a good discussion always kind of is the best. Yeah. Whether or not you really enjoyed the book or kind of just got through it so that you could get to the discussion. So. That's awesome. Did you have a thriller that you wanted to share? I would recommend and I'm going to forget the offer. But listen for the Lie came out a couple of months ago and that was a really good thriller. What was it? It's called Listen for the Lie. It's kind of inspired by this idea of like a True Crime true crime podcast, kind of mixed together with, like, real life. I couldn't put it down and I listened to it and I don't listen to a lot on audio, but I just breezed through it because it was so fun to listen to. So that's a thriller I would recommend picking up. I love that. And Mary, did you have one that you wanted to recommend? I'll tell you. You never want to ask me again. You have to read Frozen River. Oh, yes. Yeah. Horrible land, war, Land Hammer, Harry Potter and also Anything by Louise Penny. She's wonderful, but one of the toughest, the Heaven and Earth grocery store. Yeah, it was wonderful. Also by James McBride. And I also read the underground library. Did you read that? I haven't read. That was really good. Jennifer Ryan It sounds like where you guys do your New York sorting is the underground library down there. I just I said, that's why I said I come in. I said, I don't care if I'm in the cellar. I don't care. I love it out here. Frozen River was probably one of the best books I read this year. Oh, me too. It was amazing. I wasn't really sure I couldn't put it down. I said no. That's one of those that you go. You don't care if the phone rings. And, you know, even when it comes time for stuff and I like to eat, I'm chubby, I like a good meal. I'll be reading like a map. Forget it. I'll be. I'll be there later. Yeah, I'm busy. Yeah, right. So we're actually since she's so we're actually going to have a book club of the Frozen River that's coming soon. Are you? That people are going to love that. Yeah. Yeah. So they can borrow the entire kit and use it for their book discussion because it's such a good discussion book to focus you, you should tell your nonfiction group to take a break and yeah, that one. Yeah. There's a lot of, there's a lot of truth to it. It was set in like right after the Revolutionary War. So yeah, we'll, we'll get you the details and then you can tell us what was on you when you're bringing the books. But the thought of that to us as women, that it's like they were kind of pushed. They're still push in the background but I think we're making strides. But then you really weren't I mean, you weren't even a second class. I don't know what kind of student maybe you weren't even a citizen. You were just kind of there to kind of do the work and be quiet. And so I thought this was really a good book. Yeah, Yeah. The main character is a midwife, and so she does have a little more autonomy than some of the women in her time. And she gives voice to people that don't have a voice. Yeah, I just I thought it was I don't know if this person ever wrote, you know, another book or not, but I loved it. It was amazing. So, Cindy, what have you found to be most surprising or unexpected in your role working it with this book, Donations and working for the Friends? Well, this is surprise thing. It's the way that the volunteers who are working on Tuesday and morning and afternoon have sorted ourselves into various roles, like, for example, Mary and one of her colleagues do the exchange. They take new books up to the book Nook and bring some books back, and nobody else does that. Some of us actually sought books deciding which ones are just not going to cut it. And we have a a deal with base state books that they will come and take those books and give them another chance at being bought and read. And some of us look at the books and say this might be worth quite a lot of money to an online bookseller. And some of us just have an eye for those books. And I love that. And I don't myself. But some people then will scan them on books counter. And indeed the other day we got a $40 book. Wow. And I sent it off. And that's what I have for the role I have fallen into is I cart these heavy boxes to either the post office or ion, which has a post office or wall Walgreens, which has FedEx. And and there are some people who really don't seem to quite like sorting books that much. So they organize the shelves, right? Sometimes you have to go through and you know, if we've got five copies of of a Patterson book or something for Shakespeare. Yes. Sometimes you got to just say no. Right. And purge. Right. And then there's Mal, who is the expert on vintage books. Oh, nice. Every everything we see that doesn't have an ISBN, it's that old, like before 1950 or 60, we put on his table and he figures out which and I don't even know how he does this, but he figures out which ones might be worth quite a lot of money. And he has a special shelf that will come special cart that will come up during the book sale where you can potentially buy vintage books. That's very cool. I didn't know about that. That's really awesome because wow, before I been that's I can't even picture a time before it. That's really cool. Some of us can actually be made. Is there a young Sandy you want to ask our last question? Yeah. So this is actually a question that's going to go to both of you. So if you want to start, Mary, I'll have you start. How can the Russell Library be of service to both you and the Friends organization in the future besides the ice cream shop? Yes. We'll have to start working on that with you guys. I like waffles too. I know what you know. I think. I don't know, to tell you the truth, because I'm happy in what I'm doing. So it's not like I said, Geez, I wish they did this, but I mean, I kid around, bought the ice cream. That was even where we are. I mean, it's kind of like dumped there so that we probably could use more room, but that's okay. We can work around that. I think that our situation, I'm very happy what I'm doing. And like Sandy said, we kind of found our own niche. Everybody did, but everybody can fill it for somebody. You do that. I mean, it's but there's never any pressure. So if you joined the French, you said, Geez, I'm really tired today. Sit down for one or you don't have to come. I don't feel that, Oh, every Tuesday I have to show up. So if you have a doctor's appointment or if you have someplace to go, you've got we're volunteers, so, you know, but everybody takes care of everybody, you know. And it's just a lovely. I like that. It is. It's just wonderful. It's like sometimes you say, geez, you know, I'm kind of tired today. Will you just take it easy on that and just it's just lovely and and everybody there is so nice. It's just some it's just a nice place. And I wish people would join. Like I said, if you don't if you don't feel this isn't for me, fine. But it would be nice and give it a try in the in more than one time the first day you're going to be off for a while, you know. But it's just lovely and and like I said, anybody that anybody will help you and there's none like Sandy is president, but it's never like when she's on the president. I'm not in the shop. No, I mean the shop. Everybody does their job and they're more than happy to pitch in. It's just a nice group and love that thing. But it it's lovely. But I say that all the time. All the time. I am so happy here, Mary is the biggest cheerleader for the job that she does that they do well. I come and I get up and be tired so I can get up at night while I set my alarm clock for 630. My husband, she can show up. Oh, I got to go to France. I, I love it. I so I have to get up. Get up that early. I said I don't care. I've got off, I'm out, I'm on, I'm on my way. But this was lovely. Thank you so much. Yeah. So we're really pleased. So, Sandy, was there anything that we can we can ask of you that we could be a better service for you? You know, I think we are really pleased with how the library has a appreciated what we do. Yes. And supported us in, you know, kind of logistical ways. Perfect. You know, there's always somebody when those blankety blank printers on the when we have to print out when I have to print out the labels to to send out books, it's always fraught. It always is. Those printers are so crotchety, yet there's always somebody who will come and help us a D our debt folks are amazing. So printers smell fear. I swear they do. One control. You have to have this printed right now. I'm not going to work. I sound like a teenager. Yeah, but yeah, we really appreciate you guys coming in and talking to us about the sales and about what the friends do. Now. People can join, right? They can become a friend. Oh, anybody can become a friend. Yeah. And it's a $10 donation now. It's a $20. It's membership. Membership. Okay. But you can be a volunteer for free. For free? Yeah. We don't we, you can come and help us out on Tuesdays without becoming a member. And what time does that usually start? 9:00 to 11. And then. One, two, three. Perfect. But you don't have to come in for both. No, no, I'm not the only one who goes to be in these dedicated. Wow. That's amazing. So you'd kind of then you you take a break because you're still working, right? So then you have. That's why I have to take a break. I have to go do my job. I have to go to work. My real job. There you go. Well, we appreciate you both so much. And we appreciate all the help that the friends give us for our library programs. And we look forward to seeing you guys on on Tuesdays. Yeah. Yeah. Going forward. Thank you very much. And thank you, Don, for some applause. And here. I know. Thank you. Do you have canned applause that you can apply? I think he I think he can, yeah.

Interview: 24:18

Hello and welcome to the segment we're calling. Turn that up. Projects that Russell Library that are too good to keep quiet. Summer is here and the library has plenty of ways to beat the heat. We're hosting outdoor storytimes indoor book groups and a concert in the air conditioned comfort of the Hubbard Room. Joining me today once again is Shannon Baer, Larry, famously from our Digital and Emerging Technology group. Shannon, what do you do to stay cool in the summer? To stay cool? Oh, swimming easily. I'm a bit of a beach bum. I try and go to the beach every weekend. It's probably the best feeling. Just so refreshing. It is Stay in the ocean all day, but you have to wear your sunscreen. Mm hmm. I'm very known for that. So I will burn if I don't. Have you seen those dots that you can put on your skin like you put it on your skin and then you put on the suntan lotion. And as the suntan lotion wears off. Yeah, that changes color. No, I think that's brilliant. That's pretty cool, right? Yeah. No, I haven't seen that. I have to go looking for that now. Amazon. Amazon. I hate to say it, but they have their say. If it's an idea, it's there. Yeah. So. Yeah. Now I love to swim, too. Yeah, definitely. It's a great workout. And you don't feel yourself sweating. You don't, which is ideal. It's quite refreshing. Yeah. Yeah. How do you stay cool besides swimming? You know, I love air conditioning, and to be honest with you, I. Well, anyway, we have humidity. Just straight up humidity. Yeah, exactly. It's not. I love visiting the Connecticut shoreline. My family lives there. We're not on the water, but it is a little bit cooler. Yeah. When you get down there and just the air is moving and there's a little salt breeze, it's nice. Yeah, it's nice. That's good. I'm excited for summer. I can't believe it's not officially here yet. It's not June 21st, but it seems like as soon as we hit the 80 degree weather day, we're like, Oh, okay, Summer's around. And by the time people are listening to this, it will be summer. This is very true. So this is very true. Welcome to summer. Welcome to summer. And the awesome events that are going on. So throughout the summer, the library will host Family Storytime at the Middletown Farmers Market at the Union Green on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. Join our children's librarians while they read books and share rhymes and songs for kids. Participants are welcome to bring chairs and blankets. There will also be Summer Storytimes at the library on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. And for dog lovers. There will be an opportunity to read to Henry, a Bernese Mountain dog, on July 24th at 530. I didn't know that. That's going to be a fun of them. Have you met Henry? No. This huge gentle dog. I mean, his paws are like the size of softballs. Oh, awesome. And I've seen I've seen him do a storytime before, and he's just so lovely. It's very, very laid back. Very kind, so fluffy. You just want to give him a hug. So I'll be there. That's not to say I'm going to read to Henry. Definitely so. Yes. If you like animals, if you like dogs, if you like reading, can read to Henry. He's really sweet. Stop by and we have some more animal events as well. So on July 17th at 6 p.m., our friends from the Eleanor Book Wolfe Nature Center will return for the library for a live animal demonstration. Please join us for a session where we will meet live animals such as a chinchilla, lizards, turtles and many more. This is a family program for all ages, and it sounds like a good time. Oh, yeah. A chinchilla. I don't think I've ever seen a chinchilla in person. Yeah, neither have I. That's fun. I know that they have. I mean, the turtles, they bring her quite large, and very impressive. So I think a chinchilla is a smaller animal, but I'm sure it will be a fun time. It will be a good time because it's summer. We're all on the go a little bit more. And so we want to make sure that we're getting the most amount of our smartphones and our tablets.

So on July 15th at 3: 28:26

30 p.m. library staff will be available in the lobby for a technology table centered on the basic functions of your smartphone, including texting, email and basic searching. Staff will also be able to show you the free apps available to use with your library card to download books, audiobooks, magazines and other digital media. So bring your device to the technology table to get started or to learn more about hoopla, Libby and Palace. And while we're happy to talk about the functions of your phone, we're not going to be able to talk about specific phone plans or subscription as we're based on. We're going to keep it up in the free stuff. Yeah, we're going to be based in free. That way you can save your money for things like travel. If you're interested in traveling the world but don't have an unlimited budget, Consider the Libraries Armchair Travelers Book Group. On Tuesday, July 16th at 2 p.m., participants will discuss the long haul. A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road by Finn Murphy. Copies of the Book Club books are available at the circulation desk. And for more information, please visit the library's online calendar and I will be leading this book group. And I've already read this book. It's really good. It sounds interesting. Guy knows how to tell a story for sure, and it's a great way to You'll think about the country in a different way when you you know, hear about the the ways he's traveled on the highway. Yeah. Well, yeah, because that's a totally different perspective than, you know, maybe what some romantic readers think when they think on the road and Jack Kerouac and Yeah, just being reckless, so. Yeah. No. Very cool. And it's like you, we drive by these people every day and do we think about them? Know we're trying to, like, just dodge them real quick? Truck scare me. Yeah, exactly. I don't want to take a corner when they're taking a corner. It's just too weird. But another thing we'll be doing this summer is hosting Hot Reads and cool air conditioning. On Thursday, July 18th at 4 p.m. join Russell Library staff for a fun and informal conversation as we highlight adult fiction and non-fiction titles that promise to be the hits of summer. Group members can share what they're reading or just come for tips on what to read next. That's nice. Yeah, it'll be a nice oasis. Yeah. Hot on a hot day. Nice and cool. And just talking about books. Who doesn't love doing that? Absolutely. And I'm always interested to hear what other people are reading because, you know, we're surrounded by books all day, and yet there's always something out there that I haven't heard about or something that, you know, has been on the shelf for a long time, that for whatever reason, I missed. Yeah. So. Yeah. Diana Melander will be leading that group and they are both fantastic with recommending books. So definitely come check it out. I may be there simply for the air conditioning, but you can about books as well. And also in our covered room, we're very excited to have Nikita Wahler returning to Middletown on Saturday, July 20th at 2 p.m. to perform at the Russell Library. Nikita is Connecticut's former state troubadour and Nikita performs throughout the region, bringing a mix of pop, Motown, soul, jazz and classic rock favorites with original music. As a soloist, she has sung the national anthem for the NBA, WNBA and Division One college sports teams. She is actually from Middletown, and so we are just so excited to have her back. She's an experienced studio session artist and a recording artist, and you may have heard her on projects with Grammy and Emmy award winning producers. So we're really lucky to have Nia coming to perform. She was here two years ago, and it was just it was a very special. So if you are in town, definitely come check it out. No matter how you feel about the heat, the library has something to offer. We hope you'll visit us and that you will share what you've learned with others from this podcast. Russell Library has too many exciting things going on to keep them quiet. And next up, this month's shelf life. Awesome. All right. Thanks, Shannon. Thanks, Kim. Bye. Hello, and welcome to Shop Life. I'm your host today, Stephanie Rush, and I'm here with my friends. Kate. And Brianna. And today we're going to talk about a little bit of a mixed bag. We don't have a theme for this episode, really. So I thought it would be fun for us to talk about what we are reading and loving lately. Just to give you all listeners a little idea of what we've been into lately, kind of where we're at and not sticking to a theme today. We're just bringing some some really good books, and I'm going to toss it to Kate to start us off because I know Kate has a ton she wants to talk about. I've been doing a lot of reading and so to kick our summer off, right, I'm going to start with Dead Man's Castle. It's Fi in Ian or Ian Lawrence, it's basically about a family on the move. The father. So I thought you are going to say family on the moon. And I was like, I'm intrigued. Continue the family on the move is more realistic. All right. Let's switch gears about our family on the moon. They could be on the move on the moon. That's. Yeah. Sorry I interrupted you. That means council. Okay. Dead Man's castle. Ian Lawrence. About a family on the move. The father has witnessed a crime and they have to continuously keep moving because someone's after them, because they witness this crime. And so keep moving from place to place. No one else has seen this person showing up around them except for the dad. And so it's really intense. It's really good. And so at some point, the they have two kids, they have a son and a daughter, and at some point the kid is like he's questioning. He's like, my dad's the only one who has seen this lizard man, the guy who's after them. And so that's what they call him, the lizard man. his the son starts questioning why it is that Dad's the only one who says he sees this guy and he's witness this thing. The mom hasn't. And so at some point they arrive in this town and the dad says, don't cross this street. And he makes all these rules about where he can and can't go. And the son is his name is so I GORE. So I, of course, is his secret. His his name, quote, unquote. And so it's at this town where I Gore's identity and his questioning kind of come to a head and everything starts to come to a head, especially when his little sister says, I've seen the lizard man. So you really start to wonder what is really happening here. And Dead Man's Castle is the center point of everything that has is happening. I grew starts to remember things that he's not even sure that he like. He starts having these memory flashes. Anyways, it's a really good book, and I wasn't sure where this was going to take me, but it's an excellent, excellent read. Court Would you call it horror? I would not call it. Horror because it looks like it's scary from the cover. It looks like middle grade horror, but is it more like science fiction? Supernatural? Think it's more psychological. Thriller. Thriller for middle grade? Okay. Cool. That's important distinction for a lot of readers. Yeah, absolutely. So I really enjoy in this one again, I had no idea where it was going to take me, so. I had to add that one to my list. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Brianna, what's your first pick today? So I'm actually going to start us off with something I haven't finished yet, but I'm currently reading. Okay, So for romance girlies and guys and all everybody who loves their romance. Allie Hazelwood's next to STEM. Alice novel comes out in June. I have an early copy of it. It's called In Love. It's a Workplace Enemies Two Lovers Romance. What did you call it? So which part? So like this. So she writes these books based on women in STEM. And so I believe they're called mixed feminist. Yeah, that's like the term that's been coined. The term feminist. No, no. Oh, okay. So it's either her, the publisher that have started calling it this, probably the publisher and publisher because it like groups, all of them together as the feminist novels and novellas, right? Yeah. Oh, okay. Oh, okay, cool. Well, let's see now, I have a question for you, Brianna. Yes, I read the first Allie. Here's another the love hypothesis, and I loved it. And then I haven't read more of her because I don't want them to All be the same. And I'm worried, is this going to be different, even though it's down the stem in a series? Or is that kind of like have very similar structure? They tend to have the same kind of enemies. Two lovers trope in all of them. Yeah, but this one, I can already tell is going to have more like the characters are going to have more substance to them with like I think specifically with They have strained relationships with their siblings. Oh, okay. Have start to bond when it comes to that from the get go. So, I mean, so she sounds like she's getting more practice as a writer. Definitely. Because I will say like the first one, like I enjoyed it. Was it five stars for me? No. Okay. The second one was literally a carbon copy of the first one for me. That I did not like. Panel. I thought, okay. Just not. For me. So I might come back to her. So when I come back to the book, theoretically, which was the third one, I really liked it. Okay, so there's still the similarities, but she's like, You said, I think she's growing more as a writer and her characters are getting deeper and they're, you know, it's it's I'm liking it more than I thought I would. And I like that. You said sibling like I like a sibling dynamic. I think that's really interesting. So I might give her another try. Yeah, it is. And it comes out. Allie Hazelwood's Not In Love, comes out on June 11th and we have, we will have a copy on order. So be on the lookout for that guy. So that's shortly after this airs or right around the time it airs. Perfect. Okay, so I was going to bring a romance, but I'll actually bounce to something else and come back to my romance. We'll mix it up a little bit. I also have a middle grade, so I just read this book called Montezuma Finds Her Ketzel voiced by Anna la Parra. I put it on display. Did you. See it on display. Covers? So pretty I put it on display so everybody would pick it up. I actually picked it up not based on the cover, but the cover is stunning. It's gorgeous. It has these beautiful colors. Anyway, so this is a middle grade coming of age novel that just released earlier this year. money, Manuela, or money or money to her friends. She's 12 years old, about to turn 13 and she's going through it. she is the only one like one of her only people that hasn't gotten her period yet. And it's a big deal to her. She she's like waiting to hit puberty because she thinks it will finally make her become a woman. And maybe when she becomes a woman and gets her period, she'll finally find her voice and she finds out that that's not exactly how it happens. But she has Guatemalan heritage on her mom's side and Filipino Chinese-American on her dad's side. So she's got a lot going on at home. She's got a multigenerational family household, and there's lots of languages being spoken, but she can't understand them all because she's not connected to all of her heritages in the way that she would like to be. So she's navigating that and she's navigating the fact that she's in middle school and she's starting to witness and experience sexual harassment. Really grossly. I know. And like I said, it's like a heavy topic for a middle grade book, but it's done so, so well and so age appropriately. And I'm so glad this book exists because kids are really dealing with this. And this is a story of somebody who is trying to find her voice, to speak up for herself and to talk back to her mom and to, like stand up for other kids. And she's really struggling because the world is not built the way that she wants the world to have been built. And she's finding out firsthand that girls are not listen to girls and women are not listened to. The rules don't apply to boys in the same way that they apply to girls. And if there's no proof, then we can't deny God they got us. So she keeps running into these authority figures who won't give her the time of day or the forms and the forms who need to be fed out a certain way. And it's paperwork and it's just like, Just listen to me. I'm reporting something that happened to me. But there's this breakdown in the school system, which is real and unfortunate. And this book really gives a voice to that. And money's trying to find what she calls her quetzal voice, what her family calls her Ketzel voice, which is this bird that has not come out in many, many years. And she's like, I know it's inside me. Every woman in my family has it. It's got to be there. And she can't figure out how to get it out and at the right times and in what ways. So hijinx ensue. And then she also discovers the set of letters in her attic from her deceased aunt to her mom. And she's like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. My mom used to be like, cool and stand up for things and be a feminist and an activist. That's not the mom I know. And so she's trying to piece together these family secrets, but she feels like she can't ask her mom because her mom shots are down every time she asks, and she's struggling with this stuff at school. But her mom and her family don't understand because there's a there's a cultural misunderstanding and everybody is telling her, cover up, your chest is getting too big and like you're getting unwanted attention. And she's just like, I am just 12 and I'm just trying to get through the day. I cried so many times writing this book because it's just it's so realistic and frustrating. And I was mad the whole time, But it's also so hopeful and beautiful to see this character really come into herself and to stand up for herself and other kids standing up for herself and others is like the I don't want to give spoilers, but like the culminating piece of this book is that she starts to figure it out and it's not neat. It's really messy, but she starts to figure it out. And this is a debut novel, so I'm really excited for what she does next. And I just talked so much about that one book, but I really, really liked it Sounds amazing. It's so good. It's so good. Like, like I said, it's going to make you really mad, which is why I read it like a day and a half, because I was like, I'm so mad. I have to make sure that it ends up okay. I kept reading. I had to take a break at one point because I was so mad, but I'm so glad this book exists and I'm so glad that it's like written in this real age appropriate tone. Yeah, you're going to fall in love with money and you're going to love her and her friends and her family and her story. So. Oh, my God. You have to add that to my. Growing. Pile. Yes, I know. I was like, okay, it's good. I want to read this one. But yeah, brown. Eyed already sounds like something I can relate to and reach. So I'm like, I need to go. All right. I'll fight you for it. Yeah. It's on display right now, so if somebody hasn't got it first. All right, well, are you going to follow that one up with. All right. Well, that's a hard act to follow. That's okay. But I am going to follow it up with something along those same lines of finding your own voice and your own acceptance and. Anything we love. Yes. And it's part of a trilogy, actually. It's Tales from the Chocolate Heart. And it's a little bit of a fantasy where the kind of finding your own voice and sibling relationships come in is there's two princesses and one of them is is not really happy with her status as a princess. She wants to live life as a normal kid. You know, she was a get out there. She wants to experience the world. So her sister sends her off on this this she sends her to another kingdom to do to attend this event. And dragons are heavily involved. So it's kind of a little bit of a fantasy. So she she gets to the kingdom and it doesn't really go well. And when she lands, they're fighting her and they're they've arrested her, They sent her off to stay somewhere anyway. So it's about how she's like, the protocols of being a princess, of being royalty. You know, she wants to go out and learn. She wants to talk philosophy. She wants to do all of this. And it's really about how she finds the courage and the strength to finally stand up to her sister, right? Yeah, exactly. Right. And more of this. Yeah, exactly right. She makes friends with goblins and trolls. And so it is it is fantasy. and so she finds her voice, she finds her way in the world, and she finds a way to be both a diplomat and the person she really wants to be. it's really great. I feel like our book shared a lot of DNA. Yeah, yeah. But also, like it's the two parts of middle grade. It's like dragons are no dragons. Those are like the two options for dragons. And I know dragons. Yes. And I forgot to say it's called The Princess Who Flew with Dragons by Stephanie Burgess Tales from the Chocolate Heart. This is number three, and I believe it is just a trilogy, but it's it is a fun read. It's definitely. Can you just read number three? You can actually. I mean, some of the characters in here are from some previous stories, so you could technically read this on its own. I would like to know that. Yeah, Yeah, I know. It's totally fun to read all of them, but I think they could be standalone because you don't. They're each character has their own adventures, but they're all connected. Cool. Yeah. All right, Brianna, what's your next book? So the next book, I'm going to talk about is a thriller. I think it counts as why the reappearance of Rachel Price by Hallie Jackson. basically, it's about this girl, her name is Belle, and her mom went missing when she was very young. I believe She was like two years old. Oh, she was found in the back of her mother's car, like alone, and her mother just vanished. And so basically this story of the mother vanishing becomes this true crime phenomena. And so a documentary is being made about her mother's disappearance, and it's called The Disappearance of Rachel Price. But lo and behold, Rachel Price appears out of nowhere while the documentary is starting to film. Oh, so they change it to the re-appearance of Rachel Weisz. And so Bell, just from the get go, very much doesn't trust her mom and feels like there's just something up because her stories aren't lining up, like things aren't making sense. So her mother's back for about a week and then her father just disappears. He was also acting kind of funky, and then he's just gone. And so in her mind, her mother has everything to do with us, and she has to figure out what happened to her dad and the way that it ended. I didn't expect and it kind of was just like, whoa, like, I'm reading this and I'm like. What's happening? Hallie Jackson likes to do that. She did a really great job of that. I think it felt kind of slow to me at the beginning, but once it picked up and got closer to the middle end of the book, it really just like I couldn't put it down. I love a good thriller and I thought this was really well done. So have you read Good Girl's Guide to Murder? Okay, so this is my first. I was curious if people would like it because, I mean, I read that Sarah's excellent. I loved it. And so, like, I'm looking forward to taking this up and hoping it's kind of the same vibe and the same pacing and the same, like puzzling out of what's going on. So it sounds like it probably falls under that call. If I gave it like four stars, just because I think the ending for me, I just couldn't get past suspending my disbelief. That's great. But like it just it read very fast and once it picks up, you're going to not want to stop because you're going to want to know what happened to Rachel. Price Spy already Want to know what happened to Rachel Price? And I haven't even picked it up yet. Yep. Cool. All right. I know I'm always every once in a while, I get a craving for a Y.A. thriller, so I'll put that one on my list. All right, So I'm going to come back with my adult romance brand has already heard me talk about this. This is the prospects by Katie Hoffman. I actually accidentally brought the three debuts today and they're all so good. Yeah. Okay. So this is Katie Hoffman's debut novel. It's an adult queer romance, and it's about the first openly trans professional baseball player. So it's perfect for this time of year. I will say upfront, if you like baseball, there's a lot of it in this book. If you don't like baseball, there might be too much of it in this book for you. Just I mean, I like baseball, so didn't bother me. But I know sometimes in a sports romance, the sports is kind of not super important. You can glaze over it. I would say the baseball is a little bit heavier in this than maybe some other sports romances. So I know that going in. But I love baseball, so I was enthralled. yeah, this is definitely like heavier on the sports than most sports romances. Okay, so we meet Gene, who is the first openly transgender baseball player in the league. And when his old friend turned rival Louis gets traded to his team, Gene's life gets a little bit more complicated. So not only is Gene struggling to figure out who he wants to be as a person, it's also trying to make sure he doesn't get sent back down to the lower leagues. And he's also trying to make sure that he's like representing the entire trans community, which is a heavy burden. And also just like trying to have a fun time and play with his teammates. Yeah. And then Luis comes back to the picture and he's like, this guy, this guy. So there's a little bit of rivalry there because it's like, why aren't they friends anymore? What happened is there's maybe going to be some sort of tension. So there's there's that and there's also it may it will turn into a romance. I want everybody to be very clear. This is a romance, it's also more focused on like loving yourself and loving the game of baseball. It's still also about like finding love, but it's about it's really about at its heart, finding the love of the game, keeping the love of the game. If that's something, if that's what you want, figuring out what you want and then finding love along the way, it has lots of big feelings, which, you know, I love these really nice, tender moments and these like really small, intimate moments that kind of build together in the way that I love in a romance. It's not all big gestures, it's like little moments. It's like, Oh, they're hanging out at night and oh, maybe they're going to pierce each other's ears, which is like very small, intimate, but like very memorable. And they're out and about. And he remembered that he likes popcorn. Well, as a as I like stadium snack, it's like it's very sweet. It's a little spicy. It's opendoor. It's not like super, super spicy, but there are some open doors thing. So be be aware of that. I loved the character so much that I didn't even care that there was an open door was I was like, sure, great. I'm focused on the other stuff, but also lovely. Great. Okay. It's got something for everyone. So like I said, this is a debut novel, so I'm really excited for what comes next from Katie Hofmann. But yeah, if you love queer romance and baseball, this book is for you know, Yeah, yeah. I just think there's a war. Yeah. I love a good book that when you walk away, you just like. Yes, Kate has seen me come into the room like flailing because I loved a book so much. That's pretty much I thought, I think this one too. That was not this book. That day. I came in flailing, but very similar vibes. All right. Kate this one is called The Deadly Daylight by Ash Harrier. It's a little bit of thriller mystery, I should say. It's really a murder mystery about. So Alice is the main character and she lives with her dad in a funeral home and her dad is the funeral director and she helps him out at the funerals. And what's interesting about her is like, you know, she helps set up like some of the memorabilia for when people come in and the pictures and the flowers. And she has this gift that when she touches something, it resonates. So she'll get a picture of what the person is like in life. Right. From some of the the things that they sent, they are sent to the funeral home. I was going to say, Oh, it sounds like Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, But that is not supernatural at all. So here it was already here. Okay, cool. So she because she lives in the funeral home, the kids at her school call her Alison Zombie land, so she finds it. Really? Yeah. So she finds it really hard to make friends until she one of the people that that had just recently passed away. She has a friend. She finally meets a good friend and she goes to her house for her birthday and she discovers that her new friend has they have an allergy to sunlight. So when she's when her friends at school, she's got to wear gloves. She's got to wear gloves, you know, the sunglasses. So she has just gone to her house. She's visited with her family. She's met her uncle George. The family's great. And shortly thereafter, she learns that Uncle George has passed away under mysterious circumstances. So at the funeral, Alice is setting up for his funeral for his service, and she touches something that resonates with her, which makes her question what really happened to Uncle George? So she's in the midst of all this. Her and her friend are searching for answers and Alice is questioning, Well, what do you think of this? And Alice has a heart. So because she has a hard time making friends, she is asking questions. And that's kind of how she's interacting. Engaging with people is asking questions. Well, did your uncle like, did he could he be in daylight a little bit? And she's really questioning all this. And her friend is getting really tired of the questions. But through her purse, through Alice's perseverance, they find the answer. And in the meantime, she's making all these friends and she's going out at night and she's going down to the docks, which is a lot of it takes place around the docks and the boats that come in. And in the meantime, there's there's a there's another kind of a side story that goes along with this. And why what happened to George happened to George. So it's a really good story. It sounds so good. It does. I also really enjoyed this one. But and what's really great about this is despite everything that everybody's saying to Alice, give up, don't just stop questioning. Why are you you know, George has passed away. It was a sunlight allergy. She keeps going. And it's a really good story. It's a great, great story. It's called The Deadly Daylight by Ash Harrier. We love a persistent tweet. Yes. All right, Brianna, what do you have? I'll talk about the Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. Oh, yes, please. Because that was actually my first by her. I tried to read some of her other books and I just couldn't get into them. Yeah, but when I saw that this was a historical kind of fantasy. During the Spanish Inquisition Inquisition, I was sold and I loved it. Yeah, loved it. Is this horror, would you say, to, like, horror adjacent or is it more gothic? It's more, I would say, if anything, more gothic. The cover is stunning. And I'm like, beautiful. And it's complex. Just I. Heard someone talk about it last week, but I want to hear you talk about it. Too. Yeah. So I really enjoyed it because, like, you just get to you meet this girl, Luisa and she kind of just comes from, like, rot, like, from, like, rags, like being a servant girl working for this family who, well, this couple, rather, that just really could care less about her, too, realizing she has this special gift that she can just, like, basically, like, make things up here. Like, make things happen. Oh, basically, she she makes something happen with her magic and she catches the attention of this like, rich man. And then they want to enter her into this kind of contest of sorts with the king of Spain, because he wants someone who can create like miracles. So it's so. It's. Familiar, like vampire familiar, or is that spoilery? Okay. Because I thought it was a vampire book. It's not like there is someone in it who is a mortal. Okay. I really don't want to interpret, so that's interesting, etc.. Yeah, but basically, like this person is kind of training her on how to use her magic, but not to go too far because the king will then think that you are a heretic and you don't have gifts and miracles from God. It's something else. So then so it's like walking this fine line to get in his good graces that you can profit off of being in the king's inner circle. That have religious undertones too. Mm. Okay. So she actually has to hide the fact that she has Jewish heritage because she will not be able to. Shin Yes, because she is part of her background as being Jewish. And so a lot of the little kind of I'm going to call them spells, if you will, that she says before she uses her magic, are like a mix of different words. But a lot of them have like a Jewish background to it. So she has to say it really quietly so no one knows. And questions. Interesting. So there's like a religious persecution undertone. Okay. That's not what I meant when I asked. But I'm glad that that that's in there because that's interesting. Yeah. So this has like there's a romantic element, there's a historical moment, there's like fantasy. There's just a whole lot going on in this book. And I just couldn't put it down. And so if you like, we bardugo just read this one because you'll end up loving it anyway, I think. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Cool. All right. All right. My last book today is the book I literally finished this morning and I was so excited that I finished it so I could talk about it. I mean, I was finished. I was excited because I loved it. But then I was like, Oh, I finished it just in time to bring it to the show. Okay, so another debut novel, this is called Dear Wendy by Andrew. I think it's you introduce her to zh0u. It's a white contemporary coming of age, LGBTQ, you know, all the tick boxes for me. So listeners, if you remember on this time last year, I was screaming about Imagine obviously by Becky R about Albert Holly, which was my favorite book of last year. This gave me like similar vibes. So I want to put that out there because if you liked Image, obviously I think you'll like this one too. So this is the story of Sophie and Jo. Sophie and Jo go to Wellesley College. It's based on the real Wellesley, but some of the details have been changed to make the story better, which is a historically women's college, which that also gets dissected in the story. But so they go to this historically women's college in Massachusetts. And it's got a campus setting, which is really fun. And the two of them have rival Instagram accounts and they don't know who the other person is. So Dear Wendy is an advice Instagram account, and Dear Wanda starts to kind of be a joke account, but then they get into an actual rivalry and it gets really heated. So it's got like you've got male kind of a bar going on. So like they're, they're internet like enemies, but they don't know who the person is. Why don't you get Wanda are supposed to represent two different archetypes of women on campus. So Wendy is like a Type A and Wanda's like a type B, And so they get into this, like, Internet war, basically, and it really escalates. Little do they know that they're becoming best friends in real life. They met in a gender studies class and got paired together for a project and are like really becoming fast friends. And they realized that they are both on the A spec or the asexual spectrum part of the LGBTQ spectrum. So they have this shared experience of being aromantic and asexual, so they are not experiencing that attraction or that want to be in a romantic relationship and they find very few other people like that. So they're bonding over this shared experience about gender and sexuality while not realizing that they are fighting online at the same time. Wow. So it starts to get really dicey. It starts to escalate. But it's about like falling in love with your friends. And I've never read a book that was about falling head over heels in love with your friends in a platonic way. And I just found this book so special, and I want to read so many more books that have this infused in it. I mean, the discussion of the asexuality and romanticism is done. So while it's lovely, it's nuanced, it's rich. I don't always see that there's a messy family dynamics in here. That's so cool. And I feel like we need so much more of that. Yeah. And now I'm like, I want to fall in love about my friends. Do. So that was Dear Wendy by Andrew. I think I have one more title I'll shut out. Exactly. And it's called Lavish at First Sight. It's Armenian representation Romance, Sapphic. It came out in May. I have it sitting on my shelf. I haven't gotten to it yet. I really loved her first book. Sorry bro, and I love this one. I think more because it's set at this like competition between rival like restaurants. And so there's two Armenian restaurants, if you will, pinned against each other. The parents have a longstanding like they've longstanding beef, but the two daughters hit it off randomly and ended up really liking each other. So it's an enemies, two lovers, but not quite so because. It's almost like forbidden. It's all it's more of a forbidden. But not like in that gross way that I. Don't like. Yes. Yeah. I purposely hate a forbidden romance. Yeah. It's just the food descriptions are amazing, and I related to it a lot. I'm not Armenian, but I'm Italian in the way their family is resonated a lot with how my family is. Yeah. And I just love that the romance itself, like, progressed at a normal rate. And it's not just this insta love, like, oh my God, like, let's get married tomorrow. I just loved it so much. Cool. I highly, highly recommend it. Okay. All right. I don't have any left, but I do want to plug one more thing. Since you wrapped it up with that, I just want to plug the Harlequin series by Rachel Allen. This is a Y.A. series. The trilogy just finished. So if you're one of those people that needs to have all the books out before you start the third one, just out is a trilogy and it's finished. This is about this is a reimagining of the Harley Quinn character from the DC Universe. so like if you've seen suicide, the Suicide Squad, suicide squad and you've been like, Wow, what a great character. I wish she had more to do. This book series is for you. It's got women in STEM, it has LGBTQ representation, it has girls being really badass. And it's I mean, yeah, I mean, it's violent and it's got a lot going on because it is a superhero slash supervillain story. But It's excellent. And if you watch the Harley Quinn Animated series, this is a very similar character, but in a way, setting. And if you liked, like the movie Birds of Prey, the Harley Quinn movie, I think you will like this character, this iteration of this character. This is my favorite version of her. She's just sassy and she speaks like there's an exclamation point after every sentence. And I feel like she's my soul sister. It's also really fun, if you like superhero stuff. There's a lot of like bad guys doing plots and it takes place in Gotham, and so you get all those pieces. And like sometimes she talks about Bruce Wayne as Batman, sometimes she mentions the Joker, but like she is not with the Joker in this iteration, she is living her own. She's doing so much better without him. This is just like a more feminist reimagining of what the Harley Quinn character would look like. Because if you're like me and you love this character, but you wish that the choices that were written by men made her better. This series is for you because it's by a female writer and it's meant for white audiences. So that's the Harley series by Rachel Allen. They are called Harley Quinn Reckoning Ravenous and Redemption. Oh, yes. In that order, Wow. Wow. So we give you lots of good book racks to pick up this summer as we head into a warmer season where hopefully people are reading more. And thanks for joining us and we'll talk to you next time. Yup. Bye bye.