Welcome to Plans Are Booked, podcast for every reader.
I'm Molly Geller.
I'm Stephanie Blackburn.
I'm Caitlin Madison.
Welcome to Chapter 24, which if I did the math correctly, that's six months of
episodes, right?
What?
No.
No!
Wait.
Math is not my strong suit.
Six times four is 24 so that's six months of episodes.
Uh but no.
Really?
Well we did -
have a double up in our first debut, so yeah, we're almost there.
Yeah, we're almost there.
all right, yeah Wow, you really made me doubt my math The way she looked at me.
I was like that is how many weeks are in a month typically for
this is this is like an existential question, but how do you picture the
months of the year?
Because that is why I have trouble with six month increments.
Like do you picture it linear?
Okay.
scowling at Steph.
Are you on drugs?
What's happening?
Yeah, she's like got a bell curve graph going for her six month signal and I'm
like, I don't get it.
Yeah.
like the summer for me is like low and then the fall is when it starts to get
high and then winter is the top.
That's how in my mind I picture the months of the year.
Sort of like a roller coaster.
No.
There's a lot of left -highs.
I do have a favorite page or a favorite book or anything for enjoying this time.
Do you know?
So I have to...
is the distance from my birthday.
So like I know my birthday, September 29th, six months from that is March 29th.
So like, if someone says to me like, Oh, I was born in October.
I'm like, Oh, you're half birthdays in April.
Because everything is like, I just ratcheted it.
working on show, I'm working working show, I'm I'm a
our half birthdays are the opposite months.
Yep.
And I'm a loser and I'm like, well, Kyle Chandler's birthday is my half birthday,
which is September 17th.
Yeah, listen, there's all sorts of weird things that you can do with time.
Mine is not visual, Steph's is.
I'm sorry that six times four equaling 24 did not work for your peak and valley
visual that you have going on.
She was like, no, it can't be six months because it's not how I picture it.
Lord
That was great.
You should just start every episode now with like a weird cold open that just
really like sends the episode in a certain direction because the last one was
aphentasia and we spent 20 minutes on it.
So.
that was book related.
Yeah, people just don't know what they're getting themselves into when they turn
this on.
So 24 episodes, we have accomplished a lot, I feel like.
And this weekend, we kind of did like a little New England bebopping, if you will.
a trip.
Like we were taking ourselves to a new world.
Excursion.
And this is what I feel like.
I feel like the last week, 60 days of the break, was like 50s or 70s the day before.
And all of the people were so happy to be here.
And all of the people were so be here.
And I'm really like, oh, we're going to have a little...
England weekend.
I started in Providence.
I met two of my Wheaton College besties and we used to go to Providence all the
time from Wheaton because it's only like depending on how you hit the lights like
15 to 20 minutes and at the time the Providence Place mall
honestly like the bigger part.
It would be like a different fire tonight, so we'd go shopping, get our dresses.
We had this fall's conference with a Boston match, and I got my dress today.
And now, as I was in the house, I'm like, oh, I don't know.
wanna go to the Providence Place Mall.
So instead of orienting our weekend around the mall, we decided to check out a bunch
of places that either none of us had been before, or just one of us had been before.
So we stayed at the Aloft Hotel downtown, which was super nice.
I've actually stayed in an aloft here in Boston in the seaport with Scout,
actually, my pup.
And the hotel was great.
I feel the need to share with all of our listeners that this hotel has Drybar
products in the shower.
And also, we got a driver, a pair of guards.
is like one of my happy places on earth.
It just like brings me an incredible amount of joy and I'd never seen it in a
hotel before.
So I was like, okay, automatic seal of approval for this place.
We went to a cocktail bar called the Eddie, which was amazing.
They had super creative drinks, very fun spot.
We went to a pizza place.
called Figadini that is famous for its burrata pizza, which is exactly as it
sounds, a giant pizza with a huge burrata ball in the center.
I was thrilled.
And they give you scissors to cut your pizza, which is just like very fun.
Do it yourself at the table.
And the next day we went to a donut place and then we went out to brunch at this
place called the Rogue Island.
It was one of those brunch menus where you want literally everything.
Like you want all the eggs Benedict's, you want all the special French toast, they
had a thin mint.
you said you did or you didn't?
What?
Oh my.
share.
And then two of us got huevos rancheros and one friend got the sandwich called the
bear named for the show.
And then we were so full and we also had cocktails.
And I was like, I might have to drive back here for the thin mint French toast.
good.
We're good.
So, the problem is, I really didn't have much time to have a sense of ology or so.
I was so delighted, and then we went through the other part.
And I was like,
there's so much cool art because RISD is there.
And I just feel like I don't give it enough credit for its cool factor.
Well, our content is there, so if you want to learn points, you might want to know.
I've spent an insignificant time there in the last 12 years, probably.
So I want to let you know that it's back in biz, and I'll be sure to say it's back
in biz.
I'll say it over and over again.
You know what I mean?
It's more in the office.
and we should check it out.
And then Molly pivoted and went from PVD to Portsmouth.
picked Steph up along the way or Steph picked up her.
I was already there with a friend who needed and we...
were already out and about shopping a little bit in the lovely weather and then
Molly and Steph met up with us.
We went to LaRue, which is an awesome kitchen store.
We went to two bookstores that were both like small and charming in different ways.
And then we ate an epic meal, which I was...
fan of.
One day I got there and like it happened all at once.
Like I had to go out to the cook store and I had to buy the shoes that were from
practice in the collard.
like some cheese and crackers when I got to Elisa's and all of a sudden it was like
430 and I was like, I've had two mimosas and like no food today and like what am I
doing with my life?
So by the time we got to the restaurant, I was like ready for a delicious meal and we
went to street, amazing Korean food.
I remember we talked something like, that is awesome, like tofu, or shiitake, or
whatever it is that has to do with deliciousness.
I'll be like, okay.
we were walking around downtown Portsmouth I think I said to like each of you and our
friend Elise at different moments like I forgot how fun it is here like Even though
every time I've gone I've always loved it.
I was in Portsmouth also the previous Saturday, but it was pouring rain And I
just went like right into the library restaurant right back
looks like it belongs in a rom -com.
It's like that kind of setting.
feel like Stars Hollow like might have been modeled after Portsmouth, New
Hampshire.
I know it's supposed to be Connecticut and whatever, but like.
It has a very similar vibe, I think.
It feels like there's a ton to do, but it still feels like a smaller town.
And you also get the benefit that it's a coastal state, like a waterfront.
It's just a fabulous place.
A seafloor trail.
So all the toys becoming them.
It's a fun place.
And I love it.
It's a great day.
And it was just very, very fun.
Steph is back at it with the house.
apologize.
I am so tired that someone on my Instagram messaged me overnight and I love her for
worrying.
She was like, I think you need your thyroid checked.
I'm worried about you.
And I was like, I appreciate that, but it's just the stress.
Because I had posted about being cold all the time and always being tired.
No, I have an idea about the stress in a week that I would never forget.
Like, really.
It's from the job.
I think something more different than just that is what she was talking about.
like warning sign, warning sign.
I okay, that makes more sense because I was like, am I a bad friend?
Like, should I be more worried about stuff being cold and tired?
when she posted like I'm cold and this and that I did not think oh because she's
going in and out from outside I thought I'm always cold because I'm a vegetarian
and I have low iron and I was like, yeah, of course She's a vegetarian of course.
She's always cold
we also have the temp set at 59 because my dad is cheap and doesn't want to pay for
oil.
So we just wear our jackets inside while we're working on the house.
I feel like I'm constantly harping on the negative stuff that's happening.
The big drama this week is that I didn't pay attention when I ordered the
appliances and I did not.
you had to call people which is the worst part of all of that.
I hate calling people.
and the actual worst part is that I don't know what kind of headset the person on
the other end of the phone used, but it was as if their mouth was pressed against
the phone and I could, I felt like my mother, I kept being like, I'm so sorry, I
can't hear you.
Can you say that again?
But it was just so muffled, driving me nuts.
No, it sounded like they're, you know.
Sometimes I'm like, I feel bad, but like what I call insurance companies, like
sometimes they'll sound like they're on another planet and they're like, hello,
hello, hello.
And I'm like, I can't hear.
And I'm like trying to give them like subscriber ID numbers and like important
information.
And I'm like, I'm like, I can't hear anything.
And.
like, at the same time, it sounds like a really strong sound.
And that's when they click something and click a perfect sound.
And I'm always looking more in the books, and they're probably like trying to make a
sound.
And it sounds like they're like understanding the FBI.
I'm just like, oh.
gonna have to do it.
about it.
Like click one button.
And I'm like, God, these work from home people are ridiculous sometimes.
think for me, my dad has a hearing aid, our helper who just started, he's normally
with us on most houses, but he just started last week with us.
He also has a hearing aid.
My mother has a hearing aid.
And so anytime I say, I'm so sorry, can you repeat yourself?
I feel like I'm, am I 60 already and I can't hear the person on the other end?
least your parents wear their hearing aids.
My mom dropped like five grand on them and doesn't put them in.
And then when she goes, what, can you say that again?
What?
I just look at her and I'm like, are you wearing your hearing aids?
And she's like, whatever.
And we went out to a hockey game with some of her friends who do wear their hearing
aids and they heard me scolding her and they were like,
the new fridge though is not coming for another two plus weeks, which means
that like the last house, we're going to have to list this one without a fridge and
just our realtor will have to say before closing, it will actually be here.
But that upsets me because obviously then we're not putting our absolute best foot
forward for first impressions.
Okay, so I am going to tell you today, and I know you're going to look at this, but I
was going to say one of the most difficult houses to go to on the process weekend.
There was one where...
the Realtor had like photoshopped a fire pit.
mean in person.
Yeah.
it look better in the photos, right?
Yeah, I'm not worried about the photos.
It's just that you only get one chance at a first impression.
So I'm just praying that everything else is a wow factor.
And they're like, OK, there will one day be a fridge.
But also, me personally, I'd want to know what kind of fridge I was getting into.
see, that's like probably not something I pay attention to.
That wouldn't be, I'd be like, there's an island in this kitchen and like that's
what I'm focused on.
the countertops in this flip are pretty bougie.
Yeah.
Well, I saw the light fixtures for the bedroom and I was like, okay, I'm starting
to get, I have no vision is my issue.
So when everything is empty, I'm like, and like growing, I live in like six different
houses growing up.
So like I've gone to see a lot of houses in my day and I picked.
two houses that I lived in.
I'm on the fourth and fifth, I'm on the fifth One of them, one of them was my
death in the five.
I was like, oh, well, I'm gonna care.
So these are obviously like seven houses.
So like this is one.
And my wife likes to talk about it, but.
But I think that based on just the light fixtures, I had this like aha moment where
I was like, mm, okay.
I'm starting to see the shape of this and what this is going to look like.
And...
Yeah, it's just brilliant.
I saw it right before I was using it.
I was like, I'm gonna use that.
I'm gonna use it someday.
rich enough to have light fixtures like that and you said...
Yeah, yeah.
mean, to be completely honest, you can spend a lot of money on Wayfair because
they have all range of items.
But I, you know, I'm buying things that look a certain price point and are maybe a
little under that price point.
I'm really excited to show you guys the kitchen fixtures because they still have a
touch of gold, but they're also, they remind me of like an old school.
I don't know.
Okay, all right.
This is going to be our first flip that we go to visit and document on plans or
books.
Yeah.
So like, I don't know.
I feel like we need to take, do like a photo shoot of us reading whatever book
we're reading at that point in time, like bring it with us.
And we could do like a little fun fashionista home flip reading.
Like, and this is where the plans are book girls read their books and you can just
leave them a little bookmark with our podcast on it in the house.
Oh my God, that could be like your David Bromsted thing.
Did you ever watch his show Color Splash?
Oh, you don't know who he is.
He won Design Star one year on HGTV and they gave him his own show called Color
Splash.
He's like an unbelievable artist.
And he would do a painting that he hung somewhere in the house of every house that
he redesigned.
And that was his like calling card.
He has a different show now.
I forget the name of it, but my mom and I, I would like get home from like,
well maybe we'll take some posed photos in there and we'll have your realtor add them
to your listing.
It's more of a hot area.
You can go into the same folder and like, our tutorial.
Yeah.
That's best.
You don't like the photo that's covered in there?
That's best, yeah.
just saying Okay, let's move on to our book of the day So we are chatting this
week about a book that I absolutely loved capital L loved Come funny.
You should ask by Alyssa Sussman.
I found out about this book on the podcast Forever 35, which I've mentioned a few
times
as introducing me to actually several of the books that we've talked about here.
So I hadn't known anything about Alyssa's books or storytelling and I just loved her
in the interview.
Like as a person, I thought she seemed really funny and down to earth and great.
And I knew that the premise of this book, Funny You Should Ask, was about a reporter
covering a celebrity.
Since I like that in real life, I was like, okay, let me give this a whirl.
So.
I took this book on a flight to Jacksonville, my first time.
We flew with the layover, so I had two flights to read.
And all I did during both of those flights was have my head inside this book.
I was addicted from the jump.
I just felt like the chemistry between the two main characters was off the charts.
And I just felt like I could picture it the whole time.
in a way that doesn't always happen for me when I'm reading.
I just felt like I was watching a movie of this while I was reading it.
And it felt so real.
Wait, when you say that you don't actually picture books normally as if it's a movie?
No, sometimes like I...
imagine books for the first time but it doesn't feel like crystal clear all the
time.
Interesting.
And this one almost sounds pure and that's correct, it's not quite real.
But I just...
I don't know if it's a clear or if it's a lie because...
and it's about...
this young woman, Chani.
We had a long debate about how her name is pronounced.
We think it's Chani.
Um.
And she gets assigned to cover this like up and coming Hollywood heartthrob.
And they wind up spending a bunch of time together, like several consecutive days.
And the profile that she winds up writing basically like goes viral and becomes
really well known as like a genre almost of reporting.
And then we flash way forward in time and they wind up actually reuniting.
I think it's.
Is it 10 years later?
10 years later.
I don't want to say more because I want to hear what both of you thought, but I just
felt like this was one of those, I couldn't tell if it was just because I was
on the plane and I had like unlimited time and so that's why I was so immersed or if
it really was that it grips you that much.
But I wasn't picturing any specific actor.
But after I finished it, our friend who met us in Jackson Hole, Erica.
I said, oh yeah, that's the Mochra 7, right?
Like inspired by the Mochra 7.
That's why I said to you when we were talking about this a little bit way back,
but I didn't explain well enough.
What do you mean, perception?
It's apparently inspired by the real interaction with perception within a
program, so it's not a profile.
And I didn't know that when I was reading it.
Alyssa Sussman did not say that.
I was just awesome to not say that.
I just couldn't get my head It could totally be speculated.
Agreed.
anyway, I'd love to hear what you two thought.
I think the reason that I got hooked so easily, one, the writing is fantastic and,
you know, short chapters do that for me, but it seems plausible.
And as a writer, naturally, I put myself in...
Johnny's, you know, spot and was magic.
Of course a writer could be writing his piece and have an actual chemistry with
the subject and, you know, romance sort of is his thing.
But it's not, you know, out there.
there.
So, I love that.
Well, I'm a firm believer in may all your delulu become Trululu.
And I, when I had my Friday night lights podcast, I had a moment where I was like,
oh, Jesse Plummons and I are just going to like date and that's going to be a thing.
I feel, and back then people were like, one, who's Jesse Plummons and two, they
were like, they were like, isn't that the guy that they call like meth daemon?
Have you seen this?
Have you seen this page?
Oh my god.
So instead of Matt Davis, I'm that trying to get on this toilet.
He's like 16 years old.
Call it Matt Davis.
And then he's like, Matt Davis.
That's the thing that happened to him.
Yeah.
But you know what?
He got Kiki Dunst.
So everybody can SUCK it.
Um, but anyways, he's like adorable and totally boyfriend material.
And I had him on my podcast a couple of times.
And then I've had him on the camera.
And our whole conversation is telling him to chat to you on his favorite TV.
And I was just like, I'm going to go to the TV.
And I had to be here as the sponsor.
I think some of his podcasts made him feel like he was coming from a different world.
Um, but anyway, I was reading this and I knew how much Molly, Molly and stuff have
been pushing this book on me for months and I finally read it and I really liked
it.
And I don't know why, what?
It sounded sound.
no.
Okay, no, no.
No, no, no.
No.
This is how it's written.
No, No answers for me.
And...
I just, I'm really really glad that the chapters were split up by the articles and
novels that Johnny had written for, or that he had written out in the character's
concert.
And I...
a sucker for a sidekick and Oliver, AKA Ollie is like a great sidekick.
He's Gabe's like acting best friend and...
he's gay and he's kind of like been through it in Hollywood like he didn't
come out right away and he just pops up at all of the right times and there's a
character in Steph's book that I feel is like very similar and so I was like having
this moment of like oh my gosh he's like one of my favorites in Steph's book and
this guy Oliver is like you know like so simp like not similar in personality but
similar in like
the world, like, there's three S -primes on it.
Which also just comes back to the fact that it's a positive sense of community,
or so much more important than just the other two.
Yeah.
So I want to follow up right after this assessment, right?
And I don't know if you just have a question.
and him meeting his husband on Halloween because they have the big meet cute where
they're both dressed as Xena the warrior princess.
If that doesn't make you read the book, I don't know what does, but it just has all
these great moments and...
the very start of the boxes for a foot tour.
But it doesn't have a full course.
It's in Montana.
So it's just such a delightful little box and that's what we're looking for.
And we hope that you'll do it.
them.
And there's, I don't know, you're just really rooting for them.
And I really needed a book like that.
And so if you are like in a boredom buster situation or like a slump book situation,
like this would be a really good one.
read, I think.
And then also, I just have to say that there are moments where I just think this
is starting to work for Sonia because she gets calls from your side of the country
and I don't think this is a good thing.
I was just on call.
do.
Gowler this for the rest of our lives.
That's one.
Molly is like flustered.
And then the other thing is she's like this, like she's really into writing and
like she does like,
philosophy stuff, and then she does like, really like, heartfelt thought -through
stuff, and all of that.
And all of her like, 15 years was like, so filled with that.
Like, she wrote restaurant books and travel posts that I still use and send it
to people that are like, yeah, poppin' pop.
I Still send it to people and use it myself like when I go on trips, please
like people are like this is like a very
is such a high compliment that I was really not expecting this world.
No one has ever called me a siren in my whole life So if even if that only just
happened right now at this table, that's memorable
Johnny Rollie.
I don't know.
I was like Johnny Rollie.
And then the same person that was in the green, right?
not see that coming or picture that at all.
But I think that's because Chris Evans is like from Massachusetts and his dad's a
dentist and like he grew up in a yuppie town and.
not Montana, or the dad that, well, I'm not going to give anything away, but
anyway.
So, but I will say that I, at the beginning of the book, really imagined
Gabe as Kevin from This Is Us, which I can't think of his real name.
just not just her character.
him that way.
But then the more I thought about it and the further I got in the book, I was like,
well, in the then section, there's supposed to be 26 and Justin Hartley does
not look 26 at all.
And it's hard to imagine him as 26, kind of like in a George Clooney way where it's
like, were you ever young?
I don't know.
And then, no, I did not.
I know what it is though.
He was on that?
Oh.
Lordy.
Okay, well, anyways, that's for another day.
But so then when the 10 years later happens, and they're supposed to be 36, I
was like, Oh, okay, that doesn't really work.
So I'm not sure who I but somebody that kind of has that build and that look like
chiseled, but rugged, could rock a beard doesn't have a beard sometimes where's
flannel, but it's like super tight flannel.
You know what I mean?
Like,
spoon fit can't plan all that well.
what I I wish I could think of who I want it to be.
But I will say, in their time apart, a lot of shit goes down.
That's like, very real.
I was rereading my Goodreads review earlier today, and I talked about how both
of the
characters felt very real and honest.
And as you jump back and forth in time, you learn about all the things that
happened in the time that they were apart.
And there's like really difficult things.
There's marriage and divorce, there's substance abuse, there's all kinds of
stuff.
And I love that she didn't overly romanticize it to the point where it was
like, and then ta -da, they just like bumped into each other again and
everything was great.
I liked that it took them each being like,
Am I even willing to like go there again with this person?
Am I willing to let them know all the things that I've been through since we
last spent any real time together?
And as I often say on this podcast, when we get to the end of these stories and it
seems like they're not going to get together, I start to go postal.
And there was a moment towards the end of the spoke where I was like, this is really
fucking going to happen.
Like it's not going to like, I'm going to be left in an unhappy way.
Can you just let me know when you're exactly going to have no options in this
book?
I was kind of like, well, that makes sense.
Like it was so realistic in that way.
That when there, yeah, when there was the moment of pause where you were like, oh,
they kind of went for it.
And now they're like pulling back on that.
And, and it was like, I totally understood why.
the character that becomes reluctant does.
And I was like, they're probably like being smart.
And I just want them to leap.
this is, this is, I don't know what you call this, like subgenre of romance books,
but like Tia Williams does it too, where it's like so rooted in realistic aspects
that it like sits differently with me than like the lighter stuff where it's just
like, this is so unrealistic.
this would never happen, I feel like these things could happen in real life.
And it's not.
just light and fluffy.
There are traumas going on.
And I think that's why they sit within me longer.
And I feel stronger about them.
I really want you to read her second book because it has the same feel.
Yes.
called One More Time With Feeling.
Oh, that's a great Regina Spector song.
Do I have it?
I'm going to have to dig.
I don't know where that is.
stars, one who was sort of like a Britney Spears type singer and then one who was in
a boy band very like in sync -esque.
Crush Zone.
And, you know, in the past, they were, you know, camp kids.
were just sort of like striving for that dream and then made it.
And then in the present, they are not doing well.
You know, one is off Broadway and one is struggling to sort of make ends meet.
And so that also has a realistic aspect.
It's not likely to hit the billboards, continuing for another year.
I just, I'm coming around to not linear timelines when they're done like this,
because there's just so much, that one especially.
you have the aspect of the teenager and the past, first love and unknowns and
first times, which this morning on the front desk is not a serotonin, it's a
mustard.
I don't know, I just love Alyssa's book screening.
I need to share that she has another book coming out September 17th called...
Oh!
Called Totally and Completely Fine and speaking of side characters it's about
Gabe's sister Lauren.
Lauren?
Oh, God, but I wanted an Oliver book.
But she seemed nice.
There wasn't a lot with her though, except that she might, she might, um, I'm not
gonna give anything away.
I'm not gonna give anything away.
I'm not gonna do it.
You'll be hearing more about Alyssa Sussman, I think, as the year rolls on.
But yeah, I think also, that's what I was just going to say.
I feel like there are so many different kinds of romance books, and some of them
really are just like the bodice ripper type.
And this is so well written.
It's funny.
It's smart.
It's honest.
It's realistic.
It doesn't feel like.
saddling in a home or anything.
It's like, this could've happened to you, but this could've happened.
And I think that's what we're doing.
feel more enjoyable because you didn't have to suspend reality to believe that
these people could be actually having this experience.
life.
I think so too.
You see the copper though, you might think it's separate, just the bulk of it.
You know, you're like, validating that it's deceptive, in that way, um, I have
problems with coppers.
Yes.
clutching and grasping and shirtless and Fabio.
No, not with this one, but with a lot of them they tried.
I think this is if you are listening to this and you are someone who is just like,
I'm definitely not a romance person.
Try this book and see what you think.
It's it's in a different kind of category that I think is more accessible and more
fun.
and if you're somebody that likes movies and premieres and gossip and all of that
stuff, like you're gonna really like it.
Agreed.
Let's tell the people who are reading now.
just finished late last night because I couldn't stop.
I just read Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica.
Is that how we pronounce her name?
This is actually the second book of hers that I've read.
The other one I read is, I think it's called The Good Girls or The Good Girl.
The Good Girl.
This book...
I think I'm going to pick up because I just saw it in a free book.
And it sounds like a bizarre book, but I was wondering if it's a little like big
little box in the back that takes place in this one neighborhood.
Well, it's not funny.
kind of how the other one sounded, the house and the pines one.
That sounded big little eyes -ish too.
Darker.
Okay.
one, so the premise is that it's this suburb of Chicago where a young mother
goes out running and disappears.
And then like a week or two later, another mother and her daughter both disappear.
So I went into it thinking this is going to be like a serial serial killer type
book.
And it's not about that at all.
It's
obviously is...
discovering what happened to those three people, but it's more about this one
neighbor and the son in the family where the mom and daughter disappeared, what his
life is like now 10 years later.
So it's over the course of 11 years, it's past and present.
In the past, it starts off with the first woman who goes missing.
It's about her the night that she disappears.
And then it's from the perspective of the mother.
disappearing, a star leading out of her.
And then it's this neighbor who lives next door and her watching after they've both
disappeared, watching the neighborhood sort of fall apart and media circus
descend upon the neighborhood.
And it's more about like the relationships between, you know, like the girls who...
might stay with this daughter, other girls.
daughter, and the other daughter.
It's more that sort of stuff.
The funeral.
lives of like a neighborhood.
It's quick chapters.
It wasn't as murdery and dark as the previous book that I was reading.
I really loved it and I read it in I think three days.
So if anyone wants like a little bit later on the murdery side.
And...
I did that.
figure out the ending, which is like a rare thing for me.
I was convinced a third of the way in that I had figured it out and I got stronger
and stronger thinking that I had figured it out until something happened and I was
like, whoa, she just pulled the rug out from underneath me.
okay, I Know that I gave you this book, but I don't know who read it yet But the
one by Ashley Flowers all good people here
I do have that somewhere in my bedroom.
right now, that's the next one you should do because I thought I had that one
figured out and I didn't.
And it's like, it's one of those books where setting kind of is like an
additional character and it's, it's very good.
I really liked it.
And my brother recommended that one to me and he is kind of picky about his
mysteries.
And so I trusted him and I was right to do that because it was good.
So move that up your pile.
Um, I cruised through a book, speaking of my brother, I cruised through a book in
two days called She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper and Zeebo, who gave us the
name for this podcast, is my brother's best friend.
And he and my brother both are huge Jordan Harper fans.
And I write Jordan Harper's newer book called Everybody Knows recently.
And that one's about...
a police agent who has a lot of secrets and he showed up earlier and there's a
part that their entire job is cleaning up all these messes which are the rest of the
day.
You know, just who we work with, like, who is in charge of those things.
And this part, like, the person has like a journey.
moment and is literally like, I'm actually going to do the right thing.
And this is the person that's going to be like my pariah.
And so that happens with the sexist.
So I'm just gonna sort of use that.
And I'm gonna find a way to make this work.
I was like, oh no, no, no, no.
And I'm gonna use the premises of this guy when I get time to go.
He has gotten himself into a lot of mischief with pretty smart, like, premises
group that has like chocolate and chocolate.
And, um,
he was recently taken to jail for prison.
He recently goes and parties with his electrical daughter at the college school.
And it is basically like, I kind of want to see the other two.
You're put down in the car and it's really weird.
And they start talking all over, and I'll forget that they've been on the plane ever
because there's like a great light on his daughter, her light on what just happened.
and her mom.
And...
my...
away, but he finds the mom first and she's already dead.
So he's like, okay, this is bad.
And so he goes and gets her.
And then they like basically become partners in crime literally.
And they like devise a plan on how they're going to like get the green light lifted.
It is fast paced.
It's fascinating.
The whole thing is told in the third person, but the chapters are all focused
on a different character.
And it even includes.
this dominant, protective part who is trying to fight the fall which is
considered inept.
And on the outside, it looks like it's right.
It's a bad seed that I'm going to kill.
It's an inept dog.
It's a white, fensomite that doesn't look like it.
And that's a totally inept dog that's calling for life.
And so then you see other people's perspective on the same story.
And then you also see the perspective of the daughter getting to know her dad under
this really bizarre,
certain stance, and how she feels about it, like Simon's case and the grief of her
mom.
It's really, it really puts a punch, it's really that, I think we should do an
episode about it, because I would love to hear what you think of it.
And I haven't figured out what my next read is going to be yet.
I haven't narrowed down to two.
You have the act.
I see how this will be.
I have the so -called most light tape.
And Sarah has the grade, which I wrote it.
And I think I've read it.
That's what it means.
I do have a copy of it.
new book, a newer book.
And it's basically it follows four girls who are best friends.
And from the get go, you know that one of them is like the future first female
president of the United States, but you don't know until the end which one it is.
and they all come back to you.
and they're all like successful in different ways.
And so that one sounds really interesting.
And then the other one is a book called Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed.
And this one is about like a budding journalist in high school and she
investigates this boy when he's 14, his name is Jawad Ali.
He builds a cosplay jetback that his teacher thinks is a bomb.
And so he gets a breach of your profile, all this like bad stuff, gets arrested,
and he gets labeled as a terrorist, all this other stuff.
So he's related to this other girl who I believe, she's a fun one, plus a
character, I think.
Her name's Sophia Merza.
She basically takes on this high school project of like explaining everything
that's happening in my profile that I hear.
brings attention to.
it.
these United States.
So that one's like a Y, they're both YA.
I'm going to do one of them first.
I don't know which one yet though, but Steph already voted for one.
So, well.
I feel like we have to go over 200 points.
Okay.
also was in YA land this week I finished 20 minutes before we recorded this podcast
a good girl's guide to murder by Holly Jackson
gonna be our next episode.
So I'm not gonna say too much because we are gonna talk about our next episode, but
I will say, I didn't know anything about this going in.
I went totally blind just on the recommendation from those two of you guys.
And there's a lot of interesting reformatting that we're gonna do.
written because sometimes she's transcribing conversations with people.
Sometimes she's doing sort of journal -like entries about progress towards this
project she's doing.
I think for the first...
half, I was like, okay, like, I'm not gonna check where this is going, I'm not
gonna check, I'm like, totally in.
then the back third of the book I like couldn't put it down I had to know what
was gonna happen there were all kinds of new twists and turns I'll leave it there
because we are gonna deep dive more but I need to say that the main character's name
is Pippa but she goes by Pipp great expectations is one of my favorite books
of all time I was like oh I already like this cuz her name is Pipp
bought the second book as well in that series, which I forget what it's called.
And then Holly Jackson had her had another book come out this week.
So I believe April 1 she had
another book come out which is not from the series but it's about an airplane
flooding investigative journalism.
And the sounds of it sounds like...
person is trying to figure out something that's happened in their family and
they're being followed by a podcasting crew in the midst of them trying to figure
it out.
So that's a different angle.
Yeah, for sure.
If you guys want to follow all of the books we've chatted about, this obviously
is a good thing.
So come and give us a call on Instagram at Lines are Voted.
You can also write to us at Linesarevoted, jimah .com, share your thoughts.
books that you'd like for us to chat through.
We love to hear from you.
And until next time, our plans are booked.