1
00:00:05,798 --> 00:00:10,316
Welcome to our first podcast, the introduction of our first podcast.

2
00:00:10,316 --> 00:00:11,753
Yes, welcome.

3
00:01:31,372 --> 00:01:36,368
It's not an introductory podcast, it's a podcast that has an introductory episode.

4
00:01:36,850 --> 00:01:37,591
Yes.

5
00:01:37,591 --> 00:01:40,295
But it is our inaugural podcast.

6
00:01:40,295 --> 00:01:41,977
That would be accurate and correct.

7
00:01:41,977 --> 00:01:42,802
Yes.

8
00:01:42,802 --> 00:01:44,354
given that it's an election year.

9
00:01:44,354 --> 00:01:45,311
That's a good word to use.

10
00:01:45,311 --> 00:01:46,311
yes.

11
00:01:46,531 --> 00:01:48,934
I think we want to avoid that topic though.

12
00:01:50,838 --> 00:01:51,649
Yes.

13
00:02:50,674 --> 00:02:54,910
think we should probably talk about how we got

14
00:02:54,910 --> 00:02:56,485
That's probably a place to start.

15
00:02:56,572 --> 00:02:59,843
And at the beginning, I know, right?

16
00:02:59,843 --> 00:03:10,868
I know we were telling this story last night to we were out with a couple of friends last
night for dinner and we were telling them about our podcast and then we were getting ready

17
00:03:10,868 --> 00:03:13,799
to record our intro episode, which is right now.

18
00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,671
We were telling them kind of how we got here and what inspired the podcast.

19
00:03:17,671 --> 00:03:23,623
And I said that I had asked you to read the book, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things,

20
00:03:24,932 --> 00:03:30,595
I was reading the little script we kind of outlined and it was Gone Girl.

21
00:03:30,595 --> 00:03:35,578
Gone Girl was the first one Yes.

22
00:03:35,578 --> 00:03:38,710
Which are two amazing books, but I'm pretty sure it Gone Girl.

23
00:03:38,710 --> 00:03:39,140
Who knows?

24
00:03:39,140 --> 00:04:07,152
It might've been another

25
00:04:07,152 --> 00:04:18,652
Yeah, so I asked you read those books and then that's kind of been a theme when a book
particularly resonates with me or maybe something in the book resonates with me in regards

26
00:04:18,652 --> 00:04:21,902
to our relationship, I've recommended it to you.

27
00:04:21,902 --> 00:04:33,860
So you've read quite a few books over the years and we've been married close to 12 years
now that I recommended.

28
00:04:34,142 --> 00:04:34,452
Yeah.

29
00:04:34,452 --> 00:04:35,263
Which has been helpful.

30
00:04:35,263 --> 00:04:37,204
Like I'm a pretty streaky reader.

31
00:04:37,204 --> 00:04:43,647
So I go in waves where I'll read a lot and then I won't read anything for a while.

32
00:04:43,689 --> 00:04:50,813
but I think that's been reduced a bit, especially recently over the last couple of years,
as we've done this a little bit more.

33
00:04:50,814 --> 00:04:54,796
One of the things for me, that's made me a streaky reader is just like, I don't really
know what to read.

34
00:04:54,796 --> 00:05:00,160
tend to gravitate to one particular thing for a little while and then, just kind of fall
off the cliff.

35
00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,082
So with you being a more avid reader,

36
00:05:03,140 --> 00:05:15,457
and knowing me as well as you do, it's been helpful for me to like expand my reading
palette even to different genres and different types of books that I would have no idea or

37
00:05:16,077 --> 00:05:17,558
wouldn't have picked up on my

38
00:05:18,044 --> 00:05:24,459
And I think that is what also really resonated with us to do the podcast.

39
00:05:24,459 --> 00:05:38,542
So was visiting a local bookshop and I was admittedly eavesdropping on the conversation of
a couple of the shop.

40
00:05:38,542 --> 00:05:39,893
I think one of them was the owner.

41
00:05:39,893 --> 00:05:40,683
really don't remember.

42
00:05:40,683 --> 00:05:45,346
think owner, worker, employee, and...

43
00:05:46,225 --> 00:05:48,318
they were talking about their book club.

44
00:05:48,318 --> 00:05:57,590
And so I was laughing at some of their conversation because they were complaining about
some of the people in their book club and some of their

45
00:06:00,487 --> 00:06:01,641
I don't know what I want to say.

46
00:06:01,641 --> 00:06:03,238
Commentary, thank you.

47
00:06:03,238 --> 00:06:06,236
Was maybe some of the things that I might get a little...

48
00:06:08,105 --> 00:06:09,955
I could relate to it.

49
00:06:11,776 --> 00:06:18,398
I could relate to some of those things, which maybe we'll get into a little later,
particularly with how people write books.

50
00:06:18,799 --> 00:06:25,831
Anyway, so I joined their conversation because I felt compelled to after eavesdropping,
which I admitted to.

51
00:06:25,831 --> 00:06:36,613
And then I ended up talking to these ladies for an hour and a half.

52
00:06:36,613 --> 00:06:40,134
I talked about this idea for this podcast and they absolutely loved it.

53
00:06:40,134 --> 00:06:46,507
And they said, have to do this podcast.

54
00:06:46,507 --> 00:06:54,841
More women want their partners to read books or read books that they're reading
particularly.

55
00:06:54,841 --> 00:06:56,912
And so I think that just speaks to what you're saying.

56
00:06:56,912 --> 00:06:59,567
Like maybe you want to read, but you don't know what to read.

57
00:06:59,567 --> 00:07:01,068
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

58
00:07:01,068 --> 00:07:10,442
And it's just a good sharing moment for us to like reading so important to you and like
having this for the two of us to talk about this and books that you're interested in.

59
00:07:10,442 --> 00:07:17,765
And we're just choosing to record and publish for the world to enjoy our, our banter.

60
00:07:19,231 --> 00:07:22,294
and there'll be no shortage of that.

61
00:07:23,196 --> 00:07:34,448
So shout out to the ladies at Turn the Page Bookstore in Westfield, Indiana for
encouraging us to really pull the plug on this podcast.

62
00:07:34,448 --> 00:07:37,261
I told them I would do that if it ever came to fruition.

63
00:07:37,261 --> 00:07:41,839
So hopefully this actually makes it into the ether somewhere.

64
00:07:41,839 --> 00:07:44,615
We'll put their shop website on the in the show notes.

65
00:07:44,615 --> 00:07:45,856
Good, good.

66
00:07:46,062 --> 00:07:50,514
of the things we wanted to talk about was how I rate books.

67
00:07:50,855 --> 00:07:59,020
And you can find me on Goodreads, you can Google my name in Goodreads, I'm sure it'll pop
up, but we'll also link this in the show notes.

68
00:07:59,020 --> 00:08:06,746
But I think it's important to talk about when I say something's four or five stars, three
stars, what do I mean?

69
00:08:06,746 --> 00:08:07,616
What does that mean to me?

70
00:08:07,616 --> 00:08:09,967
Because everyone has their own rating system.

71
00:08:11,309 --> 00:08:12,149
And

72
00:08:12,493 --> 00:08:15,835
think first things first is I have to get this off my chest.

73
00:08:15,835 --> 00:08:18,236
It's been weighing on there for many millennia now.

74
00:08:18,236 --> 00:08:24,719
There are not a finite number of five stars you can give books in a year.

75
00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:25,621
There's not.

76
00:08:25,621 --> 00:08:26,901
There's absolutely not.

77
00:08:26,901 --> 00:08:31,004
You can give every single book if you felt so inclined to five stars.

78
00:08:31,004 --> 00:08:40,468
Now, remember, most of the books I'm reading are four and higher.

79
00:08:42,937 --> 00:08:48,537
Those are books that I'm coming across through different means.

80
00:08:48,537 --> 00:08:50,277
Someone recommends them.

81
00:08:50,277 --> 00:08:59,197
I, on Goodreads, if you like a book, it recommends other books that are within the same
genre or subject matter.

82
00:08:59,197 --> 00:09:03,987
And if something's 3.7, 3.8, I mean, I get a little nervous.

83
00:09:03,987 --> 00:09:50,097
That means that the majority of people thought it was a three or a four, which for me
isn't great.

84
00:09:50,097 --> 00:09:58,797
someone recommends a book to me that's 3.8, 3.7, I don't know, 3.9, maybe that's less
risky, I'll read it for sure.

85
00:09:58,797 --> 00:10:08,177
But I won't read a book that's rated 3.7 on Goodreads without a recommendation, either by
a friend or by a bookstagrammer, someone I've been following and trust.

86
00:10:08,177 --> 00:10:11,112
I like other books that they've read and rated.

87
00:10:12,835 --> 00:10:14,826
But back to what makes a five -star book.

88
00:10:14,826 --> 00:10:19,707
So I think if I read a book, it kept me intrigued.

89
00:10:19,707 --> 00:10:21,937
I was excited to pick it up each time.

90
00:10:21,937 --> 00:10:24,858
I enjoyed the characters.

91
00:10:24,858 --> 00:10:27,929
I felt maybe the characters were relatable in some way.

92
00:10:27,929 --> 00:10:30,430
I didn't see any major plot holes.

93
00:10:30,430 --> 00:10:31,730
I laughed, I cried.

94
00:10:31,730 --> 00:10:33,020
I didn't really want the book to end.

95
00:10:33,020 --> 00:10:34,631
I'm gonna give it five stars.

96
00:10:34,631 --> 00:10:38,212
Like it doesn't have to be the best book I've ever read.

97
00:10:38,212 --> 00:10:42,777
It doesn't have to be the best book I've read that year or maybe that month.

98
00:10:42,777 --> 00:10:50,997
You can't compare a 300 page rom -com to a 700 page epic fantasy.

99
00:10:50,997 --> 00:10:51,897
You just can't.

100
00:10:51,897 --> 00:10:53,777
They're totally different books.

101
00:10:53,777 --> 00:11:02,957
But it doesn't mean that that 300 page rom -com, which I would say is a little lighter in
general in subject matter, is not five stars.

102
00:11:02,957 --> 00:11:05,957
Like is it five stars at being the book that it is?

103
00:11:05,957 --> 00:11:11,661
If you go into McDonald's, you're not going to compare it to a Capital Grille.

104
00:11:11,661 --> 00:11:14,422
which is our, like, steakhouse of choice.

105
00:11:14,562 --> 00:11:20,935
But that doesn't mean that McDonald's is not a five -star McDonald's or a five -star fast
food.

106
00:11:20,935 --> 00:11:21,795
Like, did you go in?

107
00:11:21,795 --> 00:11:23,016
Did they get your order right?

108
00:11:23,016 --> 00:11:25,246
Was the service friendly?

109
00:11:25,487 --> 00:11:28,098
Was the bathroom clean?

110
00:11:28,098 --> 00:11:29,388
Was the area clean?

111
00:11:29,388 --> 00:11:30,997
Like, did you have everything you needed?

112
00:11:30,997 --> 00:11:32,058
Makes sense.

113
00:11:32,791 --> 00:11:37,274
So you have to rate books where they are and what kind of book they are.

114
00:11:37,274 --> 00:12:51,171
mean, Now four stars.

115
00:12:51,171 --> 00:13:03,090
All right, so if there's a hole in the plot or something else that just didn't make sense,
maybe I fell the author, I don't know, fell short someplace, I might give it four stars.

116
00:13:03,090 --> 00:13:07,233
And another reason I might give four stars is if there's an unreliable narrator.

117
00:13:07,347 --> 00:13:08,343
Wait, time out.

118
00:13:08,343 --> 00:13:10,362
I don't know what that means.

119
00:13:10,723 --> 00:13:24,593
So an unreliable narrator to me is in the book you have your person who's telling the
story, maybe it's from multiple point of views, but if there is a narrator that suddenly

120
00:13:24,593 --> 00:13:35,111
changes their character, their storyline, their personality, I don't like that.

121
00:13:35,572 --> 00:13:37,633
Because it makes me wonder

122
00:13:38,137 --> 00:13:46,413
Okay, I mean like if we get halfway through a book, it's 200 pages through, was anything
in those first 200 pages the truth?

123
00:13:46,615 --> 00:13:47,195
I see.

124
00:13:47,195 --> 00:13:50,185
So meaning like you're following along with this character.

125
00:13:50,185 --> 00:14:01,155
They've made certain decisions along the way through the that's giving them an arc and all
of sudden they make a completely one 80 decision from the pattern or path that they've

126
00:14:01,155 --> 00:14:02,325
already made up to that point.

127
00:14:02,325 --> 00:14:03,293
Is that kind of what you

128
00:14:03,293 --> 00:14:09,316
that could be it, or they just tell you stuff and they contradict themselves later on in
the story.

129
00:14:09,597 --> 00:14:22,374
Now, there will be some authors that I have read that I think their intention is to use
this as like a plot twist, but to me, it just doesn't create this throughput of the story.

130
00:14:22,374 --> 00:14:25,025
And I just, don't like that.

131
00:14:25,025 --> 00:14:31,289
Maybe that's a personal thing, but that's usually more what I reserve for three stars, I
feel

132
00:14:31,521 --> 00:14:36,864
and unreliable in their area because that is just something that is just going to really
turn me off from the book.

133
00:14:36,864 --> 00:14:40,486
but back to four stars is like, it's good.

134
00:14:40,486 --> 00:14:41,837
It's really good, probably.

135
00:14:41,837 --> 00:14:45,249
But there was just like a tiny piece kind of missing for me.

136
00:14:45,843 --> 00:14:51,494
So the unreliable narrator isn't necessarily a four star.

137
00:14:51,494 --> 00:14:54,138
You would categorize that more as a three star.

138
00:14:54,138 --> 00:14:57,380
Yeah, it kind of depends on what we're talking about.

139
00:14:58,541 --> 00:15:04,784
But three stars would be, man, I want to like this book, but it's tough to read at times.

140
00:15:04,985 --> 00:15:08,587
I didn't feel as I didn't feel excited about picking it up.

141
00:15:08,707 --> 00:15:16,185
Definitely the unreliable narrators here.

142
00:15:16,185 --> 00:15:25,689
Characters that are unlikable, unrelent and I don't see you say unlikable because hey,
there's always characters you just don't resonate with aren't likable, but they're just

143
00:15:25,689 --> 00:15:26,609
not relatable.

144
00:15:26,609 --> 00:15:28,140
Like no one's gonna do that.

145
00:15:28,140 --> 00:15:29,360
No one would say that.

146
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:31,221
No one would act this way.

147
00:15:33,492 --> 00:15:35,573
the story's just not believable.

148
00:15:36,113 --> 00:15:44,377
And I don't mean sci -fi, like, cause yes, yes, like this, yeah.

149
00:15:44,377 --> 00:15:45,777
Or maybe there's just

150
00:15:47,833 --> 00:15:53,868
Too many coincidences, like all these things would have had to happen for this one thing
to be possible.

151
00:15:53,868 --> 00:15:58,902
So yeah, that would be three stars.

152
00:15:59,383 --> 00:16:11,333
Two stars, almost certain and someone's gonna probably fact check me on this is I've only
given one book on Goodreads two stars.

153
00:16:11,333 --> 00:16:17,137
And I did that because it had, I think

154
00:16:17,289 --> 00:16:24,536
one, at least one, maybe two, because it was written from multiple points of view,
unreliable narrators.

155
00:16:24,536 --> 00:16:35,845
It had major plot holes and the characters were not it was just too coincidental.

156
00:16:35,845 --> 00:16:37,507
Like all these like things.

157
00:16:37,507 --> 00:16:38,248
I don't know.

158
00:16:38,248 --> 00:16:40,229
I just really did not care for

159
00:16:40,445 --> 00:16:45,460
So really it's, it's a culmination of a lot of things that you've already kind of called
out.

160
00:16:45,460 --> 00:16:48,383
Like if a book has one or two of these things, it's probably a four star.

161
00:16:48,383 --> 00:16:50,084
If it has three or four of these things, it's a three star.

162
00:16:50,084 --> 00:16:54,807
If it has a bunch of these things and it's like cumulatively.

163
00:16:54,807 --> 00:16:57,260
Yeah, I mean, that might be a little generous, but yes.

164
00:16:57,260 --> 00:16:57,940
Yeah.

165
00:16:57,940 --> 00:16:59,662
Yeah.

166
00:16:59,662 --> 00:17:02,815
And then one star book I feel like probably shouldn't have been written.

167
00:17:09,828 --> 00:17:12,644
how many books have you seen on Goodreads that are one point something?

168
00:17:12,644 --> 00:17:16,181
I mean, two point something is even tough.

169
00:17:16,503 --> 00:17:17,554
that's fair.

170
00:17:18,049 --> 00:17:19,114
So that's what I mean.

171
00:17:19,114 --> 00:17:26,385
I only give one book two stars because most of the ones I'm reading like...

172
00:17:26,385 --> 00:17:31,069
I get that's helpful.

173
00:17:31,069 --> 00:17:36,894
mean, it's helpful for people to understand as we move on through this podcast and
understand like what we mean ratings.

174
00:17:36,894 --> 00:17:38,845
think I pretty much align with all of that.

175
00:17:38,845 --> 00:17:46,942
I'm probably not as granular in your thinking and each of reasons because I just don't
read as much as you.

176
00:17:46,942 --> 00:17:56,446
So maybe I don't pick up on intricacies of a storyline or a plot or something to that
effect that you might pick up on just based on

177
00:17:56,446 --> 00:17:59,437
how much you

178
00:17:59,437 --> 00:18:03,568
But yeah, I mean, to me, a five star is, I can't put it down.

179
00:18:03,568 --> 00:18:15,731
There are characters that I can relate to, or you you care about as characters in the
world that they're in, and you just want to keep turning the page.

180
00:18:15,731 --> 00:18:25,463
And four stars is probably similar, but maybe there's a couple of characters or something
that I just can't connect with.

181
00:18:25,581 --> 00:18:37,106
And at a certain level and don't care for them as deeply or feel the impact of whatever
happens to them in that particular I don't know what a three star would be for me,

182
00:18:37,106 --> 00:18:38,106
honestly.

183
00:18:38,296 --> 00:18:40,897
or even a two star I have.

184
00:18:41,278 --> 00:19:32,847
Like, again, because I'm not as avid of a reader, I would probably put something as a
three star if I just don't feel like I can get through it.

185
00:19:32,847 --> 00:19:43,356
For example, this one book I'm thinking of in particular, The Book Thief, I think it is,
highly recommended and I think it's highly rated.

186
00:19:43,356 --> 00:19:44,363
It's very highly rated.

187
00:19:44,363 --> 00:19:45,588
I've read it, yeah.

188
00:19:46,416 --> 00:19:58,292
but I picked it up right after I got done with like a Don Winslow series about drug
cartels and the dichotomy between those two, storylines.

189
00:19:58,292 --> 00:20:00,714
just wasn't really in the head space.

190
00:20:00,714 --> 00:20:03,305
And so I couldn't, I just couldn't get through it.

191
00:20:03,305 --> 00:20:05,623
I think I got a third of the way through and I just put it down.

192
00:20:05,623 --> 00:20:09,400
Yeah, The Book Thief is definitely like a slow burn.

193
00:20:09,422 --> 00:20:12,381
So you kind of have to...

194
00:20:12,381 --> 00:20:13,291
commit.

195
00:20:13,752 --> 00:20:15,132
Yeah, that's fair.

196
00:20:17,074 --> 00:20:18,805
but I mean, I would want to read it again.

197
00:20:18,805 --> 00:20:23,959
I haven't picked it up since, but it's still lingers as one of those that I think I would
like to finish.

198
00:20:23,959 --> 00:20:26,077
Yeah.

199
00:20:26,077 --> 00:20:28,824
Yeah, so I feel like we're on the same page with ratings.

200
00:20:28,935 --> 00:20:31,501
Yeah, agreed.

201
00:20:31,501 --> 00:20:37,185
So I think the plan for the podcast is to have a book.

202
00:20:37,686 --> 00:20:40,628
I'll give an overview of the book.

203
00:20:41,189 --> 00:20:45,792
We will do the overview with no spoilers.

204
00:20:46,754 --> 00:20:52,298
And then we will warn the audience if the rest of the content has spoilers in it.

205
00:20:52,298 --> 00:20:58,694
And then I think we'll have a discussion amongst the two of us about the book.

206
00:20:58,694 --> 00:21:00,635
And I'll ask you questions about the book.

207
00:21:00,635 --> 00:21:02,096
Yeah, yeah.

208
00:21:02,157 --> 00:21:04,400
Cool.

209
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,204
What's our first book that we're going to put out there for the world?

210
00:21:08,204 --> 00:21:09,526
Do we want to tease that out yet?

211
00:21:09,526 --> 00:21:10,967
Are we going to hold on to

212
00:21:11,253 --> 00:21:16,285
No, I think we should throw it out into the universe.

213
00:21:16,285 --> 00:21:28,393
Fourth wing by Rebecca Yarros, which I finished, I guess a couple months ago now, time has
flown by, but I'm in halfway through the second one now.

214
00:21:28,393 --> 00:21:33,727
So everything's still really fresh in my head and I'm excited to talk about that one.

215
00:21:34,199 --> 00:21:40,565
she just released the cover for the third one, which comes out I think in January, which
will be here, you know, like

216
00:21:40,603 --> 00:21:41,607
I know for

217
00:22:09,888 --> 00:22:15,815
it'll be good Q and A and then just kind of organic from there, which we tend not to have
too much trouble

218
00:22:16,193 --> 00:22:16,993
No.

219
00:22:17,815 --> 00:22:25,761
Yeah, and then after the interview, we'll probably tee up the next book and then do it all
over again.

220
00:22:26,097 --> 00:22:31,299
Yeah, I'm you said in the beginning, this is something we've talked about for quite a
while.

221
00:22:31,299 --> 00:22:33,100
And so it's fun to see it come together.

222
00:22:33,100 --> 00:22:35,581
It's fun for something you and I to do together.

223
00:22:35,581 --> 00:22:47,516
And, who knows, you know, what might catch on, even if it's just the two ladies at the
bookstore in Westfield that wind up listening to it and, our families, yeah.

224
00:22:50,417 --> 00:22:52,338
donation button is on the website.

225
00:22:54,499 --> 00:22:58,192
go fund me.

226
00:23:56,667 --> 00:23:58,270
Alright, thanks for listening.

227
00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:01,215
Maybe this one will be the one your husband reads.

228
00:24:01,261 --> 00:24:02,292
There we go.

229
00:24:02,292 --> 00:24:03,598
Sign off.

230
00:24:04,499 --> 00:24:06,723
Take care then, bye bye now.

231
00:24:07,607 --> 00:24:08,268
See you.