Summer Reading Guide with Anne Bogel | Holly Furtick

All right, welcome. It's time for Lunchtime Live, and I am really excited about the guest that we have with us today. So as you're getting on, I'm going to save it for a minute. I mean, you probably know, because if you follow me on Instagram, I posted it yesterday. But just in case you don't know, let me know who's watching. Where are you watching from? And I don't know. What'd you have for lunch? I had chicken parmesan with zucchini noodles that I made for dinner last night. And I'm just going to say I'm very proud of myself because it was a very tasty meal and it tasted good for lunch as well. You ever make a meal and you're just. Just really proud of yourself? I mean, it was pretty. It was in, like, my cast iron skillet, and then you started in the skillet and you put the whole skillet in the oven and it just came out really pretty. And I don't know if you've ever made. Cooking is just sometimes it doesn't turn out and it's the most frustrating thing in the world. But when it does turn out and it tastes good and it's pretty, it's just wins all around. All right, let's see who's joining me today. I've got Jacqueline Vasquez. Hello. Oh, official Steven Furtick is on with us. He says, lunchtime Love. Hello, Lunchtime Love. I'm wondering how official Steven Furtick enjoyed his chicken parmesan that he is eating for lunch as well. My sister Emily's on. She says, hey, hall, no lunch yet. Time for lunch. Emily, grab something while you're eating. Sarah Burns says, so excited for this. Watched at book club last year and can't wait to see what she says. Yeah, last June, we had our guest on. I haven't said the name yet, so I'm just gonna keep you in suspense a little bit longer. And she's always amazing. Hey, Iona from Eastern Europe. It's actually 7pm there, so she's thinking about dinner. I highly recommend chicken parmesan. Um, let's see. Louise is on from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Where? What. What is that?

Winnipeg, Manitoba. Anybody know? Is that like a city? Okay, Winnipeg. I've heard of Winnipeg. I don't know. I think I might have just made myself sound dumb. All right, we got April.

Hi.

From my school office in Southern California. No lunch yet. LD says that we should rebrand this and call it Lunchtime Love. I like it. Steven Furtick. There's nobody Better at naming something than my husband, Steven Furtick, so. Oh, my mom's on. Deborah says lunch was a quesadilla. Anna says, hello, it's 1103 and I'm just starting breakfast. Well, Anna, 1103 is technically the beginning of lunchtime, if you ask me. That's when all the fast food restaurants stop serving breakfast and they start serving lunch, which Therefore it means 11 o' clock is perfectly acceptable for you to eat lunch. We got Tina from Canada. We got Louise from Canada. We got Betty from Trinity, Florida. Ashley Tucker says she's going to get Dorian's. That's down the street here from our offices. We've got someone from Holland. We've got Petra Petronella from Trinidad. What a pretty name. I like that. Sarah from Chile. Wow. All the international people. We've got somebody from the Philippines. Winnipeg is in Canada. Thank you very much. Sasha Lowe. Winnipeg is in Canada. And that's right, Manitoba would be the province. Well, I don't feel that dumb because there are three people sitting in the room with me and none of them knew that either. So that's all I'm going to say about that. All right, let's talk about who we have joining us today. We have none other than Anne Bogle, also known as the modern Mrs. Darcy. And I'm so excited because before we bring her on, don't bring her on quite yet, guys. We're going to talk with Ann about her recommendations for summer reading. Every summer for the last 10 years and puts out a summer reading guide.

Now it's online.

You totally don't have to print it off like my overachieving staff has done for me. And there's a shorter one. You don't have to print out this very long one. I do like to print it off because I like to sort of circle the ones that I'm going to read and all of that. But Ann is going to be joining us to talk about her summer reading guide for 2021. And like I said, she's been putting this list together for 10 years and is basically a professional fiction reader. And she has. If you don't follow her on Instagram, she's a great follow on Instagram. She has an amazing website. I love her emails every day. She sends out all the Kindle deals so you can find out what's on sale on kindle for like 2, 299, 499, whatever. So she sends out a list of those every day and she sends out, like, I just love all of her Reading lists. They're amazing. And I can't wait to talk to her about summer reading. But before I do, I would love to hear one more thing from you that's probably way more interesting than what did you eat for lunch? But I would like to know, when you think about summer reading, when you think about going on vacation and picking a book, what are you looking for in a book? Okay, so do you want romance or historical fiction or a thriller? Some people like self help, which to me is not very relaxing to think about how I need to do better about something. But some people really like that we've got memoirs. I mean, what is it that you like to read when you are going on vacation? And then the other question that I want to know as you are typing your little comments in, how do you like to read? So do you like a book on the beach? Do you like an audiobook? I'm going to tell you what I like. I love an audiobook and a puzzle. To me, that is vacation. That I might have just made myself sound like the most boring person in the whole world. But to me, an audiobook and a puzzle is one of the most amazing things. It's like relaxing. It's challenging. You're doing a puzzle and you're accomplishing something important, but you're also hearing a story going on in your head. And so when my family goes on vacation, a lot of times I love it when there's a great room where the kitchen and the living room are sort of together. And I will take the kitchen table, half of it, and set up my puzzle and put my AirPods in, but I only put one in. So if my family is watching a sports game or they're watching a movie or whatever, I still feel like I'm present in the room with them. But really, I'm listening to a book and I'm doing my puzzle. Okay, let's see. What are you guys saying? Elise says she all she wants is just a great story. Elizabeth says audiobooks are fantastic. Patty says she likes to read on the beach. Anna says, I'll have to try that. I'm telling you. And also when it comes to puzzles, you want a moderately challenging puzzle. Nobody wants a puzzle that is so hard that you're frustrated and you, you know, can't put, like, two pieces together in, you know, five minutes and all of that. So you want a puzzle that, like, has a nice picture, that's easy to. I'm just giving you guys some vacation tips, all right? Erica says, I like a book on the beach or. Or a porch at a cabin in the mountains. Yeah, like a rocking chair on a porch with a great view. Bless the angel says she likes a thriller with mild romance. Okay, that's very specific, but I totally get what you're going for there. Lots of you are saying romance.

Amy.

Amy. Lou. Lou with an x says, an escape with a good message behind it. Debbie LeBlanc says, I like to read history and then try to tie it in with my vacation hardcover book in my hands. Okay, Debbie, hardcover. I don't know if you mean like hardback cover or if you mean just like, an actual book, but either way it's fine. Hardcover will be my least favorite way to read. Meaning, like, you just can't curl up with, like, one of those big, like, hardback books. But that's okay. Crystal says she likes books. Crystal Moss, great friendship. I agree. I actually think that that's one of my favorite things to read, is a good story with a solid friendship. Jacqueline says, suspense and thriller. Chanel Lauer says, I love a love story for the summer. It's good to love a love story. Let's see who else. Giselle says, I like reading a physical book. Persephone says porch reading is the best. Tara says she likes self help books written from a biblical perspective. That's a great way. That's a great kind of book to read to. Bernice says, a light comedy of errors. Now that's interesting because I think comedies are the hardest books to pull off. Like a book that actually makes you really, really laugh. Not just smile, but really laugh. I think those are some of the hardest ones to find. Ali Rodriguez says, my husband bought me a giant adult coloring page in the whole Family takes it on vacation and colors it together. When we're done, we will frame it. That's awesome, Allie. All you need to do is add an audiobook to this experience, and I think your vacation will be complete. You can even do a family audiobook. Abby and I, we really like audiobooks. We. We always read together. And a couple months ago, I read her the Hunger Games, which I think is one of the greatest stories ever written. Just the first book. The rest of them, not worth your time.

Sorry.

If you're Suzanne Collins, I hope you're not watching. But Hunger Games, the first one. One of the best books. One of the best stories ever written. So I started reading it to Abby and she was so into it that she was like, can we please get the audiobook and listen to the audiobook in the car on the way to school. And so we did that, and we loved it. We had the best time. So highly recommend audiobooks for kids, too, but it's also good to read. You know, the experience of curling up and reading it, that's all great, too. Emily says I missed my turn to pick up Luke thinking about summer reading.

That's my sister.

She's driving. Luke is her son. And that's okay, Em. I think Luke will understand. Let's get Ann on. Are you ready? Are you guys ready? Let's chat with her, because I need to know what I need to get for my summer trip. I've already got my puzzle. Now I need my books. Hi, Anna.

Hello. Thanks for having me. Good to see you again.

Good to see you, too. Thank you for being on. I am so excited. I don't know if you know this, but I. You released this last week for some of your followers, and then this past month, Monday, and today's Wednesday. I have not looked at it yet because I really. I had. I've held myself back because I really wanted to be excited and. And get you to reveal it to me.

So we get to do it live.

I know this is going to be great. So before we get started with your actual summer recommendations, I wanted you to maybe let us know, like, how do you pick these books? Like, what is the criteria for a book making it on this list?

Oh, well, this is fun, y'. All. I talk about books a lot these days on a podcast called what Should I Read Next? Where I love it. Every week, a reader tells me three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three books they should read next. That's the main way I talk about books, which means I'm always recommending based on other people's taste. And the summer reading guide is where I get to share books that I love. And that doesn't necessarily mean you will love them. So what I try to do in the guide is describe this is what the reading experience could be like for you, and then you can decide, do I want to have that experience or do I want to keep moving. But first of all, I want it to be just a book that I love and can. Unenthusiast. Unless. Definitely, enthusiastically, enthusiastically. I can't say words that I can say I love this wholeheartedly. No caveats.

Okay.

And then try to tell you what you need to know to decide. I think I love that, too. Or isn't it interesting that people love books like that? I'm going to keep on moving, does.

The book have to be a new book?

We've gone back and forth over the so for the past four or five years, there have been new books in the Summer Reading Guide. The oldest one in this year's guide was published last October, and everything else was published in 2021. But we did something fun this year. We included backlist recommendations. There's two for every title. So that if you want books that have a shorter wait list at the library or. Many readers, including myself, really like to maintain a balance of new releases versus older stuff that's 5, 10, 50 years old, so I wanted to include those as well.

I really, I actually think I prefer more backlisted books because I like.

It'S.

So much to give a book your time, and there's nothing worse than reading a book that you're like, meh, it wasn't that great. Or it just didn't really. I didn't, you know, it didn't really hit me or whatever. So I really, unless it's an author that's tried and true for me, I like to let books live for a little bit to see how the reviews go and who says that they're good or whatever. And so actually you recently, I think it was like a week or two ago, put out one of your emails, because I love your emails. But it was about back, like backlisted titles that maybe you haven't read. And I saved that because I wanted to go through and I like to be able to look them up and see how the reviews did and see all of that. So I'm really excited that you did the backlisted titles as well for this summer. That's awesome.

Well, you've really hit on something that's tricky when I'm reading books for the Summer Reading guide because so often I'm reading advanced review copies or E galleys. There aren't any reviews yet, so I don't have other information to go on. I just have to read it and see how it goes. But there is so much to read. And the advantage of reading older books is you do like, time sorts books out to a large extent. Like some books that people were reading three years ago, everyone has now forgotten about now that the marketing campaigns are over. And so time kind of helps you decide and narrows down your choices.

And I think sometimes books get overhyped for whatever reason. And if you give it a little bit of time, then you'll see like which ones really last and which ones survive and are really worth your time. Are There any authors that have like, is there an author that's made it on the list more than once or that seems to be on it regularly?

I do try to feature a nice variety of old and new authors. I don't just always want to repeat the same authors because I feel like so many times when a reader discovers an author they love, they will keep reading those books no matter what. But there are some fun repeats this year like Emily Henry is back. Cynthia Dupree Sweeney is back from five years ago. I'm looking at my list right now. Taylor Jenkins Reid. And there was one. Oh, Laura Dave is really fun because she has this new thriller out. It came out earlier this month called the Last Thing He Told Me. And it is a thriller. But her previous two books that have been in the summer reading guide were family stories like squarely women's fiction. So I was really excited to see this author whose work I knew but just writing something totally different.

That's really fun.

Yeah.

What makes you, do you have any rules for what makes you finish a book or like give like, do you ever read enough of a book to be like this? This isn't worth my time. How do you decide?

Oh, absolutely I do. And that's. I know that many readers are thinking like, oh my gosh, I could never set aside a book I started. But it's just a question of scale. Like to put the summer reading guide I begin, I think this year it was about 225 books. But I can't, I mean I haven't read that many books this year. I can't finish that many. But especially reading, looking for titles for the summer reading guide. I can tell maybe on page 20 like oh, this is not going to have that crowd pleasing elements that I'm looking for or, or you know, in the pandemic I've had to ask myself a lot, do I have Pandemic Rain or is this book not good? I can't always tell the difference. So sometimes I think, well, to give it a fair shake, I'm going to come back after a night's sleep and you know, give myself a couple weeks and be in a better frame of mind because it's, you know, with the reading life, timing is everything and.

Right.

Yeah. Yeah.

So what's distracting you while you're trying to read it all? All of those things. So do you have people that help you read this or you've read every book on this list?

Yes, every book on this list, but not everyone that I started to begin vetting And I just want to say also, there's so many great books coming out this summer. So many great books came out between last October, when our first summer reading guidebook was published, and now. So this is definitely not exhaustive.

Right.

But it is thorough. I hope I get great recommendations from the people on my team from booksellers. I know it's great to get recommendations. If you have a bookseller you trust, whether that's local to you or on Instagram, they are reading all the time because it's their job and can really give personal recommendations and can speak to books that don't have a ton of reviews yet because they've read it. So I get recommendations as to what to read, but. But I do all the reading for the guide at the end of the day.

That's amazing. I love it. Are you ready to start?

Oh, I'm ready. Let's do it.

Okay, tell me. Tell me what to do.

All right, flip it open.

Hey, I'm ready. Are we going straight to the. Okay, I've got table of contents.

Cool.

We have a long version here, I.

Think, so you can scan it and see what's here. But I think you're going to want to refer to that later when you're like, oh, I want to revisit that literary thrillers category. And it's not like the guide is super long. Holly. I think you're looking at the 52 page version, so you'd be able to find it without too much digging. But you could consult the table of contents and know immediately to go to page 26. And then you. And then I always tell you at the beginning, like, a lot of the same stuff we talked about. This is the history of the guide. This is thorough, but not exhaustive. And here's some things I want you to know about it. And then I do tell you this year real quickly, like how to use this guide, give you some information. But also something that we really want everyone to know is this is not your summer reading to do list. We want you to think of this not as an itinerary that tells you where to show up and what time where you'll be whisked away to a predetermined destination. But this is your roadmap where you can see, like, hey, these are some places I could visit. Let's see what sounds fun for me right now. And then we jump into the categories. Oh, we have this fun feature this year, opening lines, where we share the first sentence of some of the books in the guide that I really Enjoyed. Like, let me read you one. Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart. If you've heard of Michelle Zauner's memoir, you know which book that is. On vacation, you can be anyone you want. Or let's see, I pick up the ice cream scoop and the vision begins. And then we jump into the categories.

Okay, so the first category that I see, hopefully I'm in the right spot. Oh, now I see the opening lines page. Okay, this is, this is great. Mystery and suspense. That's the first category. So tell me, you've got several books here. Give us your, I mean, can I say, give us your favorite.

You can say it. Choosing favorites is so hard. And that's really. I mean, there's 46 books in the expanded guide this year. And let me just tell you, like, we're going to cap it at 40 for the expanded and 30, maybe even 25 for the basic guide that's available to all newsletter subscribers. And it's so hard not to sneak in one more and one more and one more.

One more.

When I read a book I love.

So of the mysteries and suspense, what like, okay, I've seen this book. The Fire Keeper's Daughter. Yeah, I thought it was more like based on the COVID it looked more like a fantasy type book. But it's a mystery book.

Yet say yes. So there's a couple. This is a YA pick and actually whatever this means to you is a Reese Witherspoon YA Book Club selection. But this book is a lot of things. It manages to do several things well at the same time. It's got a thrilling crime plot, it's got a fake relationship. So I know a reader was looking for like a thriller with a little bit of romance. This could be for you. But it's also a really thoughtful exploration of identity and belonging because our protagonist is this 18 year old high schooler who lives in a Native American community on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. And she is not a full tribal member because she's only half Anishaabi and she's of age where she's trying to figure out who she is and what her place in the world is. And on top of that, her best friend gets shot in front of her in the very opening pages, no spoiler there. She gets recruited to become an undercover informant for the authorities. And her, her handler is a really hot 20, young 20 something posing as a high school hockey star. It's just, it's fun. There's a lot going on in that book and it's hard to do that and have it not feel jumbled as an author. So when she pulls it off, it's really satisfying. Yeah.

So what I've always wondered this. What makes a YA book?

That's a great question. And we were just talking with author Stacey Lee, who wrote the Downstairs Girl last night in book club. And so many people in our community who'd read it were like, wait a second, this is ya. Because they just didn't realize. Sometimes you really know, but sometimes it's less clear. Right? I mean, oftentimes it's as simple as the publisher. Like if Simon and Schuster teen is the publisher of a book, then it's automatically going to get shelved with ya. I mean, it's often a young protagonist, but not necessarily, you know, like Emma Donoghue's the Room, like that's about a five year old is not a book for kids.

That's a YA book.

No, no, that's what I'm saying. Like, just because a book has a young protagonist does not mean that it's a YA book. But really, I think the American Library association says it's a book that is written to appeal to teen readers, primarily written for them to enjoy from a teen's perspective.

Gotcha.

But I mean, it's dicey. Like sometimes A Tree Grows in Brooklyn gets categorized as YA or the Dodie Smith book I Capture the Castle. And sometimes you just can't tell. Like readers are flabbergasted sometimes to discover books like the Downstairs Girl or Lovely War by Julie Berry or ya.

Yeah, I mean, occasionally I typically, I don't read ya. I don't know why. It seems like I think in my mind they're shorter, but they're not always. I don't know. But I actually don't like the category because if I see that on a book like the way you just described the Firekeeper's Daughter, I'm like, oh, I want to read that. But because I've seen it in the YA section of Target, I know I wouldn't get it because I thought it was for teenagers.

I know, and that's something that, I mean, it's useful to categorize books, but you can probably see that something we do in the summer reading guide every year is not do straight genre descriptions. I don't mind doing it so much with mystery and suspense because not a lot of readers will be like, oh, I don't want to read a mystery. You know, they won't, they won't self exclude based on that description. But we try not to do categories that are called things like romance novels or YA books or middle grade. Because so many readers. Or fantasy, like, so many readers. I don't read that. And they'll keep going.

I definitely would not read a book that was categorized as fantasy. But then there are some that I like. So you have to be.

And it's just. It's hard. It's hard. And one of my goals is to really help you explore books. Well, how about this is to help you not miss out on books just because they've been marketed in such a way or covered in such a way that you think they're not for you.

Yeah.

It's so great to have that feeling of like, oh, I almost didn't read this, but I am so glad I did. Like, this is one of my best of the year titles. I love that surprise and delight combination that makes for my very best reading experiences.

So I see on here you have the guide by Peter Heller, but this book doesn't come out till August. So this is like late summer reading.

Yes. Here's what we try to do. So when you get the guide in your hands, most readers get it right about now, in very early June. I really want you to have a variety of options. Like titles that you can go to the library today, that they'll have them on the shelves and they probably don't have a massive queue for them. I want you to be able to walk in your local bookstore or Barnes and Noble and see a lot of these books on the new release tables. And then it's always nice to have something to look forward to. So I want to give you titles you can anticipate and look forward to that aren't coming out till later this summer. And can I tell you how confusing it was to have the book the guy in the guide, because it wasn't always clear if we were talking about the Peter Heller novel or if we were talking about the summer reading guide. And that led to some confusing things to laugh about.

His book the river was on your summer reading guide last year and I read it. And so how is this like the same characters from that. From the River? It is.

Well, a little bit. So I say in the guide, I will always tell you if you need to read previous books first or if it really doesn't matter. But this is a follow up to the River. So one of the. The two protagonists from the river take center stage here. So there's a spoiler embedded. Like, if you haven't read the river yet, you're going to Gather from the pages of the guide what happened. So make whatever decision you want about whether you want to read the river first, but know that's happening. But it's the same character, and he gets into a big mess in the middle of a global pandemic where the character is having his temperature checked as he walks into the bar and he's fishing a mask out of his pocket to put on at the fancy Colorado resort where he's staying. That was really fun to read on this level or right now, because I haven't seen any authors write about. I mean, it's not a named pandemic, but it totally reads to me. And that was really, can I say, fun to read, just to see how he handled it. Yeah. Imagine things about three years out from the beginning of whatever, whatever the pandemic was. But I was totally picturing the events unfolding In, I guess, 20, 23, three years after Covid began.

Okay, that, that, that sounds really interesting. I, I, I enjoyed that book, the River. It was a lot of, it was a lot of, like, gear, you know, like, it was a little too much like camping gear for me. Like, the way you would go in detail describing the fishing rod and the gone and like, you know, whatever. It was just, it was a little. But I think it was a great book. Like, I recommended it to a friend of mine who, he was like an eagle Scout, and he loves a good fiction book. And I was like, you'll like that book because you'll understand way more of that stuff than I did.

This one is faster paced. Like, it starts with these meditative musings on fly fishing on the river. And I have never fished a day in my life. I still enjoyed the language. But this is also. We just talked about Laura Dave writing a thriller for the first time when she'd written other works before. And Peter Heller's never written a thriller before either, but that is definitely the direction this one goes in. And his partner in fighting crime actually is a country music superstar who grew up in East Tennessee who loves fly fishing. That's important. That's what brings them together at this resort. And the details there were just really fun. Surprising protagonist.

That's awesome. I love it. Okay, somebody's asking, where can we get this list? So maybe we should back up. Maybe I didn't explain that very well. If I'm watching and I want this list, how do I get it?

You can just go to modernmrsdarcy.com srg that's for summer reading guide to help you remember it and you can just pop your email into that box and you'll get it in your inbox.

It will come like immediately.

It'll cut, like, give it two minutes. But yes, it'll come immediately. Check your spam if you don't see it right away. We have troubleshooting tips and graphics and some more information about how to use it, how to print it on that page. But I know if you want the guide, the signup box is right at the top.

Gotcha. All right, so I'm looking through. I don't know if my thing was like printed in the right order, but okay, Travel Back in Time books. That's the next category that's in my guide. Tell me. I don't typically like Travel Back in Time books. I'm just gonna be honest with you. So tell me more.

Do you find them boring? Do you not want to read about, say, World War II? Because I've heard from so many readers. Don't give me another World War II story, do you? So tell me a little more about what?

Historical fiction. I love historical fiction. I just don't necessarily love time travel because it becomes a little bit too like fantasy, especially when it goes back and forth. But I don't mind a side by side historical fiction where there's like a present day story and a past story.

Oh, that's okay.

Something about time travel just. I don't know.

Well, I think time travel books, like, there's one in here, it's Natasha Pulley's the Kingdom. But that's the only time travel book that has a science y fiction element. Okay. I mean, they can be real brain benders. When you're trying to figure out, wait, what just changed when you went through the portal and whose lives just got erased and what does it mean and what year is it again? Like the Kingdoms is time travel. But it's also this alternate history where she's imagining what would have happened if Napoleon had won the Battle of Trafalgar. And it had me googling so many things to go like, how much of this is real and how much of this is fake? And shoot, is it 1898 or 1805? And I mean, they can make your head hurt. And sometimes it's a delightful kind of hurt. And sometimes it's like, hold on.

Well, and I do, I mostly do audiobooks. And so when a book changes time periods, if you don't catch it right at the beginning of the chapter, sometimes it can be really confusing. So maybe that's part of it too.

I Hear that? Let me see. So Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi that has the two timelines. One's contemporary and one is back in 1978 during a real historical Afghan couple. But the one that I really think I like for you, based on what you said and based on your love of audiobooks, is Hour of the Witch by Chris Bajillion. I know some of you.

As I'm looking at this list, that's the one that really popped for me. I was like, I'm so glad.

Well, something about what you said made me think, oh, this has good narrative drive. It's not confusing because you always stay in 1662 Boston. This could be another fun one for the reader who loves suspense, plus a little bit of romance. But I have to tell you, I've never read him. I've intended to. I really didn't like the sound of 1662 Boston. I didn't care. I just did not care. But I decided to give it a try anyway. And very quickly, I was like, oh, this is fascinating. I have to find out what happens next. But the cast on this audiobook is phenomenal. And this is such. I mean, you may be surprised to hear this because it's a story about the Puritans, but it's really the story of a, like, fierce female protagonist who is in a pile of trouble against these horrible men who want to prevent her divorce by accusing her of witchcraft, basically. But it's like this psychological thriller where he just ratchets the tension up higher and higher and higher and higher and, oh, I just flew through it. But on audio, this book is going to be exceptional.

Okay, tell me about this one. What is this? The final revival of Opal and Nev? Because as I'm acclimating to how you laid the guide out, I see how you're. I actually really love this. How you go. So this book is for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Daisy Jones and the Six, which my husband and I listened to on audiobook together and absolutely love. In fact, look, you can see this. I have a Fleetwood Mac. I have my husband's Fleetwood Mac sweatshirt on today. And that book is, like, a total nod to Fleetwood Mac. So tell me about this book, because that sounds really good.

Okay, so it's told in the same style of Daisy Jones and the Six, but the substance of the story is totally different. But this is another one of those rockumentaries where it's told in the style of an oral history. This is also, as I'm sure you can guess, really good on audio and has some of my favorite audiobook narrators, like, is anybody else here for Bonnie Turpin every time? Oh, yeah, she's one of the main voices here. But this is about the completely fictional because I'm sure so many people have googled so much. Legendary duo of American punk singer Opal Jewell and British musician Nev Charles. So she is a kind of classic. She shaves her head early in the book. She gets big bangle earrings. She wears really bright colors. She looks unlike anyone that many music fans have ever seen on stage. But they pair her. And she's African American, and they pair her with a, you know, white, adorable British musician. And the. Their agents are shocked when they are just gold together. But what we know at the beginning of the book is that a family member of someone involved in this riot that broke out at this famous concert is years later trying to get to the truth of what really happened that night. And so she's interviewing all these parties, Opal's family, Nev's family, both of them, trying to figure out what went wrong at this concert. And so, you know, something terrible has happened, but you don't know what. And slowly, through these layers of personal interviews, you find it out. It was great on audio, but I have to say, like, it took me a little bit to adapt to the format because I'm not usually listening to oral histories. I'm usually listening to narratives. But once I think I was maybe an hour in where it's like, oh, I'm good now. I got it. This is great. Keep talking to me. But I do want to put that word in because sometimes I wonder, am I not adapted yet or is this not going to work in this format?

So, yeah, it's interesting. I mean, as a person who primarily reads audiobooks, there are some audiobooks that just. You just have a really hard time keeping up with whether it's the characters switch a lot or the time. The time period switches. And yeah, so I would like, as we go through, make sure and say, oh, this would be probably when you might actually want to read instead. Okay.

There's actually a feature in this year's guide, again, that says awesome on audio. We have some backlist selections and then some new this year that are particularly good in that format. And if I didn't include a book there, it doesn't necessarily mean it's not good on audio. Like the guide by Peter Heller that comes out in August. That audiobook is not available for pre listening at this time. It's probably not even finished yet, so. But I do know that those books are fantastic on audio if I included it there. But also, if you love Daisy Jones and the Six, I really recommend Malibu Rising. It's told in a different format. This is by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It's out this year. It comes out next Tuesday, actually. It's just a really fun, splashy, fast moving 1980s Malibu saga about. About a really complicated family. The dad's a rock star, the mom was a pushover, and the four children have been trying to make sense of it ever since. And there's so much going on in that book in a really fun way. Like, you get the four siblings, threads, the parents backstory. The story starts with the mansion going up in flames. And then through the course of the book, you get to find out what over the past 24 hours and also over the past 60 years has brought us to this moment in time.

I think I might have seen that book somewhere and put it in my wish list already knowing that it was coming out. It's awesome. Okay, before we move on, I forgot that I have some giveaways that I want to do. So if you are watching some people, first of all, some people want to know, what is the title of your website again? It's themodernmrsdarcy.com modernmrsdarcy.com Modern Mrs. Darcy.com is the the website. And I would like to. I've got some fun giveaways. We've got, let's see, let's do a hat that says read. You like this hat? I am going to give this to Sylvia. Oh, man. Why did I pick somebody with the last name that I'm not? Sylvia says, I'm glad to be able to join Live today. And her last name is. You start with an M. So Sylvia, send me an email at Holly Furtick YouTube@elevationchurch.org and we're going to throw this hat in the mail to you. And then let's do another one and stay on because I'm going to do some more at the end. Christy Wickenhouser, you get a book club T shirt. I love this. And guys, if you want any of this merchandise, it's all@holly furtick.com and you can check out some of our fun reading merchandise. Okay. Bethany says I love Malibu and the 80s, so she's really excited about that.

You're going to love the descriptions of people popping tabs in the parking lot and the belted T shirts and the big bangs. You're going to love It.

That sounds awesome. Okay, so your next category is short books. Big questions.

Yes. Because I mean, these are all books that probe some aspect of the human experience. But we started writing like On Being Human. That just sounded so boring. And these are not boring books. So are you fiction? Some nonfiction.

Okay, fiction and nonfiction. Because I've seen this. Klara in the Sun. I've seen that a lot. And then like I guess this one, Ginny Lawson, Broken is not. Is nonfiction.

Nonfiction and better on audio. Not just. Not just good on audio. A good option, but better on audio.

Okay, this one, Clara in the sun, you said if you liked Emily St. John, Mandel Station 11, which I really enjoyed.

That's one of my favorite books. Okay.

Somebody on my team just handed me something and it says last 10 pages we've printer messed up. So now I'm complete. So short books, big questions. Anything that really sticks out for you?

Yeah, let's talk about that YA book. So, Joya Goffney. Excuse me while I ugly cry. My book club community manager, Ginger Horton was just saying it's her first five star read of the year. Which surprised me because she doesn't read a ton of YA either. But it's a really fun story. Somebody said they're looking for laugh out loud books that just, you know, just are fun to read. There's a. The protagonist is a type a Texas high school senior. And the plot kicks into gear when she loses her journal, which, I mean, how many people are thinking like. But in her journal she not only has the details of her life, but things like not just movies with intense rewatchability, but Boys at School I'd Love to kiss or 10 things I would never admit out loud or 10 reasons I'm still In Love with the Guy Next Door and somebody gets a hold of it and blackmails her and it's. I mean, obviously Quinn is having a terrible time of it, but for the reader, it's really fun to read about her loss and substance. Freaking out.

That sounds amazing.

And there's a road trip. I know some people really like a road trip book in the summertime.

Okay, I never thought about that before. I'll tell you something that I think is interesting. And I was going to say this when we were talking about the River. I don't typically like sequels. I don't know why, but there's just something about a sequel that just. I don't. I. They are always disappointing to me. Even though they're not. They're usually well done. I just, I don't Know, I'm always like disappointed. So I just don't typically read sequels. Are there any sequels on your list?

Let me think. Generally I try to put in books that stand on their own. Right.

That you wouldn't have to read.

Yeah, I mean there are a couple books that are in like the same universe. Like Jasmine Guillory writes books that totally stand alone, but some of the characters from one book will pop up in the next. Yeah, yeah.

I don't necessarily mind books like that.

And that's true of the Chanel Cleeton too was in here the most beautiful girl in Cuba. Like there's a character that you've met before. I've read a couple of them in the sequel. Don't need to read them in order. I love a good series if I'm already hooked on it. But I find it really intimidating to know like, okay, there's 17 books in this series now I'm going to read book one then I feel like I have the next 16 books as homework, like Read Me now on my reading list and they could be wonderful, but that's some resistance that I need to overcome sometimes.

Yeah, but I think some people love a series because they don't have to worry about what they're going to read next. It's just the next book. Especially my daughter who's 10 and she loves to read. As a parent, there's nothing better than getting them hooked on a series because it's like the stress of starting all over just seems really overwhelming for a 10 year old.

But I don't know, especially if they're looking, if the kids in your life, whether you're babysitting for them, you parent them, you teach them, they read their books so quickly and so they're always needing something to read next. But when you find a good nine book series, I just, you know, you're set for at least a week. So true.

But I don't, I don't know, I like going, moving on to something else. So I always try to keep a really good wish list so that when I'm finished, I know what I want to read next.

All right.

Generational Sagas and Family Stories.

These are my favorite.

Mine too. I love a good coming of age book. I love family saga books. I see that you have the Malibu Malibu Rising in here that you had talked about. What sticks out in this category from these books that you would say, oh, I think you would really like this.

I want to highlight Haven Point by Virginia Hume. I know that many readers every summer are looking For a sweet. Well, sweet makes it sound sappy. This isn't sappy. But are looking for a book where you see a family enduring hard things, but that ends with a strong note of redemption. And that's really what you have here. This is a sweeping family saga set in this place you're totally going to want to visit that I don't think actually exists off the coast of Maine. Haven Point. That's where the title comes from. And you get the story in three sections. You go to 1944, 1970, and then a more contemporary storyline. In each one follows closely one woman, the granddaughter, the daughter, the matriarch of the family. And you're looking at something tragic that happened in the past and how it came to pass and what it means for the present. And you have a young girl coming to terms with her family's history for good and for ill. But also, I hear a lot from readers who, even if it's a story about a complicated family, want something gentle, want something without, like, sex on the page or profanity or, you know, they. They want a story that feels really comfortable in that sense. And Haven Point is a great one for those readers.

That sounds amazing. I mean, you literally just described everything that I think that are important to me. What. What is the speed of that book like? Because I read Summer of 69 and I liked it, but it was a little. It was paced a little slow. Like, I'm not a huge fan of. I. The way that I would describe them are like your typical beach reads because the pace is just not. The pace of the plot is not quite what I am looking for. Does this one have like a.

More.

What kind. How is the pace of it?

I'm gonna call it moderates, and I'm trying to. I think what Haven Point does compared to summer of 69 is that the individual, like the subplots, the threads are shorter, so it feels like you're moving along a little more briskly. So when something is happening, like it's happening and then you move on to the next thing.

Summer of 69, to me, the thing that stood out the most was how the girl was pregnant and she. The doctor told her to have a stiff drink to help with, like, her morning sickness or something.

It was a different time, apparently.

That was really well done. All right, so you've got. I see now the page of recommended audiobooks.

And then.

And we're like, well, awesome on audio literary thrillers.

That's a fun category. So it's interesting to see how every season not only does summer have its own personality, truly like a whole lot of, like, women's fiction and romance novels and the kinds of stories that stereotypically people might want to take to the beach are published this time of year, as opposed to, say, fall, when, like, a ton of literary fiction comes out, or January, when all the self help hit shelves early in the year. But also every year, it's interesting to see how certain themes pop up that just weren't there in these numbers in the past and probably won't be in the future. And this year, there are so many books that are set in the publishing industry, and there's a whole lot of authors who are just terrible people doing terrible things, getting themselves into all kinds of horrible trouble that makes for really fun reading. Like, who is Maud Dixon? And the plots. I mean, these are authors behaving scandalously. If you need likable characters to stay far away from both of those books, you won't really find any in there. But I mean, for a, like, twisty mystery set in the world of publishing, where they're talking about their agents and their editors and what happens if you don't make good on your advance? If you like those details about how the books you love to read come to be made, I mean, they're written by authors who totally know what they're talking about. And that also adds a really fun level of enjoyment for a lot of.

Readers that you had me until you said if you need likable characters. Because I really, that's. I don't know. I really like a book where I am cheering. I'm okay with like a strong love or really strong hate.

But.

Mostly I like. I like characters that I want to cheer for.

I know, and I do too, usually. But if you feel like you could cheer for the character to really get what's coming to them in that sense. Okay. Yeah.

Okay, you're good. All right, so we got a lot of people who love a good summer romance. And you've got some romantic, essential escapes on here. I don't know anything that stands out on here.

Yes. First of all, I want to say if you love a good romance, they're embedded in the other categories too. So, like in the travel back in time category, that Chanel Cleeton book, the Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, has a strong love story that could totally. We could totally put it right here. I really love the new Emily Henry. I loved Beach Read last year, which was one of those literary books. I mean, that's about two novelists on deadline but her new one is based on When Harry Met Sally, and it's called People we meet on vacation. Actually, I have it in my lap because it's our modern Mrs. Darcy June book club selection. I got to record a video about it next. But it's just.

Do you love it that much?

Oh, it's really fun. And it's all. You know, if you love a book, it's always fun to talk to the author about it. I know you know that, Holly. So we're talking to her later in the month, and it's just gonna be fun. But if you like, this is a friends to lovers story. Lots of witty banter. And also, I missed out on my vacations last year because of the pandemic. And if you want to do some vicarious globetrotting, this book is perfect for that.

Okay, then you got even more romantic escapes. What is that? Why? Why?

Oh, I'll tell you. So what we do is we publish a 30. I think it's a 30 page guide.

Oh, I have the expanded guide.

Yes, you have the expanded guide. So there are three categories in our expanded edition, and we do that for our. It's our way of saying thank you to the people who are members of our commun. So whether that's the modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club or our what should I read next? Podcast Patreon community. If you really want the expanded guide, the easiest way to get it is just sign up for Patreon. And it says how to do that on the SRG page.

But I. I just totally forgot what I was going to say. Oh, how can people get the expanded guide?

They go to Modern Darcy. I mean, we'd love to have you in book club, but the cheapest and easiest way to get the expanded just go to that modernmrsdarcy.com SRG page and we tell you there how you can get it. But we have three categories in that expanded edition that aren't in the regular guide. And they are even more romantic escapes and then Missing monsters, which is the category. Like, I feel like I need to really sell that category because it does have books that I might. If I saw a display at the bookstore, I might think I don't know. But it has some of my favorite books in the entire guide in it. And then we have a category that's predominantly, but not entirely nonfiction called you didn't know you wanted to know. Because I love those books where the author says, come real close and let me tell you about teaching hawks to fly or let me tell you about jellyfish or about measuring the tallest trees in the world. And you didn't know that you cared about that topic. But then the author starts telling you about it, and you're like, oh, yes, this is the story I did not know I needed in my life.

So everybody who knows me knows that I would like field notes from an unintentional birder.

It's so fun. It's so fun. So fun.

That sounds awesome. Okay.

Fun in times, but also thoughtful and contemplative. And it's funny how, like, she's talking about watching birds, but it's funny the places that can take you, like, into your family history and into your relationships and into the existential crisis that she Encounters at age 40 when she goes, what. What am I even doing with my life? You can go all those places through bird watching. But the reason we have.

Go ahead, keep going. There's no historical fiction on here.

They're in travel back in time. But the reason it's not called historical fiction. Well, one of the reasons is that some of those books that feel like historical fiction to me weren't really set long enough ago to count. Like, there's this really great book by Ann Shin called the Last Exiles, and it reads like historical fiction. And she's talking about North Korea under the Kim Jong Il regime. And I feel like I'm reading about a prison camp 100 years ago, but that just happened in the 90s. Like, I had to Google all the facts and be like, good grief. Like, this happened not just in my lifetime, but in my, like, almost adult life.

Adult life.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was. I love a story like that that makes me see, like, the history that is happening during my lifetime in just a totally different way. But it was fascinating. But it's not technically historical fiction, even though it feels like it.

I mean, I love a story that makes me think or opens up my eyes to a situation going on in the world that I might not. I always like to say there's nothing more that invokes empathy more than a good story and something that opens up your eyes to understanding someone else's situation, someone else's, you know, economic status, someone else's culture. And so I really. That's one of the things I love to learn through reading fiction. I think it's. It's like. It's like. It's like putting vegetables in your kids.

Brownies, you know, I want to sing Mary Poppins right now, but I won't.

So. Okay at the end. See, I think I'm Looking at the expanded. But do you. This isn't part of the expanded, where you can print off, like, all the book covers.

We do one for each version.

Okay.

So that is in the guide.

I love that because that's what I'll grab and take with me on vacation. And then I'll have it when I'm ready. For another thing, I'll just have this little short list to kind of. To kind of look at.

Yeah. And many people, like, put it on their phone to take to the library or the bookstore, so they're ready.

Okay.

Ann.

So I have never done this before. As you know. I have a book club and our book club. This is our. I think this is our third going on our third summer. And so I'm just going to tell you, we typically love. We meaning me, because I pick the books. But I. I love a story that is just a great story. So something with characters, at least one character that you really love, that you're cheering for. I love stories about resilience. I love stories of really great friendships that come together. So that being said, I. And I want you to think about this. I'm going to do some giveaways so I can give you a chance to truly think about this. I am going on a limb. I have never done a book, picked a book club book that I have not read before. So I am. And have you pick our July book. And the other thing that you need to keep in mind is an author that would be that. That would be willing to come onto my book club for the most part. Most authors are super easy to get. I don't know why, but they. I think they just. They like talking about their. Their books. And so as long as it's not like a really big author, then, you know, I should. So then we have like our. My book club for June is June 8th. That's when I'm going to announce the book. But if anybody on book club is watching this right now, they're going to get a secret because you're going to pick our book club book. And then we're going to try and get the author before June 8th to.

To.

To commit to joining us on in July. Does that make sense?

It does.

Okay, so while you're thinking about one of the books from your book list for my book club also, not too terribly long. But I don't think any of these books are like, like 500 pages or anything. But if there are, don't. Don't give us that one because. All right, I'm gonna Give some giveaways to some of the people who have been on with us for the whole time. Thank you guys for sticking on. Let's see. Okay, we've got Agatha, who says she loves the recommendations. I'm reading books I wouldn't have and I'm enjoying this so much. Okay, Agatha, you're going to get. Look at this adorable little notebook. It's like a big thick pad of paper. It says, flipping pages set. Shoot me an email and we're going to send this to you. Bethany, she said, I had no idea that people like an exist. She's so passionate about helping us find good books. This is amazing. Okay, Bethany, you get a book club T shirt because hopefully you are going to join at least mine or Anne's book club after this. Bethany sent me an email and let's see. Tilly Young, she said I got to catch a true live instead of having to watch after it posted. Tilly, you get a hat. And you know what? I'm feeling really generous today. Sarah Burns says yes, yes, yes. Books are the best for those things. I'm better from reading. Sarah, if you are still on, I am going to give you one of everything. You're gonna get a hat. You're gonna get a T shirt. You're gonna get a pad. You're also gonna get some stickers. You get the jackpot if you're still watching. And so, Sarah, anybody whose name I called out, email me Holly Furtick, youtubeelevationchurch.org We'll get your information and we will shoot these things in the mail to you. And now Ann is going to. No pressure.

All right? I'm going to give you three.

Three.

Yeah. You got to pick, Holly. You got to pick.

Okay?

It's your club. But here, let me tell you what I'm thinking. So I would say Haven point. It comes out. It might come out on June 8th. It's in the guide. You can look. Okay, but we already talked about that one. Multigenerational family story. Vicarious vacation domain. Layers of female, especially relationships, but also love interest. There's. And really a redemption story at the end of the day. So I really like that for you. But I want to slide in two more so you can just think about following your interests and your readers.

What did you call it again? I'm writing down my titles. Haven. What?

Haven points.

Haven Point.

And that's a debut from Virginia Hume.

Oh, well, she'll come on then.

I think so.

Debut author is always.

We've had some lovely interactions since the guy came out. And I've heard from her. But I do like the one about the girl losing her journal. You mentioned that you don't read a ton of ya, so I think that could be fun. Excuse me while I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney. Okay. And I don't do a lot of.

Comedies, so that one might be good.

It's fun. That's like a. Yeah.

Mm.

I mean, I feel like the term rom com is overused, but it definitely has romantic elements and it has comedic elements. So really, what am I protesting about? It sounds like you have a rom com, right? It's a little more. It's fun. It's fun. And I think it also, you were talking about how books take you inside other people's experiences in a way that it's just so enjoyable to do with fiction. And I think that's a great one there too. And then I also really like. Well, one of my favorite books is Olympus Texas. It's a modern day 300 page family saga set in small town Texas that has this fascinating layer of Greek mythology in it. It's a debut. It came out earlier this month. It's by Stacy Swan. It's a lot of fun, but if I had to pick, I did. So those are in order. Actually, I think Haven Point is the one that seems like kismet for your audience. But excuse me while I Ugly Cry. That could be really fun and a little off the beaten path for you.

True.

And I imagine for your readers.

Okay, should I pick or should I wait until June 8th to pick?

You're the boss.

We said we were going to pick, didn't we? Okay, I am going to pick Haven Point because you. I mean, I was already going to read that book anyway. You sold me on it. Oh, I'm so glad we are going to. This is like going blind nil. Do you play spades? Anybody play spades?

That's so weird. We're just. I haven't played in 20 years, but we've been teaching our kids to play this spring.

Okay, well, I'm going blind mill with. Blind mill. Blind mill with my book club, so. All right. And let's see. I think that. I think. I think that's everything. Let me recap. Okay. If you want to download Anne's list, go to modern Mrs. Darcy.com and modernmusdars.com SG SRG SRG.

If you go to modernmrsdarcy.com we have it at the top of the page. Yeah.

And then. Okay, so if they want to Follow you on Instagram Are you Ann Bogle or Modern Mrs. Darcy?

I'm Ann Bogle and with an E B, as in books, O G and.

E L. And you do book recommendations on your Instagram too?

I do. And especially at what should I Read Next Next? Our Instagram account. Yes.

What Should I Read Next? Which I wanted to tell you. I absolutely loved your interview with Kate DiCamillo, and it was just beautiful. Anybody watching? Kate DeCamillo is one of my favorite kids authors. She wrote one of my favorite books because of Ms. Because of Winn Dixie. And then my daughter Abby. And I also read what's that little trilogy that she did that's like, I.

Know what you're talking about with the baton swirling Raimi Nightingale.

Yep, we read. There's three of those. I. I always tell my daughter, I read the first one, you read the rest. And so we. I read one of those. Anyway, I loved your interview with her. I really love the. The idea of your podcast, or not the idea, but like the format. Because it's not just you getting on and talking about books. I mean, you have this beautiful conversation with lots of different people, not only authors, and then you recommend three books for them. And I loved your book recommendations for Kate, and they were like, as. I think one of my favorite things about talking to authors is how much they love books. I mean, people who write fiction read fiction. And so, like, I was so surprised at the end that you were able to pick books that she hadn't actually read. And anyway, it was. It was great. So I highly recommend Ann's podcast. It's called what Should I Read Next? And wait, that's the right one, right? What should I read Next? I have another, like, short one too. What's the little other one?

Yes, it's one great book that we run in seasons, and we're bringing it back in like two weeks for the summer.

Awesome. So follow Ann at all of those places. And then if you would like to be a part of Anne's book club, you can find that@modernmrsdarcy.com if you'd like to be a part of my book club, hollyfurtic.com All I need is your email address and we'll just let you know what book we're reading. And we are reading this book, Kitchens of the Great Midwest.

Have you been talking to Jay Ryan? Yes, we read him for our book club in January or February. The new book club. No, we talked to him about Kitchens. I have that chili pepper book on.

My book club shelf right there. I absolutely loved this book. Like, when we talk about books that make you laugh, it's very difficult for a book to make me laugh. And I called my sister in the middle of this book and I couldn't talk. I was laughing so hard because of this one particular scene in the book. So if you want to join us, Holly.

But you probably can't say, but that one's amazing on audio as well. So good.

It's so good. And no, I can't say. Well, well, it was Pat's chapter.

Do you remember Pat's chapter? I do.

I do.

I know what you're talking about.

I was just. I like to cook this book. You don't have to like to cook to like this book. But I just. And the way that this book is done, I just loved it so much. So if you want to join us, we're going to talk with jay Ryan on June 8th at 8pm you can do that. And we did our giveaways. Did I miss anything? I'm all good. Okay. Ann, thank you so much for doing this and getting us excited about reading for the summer. I'm excited. I love it. It was my pleasure.

Thank you so much for having me. And thank you all for being. Being kind of people. It's fun to hang out and talk books with.

It was really fun. Thank you. I'll see you next time. Bye.