Bring Your Own Book
Join our hosts Nikki and Kelly as they discuss a Young Adult and Adult novel every month! Mix yourself a drink, settle in, and relax as they talk about everything from their initial thoughts on each book to the nitty gritty of what happened and what they think about it all.
Bring Your Own Book
Best & Worst Books of 2024
Nikki and Kelly wrap up Season Four by reflecting on their best and worst reads of the year. They discuss their reading goals, emotional connections to literature, and share recommendations across various genres, including mysteries and thrillers.
The conversation highlights the impact of storytelling and the personal growth that comes from reading, while also touching on cultural themes and the importance of diverse narratives. As they look ahead, they express excitement for future reads and the ongoing journey of discovering new books. Kelly and Nikki discuss their favorite and least favorite books of the year, touching on various genres including nonfiction graphic novels and thrillers.
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Nikki (00:11)
Hi, everybody. Welcome to BYOB, the Bring Your Own Book podcast. I'm Nikki. And today we are coming at you with the last episode of season four, our quintessential wrap up, our best and worst of the year.
Kelly (00:16)
and I'm Kelly.
Nikki (00:29)
So we have a lot of stuff to get into in this video. Best, worst, DNF, how many books did we read, what was the general vibe. But to start it off, what we're going to do is a little different than usual. And we are going to give each other our first 10 books of the year. And we're going to see, do we remember those books and do a little like
one or two word or reactive review of those books. So I don't know how ready you are for this, Kelly. I feel like I'm not ready.
Kelly (01:00)
Yes.
I know I looked at my Goodreads the other day to make this list, but I couldn't tell you what was in that part of the year because I totally forget what I read pretty much as soon as I've read it. I do know that I read a lot of picture books at the beginning and so our one rule for this thing is that we're not doing picture books or graphic novels just because. Nothing wrong with them. We're just deciding to choose novels for this reaction.
Nikki (01:15)
Yeah.
Yep. Yep.
And I feel like with picture books and graphic novels, they're kind of like our filler stuff. Like that's what I want to read when I want to just like feel a little sense of accomplishment for me personally. And like, not that I don't like them because I do really enjoy them, but that's not the same reading experience for me. So I don't rate them in the same way. I feel like I don't rate them at all. I feel like I give almost all graphic novels a four.
Kelly (01:37)
Yeah.
Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Nikki (02:06)
And it's just because I'm like, yeah, that was a breeze. Cool. I'm done.
Kelly (02:09)
my god.
I read them sometimes for that reason. Sometimes I'll read picture books. If it's like one I've heard about or seen around and I'm like, I want to check it out and see what it's actually about. Sometimes it's because I'm stressed. Sometimes it's like, I can't fall asleep and I don't want to read a whole book. So I'll read like two picture books on my phone. But like, yeah, I have definitely read picture books and graphic novels where I've been like, this is whack. And that's sad because what? But
Nikki (02:24)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna start off and I'm gonna give you your books, Kelly. Okay.
Kelly (02:50)
Okay, I'm nervous.
Nikki (02:54)
I'm excited to see what you're gonna do.
Kelly (02:58)
I know the first book I read because I had to look back. So I do know this one and I'm like, God, okay, sorry.
Nikki (03:03)
So your first book is Never Lie by Frieda McFadden our Girl Frieda.
Kelly (03:12)
Ugh! I don't even know what to say, but ugh! Lame. Dumb.
Nikki (03:17)
Love it. Caraval by Stephanie Garber. This is a reread for you.
Kelly (03:24)
Yes, a buddy read. Magical.
Nikki (03:28)
Any Duchess will do. Spindle Cove number four by Tessa Dare.
Kelly (03:39)
Oh...that's a purple cover. I think or pink.
Nikki (03:41)
Yeah.
Kelly (03:46)
Romance, I guess? I don't remember this one! Any Duchess Will Do? I just think of Joseph. Any dream will do. That didn't happen.
Nikki (03:50)
Yeah.
I was thinking of any dad will do. But that's, that's your dad will do, isn't it?
Kelly (04:02)
Not any dad, your dad, okay. Except our dads have the same name.
Nikki (04:05)
Just your dad. Sorry. Which so that not your dad, someone else's dad.
Okay, Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson.
Kelly (04:22)
Ooh, I thought you were gonna say cholera. I'm like, I didn't read that. Okay. Like, did I read that? No, okay.
Nikki (04:31)
That's like a little intense for January, okay?
Kelly (04:34)
Okay, this one I'm going to say true crime in in what is the word informative, I guess educational. I learned a lot about true crime, historic cases and books during that book, even though it was a romcom. So it was fun.
Nikki (04:46)
Yeah.
Yep. Awesome. The Bear and the Nightingale, the Winter Night Trilogy number one by Katherine Arden.
Kelly (05:03)
Disappointing. I was really let down. Really let down. Cold. Disappointing.
Nikki (05:06)
Yeah.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Kelly (05:15)
Meh. It was okay. Audiobook. Drugs.
Nikki (05:18)
Yep.
Drugs.
Kelly (05:25)
Fleetwood Mac, but not as good. Yeah.
Nikki (05:30)
Hemlock Island by Kelly Armstrong.
Kelly (05:34)
Creepy and inventory because I listened to it while I was at work all night long.
Nikki (05:40)
Mm-hmm. I love that inventory. Hemlock Island... The Vanishing Stair, which is Truly Devious Number Two by Maureen Johnson.
Kelly (05:58)
This is the red one, right? I loved this one. I'm going to say fun and shocking.
Nikki (05:59)
Mm-hmm.
Everything I love about her.
And then we have Bride by Ali Hazelwood.
Kelly (06:16)
yes. Loved it. Omegaverse mystery. Fun. Like futuristic paranormal. Really cool. Yeah.
Nikki (06:25)
Love it. Yeah. Knotting.
Boom. And I think that was, I think that was nine. So, Mountains Made of Glass, Fairy Tale Retelling Number One by Scarlett St. Clair.
Kelly (06:34)
Yeah, don't ask us, look it up.
Okay.
So bad, so bad. This was a blind date with a book that I bought. So I know the coworker and I was like, this was not it at all. Yeah.
Nikki (06:48)
okay.
Ouch. That sucks.
I love that. You did pass. All enthusiastically answered. Gold star.
Kelly (07:03)
Yeah. Did I pass?
Is there any other way with me? I have either like 11 or negative two. Even my down is like.
Nikki (07:13)
Huh.
Yep.
intense. okay. Yeah, I really don't remember what they are.
Kelly (07:21)
A lot. Okay, Nikki, are you ready?
And I had to like skip over quite a few as well with you so yeah. Okay so number one, As Good as Dead which is the third book in Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series.
Nikki (07:35)
Okay, yep.
like heart stopping. So thrilling. Yeah.
Kelly (07:54)
okay.
Second book, The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
Nikki (08:04)
The like 24 hour read. So much fun.
Kelly (08:07)
okay. I'm on like chapter three or four. I've tried it twice and not because it was bad. I just was like not in the right time because I can tell it's gonna be creepy.
Nikki (08:17)
Right?
It was fascinating. Old world meets new world's like perfect amalgamation. I'm going to talk about it more because it's on my my list so...
Kelly (08:32)
okay, spoilers. Okay. Okay, then we have the first in the Tyrant Philosopher's Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, City of Last Chances.
Nikki (08:45)
Complex and retrospective. It was a pain to get through, but a joy to look back on.
Kelly (08:52)
Okay.
Yeah, I get that. I read the second book in the series and I felt the same way. Yeah.
Nikki (08:59)
Yeah. Yeah.
Kelly (09:06)
Okay, next we have Emily Henry's Happy Place.
Nikki (09:12)
It was...
sad and beautifully written and I have such complex feelings about Emily Henry. Sad but hopeful and realistic and the friendship aspect just really got me. I didn't even care about her relationship with that guy.
Kelly (09:36)
Mm.
Yeah.
Nikki (09:44)
I was more sad about her and her friends.
Kelly (09:44)
Yeah, I... Yeah, yeah, that was... Yeah, I agree. I was kind of annoyed by things with them, the couple. Anyways...Okay, I'm like... Okay, then we have another Riley Sager book, Lock Every Door. And I like the pink, the purple.
Nikki (09:53)
Yeah. Yep.
Unexpected twist. Crazy unexpected twist. Rosemary's baby vibes. Which I loved. Yeah.
Kelly (10:13)
Okay.
Okay, I really hope you didn't hear Lily grunt slash snore right as you said that I'm like
Nikki (10:27)
I don't know, Gandalf's been smacking his lips this whole time and so, cause he keeps stretching and he goes, when he does it.
Kelly (10:39)
For anyone who doesn't know, that's her cat.
Nikki (10:41)
Yes. My boyfriend, Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey.
Kelly (10:44)
My wizard.
Okay, then we have Sarah Pearse's second book in the Detective Elin Warner series, The Retreat.
Nikki (10:57)
This was so fun. It was so much fun. I loved The Sanatorium, which you got me for Christmas or my birthday or something one year. And this was like great. It was like such a great continuation.
Kelly (10:59)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, because I didn't know this was a detective book either. I thought it was like horror when I bought it for you. Because the first one was like in a sanatorium. So it sounded creepy. Yeah.
Nikki (11:17)
Right.
Yeah. Yeah, the the first book is like her brother or her brother's girlfriend like open helps open this hotel and what used to be a sanatorium and then there's like all this creepy shit that happens. Second one was a great continuation. I have the third one on my shelf waiting for me to read it and I'm so excited.
Kelly (11:43)
I gotta try her one of these days, like put it on my list. Oh my God. Okay, then we have The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.
Nikki (11:56)
Predictable...
Kelly (11:59)
Mmm.
Nikki (12:00)
retelling, Which is why it's predictable, I guess.
Kelly (12:05)
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (12:09)
But the use of technology in the creepy aspects was like very well done.
Kelly (12:17)
Okay, so it's a retelling of Turn of the Screw? okay.
Nikki (12:22)
Yeah, by Henry James. And they're like in Scotland and the house is really old, but the guy who owns the house, like him and his wife, they are like have like a tech startup or something. So they've made it a smart home.
Kelly (12:38)
okay.
Nikki (12:39)
And let's just say like when things malfunction, like I was getting like worried. So it was great.
Kelly (12:49)
Oh God.
Okay, we just have a couple left. So we have the fifth book, a lot of series here, the fifth book in the Cormoran Strikes series by Robert Galbraith, Troubled Blood.
Nikki (13:06)
I liked it. I really liked it. I thought it was, it was like...
Kelly (13:08)
Okay.
Nikki (13:15)
cold case being solved. I love the characters of Cormoran and Robin. So like, it was, it was awesome.
Kelly (13:24)
Okay, that's on my list too. I have the first book on my Kindle one of these days. And then you have the next book in that series, The Ink Black Heart, which I remember you brought to the Silent Book Club.
Nikki (13:39)
yeah. This one was great. Super, super cool change of like, style for this book. It was a lot of stuff happening on the internet. So you're seeing like online chats and stuff. And it was a really good switch up from like the kind of more analog detective crime stuff that they usually do. Yeah.
Kelly (13:50)
Mmm.
Okay, yep.
Okay, cool. And then the last book for you is Alicia Thompson's Love in the Time of Serial Killers.
Nikki (14:15)
Mmmmm
I did not like it. We have a whole episode where we talk about it.
Kelly (14:20)
I know!
and how I led her astray by accident.
Nikki (14:29)
She did. It's the only time she's ever done that to me.
Kelly (14:34)
Well, I don't know.
I tried my best er not to.
Nikki (14:39)
It's the only time she's led me astray where I didn't willingly follow.
Kelly (14:43)
You
I can't win them all, okay? you started with a lot of mysteries in series that you were like in the middle of. Yeah.
Nikki (14:48)
you
I know I was like really surprised. I'm like holy crap. Yeah, I found my love for Riley Sager at the beginning of the year and like So good so much fun
Kelly (15:06)
It was fun. I feel like I've been reading a lot of mystery lately, but yeah, we'll get into that. I can't believe the year's almost done. Like by the time we were, well, at the time that we are recording this, we still have about like two and a half weeks left of the year. So I think it's safe to say we probably won't read
Nikki (15:09)
Yeah.
Yes we will!
I know. I know.
Kelly (15:36)
the best book of the year for us or whatever. So this is always how it is when we do this. Like we can't record it on the last day.
Nikki (15:43)
Yeah. So how many books have you read so far up until right now today, December 13th?
Kelly (15:50)
I have read...
124? 124, because my Goodreads is incorrect.
Nikki (16:01)
Because you don't put the really gross stuff on there.
Kelly (16:06)
Not really gross, just things that I don't want like my sister or my mom to see because I don't know if my mom's on Goodreads but I just I can't I can't. A hundred. Yes. And I think the past two years I've had about the same amount so I've had lower goals in the past but I've made like hundred twenty ish.
Nikki (16:15)
Right.
And what was your goal? Okay, cool.
Nice.
Kelly (16:35)
for the past two or three years, yeah. So I'm like, okay, cool. I think that's like my cap. I don't think I could do more unless I read like only graphic novels. I, yeah, I don't know. What about you?
Nikki (16:35)
Awesome.
Hello? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
So my goal was 60. My goal is always 60 because I feel like that I can always attain that. And I've read so far 74 books and I'm reading two right now. One in the Lost Heroes or the Heroes of Olympus series. And then I'm reading the Assassin's Blade in Throne of Glass. So yeah.
Kelly (16:51)
Mm-hmm.
Mm hmm. yeah.
Okay.
yes. Okay. Okay.
Nikki (17:17)
I'm gonna definitely get 76. I'm sure I'll read more than that now that everything's settled down, no more school, no more renovations.
Kelly (17:26)
Yes, yeah. When I finished school, I picked up the Dragon Republic because I was like, the year's almost done. And I've had the goal to finish The Poppy War trilogy for like three years. So...
Nikki (17:28)
Yeah.
Yep.
Yep. This is the year, man.
Kelly (17:45)
can't bring it up again. If I don't do it this year, I can't talk about it ever again. I just got to do it. Just shut up and do it. Yes. So I'm on part two of that book. So
Nikki (17:50)
It has to be a silent goal.
Oh my god, is it so good?
Kelly (17:59)
It is good, but I, character showed up and I was like, what is going on? I am confused. Even though I like listened to our very in depth, in depth summary of The Poppy War. But then I was like reading it I was like, wait a sec, who is this person? Do we like this person? I don't know. So, but there's a bunch of new people because I mean the end of the first book.
Nikki (18:14)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
yeah.
Kelly (18:29)
it makes sense because they're in a war. So, yeah. But yeah, it is good.
Nikki (18:34)
I'm definitely gonna have to reread the first one before I jump into the second one because that was a blurry 28 hours for me. Almost like the fastest I've ever read- listen to a book in my life.
Kelly (18:44)
Yeah.
Oh God. Well, I have the audio book. I got all three books from Audible in one for one credit. Yeah. Yeah. Hot tip. It just came. Yeah. Yeah. So was like, don't mind if I do. Don't mind if I dizz-oo as I say. Why? I don't know. yeah, don't do that.
Nikki (18:53)
Nice.
How do you do that? Was it like just bundled?
Shit, so then... Yeah. I think I already have the first two though, so maybe this one.
Whatever. Whatever.
Kelly (19:17)
I'm liking it so far. It's not really festive, but I guess blood is red, so there you go.
Nikki (19:17)
Good. Who cares? I never read festive books. Like people are like, all the contemporary romance Christmas and I'm like, I don't care. Like jingle your bells and shit. Like, I don't know. Like, I'm just like, get over it.
Kelly (19:26)
Try a couple.
Well, I have two Christmas mysteries and they're short. If you want to borrow one of them was like, okay. The other one I really liked and it's very short. So if you want to borrow it, you can. Okay. Okay. Yeah, it was fun. It's a mystery. It was not a romance. Okay. Why are my lights flickering? Someone Christmas ghost of Christmas present is not happy with you.
Nikki (19:39)
nice.
Okay.
Yeah, sure, maybe I will read a festive book this year.
Right.
But he's torturing you.
Kelly (20:03)
Talking shit. No, I'm fine. I got that Christmas one I have to read too. Spectacular.
Nikki (20:08)
Huh.
Kelly (20:13)
We'll see if I get to it by Stephanie Garber, because that's in the same world as Caraval and I've only read the first book. And then the spin-off series. I read the whole spin-off series, but not the original series, because that's how I roll. That's how I roll. I live dangerously.
Nikki (20:19)
Yep.
Right.
Kelly (20:33)
Anyways.
Nikki (20:33)
Okay, we're gonna get into the the T, if you will. How should we do this? We'll do our top four and then we'll talk about our DNF, our like, Our best DNF and the worst book we completed and then we'll give our top of the year. Does that sound okay? Why don't you start us off then, Kelly?
Kelly (20:48)
Our best DNF, the best choice we made, yes.
Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'm on board.
Okay, well, in true Kelly fashion, my first pick is not one book, but a series because I just figured why not? Because I've read quite a few of them at this point. And my first pick is the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. So yeah, this is book three, The Cruelest Month, and it was my first book
Nikki (21:23)
Yeah
Kelly (21:29)
out of the series that I read because again, I live dangerously with books, but I take good care. I just choose dangerously, I guess. And then I think this is the fourth book. No, the fifth book, The Brutal Telling. These are the only two that I physically own, but I put them on my Christmas wish list. So maybe Santa will bring me some. So that'd be nice.
Nikki (21:46)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (21:55)
But I started it, like I said, with the third book and I was like, I've heard a lot about her when I worked at Chapters. She was very popular when her new book came out. They were flying off the shelf and I was like, who is this lady? Like, I want to try it. So I started with number three because I heard that you didn't have to read them all. And I thought, well, there's 18 books. I'm not going to get through 18 of these. This is crazy. And now there's 19 books and I have read five or six of them.
I skipped number two because you told me to skip it because there was a TV show Three Pines and the second episode is pretty close to it or something like that. So I might go back eventually, but I'm happy right now. Oh,no?
Nikki (22:24)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I read it and just save yourself the time. It's like not it. Although I loved Still Life, the first book, loved it. So.
Kelly (22:41)
Mm-hmm.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I think my favorite right now is number four, A Rule Against Murder. And then the last one I read, Bury Your Dead was really good. And it was like sad. And it was good. This book or this series, I guess I should say, I wouldn't say it's a dark mystery, but it's not really cozy either. It's like kind of in the middle because like
Nikki (23:17)
Right.
Kelly (23:18)
You have the cozy village of Three Pines and all the townsfolk. And I love getting to know them. Like at first I said to Nikki, I was like, I don't know if I can get on board with everything happening in this little town because how many people are going to be murdered here? Like, but she finds. Yeah. Well, in the fourth book, they're not in Three Pines. So I'm like, OK, there's a little field trip. So but people from the village are there. So.
Nikki (23:33)
least 19.
Right.
Yeah, because I'm like, how do you do this book without Claire and her shitty husband Peter and like Ruth Zardo and like all of them like
Kelly (23:50)
my god. Peter, every book I'm like, Peter did it. Peter did it. Because he's so sketchy.
Nikki (23:59)
He's gonna have to do it sometime, and I just hope it's not to Claire.
Kelly (24:02)
Clara, yeah no. Clara, no Clara. But I love it. I was really surprised. I don't think I've really read a series like this because I usually if it's a detective series it's like YA and it's like three maybe most. But I'm really enjoying it. I love the town. I love that it's set in Quebec but it's not like we're in Canada like
Nikki (24:05)
Clara. Like, Clara.
Right.
Kelly (24:29)
It's clearly Quebec. She doesn't hide that it's Quebec, but it's fully fleshed out. It's really interesting. There's a lot of issues about Anglophones and Francophones are really interesting to read about and like being Canadians, we didn't really learn about that in school. So like the last book I read, they talked a lot about Louis Riel and I was like, why do I care about this now? Because in school I was like, who is this? I didn't understand anything because it was in French class, ironically enough.
Nikki (24:58)
Yep.
Kelly (24:59)
But I was like, my God, this is so cool. I'm really interested in Canadian history. Who am I? So I loved it. I loved it. I'm going to try to read all of them. So that's my first choice. Yeah.
Nikki (25:04)
Yes.
That's awesome. Okay, I am I do definitely have a top but my other my other ones that I'm going to talk about I don't have like a specific order for. But my first one that I'm going to talk about that I've already mentioned is The Only One Left by Riley Sager. Holy balls was this book so good. I picked this up.
Kelly (25:25)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (25:43)
I had never read anything by him. I remember it came out, I think, at the beginning of the year or like kind of the end of last year. It was really new when I read it and I couldn't put this thing down. I was just ripping through it. And I, I, at the end I was crying and I was just feeling like I wish I could read this all over again for the first time. That's how good it was. So.
Kelly (25:50)
Yeah, yeah.
You
my God.
you
Nikki (26:13)
I don't know, and it sent me on a Riley Sager spree.
Kelly (26:15)
How many have you read now by him?
Nikki (26:19)
I think five all this year. So yeah, my latest one that I read was his newest release.
Kelly (26:21)
If you had to guess. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
Hmm. The green one.
Nikki (26:34)
It's up there. Midnight or home. No, that's not it. Anyway, it says midnight in the title. It was really good too. Yeah.
Kelly (26:40)
Yeah, it's green. My coworker was like, didn't he name it after Taylor Swift and he dedicated to Taylor Swift? I was like, no, he didn't. I don't think so. Not confirmed people. Right? Because there's midnight in it. Midnight existed before Taylor.
Nikki (26:53)
Yeah, I don't think that he
No, Middle of the Night. Middle of the Night. And who did he dedicate it to? Definitely not Taylor Swift.
Kelly (27:03)
that's why. Okay.
No, because we opened it up. I was like...
Nikki (27:11)
To Patricia Cole, I think you would have loved this one.
Kelly (27:16)
Oh my god, okay. Yeah.
Nikki (27:18)
not Taylor Swift.
Anyway, that was also a banger, but yeah.
Kelly (27:22)
I love the covers too. They're so like they pop.
Nikki (27:28)
like bam, and they do all go together. Well, at least these ones do. Maybe it's the start of like a trend, but I like that. Yeah, she's bold.
Kelly (27:29)
Yeah.
Yeah, I love the font. Yeah.
Put it on my list. Yup.
Nikki (27:44)
Okay, what's your next one, Kel?
Kelly (27:48)
Okay, this one took me by surprise. In true Kelly fashion, yet again, I pre-ordered this on a whim before I lost my employee discount as you do. Okay. And I'm so happy that I pre-ordered this because I devoured it. It is Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley. I love this cover and it's a hardback. There's no dust jacket. And I was like, Ooh, this feels so nice.
Nikki (27:56)
Yep.
Yes.
That's pretty. Yeah.
Kelly (28:16)
It's the first book in the shards of magic series. I don't know how many there's going to be, but the cover, I saw it and I was intrigued. It says six deadly trials, zero room for error. And it just reminds me of like fantasy movies I used to watch as a kid. Like it's giving me eighties fantasy, even though I'm a nineties baby, like Princess and the Goblin kind of, you know, and if you loved The Cruel Prince or if you love
Nikki (28:20)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (28:47)
creepy fae stories, not just like hot winged people fae, if you like the creepy ones, this is for you. my god. At the very beginning, I was like, am I going to like this? Because the writing was like a little iffy for me at first, but I was intrigued by the plot. And so I kept going and then I could not stop. The amount of times I gasped out loud, Scott was like, are you okay? I'm like, it's my book. Like, I've just like, stop talking. I'm busy, you know?
Nikki (28:52)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (29:17)
Like, read the room, okay? I'm reading. So, she... literally though!
Nikki (29:24)
So relatable, like shut the fuck up, did I ask for you?
Kelly (29:27)
Seriously, every time I'm reading, I'm like, (gasp) and he'll go, what? Like, it's my book. He's like, oh. I'm like, if I need you, I will call you, okay? Just let it be, okay? Go back to whatever you were doing. I'm busy. So, she, the heroine is named Kenna and she's from this town where like every, I wanna say it's like every six years, they have this ceremony where a few women who are of a certain age
Nikki (29:39)
Yeah.
Kelly (29:57)
get sent over to cross this bog to go to the fae land of Mistei. And her best friend gets chosen. This happens at the very beginning, so it's not a spoiler. Her best friend gets chosen and she's like, my God, she's gonna die. I can't let her go. And so she decides to go with her and try to help her cross the bog because she grew up by the bog and she knows how to get halfway across. So she's like, maybe I can help her survive.
Nikki (30:24)
mm-hmm.
Kelly (30:26)
She gets to the other side and she gets taken prisoner and she's forced to serve one of the princesses of one of the castles or courts in this land. And just danger at every turn. Who do you trust? There's a romance that's very slow burn. And I was reeling, Nikki. I was reeling.
Nikki (30:45)
I love that.
I'm gonna read this. I think I'm gonna read this over my break. This sounds so good like-
Kelly (30:54)
It was so good. And the action at the beginning, it made me think of Lord of the Rings when they're in that creepy forest, bog, swamp thing, because they're crossing the bog. And I'm like, my God, like, it was so good. It was so good. I like- I'm not even kidding when I say that I was gasping out loud. I was like, what the fuck all the time. It was so good. This came out of nowhere for me.
Nikki (31:06)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (31:22)
Four and a half out of five. I was like, what is this? So I really want to know your thoughts because.
Nikki (31:24)
I love that.
Yeah, that sounds freaking great. I've been wanting a fantasy and I had almost talked myself into reading The Priory of the Orange Tree because like I do really want to read it. It's been on my shelf for a very long time. It is still so intimidating to me how large this book is. So this will be a great midway. I get the fantasy. It is a normal size.
Kelly (31:52)
I know.
Yes, yes, and the romance, I can't say anything without spoiling, so I'm just gonna say that I was reeling. I was reeling and it's slow burn. So I just hit my headphones. I'm so enraged.
Nikki (32:11)
Love it. I love it. I do love... I do love Slow Burn. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love dark romance and I love the like spice and everything. But it does like Insta love will never hit the same as like hundreds of pages of like yearning and like looking and small like hand touching and stuff. Like it will always be better.
Kelly (32:33)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and I mean, I can't stand when we're in books like this where like shit is constantly hitting the fan and then it's like, nevermind, I'm not worried about dying because there's a cute boy over there. It's like, hello time and a place. Like, could you wait? So.
Nikki (32:46)
Yeah.
Yeah. Like, I wouldn't care about that boy if I was in your position right now.
Kelly (32:58)
No! my god! No, I think if you like ACOTAR but you want creepy fae, you like The Cruel Prince.
Nikki (33:09)
Love it.
Kelly (33:11)
Yes. What's your number four?
Nikki (33:12)
I'm excited.
So my number four is The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.
Kelly (33:19)
This is a reread, right?
Nikki (33:25)
It's not. I've only, so I've seen the movie quite a bit growing up. It's one of my mom's favorites. She likes anything that has to do with real world or things that make you cry. And I had watched, I came home one night, I think from your place and she was watching it. So I watched the end of it with her and I was like, why haven't I read the book? Cause I love the story. It's very beautiful. The book is obviously laid out
Kelly (33:26)
Oh no, yes, okay.
Okay.
Nikki (33:54)
not the same way that the movie is. It's like kind of vignettes. And so you see there's daughters and four daughters and three mothers and one of the daughters her mom has just passed and she gets invited to play mahjong with the moms to take her mother's place because they need four people to play. So
Kelly (33:58)
Mmm.
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (34:21)
there was kind of this overarching plot with her of her mother during the war when she was still in China had daughters and they want, they want her to go and meet her sisters because their mom isn't going to be able to, because she's passed away. And then you see this disconnect of
immigrants coming to America and then their first generation American daughters and them wanting their daughters to be American and then their daughters completely disassociating with their Chinese heritage. And it's like
Kelly (35:01)
Mm.
Nikki (35:04)
It's a very hard read sometimes, but like so, so good. And I think everybody should read it. It's just like lovely and sad, but there's also some like really nice moments between the moms and the daughters too. And the movie's also really great. So you can just cap it off with watching the movie. And it has the girl who played Mulan in it. She was the voice of Mulan. No, no, like the...
Kelly (35:07)
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Like the new Mulan? I was like.
Nikki (35:33)
the Disney Mulan, like the original OG. She was the voice. And it also has the lady who was in Freaky Friday, who gives Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis the fortune cookie.
Kelly (35:36)
Okay.
Okay, I'm like, what?
Nikki (35:55)
Anyway, the movie's really great. The book is really beautiful. I can't say enough good things about it. I was literally I started that at Silent Book Club one night that night that we got the really spicy tacos. I was like fucking dying.
Kelly (35:59)
Nice.
Mm-hmm.
yeah, my god. I had the sweet taco. I was like, what? I would switched.
Nikki (36:16)
Oh my God, mine were like, I was sweating. I was like, I need milk.
Kelly (36:22)
I was like, mine has pineapple. Like, why? I didn't know. I don't like pineapple.
Nikki (36:24)
Yeah, that's kind of weird. But I was crying, like on the very first page, I was crying. Like, so it's an emotional roller coaster. You cry because you're happy, you cry because you're sad and like, yeah, so I had to add that. And it's one of my only like, kind of just like real world, like contemporary books that I read this year. Everything else has been like crime, thriller, fantasy, like
Kelly (36:30)
Oh my God.
Oh wow, okay.
Nikki (36:54)
That's, I think, the only book that I read that didn't have some kind of angle like that. It was just life.
Kelly (36:59)
Okay. Just life. Yeah. That's cool. She has a new, a new ish book out, I want to say. And the cover was beautiful. It was green. I don't remember the name of it now though, but I remember seeing her name on the cover and being like, that's that lady. Cause I had never read anything by her or seen the movie. So when you showed it to me, I was like, like connecting the dots, but yeah.
Nikki (37:04)
Yeah!
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah, I've never read any of her other books, but I definitely would now. But only if I'm like really ready to like have a mental breakdown. I'm ready.
Kelly (37:29)
Yeah.
We just finished school, so maybe not now. god, we're out of that, we're out of that.
Nikki (37:40)
have to release all of the energy I've been holding these last 13 weeks.
Kelly (37:46)
That's true, yeah. Because it needs some catharsis. My god. Losing my mind. God.
Nikki (37:50)
Yeah. Okay, what's your next one, Kel?
Kelly (37:55)
Okay, well, to get us out of crying, I have something funny by Emily Henry. Funny story.
Nikki (38:03)
Ooh!
That was a great segue.
Kelly (38:09)
Thanks. I was not going to put her on my list at first just because I'm like, well, it's Emily Henry. Like we know that she's great, you know, but honestly, Happy Place, even though I gave it a four, it was kind of a letdown for me, but I gave it a four because it was just so well done. Like how, how could I not? Like it was good. but this I was so hyped for.
Nikki (38:21)
Right.
Mm.
Kelly (38:39)
And when I read it, I flew through it in one day. Like it was just so much fun. I loved the romance. It gave me Beach Read vibes, just like, you know, they have some serious things going on. They're dealing with their issues separately and together. Not so much grief like in Beach Read. Have you read this yet? I don't remember. Okay. So I won't say too much.
Nikki (38:56)
Mm-hmm.
No. I haven't.
Kelly (39:05)
Okay, so I put Beach Read first still and then this is my second favorite out of her books I've read. So I like they go to a winery all the time because he works at a winery and I'm like, I want to go to a winery. Like this seems like so much fun. They go to the beach, they sit on the sand and the cold and they like smoke a joint. I'm like, I want to go to the beach in the cold. I don't like the beach, but I want to go. I want to sit and talk about the teenagers nearby and be like, you know.
Nikki (39:36)
Well.
Kelly (39:36)
It was so much fun. Her best friend, I think, in the book works at a library. And so like, you have like funny librarians in here. The premise is the two main people, their partners leave them for each other. And so they're like, what the fuck? And she goes to him because she's like, what the fuck? And then they end up living together out of necessity, basically.
Nikki (39:42)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Kelly (40:05)
and it's so good. He, Miles, yeah, yeah, like how do you know each other? Funny story. Miles, the main man in here is like the perfect boyfriend. I, my God, I was in love. I was in love. I was like, let's get it together, okay? You know, he's it, lady. Just get with him. Just deal with it together, you know, so.
Nikki (40:08)
That makes the title make sense.
yeah.
you
Mm. Yep.
Kelly (40:33)
I loved this. This did not let me down at all. I can see myself rereading this like every summer as soon as it's about to get warm. Like it's, it's like the perfect spring summer cusp book for me. Yeah. Yeah. I think you will love it too. Once you get there. Yeah.
Nikki (40:40)
Yep.
I love that.
Yeah. Yeah, I'm always like slow with Emily Henry books, and I always go into them with trepidation because my first book was Beach Read, and I read it in like 24 hours. It was insta love with that book, I related to so many aspects of it. And I was
Kelly (41:02)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (41:16)
Just like every time I go into one of her books, I'm just like, it's never gonna be as good as Beach Read was. And I think, you know, they're obviously like, like one could always be like, you could always like it more. I don't think so. It's always gonna be Beach Read. That was like a seven star out of five. So even though I do like her.
Kelly (41:21)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Nikki (41:41)
like some of her other ones. The only one that I've tried to read that I haven't is People We Meet on Vacation, which is such a dumb name for the book when you know what the premise is, but
Kelly (41:54)
Yeah. What's the... I have the UK one and it's you and me on vacation. Yeah, I don't know.
Nikki (41:56)
Yeah.
Like that makes more sense. Cause they already know each other. They go on vacation a lot. That was like the point.
Kelly (42:08)
Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. I have one of her... It's not near me, so I can't pick it up, but I have one of her older YA books that my sister and my mom read and they both liked it and they gave it to me to read. I haven't read it yet. So I'll let you know when I do because, I've only ever read her like really popular adult books. I've never read her older YA. Yeah.
Nikki (42:13)
That was like, kind of the point.
I didn't know she had any other books, so.
Kelly (42:36)
Yeah, she had a couple for YA and I think they're all contemporary. Yeah, but I haven't tried it yet. I'm a little scared, but they're like, no, it was great. I'm like, okay, because like she's so good. How could it be bad? But I don't know. Yes, I can't wait for her movies. Like Nora Ephron. I'm just like, get more romcoms out. I'm so tired of Sonic 3.
Nikki (42:40)
Okay, cool.
right? I know, she's very talented writer.
if they're good.
I know, yeah, like just those like freaking action remake stuff like
Kelly (43:04)
What?
It's all regurgitated IP stuff. you know, like this thing already exists. Let's make 10 movies of it.
Nikki (43:12)
Yeah.
I know. I can't stand when Marvel and DC come out with shit. I'm just like...
Kelly (43:22)
The only one I was like, maybe I'll see that. I'm not going to see it. I'll wait till it's on TV or whatever. Kraven.
Nikki (43:29)
is that with Bill Skarsgard?
Kelly (43:33)
I don't know, is it? I was thinking of the main guy, the guy from Kick Ass. Yes, that poster was like a historical romance by Johanna Lindsey, okay? I was like, they know it's for the girls and the gays. That poster, I'm ready.
Nikki (43:38)
Aaron Taylor Johnson.
What am I thinking of? I'm thinking of Crow.
Kelly (43:53)
Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Yeah, no. No. Yeah. That'll be a girl's night watch.
Nikki (43:58)
Hmm. Anyway. Yeah.
Yep.
Kelly (44:05)
Okay, your next choice.
Nikki (44:07)
Okay, I don't have the physical book for this. This is another Riley Sager book, Home Before Dark. This book creeped me out so bad that I had to make Bryce go to the bathroom with me in the night. So, so this is like paranormal haunted house. A girl
Kelly (44:13)
okay.
Yes, that-
Oh my god.
Nikki (44:36)
and her family when she was a child buy this really big kind of mansion-esque home on this estate that was built by this man and a lot of really bad things happened to his family there. And then it's like years and years and years, like I think over a hundred years later, maybe more, they move into this home and all of this crazy shit happens and they flee in the night. They just all...
Kelly (44:55)
Okay.
Nikki (45:03)
three of them get in their car and leave. They're like, this is bad news bears. And then now she's an adult and her father has passed away and she finds out he never sold the house and it belongs to her. So her and her friend, they're like house flippers. So she's like, I'm just gonna go back there and I'm gonna make, I'm gonna turn this around and I'm gonna sell it. And
Kelly (45:07)
Oh my God.
No, bitch!
Nikki (45:32)
The creepy shit begins. There's a lady, an older lady who lives with her daughter that the so the older lady used to be the housekeeper and now the daughter takes care of the home. And on the other side of the gate, there's a guy whose dad used to look after the property and now he's looking after the property. So she is down down the hill.
Kelly (45:47)
Okay.
Okay.
Nikki (46:02)
this creepy mansion that like stuff's going bad and then there's the people who live up top who like know things but they're not saying anything and there's a cop that's always kind of around and this house I'm telling you I wouldn't even step on the property if I had heard about the stuff that happened in this house. I'd be like, no way bad juju.
Kelly (46:14)
Mm-hmm.
Oh my god.
Nikki (46:32)
And of course, because it has to be this way, she's just like, whatever. I'm going to go sleep there.
Kelly (46:38)
Didn't she flee in the middle of the night?
Nikki (46:41)
Well, she, so part of the book that you like, you get at the beginning is her parents wrote this tell-all novel that made their family a lot of money about the paranormal things that happened in that house. But she doesn't remember any of it.
Kelly (46:51)
Mmm.
Gee, I wonder why.
Nikki (47:02)
So anyway, this book had like so many things and it just like kept kept me on my toes the whole time. Like every page was like new information and it was so fast paced and it was like so good. So stinking good.
Kelly (47:14)
my God.
Is that the one where it's like teal with yellow kind of like handwritten font?
Nikki (47:27)
No, I think that one is... what's it called? The House Across the Lake, maybe? Home Before Dark. It's green. And it's got like this... no, I don't want to open audible. This is the cover that I had.
Kelly (47:36)
yes. Yeah. Yeah. What does that?
green.
yes, okay, yeah, that tracks, okay.
Nikki (47:56)
Yeah, it looks like jersey font, like a football.
Kelly (48:00)
Yes, it's like spooky Phantom of the Opera chandelier.
Nikki (48:05)
Yeah.
Kelly (48:07)
She's like, I don't remember all this horrific stuff you're talking about. I don't know why. Like, girl.
If you needed a chaperone to go pee in middle of the night, I know I'm gonna be like peeing my pants. Okay, like what? I can't leave. can't. I'm gonna need a diaper. Christmas is coming.
Nikki (48:27)
Yeah. I have to pee right here.
Kelly (48:38)
Hey race car drivers wear diapers. Why don't we?
Nikki (48:41)
Yeah.
I think because their heads are like strapped to their seats, I can't get out. To stop whiplash.
Kelly (48:50)
I thought it was just, well, I thought it was because they were in there for so long that they're like, I can't afford the minute it takes me to pee.
Nikki (48:55)
I don't know.
Well, I think that too, but like, think because it would be hard to like get yourself out. I don't really know. I don't watch racing.
Kelly (49:07)
No, me neither. That's my next hot take grievance thing. Racing. I don't care. In cars. Wow. Look how they drove. I don't know why it's so popular all of sudden. Like with people our age. Yeah. I don't know. Someone will have to explain it to me. It's loud. It's stinky.
Nikki (49:12)
Yeah.
Look how they crashed.
That's true. Yeah, I don't know.
Kelly (49:30)
No thanks. It's bad for the environment.
Nikki (49:34)
Agreed.
Kelly (49:37)
Anyways, my penultimate choice, I also don't own. I want to own. but I don't right now. So I will get a picture because the cover is beautiful. But this one I read as an e-arc and yeah, I loved it. I actually cried at the end a little bit.
Nikki (49:56)
Ooh.
Nice.
Kelly (50:04)
And it is The Mythmakers by John Hendrix. This is the cover. Yeah, so it is a nonfiction graphic novel and it's about the remarkable, or sorry, not the relationship, but it is a relationship, the remarkable fellowship of CS Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. And my gosh, like I didn't know
Nikki (50:10)
That's pretty.
Kelly (50:29)
any of this stuff because I didn't read Narnia as a kid. I read other things and I only read... I did!
Nikki (50:38)
That, "I read other things".
Kelly (50:40)
I did, ok? I knew of it. I saw the first movie when it came out because I was of that age, right? It was really fun. I never read the books and my sisters didn't read them. So I was like, whatever. But and I hadn't read Lord of the Rings until we read it together. So I learned so much about these two different writers lives and their really long and close friendship.
Nikki (50:45)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Kelly (51:09)
And even though I know they're gonna die at the end, because it's like, kind of like a memoir. Yeah. It was just so touching. And on top of learning about their lives, you also learn about just kind of like myth and myth versus legend and history. And it was just really fascinating. I love
Nikki (51:09)
Mm-hmm.
Cuz they're dead.
Kelly (51:35)
fairy tales- they were talking about fairy tales and myth and what the difference is and stuff. I love that stuff. So I actually bought a book of Norse mythology after because I was like, I have the Grimm fairy tale book. Why don't I and I have the Greek mythology stuff. Why don't I have the Norse one? So I'm slowly learning more about different stuff, but it was so good. And at the beginning I was like, I don't know if this is exactly what I wanted because
Nikki (51:40)
nice.
Yep.
Kelly (52:04)
there's two narrators and one's a lion and one is a wizard, because it's, know, Tolkien and Lewis. But at first it was like really juvenile and I was like, uh-oh, because it was in the adult section or was listed as adult. So I was like, what is this? But no, it started off a little bumpy, but it quickly became really, really nice and poignant and...
Nikki (52:19)
Right.
Kelly (52:31)
I think you would love it too because of how much you love Lord of the Rings. It was just, it was beautiful.
Nikki (52:35)
Yeah.
Yeah, and I grew up reading the Narnia series, so I definitely have an appreciation. So yeah, that would be really nice to read. Is that out now?
Kelly (52:43)
Mm.
It was beautiful. Yeah, it is. It is. I read it in black and white too. So I want to see it in color because my e-arc did not have color and I miss it. So, but I loved it. So one of my few, my God, have to like yell over Lily. She's like, like groaning, snoring. Her life is so hard. I wish I could sleep and get cuddles all day. But anyways, she had a walk. Like, come on anyways.
Nikki (52:57)
Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Right.
Kelly (53:21)
That was one of my few nonfiction books this year and it was worth it.
Nikki (53:25)
I don't think I read any non-fiction books other than textbooks.
Kelly (53:29)
yeah, I'm not counting that. Hell no. I'm not counting a math textbook.
Nikki (53:31)
No.
If it didn't spark joy, it wasn't going on the Goodreads.
Kelly (53:38)
I would have DNFed if I was allowed, okay? So...
Nikki (53:40)
Right.
For real. Okay. My penultimate, as Kelly would say, choice, is I'm sure no surprise for anybody when I bring out Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson. So I mean.
Kelly (53:45)
Mm-hmm.
I love that word.
Nikki (54:06)
If you listen or watch us, you know that we got the absolute amazing honor and pleasure of interviewing Maureen for the release of this book, which is, let's face it, one of my dreams come true because I have been obsessed with her for many a year now. And this book did not disappoint. It had everything that I loved about Truly Devious
Kelly (54:21)
Yeah.
Nikki (54:35)
just with new characters. Getting confirmation that the Wexler reference was in fact to The Westing Game was all of the clarity I needed in my life because as soon as I read it, I was like, yes, I feel like she's speaking to me. We're the same person from different generations. We both love The Westing Game and like, it just felt like magnanimous. And
Kelly (55:03)
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (55:05)
Like the, I always love her like throwbacks and the island setting and the creepy like eugenics stuff was just, it was all great. It was a perfectly stacked like Jenga game. And yeah, she's just so good at it. I can't say anything but good things about her.
Kelly (55:12)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I love how we were like, any chance for another book with her. And she was like, no, like just full on, because you know what? Sometimes you don't need anymore. She's like, I did what I came here to do. I rocked it. It's a standalone. I'm like, I respect that. You know what mean? I do.
Nikki (55:39)
Like.
Like I understand, but I'm still, I can still be sad about it.
Kelly (55:58)
Yes. Yes. Just because it was so good. It was so good and so fun. Yeah.
Nikki (56:01)
I know.
I just need another one. Like, I think the next Truly Devious is coming out soon or like Stevie Bell, I guess now because Truly Devious is done. But I cannot wait.
Kelly (56:11)
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, and she said that that dossier book, which sounds really cool, it's like you're given a dossier to solve. I don't remember if she said it was a cold case or just a crime, but that sounds really cool. That's right up our alley. I'm like, literally, these are all clues.
Nikki (56:18)
Yeah.
Right. Yeah.
I feel like we need to get that some night and be together and we'll try to like solve the case together. Like that would be so much fun.
Kelly (56:42)
Yes! Yes! It's like, What's it?
Nikki (56:44)
And then once we solve the case, we can cap it off with a bad movie. Boom.
Kelly (56:51)
That's true. I was gonna say it's like the Stephen King thing. What is it? Finders Keepers. You'll be Holly. I'll be Barb.
Nikki (56:56)
Yes.
Love it.
Love it.
Kelly (57:03)
Boom.
Okay, are we talking DNF?
Nikki (57:10)
Oh yeah, let's get into the DNFs.
Kelly (57:13)
Okay, I'm like flick the hair, flick the ponytail that I can now do. I need a haircut. Okay, I have to get this up on Goodreads because I need to know how far did I actually read because it was not very far. Okay. I was pissed off. This book was one that I saw on Goodreads
Nikki (57:36)
Mmm.
Kelly (57:41)
and I saw people that I follow on there, thought it was fun. I had been reading a lot of Elsie Silver cowboy romance, if you will, which they're not really, because I'm not really into cowboys, but whatever. This one I got 10 % in, so probably like 30 pages, if that. And it is the first book in the Silver Pines Ranch series by Paisley Hope, and it's called
Nikki (58:03)
Yep.
Kelly (58:10)
Holding the Reins. This is the cover. I don't even know what it is. It's like wheat maybe?
Nikki (58:19)
That looks like a My Little Pony fan poster.
Kelly (58:22)
Like, is it glare? I don't know. You can't even see it, but it looks like there's like flowers and wheat. I don't fucking know. All I know is I got 10 % because I got so pissed off. I thought this was like a cowboy romance thing and I knew that going in. What happened was the main guy, this is set in Kentucky. Okay. That's important. This is set in Kentucky. The main guy is
Nikki (58:27)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (58:52)
an ex- or maybe current but just not currently doing it right now- NHL hockey player, okay, from Kentucky who won the Stanley Cup and now has a cowboy bar. Why? Why? I grew up watching hockey, okay? There's no one from Kentucky who plays hockey in the NHL.
Nikki (59:09)
Yee-haw!
Kelly (59:20)
I was like, am I crazy here? I Googled it. There's never been anyone from Kentucky in the NHL. Okay. So this guy is a fricking Christmas miracle and he also has a cowboy bar. I just was like, I can't do this. And then the girl was so obnoxious and just so immature. And of course they were gonna fall in love right away. And I was like, I don't need to read this. I don't need to read.
Nikki (59:26)
That's hilarious.
Yep.
Kelly (59:46)
I can only suspend my disbelief so far, and it's not as far as Kentucky having an NHL Stanley Cup winner owning a cowboy bar. Like, what the fuck? I just can't. I can't. I just felt like Paisley. Is that her name? Paisley Hope? If that's her real name, because it could be just a pen name. I don't know. Paisley.
Nikki (59:55)
gosh.
That sounds fake.
Kelly (1:00:11)
Why did you do this? I feel like she wanted to do a hockey romance, but she also wanted the cowboy romance popularity train that's happening right now. So she just put it together and I'm like, that doesn't work. It doesn't work. If you wanted to do that, you could have made him a weird cowboy bar guy in New York where they actually play hockey. Like, Kentucky?!
Nikki (1:00:23)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's kind of weird.
Kelly (1:00:37)
I couldn't get past that. I was so annoyed. I'm like, this is bogus. Who the hell liked this and made me think I was going to like this? Shame on you.
Nikki (1:00:44)
Right.
Kelly (1:00:48)
So I gave up and it was the best DNF of the year for me. So.
Nikki (1:00:48)
For shame.
Love it. My best DNF of the year is Keep It in the Family by John Marrs. Okay. So if you like thriller books, he is all the rage right now. All the rage. Everybody and their dog can't shut up about this frickin book. I don't know why.
Kelly (1:00:57)
I can't wait.
I've never read him. Okay.
Mmm.
Nikki (1:01:23)
I kept seeing it in... right? I kept seeing it in the psychological thriller readers book group that I'm in on Facebook. And everybody is like, jizzing over this book. They're like so into it and they love John Marrs and they were so outraged that he didn't get on the thriller list for the Goodreads Choice Awards, which is a stupid award.
Kelly (1:01:24)
Keep it in the family. Keep it out of mine.
Okay.
Nikki (1:01:53)
Anyway, whatever. We're not going to... I could make a whole separate video about how I feel about the GoodReads Choice Awards. And so this family, no, this guy and this girl who are married, I guess, so they are a family, but I just mean they don't have kids. They get this really shitty rundown house out of an auction because they're poor and they can't afford anything else. So they're like, we're going to get it and we're going to fix it up.
Kelly (1:01:53)
Yeah. Yeah.
We should, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Nikki (1:02:23)
Great. So this kid used to live in the house years and years and years and years ago. It's been abandoned and the very first scene, or like, it's kind of like the prologue of the book, I guess. He is listening under the door in the attic. Like he's, or like he walks up these stairs and he's like looking under the door.
there's people in the room and he can he's describing how this person's toes are just like brushing the ground because they're like hung up on something and I think they're getting like beat up I don't know I just like I was reading this and I usually I can read a badly written book and I can read a bad book like just not even just badly written just bad but there was something about this
Kelly (1:02:59)
okay.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (1:03:18)
that just like grinded my gears so bad on how like...
There was like no... there was like a lot of stuff going on but at the same time like no plot and I was like get it away from me. And I also had discourse with some freaking lady on this group about it because I posted and I was like hey I'm like 60 pages into this book that everybody loves and I'm wondering if I should continue. Could people who liked the book tell me what other books they really liked because maybe
Kelly (1:03:29)
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
Nikki (1:03:54)
If I like some of those books, I'll keep reading because we seem to have a similar taste and maybe I will come around. And then this lady was like, if you don't like it, just don't read it. And I was like, if you don't like it, just don't fucking comment, Linda. I was so mad and I'm like, what is this group for if not to ask questions? Why are we here? Are we all just supposed to be quiet and sit in this like void?
Kelly (1:04:02)
Sure.
Right?
Was her last name Marrs? Like what the fuck?
Nikki (1:04:22)
Maybe it was John Marrs. He is in the group though, which I didn't know. Him and Frieda McFadden are in that group.
Kelly (1:04:32)
What else is she doing, honestly? I had-
Nikki (1:04:35)
Apparently she's a brain surgeon.
Kelly (1:04:38)
For who?
Nikki (1:04:39)
I don't know.
Kelly (1:04:42)
I started my year with her.
Nikki (1:04:45)
Like I play Operation sometimes, but I don't call myself a brain surgeon.
Kelly (1:04:47)
You
Nikki (1:04:50)
I'm kidding. Apparently her name's a pen name and apparently she's a doctor or like, I don't know.
Kelly (1:04:56)
big whoop. Okay, great. You're a doctor. Doesn't mean you can do everything? Like, I'm sorry.
Nikki (1:05:01)
Yep. Doesn't mean you need to write books. I also read my first Freida McFadden book of this year and I was not impressed. Yeah. Not a strong start.
Kelly (1:05:10)
That was my very first book. I, yeah, it really wasn't. It really wasn't. But now I know and I'm never doing it again. So the more you know, yeah.
Nikki (1:05:22)
Yep. Boom.
So that was my DNF and what was your worst completed book this year?
Kelly (1:05:34)
Okay, so.
I did not pick the Frieda McFadden one because it didn't make me as angry as this book because I kind of felt going in that the Frieda book was probably going to be terrible. So I was somewhat prepared.
Nikki (1:05:51)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:05:56)
I also did not pick, I feel like I have to mention it because we both read this and I wasn't sure if you were going to pick it.
Nikki (1:06:04)
Oh.
Kelly (1:06:06)
Did you pick a graphic novel? Okay, great. So Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman. It was so bad, but I feel like I...
Nikki (1:06:08)
No.
Oh my God, it was so bad. It was so bad.
I did debate that being my worst one.
Kelly (1:06:20)
Well, okay, so that'll be our both of our honorary mention then, I guess, if you will, because there wasn't much for me to say about it other than what the fuck did I just read? Like, the pictures were kinda nice, but-
Nikki (1:06:24)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, it was... But it was just like snow white porn and I was like, but like, I mean, not in a good way.
Kelly (1:06:37)
Yeah. Vampires? No, no, this was not like, ooh, nice erotica. No, it was weird. It was weird. It was weird. And no explanation as to why it was so weird. It's like, I can, so I will. And I'm like, mm.
Nikki (1:06:47)
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
And was Neil Gaiman. Just like, what is happening here?
Kelly (1:07:01)
Yeah, so that's the honorary mention, I guess, for both of us, because I was like, what the fuck did I just read? Because I saw you say, what the hell is this? And I saw it was so short and I was like, OK, I'm going to read it. It's terrible.
Nikki (1:07:06)
I know. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. All I can say is I'm happy I got it from Libby and I didn't pay money for it.
Kelly (1:07:17)
Same. Yeah. Oh my god, yeah. So my actual choice for the worst book I read this year was none other than Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco Okay. I was so pissed off throughout this book. I could have DNF'd it and then I think I got to 80 % and I skimmed to the end just to see what happened because I was already so far gone.
Nikki (1:07:41)
Mm. Yep.
Kelly (1:07:46)
I couldn't even tell you what this book was about because I was so mad after it. like she's yeah, she it's like your stereotypical like basic quest book, I guess it's like there's riddles we have to solve and we have to find these items basically. And she's with some dark God Prince guy. He's like
Nikki (1:07:50)
really?
yeah.
Kelly (1:08:11)
wrath or envy or one of them. It's like one of the deadly sins. I don't remember who because I don't care because they're all the same. They're all just like, I'm dark and brooding and I'm evil, but am I? But I also am very hot. Like it's so stupid, Nikki. It's all- the book is all vibes. There's no real character development. They both hate each other. They go to these art things. She's a painter, I think? I don't even remember.
Nikki (1:08:16)
Right.
Right.
Right.
Kelly (1:08:42)
And they fall in love, but not, right away. And there's this constant push-pull throughout the book. And when I tell you the amount of are they or won't they, are they or are they not whatever, are they going to have sex? It got to the point where I was like, I don't give a shit anymore. Just get on with it. I don't care. You can't do that fake will they or won't they 10 times. It loses its effect, Kerri. Okay.
Nikki (1:08:55)
You
Yeah. Yeah.
Kelly (1:09:11)
I have tried to read three books by her. I DNF'd the second one because I was like, fuck this. And it was all in the same world. It was all the same world. I don't understand. I can't get on board. I'm glad she's popular and she's doing well for herself. I'm glad people like her books. I'm not one of them. I can't do it. I was so pissed off at the very end. Shit's going down. You know, we think the world's going to end. He's going to die. All this crazy, intense stuff, right?
Nikki (1:09:27)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:09:41)
He says something to her, she's like, there's no time. And then they stop and tell a whole story about their background. And I'm like, there's no time. Why did you say there's no time? But let me tell you this long yarn, like.
Nikki (1:09:52)
Right.
Right.
Kelly (1:09:59)
Shit's flying in the air. They're like, we're gonna be sucked up in a vortex. Whatever the hell's going on, I don't even remember. I was so pissed off. But then it's like, no, no, let's wait. Let me tell you this tale.
Nikki (1:10:10)
Yeah, get a grip.
Kelly (1:10:12)
I can't. So, I'm tired of the will they won't they? Ooh, let's have some weird like random sexual like dry humping scene". And then.
I just can't. Yeah, that was like... I don't know, Nikki. I'm tired of people just being like, this guy is dark and brooding and evil, and he's also hot, and that's his whole character.
Nikki (1:10:25)
Ooh, dry humping. Great.
I know. Yeah.
It was maybe fun the first like 50 times, but it's not fun anymore.
Kelly (1:10:46)
I love a dark, brooding, hot dude in a book, but he has to have some kind of personality and reasons why. You can't just put a bunch of key tag words and be like, my book is complete. I don't think so.
Nikki (1:10:49)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Apparently you can. That's the sad part.
Kelly (1:11:07)
I won't do it again. She fooled me thrice. Okay? I'm not doing it again. That's my fault. I'm not doing it again. So that's my worst book of the year. I think I gave it like a two or two and a half. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read in my life, but it made me so incensed that I was like, fuck this shit. I'm mad. So yeah.
Nikki (1:11:12)
Yeah.
Yeah. I don't even think they have a tagline for three times. Like, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, I'm a fucking idiot.
Kelly (1:11:33)
Fool me three times, I should go to jail. Yeah, I should go to jail. Like, I don't know what I was doing. Do not pass go, do not collect 200. So what was your worst read? I can't wait. Now that I know it's not that Neil Gaiman one, I'm like, what happened?
Nikki (1:11:50)
I felt like I had to choose like a real book, like something I put my hard earned time into. And so my- so I'm gonna preface this. It's my most disappointing book. It's it might not be the the worst book I read this year. Because I read Credence. And that's not what I picked. But and I read Frieda McFadden. But my book is
Kelly (1:11:53)
Yeah.
Yes, not like an hour. Yeah.
Hmm.
and freedom of thought in.
Yeah.
Nikki (1:12:19)
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand. So I have only read one other book by her. It was the summer of 69. I absolutely loved it. It is one of my favorite contemporary books that I have ever read. when there, so there was a show for The Perfect Couple that had Nicole Kidman and what's that guy's name?
Kelly (1:12:21)
Ohh yes, okay.
Mm.
Nikki (1:12:48)
Liv Shriver, Liv Shriver, something.
Kelly (1:12:51)
Liev shri- Liev Shreiber Something like that? Yeah.
Nikki (1:12:53)
Anyway, it's like L-E-I-V or something. okay. So they're in it, Dakota Fanning is in it. And I watched the first episode and I was like, no, I'm going to read the book because everybody, again, losing their minds over this book and the show and they're like, it was so good and blah, blah, blah, like all the stuff.
Kelly (1:12:57)
I know it's Liev, I had a teacher went to school with him. I was like...
Nikki (1:13:24)
What was the point? What was the point of any of it? It was like, this girl dies and at the end they're like, it's all a big misunderstanding. She's dead. Like it literally was at the end, it was like, that wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be for like somebody else.
Kelly (1:13:38)
I don't think she feels that way.
Okay? my god.
Nikki (1:13:53)
Yeah. And then the show, they just changed everything. They changed names. They changed, like, so the main girl in the book, her name is Celeste, but they changed it to be something else in the show because Nicole Kidman played a character named Celeste in Big Little Lies.
Kelly (1:14:17)
Oh, who cares?
Nikki (1:14:18)
Yeah, and they're like, we don't want to get them confused. I'm like, trust me, nobody is getting this junk confused with Big Little Lies. That shit was a masterpiece. Yeah, so, so disappointing. Dakota Fanning is like such a weird person to watch as an adult. She is like, not, not good.
Kelly (1:14:27)
Oh my god. That is so stupid.
I have not liked her almost my whole life and I can't even tell you why. I don't have real reasons.
Nikki (1:14:48)
Right.
I feel like she was a great actor when she was a kid, but I feel like that happens a lot to kid actors. Like they grow up and then they just like forget how to act or like emotions are maybe just like more genuine when you're a child and maybe that's why it's easier. But like I loved her in Uptown Girls. I have only seen I Am Sam once because it made me like so hysterical that I just like couldn't ever watch it again, but I remember her being good in that as well.
Kelly (1:15:06)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Nikki (1:15:21)
Like that movie triggers me so badly that I can't even watch like clips from it. Like if a clip comes up, I have to scroll because it makes me instantly like bawl. But yeah, she was like not good. And what like what else? There was- there was just so many like weird things in that series. And I was trying to find anywhere where the author Elin was like, this was whack.
Kelly (1:15:21)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (1:15:50)
And she was like, I love all these changes, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, what are they putting in your drink?
Kelly (1:15:55)
Eww. You right? Well, how much did you get paid? That's what I want to know. Yeah, like I'll say whatever you want me to say.
Nikki (1:15:59)
right? I hope it was a lot because honestly, so I was really bummed out about that because I loved her other book that I read by her. And everybody was going on about how it was so good and the twist and everything. And it was just such a letdown. So yeah.
Kelly (1:16:06)
my god. That sucks.
Mm-hmm.
Ugh. I haven't read anything by her yet because the covers are awful.
Nikki (1:16:28)
I know, they are really ugly.
Kelly (1:16:30)
It makes me scared to pick it up. I'm like, ugh.
Nikki (1:16:32)
Like this one is the summer of 69. They all look like that. They're all like beaches and everything is set on Nantucket. But this book was so good. It's told from the perspective, I think she's 11 and it is like literally like the summer of 1969 and her older brother has just gone off to fight in the Vietnam War.
Kelly (1:16:35)
Yeah, it looks like a drugstore book.
Yeah.
Okay.
Mmm.
Nikki (1:16:57)
And her family goes to Nantucket every summer and it follows her, older sister, Kirby, who's working at like a hotel or something on a neighboring Island and her oldest sister, Blair, who's stuck in New York and pregnant and has some dick of a husband. And like, it is so fun and good and sad and happy and like, so this one is definitely worth it. It's a great summer read.
Kelly (1:17:14)
Okay.
Hmm.
Okay. Okay.
Nikki (1:17:26)
I mean, you're reading about Nantucket in the summer, so of course. But yeah, The Perfect Couple, not perfect. Actually quite bad.
Kelly (1:17:29)
Yeah.
Not perfect.
The worst couple, yeah.
Nikki (1:17:38)
The most unperfect couple.
Kelly (1:17:40)
Ugh, God. Okay. God. Noted.
Nikki (1:17:42)
Yeah. Okay, Kelly, this is it. What was your favorite book of the year?
Drum rolling.
Kelly (1:17:51)
Pause for effect. Okay, this author was on my list last year, actually, and it was a very highly anticipated read for me. So I am so happy I loved it. And that book is none other than Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid. I even annotated it a teeny bit because
Nikki (1:17:59)
Eww.
Nice!
Yep.
Kelly (1:18:20)
my gosh, Nikki, I loved this book so much. I highly recommend if you're going to read this book, anyone, you or anyone, I would recommend pairing it with the audiobook because it is set in, I want to say, what does it say at the very beginning?
Nikki (1:18:32)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:18:44)
It doesn't even say. Wow. Okay. It's set in like...
I want to say like 1400s, something like that. So like we're talking Anglo-Saxon, old Britain, like B-R-I-T-O-N kind of thing. So the language at times is really whack when you're just looking at it, because you're like, I have no clue what this even sounds like. How do I read that? Like their names, some of the terms they use.
Nikki (1:19:04)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Kelly (1:19:19)
The audio book was incredible. It was dramatically performed. Like she was so good, the narrator. I don't know who she is. I'm sorry, but she was incredible. And it was really nice to hear the words that I did not know what they were, because they just look like letters to me. I'm like, what is this, right? You don't need to know the play. You don't need to know the play. It is totally different than the play. There's like little things that if you do know the play, you'll be like, "Ah, yes."
Nikki (1:19:36)
Right.
Kelly (1:19:47)
But she made it her own and she made Lady Macbeth the star. And I love that she is young, she's not 50 and like hell bent on ruining men. Like I think she gets a bad rap with the play. I thought it was really interesting to read other people's thoughts on Goodreads because they were like, how is this feminist? You know? And.
Nikki (1:19:52)
Love it.
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:20:16)
I'll let you guys be the judge of it, but I thought it was incredible. I thought it was a very feminist retelling. I thought it was probably more historically accurate. I loved the magic in here, the witchcraft in here. There's some like really freaky stuff that goes on and just the setting was just dark, creepy. Like I could feel the sand and the muck and just...
Nikki (1:20:34)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:20:45)
my god, this is this is what you want to read on a stormy night. It's a very short read too. Like the audiobook I think was maybe eight hours, six to eight hours at one time speed. And I put it up a little bit but but it was so good. Oh my god, like I just the I just want to read the little blurb because it's really short. And I'll give you a taste of the vibe for this book. It's very gothic.
Nikki (1:20:57)
nice, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Kelly (1:21:15)
creepy magic in the sense not like pretty fantasy magic but like gritty magic like there's scary women in here and I love that. The lady knows the stories how her eyes induce madness in men. The lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed. The lady knows his hostile suspicious court will be a game of strategy.
Nikki (1:21:23)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Kelly (1:21:43)
requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive. But the lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous and that it will threaten the order of the world. She does not know this yet, but she will. And so throughout the book, she wears this veil like on the cover and she keeps her eyes down because they think that her eyes
Nikki (1:22:07)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:22:12)
make men mad and so she has to like make herself unseen. Oh, my god it is so good! I want to read it again.
Nikki (1:22:18)
Right.
Just like men to be pigs and be like, it's your fault.
Kelly (1:22:28)
I love it because in the play, they make her out to be this old cranky bitch who just wants and wants and wants, you know, and she makes her husband do these crazy things. She would not have been 50. She would have been a young girl forced to marry, you know? And it is so good. It's so powerful. I think if you read this and you think it's not feminist, I think you're missing the point. And I think you need to go back, read the play
Nikki (1:22:35)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Right.
Kelly (1:22:57)
and then go talk to women about it. And don't just listen to what your teacher told you about this old dead white guy, okay? That's what I'm saying.
Nikki (1:23:03)
Yeah, Also I love how the cover is like so rock and roll.
Kelly (1:23:08)
It gives me Marie Antoinette, like that movie by Sofia Francis Ford Coppola. And underneath, it's bright pink, death touched, poison eyes, witch kissed.
Nikki (1:23:12)
Yeah. Yep.
Boom. I love that.
Kelly (1:23:23)
And I want to show you, Nikki, and for whoever's watching the beautiful inside, this is the normal first edition. Beautiful. This had my staff pick sticker on it right away when I read it, I was like, I love this. This is mine. So, yeah, I love a mad, scary bitch. OK, love it.
Nikki (1:23:31)
Oh my god, that's beautiful!
Yep.
Yes.
Kelly (1:23:49)
you'll like this one a lot too, Nikki.
Nikki (1:23:51)
I have it on my list. Like, since you told me about it. Oh, yeah.
Kelly (1:23:54)
Do the audiobook, yeah, with it, because it is really good. And yeah, you'll get like, they, because of the time it's set in, they use different words to refer to her, like depending on who she's talking to, like different languages and stuff, which I'm just like, my God, the author's smart. You know what I mean? Like,
Nikki (1:24:11)
Right.
Yeah.
Kelly (1:24:15)
Love it. She did research, you know, like.
Nikki (1:24:17)
Yep. I love that. I really appreciate that.
Kelly (1:24:23)
So yeah, when you want a like creepy atmospheric dark cozy kind of read and then then text me.
Nikki (1:24:24)
That's so cool.
Yeah.
Kelly (1:24:38)
I read it with Hayden as a buddy read, but I finished it way before him because I couldn't stop.
Nikki (1:24:41)
nice! Oh yeah. Checks out.
Kelly (1:24:46)
So yeah, but yeah. What was your number one? I'm so curious.
Nikki (1:24:51)
I feel like you know already or you will not be surprised in the least we talked about this and it is a book I still continue to think about all the time for better or worse and that is Holly by Stephen King. This was like my magnum opus of reading for the year.
Kelly (1:24:58)
Okay.
Nikki (1:25:22)
I don't even know what it is. Like, a lot of his books are good. I read a few Stephen King books this year, but this book just like, it made me cry, it made me scared, it made me grossed out, it made me happy. Like, it had everything, everything in it. The relationships were so good. The relationship, everybody in it. There was not
Kelly (1:25:41)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (1:25:50)
was like not a part of this book that fell flat for me and it's a feeling with his books that I chase and so it was just really nice to have this and it's another one where I'm like I really wish I could read it for the first time again because what the hell it was crazy
Kelly (1:25:58)
you
my god. I was put on my list, but I had to really think hard. I mean, we both did for this list, but I'm like, what do I do? But it was really good. That was my first finished King book and I loved it. It was scary. It was gross.
Nikki (1:26:10)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was so happy too, like, that you liked it. Because, I mean, I knew the book that you didn't finish, The Outsider, I'm like, okay, well, that book wasn't good. So I knew that I could get you with something else. I just need to pick the perfect reel you in.
Kelly (1:26:32)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. And it was it was like, it's like you said, it had everything. It had every emotion. We laughed, we cried, we gagged, like we like we tensed up in fear. Like we did everything in that book.
Nikki (1:26:47)
Yeah.
Literally.
Yeah. I love it.
Kelly (1:27:01)
so good. We have an episode on that one too so we can you can go into more of our thoughts on that one with that episode.
Nikki (1:27:04)
I cannot believe... Yeah.
Yep. You can watch me almost cry while I talk about certain aspects of this book. Boom. But yeah, I can't believe that this year is almost over. I mean, when you guys listen to this episode, the year will be over. It will be 2025. Happy New Year, everybody. It's been a great year. Lots of changes for both of us.
Kelly (1:27:14)
Yeah, me too.
Happy New Year's! my god.
Yeah, we're both in school.
Nikki (1:27:36)
We both decided to go back to school, change trajectory in life a little bit.
Kelly (1:27:39)
my god, yet again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I don't even know what my average rating is because like we're doing this, I think too early to get all that. But maybe when we have the info, we'll put it on our Instagram because a little graphic. Yeah. Yeah, because I feel like I had a pretty good reading year, all things considered, like
Nikki (1:27:43)
Lots of good reads, some bad reads.
Yeah.
Yeah, we should do a little post for it. Yeah.
I know. Yeah. Yeah. I felt really good about my reading year. And I think because I started out strong, I think when you start off on a note where you're kind of like fizzled, it's hard. It's harder to like regain that momentum. But I feel like I read like, well, so much Riley Sager. I was reading those Robert Galbraith books. Like I was knocking them out one by one. what I felt like were five star reads, which is
Kelly (1:28:10)
Definitely some duds, but... Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Freedom McFadden, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (1:28:38)
great and it's really hard to get a streak like that.
Kelly (1:28:41)
Yeah, yeah, I read the entire Throne of Glass series this year. I read five or six in the Inspector Armand Gamache series. I think we both had series heavy, series heavy years, which isn't always the case. So that's kind of interesting. But yeah.
Nikki (1:28:43)
So.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think I might end the year with all of the Throne of Glass books because I'm really liking it. So I think I'm just going to keep rolling with it and maybe I won't finish like finish it by January. But I think that that's just going to be my continuation is just until I get those done as my main book because so much fun. I'm having a great time.
Kelly (1:29:13)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, and I am I'm keeping my lips sealed book by book because I can't wait to hear your thoughts and then we can actually talk about and you can refresh my memory for some of it but there's definitely some things I remember and I'm like I can't wait. Keepin' my lips sealed.
Nikki (1:29:31)
Yep.
You
I know. I know. Okay. Do we have anything else to say? Like, I, this is the end of our, our season four. Because we are in school, we're going to be taking a little bit of time to focus on schoolwork. We are getting very busy with that and doing the podcast full time in a season is just not super feasible with
Kelly (1:29:52)
Yeah.
Nikki (1:30:10)
the work that we have going on right now. So we're gonna take a little bit of a hiatus, maybe have like a few random episodes come out, but we'll see you when we see you and...
Kelly (1:30:18)
Mm-hmm.
Any wish or goal for the new year, Nikki?
Nikki (1:30:27)
Oh...
Kelly (1:30:29)
I'm not gonna, we don't need to think of like specific books necessarily, because there, I don't even know about that, but just like any wish or goal you have for your reading year coming up.
Nikki (1:30:39)
Yeah, I think that I want to get back into fantasy and maybe like have more of a diverse reading year. I get stuck on a genre and then I really just like burn that into the ground until I'm like, I hate this, and I move on to something else. So I want to try to switch it up. What about you?
Kelly (1:30:44)
Mmm.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Mm.
I think I started this this year, but I definitely want to continue. I want to continue getting through my physical TBR and being more mindful about what books I actually want to own as a hard copy. I canceled my Fairyloot subscriptions. Yeah. And I mean,
Nikki (1:31:14)
Mm-hmm.
Hmm
Okay, yeah.
Kelly (1:31:28)
I'm not working right now. I'm a full-time student, so I have to watch my spending. So if I'm gonna bring a book into my home, I want to love it. So unless it's an author I really want to support who's like an auto-buy, or I read the book and I know I'm gonna reread it, then I will buy it as a hard copy. But I'm trying to use the library more, which I have been and I love. I would rather spend money for an American library card that lets me borrow
Nikki (1:31:44)
Mm-hmm.
Kelly (1:31:56)
a bunch of books for free than buy all the books, right? So I think that's my goal is to just kind of like get through what I have a bit more and be more mindful of what I want to bring into the house. But yeah. Yeah.
Nikki (1:31:58)
Yep. Yep.
That's awesome. That was my goal for this year and I really sucked at it.
Kelly (1:32:14)
It's hard! It's hard!
Nikki (1:32:17)
Like I started off strong, I had my cauldron. I don't even know where that is right now. It's up there. Like I had my cauldron full of the books and I started off strong on TikTok and I was like, I'm going to read these books. And I got like three videos in and I was like, what's a shelf? I'm going to get stuff on my Kindle. Like that was the end of that.
Kelly (1:32:21)
You
Yeah.
Yep. Yep. Well, that's the thing. Like, I did that after you because I was like, that's a good idea because I have so much to get through. And I pulled a few, but I didn't do a lot after that. But I have been trying to get through what I have. I'm either going to get through them or I'm going to donate or sell because I want to have space for the ones I love. I want to come in here and go, all these beautiful books I love. Not like, I haven't read half of these, like guilt, shame.
Nikki (1:32:59)
Yeah.
I know.
Kelly (1:33:07)
You know, I'm fine with I do have some special editions. I'm definitely keeping that's fine because they're also art, books, you know, they're beautiful to look at. But I have a limited space in my home and a limited size of wallet at the moment. So, yeah, yeah. I mean, I want to be optimistic and say sky's the limit, but no, no.
Nikki (1:33:08)
I know.
Yeah, don't we all?
Just can't always be that way.
Kelly (1:33:36)
No, support your local library. And if your library is not great, there's free cards for other places or there's even paid cards, which I know it sounds crazy to pay for a library card, but I pay 50 bucks for an American library card and I use it all the time. So it's already paid for itself in like two books. You know what mean? I use it all the time. So just think about it.
Nikki (1:33:39)
Yes.
Yeah, it's worth it. It's no different than subscribing to Kindle Unlimited. Lots of people do that, except this way you get like, instead of paying what, $11 a month, you can pay like 50 or like $30 sometimes for the whole year. And yeah, yeah. Super, super worth it.
Kelly (1:34:04)
No. Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Like.
Yeah, yes, and you're supporting a library, so...
Yes, 100%. I would do it again. I might even get another library card. Seriously.
Nikki (1:34:29)
I, yeah, I definitely like understand that mentality of like wanting to own physical things. And I go through phases often where I'm like, no, I don't want to. And then the next month I'm like, I really feel like I want to buy stuff. And I feel like it's a coping mechanism for something because I would rather read on my Kindle or my Kobo, honestly. Like I enjoy reading so much more on those devices.
Kelly (1:34:38)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Nikki (1:34:59)
I very, very rarely pick up a physical book now, unless I have to.
Kelly (1:35:05)
Mm hmm. Yeah. And usually nowadays, because I'm so fried from school, I'll have the physical book while I listen to the book because I'm so tired. I'm like, want to read, but my brain hurts, you know? So. Yeah.
Nikki (1:35:19)
Yeah. Yeah. I know I get that. Okay. Well, thank you everybody for listening to this. We've gone on so many tangents and little ramblings throughout this, but this is our last chance to talk to you guys for a while. And I know, but I feel like we'll come back a few times before we officially start season five. Cause like we can't, can't stay away forever. Yep.
Kelly (1:35:27)
Yeah, thank you for joining us. Yeah, we're gonna miss you.
yeah. No, things come up and we jump, you know what mean? So yeah.
Nikki (1:35:50)
So thank you all so much for being with us this season and for this episode. Let us know what your best and worst of 2024 are and what your goals are for 2025. Until next time, cheers!
