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Best Books of 2023 | S2Ep17
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This week we reveal our individual Top 10 Books of The Year Lists! We take turns counting down from 10 sharing why these books stood out to us in 2023, and list our honorable mentions as well!
Follow us on instagram @BringYourOwnPod
Follow Brandi @Brandos.Books
Follow Kendra @Kendra.Readz
Follow Kayla @Kaylas.Bookshelf
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Transcript
Introduction and Excitement for Top 10 Reads
00:00:06
Speaker
Hi guys! Welcome to Bring Your Own, a catch-all bookish most of the time podcast. I'm Burandie. I'm Kendra. I'm Kayla. And today we are so excited because we are breaking down our top 10 reads of the year.
Challenges in Finalizing Top 10 Lists
00:00:22
Speaker
Which has been a harrowing ordeal for all of us, yeah. I just finished my list. Quite literally seconds ago. Literally two seconds before. Literally Kendra went, okay, I'm done, hit start. We're waiting, waiting. We're prepared over here. Kendra's not. It was hard.
00:00:39
Speaker
and we're recording this with about little, no, like two weeks left of the year. So I reserve the right personally to change my list out later. If I need to. The list that you hear on this podcast might not be the same list that I post on my Instagram or on my TikTok.
ARCs and Social Media Updates
00:00:57
Speaker
So keep that in mind. I think with the way my lineup is looking for the rest of the year, I don't think anything else that has come out this year or will come out
00:01:07
Speaker
by the end of the year will make my top 10. Like everything I'm reading right now that I think might be a five star read is an arc. So I like, wouldn't even put it on here. But yeah, follow us on Instagram you guys so that you can see what our actual actual top tens are at the very end of the year.
Current Reads and Beverage Choices
00:01:21
Speaker
But before we jump in, what are we reading? What are we drinking?
00:01:25
Speaker
I'll go first. I hung out with Brandy this morning and our friend Alice who's in town right now. We got breakfast and we got some drinks at breakfast and made me really sleepy. So I knew I had to come home and record. So I stopped off at Sonic and I got a diet cherry Coke. Oh, yum. Yeah, it's very good. And then currently I am
00:01:45
Speaker
reading or listening to the final book in the Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Princess. For anyone who has read Clockwork Prince, the last like 30% of that book was like emotional turmoil, and I hated it. But I also really, really, really loved it. I thought it's so well done. So yeah, I'm very nervous for this final book, like actually gonna shit myself.
00:02:08
Speaker
And other than that, I'm not reading anything. I just finished rereading Love Theoretically by Elie Hazelwood and I think I'm going to start Funny Story by Emily Henry. We all got the arc for it, so we're excited. So excited. I am just drinking water right now. Womp womp. I know, but I feel like I haven't drank very much water in the past week.
00:02:31
Speaker
Like I just feel like I haven't, I've been drinking like a lot of coffee and a lot of, I guess LaCroix is technically water, but still does, I just, you know, I just need some water. Anyways, I am currently listening to Luck and Last Resorts, which is the second book in the Loveless and Fancy Ships series by Sarah Grundy Ruiz, which Kendra and Kayla have both already read and talked about on the podcast previously. I've had the audio books on like my Audible account forever. I was just like waiting for the mood to strike and it did, and I'm loving it.
Omegaverse and Book Recommendations
00:02:59
Speaker
So I'm having a lot of fun with that.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah. And then I am physically reading Buried by Ally Hazelwood, which comes out in February, I think? I don't know. Sometime next year. And it's so good so far. I'm like giddy because I like it's a fantasy book and like an Omegaverse book. But I, I don't know why I wasn't expecting it to be funny.
00:03:23
Speaker
but like all of her contemporaries are funny. So of course it's funny. So like it's funny and like dramatic and I'm just, I'm having a really good time. So. Is this your first Omegaverse like book? Yeah. I did download The Fake Mate because you said you enjoyed it. So I have that. Thank you Penguin Random House audio. So I do have that on deck.
00:03:41
Speaker
Yeah, The Fake Mate was my first Omegaverse book and I had a good time. Like that one is a contemporary. So and it's very, it very much reads like a rom-com. Like it's funny. It's silly goofy, but I had a good time. It was a fun time. It's a really good on audio too. So definitely recommend. I also have water. It's the middle of the day. So like I, I feel like I'm a lot like Brandy. I don't feel like I've had enough water this past week. I've had a lot of chai, a lot of Coke Zero.
Honorable Mentions Discussion
00:04:09
Speaker
So I need to
00:04:10
Speaker
You did hydrate a little bit this weekend. This is yellow. Yeah. Radioactive. And then, OK, I'm reading the funny story arc right now. I'm 50 percent in. I won't say anything else about it because these two don't want to hear anything, which is fine. Totally fine. I respect that. So and then I'm about to start or I have started rather my reread for
00:04:40
Speaker
Divine Rivals, one of my favorite books of the year in preparation for the second book. Coming out next week, I'm going to pee myself. I'm so nervous and excited for it, but yeah. Amazing. Okay, we're going to start with honorable mentions. I have five. I don't know how many you guys have. Yeah, I have five.
00:05:02
Speaker
sort of. I'll explain. I have five plus one. Okay. Okay. Fine. That's, that's what I have. I have five plus one. Okay. We're going to start there. We're not going to go super in depth about our honorable mentions. And honestly, I think like a lot of my honorable mentions, you guys will talk not a lot, but a couple of them you guys will be talking about. There's definitely overlap for sure. Yeah.
00:05:25
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. So we are going to kind of just like rapid fire our honorable mentions. Okay. My honorable mentions are all amazing books. I just want to say that there's really not a lot that separates them from being in my top 10. So just vibes. If I had a top 16, it could be any order and these books would be on it. So we have Good Gone Bad, Gianna Darling, which is the fourth book in the Following Men series. It's amazing. And then the Summer We Fell, Elizabeth O'Rourke,
00:05:55
Speaker
I finished that book in Kansas City, so it holds a very special place in my heart.
00:06:03
Speaker
made me feel like I wasn't in Kansas City. Oh my God. I couldn't pass that up. I thought it was going to be like something nice that you were going to say. Oh, no. No. Okay. It went the other day. It was a great book. It's super angsty. I love it so much. And then we have a love redesigned Lauren Asher, which we've talked all about that book on here. That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey. So good. Support the gays. You Again by Kate Goldbeck. And then my sixth one was
00:06:31
Speaker
Kingmaker, technically the Kingmaker series by Kennedy Ryan. So those are all my honorable mentions, all books I loved and raved about this year that were just, you know, so close. Amazing. Great list. Okay, so for mine, yeah, I, I have six as well. Two of them are related, but The Right Move by Liz Tom Ford, that was in my like top at one point. And I still really, really, really, really love, love, love, love, love that book. But
00:07:00
Speaker
It just got knocked out as the year went on. Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonham Young, Sami Espinoza's last review. I do have that in my contenders. Sorry, Hannah, that's not in my top 10. She's gonna say that I hate Mexican queer people.
00:07:15
Speaker
which is false, but you've said it multiple times. But You're a Blackbird by Bryn Weaver. This one, I really, really love this book, but the reason I can't put it in my top 10 is just because me personally, I struggle with gore. And so that's the reason I can't put it up there. She's in mine. Okay, yeah. And then the last two are by Elliot Hazelwood. Check and mate, Anne Love, theoretically are in my contenders.
00:07:43
Speaker
Neither made it in your top 10. I'm sorry. I listen, I'm really scared for my top 10, because I feel like I'm going to be looked at sideways so many times. But I love those books. This is clear. My honorable mentions. The first one is love theoretically.
00:08:01
Speaker
Oh my God. And you just. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. We'll talk about checking me later. We'll talk about checking me later. Love Theoretically was like number 11. Like if I had a number 11, it would be number 11.
Top 10 Books Countdown Begins
00:08:12
Speaker
And then the rest of these have no order. The Kingmaker Duet by Kendi Ryan, which Kendra mentioned also just like hit so hard for me. I loved them so much. Mixed Signals by BK Borisin was one of my first reads of the year and it stuck with me all year. I think about them all the time.
00:08:28
Speaker
The Front Runner by Elsie Silver was like a huge surprise for me. Yeah, which is the third book in the Gold Rush Ranch series. That one is so underrated. I barely ever see anybody talk about it. And it was for a very long time until Reckless came out. That was my second favorite Elsie book after Heartless. Like I just loved it so much. I read She of the Mountains this year, which is a fiction book by Vivek Shriya, which I've read their nonfiction before. And this was their first fiction that I had read. And it was just
00:08:58
Speaker
so beautiful it made me cry a bunch there's like a lot of talk about like how people feel at home in their bodies or don't feel at home in their bodies it's just so beautiful my sixth one which since we're all doing six i get to do six too also the right move got bumped down from my top 10 as well this year yeah it's a great book that's so funny because it's it still isn't mine but now i'm looking back i'm like i was like hmm maybe i stick to your guns i love that book
00:09:27
Speaker
reread on audio. Yeah. And that's why I didn't want to reread it on audio. I was literally just telling Alice that in the car. I was like, I never want to reread it because like, I don't think I would have the same magic. So I'm holding on to that magic of the first reread. I think I will read the rest of her books physically. Yeah, forever.
00:09:48
Speaker
Okay, now we're starting at 10. Okay, I'm gonna jump right in at 10. That's okay with you guys. And we're gonna round robin. Everything, I'm so excited, okay.
00:10:00
Speaker
Now, this one might surprise you guys because I haven't talked about it that much and because I just recently read it and it kind of snuck up on me. I don't know why you guys are like looking all confused. Because you're like over there blushing. You're like, no, no, no, I'm not blushing. I don't mean to blush. I'm just nervous. No, no, no. It's not at all like that. Trust me.
00:10:22
Speaker
But my 10th book is one that I read on audio. It's The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. Oh, yeah, I know. And I think it made it into my top 10 because like the more that I thought about this book, the more I liked it. And like I just couldn't really stop thinking about it. Kind of snuck up on me. This book felt like a Christopher Nolan movie, but like written and directed by a woman.
00:10:52
Speaker
you know, in a good way. I mean that in a good way, but it's basically, I don't want to like give too much away about the plot or anything, but it's, I guess like the main gist of it is like basically about how like love can cross all boundaries, even time. And like the main theme of this book is love, but it's mostly familial love. And so there's like really strong relationships between
00:11:19
Speaker
mothers, daughters, et cetera, grandparents. The women in this book are really strong and really protective of each other. And it's basically about how no family is perfect. And there are moments where they kind of hurt each other in the process of trying to love each other. And seeing, I guess, the love between the mothers, the daughters,
00:11:41
Speaker
granddaughters, grandmothers, et cetera, portrayed in such a profound and kind of realistic way was very touching to me. And the romantic love, there is romantic love in this book, but that was also just as touching and emotional to me as well. So if you like strong family bonds, small town mysteries, magical realism, and very unconventional second chances at love, then I would definitely recommend this book.
00:12:08
Speaker
I don't know that it would be for everybody, but personally, for me, I really, really liked it. So that is my number 10. Recommend on audio as well. Audio is very good.
00:12:19
Speaker
I don't have grandparents, so I just don't think it'll be for me. Okay, fine. That would be a TikTok comment. Well, my grandma died. Yeah. All right. My number 10 is Check and Meet by Ally Hazelwood. And this book just like makes me smile every time I think about it. It's her YA debut about two chess rivals, one of them who's like a multi-world champion and the other who's kind of like
00:12:45
Speaker
coming up out of nowhere, like reentering the scene after time away, but they're both basically chess prodigies and I just ended up from start to finish. I read it months ago. I've reread it since then on audio and the audio is also incredible.
00:13:01
Speaker
I just like I don't know why I don't read more YA romance because like the purity of like first real loves is just so beautiful to read about when it's done well and I thought it was done so well in this one in the way that chest is used as a metaphor
00:13:16
Speaker
for their relationship and like the ways that they struggle in their chess game are similar to the ways that they struggle in their relationship with one another. And like the ways that they like compliment one another and respect one another so much is just really beautiful. I also just really love that it was super sex positive. And yeah, I don't know. It just like, it makes me smile every time I think about it. So that's why checkmate is my number 10.
00:13:42
Speaker
My number 10 is The Right Move by Liz Tomford. I mean, I get why I didn't make it into y'all's top 10s, but I was like guaranteed it was going to. This book is a brother's best friend, fake dating, slow burn, a little bit romance. And I think the reason why like I could not include it is because I love Indi Iver so much. I think she's probably the best thing that Liz Tomford
00:14:09
Speaker
has ever written. She was just such a refreshing character and it's not just because I like related to her a bunch like I think that's not the case like she was just someone that I would want to spend so much time with and like seeing her be such a good friend and a good partner they were hot and like the things that they do for each other it was just so nice and like Kayla and I binge read that book in like a day and like the bubble that that book put me in was just so sweet and yeah it was great.
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's one of the few books that we like besides the Magnolia Parks books, I mean that we played like highly roulette with. Like we don't do that with a lot of books, but we did it with that book. So yeah, there's just so many good moments.
00:14:56
Speaker
Alright, onto number nine, ladies. Okay, my number nine is The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber. I read a lot of great fantasies this year, and so expect to see a lot of that on this list.
00:15:12
Speaker
This is the first one. This series I read starting in September. I know I was late, but even though The Curse for True Love like wasn't my favorite, I still enjoyed that book, but it's not my favorite. The Ballad of Never After will always stick out to me as just like a great book. I don't think how this series ended took away from my love for that book, which is good. It's the second book in the series. I just think that
00:15:39
Speaker
the first book felt very much like set up this one really felt like things actually started to roll and things that were actually happening and it's Stephanie Garber's best like the best thing that she's ever done is create Jax and Jax is just such an interesting
00:15:57
Speaker
character you're so drawn to him in everything that he does and he just like is the shining star in this whole series and especially in this book and the way that this book ends too is so to me it's so heart-wrenching and it was just is definitely one of those cliffhangers that it was like you know need the third book now and things better
00:16:19
Speaker
workout. Otherwise, you know, I'm always going to jump off a bridge. Yeah. And also it like, we, I have, I've said this before about like the cool prints, the cool prints has some of the best fan art out there. Ava and Jax and that series, their fan art too, like just really helps you like get into the whole vibe of everything. And I think that that also really helped me just further enjoy this book. So shout out to all those artists out there, but I love this book. It fully engrossed me from start to finish and I love it so much.
00:16:48
Speaker
And none of those neither of these people have read it and they probably never will will not You didn't have to say that cuz I already know that but thank you My number nine is love redesigned by Lauren Asher this book just like blew me away. I Have enjoyed all of her books that I've read but this one I was like whoa like it like mm-hmm
00:17:13
Speaker
especially just like with how well the audiobook production was done, the production and the acting. Yeah, it was just like so, it just like warmed my heart, like engaged from the beginning, like from the car crash that happens in like chapter one, I was like in it. So Julian and Dahlia are childhood rivals who are now both back in their hometowns from different circumstances now as adults and they haven't really spoken much in recent years.
00:17:40
Speaker
but their moms are still best friends and are like forcing them to work together on this project and it forces them to kind of confront all these things that they left unsaid in the past and unresolved and yeah I don't know it's just like I just thought it was so well done and I thought she set up the rest of the series so well as a series opener it was so good because sometimes with series opener it's just like info dump info dump info dump like
00:18:04
Speaker
But it didn't ever feel like that, but I still felt like I had a really cohesive view of like what was going on, what's coming later, like the town dynamics. And yeah, it just, it was just really good. So that's why it was my number nine. I think I'm, I know for sure I'm going to do like a best audio books of the year post. Yeah. Oh, me too. I'm making this, this was so hard because sometimes audio books are so good. And that is by far like 100%. Yeah. Top, one of the best audio books ever.
00:18:31
Speaker
My number nine is Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Maisie Eddings. Why are you shocked? No, I love that book. I just didn't think that it would make your top ten.
00:18:45
Speaker
That's not a bad thing. Oh my god, just go. I picked this book up because I had thought that Brandy had read it because it's Surprise Pregnancy. And I was like, yeah, I saw it on Libby. And I was like, yeah, I think Brandy read this. And I think she liked it. It wasn't Brandy who read it. It was our friend Izzy who had read it. I don't know why I got them confused. But Izzy also really liked it.
00:19:09
Speaker
and i just went in only knowing that it was going to be surprise pregnancy and like nothing else like nothing about lizzie's characterization and that she had ADHD and that she um had a very like ableist mother and seeing lizzie's like journey throughout this book i just thought it was like very relatable i don't have ADHD but i always find myself like really like relating
00:19:31
Speaker
I don't have diagnosed ADHD, but I've always found myself relating to like neurodivergent characters, specifically female main characters. And I just feel like I just saw so much of myself in Lizzie, especially in her dynamic with her mom. My mom is 10 times better than Lizzie's mom, but it's like, I have gone through so much with her and seeing that represented in a book, I just felt so seen and I love Lizzie and I'm just so proud of her. And I really love the conversation around like her
00:20:00
Speaker
being this person who was always seen as chaotic and unstable and what does that mean for a person like her to enter motherhood? And I just thought it was so well done. And I love her and I love their friend group.
00:20:15
Speaker
I thought that was also really well done because like their friends like are kind of itchy but like in a loving way we're like you're gonna do something super I'm gonna call you out for it and I feel realistic yeah and like the the audiobook I thought was just so well done two great narrators and like you get a hot Australian guy like who's just like obsessed with her and it's hot as fuck they started fucking like right away and did not hold back and I was like this is fantastic so that's my number nine
00:20:43
Speaker
All right, number eight, ladies. Okay, I'm scared for this one because y'all are gonna look at me sideways. You're gonna piss me off. I keep saying that every time. No, no, no. Okay, but the last two, you guys haven't read. And so like, you know, not as nervous with this one. I know what it is. I put Georgie all along as my number eight. And Kate Claiborne.
00:21:09
Speaker
Oh my god, why are you laughing? I'm laughing at your reaction. You're scared to say it. I am scared. Why is Kendra laughing? I'm just laughing because the way that I read that book and completely forgot about it. Oh my god. OK. Hey, I'm about to talk about how much I love it. I haven't shit on any of yours. No, I liked it. I liked it. I liked it. Sounds like it. Compared to Brandi Island. Brandi, shut your mouth. All right. For me.
00:21:39
Speaker
This book deserves a spot because of Levi Fanning alone. I know Brandi hates him for some reason. Oh my God, you're so dramatic. I did not say that. Anyway, what can I say?
00:21:52
Speaker
I love broken boys and he is a broken boy. But for real though, I think that this book is great for a lot of different reasons. I think it is really important for people who have tough relationships with their hometown or more, I think more people can relate to when you don't grow up
00:22:14
Speaker
to be who you thought you would be. Or your wishes that you had as a kid don't come true. You know, things like that. Figuring out what your place in life is. And I think a lot of people can relate to that. And so I really loved that aspect of the book when it came to Georgie's character. And this is also one of those books where I really felt so heavily the emotions that every character, like main POV, I mean, that is, like what they were going through. And I was just rooting for them both so, so hard.
00:22:43
Speaker
And I just, I really love them so much. I read this book near the beginning of the year in the first quarter of the year. And I don't know, I just haven't been able to stop thinking about Levi specifically and his relationship with his family and kind of the journey that him and Georgie went on together. And I love them both so much. And it's okay that neither of these two women loved it as much as I did. I have enough love in my heart for all three of us. Thank you. And he appreciates it.
00:23:10
Speaker
Thanks. My number eight is Damaged Goods by Talia Hibbert, which is book 1.5 in the Ravenswood series, which is her lesser known series compared to the Brown sisters, because I think the rest of her books are standalones.
00:23:28
Speaker
don't quote me on that, but this book just holds a really special place in my heart because I started it when I was still living in Los Angeles and I had to put a hold on it. I got literally five pages in. I had to put a hold on it because I was packing and moving. I was doing strictly audiobooks for most of June because of that reason.
00:23:46
Speaker
or rather July and then I got here I was here by myself my boyfriend was like at home visiting his family right after we moved and I was just kind of like sitting in my emotions about like moving across the country I don't know whatever it just like I think about this book and I think about like where I was in my life at that point you know what I mean do you have books like that yeah so this book just like holds a really special place for that reason but also it made me feel so many emotions
00:24:14
Speaker
very, very deeply. Laura, who's our female main character, is pregnant, and once she found out she was pregnant, she decided that she needed to leave her abusive husband, who had been mostly mentally and verbally abusive their entire marriage, but also starting to get scary at the end physically. So she left and ran to her family's beach house, where she used to vacation every summer when she was a girl, and she runs into Samir, who was her first love.
00:24:40
Speaker
her first kiss her first like they lost their virginity to each other like it was like their first everything when they were teenagers and it's just like so beautiful the way that Samir immediately like sees her and is like I like it falls back into that role of just like wanting to love her and not even necessarily romantically at the beginning like he's just like
00:25:00
Speaker
She's alone and pregnant, like what the fuck? I wanna be there for her every step of the way. I wanna go to doctor's appointments with her. I wanna make sure she's eating what she needs to eat and he's a chef. So it's just really, really beautiful, a really beautiful healing journey on Laura's end. And that epilogue had me boo-hoo crying. So love that one. Kayla and I have not read it. We have not. I would love you to. I think it hits harder if you read the first book in the Ravenswood series. I do think all those books are worth reading. I haven't read the last one yet.
00:25:31
Speaker
okay my number eight is check and mate by Ali Hazelwood I loved this book so much and I think a lot of the books that ended up making my top list were books I had read physically and there was just something I always love it when I it's just like me in the book and when it was me reading check and mate it was just like me in the book and I remember I would get up I go to like cycle and I would get up and
00:26:00
Speaker
get dressed super fast and then time myself and be like okay how much time do I have to continue reading this book until I have to leave and I would always it's like the last possible second because like I could just I just like could not get enough of them I used to read a lot of YA back in the day like three years ago and this to me like just felt like such a good representation of the genre as a whole and I think that's like not
00:26:25
Speaker
like an easy thing to do and it still felt very fresh too which again is not an easy thing to do in a genre that is like so overly saturated with so many different themes and stuff. I just thought Ally Hazelwood killed it. I love Mallory's family so much. I love her sisters. I love the way that she revealed information in that book as well. Like I just thought everything was really well done and I would love to see her do more young adult novels because I think she also really nails
00:26:53
Speaker
like a teenager's voice without it being like so cringy. Like you read books and you're like, I can tell. I don't talk that way. Yeah. Yeah. Like wrote this as what they think. But like listening to Mallory and her friends talking about like what they watch on like YouTube and TikTok and none of it came off as like corny or lame. I was like, yeah, of course. Like they're talking about this stuff and I just, I loved it. And like Brandy said, it was like very sex positive and such a charming book. Like I was charmed by that book. She has another YA book already slotted.
00:27:22
Speaker
Okay, yay. I'm excited. I feel like Kenner, you really went through, I mean, I feel like a lot of people did, but like you went through like an Ally Hazelwood Renaissance this year. Yeah. Yeah. I made a TikTok video about this. I thought that I just, yes. Well, not like a Renaissance specifically, but like I went on such a roller coaster with her books this year.
00:27:41
Speaker
because I thought The Love Hypothesis, because I loved that book when I read it. I was like, oh, I just like was fell into the hype. And like, I really enjoyed that book. Because I did not like Love on the Brain. And I thought the novellas were just okay. So I was like, oh, like, The Love Hypothesis was like a one hit wonder for me. Like, that's awesome. But like now with Love Theoretically and Check and Mate and what I've read of Bride, like being so consistently good. I'm gonna read whatever she writes forever. I know.
00:28:09
Speaker
Same. I didn't read Love on the Brain, but I read all the novellas. And I was the same way. I really liked the Love Hypothesis when it came out. And then after a while, everybody was like, this wasn't good. And then I was like, oh, maybe they're right. I just fell into the group think, I guess, of it all. And then the novellas were OK. They weren't that bad, but they were fine. So I never read Love on the Brain. But yeah, Love Theoretically. No, Love on the Brain. You don't need to read it. Oh, yeah. No. I probably won't read that one. All right. What are we on, number seven? Seven.
00:28:39
Speaker
Yeah, number seven. Okay. My number seven is You Again by Kate Goldbeck. I really liked this book. It kind of took me by surprise. I actually picked this book because I had, I don't have a book with a month subscription anymore, but I had just like leftover credits. And so like every now and again, I'll check and see what they have just so I can, what I can spend my credits on. Cause it's like, it's, it's a free book. They're not getting my money anymore and it's free book one may as well. Right.
00:29:01
Speaker
And I saw this one, and so I grabbed it. It was an early release, but I didn't end up reading it until after release. I actually ended up just reading it on audio, not physically, even though I owned it physically. I kind of fell in love instantly with this book. I know that this is going to sound silly because the premise of it is sort of based on a movie anyway, but it really does feel like a movie. It's like a movie. That's how it felt in my head.
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah, just the the very long time period that this book's like takes place over it didn't really feel like I don't know when you're reading it didn't feel super long as in like it wasn't super drawn out and everything because I feel like if it takes place over that period of time, you know, it can feel
00:29:51
Speaker
you know long or it can feel even choppy when you're when you're switching time periods all the time like that but it didn't feel like that to me and everything felt so natural and I also thought that with Ari the queer and like I guess poly rep in there too because they were kind of in like open relationships with some people well
00:30:11
Speaker
at least at some period she thought she wasn't but it ended up that way um but i really loved that too and i just thought ari was such a unique character that you don't really see that often in books and so i really loved that and then just her and josh's journey from like
00:30:26
Speaker
strangers, to enemies, you know, to friends, to lovers. I just, oh my, like it makes my heart like so happy just to think about. And I just, there's so many moments in that book that come to mind that I think about all the time. There's a couple of scenes that I like just re-listen to all the time. So I just, I love that book so much. And I for sure recommend it on audio.
00:30:49
Speaker
My number seven. What is The Winter King by C.O. Wilson? Honestly, shook is not higher.
00:30:59
Speaker
I could not justify putting it above everything else that comes above it, but I fucking loved this book. I begged Kayla to read it and she thought it was okay. But I love this book. If this book has no fans, I'm dead. It's the first book of the Weather Mages of Mistral series in which there are two warring kingdoms, the Summerlanders and the Winter Kingdom. When the Winter Kingdom wins, the Winter King wants to broker
00:31:27
Speaker
uh long-lasting peace so he wants to marry one of the summer king's daughters. The summer king has a daughter who he hates because his wife died as a result of her magic so he's like yeah take cams in. It's like a marriage of convenience like enemies to lovers. It's so fucking good. I thought the magic system in it was like so well done because it was elemental magic
00:31:52
Speaker
So they can control different aspects of the season. But I thought one thing that was so unique about this is that Kamsin has very poor control over her magic, and that plays a really large
00:32:05
Speaker
part of the plot is that she summons storms on accident when she gets pissed because she controls storms. There's just so much in it. For me personally, my romanticy heart was beating so hard because there was so much good romance in it, so much good fantasy in it, and I loved it on audio. It definitely won't be for everybody. That's why sometimes when I recommend a book and these two will tell me that it was just okay, that fucking hurts. When Kayla said that this was just okay, I was like,
00:32:35
Speaker
That's fine. That's fine. So my friend Destiny, our friend Destiny, is currently reading it and loving it, which feels good. Izzy also read it and loved it. Izzy loved it? Yeah, Izzy loved it. Yeah, it's so good. So it's my number seven. Makes me want to reread just talking about it. Okay, my number seven.
00:32:58
Speaker
Mine is nervous just cuz like I'm so sorry. This is a tie I'm so sorry I told them I was gonna do a tie and they told me I couldn't do it unless I took away a number but I'm not gonna do that and once I say what the books are I think you'll be I think you will understand why I tied them and I think it makes sense
00:33:17
Speaker
My number seven is a tie between How to Fake it in Hollywood and Will There Won't They by Ava Wilder. I think that is a fair tie, in my opinion. Same author. Same author. I don't. Anyways.
00:33:29
Speaker
I could not not have both of them. And I think I love them equally. I know you two are like, that's so fucking stupid. Probably like the worst with y'all read all year. Anyways, I read how to fake it in Hollywood in January because I saw our friend Bernie post about it a lot last year is one of her favorite romances. So I got it on Libby for my Kindle this year and like went in completely blind. I just knew that it was fake dating and
00:33:58
Speaker
Oh my god, I was just so captivated by both Ethan and Grey's journeys romantically. I'm not going to go too far into it because we did do a whole different book episode about it where I just showered that book in so much love and praise. And then Abel Wilder
Hosts' Top Book Picks Revealed
00:34:13
Speaker
had a second book come out this year called Bodeira Bonte that follows another set of actors.
00:34:20
Speaker
And I don't I can't even like put a lot of tropes. It's like workplace enemies to lovers, I guess, but second chance. But even like trying to like tropify that book like doesn't do it justice to me. Like it's just it's just so good. And I think Ava Wilder so wickedly talented.
00:34:36
Speaker
And I just really love both of these books and they submit to Ava Walders like an auto buy author for me and both of these books just made me feel so so much. And I am just so excited to see whatever she does next even though her new release has not come out until 2020.
00:34:52
Speaker
but like she is she's steering away from Hollywood romances which i'm really excited for because i was like i kind of hope she doesn't do that like you know i think she's on a good job but like i don't want her to get like pigeonholed like only writing about like celebrities but yeah so that's my number seven love well they're one that was really good it was i will be rereading that next year yeah she couldn't make any of y'all's honorable mentions oh my god
00:35:18
Speaker
Kendra, we read like 150 books this year. What do you want from us? On to number six. My number six is The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. I love this book. This is one of the few books that made me cry real tears this year. For that, like alone, I feel like it deserves a spot. And I know, to be fair, the part that actually started to make me cry, I was like tearing up towards the end of this book.
00:35:44
Speaker
There's like a very specific part that made me tear up, but I actually started crying when I read the author's note That like really hit hard for me But this is one of those books that like when I was reading it I'd like remember being like now this is a romance book
00:36:01
Speaker
I was like, this is why I love the genre so much. Like, it's just, you know, I know we're always like, this had me giggling, kicking my feet, blah, blah, blah. But no, like this really had me like giggling, kicking my feet. Like I was so like giddy about these two. And I just thought everything about it was so engaging the way that, you know,
00:36:21
Speaker
you were figuring out what was going on kind of at the same time that Clementine was and I, you know, it was like trying to like put the pieces together in my head and you know just kind of going along with the mystery and I just I loved everything about Clementine and Ewan's relationship and I
00:36:42
Speaker
I love them so much. I just had such a great time with this book. It was very unique and I can't wait for her next release too. That cover was gorgeous. So I'm very excited to see what she does next. So that is my number six. Love. My number six was Belladonna by Adeline Grace.
00:37:02
Speaker
At the beginning of the year, I was reading a lot of good books, but I wasn't reading a lot of great books. And then in March, I read Belladonna, which I think is a great book. I think it's a great book. The audiobook sold it for me, but I think even if I eyeball read it, I would have loved it as much. It's gothic fantasy.
00:37:23
Speaker
about a girl who cannot die and her relationship to this personified death. I loved it. I thought I was like giddy. Like I would send Caleb voice memos of me just like giggling while I was reading this because I just loved it so much. I thought the magic in it was really unique. I thought the mystery of it all was really engaging and I think about it all the time. So loved it.
00:37:50
Speaker
um my number six is sammy esplanosa's last review oh my god this book is just so fucking good like it follows a woman named sammy who has just gone through a pretty like rough breakup with a singer of a band that she was following and she's a music critic and so she was like giving the band like
00:38:16
Speaker
kind of like fake reviews in order to like get in the good graces of her ex-girlfriend. So that put her job on the line. So in order to get back in the good graces of her job, she promises on that she can like get an interview with this guy named Max
Surprises and Comparisons in Top Picks
00:38:31
Speaker
Ryan, who lives in her own like her sort of hometown. So she returns to her hometown and is like hoping to run into him. And they had a thing in the past
00:38:41
Speaker
So she's thinking that she can use that to her advantage, but then when they run into each other again, he does not remember her. It hurts. Yeah. So you kind of just go on this journey of them like reconnecting and it's not just her reconnecting with him, but it's her reconnecting like with her best friend who lives in the town and some family that she has there. And I just thought it was just so well written. Like it's just one of those books where I'm like, holy shit. Like how did you put that sentence together? Like how did you like craft that?
00:39:09
Speaker
and I thought it was just so well paced too and the family dynamics throughout this book are so good and like done in a way that is like so like unique to me I was just like in complete awe at like what I was reading and it is a romance I definitely it's one of those I like can straddle the fence of like romance and women's fiction
00:39:32
Speaker
what i love is that even though it shadows that fence i think it does both of those things really well because like as much as i was invested in sammy and her story i was like oh sammy and max ryan like what's going on and they were just so good for each other um and so well done and this is this author's adult romance debut and i thought they just like knocked it out of the park and it has like really good representation in it like sammy is a pansexual mexican american woman who
00:40:00
Speaker
I think it's very assured in her queer identity, but doesn't feel as confident in her Mexican heritage for reasons. And you get to really unpack those and it's just phenomenal. And it's a quick read. So that was my number six. All right. We're in our top five now. Okay. My number five is yours truly by Abby Jimenez.
00:40:24
Speaker
I, well, we all read this as an arc late last year and we didn't include it in our like top books that year because we read it as an arc. And so I wasn't going to originally because I was like, Oh, I read it the year before, but I had to include it somewhere because I love this book so, so, so much. And you read it this year. And I did reread it this year. You're so right. Abby is an auto buy author. I think for all of us, she just
00:40:51
Speaker
has this ability to write such dynamic, flawed, fleshed out characters. And she's, this is gonna sound so cheesy, you guys, but she just really makes you like feel the deepest emotions that I feel like I've like almost ever felt reading a romance book. Like I felt like their pain, their frustrations, their love, their struggles, their happiness, like everything that happened to these characters I feel like I felt.
00:41:18
Speaker
And I know that, you know, so many people can relate to Jacob and his anxiety. I think that for a lot of people, that was really the first time that they had seen a character with his anxiety written in that way. And so I think, you know, a lot of people, myself included, can really relate to that. And I think Abby as an author has just gotten better and better with each book that she's written. And I'm just like so excited to see where
00:41:47
Speaker
like she goes next. I mean, we know that she has just for the summer coming out and I am ecstatic to read that one. I'm so, so, so excited. It's a gorgeous cover and I think it's your best cover yet. Yeah, yours truly. Number five.
00:42:01
Speaker
Jacob and Brie, love them so much. Love them so much. I do want to say I put them as an asterisk on my last year's top 10, so I did not include it in this year's top 10. Otherwise, I would have been in there. My number five is Butcher in Blackbird by Bryn Weaver, which is just one of the most unique books I've ever read. It's having its moment right now. It is blowing up. I'm happy for her and for everybody who gets to read it because I love that book.
00:42:31
Speaker
The audiobook is one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to, which if you would have told me before I listened, oh yeah, here's an audiobook narrated by Lucy Rivers and Joe Arden. I would have said that's hilarious. It's so good. It is so, so, so good. Yeah, I love that. I listened to it and then four days later I listened to it again because I just, I missed them. It is a book about two serial killers who kill
00:42:59
Speaker
other serial killers. So what's that show, Dexter? Like that kind of vibe. They meet in person, realize who the other person is, and then decide to form this like friendship and
00:43:11
Speaker
have this competition basically about who is going to reach their next target. All the people they're killing are horrible people. It's funny, it is gory, it is swoony, it is gross. It is all of those things and that's why I just think it's so unique. I would be cringing one second and then giggling the next and then tearing up the next. I just think it is so well done.
00:43:37
Speaker
My number five is Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez. Yeah. Kayla said, wow. No, I just, I wasn't, I'm just like, I love hearing everybody's talk. Yeah, no, I love hearing because I like just didn't know that that would make your top 10, but I'm happy for you. Kayla's texting on the side like, I thought Kendra had taste.
00:43:58
Speaker
No, this this book completely took me by surprise because Life's Too Short is a third book in Abby Jimenez's Friendzone series and I DNF'd the Friendzone because I was like, this is not good. It's her debut. So it's like, whatever. And then I read the second book in that series. I am forgetting the title. And again, I was like, there is good stuff in this playlist. Yes, that's the title. It just like wasn't it just wasn't my favorite. And at the end, I was like, whatever. And then I
00:44:27
Speaker
I read like Partier World yours truly so I got through like all of her backlist for the most part except for life's too short because I was like do I want to read like another book in the friend zone and like it not be like good but I got the audiobook on Livy and it's narrated by Mr. Zachary Weber and I'm forgetting the girl's name but I mentioned it we did like an audiobook episode in season one and I use that as my like example and that
00:44:55
Speaker
audiobook phenomenal like 10 out of 10 so good amazing performances on both sides the female narrator i need her to do more like books that we read she does like other like more literary fiction books i'm like no like do more romances but yeah follows a girl named vanessa whose entire family on her mom's side for the most part has had uh als
00:45:21
Speaker
and they've all died before they've hit the age of 30 and she is nearing 30 and she has for the past couple years tried to live life to the fullest and she started a youtube channel to like chronicle like all of her adventures and so now she's like this really popular youtuber but then her sister has a baby and like leaves the baby with her so now she's back in her hometown in minnesota
00:45:44
Speaker
like watching her sister's kid and she lives next door to this like overworked attorney who like really only cares about his job but then they just like enter each other's orbit and you see them go from like strangers to friends to lovers in a way that felt so just like natural and like evenly paced and the conversations around like
00:46:06
Speaker
to me around like terminal illnesses were handled just so well. And there's like a quote, I know we said we're going to do any quotes, but there's just one quote that I think about all the fucking time from this book, because Zachary Weber delivers it so well. And he goes, just because you don't recognize the fight they choose doesn't mean they're not fighting. I was like, Abby Jimenez, how the fuck did you write that? Like, are you kidding me? That is just so good. And
00:46:29
Speaker
I love that book and I love them. And I think about them all the time. I've listened to it a lot, too. It's like such a comforting audio book. And it is my second favorite Abby Jimenez book. So yeah, I was just going to say when we met Abby at Bonanza this year, you said that quote. You were like, I love this quote. I love my shirt. So yeah, I know how much you like that one. It's just it's so good. Brandy's face. I said it was my it is it is. I know. I just like I'm such a yours truly. I know that. Yeah, that's my third favorite.
00:46:59
Speaker
My number four, okay, so since Kendra cheated, I'm gonna cheat a little bit, but I'm not cheating the same way that Kendra is. My number four is The Shepherd King Duology, okay, by Rachel Gillick. So it's a duology, so it's two books. It's not two separate books by the same person. Okay, but they're set in the same universe. They're actually connected. They're literally set in the same universe. Oh my god. There's cameos. Anyways, sorry.
00:47:21
Speaker
These books are, I don't know why I struggle when people are like, Oh, what are these books about? I'm like, it's a like, there's just a lot going on. But to me, even though there is a lot going on, I feel like Rachel Gillig
00:47:34
Speaker
writes it in such a way that, I don't know, it's not, at least for me, I didn't find it super difficult to follow. I think that the magic system in this story is so unique. It basically follows this girl named Elspeth, who has this quote unquote sickness, essentially in the town of Blunder. And if you have this sickness, you're supposed to be put to death. But her family kind of hides her away.
00:48:00
Speaker
There's also these things called Providence cards, which are basically the magic system of this whole universe. And I just think that the magic system of this series to me feels very fresh, and it feels unique. Now, I'm sure that other people have done similar things. But to me, I think that the way that it was done in this series was very unique. And this is also the author's debut, which I was so shocked by. This felt like a seasoned author to me.
00:48:29
Speaker
And just the characters I love, love, love them so much. There's basically this like this band of I guess like misfits almost. There's this group of people that are kind of like the secret rebellion and I love every single one of them. The second book in the series took a turn that I wasn't expecting and I was really happy about it actually. And
00:48:52
Speaker
There's multiple romantic relationships in this series, which again, I was kind of surprised by and I loved each one. And there's also so many unexpected friendships that I really, really grew to love as well. And once the series was over, I was like, wait, no, like I just, I wanted so much more. Like I could read about these people forever. And I am obsessed with all the main POVs.
00:49:18
Speaker
Just I love those people so much. So that's my number four. My number four is Reckless by Elsie Silver Heartless made my top ten last year and it felt like that book was like written for me So I just thought that there was no way that any book that Elsie ever wrote because like I read powerless after I read heartless It did not hit the same so I was like, oh like I'm just like a heartless girly like nothing's ever gonna top heartless for me then we all read Reckless very close together and
00:49:47
Speaker
I love that book. It is my favorite Elsie Silver book to this day. Yeah, it's just so good. The audio is pretty good, but I physically read it first and I'm glad I did. It's just so sweet. It follows Winter and Theo who have a one night stand and then Winter ends up pregnant. This is not really a spoiler. It's still on the back of the book. Winter ends up pregnant, cannot get ahold of Theo. There's some miscommunication that happens, but then when Theo finds out that he has missed all this time with
00:50:17
Speaker
his daughter, he is distraught and wants to do everything in his power to make it right. So the book kind of follows them trying to figure out what their relationship is going to look like as they try and co-parent. It's so good. I love it. It is so good. I know that this book is going to be on all of our top tens, so I'm curious to see where it lands on Kendra's. Yeah.
00:50:37
Speaker
Oh my God, watch me be wrong. I'll be so embarrassed. I'll also be shocked. But go ahead. My number, yeah, four is Seven Years Slip by Miss Ashley Poston and Kayla already like pretty much gave a rundown. But yeah, I listened to that book on audio as I was driving 18 hours by myself in the middle of the night from San Antonio, Texas to Los Angeles, California. It's like 2am.
00:51:07
Speaker
getting to like the climax of this book and i'm like gripping the steering wheel like trying to fight back tears i just thought it was so freaking good britney pressley i think is such a good narrator she's become like if i see her name on a book i'm like okay i'll listen to it because i just know that she's gonna give like a really solid performance no matter what and i thought she did such a good job and it's just one of those concepts where you're like this is just so fucking cool you can put any two characters
00:51:34
Speaker
any couple and then see would they make it out? Could they survive, you know, one being seven years in the present and one being seven years in the past? And yeah, it was just really unique for a romance book too. So it was just, it was a good time. And there's just a scene from that book that I think about all the time. Like anytime someone reads it, I'm like, Oh my God, do you know that one part when? And every time like, ah, so good. And this is my first book by the author too.
00:52:00
Speaker
Yeah, same. There's so many ones or moments in that book where I was just like grinning ear to ear, like my smile was so big. He calls her lemon. Oh, that's a good nickname. All right, top three. I feel like now that we're getting close, I feel like I know I know what Brandi's top is. Kendra, I don't know what her top top is, but I know what's for sure going to be. I know for sure two books that she's going to say next.
00:52:27
Speaker
But I don't know what her top top is. I know one that she's going to say, I cannot think of the other. My number three is Reckless by Elsie Silver. That book, I won't say too much. Brandy's already talked about it. But yeah, that book is just like pure happiness to me. It's my favorite contemporary this year. I just like, I don't know. I can't think of anything that I didn't like about that book. I loved every single second, every single page. I love Theo.
00:52:51
Speaker
and Winter and Vivian. I love their little family. I would read about them doing anything. And Elsie Silver is the queen of tension. She's one of the best sex scene authors out there. She's just like, it's true. Like she's just so good at it. None of it feels cheesy or forced. I just, yeah, there's not much else to say. I love that book so much. That's my number three.
00:53:19
Speaker
So good. My number three is The Devil You Know by Elizabeth O'Rourke, which is the third book in the Devil series. And I've read this book four times this year. Really? I thought it was like two or three. No, four. I didn't know it was four. Cover to cover four times. Yeah. I listened to the audio book and I was obsessed
00:53:44
Speaker
So then I listened to it on a Monday, and then I listened to it again on Friday, and I one day did both times. I just adore this book so much. I listened to it again. Later in the year and then Kendra annotated a copy for me for my birthday so then I read it physically to do that to read the annotations.
00:54:02
Speaker
And it follows two lawyers, Ben and Gemma, who got off on the wrong foot on literally day one of working together and you watch it happen. They get off on the wrong foot years of just like small snipes back and forth and like just like trying to get under each other's skin. But in a way that's like always has an undertone.
00:54:23
Speaker
of flirting with it for the most part, especially from Ben's end. And this is all told in Gemma's POV, which I love. I think it serves the book so well that it's all in her POV. But I just think it's just so funny. I think I've realized that I love when women are commitment folks in books. I think it's so fun for me to read. Gemma has daddy issues at the wazoo. She really doesn't trust men. So when Ben makes it clear to her that he is interested
00:54:50
Speaker
in being with her in a real way. She's like, no. So they do a friends with benefits thing for a while. It's a whole thing. And it's so good. I highly recommend the audio book. It is narrated by Samantha Brentmore, who is one of our favorite narrators as a whole for the pod. And I think about them all the time. Do you want to do your Samantha Brentmore impression?
00:55:13
Speaker
I love her. She's not incredible at male voices, but her acting makes up for it. That's the thing is like her acting makes up for it. Yeah. Yeah. Especially in sex scenes. Oh yeah. Jesus. I didn't enjoy any of that.
00:55:33
Speaker
My number three is also reckless by Elsie Silver. Such a good time. It's my favorite book in the Chestnut Springs series. Um, I think she was on crack cocaine writing it. So I'm serious.
00:55:51
Speaker
She sprinkled it in there. No, dead ass. I was like, this is different. Like something is different. And I like could not put it down. And I thought she just did accidental, accidental and secret babies so well. Because I think sometimes you read it and you're like.
00:56:09
Speaker
There was no good reason for that man not to know about that kid, you know, like But yeah, I just I loved it and I loved Winters story I think she had a good job building winter up from like when we first see her in flawless to like her journey and reckless you're like So proud of you girl Agreed. Can I just say that my top two can be interchangeable? Honestly, I think my top five can be interchangeable, but my top two especially can go back and forth I just want to put that disclaimer before I say what they are today. Got it. Okay
00:56:38
Speaker
Who wants to guess what my number two is? I feel like it's easy.
00:56:41
Speaker
Belladonna. Belladonna. Yeah, Belladonna by Adeline Grace. I love this series so much. I love the Belladonna series by Adeline Grace. Yeah, I did like Belladonna better than Fox Club. I think I rated Fox Club four and a half, or 4.75, and I rated Belladonna five. I mean, I love this series. What can I say? Brandi already kind of talked about it as well, so I won't say too much.
00:57:09
Speaker
I don't know. I listened to this in January. And I mean, my love for it has not diminished at all. Not one bit. Even though Kendra likes to try and tell me how bad death is or something ridiculous.
00:57:26
Speaker
I didn't call him bad. I call him boring. She will not break me down. She will not. I will stand on how much I love that man slash not really a man. Anyway, it was just so atmospheric and kind of like spooky, but I was like giddy and giggling throughout. Like I just I love Cigna and Death so much. And I love the story so much, the world that Adelaine Grace kind of crafted within the series. And I cannot wait.
00:57:55
Speaker
for wisteria, despite all the negativity Kinder throws my way. I'm excited for you. I'm glad that you have something that you enjoy. Then will you leave me alone? No. Okay. That's what I thought. My number two is Yerba Buena by Nina La Cour. Solid.
00:58:20
Speaker
I read this book very early in this year and still to this day when I think about it, like my stomach hurts. Like I adore this book. It is shelved as a romance book, but it reads extremely happy women's fiction. Yeah. It is a sapphic story about Sarah and Emily. But I would say that this book is way more about their individual journeys and how those two journeys like weave in and out of each other's lives versus them like
00:58:49
Speaker
Like, it's not their story. It's Sarah's story and Emily's story in a book, in my opinion. Yeah. Sarah and Emily and neither of them have had easy lives. And so there's a lot of healing that happens throughout the book, a lot of learning about how to exist with a partner in this book. I think the thing that affected me the most was Emily's relationship with the person that we see that's not Sarah in this book. Like, that affected me so
00:59:16
Speaker
so deeply and I think like a lot of women who like maybe like had like relationships that were like a little questionable when they were younger with like will feel really deeply affected by that story as well. I just love them. I loved their flaws which is like I'm not somebody who's like who loves loves loves a flawed character like
00:59:37
Speaker
I accept a lot of characters flaws, but I'm not somebody who's like, I love that they were kind of shitty to people. You know what I mean? But I like loved Sarah and Emily's flaws. And I think that's just a testament to, you know, of course, writing, like the fact that she like showed me why they are the way they are and how they're trying to better themselves and like do right by the people they love. It's just such such a beautiful book. And thank you, Kendra, for telling me to read it. My number two book.
01:00:06
Speaker
And like I said, it can be interchangeable. I don't know what your number two is. My number two is The Heart Principle by Hong Wong. Oh, okay. This book was annotated for me by my friend Lomi. And I don't know how she, I feel like she just read it and like knew like, this is Kendra in a book I'm just gonna send. That's why when I like annotate it for her and send it to her.
01:00:31
Speaker
Anna as a character and I said this earlier like talking about Lizzie like I just always find myself gravitating towards neurodivergent characters like honestly I should probably go like see a therapist but Anna struck a chord in me that was like I didn't even know like I knew it existed but like seeing it on a page just felt very surreal and like from all fronts like
01:00:54
Speaker
especially like the relationship that she has with her parents and like she has to become a caretaker in this book and I've never had to experience that but I have like witnessed it a lot firsthand because my dad is often a caretaker for people in our lives and like she's a caretaker for her dad in this book and she's such a daddy's girl I'm such a daddy's girl and seeing her like find love after because at the beginning of the book she's like in this really shitty relationship and Seeing her like get out of that
01:01:23
Speaker
and then find a guy who just like adores her and like wants the best for her and stands by her through like any and everything because she goes through some like pretty like tough shit in this book and they're just images that I like will have on repeat in my head like from little things that they're doing if it was just them like hanging out like watching tv to like the more dramatic stuff of them having to like
01:01:47
Speaker
comfort one another. And even like the male main character, Quan, like his story is also just like so well done. I just thought Helen Huang did such a beautiful job and really read me the filth at times. That part was not always fun. I just remember sitting on my couch, just like crying, like getting through so, so much of this book. And it's just a really beautiful, heart-wrenching story. And Helen, where are you at? It's been a few years. Let's get to work. Girl, please, we miss you.
01:02:18
Speaker
I listened to this book on audio because Kinder told me to read it and there is one scene in particular that I think of, at least in the audiobook, I think I was in public when I was listening to it and I was like fighting back, like having tears in my eyes, like my eyes welling up because of the way that it was being performed. I don't want to say too much, but it's near the end of the book and yeah, it was just so well done on audio and it was a great book.
01:02:44
Speaker
And I think anyone dealing with like burnout in any shape, form or fashion and like someone who's a people pleaser like you guys know I talk so much fucking shit about Happy Plays because Harriet's supposed to be this like people pleaser and I when I tell you that I have read so many books that feature to me more like
01:03:03
Speaker
how authentic can a portrayal be of a people pleaser, but just features so many other, in my opinion, better portrayals. And I think Anna is one of the strongest ones because she's just trying to please everyone in her life. And granted, like she does have the, she is like neurodivergent. She has autism and like her like realizing that and how it like puts her at ease, but then like also like sort of like throws her out into like a place that she's never been before. I just thought it was so well done.
01:03:28
Speaker
We are here, number one. I know what both of yours is, because just by deduction, it's easy to figure out. But yes, let's all say it together. My number one is Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. I love that book with my whole heart, my body, my soul, everything.
01:03:57
Speaker
read this book in May about a month after it came out. I actually read it when I was on vacation and I remember I was just like going through it. I wasn't going through it you know as quickly as I normally would because I was on vacation but I was just like going through I was like oh my god wait this is good oh my god no wait this is really good holy shit this is a great book you know like
01:04:16
Speaker
And yeah, I finished it on a plane actually and I was just like, you know, like freaking out listening to it. I almost listened to the entire thing with my husband because we listened to it on audio as we were like going back and forth driving on vacation. And so he was also listening to it with me when we were reading. But yeah, I feel like I don't really need to say that much about what it's about because I feel like everybody knows, but it is about to
01:04:39
Speaker
rival co-workers, Roman and Iris, and they're basically vying for this spot where they work at the Ozgazette. Iris is writing letters to her brother who is off at this war, this god's war, and the letters, she doesn't know, but they're being intercepted by Roman, her rival co-worker, and they basically just start exchanging letters and it kind of goes from there, but
01:05:03
Speaker
Yeah, Rebecca Ross is just a very special author to me. She's, she's very lyrical in her prose. And I just think that the way that she weaves her stories and sets up her characters just speaks to me personally. And I loved her Elements of Cadence duology. But this book
01:05:22
Speaker
cemented her for me as like one of my favorite authors like probably top five if not top three for me. I'll read anything that she puts out. I've read four books of her backlist now and Ruthless Vows comes out next week I cannot believe.
01:05:39
Speaker
It's shocking to me and I get to see her in January and I'm going to pee myself. I'm so nervous slash excited. Yeah. And I mean, there's not much else to say. I love this book so much. I've talked about it ad nauseam. So that's my number one. My favorite book of the year is Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonham Young. Yep. Shocker.
01:05:59
Speaker
Shocker. I've been saying that since August when I read this book. Oh god, it's embarrassing. Like it makes me emotional how much I love this book. I was the last of the three of us to read it and I don't know what took me so long, but once I did, I just like could not put it down.
01:06:16
Speaker
It is so special, the feelings of like a warm hug are what come to mind. That book is a slice of life, very low stakes in the best way. And just that these are two people who have an accidental pregnancy who are just trying to figure out what is their life going to look like now that this is what is going on.
01:06:38
Speaker
The disability rep in it is just really beautiful and comes from a lot of Hannah's lived experience, which she talked about on the podcast with us. We did an episode with her. It was really beautiful to talk to her about it as well. But the love that Bo and Wynn have for each other as friends before it turns into anything really romantic
01:07:00
Speaker
it makes me emotional the way that they are each other's like biggest cheerleaders in like the smallest ways possible. I think about the scene all the time where this isn't a very big spoiler but where Bo's dad is visiting and Wynn comes home and talks about the takeout guy. Do you remember that part where she's like telling Bo like oh yeah the takeout guy came and he sat inside the cafe again and then in Wynn's internal monologue she's like
01:07:29
Speaker
These are just small things that Bo and I have that like if anybody else like saying it to his dad sounded stupid because this is like something that we talk about. Like it's just not a big deal. And I think that is just like so like those kind of moments, it's like really small moments that are just like really realistic for people who are in love was just like really, really beautiful to read about. I love them. I love their family. I love that book.
01:07:55
Speaker
I read it a couple times this year. I'm going to reread on audio sometime either this month or next month. So yeah, that book will forever be very special to me. Any guesses, guys? Love Theoretically by Allie Hazelwood. And like,
01:08:21
Speaker
Okay, I think the reason why I loved the little Allie Hazelwood journey that I have gone on this year is because I think it's very easy for an author to present certain things the exact same way every single time, especially when it comes to sex. And so I think having the juxtaposition of a character like Mallory from Check and Mate who was like,
01:08:51
Speaker
love sex I love fucking like I it's just a release for me like I love doing all the time and then having a character like Elsie who is older than Mallory she's like 27 and is like I have only really ever done that for like to please others and that kind of feeds into like she's a people pleaser or whatever
01:09:11
Speaker
I know I haven't even given a description yet, but I think what Ali Hazelwood is doing in her work is just astonishing from that point of view. And I think it's amazing because I think you hear people say all the time like, Oh my God, like sexuality is fluid, but then you don't get to see that represented unless it's like a very
01:09:29
Speaker
I don't know how to even classify that. But I think she does a really good job of showcasing it across her work and the fact that they're all in the same universe and stuff. So when I was reading Love Theoretically and I was just watching Elsie's thought process around dating and relationships and seeing her fall for this guy.
01:09:48
Speaker
I just I just saw everything interconnected so well and I feel like I'm not even like saying this like right but I just I just every ever since I finished off theoretically I just keep thinking about Elsie and Jack I cannot get them out of my fucking heads they are physicists and Elsie is interviewing for a job and
01:10:09
Speaker
at the school, MIT, where Jack is the head of the physics department. He's an experimental physicist, and she's a theoretical physicist. However, there is a conflict of interest because Jack believes that Elsie is dating his brother, but we know that Elsie is fake dating his brother. So it's like you have all these just moving pieces that I think Ali Hazelwood slotted in perfectly. It's just such a good-ass story, but yet still very simple and very funny. And it's really, really, really hot.
01:10:39
Speaker
Do you guys know what Kenner always says? Like she'll just be like sending me a voice memo and and then randomly should be like, isn't it so crazy that Jack came on the stomach? She like she loves that part. It's I mean, I do, too. But yes.
01:10:55
Speaker
I don't know. I feel like I'm not even doing a good job describing my love for this book. But what I was talking about earlier, I think, is the main reason why I am just so attached to it. And there's a really good conversation about being on the ace aromantic spectrum.
01:11:12
Speaker
and like how that's like represented differently between the two character between two characters and it's just really good and Jack just loves that girl down. Destiny's Child wrote the song cater to you for Jack himself like he just wants to take care of her and
01:11:29
Speaker
he pushes her still to be the best. He doesn't, what's the word, infantilize? He doesn't infantilize her in any way, but just recognize this is a girl that just needs to be taken care of and I wanna do that. His fantasies are cooking for her and driving her places. And I'm like, that's so fucking hot. And I think as someone, I live alone. I have to do everything by myself all the time in terms of taking care of myself and making sure that I get fed, putting gas in my car, doing everything. So see that.
01:11:55
Speaker
a man in a book like oh no I want to do all that for you like that is my that'll be my perfect man so that as of right now like I said I think heart principle and love theoretically could like switch around so easily but those are my top two number one and who would have thought Allie Hazel would be would be coming in strong no especially because it happened really late it happened late in the year for you yeah yeah and I
01:12:24
Speaker
had this thing where like if I read an author a certain way like it's not for every author but for some authors if I read them a certain way I want to continue reading them that way
01:12:31
Speaker
Since I read Love Hypothesis physically, I was like, I'll just read Love Theoretically Physically. And again, it was like another moment where it was just me and the book and it was so nice. And I was just like in my bed, like kicking my feet and smiling and being like, LOL girl, you're being a little too loud. Shut the fuck up. And then just like, oh my God, guys, you know the scene that I think about? It's when it's towards the end and LC is like recapping like a typical week in their life now as like they they've been dating now for like eight months.
01:13:02
Speaker
and she and George get their paper published in this magazine and at night she's brushing her teeth and Jack comes up behind her and he's like you're the most magnificent thing to like ever happen to me because he's just so proud of her and like the work that she's doing oh my gosh and it's it's like a sentence it's a sentence that that is contained to and it's just so good I think
01:13:28
Speaker
Allie Hazelwood writes, men obsessed in just the best way, in a way that with the exception of love on the brain, where it read creepy to me, I think she writes like men obsessed so well. I love it.
01:13:46
Speaker
And like you said, like in a way that like I didn't really live on the brain, but in a way that isn't like creepy and like isn't doesn't make me feel like a child and like seems very reasonable and like fits the characters and like
01:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I like that the FMCs are also just very aware of it and how nice it is to have that, how much they need that in their lives, and it's so good. And again, Elsie, another people pleaser that I just think was done really well. So Harriet, you can suck it. You have so many people outdoing you, and it's crazy. No, it's literally crazy. You want to talk about a mirrorball girlie? Elsie, mirrorball girlie and a son. Mallory. Yeah. Oh, I mean, I've told you guys this a million times.
01:14:32
Speaker
the best book I read this year is not even on this list and it's Know My Name by Chanel Miller but I'm not going to talk about it but like by a landslide the best book I read I just want to include on this list because that it's like non-fiction very different story and like but it will change the way you view romance and I think that's probably why a lot of these books did end up on that list because I was viewing them through the lens of me having read that book so I don't
01:14:54
Speaker
want to pressure you guys to read it obviously i don't think that's a book you can like pressure people into reading but if you ever do decide to read it i will be here to talk all about it thank you i would love to read it it is a lot it took me a long time to get through it the audio is fantastic though truly because she reads it herself well that was fun i love how different our lists were but there were like some crossovers yeah yeah reckless is the only one that made all three of ours the only one really
01:15:24
Speaker
No, check checking. Well, all three, I guess. No. Yeah. Huh. That's true. Kind of didn't hate death so much. Well, if Brandy actually like seven years slip. OK. I was trying to make it. Not just you. Is there one that both? No, never mind. I was just going to say, is there one that both of you had that I didn't check and made. But that but that one made it my made my honorable mentions, at least. Yeah.
01:15:51
Speaker
Yeah, I love that it's different, though, that we're not like all the exact same. Otherwise, that'd be kind of boring, wouldn't it? Mm-hmm. Keeps the group chat fun. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Keeps things interesting. Keeps things interesting.
Collective Top 10 and Season Close
01:16:03
Speaker
Yeah, and we did make a collective top 10 for the pod that we'll post on our Instagram. Making that was so fun. A lot of these made that list. A lot of them did not. Yeah, there was a lot of them that we could not try and convince the others. Yeah.
01:16:20
Speaker
This is technically our season closer. We're going to be taking a little break over the holidays and into the new year, but we will catch you in early 2024. Woo. Yes. I can't believe that we started this podcast this year. Yeah. Feels like we've been doing it for a long time. It really does. And it was in like March too, so it wasn't even like at the beginning of the year.
01:16:45
Speaker
I'm so glad I get to do this with you guys. It's been a good 2024. Thank you all for listening this year. Yes, here's to so many other good books coming in 2024. There are so many on the release slate that we're all so excited for. It's gonna be a good one. It's gonna be a good year. I love you guys so much. I love you too.