S2 E5: Books that made us laugh

*Trigger warning: The beginning of this episode starts off with a politically charged conversation about the Supreme Court and the recent overturning of Roe v Wade. But we eventually do talk about books. ** Also, this is our last episode  before our summer break, but we will be back in the fall rested and refreshed, with more amazing books to share with you all. Aileen read Olga Dies Dreaming by Sochi Gomez, a story that explores two different interpretations of the American Dream inside one Puerto Rican family living in New York City.  Lauren read (and absolutely adored) Women of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, which follows a Mexican American family that has been displaced and resettled, and how they try to integrate and re-establish their lives.  Alisa read Martita, I Remember You by Sandra Cisneros, a heart-rending story about missing friends told by a Mexican woman living in Chicago.And Josie just couldn’t put down Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a page turning supernatural romance of the highest order, this book delved into Mayan mythology.

Alisa’s daughter Ella, and Lauren’s daughter Ana gave us a list of YA titles we hadn’t read yet.  Aileen read We Were Liars by E. Lockheart, a thriller with a blow-your-mind twist at the end. Though classified as YA, we all felt like this book was just as suitable for adults also.Lauren read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak after years of her daughter Ana telling her to. Ana has a special connection to this book and briefly joins us to talk about how books she read and loved when she was in middle school have a particular place in her heart. Alisa read Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney, a well-told story about two couples who swing, which had the same characteristic “Rooney” style that Alisa loved so much in Normal People. And Josie read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and she can’t believe it took her so long to read this excellent book. Important, timely, and just a fine story in and of itself, Josie believes that it should be required reading in high schools.

This week we read books that hovered somewhere in the beach read category, yet much more challenging and satisfying than the run-of-the-mill sand and surf fluff. Aileen read The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, a story of summer, secrets, love, and lies.Lauren read Mr. Wrong Number, a hilarious rom-com by Lynn Painter.Alisa read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, about an aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon who is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life.And Josie read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story with a surprising tale of possible murder.

This week on Fiction Between Friends we have a special guest, New York Times bestselling author, Beth Revis! We talk about her new book The Princess and the Scoundrel, coming out August 16, 2022, and her serial novel Museum of Magic that is out right now on Kindle Vella. Beth tells us all about the lovely people at Star Wars, and about how she worked pulling tarot cards and throwing dice to decide plot points in Museum of Magic. We also discuss the state of YA, publishing in general, and we even touch on the banned book controversy sweeping the nation. Alisa was sorely missed, but we promise she will be back next week. Thanks, Beth, for coming on the show!

This week the gang reads historical fiction. Alisa and Aileen are old pros at this sub-genre while Josie and Lauren are more like dabblers. Ironically, almost all of the picks were in the WW2 category while Josie was the odd duck who traveled back to medieval Europe.Aileen read Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. She’s been trying for years to read this book but every time she picked it up, she’d put it back down after asking herself, “do I really want to read about a leper colony?” Well, she finally read it and she’s so glad she did. It was uplifting and inspiring and not at all the bummer she imagined it be at the outset. Thanks to her friend Pam for suggesting it!It took Lauren a moment to spit out the title, but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Schaffer was a huge hit for her. This book took her a beat to get into but once she did, she never wanted it to end. Set during the German occupation of Guernsey during WW2, this epistolary-style book was a great yarn. As always, Lauren doesn’t suggest books unless she loves the characters, and this book she highly recommends.Alisa found a real gem in The Only Woman in the Room by Heather Terrel. Set mostly during WW2 as well, this story is about Hettie Lamar’s life, loves and her inventions. The gang was just floored to learn about this multi-faceted, self-taught woman whose mind was even more stunning than her famous face. There were some real mind blowers in this one, and the gang was just spellbound by Alisa’s description.Josie went to the way-way back with Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. It was murderous monks galore in this runaway bestselling book that was not only inspired by a medieval manuscript, it’s also about one, hidden deep within a library that also a labyrinth. There are so many twists and turns, both metaphorically and in the plot, it will have your head spinning. But don’t let the Latin freak you out. This is a real page turner as well as being a meditation on one of the biggest theological debates in Catholicism. Josie loved it. 

Ever wonder how your favorite book becomes a movie or a TV show? Well, wonder no longer because we have brought in a bona-fide filmmaker to explain it.Lauren couldn’t be with us, but we had our first guest speaker, Barbara Stepansky on in her place. Barbara is an award-winning screenwriter and a director who writes for the show Outlander. She had us read Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden as a hypothetical book-to-miniseries project and we had a blast “breaking” the story (that’s Hollywood lingo for a bunch of writers sitting around talking about how to turn a book into a show).We think we got at least nine episodes out of Morton’s wonderful, century-spanning, ocean-crossing saga. We also discuss how Barbara is attached to adapt Josie’s thriller What She Found in the Woods and how it feels for a writer to see their stories put to screen.Though we missed Lauren terribly, the gang had such a great time speaking with Barbara that we are thinking of doing this guest speaker thing again real soon.

This week on Fiction Between Friends, anything goes! It was the “What’s on Your Nightstand?” episode. Aileen read Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld. A modern re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. Lauren swung for the fences and read a book in Spanish that she’s been trying to read forever. En los Zapatos de Valeria by Elisabet Benavent, about 4 women who are best friends (sounds familiar) who are all on different paths in their lives and in their loves.  Alisa read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, and Josie read Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. And she promises to stop stalking Ms. Novik… eventually. 

We talked about it, and we’ve decided that the pandemic is over. For now at least. And we wanted to celebrate by talking about what helped get us through it. Each other, of course, but also what we read.Aileen talked about how much she loved reading Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  Lauren reminisced about Ross Poldark, the first book in the Poldark series by Winston Graham. And Alisa and Josie went non-fiction with I’m Judging You: The Do Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi, and The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr. 

This week we all read books that were set in our neck of the woods. New England!Aileen starts us off with On Beauty by Zadie Smith.  Lauren covers The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.  Josie read The Secret History by Donna Tartt.  But Alisa probably “won” this week with her read, We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry.  Trigger warnings: heavy drug and alcohol abuse, suicide.

We felt like we needed to lighten up a bit, so this week we read books that made us laugh. Lauren read an old favorite, One for the Money by Janet Evanovich.  Alisa read Faking It by Jennifer Cruise. Aileen read The Humans by Matt Hague. And Josie read one of her favorites, Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.