February 9, 2025 • 27 mins
Have you recently wondered, why all of the girlies are suddenly obsessed with reading? In this weeks episode of FIT(ish), Phoebe and her friend Nikki get real about reading. From ‘gateway books’ that pulled them back into the world of reading to their preferences of fairy smut vs thriller, no stone is left unturned. Get ready for laughs, relatable confessions, and a whole new appreciation for the books everyone’s obsessed with right now!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Apodje Production. Welcome to Fit Fish. I'm Phoebie Parsons and
this is the podcast that proves that you don't have
to choose between staying fit and having fun. This is
a huge moment for us because I feel like if
people have been listening to this podcast since the very
start when it was Confessions of a train Wreck, they
(00:27):
are going to know exactly who you are. Nikki Fraser,
my friend of how many years? I just don't even know.
Did we realize the other day that we had finished
high school like twenty years ago? And that made me
feel just a little bit affected, so somewhere around there.
(00:49):
And I haven't had you on the pod since it
was finish And this is minute really exciting. Yeah, and
we're talking about the most exciting topic reading. But I just,
as the title would suggest, I just want to go
back and track our reading journey because it seems like
(01:10):
all the girlies are reading now and I am so
here for it. But has it always been like this
and people just haven't been talking about it? Or was
there something that kickstarted everyone's reading journey? I reckon book
talk has got one hundred percent massive influence, one hundred percent,
So let's start at the start. Were you always a reader? Okay,
(01:33):
so yes, as a kid, big reader, you know, like
the Enid Blyton books, Far Away Tree, et cetera, et cetera.
When I was a kid, we used to go on
road trips and my parents would get audiobooks from the library,
so we would listen to like The Hobbit on a
car ride. So you were doing audiobooks before they were cool.
I think I made it cool, but yeah, I yeah,
(01:59):
always was a big reader. I remember in high school,
like the Harry Potter Extravaganza. Yeah, and girls used to
like bully each other by spoiling what happened in the books.
Did that happen at your school? Yeah? Yeap. Yes. I
think it's also because reading is a kid, because I
was the same. I was an avid reader in school,
like probably only for the very early part of high school.
But I remember in primary school I read a lot
(02:21):
of books for some reason. I remember reading all the
Gretel Colleen books, and I remember them so vividly. Maybe
I was going to say that the Night My bum Drop.
They were so good, Connie. Yes, they are brilliant books. Yeah,
and like Goosebumps and like all those books that you
read when you're a kid. But I feel like back
then reading was the leisure, like it was something that
(02:42):
you did not because you had to do it, but
because it was something fun that you could just do.
And because I think like when we were kids, there
was no streaming TV. It was just like Zena Warrior
Princess six pm, seven point thirty and then you had
to go to bed. You had to go to bed.
Buffy if you were lucky, I wasn't allowed to watch
(03:04):
that neither. I was not allowed to watch that. To
this day, I've never watched Buffy. I think it's very
telling that we were the kids that were reading Gretel,
Colleen and all of the other kids were watching Buffy.
But yeah, I feel like reading when you're young you
can sort of take yourself where you want to go.
If you find the series that you really like, that's
(03:26):
like taking you away. You would never get to live
that life because you're eleven years old in Brisbane. I
think that's kind of powerful. And then here's where I
think everything took a turn. I think once you get
into the later part of high school and definitely UNI,
when you have to do so much reading from textbooks
for study. You want to rebel against reading because I'm like,
(03:49):
why would I read a book when all I do
is read these boring textbooks? Yeah? So you stopped reading
during UNI. Ah? Yes, I definitely more through high school.
And the only thing what segged me back into reading,
which I think is what a lot of women have
been through in their reading journeys, was self help books. Yeah,
(04:13):
because that was what was cool. Maybe I wrote a list.
I think there are self help books that every single
millennial woman has read. Hit me a Secret. I have
read part of the secret part of it. I don't
know if I read it cover to cover. I definitely
had a copy at one point and would like flick
through to try and get some tips. I read it
(04:34):
cover to cover multiple times. And the book that the
copy that I got came with a DVD, and I
also watched the DVD. And my mum was a very
avid secret person as well, Like we were very into
that book or a secret family. Here we go the
Barefoot Investor. Oh my god, I've read it and I
still run my finances like that, do you. I read
(04:55):
the first chapter and I opened that one account, and
then I got so bored so I didn't finish. You
should do it. It is good. But this is my
issue with self help books is I never finished them
because I got so bored with them. That's what happened
to me. In The Secret, I think, yeah, like I
get it, I think positively. Yeah. The next one, The
Power of Now, I've never read that. I didn't read
(05:15):
the whole thing. I don't think I've read any of
the whole things of these except for The Secret. Yeah,
The Subtle Art of not giving a fuck Ah Listen,
I haven't read that, but I think I have picked
up what it's putting. Actually, I think I have read
it cover to cover, but I didn't read the second one. Yeah,
I kind of got it, and I feel like the
second one. I haven't read either of them, but I
feel like it would be kind of repetitive at that point, right,
(05:37):
I mean, read the titles enough, but the title kind
of says what it is, and when you're thirty, it's
not a subtle art. It's just how you live. Yeah,
Big magic, Elizabeth Gilbert. I've read that year. I recommended
love that book. I have read it multiple times, multiple
multiple times. Is Eat, Pray Love on that list because
I think that's a self help book that's not really
(05:59):
marketed as a self phone. I haven't read Eat Pray Love.
I've seen the movie, but I've not read the book.
The book is transformational. Yeah, and everyone says, obviously the
book is so much better, because every book is better
than the movie. If you are going through a hard
time in your life, what are you doing if you're
not reading Eat Pray Love? Well? I booked a booked
an Eat Pray Love trip to Bali once on a whim,
(06:21):
but then I canceled it. But that was again my moment.
That was my Eat Pray Love moment. I know you
read this one because you gave me it. Oh wait,
which one? Why men love bitches? To bring this up?
I actually think the copy is somewhere in this room
in a bookshelf, probably with post it notes in it,
so that copy isn't even mine. I took it from
M and then I think I passed it on to you.
(06:43):
Stop like that book made its way into my life somehow,
back when we were like twenty one, and I've probably
read it cover to cover twice and was like, cool,
you really took that book gospel. I followed it like
a Bible. Yeah, I mean it's because it kind of
goes against my instincts to do some of the advice
in that book. I found it very helpful. I think
(07:03):
it's a good confidence building book. I will say that,
but you were using this, you were using the tactics
wrong in that you had to live in boyfriends. Yeah,
already had him, but still got to keep treating me
and keep always got to keep wanting more. I also
read a book called Skinny Bitch, which stopped me eating
(07:25):
meat for twelve months. It was all about the appatoires
and like why meat makes you fat, which is like
such bullshit, But again I was very in that gullible
days of life. And then the last one I have
is The Five Am Club because I feel like I
actually feel like that book is happening a moment again. Yeah,
I feel like I've seen a lot of people talking
(07:46):
about this on social media recently, so this is the
thing for me. I don't think I finished maybe a
couple of those books, but they don't hook you the
way that fiction hooks you. But for some reason I hadn't.
I don't think i'd read a fiction book since I
read Harry Potter, Like I just for the longest time,
I didn't read because I would always divert to like
(08:06):
doom scrolling or something. But I feel like everyone has
a gateway book, like the gateway drug. It drives you
back and it like reignites that thirst that you had.
And for me it was in twenty twenty three I
read Eleanor Oliphant is completely what does an Eleanor Oliphant's
completely fine? And I could not put that book down.
(08:30):
And I hadn't had that even pre Harry Potter. I
could put Harry Potter down. I could not put this
book down, and I was like, oh my God. And
I swear that reading for me is the only time
I am completely present in a moment, undistracted. You could
be having an honest to god conversation beside me and
(08:51):
I wouldn't hear a word. And I love that for me. Yeah,
hyper focus, hyper focus. That was two years ago. Yeah yeah,
And now you're an avid reader again, Like I've already
read five books this year's I'm a Loser. It's basically
all I do now. But I'm obsessed. But I want
to talk about the journey. So what was your gateway
back into very very similar to you I read. I
(09:13):
can't remember when I stopped, but I think it was
between like the stress of the end of high school
and the exhaustion of UNI, and you know, I was
working through UNI. I think I just was like, the
last thing I want to do is pick up a
fiction book when I'm reading one hundred research papers for
this assignment. Like it does kind of ruin it for you.
(09:33):
I did a literature subject in my first year at
UNI that also had some heavy, heavy books in it
that I was just like, I feel kind of traumatized,
Like Lovely Bones was in there, Okay, a couple of
other books that I remember thinking I would try. I
had to read them for UNI, so I'd read them.
But it was like, you know, anytime you have to
read under duress, it's the worst. Anytime you have to
(09:54):
do anything under juriss. Yeah, but you're like, I have
to finish this by Sunday, and you're like, it's a
pretty scary book in parts, and I was like, I
don't want to be reading this anymore. So that, yeah,
ruined it for me a little bit. I got back
into it. I know, the Gateway book it was Leanne Moriety,
which one was it big little lies before the show
(10:15):
came out. Before the show came out, So it was
probably like twenty nineteen, I reckon, So that would be
what eight or nine years after UNI Yeah ended, So
it was a pretty big hiatus. And this is also
long before BookTalk. Might I just add no BookTalk? And
I didn't get a kindle until a year ago. Okay,
(10:37):
we're going to get onto the kindle. But yes, this
was back when I would walk into a bookshop like
something I would do on the weekend and buy some
books to It was fun. And then did you stick
to a genre? Yes, so I pretty much stuck to
like the what do you call it domestic thriller? I
love domestic thrill. My mum would call it chick lit,
(10:57):
like Leanne mriety. I don't I see, I beg to differ.
I don't think it's too sorry, I don't think that's
chick lit. I think domestic thriller is very friend to
chick lit. I agree. I think the the spicier books
I would call more chick lip. There's a definite line
in the sand, Like if you think like crazy rich
Asians and those kind of books where there's there's plot
there's drama like it's exciting, and then there's yeah, the
(11:21):
really frothy books where you're like, I couldn't quite tell
you what this is about right now, but melting my
brain to a good degree. Mm Hmmy one hundred percent,
because I think it took me a while to find
what my genre was, but one hundred percent I am
a domestic thriller slash now hardcore thriller. Galie, you're going
to get into like the horror, well very sci fi.
(11:44):
I mean I did say to you about half an
hour ago that I'm probably going to have to give
it a break for a little bit because I've started
to be scared of going to sleep again in my
third story apartment in a gated complex. But it took
me a while to find that, and I was like dabbling,
and it was taking me like two or three weeks
to get through a book because I wasn't super hooked.
(12:05):
And then I discovered Sally Hepworth amazing. I was obsessed.
I think the first Sally Hepworth I read was Darling Girls. Yeap.
It is one of the best books I've ever ever
ever read, and I feel like that really cemented the
domestic thriller for me because it's about the really intricate
(12:27):
nuances of the characters. Yes, and it's I don't know
why reading about it is so different to watching something. Yeah,
so different. Your imagination is engaged, so you're not like
half checked out the way you might be with TV. No,
it's really it's like all consuming in a really nice way.
And I just love that so many people are doing this.
(12:47):
Like I feel like every time we catch up now
with our group of friends, everyone's like, what are you reading?
What are you doing? And in all of my different
groups of friends, we always talk about books. Now it's
like one of the things that we always cover off.
But it didn't used to be like this. And Yeah,
other than BookTok, I can't think what else has changed
other than maybe it's our a Like, maybe it is
the number of years since we've been at UNI. We're
(13:08):
all feeling like we've recovered from some of that reframaving trauma,
the referencing trauma. God, I would probably agree with you there,
but I still think that there are very there are
two very different kinds of goals who read. I feel
like there are the goals who read the fantasy. Yeah,
and then there are the girls who read the thriller,
(13:30):
your thriller, I am fantasy. So you if you had
to choose between thriller or fantasy, you would choose fantasy.
I think so. Yes, like Akata amazing, I haven't believe it.
I haven't read it. I haven't, do you know what?
I understand the reservation because I think about it, like
when Game of Thrones was big, when that first came
(13:53):
you suck when it first came out. I remember being like, oh,
I'm not really into medieval shit doesn't sound like it's
up my alley. I get it. You've just got to
get in there. You try it, and you will buy it, Okay,
because I'm going to say something that is really controversial
right now. I don't really like Harry Potter, do you
(14:15):
know what. I'm not die hard Harry Potter. Yeah, either.
Like I'm also gonna admit I only read up to
the fourth one. Phoebe me too. Up until COVID, I
had only read up to the fourth one because, like
I said at the start of this recording, everyone freaking
ruined it for each other in high school, and I
remember getting spoilers from the fifth to sixth book whatever,
(14:36):
and I was just like, well, I can't be bothered
to read it now. I don't want to read it
if it's spoiled. Forgot what all those spoilers were. And
then read it during COVID and it's good. Yeah, maybe
it's something that I'd appreciate more as an adult, but again,
it's more down that fantasy route, and I'm so in
my thriller zone. I know. I mean, don't force yourself.
(14:57):
But the first so the books that you would have read,
the books that I had read, are more childhood angled books.
The later books are kind of a bit more deep. Well,
the movies get fucking scary. Yeah, they get really scary,
because we watched all the movies from one in COVID. Yeah, honestly,
don't be dying. Yeah, I don't think I could read
(15:19):
it like you need to do at the start of
this show. What if someone's not ready, you're doing that thing.
I've become that person that I hate. But I think
what really cemented it for me was when I discovered
Freedom McFadden. And this is only a very recent discovery.
I am her number one fan and someone literally actually
(15:39):
two people in the last seven days have asked me
to start a Freedom McFadden book club, and I'm not
opposed to the idea, but I have seen everyone talking
about the Housemaid because of the movie that's coming out,
and they've cast the characters and they're currently filming it,
and I was like, who's the characters? Who's playing it?
Amanda say Fraid is the Housemaid? No, she's Nina Oh.
(16:00):
And Sidney Sweeney Oh is the Housemad? Yeah? So great casting.
But I wanted to read the Housemaid series before the
movie came out, and so I bought the three Housemaid
books before Christmas, and I said, in my little mini break,
my only goal is to read these three books. I
read six free to make Fathom books because I could
(16:23):
not put them down and I was getting through them
in one day, like one day. It was sick. They
are so good and I think it's very similar to
also Lucy Foley books. I've never read a Lucy. I've
got a bookshelf full of them behind me. I can
pass them on to the scary their thriller. But I
think what I love is when someone dies on the
(16:44):
first page and then it goes a whole book is
going back, and that's what I love. Yeah, that's what
hooks me. I need a really strong hook at the start,
otherwise I'm not going to finish it, And there have
been I feel like I'm at the point now with
books it's kind of like food, you know, when you
start reading something and it's just it's boring you. I
(17:04):
don't finish them anymore. I'm not going to make myself
finish it. Sure, it's like if you take a sip
of a coffee that tastes like shit, I'm not finishing
this just because I paid for it. No, what's the point.
I get you. I completely agree, and I think I
would like you to create like a scale of scariness
for these domestic thrillers because I'm with you, Like I
(17:24):
read The Housemaid on your recommendation, and I finished it
in twenty four hours, like I was, couldn't put it down.
But then there's some that, like I've heard you and
Kyla talk about that just it just sounds too scary
for me, Like there are some that there are some
that aren't even it's not just scary, it's like pretty sick.
Like the teacher. There's a lot of like underage no
I'm stuff going on. It's well, you know, what's wild.
(17:46):
I was telling my boss about this, and her daughter
is eleven eleven and she's obsessed with freedom mcfatten. I've
read them all. I okay, So the Akatar books, which
are kind of very porn steamy. Yeah, there was this
thread that someone showed me of all these mums in
like a Facebook channel for like books for kids, being
(18:09):
like I gave my nine year old kid the Akatar series,
thinking that it was like Harry Potter. Okay, as someone
who hasn't read any of the books, how graphic are
we talking? Like? Whoa man? Like? Give me no? Please? No,
I can't. I couldn't even say it out loud, Like no,
(18:31):
we've said a lot of things to each other out loud.
Not on this. Turn the recording off. I'll tell you
that bad Yeah wow, Okay, Well, at least friendly Fatton
is not like dirty. No, it's just like heavy adult
themes like people stabbing each other and stuff. I mean,
I think that's probably worse for kids than some sex
(18:52):
positivity that they're getting from Akatar. True, Yeah, that's true. Okay,
what's been the best book you've ever read? Do you
have a favorite book of all time? I would say
my favorite book of all time is Eat, Pray, Love,
And I know it's old, Like I just love that book,
old bit of good and I don't know what I
think if I try and figure out the theme, it
is maybe like self help theme books that are always
(19:15):
my favorite. Like I really loved Wintering. I feel like
I need to read that book because you've told me
about that book before. Yeah, and the Lea Sales Book
Any ordinary Day I read that incredible. I just love
those books that make you sit into your life a
little bit, but then ultimately I also love the fantasy
and the absolute like brain melting, frothy girl reads What's Yours?
(19:39):
I think one of my all time favorite books is
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Oh my gosh, Taylor
Jenkins read That's Yeah, She's really It's like another good
book someone was trying to get back into reading. Yes,
great author to go with as your intro. I would
one hundred percent agree. I also really loved Darlin Girls.
(20:01):
Yeap Verity Verity will get you back into reading big time.
But verit is very scary, and I think verity is
a divider, Like I know people who really hate it.
Same our Frank color hated it. My sister hated it.
How can you hate it? I don't know. I loved it.
I loved it to it I loved it too, because
that's like the quint like, I don't know, that's that's
(20:21):
what all of the Freedom McFadden books are essentially like.
There's actually a Freedom McFadden book called The Woman Upstairs
and it's people say it's the same as Verity, which
that's slightly different. I think Verity came first. You know,
Freedom McFadden's a doctor. No, and she writes on the side,
what an overachiever sat down a brain doctor? Oh my god.
Maybe that's why the books are so twisted. Maybe, Okay,
(20:43):
what's the worst book you've ever read? Well, so, now
I've got a kindle, so that would be my other tip. Okay,
we need to talk about this because I also think
there are two types of readers. There are people who
read on kindles and there are people who read actual
physical books. Yeah, and right now we are covered the
two type. We do cover the two types. I loved
having my paper books and I was creating a collection.
(21:05):
I wanted to have a bookshelf of all my books
that I had read. But It is a bit of
a barrier if you're a busy gal and you don't
have time to research what's a good book, and you
don't have time to get to the shop, or even
like you know, or a little cardile the time that
you have to wait for them to get ships sometimes
a week, yeah, or like popular books that sell out
(21:28):
in the bookshop. Yes, I think actually The Handmaid is
quite hard to get at the moment because everyone's lost
their shit about it. Yeah, so I had. I had
some struggles with that. I got the kindle was a
gift and I wasn't sure about it. I freaking love
it so much. Like I know, people have got their
like qualms that it's not holding a paper book, it's
not tactile and stuff like that. But I have read
(21:51):
probably three times as many books as I would have
without it, because you can get a sample for free
of any book and read the first like one hundred
pages or so, and if you're not interested, don't buy it.
One second later you can be in the sample another book.
You know. I love that there's no delay and so
it's so good and you can kind of it recommends
(22:12):
as well, So when you finish a book, and then
it'll be like, here's similar authors or here's similar books.
So that is good good, That's like a good algorithm
to get into because it would really start to understand.
You See, my thing is reading for me is one
of the only times in my life. But I'm not
on a screen, but I'm not on a computer, but
I'm not on a phone, And I don't want to
have another screen or a device in my life, which
(22:32):
is why I'm very much into physical books. But I
am very much the minority now because everyone reads on
kindles or on their phones. Yeah, I think I don't
know if I could do it on my phone. It's
so small and the backliding and stuff. The Kindle is
very soft on the eye. Also, you have got all
the Kindle accessories. Mate, You've got the automatic page flipper
(22:56):
so you don't even have to use your hands. I've
got the like bionic arm that holds it above my head.
Came over the other weekend and literally I like lay
her down in my bed position the Kindle arm over
her face, gave her the little like remote clicker, and
she's like, she's sold. You're a meme. You're a literal meme.
(23:17):
But I think maybe I need to come and do
that to experience that, because then maybe that's going to
convert me. It's good for your neck. You know, my
kindle is waterproof, so you can read in the bath
and not be like dipping your pages in the water.
You're gonna say, you can read in the in the
in the ocean, in the shower, swimming in the pool.
Oh that's helpful. Yeah, that is really handy. It's good. Okay, Yeah,
(23:39):
that's interesting. That's good food for thought. Because my sister's
also on a kindle and she says that the books
are also a lot cheaper to purchase. Sheep on a
kindle mentioned that sometimes the books are like under ten dollars. Yeah. Yeah,
and I feel like when I was buying books in
the shops, everything was thirty five dollars. Every book came
up fifteen fourteen. That's good. Yeah, that's where I buy
(24:00):
most of my books from. Yeah. Otherwise, I do try
and support the bookstores book Yeah, we need to like
find out of some good independent bookstores that we should
be supporting in Brisbane. One hundred percent. I don't know
of any, but I feel like I can get around
the idea of a book club, because I feel like
this is also as we're moving into this era of
social wellness with you know, like now when you catch
(24:21):
up with friends, you don't want to go to bars
and you don't necessarily want to do that stuff. You
want to go to like a bath house, or you
want to go on a walk and have a wine
or something like a book club. A wine and a
book that you are all discussing sounds so good. We've
we've talked about it so many times, but it's the
logistics reading under duress again, Like you you might be
(24:43):
busy that week. I've got to really time my book
so it works really busy for me at the moment.
I cannot start the next handmade what is it? No
Housemaid book? No, I can't even start. So you have
a whole it's going to be all consuming and it's
going to be like taunting me. When I'm busy at work,
half my brain is wishing I was reading. I think
this is why I get through books so fast, because
(25:04):
I I generally read them on the weekends because again
I'm very time poor during the week and I can't
read like if I try and read at nighttime or
read a page and I'm out, so I have to, like, no,
I've got a good chunk of time in front of
me to just sit and read the book. Yeah, because
I'm very much the same. But we did try and
start a book club with Lisa and we all read
the book but at very different times, and it was
(25:25):
just I think, again, you're probably right. Just go on
book talk and you can just observe and chime into
other people's discussions on book that you've liked and read. Yeah.
So then just to wrap it up in a nice
little bow, what book are you reading right now or
what book you're about to start? I really want to
start the Throne of Glass series and I really want
to finish the House Made series, but both are going
(25:45):
to have to wait until I've got a bit more
free time because I know both are going to be
a bit of a head fuck, like I'm going to
need to read them. I need, I'm going to need
some free time. Yeah, what about you. I actually, just
before you arrived sat down and opened up The Coworker
by Freedo McFadden, which I've heard from a lot of
people is one of the worst Freedom mac fadden books.
But knowing me, I'll be finished by six pm tomorrow.
(26:06):
How many books does this woman have? This brain stays
a lot. She's got a lot of books. They're not
that long though, they're like three hundred and fifty pages.
They're not like super duper long books, and they're easy
to read. There. What I like about them too, is
they're little chapters. They're short chapters. Yeah, no, that's nice.
I would like yeah, I would like future crowdsource. Okay,
(26:27):
a bit of information about like this thriller genre for me,
because I do want to get into it by I
just must not get scared of falling asleep. You've gone
too far and I don't want to get there. Sally
have worth domestic, Stay domestic thriller, Stay in domestic thriller,
don't gateway into thriller thriller. Yeah, because that's when it
starts to get scary. Yeah. Cheers. Cheers to being literary
(26:50):
as fuck, being so smart, avid readers, very born. Thank
you so much for listening. Guys. I really hope you
enjoyed the episode, and don't forget to help a sister
out by following the podcast on Apple, on Spotify, or
wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate it write me
a review and if you want more Finish. We do
(27:10):
have a private Facebook group. There is going to be
exclusive Q and A is happening with my guests in
that group. That's going to be events going life first,
so much fun stuff happening. Just look up fit ish
in brackets on Facebook and you can be part of
the Finish online community
Apodje Production. Welcome to Fit Fish. I'm Phoebie Parsons and
this is the podcast that proves that you don't have
to choose between staying fit and having fun. This is
a huge moment for us because I feel like if
people have been listening to this podcast since the very
start when it was Confessions of a train Wreck, they
(00:27):
are going to know exactly who you are. Nikki Fraser,
my friend of how many years? I just don't even know.
Did we realize the other day that we had finished
high school like twenty years ago? And that made me
feel just a little bit affected, so somewhere around there.
(00:49):
And I haven't had you on the pod since it
was finish And this is minute really exciting. Yeah, and
we're talking about the most exciting topic reading. But I just,
as the title would suggest, I just want to go
back and track our reading journey because it seems like
(01:10):
all the girlies are reading now and I am so
here for it. But has it always been like this
and people just haven't been talking about it? Or was
there something that kickstarted everyone's reading journey? I reckon book
talk has got one hundred percent massive influence, one hundred percent,
So let's start at the start. Were you always a reader? Okay,
(01:33):
so yes, as a kid, big reader, you know, like
the Enid Blyton books, Far Away Tree, et cetera, et cetera.
When I was a kid, we used to go on
road trips and my parents would get audiobooks from the library,
so we would listen to like The Hobbit on a
car ride. So you were doing audiobooks before they were cool.
I think I made it cool, but yeah, I yeah,
(01:59):
always was a big reader. I remember in high school,
like the Harry Potter Extravaganza. Yeah, and girls used to
like bully each other by spoiling what happened in the books.
Did that happen at your school? Yeah? Yeap. Yes. I
think it's also because reading is a kid, because I
was the same. I was an avid reader in school,
like probably only for the very early part of high school.
But I remember in primary school I read a lot
(02:21):
of books for some reason. I remember reading all the
Gretel Colleen books, and I remember them so vividly. Maybe
I was going to say that the Night My bum Drop.
They were so good, Connie. Yes, they are brilliant books. Yeah,
and like Goosebumps and like all those books that you
read when you're a kid. But I feel like back
then reading was the leisure, like it was something that
(02:42):
you did not because you had to do it, but
because it was something fun that you could just do.
And because I think like when we were kids, there
was no streaming TV. It was just like Zena Warrior
Princess six pm, seven point thirty and then you had
to go to bed. You had to go to bed.
Buffy if you were lucky, I wasn't allowed to watch
(03:04):
that neither. I was not allowed to watch that. To
this day, I've never watched Buffy. I think it's very
telling that we were the kids that were reading Gretel,
Colleen and all of the other kids were watching Buffy.
But yeah, I feel like reading when you're young you
can sort of take yourself where you want to go.
If you find the series that you really like, that's
(03:26):
like taking you away. You would never get to live
that life because you're eleven years old in Brisbane. I
think that's kind of powerful. And then here's where I
think everything took a turn. I think once you get
into the later part of high school and definitely UNI,
when you have to do so much reading from textbooks
for study. You want to rebel against reading because I'm like,
(03:49):
why would I read a book when all I do
is read these boring textbooks? Yeah? So you stopped reading
during UNI. Ah? Yes, I definitely more through high school.
And the only thing what segged me back into reading,
which I think is what a lot of women have
been through in their reading journeys, was self help books. Yeah,
(04:13):
because that was what was cool. Maybe I wrote a list.
I think there are self help books that every single
millennial woman has read. Hit me a Secret. I have
read part of the secret part of it. I don't
know if I read it cover to cover. I definitely
had a copy at one point and would like flick
through to try and get some tips. I read it
(04:34):
cover to cover multiple times. And the book that the
copy that I got came with a DVD, and I
also watched the DVD. And my mum was a very
avid secret person as well, Like we were very into
that book or a secret family. Here we go the
Barefoot Investor. Oh my god, I've read it and I
still run my finances like that, do you. I read
(04:55):
the first chapter and I opened that one account, and
then I got so bored so I didn't finish. You
should do it. It is good. But this is my
issue with self help books is I never finished them
because I got so bored with them. That's what happened
to me. In The Secret, I think, yeah, like I
get it, I think positively. Yeah. The next one, The
Power of Now, I've never read that. I didn't read
(05:15):
the whole thing. I don't think I've read any of
the whole things of these except for The Secret. Yeah,
The Subtle Art of not giving a fuck Ah Listen,
I haven't read that, but I think I have picked
up what it's putting. Actually, I think I have read
it cover to cover, but I didn't read the second one. Yeah,
I kind of got it, and I feel like the
second one. I haven't read either of them, but I
feel like it would be kind of repetitive at that point, right,
(05:37):
I mean, read the titles enough, but the title kind
of says what it is, and when you're thirty, it's
not a subtle art. It's just how you live. Yeah,
Big magic, Elizabeth Gilbert. I've read that year. I recommended
love that book. I have read it multiple times, multiple
multiple times. Is Eat, Pray Love on that list because
I think that's a self help book that's not really
(05:59):
marketed as a self phone. I haven't read Eat Pray Love.
I've seen the movie, but I've not read the book.
The book is transformational. Yeah, and everyone says, obviously the
book is so much better, because every book is better
than the movie. If you are going through a hard
time in your life, what are you doing if you're
not reading Eat Pray Love? Well? I booked a booked
an Eat Pray Love trip to Bali once on a whim,
(06:21):
but then I canceled it. But that was again my moment.
That was my Eat Pray Love moment. I know you
read this one because you gave me it. Oh wait,
which one? Why men love bitches? To bring this up?
I actually think the copy is somewhere in this room
in a bookshelf, probably with post it notes in it,
so that copy isn't even mine. I took it from
M and then I think I passed it on to you.
(06:43):
Stop like that book made its way into my life somehow,
back when we were like twenty one, and I've probably
read it cover to cover twice and was like, cool,
you really took that book gospel. I followed it like
a Bible. Yeah, I mean it's because it kind of
goes against my instincts to do some of the advice
in that book. I found it very helpful. I think
(07:03):
it's a good confidence building book. I will say that,
but you were using this, you were using the tactics
wrong in that you had to live in boyfriends. Yeah,
already had him, but still got to keep treating me
and keep always got to keep wanting more. I also
read a book called Skinny Bitch, which stopped me eating
(07:25):
meat for twelve months. It was all about the appatoires
and like why meat makes you fat, which is like
such bullshit, But again I was very in that gullible
days of life. And then the last one I have
is The Five Am Club because I feel like I
actually feel like that book is happening a moment again. Yeah,
I feel like I've seen a lot of people talking
(07:46):
about this on social media recently, so this is the
thing for me. I don't think I finished maybe a
couple of those books, but they don't hook you the
way that fiction hooks you. But for some reason I hadn't.
I don't think i'd read a fiction book since I
read Harry Potter, Like I just for the longest time,
I didn't read because I would always divert to like
(08:06):
doom scrolling or something. But I feel like everyone has
a gateway book, like the gateway drug. It drives you
back and it like reignites that thirst that you had.
And for me it was in twenty twenty three I
read Eleanor Oliphant is completely what does an Eleanor Oliphant's
completely fine? And I could not put that book down.
(08:30):
And I hadn't had that even pre Harry Potter. I
could put Harry Potter down. I could not put this
book down, and I was like, oh my God. And
I swear that reading for me is the only time
I am completely present in a moment, undistracted. You could
be having an honest to god conversation beside me and
(08:51):
I wouldn't hear a word. And I love that for me. Yeah,
hyper focus, hyper focus. That was two years ago. Yeah yeah,
And now you're an avid reader again, Like I've already
read five books this year's I'm a Loser. It's basically
all I do now. But I'm obsessed. But I want
to talk about the journey. So what was your gateway
back into very very similar to you I read. I
(09:13):
can't remember when I stopped, but I think it was
between like the stress of the end of high school
and the exhaustion of UNI, and you know, I was
working through UNI. I think I just was like, the
last thing I want to do is pick up a
fiction book when I'm reading one hundred research papers for
this assignment. Like it does kind of ruin it for you.
(09:33):
I did a literature subject in my first year at
UNI that also had some heavy, heavy books in it
that I was just like, I feel kind of traumatized,
Like Lovely Bones was in there, Okay, a couple of
other books that I remember thinking I would try. I
had to read them for UNI, so I'd read them.
But it was like, you know, anytime you have to
read under duress, it's the worst. Anytime you have to
(09:54):
do anything under juriss. Yeah, but you're like, I have
to finish this by Sunday, and you're like, it's a
pretty scary book in parts, and I was like, I
don't want to be reading this anymore. So that, yeah,
ruined it for me a little bit. I got back
into it. I know, the Gateway book it was Leanne Moriety,
which one was it big little lies before the show
(10:15):
came out. Before the show came out, So it was
probably like twenty nineteen, I reckon, So that would be
what eight or nine years after UNI Yeah ended, So
it was a pretty big hiatus. And this is also
long before BookTalk. Might I just add no BookTalk? And
I didn't get a kindle until a year ago. Okay,
(10:37):
we're going to get onto the kindle. But yes, this
was back when I would walk into a bookshop like
something I would do on the weekend and buy some
books to It was fun. And then did you stick
to a genre? Yes, so I pretty much stuck to
like the what do you call it domestic thriller? I
love domestic thrill. My mum would call it chick lit,
(10:57):
like Leanne mriety. I don't I see, I beg to differ.
I don't think it's too sorry, I don't think that's
chick lit. I think domestic thriller is very friend to
chick lit. I agree. I think the the spicier books
I would call more chick lip. There's a definite line
in the sand, Like if you think like crazy rich
Asians and those kind of books where there's there's plot
there's drama like it's exciting, and then there's yeah, the
(11:21):
really frothy books where you're like, I couldn't quite tell
you what this is about right now, but melting my
brain to a good degree. Mm Hmmy one hundred percent,
because I think it took me a while to find
what my genre was, but one hundred percent I am
a domestic thriller slash now hardcore thriller. Galie, you're going
to get into like the horror, well very sci fi.
(11:44):
I mean I did say to you about half an
hour ago that I'm probably going to have to give
it a break for a little bit because I've started
to be scared of going to sleep again in my
third story apartment in a gated complex. But it took
me a while to find that, and I was like dabbling,
and it was taking me like two or three weeks
to get through a book because I wasn't super hooked.
(12:05):
And then I discovered Sally Hepworth amazing. I was obsessed.
I think the first Sally Hepworth I read was Darling Girls. Yeap.
It is one of the best books I've ever ever
ever read, and I feel like that really cemented the
domestic thriller for me because it's about the really intricate
(12:27):
nuances of the characters. Yes, and it's I don't know
why reading about it is so different to watching something. Yeah,
so different. Your imagination is engaged, so you're not like
half checked out the way you might be with TV. No,
it's really it's like all consuming in a really nice way.
And I just love that so many people are doing this.
(12:47):
Like I feel like every time we catch up now
with our group of friends, everyone's like, what are you reading?
What are you doing? And in all of my different
groups of friends, we always talk about books. Now it's
like one of the things that we always cover off.
But it didn't used to be like this. And Yeah,
other than BookTok, I can't think what else has changed
other than maybe it's our a Like, maybe it is
the number of years since we've been at UNI. We're
(13:08):
all feeling like we've recovered from some of that reframaving trauma,
the referencing trauma. God, I would probably agree with you there,
but I still think that there are very there are
two very different kinds of goals who read. I feel
like there are the goals who read the fantasy. Yeah,
and then there are the girls who read the thriller,
(13:30):
your thriller, I am fantasy. So you if you had
to choose between thriller or fantasy, you would choose fantasy.
I think so. Yes, like Akata amazing, I haven't believe it.
I haven't read it. I haven't, do you know what?
I understand the reservation because I think about it, like
when Game of Thrones was big, when that first came
(13:53):
you suck when it first came out. I remember being like, oh,
I'm not really into medieval shit doesn't sound like it's
up my alley. I get it. You've just got to
get in there. You try it, and you will buy it, Okay,
because I'm going to say something that is really controversial
right now. I don't really like Harry Potter, do you
(14:15):
know what. I'm not die hard Harry Potter. Yeah, either.
Like I'm also gonna admit I only read up to
the fourth one. Phoebe me too. Up until COVID, I
had only read up to the fourth one because, like
I said at the start of this recording, everyone freaking
ruined it for each other in high school, and I
remember getting spoilers from the fifth to sixth book whatever,
(14:36):
and I was just like, well, I can't be bothered
to read it now. I don't want to read it
if it's spoiled. Forgot what all those spoilers were. And
then read it during COVID and it's good. Yeah, maybe
it's something that I'd appreciate more as an adult, but again,
it's more down that fantasy route, and I'm so in
my thriller zone. I know. I mean, don't force yourself.
(14:57):
But the first so the books that you would have read,
the books that I had read, are more childhood angled books.
The later books are kind of a bit more deep. Well,
the movies get fucking scary. Yeah, they get really scary,
because we watched all the movies from one in COVID. Yeah, honestly,
don't be dying. Yeah, I don't think I could read
(15:19):
it like you need to do at the start of
this show. What if someone's not ready, you're doing that thing.
I've become that person that I hate. But I think
what really cemented it for me was when I discovered
Freedom McFadden. And this is only a very recent discovery.
I am her number one fan and someone literally actually
(15:39):
two people in the last seven days have asked me
to start a Freedom McFadden book club, and I'm not
opposed to the idea, but I have seen everyone talking
about the Housemaid because of the movie that's coming out,
and they've cast the characters and they're currently filming it,
and I was like, who's the characters? Who's playing it?
Amanda say Fraid is the Housemaid? No, she's Nina Oh.
(16:00):
And Sidney Sweeney Oh is the Housemad? Yeah? So great casting.
But I wanted to read the Housemaid series before the
movie came out, and so I bought the three Housemaid
books before Christmas, and I said, in my little mini break,
my only goal is to read these three books. I
read six free to make Fathom books because I could
(16:23):
not put them down and I was getting through them
in one day, like one day. It was sick. They
are so good and I think it's very similar to
also Lucy Foley books. I've never read a Lucy. I've
got a bookshelf full of them behind me. I can
pass them on to the scary their thriller. But I
think what I love is when someone dies on the
(16:44):
first page and then it goes a whole book is
going back, and that's what I love. Yeah, that's what
hooks me. I need a really strong hook at the start,
otherwise I'm not going to finish it, And there have
been I feel like I'm at the point now with
books it's kind of like food, you know, when you
start reading something and it's just it's boring you. I
(17:04):
don't finish them anymore. I'm not going to make myself
finish it. Sure, it's like if you take a sip
of a coffee that tastes like shit, I'm not finishing
this just because I paid for it. No, what's the point.
I get you. I completely agree, and I think I
would like you to create like a scale of scariness
for these domestic thrillers because I'm with you, Like I
(17:24):
read The Housemaid on your recommendation, and I finished it
in twenty four hours, like I was, couldn't put it down.
But then there's some that, like I've heard you and
Kyla talk about that just it just sounds too scary
for me, Like there are some that there are some
that aren't even it's not just scary, it's like pretty sick.
Like the teacher. There's a lot of like underage no
I'm stuff going on. It's well, you know, what's wild.
(17:46):
I was telling my boss about this, and her daughter
is eleven eleven and she's obsessed with freedom mcfatten. I've
read them all. I okay, So the Akatar books, which
are kind of very porn steamy. Yeah, there was this
thread that someone showed me of all these mums in
like a Facebook channel for like books for kids, being
(18:09):
like I gave my nine year old kid the Akatar series,
thinking that it was like Harry Potter. Okay, as someone
who hasn't read any of the books, how graphic are
we talking? Like? Whoa man? Like? Give me no? Please? No,
I can't. I couldn't even say it out loud, Like no,
(18:31):
we've said a lot of things to each other out loud.
Not on this. Turn the recording off. I'll tell you
that bad Yeah wow, Okay, Well, at least friendly Fatton
is not like dirty. No, it's just like heavy adult
themes like people stabbing each other and stuff. I mean,
I think that's probably worse for kids than some sex
(18:52):
positivity that they're getting from Akatar. True, Yeah, that's true. Okay,
what's been the best book you've ever read? Do you
have a favorite book of all time? I would say
my favorite book of all time is Eat, Pray, Love,
And I know it's old, Like I just love that book,
old bit of good and I don't know what I
think if I try and figure out the theme, it
is maybe like self help theme books that are always
(19:15):
my favorite. Like I really loved Wintering. I feel like
I need to read that book because you've told me
about that book before. Yeah, and the Lea Sales Book
Any ordinary Day I read that incredible. I just love
those books that make you sit into your life a
little bit, but then ultimately I also love the fantasy
and the absolute like brain melting, frothy girl reads What's Yours?
(19:39):
I think one of my all time favorite books is
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Oh my gosh, Taylor
Jenkins read That's Yeah, She's really It's like another good
book someone was trying to get back into reading. Yes,
great author to go with as your intro. I would
one hundred percent agree. I also really loved Darlin Girls.
(20:01):
Yeap Verity Verity will get you back into reading big time.
But verit is very scary, and I think verity is
a divider, Like I know people who really hate it.
Same our Frank color hated it. My sister hated it.
How can you hate it? I don't know. I loved it.
I loved it to it I loved it too, because
that's like the quint like, I don't know, that's that's
(20:21):
what all of the Freedom McFadden books are essentially like.
There's actually a Freedom McFadden book called The Woman Upstairs
and it's people say it's the same as Verity, which
that's slightly different. I think Verity came first. You know,
Freedom McFadden's a doctor. No, and she writes on the side,
what an overachiever sat down a brain doctor? Oh my god.
Maybe that's why the books are so twisted. Maybe, Okay,
(20:43):
what's the worst book you've ever read? Well, so, now
I've got a kindle, so that would be my other tip. Okay,
we need to talk about this because I also think
there are two types of readers. There are people who
read on kindles and there are people who read actual
physical books. Yeah, and right now we are covered the
two type. We do cover the two types. I loved
having my paper books and I was creating a collection.
(21:05):
I wanted to have a bookshelf of all my books
that I had read. But It is a bit of
a barrier if you're a busy gal and you don't
have time to research what's a good book, and you
don't have time to get to the shop, or even
like you know, or a little cardile the time that
you have to wait for them to get ships sometimes
a week, yeah, or like popular books that sell out
(21:28):
in the bookshop. Yes, I think actually The Handmaid is
quite hard to get at the moment because everyone's lost
their shit about it. Yeah, so I had. I had
some struggles with that. I got the kindle was a
gift and I wasn't sure about it. I freaking love
it so much. Like I know, people have got their
like qualms that it's not holding a paper book, it's
not tactile and stuff like that. But I have read
(21:51):
probably three times as many books as I would have
without it, because you can get a sample for free
of any book and read the first like one hundred
pages or so, and if you're not interested, don't buy it.
One second later you can be in the sample another book.
You know. I love that there's no delay and so
it's so good and you can kind of it recommends
(22:12):
as well, So when you finish a book, and then
it'll be like, here's similar authors or here's similar books.
So that is good good, That's like a good algorithm
to get into because it would really start to understand.
You See, my thing is reading for me is one
of the only times in my life. But I'm not
on a screen, but I'm not on a computer, but
I'm not on a phone, And I don't want to
have another screen or a device in my life, which
(22:32):
is why I'm very much into physical books. But I
am very much the minority now because everyone reads on
kindles or on their phones. Yeah, I think I don't
know if I could do it on my phone. It's
so small and the backliding and stuff. The Kindle is
very soft on the eye. Also, you have got all
the Kindle accessories. Mate, You've got the automatic page flipper
(22:56):
so you don't even have to use your hands. I've
got the like bionic arm that holds it above my head.
Came over the other weekend and literally I like lay
her down in my bed position the Kindle arm over
her face, gave her the little like remote clicker, and
she's like, she's sold. You're a meme. You're a literal meme.
(23:17):
But I think maybe I need to come and do
that to experience that, because then maybe that's going to
convert me. It's good for your neck. You know, my
kindle is waterproof, so you can read in the bath
and not be like dipping your pages in the water.
You're gonna say, you can read in the in the
in the ocean, in the shower, swimming in the pool.
Oh that's helpful. Yeah, that is really handy. It's good. Okay, Yeah,
(23:39):
that's interesting. That's good food for thought. Because my sister's
also on a kindle and she says that the books
are also a lot cheaper to purchase. Sheep on a
kindle mentioned that sometimes the books are like under ten dollars. Yeah. Yeah,
and I feel like when I was buying books in
the shops, everything was thirty five dollars. Every book came
up fifteen fourteen. That's good. Yeah, that's where I buy
(24:00):
most of my books from. Yeah. Otherwise, I do try
and support the bookstores book Yeah, we need to like
find out of some good independent bookstores that we should
be supporting in Brisbane. One hundred percent. I don't know
of any, but I feel like I can get around
the idea of a book club, because I feel like
this is also as we're moving into this era of
social wellness with you know, like now when you catch
(24:21):
up with friends, you don't want to go to bars
and you don't necessarily want to do that stuff. You
want to go to like a bath house, or you
want to go on a walk and have a wine
or something like a book club. A wine and a
book that you are all discussing sounds so good. We've
we've talked about it so many times, but it's the
logistics reading under duress again, Like you you might be
(24:43):
busy that week. I've got to really time my book
so it works really busy for me at the moment.
I cannot start the next handmade what is it? No
Housemaid book? No, I can't even start. So you have
a whole it's going to be all consuming and it's
going to be like taunting me. When I'm busy at work,
half my brain is wishing I was reading. I think
this is why I get through books so fast, because
(25:04):
I I generally read them on the weekends because again
I'm very time poor during the week and I can't
read like if I try and read at nighttime or
read a page and I'm out, so I have to, like, no,
I've got a good chunk of time in front of
me to just sit and read the book. Yeah, because
I'm very much the same. But we did try and
start a book club with Lisa and we all read
the book but at very different times, and it was
(25:25):
just I think, again, you're probably right. Just go on
book talk and you can just observe and chime into
other people's discussions on book that you've liked and read. Yeah.
So then just to wrap it up in a nice
little bow, what book are you reading right now or
what book you're about to start? I really want to
start the Throne of Glass series and I really want
to finish the House Made series, but both are going
(25:45):
to have to wait until I've got a bit more
free time because I know both are going to be
a bit of a head fuck, like I'm going to
need to read them. I need, I'm going to need
some free time. Yeah, what about you. I actually, just
before you arrived sat down and opened up The Coworker
by Freedo McFadden, which I've heard from a lot of
people is one of the worst Freedom mac fadden books.
But knowing me, I'll be finished by six pm tomorrow.
(26:06):
How many books does this woman have? This brain stays
a lot. She's got a lot of books. They're not
that long though, they're like three hundred and fifty pages.
They're not like super duper long books, and they're easy
to read. There. What I like about them too, is
they're little chapters. They're short chapters. Yeah, no, that's nice.
I would like yeah, I would like future crowdsource. Okay,
(26:27):
a bit of information about like this thriller genre for me,
because I do want to get into it by I
just must not get scared of falling asleep. You've gone
too far and I don't want to get there. Sally
have worth domestic, Stay domestic thriller, Stay in domestic thriller,
don't gateway into thriller thriller. Yeah, because that's when it
starts to get scary. Yeah. Cheers. Cheers to being literary
(26:50):
as fuck, being so smart, avid readers, very born. Thank
you so much for listening. Guys. I really hope you
enjoyed the episode, and don't forget to help a sister
out by following the podcast on Apple, on Spotify, or
wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate it write me
a review and if you want more Finish. We do
(27:10):
have a private Facebook group. There is going to be
exclusive Q and A is happening with my guests in
that group. That's going to be events going life first,
so much fun stuff happening. Just look up fit ish
in brackets on Facebook and you can be part of
the Finish online community
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