July 23, 2024 • 38 mins
In this episode of "Beyond the Next Chapter," Whitney Clark is joined by Marissa Daley, librarian and manager of the Fountain Hills library, and Paige Cordner, librarian at the Queen Creek library. Together, they dive into the world of book recommendations and read alikes, offering listeners a treasure trove of new books to explore based on popular titles they already love.
Marissa and Paige share their insights on what makes a read-alike, discuss some of their favorite genres, and provide personalized recommendations for books like "The Fourth Wing," "I'm Glad My Mom Died," and "Funny Story." They also explore the impact of social media on reading habits and the resurgence of certain genres like fantasy romance.
Whether you're a fan of Emily Henry's charming romances, Colleen Hoover's gripping stories, or Kristin Hannah's historical fiction, this episode is packed with suggestions to keep your reading list full and varied. Plus, get a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a librarian and the joys of fostering a love for reading in the community.
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Episode Transcript
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>> Whitney Clark (00:06):
Welcome to beyond the next chapter. I'm your host, Whitney Clark,
and I think one of the biggest questions I get from many of
you listeners and my fellow readers is what
should I read next? What are some good book
recommendations? So this episode is focused on
read alikes. We're going to give you some book recommendations
based on really popular books that you might have
already read and loved. So joining us today
(00:29):
are our friends from the Maricopa County Library
District. We have Marissa Daley, a librarian and
manager of the Fountain Hills library, and
Paige Cordner, a librarian at the Queen Creek
library. Welcome. Thank you guys for being here.
>> Paige Cordner (00:42):
Thanks for having us.
>> Whitney Clark (00:43):
So let's just start a little bit about the both of you.
How long have you been with the library district? How long
have you really loved reading?
>> Paige Cordner (00:52):
Oh, I'll let you go first.
>> Marissa Daley (00:55):
Um. Uh, so I've been with the library district for three
years. Um, I've been in Gilbert and nowfoughton Hills for
almost, uh, the duration of my
time. I've been a librarian for six
years. Um, and, yeah, I mean, I've always loved
reading. I took a big break from, um,
fun reading when I was in college. Um, but now, you know,
being back in libraries, it's second nature and I have
(01:17):
three kids, so I read a lot.
>> Paige Cordner (01:20):
I've been with the district, actually, I've been with Queen Creek
library my entire time with them. And I started as an LA
and then moved into my current position. And I've been in my current position
for about four years. I actually
got hired as a librarian right when Covid
happened, and they said, you're hired. And then Covid happened, and then I'm just like,
do I still have a job? Am I coming back as a
(01:41):
librarian? Please. Anyway, but
sorry, side story. Um, I have loved
m reading. I had a third grade teacher that she would
read to us after lunch every day, and that really got me into
reading on my own. And I would do it every night
and bug my sisters with the hall light on and stuff like that.
But I, um, love it. It's just progressed into a wonderful career.
>> Whitney Clark (02:01):
I love it. I do think that some people sort of fall out of love
with reading when they're in college and high school. That was certainly the case with me because
you have to read some of these books and you're like, this is kind of a bore. I don't want
to read these. But I'm glad you guys are here because so many more
people are reading for fun these days. At least that's what it feels like to
me. So we have some really popular books we're going to talk about
and give people recommendations.
So first tell me what a read alike is, because I heard
(02:24):
that librarians really like read alikes. So how would you define
a read alike?
>> Marissa Daley (02:29):
You go, yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (02:30):
Okay. The way that I see
it is that, and this is the approach that I took with these
books, is kind of taking aspects that you
enjoyed from a book and applying it to
another book. So I don't see it as the same genre. I
mean, usually the genres coincide, but I more of see it.
Oh, what did you like from the book? I liked the prose, I
liked, uh, the setting, something along those,
(02:52):
like those aspects. And that's then
where I gear people towards other books that they can
then enjoy.
>> Marissa Daley (02:59):
Mhm. Yeah. And similarly, you have an author and you
really enjoyed a book. Well, try something else by that author.
Or maybe there's other authors that write similarly. So, um,
that's always an easy way to recommend things, you know,
Emily Henry. I read one, then I read another, and then another.
>> Whitney Clark (03:14):
So, yeah, we could probably do a whole podcast about
Emily Henry books. Yes. I think they're
so cute. Yeah, they're so cute. And I feel like they're written
for like the girlies who already like libraries
and they like books. And there's like a lot of like reading themes in there,
which I really enjoy. And we're gonna talk about one of her
books in just a moment.
But let's start with the first book
(03:34):
and talk about the read alikes, the fourth wing,
which, I mean, this book has been
everywhere for years. I feel
like.
>> Marissa Daley (03:43):
Yeah, um, no, it's great. You know, um,
it's a great read to physical read, but then we also have
like digital, uh, resources where you can listen to it,
and that's fantastic. We actually have, um, graphic
audio version through Hoopla, which is one of our, uh, digital
library resources. Um, it's great. It's
action, it's romance, it's fantasy, which
(04:03):
we talked about. I've never really read fantasy before, but I really
enjoyed it. You know, there are some scenes where, um,
you're like, oh my gosh, what's gonna happen? And it's
really neat to get that kind of feeling out of reading a book,
that excitement. So, um,
I'm rereading it, actually.
>> Whitney Clark (04:19):
Oh, really? Have you read the second one yet?
>> Marissa Daley (04:21):
Yes, and the third one's out in January.
>> Whitney Clark (04:22):
Oh my gosh, is it? I read the first one and I read it
on my Kindle, which I liked because it can be kind of daunting
thinking about reading that many pages.
I grew up loving Harry Potter. I loved reading Harry
Potter as a kid. This is not like Harry
Potter at all. So I don't want anyone to get wrong
ideas.
>> Paige Cordner (04:40):
I'm not a reader.
>> Whitney Clark (04:40):
Like, very adult themes, but it gave me those sort
of vibes of, like, the magic, the, like. Okay. I think this
could potentially be a real thing that could happen.
At least that's how. What I sort of gathered from
it. So if someone read the fourth wing, they loved it. What are some
other books you would also recommend?
>> Paige Cordner (04:56):
Morgan.
>> Marissa Daley (04:57):
So we kind of talked about this, too, but a court of thorn and roses, a lot of
people either start with fourth wing and go there, or start with the court of
Thorn and roses and go to fourth wing. So it's. It's a really, you know,
easy switch. Either you like it or you don't. Um, my
recommendation is get through the first one. It gets better. Um,
but so that's a recommendation I'm finishing. Um, also,
another moss series, Sarah j. Moss. Ah, throne of glass.
(05:18):
And it is fantastic. It is too many
books. It is too long, but I have not stopped, so I think that
says a lot.
Um, but then kind of to pair with another book that we'll talk
about is an author named Allie Hazelwood, and she does a
few romance books. Um, and so she
delved into the fantasy genre a
little bit and wrote a book called bride, which I thought was okay,
(05:39):
you know? Um, it was interesting. And she's a
stem romance author, so it's kind of. Yeah, it's
really unique. Um, but those were really good reads, too.
>> Whitney Clark (05:48):
I think love, theoretically, is one of her books. Yes,
I do. I haven't read that one yet. Was it good?
>> Marissa Daley (05:53):
It is so cute. Yes.
I just finished that last night.
>> Whitney Clark (05:58):
I do feel that she is really big on book
talk, and I don't know how much you guys are on TikTok
and social media, but book talk, I feel like, is
huge when it comes to romance books and
fantasy. I feel like I find out a lot about these
authors. Ali Hazelwood from social media, for
sure.
>> Marissa Daley (06:16):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (06:16):
The funny thing is, even if we're not on it, as librarians,
we always know what the book talk books are just because
we're constantly asked about them.
And that when Colleen Hoover blew up,
it was so funny to see, because Colleen Hoover's been on the shelves for
years and years and years, and then all of a sudden, you couldn't get a single book
from her. And it was. I mean, it's an amazing thing.
>> Whitney Clark (06:37):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (06:37):
And it's a good tool for people. So I always recommend, you know,
oh, what are you liking? TikTok books are you liking right
now?
>> Marissa Daley (06:43):
Uh, but much like recommendations, you're gonna get thrown some things on
social media. You're like, oh, that was terrible.
>> Paige Cordner (06:48):
You just gotta take it in stride and be like, it wasn't for me. That's okay.
>> Whitney Clark (06:51):
Yeah, that was like a court of thorns and
roses. I didn't hate it, but I didn't
feel like, oh, my gosh, I need to read every single book.
But it seems like romantic is having a
moment, and it's almost just like a new. I hadn't heard of
romantic until, like, probably about a year ago.
>> Paige Cordner (07:07):
Mhm.
>> Marissa Daley (07:08):
Also, I highly recommend, if you don't like a book, you don't have to finish
it. There's no guilt. Like, there's no pressure.
>> Paige Cordner (07:14):
Not enough time in the world.
>> Marissa Daley (07:15):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I like
to do harm to myself. I try so bad.
So, um, I'm one of those people who will finish, but I highly
recommend
because, you know, life is too short. If you don't want to finish a
book, you don't like it, don't read it.
>> Paige Cordner (07:31):
I luckily learned that in high school, and it was so
freeing because I can't remember. I can't
remember the book. I've blocked it out of my memory, thank goodness.
But I was that type of person where I'm just like, I'm gonna finish it, I'm gonna
finish it, I'm gonna finish it. And somewhere in high school, I
just said, I am, um, definitely can't finish
this. I hate it. And since then, I'm just like, uh. It's
(07:52):
freeing. I mean, obviously I give it a good. A good chance, but,
yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (07:55):
At what point? Like, how many pages in do you have to be to be like, okay,
this is time's up. I'm throwing in the towel.
>> Paige Cordner (08:01):
Okay. I have Dnf'd
at, like, the second chapter only, like, once, but that was
a tone issue. So when you're not vibing with the author's
tone, then I know right away.
I'm like, okay, I can't vibe with this.
If it's a character issue, I'll give it
probably about a third of the book before I say, I'm just
(08:21):
not engaged. I'm not picking it up or wanting to pick it up.
>> Whitney Clark (08:24):
Okay.
>> Marissa Daley (08:25):
I don't know. I just try. I like torture,
I guess.
>> Whitney Clark (08:29):
I don't know.
>> Marissa Daley (08:29):
Yeah. You know? And I'll always come back to ones that I
didn't finish and, um, you know, and give them another
shot because some books I probably wouldn't have
enjoyed at certain times in my life, and then I come to enjoy them.
>> Paige Cordner (08:41):
So true.
>> Marissa Daley (08:42):
I don't know.
>> Whitney Clark (08:43):
I love it.
>> Paige Cordner (08:43):
Okay, go with her advice.
That's good. You're different people at different points in
your life. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (08:50):
And then another book that is still really popular, I want to say this
came out two years ago, is I'm glad my mom died by
Jeanette McCurdy. This was a memoir. This is one I actually
listened to on audiobook because she
narrated it herself. And I love listening to
authors narrate the books themselves.
What else would people like if they listened to this? If they read this, what
(09:11):
are some other read alikes for this one?
>> Paige Cordner (09:13):
So I listened to it on audiobook
as well. And I thought the emotion that she gave to
the book added so much
more weight to it and is probably why people related to it so
much. I recommend. So I have a few
recommendations, one being anything by Carrie
Fisher. Uh, and funny enough,
I recommend these as audiobooks as well, because I think
(09:36):
the majority of them, when you're doing that celebrity bio,
it is nice to get their tone of voice and what they actually
mean and their sense of what they're trying to say a little bit
more. Um, so anything by Carrie Fisher,
but especially wishful drinking, was my
main one. And I recommend it just because
it has this very same dry sense of
humorous that M Jeanette McCurdy adds
(09:59):
into her books. The other one, uh, that
I had, and this is, I think, more recent
one, is mean baby by Selma Blair.
>> Whitney Clark (10:06):
Oh, okay.
>> Paige Cordner (10:07):
And that's kind of along the lines of
dealing with a lot of addiction, overcoming
hardships. And I think that they're very
much in line. And I think Selma Blair is just
a wonderful, wonderful human being. And so
maybe that's also why I'm selfishly recommending it.
Um, and then my last recommendation is something that
(10:27):
maybe you read to make yourself feel better after reading, I'm
glad my mom died.
>> Marissa Daley (10:31):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (10:32):
Or I'm glad my mom's dead. Um, and that
is, um, as you wish. I'm gonna
read the whole title, but as you wish. Inconceivable.
Tales from the making of the princess bride. And that's by Carrie
Elwis. And again, I listened to the
audiobook. And it's so nice because it's just kind of stories
from the set. Uh, so you get Carrie Elwes, which, it's
his book, but then you also have Robin Wright in there, and
(10:54):
she actually comes in for the audiobook and Rob Reiner
and. Yeah, it's just, I think
if I'm glad my mom's dead
is the example of Hollywood going wrong, or I
can always get this title. Sorry, I'm glad my mom
died. Um, it's such a striking
title. You'd think I wouldn't be able to forget it. I'm glad my mom
(11:16):
died. Um, so I think that
if that's the example of Hollywood going wrong, I think
that, as you wish is kind of the example of
Hollywood getting it right.
>> Whitney Clark (11:26):
Okay. Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (11:27):
And it just makes you smile. So that's why I recommend it.
>> Whitney Clark (11:29):
And I think a lot of people grew up seeing
Jennette McCurdy on all of these Nickelodeon shows and thinking
she was, you know, so funny and all these things.
And a lot of people were taken aback and really surprised
about what she went through. And it really makes a
difference hearing them read by the author.
As we mentioned, I don't know if you guys ever listened to Matthew
McConaughey's book as well. It was. I think it's called Green
(11:51):
Lights. Um, it was amazing
because he's incredible. Like, he voiced it.
It was so good. I would say, like, that's also
positive. That's a positive one as well, because it's very much
about, like, finding green lights in life. Like,
something good that happened to him. Like, hey, that was a green
light. Getting a role in a m movie. That was a green light. So I really
(12:12):
loved that too. And I just, um. I have a hard time
with audiobooks. Do you guys, are you kind of
mix and match? Like, is it 50 50 on whether you read a
book or listen to it?
>> Paige Cordner (12:22):
Depends on the fact you have time. Yeah. If I'm struggling for time,
I'll throw on an audiobook. But they're so dependent on
a number of different factors.
>> Whitney Clark (12:29):
Yeah, totally.
>> Paige Cordner (12:30):
Um, but, yeah, I listen to. I can't
remember, actually. I
lost my trigger.
>> Whitney Clark (12:36):
That's okay. There's just so many titles to keep in your head,
obviously.
>> Marissa Daley (12:39):
Um, I do both. I'm reading a book, and then I'm
listening to a book. It's bad, but I have
a commute to work, so for me, it's really nice because
that's how I do it. And also, that
commute is child free, so I get to do what I want
and listen to what I want. Um, yeah, so
it's really nice.
>> Whitney Clark (12:58):
And this is sort of a controversial topic.
I see a lot of people talking about this on social media as
well. When you listen to an audiobook, do you count
that as a book in your goodreads account? Oh, it's a book.
>> Marissa Daley (13:10):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (13:11):
I don't think you defined a librarian that didn't say audiobooks or not
books. If you do, shame is audiobook, uh, shame?
>> Marissa Daley (13:16):
Yeah, it is absolutely the same.
>> Paige Cordner (13:18):
Okay.
>> Marissa Daley (13:19):
Yeah. You're digesting that content, you're absorbing it,
you're reading. It's the same thing.
>> Whitney Clark (13:23):
Do you guys prefer Goodreads or storygraph, or are you
on Goodreads? For the most part?
>> Paige Cordner (13:28):
Goodreads.
>> Marissa Daley (13:28):
Goodreads?
>> Paige Cordner (13:29):
Yeah, goodreads.
>> Whitney Clark (13:30):
I've heard about storygraph and I have downloaded on my phone, but
I feel like I don't have the bandwidth for, like, another
app and, like, starting over, but I think you can download
your Goodreads stuff. But anyways, I love goodreads. I mean, it's just
such a good place to save books you want, see what other people
are doing. I'm only friends with, like, ten people on there.
>> Paige Cordner (13:47):
Shout out to, I didn't know you could have friends.
>> Marissa Daley (13:49):
Yes. I just found out, like, last week.
>> Whitney Clark (13:52):
Yeah. Um, so we can be friends. I'll
be friends.
Um, so let's talk about the next one. And this is funny
story by Emily Henry. I want to say she has five
books out now, and funny story is the most recent
one. Um, and we talked about how we
love Emily Henry. Like, her books are so just, like,
warm and fuzzy. And my friend used an analogy
(14:12):
saying she's like, I just felt like I was kicking my feet reading this
book, you know, because it's so sweet. So
why do you think her books are resonating with so many
readers, particularly, like, millennial women, women in their thirties.
>> Marissa Daley (14:25):
Honestly, what gets me about her is the dialogue between
characters. And especially when reading funny story, you're like, oh,
my gosh, this is so cute. They're inside jokes. Like,
I don't know what it is, but I just. It's so
realistic, you know? Um, you can imagine having these
dialogues. It's, ah, so, uh, you can just connect to it
so easy. It is like, kick your feet. It's so
cute.
>> Whitney Clark (14:45):
And this one was great because she was a librarian,
and the whole mission of the book was the read a
thon. Do you guys ever do
readathons or. You know what I mean? Have you done that
challenge where you read for 24 hours with a friend or something? It's
terrible.
>> Marissa Daley (15:00):
I don't want to stay up for 24 hours.
>> Whitney Clark (15:03):
It would be tough.
>> Marissa Daley (15:05):
I have to say, though, having, uh,
somebody write about your career, I feel like so many people get it wrong
because they don't do it. But I didn't find anything about the story that
was like, uh, we don't do that. You know, it
was really cute and it was just enough that, like, it kind of
grasped librarianship. It was cute.
>> Paige Cordner (15:22):
I love it.
>> Whitney Clark (15:22):
So if people liked funny story or any Emily Henry books, what
else would you recommend?
>> Marissa Daley (15:26):
So, um, she has another book. It's called book
lovers. Uh, you know, we talked about, like, the connection between books and
Emily Henry. Um, so cute. Love.
Theoretically, uh, Allie Hazelwood was super. Um,
it was really adorable. Um, I
can't think I had a third one, but now my brain's just focused on Emily
Henry. It was so cute.
>> Whitney Clark (15:46):
I have that one here. Or happy place.
>> Marissa Daley (15:48):
Have you read it?
>> Paige Cordner (15:48):
Happy place?
>> Whitney Clark (15:49):
I read that one, and that was the one that came out last
summer. And I had a book club discussion
about this. And I think it really led to a lot of
deeper questions for a lot of the women in our group
about change and friendships
changing and your life when you're in your twenties and thirties and
how things just are so different as people get
married and start families and, you know, you're in these different
(16:11):
places. So I do think there was especially that book. I felt like
I related it to probably the most.
>> Marissa Daley (16:16):
Really? Ah, I finished her. Um, the people we meet
on vacation, and I have to say it's so cute because all
these romance novels, they start in such
comedically bad ways. Like, funny. Um,
story is, uh, two people get
broken up with and then they live together, and you're like, in what
world would this happen? But it works. Um,
(16:36):
and so the people we meet on vacation, uh, you
know, a woman who travels for work and she invites her best friend
with her every time, and you're like, and, you know,
one thing leads to another and they realize they like each other.
>> Paige Cordner (16:48):
She reminds me of. It's like, she reminds me of a
Nancy Myers. Romantic. Totally.
>> Whitney Clark (16:53):
I mean, totally.
>> Paige Cordner (16:55):
You look at the book and you're just like, this
reminds me of the holiday, or this reminds me of, you know.
Well, now I'm trying to think about Nancy Myers.
>> Whitney Clark (17:03):
Um, like, something's gotta give.
>> Paige Cordner (17:05):
Something's gotta give.
>> Whitney Clark (17:06):
Um, I think it's complicated.
>> Paige Cordner (17:09):
You've got Melanin. I love it. Yeah. And you just
take a little bit of a weirder premise, but you're just like, no, it works. And it's the
dialogue and it's the real life experience, like, real life scenarios.
>> Marissa Daley (17:17):
That make it, and it's modernized, you know, and funny
story. They're going to like these, um, niche,
you know, indie restaurants and all these fun things
that you're like, you can just be there, you can see it.
>> Whitney Clark (17:29):
And I think one thing I really love, and you mentioned Colleen Hoover earlier,
and I feel like Colleen Hoover gets a lot of
criticism for maybe her
books aren't like literary masterpieces.
However, her books are extremely popular and
they're getting people to read that have not picked up a
book in years. And there's, you know, I mean, I
(17:50):
know I keep bringing up like, TikTok and things online, but there's a
lot of keyboard warriors that are so
not nice, quite frankly, about like, people
who enjoy those books and enjoy reading those books. But I come from a place
of like, hey, if it gets you to pick up a book, that's
great. And like, I read Colleen Hoover's books years
ago and that is one of the things that got me really back into reading
again as an adult.
>> Paige Cordner (18:11):
Yeah. There's always been this war between
what's popular fiction and what people consider good
fiction. And I find the argument
really weird because I'm just like, it doesn't matter because it's not
about a group of people, it's about an
individual people and what they're what works for them. And
the same thing, this is gonna get old,
(18:31):
but the same thing, it was with Twilight. I remember being
in middle school and
elementary school and all of a sudden all my friends that weren't reading
before were picking up books because of Twilight. And
it just became a thing where it's like, uh, you get to a size and then people are
like, this isn't good
literature, though. And I'm just like,
I don't need the distinction. But thank you.
>> Whitney Clark (18:52):
Yeah, I agree. I think that, like, anything that's going to get
people interested in reading, or I want to say, like,
Colleen Hoover books were all like, three of her books were like, the
top five checked out books in Maricopa county or something last
year. So anything to get people interested in reading. And I think
Emily Henry kind of falls in that category of being like,
very appealing to younger women,
(19:13):
really women of all ages and something that's sort of easy to
digest as well.
>> Marissa Daley (19:17):
If it makes you happy, who cares what anybody else thinks,
truly. And I had a discussion with a girlfriend of mine. I was
like, oh, you should read. Read the Sarah J. Maas series. I was like,
it's kind of like Twilight when you've grown up. And she's like,
listen, we did not read Stephenie Meyer for the
literary.
>> Paige Cordner (19:33):
No, there was something
about those books, man. You got through them quickly. Well, I did,
yeah.
>> Marissa Daley (19:39):
But truly, if it makes you happy, who cares what anybody else thinks?
Just read what you want.
>> Whitney Clark (19:44):
I feel like I missed out because I, for some reason, didn't read
Twilight. Like, I don't know. I don't know why I,
like I should. I don't know. Remember what I was doing
in life, why I didn't read it. I mean, like, I loved Harry Potter.
Like, I got really, really into those books, like, my whole
childhood to when the last book came out when I was an adult.
I'm gonna have to maybe go read Twilight.
>> Marissa Daley (20:04):
You should read Throne of Glass if you like Harry Potter. It's another
series. Yeah, that's a lot.
>> Whitney Clark (20:08):
I did and I did, and I think that was like a lot of young
people's first book that they enjoyed that they didn't have to
read in school. It was like, oh, this is fun to read.
>> Marissa Daley (20:17):
Mhm.
>> Paige Cordner (20:18):
On Twilight. I say give it a chance.
It's maybe best experienced as a young, youthful
teenager, but you never know
and love the original.
>> Marissa Daley (20:28):
Her favorite movie is Twilight. So it's just like, oh, my God,
we can't get away from it.
>> Paige Cordner (20:32):
I'm never gonna claim that it's the best book ever. I did
at one point claim that it was my favorite book ever,
but, yeah, no, uh, it's candy. It's
candy. And then every once in a while, you find another piece where
it's, I don't know,
steak. Yeah. What's a fancy food?
Okay.
>> Whitney Clark (20:50):
Like filet mignon.
>> Paige Cordner (20:51):
Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (20:52):
Okay.
>> Paige Cordner (20:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Caviar. Caviar.
>> Whitney Clark (20:53):
That makes sense. I like that analogy.
>> Paige Cordner (20:55):
Sorry, my taste buds are pretty cheap.
>> Whitney Clark (20:57):
I think no matter what it is. Like, no matter what kind of book it
is, like, getting involved in reading, I think is great because it might lead to
something else. Yeah, yeah.
And I will say another author that a lot of people love, who's one of my
favorite authors, and another book we'll talk about is the women by Kristin
Hanna. The women came out earlier this year.
I'm pretty sure it's like, the best selling book. It's been the best selling
book, like, this entire year. Historical fiction
(21:20):
takes place, um, during the Vietnam
war and just after as well.
How popular has this book been at the library?
>> Marissa Daley (21:28):
Every time I saw a hold for it, I was like, oh, someone's getting
lucky. I was like, they're moving on the list.
>> Paige Cordner (21:34):
Well, I felt bad because I had to cut the line to get it for the
podcast. Cause I'm just like, oh, I guess I'll just have to.
Yeah. And I felt bad for all
the hundreds of people that are waiting for it, but I
read through pretty quickly. Have you read it yourself?
>> Whitney Clark (21:47):
Yeah, I read it, um, at the beginning of the year,
and I loved it because
it was, I feel like a lot of historical fiction.
Well, historical fiction is my favorite genre, but I feel like a lot of it
is about World War Two. And I had never written, I had never
read anything that took place during Vietnam. So I felt
like I learned a lot about the Vietnam war and what it was like,
(22:07):
and I was constantly reading it and then looking things up to see how
accurate it was and it was. And I actually interviewed her, um,
you know, sorry, shameless plug alert. But I did interview her on my
podcast, and she did talk about it. So that was really interesting,
the research that kind of goes into those types of things.
Uh, but I feel like everyone that I know loved this book.
And, um, thankfully, there's a lot of other
(22:27):
really great sort of not books just like it,
but other historical fiction. A lot of her other books are
wonderful that I think people would love to.
>> Paige Cordner (22:35):
I mean, the number one read of, like, for Kristen, Hannah
is Kristen and Hannah, she's amazing. And I agree with
you. When I was reading the book, the thing that
struck me, my apologies. The thing that
struck me was kind of similar
to you. You don't get this setting a lot in historical
fiction. We love to talk about World War two. We love to talk
(22:57):
about World War one a little bit more. Um, but even
within her book itself, she says it's the war that we
don't want to talk about. And I think that
it's really, really to her credit that she brought
these issues to life and dealt with them from a unique perspective, being
the woman's perspective.
And I think that's why I think my first
recommendation, or read alike that I wanted to
(23:17):
push was the island of Seawoman by
Lisa C. Okay. Uh, and it's
a little. It's a different conflict. It's Korea war, which
it was maybe what drew me to it. To
it, actually. I think it's a range.
It's a range of through time. But Korea war was
the one that I remember more vividly.
(23:37):
Um, and just another conflict that we don't really talk about as
much. But it's about a group of women that live in an island
off of, uh, Japan, and they're dealt with all these conflicts
throughout the ages. So I, like, I wanted to keep the woman's
perspective in times of war and conflict
and how they stay strong and how they deal with
just a kind of a
(23:58):
horrible, horrible situation. Uh, and
that was what I wanted to push in that historical
fiction genre, probably the most similar to
Christian. Hannah, um, if you're wanting to stay in the same
genre, my other recommendation
is actually a classic. It's slaughterhouse five. Oh,
okay. I love that.
>> Marissa Daley (24:15):
I saw that.
>> Paige Cordner (24:17):
Yes, I have my list here. Sorry. I love it. I
love it. Slaughterhouse five. And that's more of
just kind of the PTSD side of
it. Obviously, it's not the women's perspective, but it is
a male perspective within World War Two. And I wanted it to
be a book that, um, Frankie herself would have
read at the time and probably would have opened her
eyes to what's going around in the country, going
(24:40):
on in the country, and that
kind, uh, of disillusionment that happened, uh, during the
Vietnam war. And so I wanted to present that as an
option of looking further into conflict and kind of
how you don't necessarily trust your government in
all things, um, and dealing with
PTSD. And then finally, I just
(25:01):
wanted to bring in kind of more of a nonfiction, because you
yourself were saying, like, looking up facts, trying to see what was correct and
what wasn't. And I'm just like,
there has to be a book about
women, um, serving overseas in
Vietnam. And like I said,
you know, it's the war that we don't want to talk about. There's not that much
literature, even in the nonfiction side.
(25:24):
But I found one that it's the girls next
door bringing the. These nonfiction, they always have a
subtitle. The girls next door bringing the
home front to the front lines by Kara Dixon.
Uh, and it's a just nonfiction book that
highlights women who serve in a number of different
capacities. So it talks about,
(25:45):
uh, the Red Cross, the, uh,
entertainers that went overseas. Um, and it just highlights
a number of different avenues
that they could go. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (25:55):
Yeah. That's so fascinating.
I loved.
Do you like any other Kristen Hanna books? Like, I know
that people love a lot of her books. Have you read any of her other books as
well?
>> Paige Cordner (26:07):
A few. I mean, to be honest,
historical fiction is not my genre, but Kristen
Hannah is one that kind of jumps out
within the genre. And I have read the Nightingale.
Um, and I loved that one.
And so that's why when we got the list, I hadn't read the woman before
we, um, were offered, uh, or talked.
(26:28):
Were offered the podcast and I'm just like, that's the one. I
want to read that because of the Nightingale.
>> Whitney Clark (26:33):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (26:34):
Um, but I haven't delve too deeply into it. I
just know from other people when they come up and say, I've just read
a Kristen Hannah. What else can you recommend? I'm just like, Kristen Hannah.
Yeah, that's easy.
>> Whitney Clark (26:44):
Basically anything that will, uh, make you cry,
because it's actually hard to. I don't know. How
often do you guys actually cry from books?
Is it hard to get you to really feel emotion like
that or laugh out loud?
>> Marissa Daley (26:58):
It has to be a good author. Um,
I'm such a nerd. I was reading in bed the other
night and, like, got to this part in, um, throwing a glass, and I was like,
yes, I just
did that. You know, but, you know, some of the.
Emily Henry, Allie Hazelwood. I will chuckle for sure.
So, um, I don't know. Oh, I've
(27:18):
made. My husband walked in on me reading, and I had this, like, sad
look, and he's like, what is wrong with you?
>> Whitney Clark (27:23):
And I'm like, just like, it's too
much. That happens with, like, I. I'm pretty
sure, uh, the women, um, the nightingale,
the great alone. Like, a lot of the Kristen Hannah books, I've cried.
My fiance's like, are you okay? Like, are you. Are
you enjoying this? Like, you're doing this for fun. No
one's making you do this, but there's just something so
powerful about the stories, and they're all, like, women
(27:46):
centered. And to your point, I think some of those recommendations,
the nonfiction especially, is so interesting because you
don't really hear about what war was like from a woman's perspective very
often. So she does that really well, I think. For sure.
>> Paige Cordner (27:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Trying to see such
a huge conflict from a different perspective than
a soldier, um, always will give you a lot of
insight.
>> Whitney Clark (28:07):
What types of books do you guys love? Like, I know as librarians,
you're exposed to everything. What are your favorite genres?
Personally, everything.
>> Marissa Daley (28:15):
Um, yeah, truly. Like, before I started this
fantasy romancy stuff, I mean, I was
strictly a nonfiction reader, so I don't know what
changed. Um, so, yeah, I read everything.
My brother is in the military, and, um, he's
a blackhawk pilot, and so I read Black Hawk down. That
was really good, actually. It was really. I mean,
(28:36):
yeah, it was good. It was, um,
intense. Um, but regular fiction as
well, so, yeah, I read kind of everything.
>> Paige Cordner (28:44):
Mhm. Yeah. Okay.
>> Marissa Daley (28:45):
And kids books. Lots of kids books, which are so great.
>> Whitney Clark (28:48):
How old are your kids?
>> Marissa Daley (28:50):
Oh, gosh. Okay, so almost four, almost eight and
five. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (28:54):
Do they like reading, too?
>> Marissa Daley (28:55):
Yes. My daughter, who's going into third grade, it
is. I'm telling you, I have the best job in the world
because she can read by herself now. And
I bring home a stack of books every. Well, not every
night. Cause I can't, but, like, once a week, I bring home a giant
stack for her. And when we go to bed, she reads
and she returns. Uh, it's so cool. I can't wait till
(29:15):
my sons start reading. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (29:18):
What about your favorite genres?
>> Paige Cordner (29:20):
I. So my favorite genre is probably
fantasy Sci-Fi I like to have a little bit
of a world building aspect to it. Sorry.
>> Whitney Clark (29:28):
That's okay.
>> Paige Cordner (29:31):
I talk with my hands. I love to have
a world building aspect to it. So I think I kind of
go towards those genres more, uh,
frequently. But similar to you, I kind of do
try to read everything. I think I
have almost a fear of missing out when it comes to
books, when everybody's talking about a
book specifically, and I'm just like, oh, well, what is it about this book that they
(29:53):
like or something? And so that's usually what I'll pick out, um,
use to pick out what I'm reading next is what's
new, what's popular, what's the trend at the moment? I
love looking at the subgenre trends, like,
um, court of Sarah
J. Moss kind of brought on this whole fairyland trend
going on, and it's everywhere now. And then I think somebody was saying
(30:14):
that it's kind of going towards vampires again. I'm just like,
whoa, really?
So I just love seeing that. And then it would you
like, we're.
>> Whitney Clark (30:24):
Not telling you anything that you have to do.
>> Paige Cordner (30:27):
M. And then I think back to.
>> Whitney Clark (30:29):
Uh, shooting the mics can go through
the battle here.
>> Paige Cordner (30:33):
Okay. All right, I'll do it even more. No. Um, I think
back to, like, when Cinder brought on the whole fairy tale retelling trend.
So I like to do almost
so nerdy doing it, but, um, I love looking
back on trends and saying, like, oh, where did it start and where did
it transition to something else? And, uh, the branches off.
But that sounds really, really like librarian.
>> Whitney Clark (30:54):
Hey, that's what you do. I want to do, like, a whole
separate podcast about what librarians do because
I'm so fascinated. I think most people don't actually know. So
we'll have to have you guys back again to talk about that.
Have you read any books this year that you've absolutely
loved? Like, do you have a favorite book of the year so far.
>> Marissa Daley (31:11):
I'm gonna do two. I'm so glad I thought of these. It makes me
so happy. Um, one was demon
copperhead.
>> Whitney Clark (31:17):
Oh, okay.
>> Marissa Daley (31:18):
I listened to that, and it was.
>> Paige Cordner (31:19):
Is it a retelling of David? Oh,
no. Barbara kings. It sounded so similar to David
Copperfield that I'm just like, oh, is it a retelling?
>> Marissa Daley (31:27):
Trust me. It got me so many times when. Cause it was one of,
like, uh, the women. It was so popular. I think
Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer for that.
>> Paige Cordner (31:35):
Oh, wow.
>> Marissa Daley (31:36):
Yeah. And, um, it was so good. Oh, my
gosh. And I listened to it, so I didn't read it. And the
narrator was, it was so good. It was
like, um. It's not a feel good story. I mean, it
might be, but it's just a real story. You
know, it was gritty, it was intense.
It was funny. You know, there are times where you're just like, oh, my
goodness. So that may have been a book. I laughed, too. Um,
(31:59):
and then bright young women. Bright young women.
>> Whitney Clark (32:01):
Oh, yeah. Oh, my God.
>> Marissa Daley (32:03):
Wasn't it so good?
>> Whitney Clark (32:04):
Yeah, it was so good. I think I gave it five stars. And
I very rarely give books five stars. It was so
good.
>> Marissa Daley (32:11):
I give too many.
>> Paige Cordner (32:12):
Yeah. I do not hold back on the five stars.
>> Whitney Clark (32:14):
Well, I'm pretty stingy about it, but that was definitely, like, an
automatic five stars.
>> Marissa Daley (32:18):
Oh, my gosh. And I struggled with that. Cause I listened to it, and there were
parts where I didn't really care for the, uh,
narrator. But it was so good. It
was so, so good. Oh, that hurts. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (32:29):
And it was also just frustrating because you're like, these women
were cheated. And it was so frustrating.
Like, why isn't anybody listening to her? You
know, it revolves around Ted Bundy, even though he's not named
in the book, but, you know, that's the serial killer it's based off of.
But it was from a woman's perspective. And I think that is
also kind of similar to the women is that it's sort of putting
(32:50):
the power back in women's hands and what they went through and what they tried
to do. And I loved it.
>> Marissa Daley (32:54):
I always have this conversation with my husband, and he's like, why are women so into
true crime? Or, you know, these things? And it's like, because from a
woman's perspective, it's not talked about a lot. You
know, uh, lots of people glorify
and do all these things to serial, uh,
killers. And it was. Yes, it was frustrating,
but it's also so validating to read about it, even if
(33:15):
it's fictionalized. You're just like, there's something so important
about reading a woman's perspective. Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (33:20):
Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (33:20):
And I have to say, the author, Jessica, I didn't know who she
was until, uh, last year. I went to the
Taylor Swift concert with one of my friends in Las Vegas. And she
was there at the concert. And my friend was like, Jessica is gonna be
at the concert. I saw on her instagram and we saw her. We met her.
Oh, wow. Took a picture of my friend and her. And I'm so
sad that I didn't take one with her. Cause then I read her book, brightening woman. I was
(33:40):
like, oh, my God, it was amazing. So she's also a swifty, too. So
funny. Cute.
>> Marissa Daley (33:46):
You're like fangirling and fangirling.
>> Whitney Clark (33:48):
Yeah. Now I'm like fangirling over my friend who's a fangirl.
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (33:52):
Oh, I wish you would talk a little bit longer because
honestly, trying to think back on the last
year, um.
>> Marissa Daley (33:58):
You want me to talk about the books I like more?
>> Paige Cordner (34:01):
Well, it's hard. So I am, um, a
Brandon Sanderson fan. Um, I think.
Yes, he has another stormlight, which is a tomb, um,
coming out this year, which is the
book five.
>> Whitney Clark (34:13):
Mhm.
>> Paige Cordner (34:14):
So I'm just been rereading Brandon Sanderson
all year long. And so it sounds bad, but I'm
just like, trying to think of a different novel besides Brandon. That's not
written by Brandon Sanderson.
>> Whitney Clark (34:24):
That's okay. I mean, that's someone that I'm not quite familiar with.
So it's a series. It's like, uh, this is the fifth book in a series of.
>> Marissa Daley (34:30):
Well, yeah, he's got several.
>> Paige Cordner (34:31):
Yes. Uh, let me try again. I'm not.
>> Whitney Clark (34:34):
No, that's okay. I'm telling you guys, I'm putting you guys
on the spot. I'm gonna ask you your favorite book.
>> Paige Cordner (34:39):
So he's probably very much on the forefront of
fantasy at the moment. No, not romantic. Which is,
I think, it's own category. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um,
but just straight up fantasy. He's
probably on the forefront of it. Uh, he has a number of
different series where they're kind of connected.
It's what they call the cosmeres. So they take place
(34:59):
on their own planets, but the universe
as a whole is connected. And so you have a lot of Easter eggs. And it
gets really fun when you actually do get into it. And you can say,
wait a second, I think I know that character from over here. And vice
versa. Um, so anybody that is
a big fan of world building would really enjoy
Brandon Sanderson. And I always recommend maybe starting with his
(35:19):
mistborn series, um, the final empire being the first
one. Yeah. Ah, I've just been, like I said, I've just been
on a reread at the moment, so I'm not really experiencing
too much new material. I see it and I say,
oh, I should add that to my list as it goes across my desk. And then off it
goes to somebody.
>> Marissa Daley (35:35):
Oh, yeah. It's like, so many things I put on hold, and
then they come, and I'm like, wait, why did I want this? What is it
about? Yeah, that happens to me.
>> Whitney Clark (35:43):
The struggle is real. There's so many books out there.
Um, so little time to read. So much.
So many books. I don't know what I'm saying. So many books.
>> Marissa Daley (35:51):
A little time.
>> Whitney Clark (35:52):
That's exactly what I meant.
Um, anything else you guys want to add that I maybe haven't asked? Just
about the libraries or anything else you want people to know?
>> Paige Cordner (36:00):
What was your favorite book this year so far?
>> Whitney Clark (36:02):
Oh, I mean, I
loved the women. Um, I really
liked good material by Dolly Alderton. Um,
it was really good. It was about,
um, a man in his thirties going through a
breakup. And it was told from his perspective, and he's,
like, not a very likable character, I'll say
that. But then at the end of the book, you get the
(36:24):
perspective from a female, the
female that broke up with him. And it was just.
It was really funny. It was like one of those books. I kept seeing
the COVID everywhere. I'm like, am I really gonna like this? But I
felt like it was written by, um,
you know, I'm 36. I think the author is about the same age. It was
written by, like, someone in their mid thirties. Like, for someone in their mid
(36:44):
thirties. I just felt like it was very modern and current
and relatable to people who maybe
go through breakups in their mid thirties when it's a very
interesting time, when people are. Some are having kids, some are single.
And I really liked that book a lot. Um,
and I really loved the women I love, you know, all Kristen Hanna
books, mostly. So those are probably my favorites so far.
>> Paige Cordner (37:05):
Okay.
>> Whitney Clark (37:05):
I liked the gunkle abroad. Um, the gunkle is a really
funny book. The first one. This one was the sequel. Sequel. But the
gunkle Washington, really, really funny. And then the sequel was really good
too. So I loved that.
>> Paige Cordner (37:15):
I think when you asked earlier, you know, oh, do you cry easily or
laugh easily? I think I cry more than I laugh. I think laughing is harder
to get me. You know, humor is really hard to pull
off.
>> Whitney Clark (37:24):
It is. It's very hard. And the gunkle. I actually
cried and laughed out loud because it's about, um,
like, really, the underlying theme is grief, and it's about
loss and, like, losing people in your life. It's about a
gunkle. So a gay uncle who takes care of his
best friend and his brother's kids after she passes
away. So it has a very serious, like,
(37:44):
theme. And if you've ever lost someone that you love, you'll
really relate to it. But it's also, like, laugh out loud
funny in the way that he speaks to his niece and nephew, who are younger,
and then they grow up in the second one, and it's just. It's so good. So
you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll do both. Oh, I love it.
>> Marissa Daley (37:59):
I'm an easy crier, and I guess I don't cry for books.
>> Whitney Clark (38:01):
Yeah.
>> Marissa Daley (38:02):
But. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (38:03):
Well, thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it. And, um,
thank you for doing what you do. And we love the
library system. So, Maricopa county library district, go get your
library cards and, uh, read this summer.
>> Marissa Daley (38:15):
Thanks for having us. Uh, and thanks for spreading the message of libraries.
>> Whitney Clark (38:18):
Of course. Thank you, guys.
Welcome to beyond the next chapter. I'm your host, Whitney Clark,
and I think one of the biggest questions I get from many of
you listeners and my fellow readers is what
should I read next? What are some good book
recommendations? So this episode is focused on
read alikes. We're going to give you some book recommendations
based on really popular books that you might have
already read and loved. So joining us today
(00:29):
are our friends from the Maricopa County Library
District. We have Marissa Daley, a librarian and
manager of the Fountain Hills library, and
Paige Cordner, a librarian at the Queen Creek
library. Welcome. Thank you guys for being here.
>> Paige Cordner (00:42):
Thanks for having us.
>> Whitney Clark (00:43):
So let's just start a little bit about the both of you.
How long have you been with the library district? How long
have you really loved reading?
>> Paige Cordner (00:52):
Oh, I'll let you go first.
>> Marissa Daley (00:55):
Um. Uh, so I've been with the library district for three
years. Um, I've been in Gilbert and nowfoughton Hills for
almost, uh, the duration of my
time. I've been a librarian for six
years. Um, and, yeah, I mean, I've always loved
reading. I took a big break from, um,
fun reading when I was in college. Um, but now, you know,
being back in libraries, it's second nature and I have
(01:17):
three kids, so I read a lot.
>> Paige Cordner (01:20):
I've been with the district, actually, I've been with Queen Creek
library my entire time with them. And I started as an LA
and then moved into my current position. And I've been in my current position
for about four years. I actually
got hired as a librarian right when Covid
happened, and they said, you're hired. And then Covid happened, and then I'm just like,
do I still have a job? Am I coming back as a
(01:41):
librarian? Please. Anyway, but
sorry, side story. Um, I have loved
m reading. I had a third grade teacher that she would
read to us after lunch every day, and that really got me into
reading on my own. And I would do it every night
and bug my sisters with the hall light on and stuff like that.
But I, um, love it. It's just progressed into a wonderful career.
>> Whitney Clark (02:01):
I love it. I do think that some people sort of fall out of love
with reading when they're in college and high school. That was certainly the case with me because
you have to read some of these books and you're like, this is kind of a bore. I don't want
to read these. But I'm glad you guys are here because so many more
people are reading for fun these days. At least that's what it feels like to
me. So we have some really popular books we're going to talk about
and give people recommendations.
So first tell me what a read alike is, because I heard
(02:24):
that librarians really like read alikes. So how would you define
a read alike?
>> Marissa Daley (02:29):
You go, yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (02:30):
Okay. The way that I see
it is that, and this is the approach that I took with these
books, is kind of taking aspects that you
enjoyed from a book and applying it to
another book. So I don't see it as the same genre. I
mean, usually the genres coincide, but I more of see it.
Oh, what did you like from the book? I liked the prose, I
liked, uh, the setting, something along those,
(02:52):
like those aspects. And that's then
where I gear people towards other books that they can
then enjoy.
>> Marissa Daley (02:59):
Mhm. Yeah. And similarly, you have an author and you
really enjoyed a book. Well, try something else by that author.
Or maybe there's other authors that write similarly. So, um,
that's always an easy way to recommend things, you know,
Emily Henry. I read one, then I read another, and then another.
>> Whitney Clark (03:14):
So, yeah, we could probably do a whole podcast about
Emily Henry books. Yes. I think they're
so cute. Yeah, they're so cute. And I feel like they're written
for like the girlies who already like libraries
and they like books. And there's like a lot of like reading themes in there,
which I really enjoy. And we're gonna talk about one of her
books in just a moment.
But let's start with the first book
(03:34):
and talk about the read alikes, the fourth wing,
which, I mean, this book has been
everywhere for years. I feel
like.
>> Marissa Daley (03:43):
Yeah, um, no, it's great. You know, um,
it's a great read to physical read, but then we also have
like digital, uh, resources where you can listen to it,
and that's fantastic. We actually have, um, graphic
audio version through Hoopla, which is one of our, uh, digital
library resources. Um, it's great. It's
action, it's romance, it's fantasy, which
(04:03):
we talked about. I've never really read fantasy before, but I really
enjoyed it. You know, there are some scenes where, um,
you're like, oh my gosh, what's gonna happen? And it's
really neat to get that kind of feeling out of reading a book,
that excitement. So, um,
I'm rereading it, actually.
>> Whitney Clark (04:19):
Oh, really? Have you read the second one yet?
>> Marissa Daley (04:21):
Yes, and the third one's out in January.
>> Whitney Clark (04:22):
Oh my gosh, is it? I read the first one and I read it
on my Kindle, which I liked because it can be kind of daunting
thinking about reading that many pages.
I grew up loving Harry Potter. I loved reading Harry
Potter as a kid. This is not like Harry
Potter at all. So I don't want anyone to get wrong
ideas.
>> Paige Cordner (04:40):
I'm not a reader.
>> Whitney Clark (04:40):
Like, very adult themes, but it gave me those sort
of vibes of, like, the magic, the, like. Okay. I think this
could potentially be a real thing that could happen.
At least that's how. What I sort of gathered from
it. So if someone read the fourth wing, they loved it. What are some
other books you would also recommend?
>> Paige Cordner (04:56):
Morgan.
>> Marissa Daley (04:57):
So we kind of talked about this, too, but a court of thorn and roses, a lot of
people either start with fourth wing and go there, or start with the court of
Thorn and roses and go to fourth wing. So it's. It's a really, you know,
easy switch. Either you like it or you don't. Um, my
recommendation is get through the first one. It gets better. Um,
but so that's a recommendation I'm finishing. Um, also,
another moss series, Sarah j. Moss. Ah, throne of glass.
(05:18):
And it is fantastic. It is too many
books. It is too long, but I have not stopped, so I think that
says a lot.
Um, but then kind of to pair with another book that we'll talk
about is an author named Allie Hazelwood, and she does a
few romance books. Um, and so she
delved into the fantasy genre a
little bit and wrote a book called bride, which I thought was okay,
(05:39):
you know? Um, it was interesting. And she's a
stem romance author, so it's kind of. Yeah, it's
really unique. Um, but those were really good reads, too.
>> Whitney Clark (05:48):
I think love, theoretically, is one of her books. Yes,
I do. I haven't read that one yet. Was it good?
>> Marissa Daley (05:53):
It is so cute. Yes.
I just finished that last night.
>> Whitney Clark (05:58):
I do feel that she is really big on book
talk, and I don't know how much you guys are on TikTok
and social media, but book talk, I feel like, is
huge when it comes to romance books and
fantasy. I feel like I find out a lot about these
authors. Ali Hazelwood from social media, for
sure.
>> Marissa Daley (06:16):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (06:16):
The funny thing is, even if we're not on it, as librarians,
we always know what the book talk books are just because
we're constantly asked about them.
And that when Colleen Hoover blew up,
it was so funny to see, because Colleen Hoover's been on the shelves for
years and years and years, and then all of a sudden, you couldn't get a single book
from her. And it was. I mean, it's an amazing thing.
>> Whitney Clark (06:37):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (06:37):
And it's a good tool for people. So I always recommend, you know,
oh, what are you liking? TikTok books are you liking right
now?
>> Marissa Daley (06:43):
Uh, but much like recommendations, you're gonna get thrown some things on
social media. You're like, oh, that was terrible.
>> Paige Cordner (06:48):
You just gotta take it in stride and be like, it wasn't for me. That's okay.
>> Whitney Clark (06:51):
Yeah, that was like a court of thorns and
roses. I didn't hate it, but I didn't
feel like, oh, my gosh, I need to read every single book.
But it seems like romantic is having a
moment, and it's almost just like a new. I hadn't heard of
romantic until, like, probably about a year ago.
>> Paige Cordner (07:07):
Mhm.
>> Marissa Daley (07:08):
Also, I highly recommend, if you don't like a book, you don't have to finish
it. There's no guilt. Like, there's no pressure.
>> Paige Cordner (07:14):
Not enough time in the world.
>> Marissa Daley (07:15):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I like
to do harm to myself. I try so bad.
So, um, I'm one of those people who will finish, but I highly
recommend
because, you know, life is too short. If you don't want to finish a
book, you don't like it, don't read it.
>> Paige Cordner (07:31):
I luckily learned that in high school, and it was so
freeing because I can't remember. I can't
remember the book. I've blocked it out of my memory, thank goodness.
But I was that type of person where I'm just like, I'm gonna finish it, I'm gonna
finish it, I'm gonna finish it. And somewhere in high school, I
just said, I am, um, definitely can't finish
this. I hate it. And since then, I'm just like, uh. It's
(07:52):
freeing. I mean, obviously I give it a good. A good chance, but,
yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (07:55):
At what point? Like, how many pages in do you have to be to be like, okay,
this is time's up. I'm throwing in the towel.
>> Paige Cordner (08:01):
Okay. I have Dnf'd
at, like, the second chapter only, like, once, but that was
a tone issue. So when you're not vibing with the author's
tone, then I know right away.
I'm like, okay, I can't vibe with this.
If it's a character issue, I'll give it
probably about a third of the book before I say, I'm just
(08:21):
not engaged. I'm not picking it up or wanting to pick it up.
>> Whitney Clark (08:24):
Okay.
>> Marissa Daley (08:25):
I don't know. I just try. I like torture,
I guess.
>> Whitney Clark (08:29):
I don't know.
>> Marissa Daley (08:29):
Yeah. You know? And I'll always come back to ones that I
didn't finish and, um, you know, and give them another
shot because some books I probably wouldn't have
enjoyed at certain times in my life, and then I come to enjoy them.
>> Paige Cordner (08:41):
So true.
>> Marissa Daley (08:42):
I don't know.
>> Whitney Clark (08:43):
I love it.
>> Paige Cordner (08:43):
Okay, go with her advice.
That's good. You're different people at different points in
your life. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (08:50):
And then another book that is still really popular, I want to say this
came out two years ago, is I'm glad my mom died by
Jeanette McCurdy. This was a memoir. This is one I actually
listened to on audiobook because she
narrated it herself. And I love listening to
authors narrate the books themselves.
What else would people like if they listened to this? If they read this, what
(09:11):
are some other read alikes for this one?
>> Paige Cordner (09:13):
So I listened to it on audiobook
as well. And I thought the emotion that she gave to
the book added so much
more weight to it and is probably why people related to it so
much. I recommend. So I have a few
recommendations, one being anything by Carrie
Fisher. Uh, and funny enough,
I recommend these as audiobooks as well, because I think
(09:36):
the majority of them, when you're doing that celebrity bio,
it is nice to get their tone of voice and what they actually
mean and their sense of what they're trying to say a little bit
more. Um, so anything by Carrie Fisher,
but especially wishful drinking, was my
main one. And I recommend it just because
it has this very same dry sense of
humorous that M Jeanette McCurdy adds
(09:59):
into her books. The other one, uh, that
I had, and this is, I think, more recent
one, is mean baby by Selma Blair.
>> Whitney Clark (10:06):
Oh, okay.
>> Paige Cordner (10:07):
And that's kind of along the lines of
dealing with a lot of addiction, overcoming
hardships. And I think that they're very
much in line. And I think Selma Blair is just
a wonderful, wonderful human being. And so
maybe that's also why I'm selfishly recommending it.
Um, and then my last recommendation is something that
(10:27):
maybe you read to make yourself feel better after reading, I'm
glad my mom died.
>> Marissa Daley (10:31):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (10:32):
Or I'm glad my mom's dead. Um, and that
is, um, as you wish. I'm gonna
read the whole title, but as you wish. Inconceivable.
Tales from the making of the princess bride. And that's by Carrie
Elwis. And again, I listened to the
audiobook. And it's so nice because it's just kind of stories
from the set. Uh, so you get Carrie Elwes, which, it's
his book, but then you also have Robin Wright in there, and
(10:54):
she actually comes in for the audiobook and Rob Reiner
and. Yeah, it's just, I think
if I'm glad my mom's dead
is the example of Hollywood going wrong, or I
can always get this title. Sorry, I'm glad my mom
died. Um, it's such a striking
title. You'd think I wouldn't be able to forget it. I'm glad my mom
(11:16):
died. Um, so I think that
if that's the example of Hollywood going wrong, I think
that, as you wish is kind of the example of
Hollywood getting it right.
>> Whitney Clark (11:26):
Okay. Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (11:27):
And it just makes you smile. So that's why I recommend it.
>> Whitney Clark (11:29):
And I think a lot of people grew up seeing
Jennette McCurdy on all of these Nickelodeon shows and thinking
she was, you know, so funny and all these things.
And a lot of people were taken aback and really surprised
about what she went through. And it really makes a
difference hearing them read by the author.
As we mentioned, I don't know if you guys ever listened to Matthew
McConaughey's book as well. It was. I think it's called Green
(11:51):
Lights. Um, it was amazing
because he's incredible. Like, he voiced it.
It was so good. I would say, like, that's also
positive. That's a positive one as well, because it's very much
about, like, finding green lights in life. Like,
something good that happened to him. Like, hey, that was a green
light. Getting a role in a m movie. That was a green light. So I really
(12:12):
loved that too. And I just, um. I have a hard time
with audiobooks. Do you guys, are you kind of
mix and match? Like, is it 50 50 on whether you read a
book or listen to it?
>> Paige Cordner (12:22):
Depends on the fact you have time. Yeah. If I'm struggling for time,
I'll throw on an audiobook. But they're so dependent on
a number of different factors.
>> Whitney Clark (12:29):
Yeah, totally.
>> Paige Cordner (12:30):
Um, but, yeah, I listen to. I can't
remember, actually. I
lost my trigger.
>> Whitney Clark (12:36):
That's okay. There's just so many titles to keep in your head,
obviously.
>> Marissa Daley (12:39):
Um, I do both. I'm reading a book, and then I'm
listening to a book. It's bad, but I have
a commute to work, so for me, it's really nice because
that's how I do it. And also, that
commute is child free, so I get to do what I want
and listen to what I want. Um, yeah, so
it's really nice.
>> Whitney Clark (12:58):
And this is sort of a controversial topic.
I see a lot of people talking about this on social media as
well. When you listen to an audiobook, do you count
that as a book in your goodreads account? Oh, it's a book.
>> Marissa Daley (13:10):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (13:11):
I don't think you defined a librarian that didn't say audiobooks or not
books. If you do, shame is audiobook, uh, shame?
>> Marissa Daley (13:16):
Yeah, it is absolutely the same.
>> Paige Cordner (13:18):
Okay.
>> Marissa Daley (13:19):
Yeah. You're digesting that content, you're absorbing it,
you're reading. It's the same thing.
>> Whitney Clark (13:23):
Do you guys prefer Goodreads or storygraph, or are you
on Goodreads? For the most part?
>> Paige Cordner (13:28):
Goodreads.
>> Marissa Daley (13:28):
Goodreads?
>> Paige Cordner (13:29):
Yeah, goodreads.
>> Whitney Clark (13:30):
I've heard about storygraph and I have downloaded on my phone, but
I feel like I don't have the bandwidth for, like, another
app and, like, starting over, but I think you can download
your Goodreads stuff. But anyways, I love goodreads. I mean, it's just
such a good place to save books you want, see what other people
are doing. I'm only friends with, like, ten people on there.
>> Paige Cordner (13:47):
Shout out to, I didn't know you could have friends.
>> Marissa Daley (13:49):
Yes. I just found out, like, last week.
>> Whitney Clark (13:52):
Yeah. Um, so we can be friends. I'll
be friends.
Um, so let's talk about the next one. And this is funny
story by Emily Henry. I want to say she has five
books out now, and funny story is the most recent
one. Um, and we talked about how we
love Emily Henry. Like, her books are so just, like,
warm and fuzzy. And my friend used an analogy
(14:12):
saying she's like, I just felt like I was kicking my feet reading this
book, you know, because it's so sweet. So
why do you think her books are resonating with so many
readers, particularly, like, millennial women, women in their thirties.
>> Marissa Daley (14:25):
Honestly, what gets me about her is the dialogue between
characters. And especially when reading funny story, you're like, oh,
my gosh, this is so cute. They're inside jokes. Like,
I don't know what it is, but I just. It's so
realistic, you know? Um, you can imagine having these
dialogues. It's, ah, so, uh, you can just connect to it
so easy. It is like, kick your feet. It's so
cute.
>> Whitney Clark (14:45):
And this one was great because she was a librarian,
and the whole mission of the book was the read a
thon. Do you guys ever do
readathons or. You know what I mean? Have you done that
challenge where you read for 24 hours with a friend or something? It's
terrible.
>> Marissa Daley (15:00):
I don't want to stay up for 24 hours.
>> Whitney Clark (15:03):
It would be tough.
>> Marissa Daley (15:05):
I have to say, though, having, uh,
somebody write about your career, I feel like so many people get it wrong
because they don't do it. But I didn't find anything about the story that
was like, uh, we don't do that. You know, it
was really cute and it was just enough that, like, it kind of
grasped librarianship. It was cute.
>> Paige Cordner (15:22):
I love it.
>> Whitney Clark (15:22):
So if people liked funny story or any Emily Henry books, what
else would you recommend?
>> Marissa Daley (15:26):
So, um, she has another book. It's called book
lovers. Uh, you know, we talked about, like, the connection between books and
Emily Henry. Um, so cute. Love.
Theoretically, uh, Allie Hazelwood was super. Um,
it was really adorable. Um, I
can't think I had a third one, but now my brain's just focused on Emily
Henry. It was so cute.
>> Whitney Clark (15:46):
I have that one here. Or happy place.
>> Marissa Daley (15:48):
Have you read it?
>> Paige Cordner (15:48):
Happy place?
>> Whitney Clark (15:49):
I read that one, and that was the one that came out last
summer. And I had a book club discussion
about this. And I think it really led to a lot of
deeper questions for a lot of the women in our group
about change and friendships
changing and your life when you're in your twenties and thirties and
how things just are so different as people get
married and start families and, you know, you're in these different
(16:11):
places. So I do think there was especially that book. I felt like
I related it to probably the most.
>> Marissa Daley (16:16):
Really? Ah, I finished her. Um, the people we meet
on vacation, and I have to say it's so cute because all
these romance novels, they start in such
comedically bad ways. Like, funny. Um,
story is, uh, two people get
broken up with and then they live together, and you're like, in what
world would this happen? But it works. Um,
(16:36):
and so the people we meet on vacation, uh, you
know, a woman who travels for work and she invites her best friend
with her every time, and you're like, and, you know,
one thing leads to another and they realize they like each other.
>> Paige Cordner (16:48):
She reminds me of. It's like, she reminds me of a
Nancy Myers. Romantic. Totally.
>> Whitney Clark (16:53):
I mean, totally.
>> Paige Cordner (16:55):
You look at the book and you're just like, this
reminds me of the holiday, or this reminds me of, you know.
Well, now I'm trying to think about Nancy Myers.
>> Whitney Clark (17:03):
Um, like, something's gotta give.
>> Paige Cordner (17:05):
Something's gotta give.
>> Whitney Clark (17:06):
Um, I think it's complicated.
>> Paige Cordner (17:09):
You've got Melanin. I love it. Yeah. And you just
take a little bit of a weirder premise, but you're just like, no, it works. And it's the
dialogue and it's the real life experience, like, real life scenarios.
>> Marissa Daley (17:17):
That make it, and it's modernized, you know, and funny
story. They're going to like these, um, niche,
you know, indie restaurants and all these fun things
that you're like, you can just be there, you can see it.
>> Whitney Clark (17:29):
And I think one thing I really love, and you mentioned Colleen Hoover earlier,
and I feel like Colleen Hoover gets a lot of
criticism for maybe her
books aren't like literary masterpieces.
However, her books are extremely popular and
they're getting people to read that have not picked up a
book in years. And there's, you know, I mean, I
(17:50):
know I keep bringing up like, TikTok and things online, but there's a
lot of keyboard warriors that are so
not nice, quite frankly, about like, people
who enjoy those books and enjoy reading those books. But I come from a place
of like, hey, if it gets you to pick up a book, that's
great. And like, I read Colleen Hoover's books years
ago and that is one of the things that got me really back into reading
again as an adult.
>> Paige Cordner (18:11):
Yeah. There's always been this war between
what's popular fiction and what people consider good
fiction. And I find the argument
really weird because I'm just like, it doesn't matter because it's not
about a group of people, it's about an
individual people and what they're what works for them. And
the same thing, this is gonna get old,
(18:31):
but the same thing, it was with Twilight. I remember being
in middle school and
elementary school and all of a sudden all my friends that weren't reading
before were picking up books because of Twilight. And
it just became a thing where it's like, uh, you get to a size and then people are
like, this isn't good
literature, though. And I'm just like,
I don't need the distinction. But thank you.
>> Whitney Clark (18:52):
Yeah, I agree. I think that, like, anything that's going to get
people interested in reading, or I want to say, like,
Colleen Hoover books were all like, three of her books were like, the
top five checked out books in Maricopa county or something last
year. So anything to get people interested in reading. And I think
Emily Henry kind of falls in that category of being like,
very appealing to younger women,
(19:13):
really women of all ages and something that's sort of easy to
digest as well.
>> Marissa Daley (19:17):
If it makes you happy, who cares what anybody else thinks,
truly. And I had a discussion with a girlfriend of mine. I was
like, oh, you should read. Read the Sarah J. Maas series. I was like,
it's kind of like Twilight when you've grown up. And she's like,
listen, we did not read Stephenie Meyer for the
literary.
>> Paige Cordner (19:33):
No, there was something
about those books, man. You got through them quickly. Well, I did,
yeah.
>> Marissa Daley (19:39):
But truly, if it makes you happy, who cares what anybody else thinks?
Just read what you want.
>> Whitney Clark (19:44):
I feel like I missed out because I, for some reason, didn't read
Twilight. Like, I don't know. I don't know why I,
like I should. I don't know. Remember what I was doing
in life, why I didn't read it. I mean, like, I loved Harry Potter.
Like, I got really, really into those books, like, my whole
childhood to when the last book came out when I was an adult.
I'm gonna have to maybe go read Twilight.
>> Marissa Daley (20:04):
You should read Throne of Glass if you like Harry Potter. It's another
series. Yeah, that's a lot.
>> Whitney Clark (20:08):
I did and I did, and I think that was like a lot of young
people's first book that they enjoyed that they didn't have to
read in school. It was like, oh, this is fun to read.
>> Marissa Daley (20:17):
Mhm.
>> Paige Cordner (20:18):
On Twilight. I say give it a chance.
It's maybe best experienced as a young, youthful
teenager, but you never know
and love the original.
>> Marissa Daley (20:28):
Her favorite movie is Twilight. So it's just like, oh, my God,
we can't get away from it.
>> Paige Cordner (20:32):
I'm never gonna claim that it's the best book ever. I did
at one point claim that it was my favorite book ever,
but, yeah, no, uh, it's candy. It's
candy. And then every once in a while, you find another piece where
it's, I don't know,
steak. Yeah. What's a fancy food?
Okay.
>> Whitney Clark (20:50):
Like filet mignon.
>> Paige Cordner (20:51):
Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (20:52):
Okay.
>> Paige Cordner (20:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Caviar. Caviar.
>> Whitney Clark (20:53):
That makes sense. I like that analogy.
>> Paige Cordner (20:55):
Sorry, my taste buds are pretty cheap.
>> Whitney Clark (20:57):
I think no matter what it is. Like, no matter what kind of book it
is, like, getting involved in reading, I think is great because it might lead to
something else. Yeah, yeah.
And I will say another author that a lot of people love, who's one of my
favorite authors, and another book we'll talk about is the women by Kristin
Hanna. The women came out earlier this year.
I'm pretty sure it's like, the best selling book. It's been the best selling
book, like, this entire year. Historical fiction
(21:20):
takes place, um, during the Vietnam
war and just after as well.
How popular has this book been at the library?
>> Marissa Daley (21:28):
Every time I saw a hold for it, I was like, oh, someone's getting
lucky. I was like, they're moving on the list.
>> Paige Cordner (21:34):
Well, I felt bad because I had to cut the line to get it for the
podcast. Cause I'm just like, oh, I guess I'll just have to.
Yeah. And I felt bad for all
the hundreds of people that are waiting for it, but I
read through pretty quickly. Have you read it yourself?
>> Whitney Clark (21:47):
Yeah, I read it, um, at the beginning of the year,
and I loved it because
it was, I feel like a lot of historical fiction.
Well, historical fiction is my favorite genre, but I feel like a lot of it
is about World War Two. And I had never written, I had never
read anything that took place during Vietnam. So I felt
like I learned a lot about the Vietnam war and what it was like,
(22:07):
and I was constantly reading it and then looking things up to see how
accurate it was and it was. And I actually interviewed her, um,
you know, sorry, shameless plug alert. But I did interview her on my
podcast, and she did talk about it. So that was really interesting,
the research that kind of goes into those types of things.
Uh, but I feel like everyone that I know loved this book.
And, um, thankfully, there's a lot of other
(22:27):
really great sort of not books just like it,
but other historical fiction. A lot of her other books are
wonderful that I think people would love to.
>> Paige Cordner (22:35):
I mean, the number one read of, like, for Kristen, Hannah
is Kristen and Hannah, she's amazing. And I agree with
you. When I was reading the book, the thing that
struck me, my apologies. The thing that
struck me was kind of similar
to you. You don't get this setting a lot in historical
fiction. We love to talk about World War two. We love to talk
(22:57):
about World War one a little bit more. Um, but even
within her book itself, she says it's the war that we
don't want to talk about. And I think that
it's really, really to her credit that she brought
these issues to life and dealt with them from a unique perspective, being
the woman's perspective.
And I think that's why I think my first
recommendation, or read alike that I wanted to
(23:17):
push was the island of Seawoman by
Lisa C. Okay. Uh, and it's
a little. It's a different conflict. It's Korea war, which
it was maybe what drew me to it. To
it, actually. I think it's a range.
It's a range of through time. But Korea war was
the one that I remember more vividly.
(23:37):
Um, and just another conflict that we don't really talk about as
much. But it's about a group of women that live in an island
off of, uh, Japan, and they're dealt with all these conflicts
throughout the ages. So I, like, I wanted to keep the woman's
perspective in times of war and conflict
and how they stay strong and how they deal with
just a kind of a
(23:58):
horrible, horrible situation. Uh, and
that was what I wanted to push in that historical
fiction genre, probably the most similar to
Christian. Hannah, um, if you're wanting to stay in the same
genre, my other recommendation
is actually a classic. It's slaughterhouse five. Oh,
okay. I love that.
>> Marissa Daley (24:15):
I saw that.
>> Paige Cordner (24:17):
Yes, I have my list here. Sorry. I love it. I
love it. Slaughterhouse five. And that's more of
just kind of the PTSD side of
it. Obviously, it's not the women's perspective, but it is
a male perspective within World War Two. And I wanted it to
be a book that, um, Frankie herself would have
read at the time and probably would have opened her
eyes to what's going around in the country, going
(24:40):
on in the country, and that
kind, uh, of disillusionment that happened, uh, during the
Vietnam war. And so I wanted to present that as an
option of looking further into conflict and kind of
how you don't necessarily trust your government in
all things, um, and dealing with
PTSD. And then finally, I just
(25:01):
wanted to bring in kind of more of a nonfiction, because you
yourself were saying, like, looking up facts, trying to see what was correct and
what wasn't. And I'm just like,
there has to be a book about
women, um, serving overseas in
Vietnam. And like I said,
you know, it's the war that we don't want to talk about. There's not that much
literature, even in the nonfiction side.
(25:24):
But I found one that it's the girls next
door bringing the. These nonfiction, they always have a
subtitle. The girls next door bringing the
home front to the front lines by Kara Dixon.
Uh, and it's a just nonfiction book that
highlights women who serve in a number of different
capacities. So it talks about,
(25:45):
uh, the Red Cross, the, uh,
entertainers that went overseas. Um, and it just highlights
a number of different avenues
that they could go. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (25:55):
Yeah. That's so fascinating.
I loved.
Do you like any other Kristen Hanna books? Like, I know
that people love a lot of her books. Have you read any of her other books as
well?
>> Paige Cordner (26:07):
A few. I mean, to be honest,
historical fiction is not my genre, but Kristen
Hannah is one that kind of jumps out
within the genre. And I have read the Nightingale.
Um, and I loved that one.
And so that's why when we got the list, I hadn't read the woman before
we, um, were offered, uh, or talked.
(26:28):
Were offered the podcast and I'm just like, that's the one. I
want to read that because of the Nightingale.
>> Whitney Clark (26:33):
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (26:34):
Um, but I haven't delve too deeply into it. I
just know from other people when they come up and say, I've just read
a Kristen Hannah. What else can you recommend? I'm just like, Kristen Hannah.
Yeah, that's easy.
>> Whitney Clark (26:44):
Basically anything that will, uh, make you cry,
because it's actually hard to. I don't know. How
often do you guys actually cry from books?
Is it hard to get you to really feel emotion like
that or laugh out loud?
>> Marissa Daley (26:58):
It has to be a good author. Um,
I'm such a nerd. I was reading in bed the other
night and, like, got to this part in, um, throwing a glass, and I was like,
yes, I just
did that. You know, but, you know, some of the.
Emily Henry, Allie Hazelwood. I will chuckle for sure.
So, um, I don't know. Oh, I've
(27:18):
made. My husband walked in on me reading, and I had this, like, sad
look, and he's like, what is wrong with you?
>> Whitney Clark (27:23):
And I'm like, just like, it's too
much. That happens with, like, I. I'm pretty
sure, uh, the women, um, the nightingale,
the great alone. Like, a lot of the Kristen Hannah books, I've cried.
My fiance's like, are you okay? Like, are you. Are
you enjoying this? Like, you're doing this for fun. No
one's making you do this, but there's just something so
powerful about the stories, and they're all, like, women
(27:46):
centered. And to your point, I think some of those recommendations,
the nonfiction especially, is so interesting because you
don't really hear about what war was like from a woman's perspective very
often. So she does that really well, I think. For sure.
>> Paige Cordner (27:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Trying to see such
a huge conflict from a different perspective than
a soldier, um, always will give you a lot of
insight.
>> Whitney Clark (28:07):
What types of books do you guys love? Like, I know as librarians,
you're exposed to everything. What are your favorite genres?
Personally, everything.
>> Marissa Daley (28:15):
Um, yeah, truly. Like, before I started this
fantasy romancy stuff, I mean, I was
strictly a nonfiction reader, so I don't know what
changed. Um, so, yeah, I read everything.
My brother is in the military, and, um, he's
a blackhawk pilot, and so I read Black Hawk down. That
was really good, actually. It was really. I mean,
(28:36):
yeah, it was good. It was, um,
intense. Um, but regular fiction as
well, so, yeah, I read kind of everything.
>> Paige Cordner (28:44):
Mhm. Yeah. Okay.
>> Marissa Daley (28:45):
And kids books. Lots of kids books, which are so great.
>> Whitney Clark (28:48):
How old are your kids?
>> Marissa Daley (28:50):
Oh, gosh. Okay, so almost four, almost eight and
five. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (28:54):
Do they like reading, too?
>> Marissa Daley (28:55):
Yes. My daughter, who's going into third grade, it
is. I'm telling you, I have the best job in the world
because she can read by herself now. And
I bring home a stack of books every. Well, not every
night. Cause I can't, but, like, once a week, I bring home a giant
stack for her. And when we go to bed, she reads
and she returns. Uh, it's so cool. I can't wait till
(29:15):
my sons start reading. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (29:18):
What about your favorite genres?
>> Paige Cordner (29:20):
I. So my favorite genre is probably
fantasy Sci-Fi I like to have a little bit
of a world building aspect to it. Sorry.
>> Whitney Clark (29:28):
That's okay.
>> Paige Cordner (29:31):
I talk with my hands. I love to have
a world building aspect to it. So I think I kind of
go towards those genres more, uh,
frequently. But similar to you, I kind of do
try to read everything. I think I
have almost a fear of missing out when it comes to
books, when everybody's talking about a
book specifically, and I'm just like, oh, well, what is it about this book that they
(29:53):
like or something? And so that's usually what I'll pick out, um,
use to pick out what I'm reading next is what's
new, what's popular, what's the trend at the moment? I
love looking at the subgenre trends, like,
um, court of Sarah
J. Moss kind of brought on this whole fairyland trend
going on, and it's everywhere now. And then I think somebody was saying
(30:14):
that it's kind of going towards vampires again. I'm just like,
whoa, really?
So I just love seeing that. And then it would you
like, we're.
>> Whitney Clark (30:24):
Not telling you anything that you have to do.
>> Paige Cordner (30:27):
M. And then I think back to.
>> Whitney Clark (30:29):
Uh, shooting the mics can go through
the battle here.
>> Paige Cordner (30:33):
Okay. All right, I'll do it even more. No. Um, I think
back to, like, when Cinder brought on the whole fairy tale retelling trend.
So I like to do almost
so nerdy doing it, but, um, I love looking
back on trends and saying, like, oh, where did it start and where did
it transition to something else? And, uh, the branches off.
But that sounds really, really like librarian.
>> Whitney Clark (30:54):
Hey, that's what you do. I want to do, like, a whole
separate podcast about what librarians do because
I'm so fascinated. I think most people don't actually know. So
we'll have to have you guys back again to talk about that.
Have you read any books this year that you've absolutely
loved? Like, do you have a favorite book of the year so far.
>> Marissa Daley (31:11):
I'm gonna do two. I'm so glad I thought of these. It makes me
so happy. Um, one was demon
copperhead.
>> Whitney Clark (31:17):
Oh, okay.
>> Marissa Daley (31:18):
I listened to that, and it was.
>> Paige Cordner (31:19):
Is it a retelling of David? Oh,
no. Barbara kings. It sounded so similar to David
Copperfield that I'm just like, oh, is it a retelling?
>> Marissa Daley (31:27):
Trust me. It got me so many times when. Cause it was one of,
like, uh, the women. It was so popular. I think
Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer for that.
>> Paige Cordner (31:35):
Oh, wow.
>> Marissa Daley (31:36):
Yeah. And, um, it was so good. Oh, my
gosh. And I listened to it, so I didn't read it. And the
narrator was, it was so good. It was
like, um. It's not a feel good story. I mean, it
might be, but it's just a real story. You
know, it was gritty, it was intense.
It was funny. You know, there are times where you're just like, oh, my
goodness. So that may have been a book. I laughed, too. Um,
(31:59):
and then bright young women. Bright young women.
>> Whitney Clark (32:01):
Oh, yeah. Oh, my God.
>> Marissa Daley (32:03):
Wasn't it so good?
>> Whitney Clark (32:04):
Yeah, it was so good. I think I gave it five stars. And
I very rarely give books five stars. It was so
good.
>> Marissa Daley (32:11):
I give too many.
>> Paige Cordner (32:12):
Yeah. I do not hold back on the five stars.
>> Whitney Clark (32:14):
Well, I'm pretty stingy about it, but that was definitely, like, an
automatic five stars.
>> Marissa Daley (32:18):
Oh, my gosh. And I struggled with that. Cause I listened to it, and there were
parts where I didn't really care for the, uh,
narrator. But it was so good. It
was so, so good. Oh, that hurts. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (32:29):
And it was also just frustrating because you're like, these women
were cheated. And it was so frustrating.
Like, why isn't anybody listening to her? You
know, it revolves around Ted Bundy, even though he's not named
in the book, but, you know, that's the serial killer it's based off of.
But it was from a woman's perspective. And I think that is
also kind of similar to the women is that it's sort of putting
(32:50):
the power back in women's hands and what they went through and what they tried
to do. And I loved it.
>> Marissa Daley (32:54):
I always have this conversation with my husband, and he's like, why are women so into
true crime? Or, you know, these things? And it's like, because from a
woman's perspective, it's not talked about a lot. You
know, uh, lots of people glorify
and do all these things to serial, uh,
killers. And it was. Yes, it was frustrating,
but it's also so validating to read about it, even if
(33:15):
it's fictionalized. You're just like, there's something so important
about reading a woman's perspective. Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (33:20):
Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (33:20):
And I have to say, the author, Jessica, I didn't know who she
was until, uh, last year. I went to the
Taylor Swift concert with one of my friends in Las Vegas. And she
was there at the concert. And my friend was like, Jessica is gonna be
at the concert. I saw on her instagram and we saw her. We met her.
Oh, wow. Took a picture of my friend and her. And I'm so
sad that I didn't take one with her. Cause then I read her book, brightening woman. I was
(33:40):
like, oh, my God, it was amazing. So she's also a swifty, too. So
funny. Cute.
>> Marissa Daley (33:46):
You're like fangirling and fangirling.
>> Whitney Clark (33:48):
Yeah. Now I'm like fangirling over my friend who's a fangirl.
Yeah.
>> Paige Cordner (33:52):
Oh, I wish you would talk a little bit longer because
honestly, trying to think back on the last
year, um.
>> Marissa Daley (33:58):
You want me to talk about the books I like more?
>> Paige Cordner (34:01):
Well, it's hard. So I am, um, a
Brandon Sanderson fan. Um, I think.
Yes, he has another stormlight, which is a tomb, um,
coming out this year, which is the
book five.
>> Whitney Clark (34:13):
Mhm.
>> Paige Cordner (34:14):
So I'm just been rereading Brandon Sanderson
all year long. And so it sounds bad, but I'm
just like, trying to think of a different novel besides Brandon. That's not
written by Brandon Sanderson.
>> Whitney Clark (34:24):
That's okay. I mean, that's someone that I'm not quite familiar with.
So it's a series. It's like, uh, this is the fifth book in a series of.
>> Marissa Daley (34:30):
Well, yeah, he's got several.
>> Paige Cordner (34:31):
Yes. Uh, let me try again. I'm not.
>> Whitney Clark (34:34):
No, that's okay. I'm telling you guys, I'm putting you guys
on the spot. I'm gonna ask you your favorite book.
>> Paige Cordner (34:39):
So he's probably very much on the forefront of
fantasy at the moment. No, not romantic. Which is,
I think, it's own category. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um,
but just straight up fantasy. He's
probably on the forefront of it. Uh, he has a number of
different series where they're kind of connected.
It's what they call the cosmeres. So they take place
(34:59):
on their own planets, but the universe
as a whole is connected. And so you have a lot of Easter eggs. And it
gets really fun when you actually do get into it. And you can say,
wait a second, I think I know that character from over here. And vice
versa. Um, so anybody that is
a big fan of world building would really enjoy
Brandon Sanderson. And I always recommend maybe starting with his
(35:19):
mistborn series, um, the final empire being the first
one. Yeah. Ah, I've just been, like I said, I've just been
on a reread at the moment, so I'm not really experiencing
too much new material. I see it and I say,
oh, I should add that to my list as it goes across my desk. And then off it
goes to somebody.
>> Marissa Daley (35:35):
Oh, yeah. It's like, so many things I put on hold, and
then they come, and I'm like, wait, why did I want this? What is it
about? Yeah, that happens to me.
>> Whitney Clark (35:43):
The struggle is real. There's so many books out there.
Um, so little time to read. So much.
So many books. I don't know what I'm saying. So many books.
>> Marissa Daley (35:51):
A little time.
>> Whitney Clark (35:52):
That's exactly what I meant.
Um, anything else you guys want to add that I maybe haven't asked? Just
about the libraries or anything else you want people to know?
>> Paige Cordner (36:00):
What was your favorite book this year so far?
>> Whitney Clark (36:02):
Oh, I mean, I
loved the women. Um, I really
liked good material by Dolly Alderton. Um,
it was really good. It was about,
um, a man in his thirties going through a
breakup. And it was told from his perspective, and he's,
like, not a very likable character, I'll say
that. But then at the end of the book, you get the
(36:24):
perspective from a female, the
female that broke up with him. And it was just.
It was really funny. It was like one of those books. I kept seeing
the COVID everywhere. I'm like, am I really gonna like this? But I
felt like it was written by, um,
you know, I'm 36. I think the author is about the same age. It was
written by, like, someone in their mid thirties. Like, for someone in their mid
(36:44):
thirties. I just felt like it was very modern and current
and relatable to people who maybe
go through breakups in their mid thirties when it's a very
interesting time, when people are. Some are having kids, some are single.
And I really liked that book a lot. Um,
and I really loved the women I love, you know, all Kristen Hanna
books, mostly. So those are probably my favorites so far.
>> Paige Cordner (37:05):
Okay.
>> Whitney Clark (37:05):
I liked the gunkle abroad. Um, the gunkle is a really
funny book. The first one. This one was the sequel. Sequel. But the
gunkle Washington, really, really funny. And then the sequel was really good
too. So I loved that.
>> Paige Cordner (37:15):
I think when you asked earlier, you know, oh, do you cry easily or
laugh easily? I think I cry more than I laugh. I think laughing is harder
to get me. You know, humor is really hard to pull
off.
>> Whitney Clark (37:24):
It is. It's very hard. And the gunkle. I actually
cried and laughed out loud because it's about, um,
like, really, the underlying theme is grief, and it's about
loss and, like, losing people in your life. It's about a
gunkle. So a gay uncle who takes care of his
best friend and his brother's kids after she passes
away. So it has a very serious, like,
(37:44):
theme. And if you've ever lost someone that you love, you'll
really relate to it. But it's also, like, laugh out loud
funny in the way that he speaks to his niece and nephew, who are younger,
and then they grow up in the second one, and it's just. It's so good. So
you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll do both. Oh, I love it.
>> Marissa Daley (37:59):
I'm an easy crier, and I guess I don't cry for books.
>> Whitney Clark (38:01):
Yeah.
>> Marissa Daley (38:02):
But. Yeah.
>> Whitney Clark (38:03):
Well, thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it. And, um,
thank you for doing what you do. And we love the
library system. So, Maricopa county library district, go get your
library cards and, uh, read this summer.
>> Marissa Daley (38:15):
Thanks for having us. Uh, and thanks for spreading the message of libraries.
>> Whitney Clark (38:18):
Of course. Thank you, guys.
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