318: Witchy Reads
It’s witchy reads season! In this episode, we’re sharing two books that bring plenty of magic, mystery, and darker themes to your fall TBR.
Ashley recommends Kirsten Miller’s The Change (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a genre-blending story about three women discovering unexpected powers and joining forces to uncover a disturbing mystery. Jen shares Jill Baguchinsky’s So Witches We Became (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a queer YA novel filled with complicated friendships, eerie supernatural elements, and a mysterious fog that traps a group of teens on an island.
We also share what we’re currently reading and wrap things up with a This or That question: Do you ever read the last page early, or do you always wait for the ending?
What witchy books would you recommend for spooky season? Let us know!
Bookish Check-in
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This or That
Read the last page early or wait for the ending?
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Full Transcript for Episode
[00:00:00] Ashley: Welcome to the Unabridged Podcast. I'm Ashley.
[00:00:05] Jen: And this is Jen.
[00:00:06] Ashley: Join us for bookish episodes and check out our website, unabridgedpod.com, where you can find lots of new bookish content to grow your TBR.
[00:00:13] Jen: Sign up for our newsletter to find out more about online book discussions and upcoming events. Find us on Patreon for extra Unabridged content.
[00:00:21] Join us on Instagram and Facebook at unabridgedpod and message us there or see our website to get plugged into the Unabridged community. You want opinions about books? We've got 'em.
[00:00:35] Hey everyone, and welcome to episode 318. This is Witchy Reads. We are so thankful that you're listening today, and just want to remind you before we get started that if you go to bookshop.org, you can support both independent bookstores and our podcast. We do get a little affiliate fee if you go to bookshop.org/shop/unabridgedpod. All right, Ashley, what are you reading today?
[00:01:01] Ashley: So one of the things I'm reading is Miranda July's All Fours, and this is a hard one to explain. There's an artist. She's, like, kind of famous, and she has an opportunity to go to New York for, I think it's an exhibition that she is going for. But she's heading to New York, and originally, when she's getting ready to go, she lives in LA with her family, her child, and her partner, her husband, and, when she's getting ready to go, people are like, "Oh, you should take your time.
[00:01:32] Do a cross-country trip. It would be really fun for you to drive across the country and go see lots of things on your way." And so, largely because of this, like, nudging, she winds up planning this kind of elaborate cross-country trip where she's gonna, like, solo drive and make several stops along the way. And so, it winds up being that there's sort of, like, weeks planned for her to go do this, be at the event in New York, and then come back.
[00:01:55] But almost immediately after she gets started, she pulls off on the highway, and she is gonna get gas, and then she's like, "Oh, I'll get some food," and then she's like, "You know, I'm just gonna, like, do this other thing," and then all of a sudden she's, like, staying at a motel, basically, for the night.
[00:02:09] And then she's like, "Oh, I'll get started again tomorrow." Well, that whole thing kind of happens over and over again, like, "Oh, I'll get started again tomorrow," and she just stays. She does not tell her family this is what is happening.
[00:02:20] So again, I mean, I'm kind of in the middle of this, and it is just odd and funny and weird.
[00:02:26] And there are parts that I really relate to, and I can see why people say it's really brilliant. And then other things are just strange. It is interesting. It's kind of exploring who we really are and what it means if we step away from all the things that, like, make us contextually who we are.
[00:02:42] What happens then? And so yeah, it raises some interesting questions. It is like laugh-out-loud funny, in parts, and it is just strange. So I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. But, anyway, that again is Miranda July's All Fours, and it is an interesting read
[00:02:56] Jen: It is, yes. I read that a few years ago. I can't remember exactly what year, but it was in the Tournament of Books the year it came out. And, yeah, pretty deeply weird. So I'll be interested in talking to you after you finish itu. I, like you, admired parts of it, and parts of it really resonated. She's of an age with us.
[00:03:15] Ashley: Yes.
[00:03:15] Jen: Part of it was like, "Huh, okay." I don't have a really cogent response right now, but yeah, I'll be interested to talk to you when you finish it.
[00:03:23] Ashley: We'll see. There's a local book club where we should be discussing it, so what about you, Jen? What's one thing you're reading?
[00:03:29] So I am reading Kelly Quindlen's This Must Be the Place, and we are recording ahead, so this is our buddy read pick for September, and we're actually discussing it tomorrow. So in the future, we've already discussed it. But I will say the synopsis for this one does not at all match my reading experience. It is focused on a character named Louisa. She has graduated from high school. She is getting ready to go to school at the University of Connecticut. She grew up for most of her life in a very small southern town named Ruston, with her grandparents, who were sort of a town institution, mainly because of her great-uncle George, who was a football star in college and went on to play for the NFL, and then came back and started a real estate company, and really was just.
[00:03:29] a big deal in the town. People have complete hero worship for him. Her grandfather played football too, but had an injury, and so he basically was George's promoter. And George has died, so she lives in the north. Her dad and mom are divorced. Her dad still lives in her hometown, and he was much closer to George than he is to his parents. He does not feel very understood by his parents, but he loved his uncle George. And so she goes back for his funeral. She is very nervous because she doesn't get along with her roommate.
[00:04:54] Jen: With her grandparents, anyway, but she also made the decision at the end of high school,l as she was moving into this transition time, to come out, and she knows that her dad told her grandparents that she is a lesbian, but she has not seen them since this happened, and she was not anticipating having to face the people that she grew up with once this news had become public, and she's just not sure
[00:05:21] It's a very conservative town also. She's just not sure what sort of reception she's going to get, but she keeps telling herself she gets to see her best friends, she'll be there for a day, she'll move on. Well, she goes to the funeral, and things are as awkward as she expects with her family, but she gets through it, and then she finds out that she has to go to the reading of the will, and at the reading of the will, she finds out that George has left her his ownership stake in a local bar called The Frisky Cricket, and she finds out that it is a gay bar.
[00:05:53] Soshe is pretty gobsmacked on multiple fronts and is really shocked, but kind of excited, she thinks, and so she goes to the bar and meets some of the people who work there. The first night she goes, it is open, a nd there are a ton of people there, and she just feels like she has found this sort of refuge in the midst of very conservative Ruston.
[00:06:17] And yeah, so she's trying to figure out what to do, and she decides that she wants to help run the bar that she has inherited, and so she is going to stay longer in the summer so that she can kind of work and get her feet under her. Well, then she also discovers that ... So football is a big deal in the town, and that there is a potential deal in place to sell the land on which the bar is located to the local college and the football team who want to build a new facility.
[00:06:51] And yeah, so that is, of course, imperiling this big dream that she has of saving this place that could have been a refuge for people like her when she lived in Ruston, and that is the focus. Now, I will say that the synopsis talks a lot about romance, and there is an element of romance, but to me, that is not the primary focus of this book.
[00:07:09] The primary focus is Louisa dealing with the aftermath of the death of someone who, while he was part of her life, she did not know him all that well, and then finding out that there's this hidden side to him because she does find out that he was gay and she had no idea. And yeah, just trying to wrestle with what she didn't know, with her family's reactions, with the fact that she now has this property and is sort of responsible for other people.
[00:07:34] Anyway, I really liked it. I think the writing is really strong. This is my first book by Quinlan, but I really, I could not put it down. So that is Kelly Quindlen's This Must Be The Place.
[00:07:45] Ashley: Yeah, Jen, I am, of course, as you said, we're about to discuss that one, so I'm reading that one now too, and I am not that far into it yet, but I am absolutely really enjoying it. Like, I just think the complexity of the circumstances and then her finding her way through them is just really compelling.
[00:08:04] Jen: Yeah, it's a good one. All right, well, we are going to move on now to our witchy reads. Ashley, what witchy read are you recommending?
[00:08:12] Ashley: Oh my gosh, I have a good one.
[00:08:14] I loved this. This is Kirsten Miller's The Change. I don't think I had heard anything about this one, and I'm trying to remember how I stumbled across it, but I was, like, looking for witchy reads. I've read quite a few in the last couple of years, but I really wanted to read something fresh before we recorded.
[00:08:31] And so, I'm trying to remember. I just found it on a list, I guess. And so this one deals with... I was thinking about the genre. Like, several things are happening. Like, there is a mystery. It is very much a mystery book. It is a bit of a thriller, and then also it's a bit of a fantasy. And so, it takes place in Mattock, is the location, and it's an oceanfront community on Long Island.
[00:08:57] And it starts with a homeowners association, and there is a woman in that area. Her name is Harriett, and she and her husband have divorced, and she has kept the home in this very prestigious community that is very uptight about their appearance.
[00:09:15] And her house has become what they would say is overgrown, but, like, a lush and thriving garden space all around her house. And so she, the homeowner association president, is trying to get her to wrangle this garden, and people feel that she has essentially gone off the deep end and that the appearance of the yard is just, like, one indicator of how her life is, like, unraveling, I guess.
[00:09:42] Well, then we get to know these two other women.
[00:09:45] One of them, Jo, when we first meet her, she's having a hot flash. She's sweating profusely. She wakes up in the middle of a puddle of sweat in the middle of the night. And when she gets up, she goes out to try to cool her body off, and she's doing a bit of meditating, and has her hands out, sitting on her knees.
[00:10:05] And, you know, she's like, her body is, like, feeling like it's on fire. And then she realizes there's a bit of a flame between, that is, like, rising, basically. And, uh, and so she's starting to notice that these changes that are happening in her body are resulting in her ability to also do these unusual things.s
[00:10:25] So Jo is the owner of a women's gym that is called Furious Fitness, and she has... She lives with her husband, Art, and her daughter.
[00:10:38] And they- we just are starting to see a little bit about her. And then finally we have Nessa, and Nessa is discovering that an ability she had when she was really young to see ghosts has been away for a long, long, long time, but it seems to be coming back. And so we meet these three different women, and we get to see them.
[00:11:02] They don't know each other, but we get to discover how they start to connect, and they find each other because of these mysterious circumstances that are happening where Nessa is seeing these ghosts, Harriet is feeling this pull, and then Jo gets looped in also on what's going on. And so these three women start to take charge to solve these murders that seem to have been occurring that no one has resolved.
[00:11:31] And it's the kind of thing where once they start pulling on the thread, then a lot starts to unravel.
[00:11:38] And I think there are so many things I love about it. I love the way that the women come together. I love that they are of a certain age and discovering that they have all of this power and ability and intuition that they had ignored in a lot of ways that they are, like, tapping into.
[00:11:57] And we start to see also, so as the mystery begins to unfurl, we learn that a lot of this is taking place on this long road between Culling Point, which is, like, a place that only, like, billionaires are living, and then the mainland. So there's like an island area, and then there's a road between them, and it seems that at first there's, like, one body that's been discovered, but then you start to discover that, like, something is going on there.
[00:12:27] And I think what I find, I mean, there are parts of it that are laugh-out-loud funny. There are parts that are just brilliantly put together, and then there are parts that are really satisfying. But I also think Kirsten Miller is getting at the heart of how really, really terrible things do, in fact,t happen, and happen insidiously and purposefully, and how money covers it all up.
[00:12:49] And so I was looking back because I was like, I mean, it's awful to think through, but I was like, when did Epstein, like,ke when did that stuff start coming out? Because this was written in 2022, but it is as if she is foretelling exactly how those sorts of structures happen and how they can, in fact, go on and on without anyone really noticing, or if people are noticing, it's getting covered up with lots of money and lots of NDAs.
[00:13:18] And so, you know, I just think it's so well done, really captivating, fun, and also heartbreaking all at the same time. So I mean, I just thought it was fantastic. I will definitely be looking for more of her books because I was like, man, this is like really, really good. Again, that's Kirsten Miller's The Change.
[00:13:35] Jen: Oh, that sounds great. I'm adding it to my list for sure.
[00:13:39] Ashley: Great. I'm adding it to my list. It was a good one. It's like, yeah, and it i- I mean, it's witchy, but it's also, like I said, it hits several different genres, which I think is really fun. So, what about you, Jen? What is your recommendation?
[00:13:50] Jen: All right, so my book is Jill Baguchinsky's So Witches We Became, and it is ... I listened on Libro. It is narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Kristen James, and this is billed as a queer YA retelling of Stephen King's The Mist, which is sort of true.
[00:14:09] So the main character is Nell, and the two narrators are actually narrating Nell's voice from when she was younger and the current events. So those are the two narrators, because she is our point-of-view character throughout the book. And when Nell is little, she loses her mom, and she starts seeing a dark figure in the corner of her room every night.
[00:14:37] And her dad has her in therapy, and they're telling her that it's imaginary and that nothing is there, and that eventually she'll realize that, and she hopes that is true. But in the meantime, she discovers that if she sings this particular song that her mother loved to this dark shadow, it will go away.
[00:14:59] So that is definitely significant. So you have this eerie feeling from the beginning. So that is in her childhood. And then in the present day, Nell is a senior in high school. They have graduated...
[00:15:12] So Nell and her friends decide that they are going to go to this vacation house for the summer. Her friend Harper, who has been her friend since they were children when Harper moved to her school and Nell befriended her, has a stepdad who is quite wealthy, and so he agrees to pay for this really nice vacation house that is essentially on an island by itself for Harper and her friends.
[00:15:36] So she is bringing Nell and their friend Dia, who have been a really strong trio for years. And they also bring Harper's older brother, Harry, who is uber responsible and basically he's in charge of making sure that they are doing the things that they are supposed to do. Nell is excited about going, but also has a little trepidation because she and Harper have been growing apart.
[00:16:03] Harper, in or around middle school, became very focused on being popular, on joining things, on her appearance, on having a boyfriend. And she and Nell had this zine that they loved making together, and Harper had pulled out of making that because she was just doing so many other things, and she tried to encourage Nell to join these events, these activities with her.
[00:16:27] But Nell just felt that was not who she was. And so she kept pursuing her interests, and that has meant that they have sort of grown apart. And Dee is close to both of them. She kind of joined the trio later, and Nell sort of feels like she and Harper are now closer than Nell is with either of them.
[00:16:49] So they go to this island, and you start peeling back the layers of the fact that Nell is also very happy that Harper's boyfriend, Gavin, is not coming. Harry, the parents have put their foot down, and one of the things Harry has to make sure does not happen is that Gavin cannot come to the island because they just don't want him there with Harper.
[00:17:15] And Nell is relieved because she has feelings about Gavin,n and the reason for those feelings becomes clear as the book continues. Yeah, so they're on the island, they're getting set up, and they're there a couple of days; they have fun, and then Harper sneaks Gavin onto the island when Harry has something to do.
[00:17:36] So Nell is immediately very upset because Harper had also promised her that it would just be a girls' weekend except for Harry, and yeah, she just feels really betrayed by this. There's also a character on the island whose dad is the caretaker, and she is super capable, and she comes around and is helping.
[00:17:58] So she's sort of spinning out there in the margins of the story, and Gavin brings his friend Christopher with him. They bring alcohol; things are going poorly. Harry comes back, finds Gavin and Christopher there, finds them drinking, and tells them they have to leave immediately. So they start driving to get off the island, and they realize that there is this weird fog that has descended, and it doesn't seem like a normal fog.
[00:18:30] And as they start trying to drive into it to open this gate, their vehicles stop working, and then they notice that all electronics that the fog touches stop working. And then they realize that any part of them that touches it has this weird, like, corrosive tar stuff on their skin. And so they decide that they need to go back to the vacation house.
[00:18:54] So they are essentially trapped as the fog is encroaching on their home. There's this toxic mix of people. All of the feelings that they have been, especially Nell, have been repressing start coming to the forefront, and then Nell's shadow appears because something happened with her. She plays a ukulele when she sings to it.
[00:19:16] Something happened with her ukulele, and she does not have it, so she doesn't do her routine to suppress the shadow. So I know I've not mentioned witches, and I will admit that I was like, "Oh, I should read this for this prompt," and then I was partway through the book, and I thought, "Oh no, there are no witches in this at all."
[00:19:34] But I promise there are. I don't want to give any spoilers. It does take a while, but I promise there are witches and that they are such a satisfying part of the book. But I don't want to reveal that. And again, I would say more; it has the same premise as Stephen King's The Mist, but once you get past the fact that the mist is falling, I would not say it's a retelling.
[00:19:55] I think it's quite different. So if you're hoping for those plot points, that is not why you should read this book. But I did find the dynamics of the characters to be really satisfying, and the way these fantastical horror elements are really, like, bringing the realistic parts of it to a head, I think is really interesting.
[00:20:15] So there's a great exploration of how teenage girls are treated, of how Nell's queerness has affected her relationship with some people,e and how some people react to her because of that. And yeah, I think it's just a really complex book with a lot of layers. The audio was great. So yeah, I really loved it, and I'm sorry I can't tell you more about the witches, but I promise there are witches.
[00:20:39] So that is Jill Baguchinsky's So Witches We Became
[00:20:44] Ashley: Oh, Jen, I gotta read that one.
[00:20:45] Jen: Yes. It is so, oh my gosh, you will love it. It's so good.
[00:20:49] Ashley: I will definitely get to that. I feel like I have started to really enjoy seasonal reads this time of year, so that sounds perfect.
[00:20:56] Jen: Yeah, that's great. All right, everyone. Well, we'd love to know what witchy reads you would recommend. We are going to end with our This or That segment, and our choice today is between reading the last page early or waiting for the ending. Ashley, which one are you?
[00:21:13] Ashley: I definitely wait for the ending. I will say that just the other day, my daughter, my younger daughter, was saying how she had read the last page of her book and that she often does that so that she knows what's going to happen. And I managed to not be like, "What?" And instead was like, "There are many ways that people like to read.
[00:21:34] Pop, pop." But inside I was kind of like, "What? No, thank you." Yes, I am not a, I'm not a look-ahead kind of person.
[00:21:42] Jen: Same. I love the surprise, and I do like rereading books, so it's not that I think there's no enjoyment to be found in a book when you do know the ending. But the first time through, I just want to see everything evolve and not constantly be anticipating how things will unfold inings will unfold to get to this ending.
[00:22:02] I don't like that. So when I do accidentally know an ending, I'm very frustrated.
[00:22:06] Ashley: Yes.
[00:22:07] Jen: Yeah, I try to forget it, which never works, but
[00:22:09] Ashley: Yeah, same.
[00:22:10] Jen: I know. But yeah, so I am definitely a wait-for-the-ending type of reader.
[00:22:15] Ashley: I will say,y though, there are occasions, I'm sure I've said this in recordings before, where something is intense enough that I will Google whether the thing happens or not. Just because I get to the point where I'm like, "I do need to know whether," like if it's a main character, sometimes, like, if it's a child that's gonna die, like I just want to know that thing.
[00:22:32] So I don't look at the last page, but now and again in a book, if it's very intense, I will look for a plot point specifically.
[00:22:40] Jen: Yeah. Isn't there a website where you can go to see if the dog dies in a particular book?
[00:22:46] Ashley: I don't know, but you know I should know. I should know because that is something I usually check. And it's funny, now my daughter is really getting into, what is the... Barbara O'Connor's books, my
[00:22:56] Jen: Oh, I don't know if I know her.
[00:22:57] Ashley: She wrote Wish, which, remember when Holly joined us, and we talked about books that were great for third graders, and I think she had recommended Wish.
[00:23:05] So she wrote Wish, which is popular, but then she also wrote one called How to Steal a Dog. I have looked ahead to make sure the dogs didn't die because, like, every book has a dog in it, and I'm like, "I just need to know and, like, let her know.
[00:23:16] Jen: Yes.
[00:23:17] Ashley: So far.
[00:23:17] Jen: Say my son is a very sensitive kid, and he was reading- I forget which book it was; it's part of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint series, and it had a dragon, and within the first chapter the dragon had killed the main character's dog. And my child, I mean, this was years ago, but I remember he threw that book across the room, and I said, "What happened?"
[00:23:41] And he said, "The dog is dead; I'm done with that book." And he never picked it up again. He was out. So yes.
[00:23:47] Ashley: I feel that in my heart. I understand. It feels like a betrayal sometimes when that happens.
[00:23:52] Jen: Well, especially to make it such an early plot point just to get things started. Yeah, so there wasn't even, yeah. Anyway, he was very angry. All right, everybody, well, we'd also love to know if you like to read the last page early, blasphemy, or if you wait for the ending.
[00:24:09] Just kidding. We accept all readers here.
[00:24:11] Ashley: That's right.
[00:24:12] Jen: Thanks so much for listening
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