I have to say, the Poetry Foundation really came for me with one of their recent poems, and I can’t be alone with it so I’m going to quote it for y’all here as a run-up to this actually very chipper and non-insane podcast.
I lived in the first century of world wars.
Most mornings I would be more or less insane,
The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories,
The news would pour out of various devices
Interrupted by attempts to sell products to the unseen.
I would call my friends on other devices;
They would be more or less mad for similar reasons.
Like, how dare Muriel Rukeyser? You can read the full poem here (link). “Most mornings I would be more or less insane” is the most accurate description I have ever heard of my current mindset and that of everyone I know.
All of this to say, I hope that our podcast brought you some joy this year, and I hope this podcast in particular brings you joy. We read Brit Bennett’s sophomore novel The Vanishing Half (spoilers, we loved it), and we also produced a list of excellent gifts we think you should buy for all your loved ones this year. And aside from that, be kind to yourself and remember that you are not alone. We all feel more or less insane right now. HANG IN THERE.
You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below, or download it directly to take with you on the go!
Here are the time signatures if you want to skip around.
1:37 – What we’re reading
3:53 – What we’re something elsing
6:14 – Holiday gift guide!
22:27 – The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
41:48 – What we’re reading for next time
Stuff we talked about:
Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots
Powerless (TV show)
The Camelot Caper, Elizabeth Peters
Ted Lasso (TV show)
Whiskey Jenny’s Gift Guide
Read, Romance, Repeat subscription box from The Ripped Bodice
blank books from Vintage Paper Co (or just lovely papers)
copper cup from Made Trade
yarn from Third Vault Yarns
a donation to the food bank or racial justice organization of your choice, like Emancipate NC!
Gin Jenny’s Gift Guide
a reading Bean from Book Beau
stationery from Pigeon Posted
Real Simple subscription
Atlas of Adventures series (like this!)
And here’s the link about Delia Owens’s husband maybe killing a man in Zambia! (link)
You can get at me on Twitter, email the podcast, and friend me (Gin Jenny) and Whiskey Jenny on Goodreads. As a brand new feature, you can also follow me (Gin Jenny) and Whiskey Jenny on Storygraph! If you like what we do, support us on Patreon. Or if you wish, you can find us on iTunes (and if you enjoy the podcast, give us a good rating! We appreciate it very very much).
Credits
Producer: Captain Hammer
Photo credit: The Illustrious Annalee
Theme song by: Jessie Barbour
Transcript
Whiskey Jenny 0:00
Oh, oh. Oh, and can we use the holiday theme song this time?
Gin Jenny 0:03
Oh, yes! Oh my God! Thank you for reminding me. I completely forgot.
Whiskey Jenny 0:05
I just thought of it. YAY!
Gin Jenny 0:06
I totally forgot it existed. Yes.
Whiskey Jenny 0:08
Jingle bells!
Gin Jenny 0:09
Yes. I love the jingle bells one. Yes.
Whiskey Jenny 0:46
Hello, and welcome back to the Reading the End Bookcast with the Demographically Similar Jennys. I’m Whiskey Jenny.
Gin Jenny 0:51
And I’m Gin Jenny!
Whiskey Jenny 0:52
And we’re back to talk about books and literary happenings with a holiday twist this time! First up, we’re going to talk about what we’re reading, and we’re each going to talk about what we’re something else-ing, but it’s gonna be chaos because we’re something else-ing different elses. We’re then gonna do our annual holiday gift guide with some literary and maybe not-so-literary gifts. Who can say? The book that we read this time is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. And then we’ll find out from fearless leader Gin Jenny– what? What? And then we’ll find out what we’re reading next time from Gin Jenny.
Gin Jenny 1:32
Hooray!
Whiskey Jenny 1:32
So first up, what are you reading right now?
Gin Jenny 1:35
I am reading this book called Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, which is about a henchperson named Anna who gets– She’s temping for a supervillain, and a superhero slams into her while foiling her employer’s plan and shatters her femur. While she’s recovering from this injury, she starts cataloging the financial damage that superheroes do in the course of foiling villains. And that brings her to the attention of a very super super villain. So she goes to work for him, puts a team together, and starts figuring out ways to screw up the lives of superheroes, to try and stop them from doing so much property and human damage. It’s definitely scratching at least some of that itch that I perpetually have to read about the like bureaucratic side of superhero stories.
Whiskey Jenny 2:11
I love that it’s a henchperson. That that’s her job. That was my favorite part about– Do you remember that short-lived TV show that Vanessa Hudgens was in?
Gin Jenny 2:20
Yes, I did. I forgot about that! But yes!
Whiskey Jenny 2:22
Yeah, she dated, I think for like an episode, Major Lilywhite. She had a crush on him. But actually, he was a henchperson. So.
Gin Jenny 2:30
Yeah, so it’s, it’s fun. Um, as the story goes on, she’s dealing less with bureaucracy and more with like, bigger plots and stories, you know, which I think makes sense. I get that the plot has to have a plot.
Whiskey Jenny 2:42
Sure.
Gin Jenny 2:42
But I do like it when she’s just with her team being like, and now these spreadsheets.
Whiskey Jenny 2:46
Yeah, like the paperwork behind the villainous or hero plots. I want more of, just more filing.
Gin Jenny 2:55
Yeah, more filing! Totally agree. I just read a very delightful Magnus Archives fic where they have to hire a GDPR compliance officer at the Magnus Archives. And it was great. It was terrific.
Whiskey Jenny 3:05
Sounds great.
Gin Jenny 3:06
What are you reading?
Whiskey Jenny 3:07
I am reading, well, I guess I just finished rereading The Camelot Caper again.
Gin Jenny 3:11
Awwww!
Gin Jenny 3:12
By Elizabeth Peters. I believe I read it first at your place because you left it on a bedside table.
Gin Jenny 3:17
Sounds like me.
Whiskey Jenny 3:18
Yeah, I mean, story checks out. And it’s a delight. It’s such a silly little caper in, I think it’s like 1960s England, and sort of spoofing on gothic horror a little bit, but in the just like the lightest, nicest way possible. There’s a convertible, they’re just always cruising around to different cathedrals and a convertible. It’s great. It’s great.
Gin Jenny 3:41
I love that book.
Whiskey Jenny 3:42
There’s a plot but like, eh! For me, it’s really all about the convertible and the cathedrals. So yeah. What are you something else-ing? Well, what is your something else? And what are you elsing it with?
Gin Jenny 3:55
So I am watching, and I am watching an Apple TV show (I know) called Ted Lasso. I cannot shut up about it. It’s the greatest show. I just I feel so confident every time I recommend it that the person that I’m recommending it to is going to love it. But because it’s on Apple TV, it’s kind of a hard sell. It’s a Jason Sudeikis show. It’s about a college football coach who gets hired to coach an English football, i.e., soccer, league. He doesn’t know anything about football. He doesn’t know anything about England. He’s really sunshiny and optimistic, and everyone in England kind of doesn’t know what to make of him. There’s like a hotshot Mancunian fuckboy on the team, there’s a like older grizzled soccer veteran who’s kind of reaching the end of his career. The team’s owner is a very hot woman who I think is like from the West End, so her posture is beautiful. And she’s just an ice Queen, a la kind of Gillian Anderson type character, and everyone just becomes really great friends and builds grudging respect. And there’s lots of jokes, and it’s the greatest show that I have watched in a really long time.
Whiskey Jenny 4:03
I cannot wait to see this. I have heard from multiple sources an equally ringing endorsement, and I’m so excited to watch it.
Gin Jenny 4:40
It’s great for everyone, but it’s especially great for you, I think.
Whiskey Jenny 4:55
I can’t wait. I can’t wait! Every single word you said was like, Yeah, I like that.
Gin Jenny 5:10
What are you something else-ing?
Whiskey Jenny 5:11
I am painting! I’m very excited to — I’ve been getting into the holiday spirit because we’ve been decorating the house, and my newest project that I’ve suddenly become very attached to is I cut out (and this was inspired by something my friend and my mom said a while ago), but I cut out pieces of cardboard in the shape of a light bulb.
Gin Jenny 5:32
Uh huh.
Gin Jenny 5:32
But like a Christmas light bulb, you know, like a string. Then I’m going to paint those like glitter and stripes and pretty colors, and string them on like fishing wire and hang them.
Gin Jenny 5:42
Oh, that sounds wonderful. That sounds so Christmassy and lovely.
Whiskey Jenny 5:45
Very excited about it. Like I came up with this plan to do this, and then immediately it was like, I will die trying to do this, and my mom was like, Okay? All right? I’m very attached to it, and I will send photos when they’re done.
Gin Jenny 6:00
Yes. Oh my gosh, please. I was just about to ask for that. I just put up my very tiny fake Christmas tree and put my Christmas ornaments on it. And even though it’s so tiny and fake, it’s still making me happy.
Whiskey Jenny 6:10
Yay!
Gin Jenny 6:11
Yeah. So on today’s podcast we did– We’re not able to this year, due to COVID and other complications, we were not able to do our thing that we love to do, which is help you pick out presents, listeners, for your loved ones. But we still did want to do our holiday gift guide where we’d pick out some things, some gifts that you could get for your people. A generic you. I love my choices so much. Whiskey Jenny, do you want to go first?
Whiskey Jenny 6:34
Ah, sure! So my first thing is The Ripped Bodice, which is a romance-only bookstore in LA, I think. They have a subscription service. Did you know about this? I just found out about it.
Gin Jenny 6:47
I didn’t know about that, but I love subscription services, so.
Whiskey Jenny 6:49
I know! So it’s called Read Romance Repeat. And they send you romances. They just send you romances in the mail or your person. I think it’s monthly.
Gin Jenny 7:01
Uh-huh. To what extent are you able to customize it? Like can you say, I just want historicals? Or I just want contemporaries? Or do they send you an assortment and expand your boundaries?
Whiskey Jenny 7:07
I think it’s an assortment.
Gin Jenny 7:09
Okay, cool.
Whiskey Jenny 7:10
So it’s two a month. And you get — they say it’s a mix, but that they do tend to favor contemporary of it. And it’s new stuff.
Gin Jenny 7:18
Well, it sounds great. That sounds like a perfect subscription.
Whiskey Jenny 7:20
Doesn’t that sound delightful? Just romance in the box every month! Two romances in the mail every month! Yeah. So that’s my first one.
Gin Jenny 7:28
That’s really good. Especially because I know that The Ripped Bodice really cares about diversity in the romance industry. So I bet that they’re picking out like really great, marginalized authors to promote, which is awesome.
Whiskey Jenny 7:37
Yeah, I agree.
Gin Jenny 7:37
Yeah, they do the diversity report every year to show how bad romance publishing is at diversity.
Whiskey Jenny 7:42
Still bad!
Gin Jenny 7:43
Still bad, yeah.
Whiskey Jenny 7:45
So what’s your first thing?
Gin Jenny 7:46
Okay, so my first one is a little weird, but I am gonna stand by it. So my friend Alice, who’s one of the two hosts of the For Real podcast, told me about this product called the Book Beau bean. And I was like, oh, does anyone in the whole world need that? But she was correct. She was the visionary. It’s a little pillow that’s shaped like a little bean. It’s about the size of a travel pillow. And you use it to put your book on. I know this sounds insane and like, you don’t need it at all, but I bought one for someone in my life this year for Christmas. And before I wrapped it up for them, I tried it because I wanted to see, you know, is this a cool thing? You can put it in your lap or if you’re lying on your back, you can put it on your chest. Or if you’re curled up you can use it like a travel pillow. And it just really improves the reading experience in a like minor but noticeable way. It’s just a better way of life.
Whiskey Jenny 8:30
Boy, that’s a great sell, because I’ve also like– but I mean, it’s just a pillow, right?
Gin Jenny 8:33
Yeah!
Gin Jenny 8:34
But it sounds like it’s more than a pillow.
Gin Jenny 8:37
Have you ever had a baby small enough that you’ve had like a Boppy that you see when you’re holding the baby? You have something to rest the baby on?
Whiskey Jenny 8:43
No.
Gin Jenny 8:44
Okay, well, listeners if you’ve ever had one of these, the book bean is like that, but it’s smaller. It’s like a Boppy for your books.
Whiskey Jenny 8:50
Now I need to know what a Boppy is. You put the baby on the Boppy?
Gin Jenny 8:53
Yeah, it’s like a larger bean-shaped pillow, it kind of wraps around your waist. So when you’re holding the baby, it’s not just your arms holding up the baby forever because you’ll get really tired. You can kind of rest a bit. The baby’s still in your arms, but your arms are resting and the baby’s like butt is resting on the pillow. Anyone who’s like breastfed is definitely aware of this. My sister has several of them for my my baby niece. And they’re great for a baby, and the Book Beau Bean is great for a book. I just, I can’t account for it! I got it in the mail. I was like I’m gonna try this. I’m worried it’s not going to be any good. And it it just was like a little bit better.
Whiskey Jenny 9:29
Wow, amazing.
Gin Jenny 9:30
So that is the Book Beau Bean.
Whiskey Jenny 9:32
My next one, I was going to try and do a transition, to be like, you could rest it on the Book Bean, and I guess you could!
Gin Jenny 9:40
This has been: A segue!
Gin Jenny 9:45
The next one is this company called Vintage Paper Co, in the Orkney Islands in Scotland. They do have a lot of vintage paper, which is awesome, from like really old like 17th century stuff all the way up to, I got my mom some 1950s watercolor paper? Ooh, and they also, so that’s really cool. But they also have newly made stuff. They have a lot of really beautiful blank books.
Gin Jenny 10:11
Oh my gosh.
Whiskey Jenny 10:12
They describe like the artisan and the process and it’s really cool. They are kind of expensive, but there is other stuff on there. You don’t just have to get the blank books. They also like reprint a lot of vintage paper patterns. So they have like really beautiful like, end papers and things like that. A lot of gorgeous stuff that I am obsessed with recently. So vintage paper.
Gin Jenny 10:36
That sounds great. So do you have, have you purchased one of their blank books? Like have you touched the paper in them?
Whiskey Jenny 10:41
No.
Gin Jenny 10:42
Okay, I was just curious how the paper feels.
Whiskey Jenny 10:44
It’ll say. It’ll be all different. But whichever one you buy, they’ll say like, this is the pound and the texture and things like that.
Gin Jenny 10:51
Oh, cool. Okay. All right. Good to know, because what I want in my notebooks is like very smooth paper.
Whiskey Jenny 10:56
They might not have that, but they might have some different smooth plain paper. I don’t know. Check it out.
Gin Jenny 11:00
I will check it out. That sounds amazing.
Whiskey Jenny 11:02
Yeah, they’re great.
Gin Jenny 11:02
Well, I actually also have a British stationery recommendation. Yeah, I guess I’ll do it here. And then you know, it’s on a theme. It’s a stationery from a company called Pigeon Posted. Yeah, I can’t say enough about Pigeon Posted stationery. I learned about it this year from someone I follow on Twitter. It’s a British stationery company that sells six-packs of stationery. The patterns on them are so cute. But the killer is the stationery is all one single piece. So you write the letter on the inside part, and then it folds up into its own envelope, and you seal it closed with a stamp.
Whiskey Jenny 11:31
It’s just so cool.
Gin Jenny 11:33
It’s so cool. It’s so cute. They just came out with new patterns. I’m obsessed with them. They’re also like very affordable. If you’re in the US you probably want to buy a bunch at once to make the international shipping worth it. Which is what I did. I honestly like I bought, I think, seven, and I could have bought 20. I love them so much.
Whiskey Jenny 11:50
They are so pretty. I got a packet from Gin Jenny, and I am so excited about it. They’re like so nice too! They’re like really heavy textured. It’s great.
Gin Jenny 11:58
Yeah, they’re great. One of my quarantine things is that I try to send one lovely note per day. And mostly I do postcards, but now that I have the Pigeon Posted stationery, I’m trying to do some like more longer letters.
Whiskey Jenny 12:08
Plus it feels very old timey because didn’t they used to fold up stuff?
Gin Jenny 12:10
Yeah, it feels very Jane Austen-y. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it definitely does. I love it. So yeah, Pigeon Posted stationery. If there’s anyone in your life who loves stationery, I’m always trying to tell this to non-stationery people, because they’ll be like, “well, I can’t get them stationery, they already have a lot,” and I always want to be like, You don’t understand.
Whiskey Jenny 12:26
If you like stationery, it’s never enough.
Gin Jenny 12:29
If you like stationery, you literally can’t have enough.
Whiskey Jenny 12:32
You cannot! It’s never enough.
Gin Jenny 12:34
It’s like quilting. You just want more and more forever.
Whiskey Jenny 12:36
Is that like quilting?
Gin Jenny 12:38
To my understanding, having spoken to some quilting people. So there you go: Pigeon Posted stationery, you won’t be sorry.
Whiskey Jenny 12:45
So my next thing is not at all literary. But I’ve just been really into copper lately. And there are some really beautiful copper cups, like hammered copper cups.
Gin Jenny 12:57
Like Moscow Mule cups?
Whiskey Jenny 12:58
Yeah! They don’t have a handle. But, but yeah, you could put, you know, I don’t know what you’re gonna put in it. But they’re on MadeTrade, which also is a nice kind of marketplace for different makers of like eco-conscious and ethically made and sourced goods, I suppose. Goods? Stuff? That’s the fancy word for stuff. So I enjoy, I enjoy browsing their stuff. But in particular, these copper cups have been calling my name. And sometimes I just put stuff that I want on this gift guide because–
Gin Jenny 13:30
Oh God, me too.
Whiskey Jenny 13:31
That’s how my brain works!
Gin Jenny 13:33
Well, I love putting stuff that I’ve personally enjoyed. Because I think it’s always more fun to give a gift that you also like.
Whiskey Jenny 13:39
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Gin Jenny 13:40
It’s not always possible. Like sometimes you have to get something that you would not care about at all. But ideally–
Whiskey Jenny 13:45
Takes a village. Yeah.
Gin Jenny 13:46
Um, that’s great. That’s a great, that’s a great, great choice. I, you sent me a gin advent calendar this year.
Whiskey Jenny 13:53
I did.
Gin Jenny 13:54
And it’s, it’s been terrific, a of all.
Whiskey Jenny 13:56
Yay! I am so glad.
Gin Jenny 13:58
And b of all it’s a fun way to like use different glasses because, like what I did this past Friday, my sister came over for sister night, and we did a little tasting menu of the most recent three gins. We made three gins and tonics and sampled each. And it was really fun. It was a really pleasant experience.
Whiskey Jenny 14:15
All right, were they all different? Because you’d be like, Oh, yes, this one does have notes of Acacia flower.
Gin Jenny 14:20
I’m not able to do that. But yes, they were definitely all different. What we did was she picked her favorite one. And that was her– Because I was the DD. So she picked the first one and that was her drink, and then I picked my favorite And that was my drink, and then she got to choose the last one. But they were all delicious. And they were definitely all different. And I told you this, but I will tell the listeners too: The one that I opened yesterday was blood red and it’s called like Bloody Shiraz gin. Yeah, it’s very exciting. I’m planning to make a gin and tonic of it in today’s one.
Whiskey Jenny 14:51
Oh, I can’t wait.
Gin Jenny 14:52
I know. I’m really looking forward to it.
Whiskey Jenny 14:53
I bet it’ll be so pretty.
Gin Jenny 14:54
Yeah, it’ll be really pretty and I looked online and it seems like they’re good to put a lot of lemon versus lime. Yeah, so I’m gonna try it out, see how it goes. I have a lemon fortunately.
Whiskey Jenny 15:03
Keep me posted.
Gin Jenny 15:04
I will keep you posted.
Whiskey Jenny 15:06
I have to tell you I stole the– I mean, I didn’t steal it, it’s from my life, but the Acacia flower reference in pretentious wine tasting comes from when I was in France. And kind of towards the beginning of my study abroad program in college, we went to a vineyard, and our kind of program leader– It was early on in the program; we had, like, just gotten there. So our program leader was sort of like helping translate a little bit if we needed to. And the French for Acacia flower is like a really easy cognate like it, it’s like acace or something. It’s pretty, it’s pretty similar. And she made this big show of like, what’s it, what is the English word? What is it? Oh right, Acacia flower! Yeah, it was just the strangest, just, it’s acacia flower.
Gin Jenny 15:56
I now have conceived a great desire to go to a vineyard with you and taste all the wines. I’ve never done that before. But it sounds really fun.
Whiskey Jenny 16:04
I mean, yeah, I hope if you’re prepared for me to be just making jokes about notes of wine.
Gin Jenny 16:09
Oh, God, no.
Whiskey Jenny 16:09
I don’t, I can’t actually taste wine.
Gin Jenny 16:13
I think there have been studies that prove that wine people can’t either. It’s all just nonsense.
Whiskey Jenny 16:17
My dad, whenever I’m like, Oh, what’s this one like? He says, ah! it’s an unpretentious little wine from Argentina or whatever, wherever it’s from. Like, every time his joke is its unpretentious. It’s an unpretentious little red from Chile. Wine: What a joke.
Gin Jenny 16:33
Well, speaking of nonsense, my next choice is a subscription to Real Simple magazine, or as I call it, Basic Bitch Monthly.
Whiskey Jenny 16:42
Yes, great, go on.
Gin Jenny 16:44
I love this magazine so much. It’s like a, I don’t know, it’s like a lifestyle slash cozy house having magazine. And every issue they have like recipes, recommendations for makeup and storage solutions, people talking about things they did to improve their lives in minor ways. And I find it very peaceful and soothing. It has a lot of suggestions that are nonsense, but it also has some things where I’m like, Yeah, I could throw a party like that. I’m not gonna but I could. Yeah, and they have I mean, they have a lot of good little storage solutions. Like I have definitely bought stuff that I saw on the pages of Real Simple and been very happy with them. So yeah, it’s not too expensive. It’s a really nice thing to get in the mail every month. It’s so silly. It’s full of nonsense. And we need that in our lives, I think.
Whiskey Jenny 17:28
I can’t stress enough how nice it is, as a gift receiver, to get something monthly. Like subscriptions are just so great. They last all year long.
Gin Jenny 17:35
Yeah! Real Simple, the subscription I currently have was a gift. And it’s I mean, every time it shows up in my mailbox, I’m so excited.
Whiskey Jenny 17:41
Like, oh, yeah, this! Well, my next one is not a subscription, but it’s still exciting. There’s a place called Third Vault Yarns, also in England. So sorry, if you’re not in England and have to pay extra for shipping, but it’s really cool. It’s this beautiful hand-dyed yarn for the fiber or knitting fan in your life. But all of her colorways are inspired by science fiction or fantasy stories. So there’s like a, there’s like, you know, different characters that have their colors and different properties. It is just, it’s such a delight.
Gin Jenny 18:17
Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. Like, what’s an example of a character or property that is featured?
Whiskey Jenny 18:22
Yes. Stand by. Stand by. Okay, Transform is inspired by Molly, the Transworm from season three episode one of Discovery. So I guess, Star Trek Discovery?
Gin Jenny 18:33
Oh, I know what that is.
Whiskey Jenny 18:34
Do you know what that is?
Gin Jenny 18:35
Yeah. Yeah, that’s the that’s the really hot guy who turns out to be– He’s like, he appears to be a mercenary, but he’s basically a Sierra Club volunteer. Yeah, he’s taking care of these endangered species called transworms.
Whiskey Jenny 18:48
Ah, okay. His yarn, or the transworm yarn, is beautiful. It’s sort of like mauvey purple and teal and a little rose in there.
Gin Jenny 18:57
Nice. Man, I’m so excited I knew that reference.
Whiskey Jenny 19:00
Great job. She has all these knitting patterns as well. They’re inspired from board games. I don’t know the references, but somebody might. Someone who’s really into like Cataan or something, right?
Gin Jenny 19:15
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. So tell me the name of it again?
Whiskey Jenny 19:17
It’s called Third Vault Yarns.
Gin Jenny 19:19
Terrific. That’s a really good choice. Yeah. My next one is for if you have a child in your life, I want to recommend the Atlas of Adventure series. It’s the series of oversized books that are so cool. I got the Atlas of Animal Adventures at the library. And it starts with a map of the world, and a bunch of countries are labeled with specific animals that live there. And then the book is a series of two page spreads, each of them about a different animal migration. So for instance, there’s two pages about the migration of fruit bats in Zambia. And it tells facts about the bats. It tells facts about other animals in Zambia, and it shows where Zambia is in Africa. So it’s really cool. It reminds me a little bit of those amazing Animal Facts binders that we had when we were kids. Did you have them?
Whiskey Jenny 19:59
Yes. Those were great. Those were so cool.
Gin Jenny 20:02
They were really cool. And this kind of reminds me of that. The one that I have seen is the Atlas of Animal Adventures. But there’s also like, Wonders of the World and Ocean Adventures and different stuff like that. So depending on what the child in your life is interested in, you can pick one that caters to their interests, and they’re really, really, really cool.
Whiskey Jenny 20:19
And then you can get your child into the sea! Which is the correct thing to do.
Gin Jenny 20:23
Exactly. And also you can learn something! Like I did not know a lot of these things about fruit bats and Zambia, but thanks to the Atlas of Animal Adventures, now I’m wiser.
Whiskey Jenny 20:30
Yeah, I don’t think I know anything about fruit bats in Zambia. All right. Well, my last one is a donation.
Gin Jenny 20:36
Yay.
Gin Jenny 20:38
You could do the food bank, a local food bank of whoever you’re doing a donation in memory of. God, not in memory of. In honor of! Or in memory of but that’s a little darker. Or like a racial justice initiative local to them as well. I’m going to be doing Emancipate NC, which is a North Carolina racial justice organization.
Gin Jenny 20:59
Nice.
Whiskey Jenny 21:00
So let’s let’s hope they don’t listen before Christmas to this.
Gin Jenny 21:04
Well, my aunt, I know does not listen to this podcast, I’m getting her a donation to Doctors Without Borders. So hopefully she’ll like that.
Whiskey Jenny 21:10
Yay, lovely!
Gin Jenny 21:11
Yeah. Okay, my last one is something, it’s a little goofy. It’s a set of Artiphany playing cards. These are very cool playing cards in various patterns. So there’s like a dog one, there’s a cat one, there’s a bird one, there’s a mermaid one. And the illustrations on the face cards are really pretty. But also each run of a suit tells a little story. So in the hearts thing on the cat deck, the ace is a little cat knitting a blanket with one little heart on it, and as you get to higher numbers, the blanket grows and grows. It’s adorable. And they all have stuff like that. So you can choose, you know, what kind of creatures you like the best. I have been wanting to — yeah, it’s so cute. I’ve been wanting to get a pack for someone in my life for the longest time. But I like haven’t. I haven’t found the right recipient yet. So hopefully some listener will be able to profit by this.
Whiskey Jenny 21:57
Boy, I hope so because that sounds adorable.
Gin Jenny 21:59
Oh my God. It’s so cute. I cannot recommend– Even if you don’t want to buy them, I do recommend going to look at them because they’re damn cute. Yeah, so that’s the end of our gift guide. I love presents.
Whiskey Jenny 22:07
Yay, presents!
Gin Jenny 22:08
I have gone a little crazy with presents this year.
Whiskey Jenny 22:11
Presents are fun!
Gin Jenny 22:11
They are fun! And so little things are fun right now. So like I need this.
Whiskey Jenny 22:15
Yeah, I think we all do.
Gin Jenny 22:16
Give a present. You’ll feel so nice! It’s so lovely to give a present.And it’s lovely to get presents. I loved my gin– I have currently loved and loved when it arrived my gin Advent calendar. It’s just really doing me right.
Whiskey Jenny 22:27
Hooray. I’m so pleased! I’m glad that they’re actually good. Because sometimes you never know.
Gin Jenny 22:31
Yeah, you do never know. Robyn didn’t like one of the three that we tried. But I did. I thought it was a, it was like an unusual flavor, but I found it pleasant. So what did we read for this podcast, Whiskey Jenny?
Whiskey Jenny 22:41
We read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, who also wrote The Mothers, so this is one of our rare repeat authors on podcast, I think. But we love Britt Bennett. It is about twin sisters growing up in a small town in Louisiana, and then they sort of run away from that small town and then begin living their separate lives, because one of them returns to the town with her daughter. And they’re Black. And they are living as Black back in the small town. But the other twin passes for white and then lives that life separately. Their two daughters meet. Yeah, that’s in the marketing stuff. I mean, they do meet I just didn’t know if that was a spoiler or not. But it’s in the marketing stuff. Their two daughters meet. So it’s also kind of a multigenerational family saga, if you will. What did you think about it?
Gin Jenny 23:30
I liked it a lot. I don’t know if we discussed this when you were choosing it for podcast, but it’s not really my type of book, in the sense that it is kind of a multigenerational family saga, but I was just really blown away by it. I got caught up in the story. I thought the writing was really beautiful. It left me with so many thoughts to think about. I had some questions, but like yeah, overall, I thought it was really wonderful. How about you?
Whiskey Jenny 23:48
Yeah, same. I loved it. I loved it. I didn’t even like it. I loved it.
Gin Jenny 23:53
I found it really– I was not expecting this. I found it really– The plot became really engaging. Like I hit a point where I really couldn’t put it down. I was like, Oh, I have to find out what happens, which is not what I was expecting.
Whiskey Jenny 24:03
I thought so too! I thought so too. And one of the, I think it’s interesting because one of the quotes in the back mentions “breathtaking plot twists.” I sort of like both disagree and agree with that. It’s breathtaking in that it’s incredibly engaging. It’s a page turner and you just have to– But it’s not like–
Gin Jenny 24:20
Yeah, there’s no twists!
Whiskey Jenny 24:21
Soap opera twists. Yeah. So I thought I was just like a funny way– It feels like there are twists, but it’s not twists.
Gin Jenny 24:27
Yeah, it’s plot events. I was just really, really interested to… I just never knew what’s coming next. It was really exciting.
Whiskey Jenny 24:32
I agree. And I think that that sort of originality where you can’t guess sort of the conflicts that are about to happen is really refreshing. There were, I mean obviously there’s sort of a big– Can I call it a lie? There’s a big lie. Yeah, there’s a big lie in that Stella, the twin was passing for white, you know, her husband does not know, her daughter does not know. But in other cases, I found myself anticipating the conflict and being like, Oh no, now here we go. Now he’s not gonna, you know, Early is not going to tell Desiree that he was sent there by her abusive ex-husband, but it’s gonna be a whole thing. And then like the next page, he would tell her, and then we got to go somewhere, like more new and interesting. And I, yeah, I agree. I think the originality of the storytelling was really what was grabbed me, I guess?
Gin Jenny 25:16
Yeah, no, totally. How did you feel about the time jumps?
Whiskey Jenny 25:19
A little confusing? I’ll be honest. I was a little confused sometimes. Because I think that, you know, it’s divided into parts. And there are time jumps, and it gives you the year, and it skips around, like, third person– not omniscient, but third person personal, what do you call that?
Gin Jenny 25:38
Third person limited?
Whiskey Jenny 25:40
Is it limited?
Gin Jenny 25:40
[noncommittal noise]Whiskey Jenny 25:41
Anyway, it skips around, it skips around different viewpoints, and sometimes the part would be like, Pacific Cove, 1986 or whatever. And then it would be a person in 1986, reminiscing about 1982. And it was just a little– I did get a little confused. I’ll be honest. I still loved it. I still love the book. But there are a couple of times that he’d be like, Wait, who? Who are you? Not who are you? But where are you?
Gin Jenny 26:07
Yes, totally, totally.
Whiskey Jenny 26:08
Where in time are you? What did you think about them?
Gin Jenny 26:11
I really liked them. I think partly it was because I don’t tend to love books set in small southern towns. So when I started the book, it’s set in St. Landry Parish, which is a place where a bunch of my kin are from. But nevertheless, I was like, I felt so claustrophobic and so anxious about the characters experiencing like additional, like even more racialized violence than they already had. So I was excited about the time jump, and it gave the book, to me, like a really propulsive feeling. And yeah, I was all about it.
Whiskey Jenny 26:35
Yeah, I agree. It’s not gimmicky in any way. Like it’s really serving the story, I thought as well.
Gin Jenny 26:41
Yes. Agreed. Agreed. Whose point of view section was your favorite?
Whiskey Jenny 26:44
Early.
Gin Jenny 26:47
I don’t know why I bothered asking that question!
Whiskey Jenny 26:51
That’s a– No, I’ll pick a really answer because that’s not a very good-faith answer in that we get like two pages from his perspective.
Gin Jenny 26:57
I knew you would love him, though. I also loved him. I thought he was great.
Whiskey Jenny 27:00
Like Early Jones, first of all, is an amazing name.
Gin Jenny 27:03
And he’s a PI. You love a PI.
Whiskey Jenny 27:05
I love a PI! Early Jones shows up, and he and Desiree, one of the twins, fall in love. The twin that returns to the city, or the small town, they fall in love. I would love to read Brit Bennett to write just their romance novel. as well. Like I as soon as he showed up, I love that man. And then they fall in love it. It’s really great. And then at the very end, there’s like one of the most beautiful passages I think I’ve read in like, not ever, but just one of the most beautiful, most human passages about Early caring for Desiree’s mother, who has Alzheimer’s. He’s just being so kind and sweet and loving to her as her. I think Desiree calls it, “her memory is unraveling,” which I thought was also was a beautiful, heartbreaking way of talking about Alzheimer’s. Anyway, this is a woman who sort of chased him away from her daughter, because his skin was darker than theirs. And even when they were together, she didn’t ever really talk to him, and it said just like shouted out lists of things for him to do around the house. But he would always do them, and now that she’s so much more vulnerable, he’s just being so kind to her, and they went fishing and she’s asking if they have to go to work. And it was just, it’s gonna make me cry again! It sounds so stupid! She asked if she had to go to work, and he said, No, you have the day off. Because that was just like the easiest way to be in that moment with her, but to explain to her why she didn’t have to go to work even though she hasn’t gone in a year, I think. And she was just like, so thrilled to have the day off with him. And they went fishing, and he’s just really beautiful to her. It was so sweet. So anyway, Early. I could read about Early forever.
Gin Jenny 28:51
Okay. But supposing that was not a good faith answer, what was your other? I actually, to be clear, I don’t think it’s a bad faith answer. But I am curious about like, which of the more substantive chapters…
Whiskey Jenny 28:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so I think the Desiree sections, I connected the most with, and I sort of– Yeah! Yeah, I would say connected the most with and always wanted more of, I always wanted more of her story.
Gin Jenny 29:13
Yeah, I did. Actually, I’d love to see more Desiree, in fact.
Whiskey Jenny 29:17
Yeah, I think it was Desiree. What about you?
Gin Jenny 29:19
I had a hard time choosing between Stella and Jude. I liked both their sections a lot. I think with Stella, I mean, she does some really unforgiveable things in this book.
Whiskey Jenny 29:29
She does, yeah!
Gin Jenny 29:31
But what kind of kept me on board with her is how– or, kept me on board with her as a narrator is how desperately she wants to be able to control what people see and know about her, but in trying to exert that control and open up more choices for herself, she ends up so trapped and stuck. And I thought that, as a as a piece of writing, it was really impressive that Brit Bennett managed to pull off the trick of showing that, even though Stella doesn’t quite acknowledge it in that way to herself.
Whiskey Jenny 29:57
Not always, yeah.
Gin Jenny 29:58
Yeah. So I think she did a really great job of not excusing the things that Stella does that are really horrible, but also making you viscerally feel the terror that Stella has about losing this life that she’s made for herself.
Whiskey Jenny 30:09
I agree. Yeah. And just sort of how, how shaped by trauma she is.
Gin Jenny 30:13
Yeah, absolutely. And then with Jude, I just, man, I just wanted the best for her. I thought she was, I thought she was really great. I thought she– I was happy she had a good relationship. I was happy she pursued her dreams of going to medical school and had a good life. And the scenes where she’s making friends with Kennedy, with her cousin, and not letting on who she is, I was like, oh, man, respect to you!
Whiskey Jenny 30:33
So yeah, so Jude, sorry. Jude is Desiree’s daughter, and Kennedy is Stella’s daughter. So yeah, Jude is black, and Kennedy is white.
Gin Jenny 30:44
As far as she knows. Yeah.
Whiskey Jenny 30:45
As far as she knows. Yeah. Thank you. And, I mean, yeah, all props to Jude. Like she is very much in control of her own story. And I respect that a lot. Those scenes though, where she’s– I don’t know, Kennedy just kept ordering around and having her bring her like hot water with lemon in it. And I was getting really annoyed at Kennedy. Being a real white girl, you know?
Gin Jenny 31:08
No, Kennedy was very annoying. And I think again, though, I think Brit Bennett did such a good job of like, portraying this entitlement and annoyingness. while also having compassion for the character. Like that was just, man, such good writing here. But yeah, Kennedy sucks.
Gin Jenny 31:22
Also great job naming the white girl. You mentioned Jude goes to medical school. I thought that was so interesting. Cuz I think in general, this book is so– I feel like whenever people are like “oh, the physicality of the performances,” it bothers me. But I feel like this book is is very physical, and all the characters are very aware of their own bodies. It’s obviously it’s about race and how being black, you don’t have the liberty of not being aware of your own skin color. But I just thought it was really connected to our flesh, and like the flesh that we have in this world, and how how much it impacts the way we move through the world. And then I thought Jude sort of cued into medical school because she takes an anatomy class. And I just really liked that kind of undercurrent of Jude also being fascinated with bodies and what secrets they hold and what they contain and what you can never know about them and what you want to know about them. Yeah, I just I was like, Cool! Bodies! Great!
Gin Jenny 32:25
Well, since we’re on the subject, can we talk about Reese, because I had some follow up questions about Reese?
Gin Jenny 32:30
Yeah, I think that’s a great segue. Yes, please.
Gin Jenny 32:32
Okay, so Jude’s boyfriend, Reese is a trans guy. And I had complicated feelings about how he was portrayed for a couple of reasons. So he’s portrayed very positively, I would say. He’s a trans character who really doesn’t struggle with his identity, and neither just Jude. He’s saving up for top surgery, he eventually gets top surgery, he doesn’t encounter too much bigotry in the narrative of the book, although he has in his past. And on one hand, it was really great to see a trans character whose main story isn’t like trans suffering. He’s a sweet guy, he’s a good boyfriend to Jude. And so to an extent, it was great to see a trans character portrayed in this very unfussy, loving way. Um, but I also kind of felt like his character lacked specificity. And it felt really weird in a book that’s primarily about people grappling with their identities and their past traumas. I wasn’t sure what to make of Reese. It’s not like he doesn’t have trauma. His family threw him out and disowned him, and that’s not really explored emotionally, in terms of how it impacts his life. So it felt more like he was there to make a point versus to be a character a little bit. Even though I liked him a lot. I was like, so happy Jude had this good relationship, I was like, oh, they’re solid as a rock. But yeah, I felt complicated about it.
Whiskey Jenny 33:42
I felt complicated about as well. And I like that, as you said, it’s not like an issue for Jude when she finds out about his past. But on the other hand, I agree, I think you– It also seems like you got even fewer moments from his perspective, even than, Early. Yeah. I think a bit more from his perspective would have helped, but on the whole, I thought it was, I did think it was still a respectful portrayal, I guess.
Gin Jenny 34:05
Yeah, I did, too. And I, you know, I’m a soft person. So like, in many ways, so I saw this like, loving solid relationship, and I was like, Yay! I’m a simple woman of simple pleasures.
Whiskey Jenny 34:15
I think the, I mean, the propelling relationship of the book is Stella and Desiree, the twins, and the separate paths that their lives take. I think that we kind of only get Jude’s story like in relation to that, and her relationship with Reese is separate from that. Not separate, but not tied to the relationship with her mother. So we just don’t see as much of it. Just their relationship in general, I’m not– I’m invested in them because I like them together., but like, I don’t know what they do in their free time. You know what I mean? I just never really–
Gin Jenny 34:48
Yeah, I agree.
Whiskey Jenny 34:49
You said specificity and I think that that translates to the relationship as well. I don’t see them together.
Gin Jenny 34:54
Agreed. I agree with all of that. The one thing I did want to say, I got a little nervous when Reese showed up. I got a little nervous that the author was going to compare being trans to racial passing.
Whiskey Jenny 35:04
I thought so too. I don’t think it happens, though.
Gin Jenny 35:07
I don’t think that’s what she was doing. Like, I would say that if trans readers read this and don’t feel comfortable with where she landed, I totally get that. It seems pretty clear to me that her intention was not to say that they’re the same. I think the comfort that Reese feels about his identity and the honesty and beauty of his relationship with Jude, I think is pretty clearly set in opposition to the relationship Stella has with her husband, who she’s never not been lying to.
Whiskey Jenny 35:30
Agreed.
Gin Jenny 35:31
Yeah. So in some ways, the relationships, you know, Stella is has the secret that is eating her alive and making it impossible for her to be truly known. And that’s just not happening at all with Jude and Reese. So I think Brit Bennett is clearly saying these two things are not the same. Nevertheless, it was a tricky, it was a tricky portrayal, and I’m just not sure how I feel about it. If anyone who’s listening to this has read any reviews by black trans readers, I would love you to send them my way so I could link them, because they’re obviously a lot more qualified than me to speak about this.
Whiskey Jenny 35:56
Yes, please. Agreed.
Gin Jenny 35:57
So yeah, in sum: complicated!
Whiskey Jenny 36:00
Yeah. And I also thought that, I think in my copy, the blurb calls this book “a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of race, gender, and identity.” And as I read that, after I read the book, I’m like, IS IT an exploration of gender?
Gin Jenny 36:14
I don’t think so! To me, no.
Whiskey Jenny 36:16
To me, it was more race and identity. Of those three things, I didn’t find it an expression of gender.
Gin Jenny 36:23
And I don’t think it’s necessarily trying to be!
Whiskey Jenny 36:26
Yeah, exactly. No, and that’s not a– Not all books need to be an exploration of gender. That is absolutely not a knock. I just thought it was kind of like marketing speak for Reese’s character.
Gin Jenny 36:37
There’s a trans character in here?
Whiskey Jenny 36:41
And yeah, complicated.
Gin Jenny 36:42
Since we’re talking about marketing, I have to say The Vanishing Half is like such a good title for this book, and how many things it applied to.
Whiskey Jenny 36:49
So many things! Yeah.
Gin Jenny 36:52
When I finished it, I finished it and I put it down, and I was looking at the title and I started thinking of all the things: like half of Desiree and Stella’s parents vanish when they’re children. Half the set of twins vanishes from the family still tries to vanish half of her identity, or well, Kennedy’s, I guess, half of her identity. Their mom gets Alzheimer’s and half her memory’s circling. The town they grew up in like vanishes, it gets subsumed into Palmetto. I respected the hell out of it. It was such a good job.
Whiskey Jenny 37:16
Yeah, I completely agree. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Great title. And the cover is really beautiful as well.
Gin Jenny 37:23
I was just so impressed. And just so impressed with Brit Bennett as a writer, especially because I know sophomore novels are very hard.
Whiskey Jenny 37:28
They’re difficult, yeah. And I think, as soon as this book started, I was like, Oh, I’m in good hands. Like, it’s just it’s very confident and assured, and I think it really respects the reader. And she made it look easy, I feel like. And it’s, it’s obviously not, but it’s just got that sort of casual conversational tone. It’s very relaxed, I guess it feels it feels very relaxed and assured. And I was just like, the, like the first paragraph in, I was like, Oh, I can, like I can trust this person about where we’re going.
Gin Jenny 37:59
Yeah. And I also love that I think in a lot of ways, it was a very merciful book. Like there’s a lot of pain and trauma in it; there’s also just so much kindness and mercy. Even Kennedy and Jude eventually have this relationship where like, they talk on the phone, sometimes. They’re a little bit snippy with each other, but they do feel this bond. And I just thought it was really like fascinating, and I felt like she mostly avoided easy answers and like really focused in on emotional specificity in these relationships in a way that I just really loved. I was really impressed.
Whiskey Jenny 38:28
Specificity is such a good word, and I think that’s what really makes those relationships ring true. There was one moment where Desiree says her mother blamed her because Stella was no longer there to blame. Right, what you said about trauma. Obviously, there is a lot in this book, but I didn’t ever feel like it was trauma for trauma’s sake. It just felt like this is a realistic portrayal of what their lives would have been like.
Gin Jenny 38:51
Yeah, I think that’s why I found the Stella chapters so captivating, because I’ve said this before on the podcast that when– Something I find almost unbearably suspenseful is the kind of thing where someone has done something, and they’re waiting to find out if the thing is going to be uncovered. So I found that chapter really suspenseful in that way. But also, it just got really into like, the complicated emotions that Stella has about her racial identity and how terrible she is about dealing with that in a like, productive, non-horrible way. Yeah, yeah. Great book.
Whiskey Jenny 39:23
Great book! Yeah.
Gin Jenny 39:25
I have a question for you.
Whiskey Jenny 39:26
Go.
Gin Jenny 39:27
I feel like Brit Bennett is the kind of author that everyone’s very excited for her first book, and maybe her second book, and then time goes on and people are like, wow, we can’t believe we let ourselves care about a book that’s mostly about feelings. It’s obviously a mom book for mom book clubs, and kind of shuffles the author into that category. And it’s such a gendered thing. I’m just very worried that’s what’s gonna happen to Brit Bennett. What do you think? I want her to have a long and thriving career with all the accolades. Thoughts?
Whiskey Jenny 39:49
I do to– Awww. Oh, that’s so true. Oh, dear. Yeah, I’m so sorry. I wish I could reassure you, but that is an extremely true and real thing that happens all the time to female writers. Yeah, you’re right, I’m worried it’s gonna happen to her. But I hope not! Not that being a writer for moms and book clubs is bad, also! It’s just, you shouldn’t have to get pigeonholed.
Gin Jenny 40:11
Yeah. And I think books for moms and book clubs, like, they’re the kind of books that people like, Oh, we liked that, you know, last year, and now it’s done. But I mean, I hope that doesn’t– I just don’t want her to be in the same category as Where the Crawdads Sing, you know.
Whiskey Jenny 40:23
I’ve not read that. But sure.
Gin Jenny 40:24
I haven’t read it either. But it’s by a white lady. It’s about like, racism in the South, I guess. And she and her husband are not welcome in, I want to say, Zambia, because he killed a man there.
Whiskey Jenny 40:34
Jesus.
Gin Jenny 40:34
Yeah.
Whiskey Jenny 40:35
Wow.
Gin Jenny 40:36
Yeah
Whiskey Jenny 40:36
Boy! All right, yeah.
Gin Jenny 40:37
I think of it every time I see that book,. It didn’t look good. I was never gonna read it, it looked terrible. But also now I’m like, oh, you’re husband has killed a man and just got away with it.
Whiskey Jenny 40:46
Boy, did not know that. I don’t want her to get categorized with that person, for sure.
Gin Jenny 40:51
Yeah, I just want her to keep getting accolades and everyone being impressed by her, because writing about feelings is not easy. It’s very hard, and she does it amazing.
Whiskey Jenny 40:59
Yeah, yeah, I want her to keep getting accolades, but I don’t– Like I want to bring down the system as well. I don’t think anyone–
Gin Jenny 41:05
Yeah, same. Same.
Whiskey Jenny 41:06
It’s not that I just want to save certain people from that fate. I just don’t want that fate to exist at all.
Gin Jenny 41:10
Okay, I agree with that. You’re completely right. I should have said it that way.
Whiskey Jenny 41:14
No, I don’t mean that you are banishing people to– Off with their heads! To book club.
Gin Jenny 41:22
I do, by the way, think this would be an excellent book club book.
Whiskey Jenny 41:25
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Brit Bennett, man! Just killing it!
Gin Jenny 41:31
I can’t emphasize enough how much I don’t like this type of book usually. I’m just so impressed that she got me so good.
Whiskey Jenny 41:37
Yay! In all honesty, I did not realize it was quite so multigenerational when I picked it.
Gin Jenny 41:43
Oh, sure. No, I know. You would have said.
Whiskey Jenny 41:45
I would have! I would have said!
Gin Jenny 41:46
As I recall, you said “let’s read this for podcast” on podcast. I was like, Cool! What is it about? And you were like, [noncommittal noise]?
Whiskey Jenny 41:51
Dunno! Brit Bennett! Yep.
Gin Jenny 41:56
So yeah, Brit Bennett, autoread for this podcast, I think.
Whiskey Jenny 41:58
Yeah, I think it is now!
Gin Jenny 42:00
Yeah. Okay. Do you want to hear what we are reading for next time?
Whiskey Jenny 42:02
I do. Tell me.
Gin Jenny 42:03
So our book for next time is Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth. It is a big chunky book, so we are being ambitious here. But the interior design is very beautiful. So I’m excited about it. It’s about a film that’s being made about a creepy old boarding school where a bunch of girls died in mysterious circumstances in the, I don’t know, 20s? 1910s? The olden days. So it goes back and forth between the olden days when the girls were dying, and the present day when the movies being made. It seems like everyone’s gay in it. And it sounds spooky. So I love all those things.
Whiskey Jenny 42:37
Spooky boarding school, meta.
Gin Jenny 42:40
Meta, exactly. Yeah. And it’s got, it’s got not a lot of footnotes, but it has some footnotes, which I always think is fun.
Whiskey Jenny 42:45
And illustrated, right?
Gin Jenny 42:46
Yeah. And it has some illustrations as well.
Whiskey Jenny 42:48
I’m very excited.
Gin Jenny 42:49
Yeah, I’m excited too. It’s gonna be really fun, I think! It looks like just a really fun winter read. It feels great to like cuddle up with a blanket and read it. Well, thank you so much for listening. Happy Holidays. If you have any amazing gift ideas, please drop them in the comments, because I am always on the hunt for good gifts. And until next time, a sad quote from The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and I’m sorry it’s sad, but her writing about death was really beautiful. “Her grandmother’s death hit in waves, not a flood but water lapping steadily at her ankles. You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.”
Whiskey Jenny 43:22
I wrote that one down. When you were like “it’s about death,” I was like, it’s either the water one or the other one.
Gin Jenny 43:27
Well the other one I wrote down– I put two because in case you used one in the course of the pod. The other one was “that was the thing about death–”
Whiskey Jenny 43:36
“Only the specifics of it hurt.” I was like, Aaaaa!
Gin Jenny 43:40
Oh my gosh, it’s really like very resonant now, eh?
Whiskey Jenny 43:45
Yeah. Oh my God, and the last line?
Gin Jenny 43:47
Oh, it was so good!
Whiskey Jenny 43:48
“This river, like all rivers, remembered its course. They floated under the leafy canopy of trees begging to forget.” Oh my God.
Gin Jenny 43:56
She’s such a good writer. Way to GO, Brit Bennett!
Whiskey Jenny 43:57
We love you, Brit Bennett!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai