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When Girls Talk Books
Are you ready for story time? When Girls Talks Books is a podcast with two best friends bonding between the pages. They give comprehensive reviews of books where even if you haven't read the book, you can still enjoy the story. Brace yourselves for a tornado of laughter and literary love! When Girls Talk Books is here.
When Girls Talk Books
BOOK BITES. Books For New Readers
This episode is packed with fun book recommendations perfect for new readers, offering a mix of genres that will spark a love for reading! Hosts Susie and Kylee share their all-time favorite reads, clever tips for picking the right books, and have a blast chatting about the highs and lows of starting a reading journey.
Here’s what you’ll get:
• Kickoff to our mid-month mini episode – Short, sweet, and filled with bookish goodness!
• Perfect book picks for beginners – Easy-to-love recommendations to jumpstart your reading habit.
• Holiday romance vibes with "Wreck the Halls" – A festive, swoon-worthy read for cozying up during the holidays.
• Getting hooked again with the "After" series – How this dramatic series can reignite your passion for reading!
• Suspense you can’t put down: "The Perfect Marriage" – A thriller that’ll keep you guessing until the very end.
• Psychological twists in "The Silent Patient" – A mind-bending read you’ll want to devour in one sitting.
• Magical world of YA fantasy with "Powerless" – A fantasy adventure that’s perfect for young and adult readers alike!
• Cowboys and romance by Elsie Silver – Hot, steamy, and full of heart—cowboy romance at its best!
• Nostalgic feels with "Twilight" – Remembering the book that started the vampire craze.
• Thrills galore in "The Chain" – A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller you won’t want to miss.
• The joy of reading for fun – Why it’s all about enjoying what you read, no pressure!
Don’t miss the next episode, and let us know what books or topics you’d love to hear about next time!
Editing done by Connor Luther @clfilms.co
Music by @thundercatlouis
Merch Here
Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of when Girls Talk Books. This time we're doing a mid-month mini episode called Book Bites. I'm Susie and I'm Carly.
Speaker 2:We did it, and so for our mini episodes it's going to be kind of a mid-month episode, so you get your fill of things all bookish, which is why you're seeing us in the middle of the month, we're back, hi, and so this episode we're going to be covering books for new readers. So if you're new to reading, these are kind of some books that we would recommend. If you're more of a mediocre reader like myself. You're better than you think you are, that's for sure, Like good at reading?
Speaker 1:yes, yeah, but do I like think about reading constantly? Probably not.
Speaker 2:Who does that? Yeah, who would do that God?
Speaker 1:those girls are all boobs and no brains. I'm busy reading more books.
Speaker 2:Reading books or listening, that's true, we do like an audiobook or listening.
Speaker 1:That's true, we we do like an audiobook we have three book bites. We did four books like each of ones. We would recommend four. Yeah, four, ish. I did four. I did ish, you know, because that's like all the books I'd ever read in my life before we started this. Just there was five let's see.
Speaker 1:In school we had to read yes, actually there was like oh, I'm up to double digits now, okay, do you want to start, sure? Um, the first one I did was actually one. You found us, uh, wreck the halls by tessa bailey. Oh, did you read that? I ended up finishing it I. It took me forever, not because it was a bad book, just and then I finally finished it a long time ago and when I was going through the list and looking through my bookshelf, I'm like that one was pretty good for if you don't read a ton and you want, so yeah, I.
Speaker 1:It's a holiday romance, like kind of a comedy romance. Um, it's about beat and melody. They're the children of like famous people and they're trying to bring their mothers, who were at odds with each other, like back together for an event and it's like there's a lot of funny banter and it gets a little bit more serious and then the romance kind of builds slowly, not really like spice, but it's slow burn yep yeah, a little too slow burn for me, so like I gave it three out of five stars it's like the clip with uh, melissa mccarthy, have you been drinking?
Speaker 2:I'm about to start. Yeah, I'm about to start too, if we don't get on the show here.
Speaker 1:That's exactly how I felt and but yeah, overall, if you want a good book to read for christmas and it's, you know, it's not super thick that's nice, so that was my first recommendation cutesy, rom-com, christmas, nice, um.
Speaker 2:so my first one is technically a series, but I'm just gonna say the first one and this is actually what got me back into reading, like as an adult. Now, if I was to ever read this book, I would be like are we so for real? Here In my head I'm like what is it? It's the after series. I don't think I've read it 'm pretty sure you have.
Speaker 1:I feel so stupid now, that's okay, uh, so it's with tessa and harden and they're.
Speaker 2:Oh, I started that I was gonna say you got to like book three okay, so I would say the after series.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's pretty good messy.
Speaker 2:It's so drama filled where you're just like, oh my gosh, like it's definitely one of those kind of like Magnolia parks where I would never want this to be happening in my real life but in a book. I ate it up. I went through this whole series and they're fat books and probably like a week.
Speaker 1:They do be Wow, I said whenever I see you read forever that's me.
Speaker 2:Well, this was like this was probably like what seven years ago that I got back into reading and I consumed this series. I could not get enough of it. So it's very much like coming of age very toxic drama, romance based off, not in a judgy way.
Speaker 1:It seemed like I was like oh, who the fuck reads drama?
Speaker 2:you go um, but it's just, it's very entertaining. If you're wanting to like, dip your toes, but that's definitely something I would recommend good choice.
Speaker 1:I had my brain just forgot about that. Yeah, okay another one to your list, okay the next one was the perfect marriage for me by Geneva Geneva, Geneva Rose. That's a thriller, a whodunit oh my God, I loved it. I finished that book on the worst camping trip of my life Like this, with a headlamp on in the tent, the dark it's pouring down.
Speaker 2:My Well, eric-. Is that when you went camping with eric?
Speaker 1:yeah, he was so sick he couldn't move and I'm just sitting there like reading about how a wife unalive. This isn't creepy at all. This is great. Love this. Uh, it kept me guessing a lot. I gave that one like four and a half out of five stars because I really liked it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I it more morbid maybe like if I had to add something to it, like make it more morbid if I had to complain. But if you got tired of thrillers because they all took too long or they were too slow burning, like myself, that's a great welcome back to thrillers, you like them.
Speaker 2:That's a good one. Uh, mine is also a thriller. My next one, um, and this is one that I recommend to almost anybody. That is like wanting to start reading because I'm like just read it, it's so good. And that's the silent patient patient, um, and that one is like this woman is in a psychiatric facility and she refuses to talk and like they pulled up and she had murdered her husband, and it's like a kind of like okay, what happened? She won't speak, she won't communicate. And then this therapist shows up and she had murdered her husband, and it's like a kind of like what happened? She won't speak, she won't communicate.
Speaker 2:And then this therapist shows up and she's like Christina, you have to talk now To communicate and it's really good and that's like one of my favorite five star reads. Some people say it's predictable. She said a five star. I know the coveted. I know I don't rate a lot of things five stars. I do a lot of fours. Yes, this is a big day, but that's when I always like that twist just got me so good and I was like, oh, I did not see that coming. So some people think it's predictable. I definitely did not think it was predictable.
Speaker 1:So I'm silent patient for sure. Okay, my next one is Powerless, by Lauren Roberts. We just did an episode on that book. It was good.
Speaker 2:It was really good, I think about that book way too often it's a YA, like fantasy fiction.
Speaker 1:I'll put like romance-y.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because there's like you know it's.
Speaker 1:YA. So there's like a little bit, but it was cute A lot of plot twists. I enjoyed that one because either I love a fantasy book or I don't want to hear about the bricks and the layers of the ivy that painted down the hills of the oh my God enough.
Speaker 2:You can't stand too much description.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's why I can't read lord of the rings and like those books, I respect the shit out of it?
Speaker 1:yep, not for me. Um, it's about it's kind of like hunger games, vibes what's another description? I didn't really write very much down, so like, oh, we just did, I'll remember. Yeah, about this book, but it's about like normal people against people with powers in this world, and a normal girl has to compete against the elites who are the most powerful of all. Multiple of them happen to be princes. The game changes. Who shall she be? With cliffhanger? It's a series. I haven't read any more of the series because I'm up to my eyeballs and reading you. You know one whole book a month, so that's really hard for me.
Speaker 2:Sometimes we have to push it to two, yeah, and like. Then it's like two or three, okay, um. So my next one is going to be kind of a general author, I think, anything by Elsie Silver. Elsie Silver does cowboy rodeo kind of romances. Yee-haw Susie, I can't even explain it to you. I've read every single one of her books.
Speaker 1:I read she is the most un-yee-haw.
Speaker 2:She's like ha-yee, okay, this girl, but hey, that'd be like me being like I'm really an alien book now I uh, you know what Tarnation, and they're all companion novels, so you don't have to read them in order, you can just read some of them. I've read every single one.
Speaker 1:I would get so confused, though I can just read some of them. I've read every single one. I would get so confused, though, when, like I know that sometimes there's tv shows that are like that, where it's like it doesn't matter where you start.
Speaker 2:I'm like no, these really don't, because every everyone is about a different person and so they all kind of connect and like you hear about, oh, this person from here and which is in book two, but it's not ranch kind of situation um no.
Speaker 1:I'm like speaking Yellowstone.
Speaker 2:So I understand, like they're like siblings and then so the book will be about this brother and that brother and that brother.
Speaker 1:So you're like you'll hear stuff about other people, but you don't have to read them in order if you don't want to, okay, I did.
Speaker 2:Okay. Now I'm kind of curious when I'm ready to up it to one and a half books, susie let me tell you I read it's technically a first-time series Are we getting horses next year?
Speaker 1:now, I would love that I did have horses growing up. Yeah, that's true, but like are we getting back into this?
Speaker 2:Reading cowboy romances. No, the whole. The lifestyle On my property that I don't have, yeah, imagine a horse in my backyard, um hey. But when I started reading this series, I read five books in four days. I like couldn't. I couldn't put it down. It was so stupid, I was addicted to it. Here lies the girl that tried to read three books. So anything by her. They're really easy to read. They're just your classic kind of romance book, but it's so, just like. One more time, the author's name Elsie Silver. Elsie Silver, okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to forget him Any of her stuff.
Speaker 1:I acted like. That would help me remember.
Speaker 2:If you need a reminder, you just let me know. Yep, so that was one of mine.
Speaker 1:My last choice, which I felt like was going to make you laugh Books for New Readers is another series Twilight oh, by Stephanie Meyer. Absolutely, I don't know what world. Maybe somebody still hasn't read those, but I was one sheltered kid, so you never know. I have read them. I read them in high school, but would do it again in the in the dark yeah, mom knowing yeah, outside in the backyard with it in a ziplock, like, okay, that way I can leave it outside, so they'll never know, yes it did have to spend several days in our shop one time.
Speaker 1:It's fine, yeah, yeah that's a good recommendation.
Speaker 2:I never would have thought of that. Oh, okay, that's a good one.
Speaker 1:That was my first five star Fair.
Speaker 2:So another one that I don't think it's not very popular. It's called the Chain and it's by Adrienne McKinty and it's about let me preface this, I would never read this now, but I read it before I had a kid. This is going to be good. So the premise is this lady's kid is kidnapped and then she gets a call and it's essentially like welcome to the chain, and now you have to kidnap somebody else's kid in order to get your kid back and it's like the craziest thing. Like I don't think I would read it now, but when?
Speaker 2:I read it I was like this is nuts good. God. It's so good, though, and it has it's like real quick, like it's like second chapter. The kid's gone and so she's like no slow burns here. But like what would you do? That's the whole point of it. Like what do you do? Your kid's just been kidnapped and you can get him, but you have to kidnap somebody else's kid and then it continues on. It's crazy. So I put that one on there. It's really good. It's really good. That's the end of yours, right? Yep, okay, so I added in Zodiac Academy. Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Add Zodiac. It's an easy. It's easy, but addicting.
Speaker 1:So I did put there's a lot of information to remember. But like I have zero complaints about the book, that's not me. I mean like no, don't do it. Like it's so good, it's just so much to remember. Like I struggle with characters, I'm going to have to start making charts. Yeah, this, this is what they are.
Speaker 2:This is who they're in love with. But once you get into it, though, like you can't stop. It's like so good to read.
Speaker 1:You want more. It's so easy Like obviously it's everything you could ever want in a book really Any fantasy book. When you're starting, it's like but not for long, especially in that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're completely correct. So that one's pretty good, excellent choice. Say you Swear by. Megan Brandy is really good. That is a romance and it's kind of between her brother's friend that she's kind of been in love with forever and then this guy that she ends up meeting, that she ends up going to school with and it's kind of like this triangle thing.
Speaker 2:But then something really serious happens and I can't say what it is because it's kind of spoiler alert. But Say you Swear is really really good. That is also one of my five-star, probably one of my favorite reads I've ever read, so I would say that one Okay.
Speaker 2:It's pretty good. I think I'll just leave it at that. And then and then and then. The Housemaid also really good Five stars. I love that one. That's the one I read recently, freedom McFadden. I did see the other day somebody said if you've read one Freedom McFadden, you've read them all. Like they all have the same kind of vibe to them. So I'm a little bit hesitant.
Speaker 1:I've never read I don't think like enough of one author's book that wasn't a series to be able to like form enough of an opinion on that, that's interesting. Fair. Well, I'll come back in a few years and be like okay, I have an opinion now on next week's episode.
Speaker 2:Susie read five books in four days, yeah.
Speaker 1:I just can't get any hours of work.
Speaker 2:So what else am I supposed to?
Speaker 1:do? I baked everything you know. My oven broke, so I had no choice but to read, but yeah so those are my reads Good choices.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think if you're starting out reading, go slow.
Speaker 1:Don't like pick up anything, that is just don't be an overachiever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's where.
Speaker 1:I go wrong as a overachieving people. Please are like oh, I gotta pick the most the thickest yeah thickest book, the longest storyline, all this like you just pick something because it sounded good.
Speaker 2:Yeah reading should be fun and I stand by that. And if you don't like it, don't finish it she's still teaching me that. I. That was like the hardest lesson of like I people love this book. I had a really hard time finishing it. The Handmaid's Tale never read it.
Speaker 1:Love the show obsessed with the show, I personally don't see how I could enjoy reading that as a book.
Speaker 2:It was brutal and I forced myself to finish it. And then I tried to read normal people same concept, People love normal people hated it and I was like not doing this, not doing it, I'm not torturing myself, I'm done.
Speaker 1:I'm not following the fads anymore.
Speaker 2:I have so many other books I could read Like, why am I wasting my time?
Speaker 1:So if you don't like it, don't finish it. But I like that, yeah. If that doesn't get you started, I don't know what will. That was like what? Nine books, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's book bites book bites in a book bites. And what in a bite? Okay, well, that's just our filler yeah episode. Yeah well, stay tuned. If there's anything in specific you guys want to see, let us know.
Speaker 1:They may ask me to read Lord of the Rings. I'll have to be like look, anything for the viewers but that.
Speaker 2:Like sorry, we'll bring Justin in, he can read it and tell everyone about it. He's like, okay, you'd be here for hours.
Speaker 1:You ready for our first solo?
Speaker 2:episode You'd be here for. Okay, thanks, guys, we'll see you. Bye, at the end of the month. Book bites.
