Episode 27: September 2026 Celebrity Book Club Picks
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What are the celebrities reading this month? Jackie and Kirsteh go club by club through the September 2026 celebrity book club picks, plus a bookish Broadway casting surprise, a tribute to Dolly Parton’s extraordinary legacy, and a surprise announcement of the Beyond the Bookends November 2026 book club pick.
The September 2026 Beyond the Bookends Book Club pick discussed themes of workplace conflict, teacher stereotypes, work-life balance, and education politics. There is still time to join before the live discussion with Jennifer.
Chapters
00:33 The Read Carpet Rundown
07:09 September Celebrity Book Club Picks
26:35 Former Celebrity Book Club Authors with New Books
32:00 Reader Question: Favorite Book from Oprah’s Book Club
32:40 The Bookmark:Â The Calamity Club
The Read Carpet Rundown (00:33)
Book news from the first week in September, including Rupert Grint playing adult Ron Weasley in the Broadway performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the passing of the great Dolly Parton who started the Imagination Library, and donated more that 332 million books to children in her lifetime.
Pick Party: September 2026 Celebrity Book Club Picks (07:09)
Jackie and Kirsten go club-by-club through every celebrity book club’s September pick. They give the details on the books they have read and the ones they are most excited to read.
Former Celebrity Book Club Authors with New Books (26:35)
A look at past celebrity book club authors who have new releases out this month
Reader Question: Favorite Book from Oprah’s Book Club (32:00)
The Bookmark: Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (32:40)
This episode’s staff pick recommendation, plus a complete summary and book club guide for anyone choosing this book for their book club.
The Books We Discussed
Shop for every book or product we discussed in this episode below.
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Transcript
Jackie (00:00)
Welcome
to the Red Carpet Report, your backstage pass for celebrity book clubs, book adaptations, and new book releases. I’m Jackie. And I’m And where are your hosts? party. You know I love a pick party, Jackie. I know you love a party. Especially this month.
Kirsten (00:07)
And I’m Kirsten. And Today we have a pick party, and you know I love a pick party, Jackie. I it. I love a pick party.
I’m sorry, but this is a solid month. It is very, very
Jackie (00:19)
Is very solid.
Kirsten (00:22)
solid, and I am very enthusiastic about it. And we’ve read
Many of the books, we’re gonna get to give you those reviews right away. But before that, let us take a moment in our red carpet rundown to really honor
Jackie (00:27)
right
Kirsten (00:35)
someone who was a memorable, lovely part of the reading community.
Jackie (00:41)
And we are talking
about Dolly Parton.
Kirsten (00:48)
Do you know we were together? Yeah, we were filming some things for
Jackie (00:44)
I’m still actually so emotional about it. I think I’m gonna cry. Yeah.
Kirsten (00:51)
the kids when we found out that Dolly died and you had the exact same reaction that you’re having right now.
Jackie (00:56)
The exact same reaction right now. Because Dolly
Parton, for anyone who may not realize, in addition to her music, played a huge role in the literary community. And she has had an impact on millions
upon millions of children for her imagination library.
Kirsten (01:19)
she will definitely be missed. But her legacy is gonna live on through this imagination library. Yeah. So she started.
Jackie (01:25)
Yeah, so she started
the library in 1995. And I’m gonna read the numbers because they’re big numbers. She gives 3,197,250 books a month to children who are signed up for this program. It is specifically for children who are under five and
May not have access to books.
Kirsten (01:55)
Mm-hmm. And they come in the mail I was reading with their name on it and personalized. So they really feel like it’s a treasure. She was doing an interview about how
she was so poor growing up that her family wouldn’t let her bring home books because with all the kids in the house, they couldn’t afford to replace them if they got damaged. And so she wanted to to partially do this to allow children to have something that was so uniquely theirs that they didn’t have to give back.
Jackie (02:21)
it
back. Yes. And also she started it because her father is illiterate.
Kirsten (02:27)
And this is the second person that we have like sort of has been in the sphere of this. My parent was illiterate. And so I’m putting literacy at the forefront of my life. Yes. When
Jackie (02:35)
Mm-hmm.
Kirsten (02:38)
we were talking in book club with Juliet Faithful, the same thing. Literacy is such a part of Liar’s Dice because her mom was and still is to this day illiterate. And it
Jackie (02:41)
Yeah,
Kirsten (02:49)
Had a profound impact on her and her her siblings. And you know, literacy is so important. And Juliet talked
about it a lot. Dolly knew it. This is such a monumentous thing that Dolly has done to honor her dad.
Jackie (02:58)
This is such a monumental thing that Dolly
has done to honor her dad. Yes, a hundred percent. And so I just want to recognize
that Dolly Parton, I I can’t even, she has given th over 330
Kirsten (03:14)
I can’t
Jackie (03:19)
million books to children that otherwise wouldn’t have access to them. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m so emotional, but.
I think we really take for granted that growing up in the United States or Canada, that our children are going to know how to read. And that was not always the case. And it isn’t always the case in other places in the United States. And there are places in this country where
There is a chance that some children may grow up
not knowing how to read. And so she’s played a huge part in that.
I I can’t. I need a moment.
Kirsten (04:01)
I’m I’m not adding anything else to that ’cause you just nailed it and I’ve got nothing else to say. I
Jackie (04:08)
I don’t know why I’m so emotional about that.
Kirsten (04:11)
I think you’re emotional about it because I don’t know, between like the studies that we’ve seen recently about how only 19% of Americans read and what it does to you and
and the impact as a speech therapist of like you know it, you’ve seen it, that literacy is so important. It allows people Juliet was talking about how it it allows governments to suppress people when they don’t have you know
Jackie (04:19)
Yeah. Yes.
Kirsten (04:34)
a good education. And
That is always a possibility here, which is
Jackie (04:39)
Right. Right. It that was the most interesting part of the conversation that we had to me with Juliet is if people cannot read, they can’t see what the policies are, and then they can’t oppose them.
Kirsten (04:55)
her talking about Brazil in the 70s.
Jackie (04:58)
Mm-hmm.
Kirsten (04:59)
was really eye-opening and to have that conversation right on the heels of Dolly’s passing and to
Jackie (05:06)
Yeah.
Kirsten (05:06)
hear about how profoundly difficult it is if you can’t read and write, which everyone who’s listening to this, you’re readers, so you get it. Right, right, right. But
Jackie (05:17)
preaching to the choir in in this age, yeah.
Kirsten (05:20)
you know, I ho I think the legacy’s gonna leave on. I think they mentioned that when it came out that her work was gonna continue with that and I’m sure she has
funded that for a good long time. And I I love that that’s gonna be her legacy.
Jackie (05:32)
I I think that’s phenomenal. let’s talk about something a little more fun.
Kirsten (05:40)
fair.
Jackie (05:42)
So
we are so excited. tell everybody.
Kirsten (05:48)
Rupert Grint, okay, who plays Ron Weasley
in the Harry Potter movies, like Tom Felton, who’s doing it right now, and playing adult Draco
on Broadway. Rupert is now in and playing Ron Weasley, adult Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He’s doing that this winter. And I just think I think this is such a fun marketing. You know, they’ve done this with.
Jackie (06:10)
I think this
Kirsten (06:14)
The Dancing with the Stars, what’s her name? Whitney Levitt, where she was in Chicago. And then now they’re tapping Reese from from Dallas Cowboys to like go for these like short stints in Broadway to kind of drum up excitement. absolutely get the Harry Potter cast in there, especially the cast members that like
are really only associated with Harry Potter, you know? Yes.
Jackie (06:33)
Really,
only associated with Harry Potter, you know. Yes, I actually am very upset that Draco and Ron are not in there together. And while we’re at it, come on, we can throw Harry. He loves to be on on Broadway. He’s like he’s extraordinarily talented.
Kirsten (06:54)
Well, Emma Watson, let’s get her in there. That Can you imagine? They won’t do it, but no, they wouldn’t do it. They would never do it.
Jackie (06:56)
that would be they would do it, but No, they wouldn’t do it. They would be mobbed.
Kirsten (07:02)
I know. I think they’re also and there’s also bad blood with
JK
and them at this point too.
Jackie (07:07)
yeah. Mm.
Okay, so let’s get into the pick party. We have September.
Kirsten (07:16)
Yeah, we have almost all of September. I think we’re only missing one. And
Jackie (07:20)
And
for the record, I would like to say we did an amazing job between the two of us ’cause we we were pretty much right with our predictions.
Kirsten (07:30)
We were were.
The only one that I was wrong about was I really wanted the Three Graces of Pearl Street to be a pick. Yeah. And I
Jackie (07:38)
Yeah.
Kirsten (07:38)
thought it was gonna be the Jenna and it’s not, but that’s okay, you should still read it. Okay, Well, you know
Jackie (07:44)
Okay, so h what did Jenna pick?
Kirsten (07:48)
because you’ve read it. The Witches of Cambridge by Alice
Hoffman, which I I want you to tell us about it in a second. Actually I want you to tell us about it now so that then I can give my commentary on my actual thoughts on this pick.
Jackie (08:02)
Okay, so I am so surprised that this was Jenna’s pick. I’m not surprised it was a pick. I’m surprised it was Jenna’s pick. I feel like this is the ordinary for her to be picking this book
because it is not in the practical magic universe.
and it’s much darker. It takes place in the nineteen fifties.
Kirsten (08:29)
Dark academia vibes all the way here.
Jackie (08:31)
So dark academia two women, they show up to Radcliffe,
and they are immediately brought in to be a part of Lilith House, which is basically like a secret society of all these women. They live together, and it is really about witches. It’s darker the lore that goes with witches, with the
The 11th finger and that whole thing, it is deep in here. So I was not expecting such a dark book
from Alice Hoffman or from Jenna as a pick.
Kirsten (09:09)
The person who sent this to us,
her response was like, I think this is a lazy pick on her behalf. She felt like, you know, of course Alice Hoffman is gonna be on the New York Times bestseller list because she’s releasing a book to coincide
Jackie (09:16)
on her behalf.
Kirsten (09:25)
with the release of the movie next week or two weeks from now, for Practical Magic 2, the sequel, which everyone is so hyped about.
Jackie (09:27)
week or channel,
interesting. You read it.
Kirsten (09:32)
And so she felt like this was kind of lazy on Jenna’s behalf. And interesting. You read it.
So I when she said that I was like, Yeah, I kind of agree. Actually, like this feels like an easy pick, that would have already gotten the spotlight, I guess, is the point. So I’m curious because you read it.
Jackie (09:46)
but gotten I mean, yes, curious, Yes,
but on the other hand, it doesn’t have the same
lighter-hearted vibes than the entire Practical Magic series. This really goes into like the witch trials and you know the the horrible things that they did to.
Women, the way they treated women in the 1950s. And so because of that, I actually think I can understand why she chose it.
Kirsten (10:25)
Well then it it makes a little sense because it’s it’s sort of piggybacking on like the success of practical magic is this lighthearted funny and it’s allowing her to slip in and talk about these heavier themes, which maybe we need a little bit more of.
Jackie (10:34)
Yes.
Kirsten (10:38)
It kind of sounds a little like
The women of Wild Hill. a little bit of the darker against the patriarchy. How are women treated? It’s time for them to rise up. yeah, that’s definitely not for me. Like
Jackie (10:44)
but way darker. Like p pricking
the women and they bleed black. Right? Like and it’s not gory. It’s just like the the dark witch lore.
Kirsten (10:54)
No, I’m not right. Like
I like my witches like nice and happy.
Jackie (11:03)
I know. This this is more like persecution of witches.
Kirsten (11:08)
So it’s not like the ex hex. Like that’s my jam. That’s my witch jam right there. Okay. We’ll move on then. But okay, so it sounds like you approve of the
Jackie (11:16)
No. Okay. pick. Yes, yeah.
Speaking of adaptations for the same reason, the next pick is one you totally love.
Kirsten (11:27)
let me back this up. So the Reese pick
Is Big Little Lies
by Leanne Moriarty. And I thought for the same reason that the person was like, this is lazy, I was like, this is lazy. I thought
Jackie (11:38)
I thought that was lazy
because I was like, she’s just optioned it so she could be a part of it. So now she bought the book so she can star in the TV adaptation.
Kirsten (11:50)
She already is. So it’s so here’s the thing.
the idea is that it takes place 10 years after Big Little Lies, okay? And the sequel.
And she openly addresses, she opens the book, and she’s like, I just want you to know that this is different than the movie adaptation, but because
Jackie (12:21)
no way.
Kirsten (12:10)
Meryl Streep crushed it as Perry’s mother. And because Lara Dern was awesome as Renata, I have made their characters bigger in this second book. no way. They are going to take this as the source material for the third season. So they are gonna film this and readapt it now, 10 years later.
so she like addresses it literally in the opening. And I was like, all right, fine. And I start listening. And I’m sort of like,
Jackie (12:32)
Okay. fine. Okay. Respect. of like
get preparing myself to be like
Kirsten (12:38)
Get preparing myself to be like,
my God. I cannot tell you. Like
I feel like my I felt my face light up with the enjoyment factor of being back with this group of women.
Jackie (12:48)
So
it was like a really good story instead of just I need a can write a piggyback on the success of the first one. Okay.
Kirsten (12:57)
of Yes Here is why it’s fantastic. So first of all, immediately
I was like, I don’t even remember what happened with these characters. And she says in the opening again, this could be a standalone. So I’m like, all right, but I have seen the show. I’ve seen every character’s voice came right back to me. I remembered Celeste, I remembered Madeline, I remembered their quirks, I remembered Jane. But now instead of having preschoolers, which were the r age my kids were when I read the first book, they have teenagers.
Jackie (13:22)
teenagers.
Kirsten (13:24)
They’re dealing with teenagers that are surly and maybe doing drugs
Jackie (13:33)
of
Kirsten (13:28)
and maybe throwing parties and keeping secrets. The teenagers are getting a little bit of an interview. They’re dealing with sick parents, dying parents, annoying mother-in-laws. So they’re dealing with parental stuff. They’ve got both sides of the sandwich thing going on. And then they have their own individual struggles in addition to their husband’s relationship struggles, okay?
There is so much meat on this bone. They are going through perimenopause. I
feel like I see a little bit of myself in every single character and their reaction to their children or their life or their life with their parents or their in-laws or just their husbands. It feels like being reunited with old friends. And the mystery component to the whole story, because you know, there’s always something is that the the new principal of the high school has been sent a finger.
Jackie (14:23)
I was
Kirsten (14:20)
In the mail, like a real finger. Okay.
Jackie (14:23)
like, what, someone flipped in the bird?
Kirsten (14:25)
And there’s like maybe a mafia storyline going on. So an actual human severed finger arrives in the mail.
Jackie (14:28)
on. Okay, so like a re human finger arrives in the mail.
Kirsten (14:33)
And so there’s like every once in a while the cop is interviewing with like that’s all in there. And then also the kids are sitting with a counselor, and all the kids are together giving their series of events and interrupting the parents’ like individual
Jackie (14:41)
and all the kids are together giving their studio events
Kirsten (14:48)
narrations. I’m telling you, this might be one of my favorite books of the year.
Jackie (14:53)
in the
year.
No way.
Kirsten (14:58)
I’m just having a ball with it. I’m having a ball. Amazing. Well done, Reese. Well done. Okay. So get out there. You will not be disappointed. Big little truths. I love
Jackie (15:00)
Amazing. Big little I love that.
Kirsten (15:08)
So you may have noticed that our hair is different
and probably our makeup’s different. And that is because we had some technical difficulties and we lost the video for one of us for the last 20 minutes of yesterday’s podcast recording. And so we are back with the same outfits on. It’s now the next day. And this is the joy and beauty of podcasting. But I believe we left off with Sunny Reed’s YA picks.
Jackie (15:32)
Right. And do we know Sunny Reeds? No.
Kirsten (15:35)
No, we do not.
Jackie (15:36)
we actually, other than the first one, we haven’t received any spoilers about this book club ever. And I’ve only read the first one.
Kirsten (15:47)
Same.
And I had such high expectations for this book club because the first pick was so great. It’s the one I’m the least excited about
Jackie (15:52)
It’s the
Kirsten (15:55)
every month. I don’t really care if we get the spoilers or not.
Jackie (15:57)
I wonder how the younger people that it’s geared towards are liking this.
Kirsten (16:02)
Let’s let’s go to GM GMA, what’s left? Yes.
Jackie (16:02)
Let’s Yes,
GMA. We know how I feel about this GMA
pick.
Kirsten (16:10)
It Yep.
Jackie (16:10)
It was a five-star read. It is understory by Chloe Benjamin. And I have to say, we’ve been waiting for this book since The Immortalist for nine years.
she has been very open about the fact that she has been dealing with some medical issues. I’m so happy that she was able to write this book. Let me tell you what it’s about.
Kirsten (16:32)
Hit me.
Jackie (16:33)
Laurel is a mycologist, which is someone who studies fungus. And her husband is named Eli, and he is a physicist.
They’ve lost their child. She is having a really difficult time moving on. So she decides she is going to
McMurdo Station, which is in Antarctica, to work as a dishwasher. She just wants to do something completely different. And in Antarctica, over the Arctic is this arc.
And they don’t know what it is. And the next thing you know, her estranged ex-husband shows up. He’s a physicist
to do research on this. She confronts him and she’s like, This looks like the duo verse, which was your theory. What is a duo verse? Our universe, but moving time backwards. So when you wake up in the morning, it’s yesterday. People anti-age.
I’ll Benjamin Button, okay?
Kirsten (17:34)
You know that sound from AOL when we were younger where it’s like Br, Br, Br and you’re just like thinking. I feel like my mind just went into like I can’t keep
Jackie (17:44)
Yes.
Kirsten (17:46)
up with what you’re saying, like the slow roll of the cursor. This
Jackie (17:48)
Yes.
Kirsten (17:49)
is too mind bending for me, I think.
Jackie (17:52)
Do not know how she wrote this book. I don’t know if she got a degree in biology and physics and and philosophy or something before writing this book. My brain literally had to put it down and just process.
It was brilliant. So the two of them decide to go into the duo vers to see if they can find their son.
It is phenomenal. I feel like people are going to pick up this book and it’s either going to be the book of the decade for you, or you’re going to have a look on your face that you have right now, and it will maybe not be the book for you.
Kirsten (18:37)
So I liked Benjamin Button. I liked Wild Dark Shore. And I liked Dark Matter. But you’re basically putting all three in one book, and that’s too much. That’s too much science for me. That’s
Jackie (18:38)
Yeah. Dark Matter. book. That’s
Kirsten (18:49)
I I I can’t do it. I know
I can’t do it. My mind was like wandering during that. Like, I checked out.
I I can’t do it. I know my limits.
Jackie (19:01)
Right,
which I I totally get. And and
you know, we always say there’s a book for everybody. And just because you don’t love the book doesn’t mean like someone else won’t, and vice versa. And even if you look at the book and you’re like, that doesn’t appeal to me, you can also sometimes recognize that was amazing writing that’s happened. I’m like, that book was so well written and I just didn’t like it. So
Kirsten (19:08)
Yes. Totally.
Jackie (19:31)
I feel like this is gonna be
one of those books. People are are either going to love it or it might not be up their alley. But
Kirsten (19:42)
this is a milkman situation, which the lore of
us is the first time we ever like really disagreed on a book was Milkman, which won a Pulitzer.
Jackie (19:53)
Mm-hmm.
Kirsten (19:53)
And I loved this book. And Jackie
Jackie (19:59)
Hated this book.
Read it or walking a walking and reading. I cannot. It’s like an earworm that I can’t get out of my head. All these years later, I couldn’t stand it. I loved it. Listen.
Kirsten (20:11)
it. I loved it. I still do. This
is definitely a milkman situation, but I’m not even gonna attempt because I know already it’s too much for me. I know that. And you you gotta know your own reading taste. There’s a reason that we’re both here. So Jackie Anna Kirsten, you probably, if you’ve listened for this long, identify with one of us more than the other, and that’s okay.
Jackie (20:24)
reading Both here. the other, Yes.
Because read the books that you love. you helped
Kirsten (20:33)
read the books that you love. Totally. Do not be afraid to DNF.
Jackie (20:38)
me on my DNFing journey. I’m so, I’m so proud of us.
I I called Kirsten and I said, This is the reason why I’m having some trouble with this book that I’d highly anticipated and she was like, Don’t do it.
Kirsten (20:59)
Now
we don’t talk about books we don’t like on the
Jackie (21:02)
Mm-hmm.
Kirsten (21:02)
podcast or in public forums like Instagram. We do with our members on Looking Beyond. We recommend the books.
We like and then we tell them the ones that we don’t like and why. Because again, sometimes the reason that we don’t like it might be the reason that someone else does. Exactly. But this was one of Jackie’s most anticipated
Jackie (21:15)
does. Exactly. But
Kirsten (21:19)
and probably many people’s most anticipated for the year. And she told me about it. She read the ending, she was furious, and then she’s like, I’m gonna keep reading it. And I was like, No, you’re not.
You’re absolutely not. You hate it. She’s like, maybe I’ll give it two stars. I’m like, no, you didn’t finish
it. That’s a one.
One star if a no star book, you’re not sympathy giving it a bonus star. Like, no, put it down, walk away, pick one of the dozens of other books that you are given access to every month. No.
Jackie (21:39)
me the book star. Like, Yeah.
And and it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad book.
Kirsten (21:53)
based on the description
that you gave me, I think we could finally put it in the bad book category.
Jackie (21:57)
But I
feel like there are people who are going to absolutely love it. I am
Kirsten (22:03)
I am eagerly awaiting
this one to come out so that I can have popcorn and just watch everybody’s squabbling over this
Jackie (22:10)
God. I I feel like
people are going, some people are gonna love it. And and listen, I I would never say anything bad about a book because I could never write any book. So as far as I’m concerned, every single book I’ve ever read is better than any book I have written because I haven’t written any. So there you So there you go.
Kirsten (22:33)
There you go. So there you go.
but yeah, sorry, we’re not telling you what that book is, unless you’re a member, in which case you got something to look forward to in a couple weeks.
Jackie (22:41)
Okay.
YA. And now this one is so on the list. Okay.
Kirsten (22:53)
Screamin’ my
name.
Been reading Gilded Age novels since before they were cool. Okay.
Jackie (22:59)
Mm-hmm.
Kirsten (23:00)
I will forever at heart be a historical fiction girly. Always. That’s my like number one genre. I dabble, I read them. Sometimes I take a break from them, but like that’s she, that’s it. She I do,
Jackie (23:09)
She sh she dabbles in other genres.
Kirsten (23:12)
but historical fiction has my heart. Which, good. I’m excited. this
Jackie (23:15)
Which when you’re done, I we have something to discuss about this.
Kirsten (23:22)
one it’s called Hawk and Sparrow by Ayana Gray.
Is are you ready? And I don’t know
Jackie (23:26)
Okay.
Kirsten (23:27)
the proper way to lay this out here, but here we go. It is a YA, historical, fantasy, murder mystery, romance.
Set in the Gilded Age. I left that
Jackie (23:39)
I love that.
Kirsten (23:40)
part out.
Okay, so this is this is screaming my name, I think.
Jackie (23:47)
Okay,
so what what is the right order for book genre naming? Cause that’s all of them in one. That’s all the genres. Adult you first? Mm-hmm. A hundred percent.
Kirsten (23:57)
I’m pretty sure versus YA like adult is a silent right but YA like you identify first.
Then in my head it’s historical or you just leave off that it’s a fiction, right? Like in my head it’s like you’re identifying that it’s historical.
Jackie (24:14)
Okay.
Kirsten (24:15)
For some reason I feel
like rom romance comes last. Probably fantasy comes before mystery, if I was doing that correctly. And I don’t know why, it just feels right.
Jackie (24:24)
But
could it be a historical fiction no a historical romantic mystery or is it a historical mystery romantic?
Kirsten (24:35)
Romanticy
mystery sounds better to me in my head. I don’t know why, but if the romance element was out, it would be a YA historical fantasy mystery. Right? I don’t I don’t know
Jackie (24:43)
fiction mystery. Historical fantasy mystery, yes. Right? I don’t know
Kirsten (24:48)
why the rules apply, but I just think there’s a and like mystery comes before thriller. Don’t like if it a mystery thriller, it’s always the mystery, not the thriller. You would never say a thriller mystery, that’d like, ew, that’s gross. That feels icky in my body.
Jackie (24:58)
No God. feels No, no, but it’s like
saying the red small apple.
Kirsten (25:06)
Yeah. Like I have a visceral reaction where like I don’t always know what’s
right, but like that I know is wrong.
Jackie (25:12)
Okay.
Kirsten (25:15)
And for some reason, no shade to the romance category. That just feels like it comes
at the end.
Jackie (25:22)
Right.
Kirsten (25:23)
Unless it’s combined in a word like a rom cozy, which is a romance mystery or
a r rom fantas a fancy assume. romanticy. Which then the romance trump but like I Right. But you s phantomance.
Jackie (25:29)
Fantasy is a romanticy. Which then the romance comes a little But the funny thing is you would never you always say fantasy romance, but you s call it a romantasy, you don’t call it a phantomance.
Kirsten (25:47)
A phantomance? That is incredible.
It’s a phantomance’s from now on. It feels like a is that the new dance craze?
The phantomance’s we do in the fan mails.
Jackie (25:58)
We call
it a romance. We don’t call it a romance fantasy. I don’t know. I don’t either I’m tired.
Kirsten (26:04)
I don’t either. I’m
All I know is it’s set in the Gilded Age, this one, Hawkins Barrow. Vesper is trying to save the paper, and she stumbles upon a murder in a socialite event that she’s covering as a journalist. And
Max is the billionaire who is being framed for the murder, and they’re gonna fake date, and he’s gonna
offer to save the paper. And I don’t know what the romantic
Well, I know what the romantic part is. I don’t
Jackie (26:28)
Ha ha ha.
Kirsten (26:29)
know what the fantasy part is, but apparently it’s also a fantasy. So like, sign me up, buttercup. Yes.
Jackie (26:35)
Okay, so here
are some previous celebrity book club authors that have new books coming out this month in September. Reese has two books that are coming out this month. She was
Kirsten (26:46)
Right. The first is Lucy Foley. She was a previous pick for the guest list. And her new one, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, is the first in the new Miss Marple series that she’s writing, like as if she’s Agatha Christie, which I’m down for.
I this is on my TBR.
Jackie (27:00)
of it that
Kirsten (27:01)
And I have a physical of it that I’m gonna be reading very soon.
Jackie (27:05)
And we have to read an Agatha Christie on the Fall Reading Challenge. because this is gonna be in it. Exactly. So you can do an Agatha Christie retelling. And this 100% counts the other one is Taipei Story by R. F. Quang. And Shiro Yellow Face.
Kirsten (27:09)
Possibly because this was gonna be in it. Yep.
And this one is a coming-of-age story
about a girl who’s visiting Taipei with the hopes of reconnecting to her homeland.
Jackie (27:30)
then we have some GMA picks. So the first one is Hollow Bones by Jodi Pico. her other pick was Mad Honey.
Kirsten (27:38)
Right. And this one is essentially a girl’s mother died in 9/11. And now it’s 20 years later. She’s an adult working in the Rhode Island
emergency preparedness department and something traumatic happens and it’s all
about like childhood trauma and dealing with crises. September
Jackie (27:56)
And we should mention that Jody is coming to the area. I think on September 17th, they moved the venue to a much larger venue to accommodate all the people that are dying to meet her. So I’m sure we will put the link below. There are still
some tickets available and you could go see her in person to talk about the book.
Kirsten (28:18)
Absolutely.
Jackie (28:19)
This is the one that I am halfway through. It is The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lahin. And she was chosen by GMA for her book The Frozen River. And if I tell you, I think this is my favorite book.
Kirsten (28:35)
Of the year?
Jackie (28:36)
of hers. I adore her. I I don’t know. This this might be in the running for my favorite book of the year. I mean, I did read.
Kirsten (28:43)
dude, September is a banger month for you.
Jackie (28:46)
An
I know I’ve
Maybe five five star books this entire year. And between this and understory, I just don’t know how the rest of the year is gonna possibly live up to September. This is a biographical fiction about Grace O’Malley, who in the 1500s became head of
Kirsten (28:59)
Dang.
Jackie (29:09)
Clan O’Malley, she took over the fleet from her father.
Kirsten (29:28)
I do love pirates.
Jackie (29:12)
this story about her, I cannot read this book fast enough. It’s another big one. So me and my like 600-page books this month. So you’ll forgive me if I if I read less. This is phenomenal. And it you will love this one. You love pirates. You will love this one.
the last one is Lynn Painter. The last one for And she had Trustful is the name of the new book. And she her other book was Fake Skating.
Kirsten (29:39)
That was a YA pick. This one also I believe is YA. It has
Jackie (29:42)
think.
Kirsten (29:43)
something to do with a a woman
Whose neighbor dies and she inherits his trust
Jackie (29:47)
o
Kirsten (29:47)
and then she enrolls in an elite school. Someone she struggles to keep up academically, she gets a tutor. That tutor has ulterior motives because he’s the nephew of the person who died, and he wants to know why she got the inheritance.
It looks very like New York brownstones in the fall, very cozy.
Jackie (30:04)
York
It does. It looks adorable.
Kirsten (30:07)
It looks very fun and appealing. It does. It looks adorable.
Jackie (30:11)
I actually really wanna read this one.
I don’t always gravitate towards a YA romance, but this one looks like it’s
so much fun and fantastic. So we do have one more.
And this is this is exciting. Okay, so and it kind of relates to to some other news and information. So our last pick was an Oprah pick. So take it away. It is The
Kirsten (30:39)
It is The Vanishing Family by Bob Kolker. Now
he wrote Hidden Valley Road about that schizophrenic family. He’s an incredible journalist. And we are so excited because the
Jackie (30:54)
lives.
Kirsten (30:49)
The vanishing family now is taking a look at dementia, which is the forefront of so many people’s lives. It takes a look at the broader scientific work, but then also how it looks for one specific family
where many members of the family have early onset dementia.
I am particularly excited about this because it is going to be, and I know I’m telling you early, but I’m too excited not to share. It is our November
Jackie (31:09)
to show you.
Kirsten (31:13)
book club pick, and Bob is going to be coming on and talking to all about us about this. I personally cannot wait to get into this.
Jackie (31:21)
Yes.
And just for
Kirsten (31:25)
Story.
Jackie (31:27)
everyone who is unaware and may not have have read Hidden Valley Road, yes, it’s medically based, but the way that he writes it is really a story about a family. He creates a narrative.
That is so full. You feel like you know these family members, you feel a close connection with these family members. And then he weaves in some of the information about frontal lobe dementia, and he does it in such a way that it could be fiction.
Kirsten (32:00)
it’s actually the perfect segue into the reader question because I’m gonna swap the order of events this week because next week’s
Jackie (32:05)
Mm-hmm.
Kirsten (32:07)
episode is about and all of her best ever picks. So we want to know what are your favorite Oprah books?
Jackie (32:09)
And all of her best books. And you can go back all the way to the OG book club because let’s face it, when I was younger, that was the only book club. And I’ve read so many of her really OG stuff. So
you can let us know your favorites from any of the picks. and I I wonder how many we’re gonna have that are the same.
Kirsten (32:36)
I mean Hidden Valley Road for sure.
Jackie (32:38)
Grove for sure.
100%.
Kirsten (32:43)
Yes! This is me! This is me! Sing me a song.
Jackie (32:40)
So the bookmark this week. Disney. Okay. First of all, I just would like to send out an acknowledgement to Kirsten.
For the last three months, Kirsten has been working tirelessly to give you a summary and book club questions for.
The Calamity Club.
I would like to present the award.
For the best partner.
The best summary of a book and the best book club questions all in one category.
To Kirsten Wilf Baritz
Kirsten (33:33)
I gratefully accept this reward.
My Oscar. Honestly, I worked hard for this. I would like to thank the tea, the cup of tea that
Jackie (33:40)
The tea,
Kirsten (33:42)
kept me going. I would like to thank my audio subscription service, LibreO FM, that allowed me to listen while also taking notes in the book.
I’d also like to thank the notes app.
For allowing me to keep track of some nine thousand words that I wrote in the summary of the seven hundred page book.
But now I want to talk about how awesome it was because I really did love it so much. It’s six stars. honest to God.
it is a fantastic story narrated by two different people. One, Meg, an 11-year-old girl. She is an orphan and she’s sort of unsure of what happened to her mother. And then Birdie who has come to her town of Oxford, Mississippi to ask her sister Frances for financial help because it’s during the Great Depression. But little does she know that Frances’ family is also struggling financially.
There are so many themes in this book. This book is so phenomenally written. It is,
I think, the second story that I’ve read this year with a child narrator that absolutely crushed the narrative style of the story. and I cannot say enough
positive things about this book. It was a 14-year wait or something since the help came out, but it was worth it because wow, this knocks your socks off.
Kirsten (34:54)
There’s a reason it’s on the New York Times bestseller list. There’s a reason that it’s everybody’s book club pick. We’ve got the book club questions. We’ve got the summary. ahead and read it. Just read honestly, just read it just to make me happy, please. Cause I put a lot of effort into this.
Jackie (35:07)
thousand words. It’s just a small it’s a small book about the book.
Kirsten (35:12)
Honestly, yes.
I wrote a novella.
Totally.
Jackie (35:15)
And I love that it was worth the wait. Sometimes I feel like the wait can be very anticlimactic. Totally. And with this one and with the Chloe Benjamin,
I feel like they took the time because that’s what they needed to write these exquisite stories.
Kirsten (35:34)
Absolutely.
Jackie (35:35)
I think that’s all we have for this week.
Kirsten (35:37)
It is. So like, follow, and subscribe because we really want you to come back and hear us discuss Oprah next week.
Jackie (35:44)
happy reading.
