69: Bookish Yucks And Yums

What makes you drop a book instantly, and what makes you stay up way too late saying “just one more chapter”? I’m squeezing in a solo chat during a rare quiet newborn moment, and it turns into a full-on, strongly opinionated guide to my reading yucks and yums, plus a few real-life wins that actually work in the chaos of motherhood.

First up, a simple, budget-friendly at-home paint and sip that saves the day when plans fall through. Then we get into the book talk: the miscommunication trope that drags an entire plot, “too much spice and no plot” frustration, cringy dialogue that sounds like pandering, and why trauma for shock value leaves me cold. I also share why I’m hype-resistant, how I decide it’s time to DNF, and what I wish more stories did to earn real tension and payoff.

On the yum side, I’m talking pretty covers that deliver, books that make me feel something, slow burn romance, forced proximity, small town comfort reads, dual timelines, and the audiobook details that can make or break the experience. We also run through my current reads and why destination settings like Ireland or Southeast Asia are peak escapism when life feels heavy. 

If you’ve got strong opinions or perfect-fit recommendations, I want them. 

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Transcript

Welcome To Turn The Page

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Turn the Page Podcast. Sisters, best friends, and brunch enthusiasts. With relatable episodes that feel like you're chatting with two of your closest friends or sisters. Join us as we turn the page to different topics about losing yourself in motherhood, adulthood, anyhood.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

And finding yourself again through meaningful friendships, shameless piles of unread library books, and endless Amazon package deliveries.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Real, honest, and a little bit chaotic, and we talk about it all. So grab your favorite drink, put the kids to bed, lace up your sneaks or whatever you need to do and join us. We can't wait to connect with you.

Newborn Quiet Time And Solo Check-In

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Begin with another solo episode of Turn the Page Podcast. I'm really leaning into having moments of just me and my newborn when my husband takes my toddler somewhere. So they went to go get her lunch and I ran to the basement to record because I had an idea.

At-Home Paint And Sip That Works

SPEAKER_01 1:20

If you are in need of an activity idea, something that's maybe like budget-friendly, it definitely could be something to keep the kids entertained, even like an at-home date night. At-home paint and sip for the frickin' win. I did this a few years ago in COVID with my husband. We did it as like an at-home date night. We did it as a birthday thing for myself at the time with our couple besties. And then I recently did it because I had to cancel my birthday winery day. So this was a kind of way to bring everything inside but still get a little tipsy with the girls. And I'm considering it doing it as like a birthday party for my toddler in the future. Obviously, the sip would be juice instead of libations, but you know what I mean. It's super easy to throw together. It can be super affordable. We went to Dollar Tree recently and saw they have the canvases, the acrylic paint, the brushes, the palettes, all of that shit there for I'm sure probably like five dollars. Definitely not a dollar anymore, but cheap. Like you can make it happen for less than 20 bucks. Throw in a bottle, wine, and some food, and everybody's happy. The videos are on YouTube or like websites to follow along or get the printables and trace. So just throw that out there. Just wanted to share that that's been pretty successful for me a few times now and in different contexts. And I plan to keep using it because I have so much paint supplies.

A Postpartum Pivot That Still Wins

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Yeah, I just wanted to share that win, that little pivot win when things don't go your way. Because it was gonna be my first outing postpartum. I had my outfit picked out. I was gonna even wear a little hat, but no, and it's fine, it still went great. Everybody had fun. Yeah. So

Reading Yucks That Ruin The Story

SPEAKER_01 3:11

today's solo episode is reading yucks and yums because I am realizing I have really strong opinions about like what works for me literarily, um, and what doesn't. So I'm gonna start with the yucks because just a natural-born hater. We're gonna get the negatives done and dusted out of the way. I absolutely hate a miscommunication trope. Okay, something that the entire plot is like a conversation that should have been had on page one and it wasn't, and it dragged out and it created this unnecessary tension. Hate it, so annoying. There's no way to do it well, it's just frustrating. Talk, have a conversation, please. If you really like this person, like please. Too much spice, but no plot. I like what are we doing? And I have a book in mind. I'm like hesitant to call it out. Maybe I will. It was a recent book club pick of ours, if you know, you know, but it felt like all spice and no plot. There was a little bit of plot that is really what led me to give it the three stars because I enjoyed the unrealistic, I'll describe it smoothie shop guy, barista equivalent, falling in love with a hockey player, so unrealistic, so cute. Could have been so much more like I don't know. It just was like very surface level and spice, and like if you're into that, great, that's fine. I just like a little bit more emotional depth to my novels, so and building off that same exact book, a terrible audiobook narrator will absolutely kill the vibe. I it's what made me bring it from like a four-star to a three-star, truly. It's so obnoxious to listen to, it makes it really hard, makes it super distracting, like the forced accents, or even if I just don't like their voice, which again, I'm not gonna name any names, but that makes it really hard for me to get into the story. Cringy dialogue. What are we saying? Why are we being corny or sappy or using like I don't know, like TikTok or just like modern day language to me feels so cringy. It feels like pandering, like, yeah, I don't know. Even stories that talk about COVID, because obviously it's a very shared experience that we can all relate to. We went through, we suffered, we struggled, we came out on the other side, you know. But I don't know. When I hear books allude to that, it feels cringy, even though I know for the most part it's just used as a backdrop to describe the time of life that we were in. And at that time, there really was nothing else going on. It felt like like we were in this COVID bubble. So, of course, stories that are from like 2020 to 2022, even are going to reference COVID. I'm like, please don't remind me. It's still way absolutely way too soon. Trauma for shock value, or as I call it, trauma porn, just books that are about trauma, trauma dumping, traumatize you as you're reading them. And that is the plot. Like, nothing else comes out of it. There's no resolution, there's no growth or healing. It's just meant to be a downer. Like, why are we doing this to ourselves? Me in particular, maybe, because you know, it's just not necessary, it's not a necessary way to spend my free time, you know. Predictable twists, unless it's Frida, motherfucking McFadden. Okay. I if I can call it out and I know what's gonna happen, I'm just uninterested and checked out for the rest of the story. I like something that slaps me in the face, did not see that twist coming. And I say unless it's Frida, but I still feel like even though I've read most of Frida's books, and maybe there's like an inkling of something that you can see coming, there's always a twist or a curveball that she throws that you did not see coming. I don't care who you are, I don't care how many thrillers you've read, how smart you think you are, she always slips in something unexpected, which is why I will keep coming back for more because you know, there's always a surprise in there. Oh, this just came up too. Instant love with zero tension. That was a book that I recently just read. What was it? Party of two. And I when I was explaining why I didn't love it or couldn't give it more than three and a half stars, I couldn't put my finger on it, but that's exactly it. They fell in love, it felt like within the first like hour or two of the audiobook, which I'm sure translates to the first like few chapters, and then from there on it was just them navigating their relationship. Like there was no slow burn, there was no effort, there was no hard to get. I'm a hard-to-get girly, so that just turned me off. I really love Jasmine. Damn, I told myself I was gonna look up listen to how to pronounce her last name. And they said it at the beginning of the audiobook too, but whatever. Jasmine Gilory. Sorry, girl. I love her books, and for the most part, there I feel like there is like a slow burn or some kind of like tension or conflict prior to the relationship. This just felt like we met by chance at a bar, we fell in love, and now we're like in it fully. And then the conflict came within the last maybe like hour of the audiobook. So yeah, my last yuck is an overhype. I am hype resistant, hype adverse. I like if you hype something up to me, I'm like, okay, I can't be that good, and then I'll just like move it down my TPR list. I don't know why. I'm stubborn. I like anything that's super hyped up on book talk, I'm just not interested. I really, really, really tried to give Avatar my absolute all. I got 50% through, and I just decided it wasn't for me. Why am I spending my time trying to like something just because other people like it? I don't like it. I have heard book two is better. Maybe I'll like get back into that and just not worry about finishing book one. And there were some parts of it that I did like, but I was like forcing myself to get through it. I just wouldn't want to go back to it. That for me is a sign of DNF. Like, why are we life is too short? Find a book you like and that you like can't wait to pick back up. So sorry to the Avatar lovers. I'm sure there's a fourth wing, it was another one for me. It was like good. I'm pretty sure I maybe gave it four stars, but I didn't love it. I'm not obsessed with it. I wasn't like itching for the next book in the series to come out. Same game changer, same thing, which I think maybe the second book is like heated rivalry, like the series. I, you know, it's fine. It was just fine. I I don't know if there's a book that's super overhyped that I also really, really loved and like got on the hype. Not even bandwagon, like I could just relate to all the hype. I'll have to think on that one and report back to y'all. But yeah, I'm usually pretty hype adverse. I now if it's a book I loved and I don't hear much about, I will hype the shit out of it. Like, why aren't people talking more about this? Everyone needs to read it. I will absolutely be my own hype person, but I don't know. I don't know.

Reading Yums That Keep Me Hooked

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Okay, so my bookish yums, a pretty cover. I sometimes will just read a book or put it on my TBR because I love the cover, even without reading the description. But bonus points, six stars, if you will, if it's a pretty cover, and it's actually a quality story. I read a book like that, and I absolutely loved it. I picked it up because the cover was gorgeous, and then it ended up being an amazing story. It's called Passion Project by London Sperry. The cover is beautiful, the story is beautiful. I cried, I gave it five stars. I'm sure there's more like that too. Promise Me Sunshine by Kara Baystone, a stone, whatever. Gorgeous sunset over the water cover, beautiful story. I'm realizing now that those both were like grief. So yeah, tear jerkers. Another one by Kara Baystone. I'm realizing I really like her. I should add more of her books. Ready or not? That one wasn't as griefy, but more just like real life stories that I can relate and connect to, even though maybe the cover just looks like it's like a cutesy cartoony, like artsy cover that the story won't be super serious or meaningful, and then it ends up being serious or meaningful. So that is definitely a yum for me. Books that make me feel something. I read to escape real life and like real life feelings. But if a book can get me to cry, if anything can get me to cry, okay, but if a book can get me to cry, laugh out loud, scream in like shock, my jaw is on the floor at what was just said, rewind the audiobook to hear it again, feel something. I am absolutely in, I'm absolutely recommending it to everybody. Yeah, if you can squeeze any ounce of emotion out of me, you're the real MVP because I know how to lock that shit down. Okay. I know how to compartmentalize, I know how to go for like the light, fluffy, surface level shit. If I'm not trying to feel anything, and if you still somehow make me feel something, you are the real MVP. A slow burn. I love a slow burn, like I said. I love a will they won't they. I love hard to get. And for the mystery side of things, I love a mystery buildup. Like, where is this going? And like I said, something just that just slaps you across the face. As long as it can hook me from the beginning and keep me invested before that happens, like you have a fan for life in me. Forced proximity. I love when characters have to share a bed, share a hotel room, work across from each other, like a lovers to hater vibe or haters to lovers vibe. I love it. Just like I can't escape you. I love it. Sign me up every time. What was that one my cousin slash bestie recommended? This one like back in the day, and they're also well, she's been on the pod, guys. It's Blair, but they also made it a show with Lucy Hale, and it was a work Lovers to Haters. What was that book? Hold on Lucy Hale movie based on a book because I can see the cover in my mind. I just can't remember the hating game. Beautiful, loved it, so much fun, really just keeps me hooked. That's what I need. I love a small town romance. I love like when an athlete or a music superstar comes to a freaking small town like Rome, Kentucky. What again? What was that book? Rome, Kentucky. This is usually my sister's shtick. I'm usually on top of it, but I am writing on minimal sleep and in the newborn haze. So bear with me. Rome, Kentucky. What was that book series? He was like a country star and he came to Rome, Kentucky, and he fell in love. The Sarah Adams series. Oh, okay. Practice makes perfect, win in Rome, all of those. Love, like just an unsuspecting, high, high profile, like really well-known person comes to a small town and either nobody knows who they are or like they love them, but they're so humble and just like new people of ours that they're like, whatever, we're not impressed by you. Love it, gets me every time. Gilmore girl vibes, like just by default, always will love it.

Audiobook Narrators And POV Preferences

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Multiple POVs, this is especially for audiobooks, and I will say I'm mostly audiobook and ebook right now, just the stage that I'm in and mom life. 90% audiobook and like 10% ebook or Kindle app, whatever. So multiple POVs in an audiobook, especially if it's different narrators, or I talked we've talked about this in book club. If it's a female, she like females absolutely can crush doing female and male voice, like they're so good at it. But males, when they have to do female characters, I'm like, can you stop? So multiple POVs, if it's different narrators, especially if it's different narrators for like every character, and then there just ends up being like six narrators, love it. Feels like I'm watching a movie in my brain, or the female narrator does really great with both the male and female characters. One recently I read, and this just narrator in general does really well with this These Summer Storms by Sarah McLean. But who did I feel like was it Julia Whalen? I love her, she's like one of my top audiobook narrators. She's so good. These summer storms audio narrator. Yes, Julia Whalen. See, that's my girl. I knew that was her. She does really good with the men's voices, and like even she like makes them sound hot. Like it's very convincing that it's a male talking, but it's not, it's just our girl Julia Whalen, another audiobook narrator that I love. Sorry, I'm just rolling through things right now because like I said, I had a minute. I'm just trying to get things squeezed in before it gets loud again and the chaos starts. But the narrator for the Jasmine Gilroy. I swear next time before I speak about her on this podcast again, I will absolutely figure out how to say her last name. But her narrator, it's usually I just looked her up too to like follow her for my bookstagram because I love her so much. What's her name? Janina Edwards. She's so good. Yeah. Yeah, love her. So really a good narrator. I will add that as a yum. A good narrator makes a huge difference, especially if I guess they must have acting skills or acting backgrounds. If they're able to nail the accent, if they're able to nail the male and female, even have just like almost different inflections or tones, voices for the different males and females. I'm in. And then lastly, a dual timeline for switching back and forth. If the chapter starts with a 1975, and then the next chapter starts with present, I'm in. I love switching back and forth, connecting the dots, seeing how the timelines converge. I think my brain just needs to be like stimulated. So maybe for some people it feels like a lot to track, but yeah, if I'm trying to keep up with the back and forth timelines, with the multiple POVs, just seeing how things all come together at the end, I love a like a neatly tied with a bow conclusion.

Cringe Lines Plus Current Reads

SPEAKER_01 19:18

I know stories aren't always like that. Life is definitely not like that, but if it all comes together for me and I'm able to just sigh in relief, if I'm able to let go of the breath that I didn't realize I was holding, anybody else notice that that exact quote is in so many books? And that is also a cringe-worthy dialogue or quote for me. She let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding, or a pregnant pause was between the two characters. Ew. Absolute cringe. Why are we still using that language? It's been so overdone. Everybody uses it at least once. So annoying. It may like genuinely makes me roll my eyes. Now I'm curious if there's any other like cringe-worthy quotes that I apparently have a really big opinion about and just hate. Yeah. I'm sure there are. Maybe that's an episode for another day, but I guess I'll cap this off by just sharing my current reads and listens. I'm currently listening to How to Write a Love Story by Katherine Walsh. And Still Working Through the Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. Nothing against them or the book. I actually really love the book and I love their writing. It's just I'm reading that on my Kindle app and as an ebook, so it's kind of just like when I can squeeze in a few minutes, a chapter at a time. But that is one that even though it's taking me a minute to get through, I'm eager to get back to. Very escapism. It's based in Thailand or in Singapore, so it transports me. I love the banter between the characters. Like that is one I will hype up when I eventually finish it. I think I'm maybe let me check my Kindle app. Love that it gives you the percentage. I'm 63%, so I'm getting there just slowly but surely, because that is the phase of life that I'm in. Seasons of life. Okay. So yes, reading The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. Listening to How to Write a Love Story by Catherine Walsh. That one's based in Ireland, and that just immediately tugged at my heartstrings. I'll add that as a yum as well. If it's based in a destination I want to go to, Italy, Ireland, Greece, like an island somewhere, I don't know, like some Saharan desert, so like I'm absolutely in. If it's like rich in culture, if it makes me feel like I'm there, if the people have accents in the audiobooks, if it describes the setting, like I can paint the picture in my brain, if it's yeah, if They allude to culture, like they use the language or slang, I should say, from that area. They talk about like food or drinks or attire that is like known for that area. I'm in. I truly am in this for the escapism. Okay. Like it's heavy here. So a book that can transport me somewhere else is truly one the goal, but also just like a diamond in the rough. Some books are just like I said, they're cringy. They may be just like surface level, just something quick and entertaining. Ha ha he he loved it. But if it truly makes me feel something and takes me somewhere else, like that is a quality book to me. So yeah. I'm gonna just recap again because I keep getting off topic. Reading the Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. Listening to How to Write a Love Story by Katherine Walsh. And then I just started, my sister and I both did, so we're kind of doing it as like a buddy read for our upcoming book club, The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell. That's an interesting one right off the bat, I will say. Like the characters and just like where it's going. So I'm interested to see what happens. One more thing because I'm looking at it on Spotify. Like some of the chapters, 17 minutes, 24 minutes, some of them are an hour and a half. So I will say that's another yuck for me. Just a long drawn-out chapter. Because sometimes it's just hard for me to hold my focus. I need things. Oh hold on. Please don't every I need things to be sectioned, broken up. Like I need pauses, I need pregnant pauses. So yeah, that's my list of bookish yucks and yums. I'm not even sure if I missed anything because I feel like

Send Your Recs And Strong Opinions

SPEAKER_01 23:52

I covered a lot. But if you're listening and you're like, hell yeah, girl, I also hate that. I'm a hater with you, or like, what the hell are you talking about? I love spice no plot. Let me know. If you're a smut girly, let me know. If there's yums that we have in common, let me know. If there's yums or yucks that I didn't mention that you feel very strongly about, please let me know. We are a community of strongly opinionated, like yeah, strong lion-hearted women. So let me know. Scream it from the rooftops that I'm wrong, that I'm right, that we agree on half of them. Just let me know. I want to know everybody's thoughts. If you have books that fit the bill for what I mentioned, like it's based somewhere else, has a very heavy culture influence. If it is has a very like intense secret that's revealed or a twist, something jaw-dropping, tear-jerking, loling, let me know. Your girl wants to feel all the feels, even though she pretends that she doesn't. So send it in our newsletter, reply to our newsletter, send it to us at our Turn the Page Instagram, join us on Fable, wherever you want to let me know, let me know. And I'd be happy to like try it out and then give you a shout out on the pod. So giving credit where credit is due. That is what we are here to do. I'm gonna wrap this up because my gut is telling me they're gonna be back soon and tracking them. They're like, let me see. Okay, they're like a minute or two away. I wonder what they're doing. Because I thought they were just going to Burger King, so I wonder if it's it says it's as busy as it gets, so they probably got caught up in the lunch shuffle.

The Fast Naan Pizza Lunch Routine

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Yeah, I'm gonna go make my lunch. I'm having non-pizza. We'll do like the non-bread. It comes in a pack of four, which is really nice. We all get our own, or I just save it for another day. Peak maternity leave, like or even meal prep food option. You know what? Let me give you the rundown of how I do my non-pizza. I brush it with some olive oil, sprinkle it with mozzarella. If I'm making it by myself and I want to splurge, I'll get the mozzarella slices. I just like the way they melt and taste better, but shredded mozzarella is also fine. Oh my god, you need sauce first. What am I talking about? Pizza sauce. My husband's gonna kill me because I ask him every time. I honestly don't know the difference between pizza sauce, marinara, and pasta sauce. To me, it's all red sauce, it's all tomato sauce. I'm sure there's a difference. I think one of them maybe has like sugar or more of an acidic taste, but pizza sauce, pizza sauce, and then your shredded mozzarella, and then I eat like turkey pepperoni. Again, if I'm doing it myself and I want to splurge, I'll throw in some mushroom slices or spinach just to make it a little bit more balanced. And then these, the nauns, I should have left it out before I came down here, but I was just itching to record. They go in the oven at 400 for like five minutes, and then it's done. So your lunch is ready within 10 minutes. It probably costs under $10 to get all the ingredients from Aldi. That's where I shop, Aldi, whatever. Your kid will love it. Your kid will love making it with you. My daughter is three and a half, and she likes yes, chef, absolutely. She was in her element, sprinkling that cheese left and right. So it's like a fun activity to do with the kiddos, and then it tastes great, and it's like healthy. Naan is probably better for you than crust, maybe. I don't know if that's true. Maybe that's just what I tell myself. But it's a well-balanced, easy, cheap, kid-friendly, family-friendly meal. So that's what I'm about to have for lunch before this kid demands another bottle or diaper change, even though that seems like the direction we're heading in. I don't know if you could hear him. So, yeah, I'm gonna get off

Wrap-Up And How To Stay Connected

SPEAKER_01 27:55

of here. Thank you for listening to another solo episode. This is like my Cherie solo episode series. I'm hoping it's something I can stick to with just transitions coming up, but I've been loving just kind of like getting ideas together and then feeling like they're worth sharing. I'm sure somebody wanted to hear this. And if not, it was just a way for me to be creative and share my bookish yucks and yums. So yeah, I will talk to you guys soon, of course. As always, like, listen, review, and subscribe to our podcast. Follow us on Instagram, find us on Fable, join our newsletter. We are growing as a community, guys. So get on board. You don't want to miss what we've got in store for you guys. Love you all. Talk to you soon. Bye. Alright, everyone. This was another episode of Turn the Page Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Thanks for hanging out. Don't forget to like, listen, and subscribe. And also don't forget to leave a review, please, and let us know what you thought about today's episode and all the other episodes. Thanks, guys. Talk to you soon. Bye.