Latest / Friday Night Readers: Gilmore Girls Inspired Book Club / 🍂10 Books to Read If You Wish You Could Live in Stars Hollow Like Gilmore Girls

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🍂10 Books to Read If You Wish You Could Live in Stars Hollow Like Gilmore Girls · Friday Night Readers: Gilmore Girls Inspired Book Club

0:05
SPEAKER_00: Hi.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: Hi.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: Happy September 1st.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: Happy September 1st.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: This was the perfect day to do this.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: It is the perfect day.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: And I think you're the perfect person to do this with.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: We are here to talk about books that feel like Gilmore Girls today.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: And I see one right behind you, Falling for Peachtree Bluff, your book.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: So that is the featured book that we're going to talk about today.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: But we're going to talk about a few more besides that.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: And I am here with Christy Woodson And I'll just read the little bio I wrote for you.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: You are the bestselling author of 14 Southern Small Town Beach Reads.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: She's also the co-creator and co-host of the web show and podcast Friends in Fiction
0:41
SPEAKER_00: with fellow writers, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristen Harmel, and Patty
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Callahan Henry.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And the co-founder of the award-winning interiors site, Design Chic, with her mom, Beth Woodson.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: She writes the Substack Live Your Story,
0:54
SPEAKER_00: and she's such a big Gilmore Girls fan that she was asked to interview Kelly Bishop
0:58
SPEAKER_00: for her book tour.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: That was maybe it might have been the peak of my life.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: OK, wait.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: Do you also know this fun fact, though?
1:05
SPEAKER_01: I got to sit beside Lorelei.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: She's only ever going to be Lorelei to me at the East Hampton Authors Night at
1:14
SPEAKER_01: the book festival.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: I did not know that.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: So tell me about that.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was just extremely cool.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: She had a new book out and I had a new book out and we were both
1:22
SPEAKER_01: at East Hampton Authors Night and she was just kind and wonderful.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: And I felt really badly because so many friends were texting me like,
1:30
SPEAKER_01: give me a copy of the book, give me a copy of the book.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: But they're very limited numbers there, but I did get one for me.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: I hate to admit it was like a selfish moment,
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SPEAKER_01: but I was like, I think this means more to me than anyone.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: I did go to her book tour and had a really good
1:42
SPEAKER_00: time, but I did not sit next to her.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: I did wear a Rory Gilmore sweater.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, as one must.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: So that was really fun.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: But Kelly Bishop is just incredible.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: Who was your favorite Gilmore?
1:54
SPEAKER_00: Emily.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: Emily.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
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SPEAKER_01: I think maybe me too.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: I just love her.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: I know that we should be Rory's, but I just think Emily has so much dimension.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: And just the arc that she goes on and she's just, she's incredible.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: She really is.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: And she plays that character that you dislike sometimes, but you ultimately really love.
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SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a hard character to play.
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SPEAKER_00: That's exactly it for me.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: It's incredibly hard, but she does it perfectly.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: She does.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: So just to introduce myself really quickly.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm Jules.
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SPEAKER_00: I run Friday Night Reads, which is a Gilmore Girls inspired book club.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: We started during the pandemic rewatching Gilmore Girls and taking the challenge
2:28
SPEAKER_00: to read the books on Gilmore Girls.
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SPEAKER_00: I actually have been doing my own tracking of the books because All the lists
2:34
SPEAKER_00: that are out there are wrong,
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SPEAKER_00: and I just released it as a self-published book,
2:37
SPEAKER_00: The Unofficial Guide to the Books on Gilmore Girls.
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SPEAKER_00: So it goes episode by episode with what I think is the best list.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: I have, I think, over a hundred that I don't think you'll find anywhere else.
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SPEAKER_00: And then there's a little reading journal in the back.
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SPEAKER_00: So you can color in the books that you read and stuff like that.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: I also just posted today I'm doing for September a 21 day read like a Gilmore Girl challenge.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: So it's every day.
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SPEAKER_00: It's just one little task and it's not just reading.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: So today I want you to read the first line of Anna Karenina,
3:03
SPEAKER_00: but we do things also like visiting a library and reading outside
3:07
SPEAKER_00: and just little things to spark that habit in the fall
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SPEAKER_00: when we're rewatching Gilmore Girls.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm obsessed with that.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: I love it so much.
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SPEAKER_01: And I cannot wait to get the book.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm so thrilled that you did this.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be so great.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: And how funny.
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SPEAKER_00: I feel like our covers look alike.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: They're Gilmore Girls fall vibes, right?
3:24
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
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SPEAKER_00: This is one of my favorite covers of the year.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: We are going to talk about 10 books that feel like Gilmore Girls.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think we should start with your book,
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SPEAKER_00: Falling for Peachtree Bluff, which is coming out on September 15th.
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SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear about it in your words.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: But first, let's talk about where to get these books from today's affiliate partner.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: Pingo Books is an app that is like eBay, but only for books.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: I have been using it as a buyer and a seller for over three years now.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: You just snap a picture of the book you want to sell and scan the ISBN number on the back.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: Then voila, the app populates a draft listing for you.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Simply click a few details like the book's condition and suggested pricing,
4:06
SPEAKER_00: And then publish your listing.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: When the book is sold, you'll get an email with a shipping label.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: The buyer pays for that.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Just pack the book up and take it to the post office.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: Then your account will be credited.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: I have made several hundred dollars so far selling 42 books.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: You can either cash out or use the money as credit,
4:25
SPEAKER_00: but you better believe that I use the credit to buy more books on the app.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Since our Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge books are both older
4:32
SPEAKER_00: and really popular books,
4:33
SPEAKER_00: they're often abundant at rock bottom prices, especially if you buy them used.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: I've made 32 purchases to date, so I am pretty close to a sell one, buy one ratio.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Since I am a Pango Books ambassador,
4:47
SPEAKER_00: you can use my code LITLIFE
4:51
SPEAKER_00: to get $5 off your first purchase of $10.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Now back to Christy Woodson Harvey's answer.
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SPEAKER_01: This book is perfect if you love the cozy small town fall vibes of Gilmore Girls
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SPEAKER_01: with southern family drama and a lot
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SPEAKER_00: of romance.
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SPEAKER_01: This is the fifth book in my Peachtree Bluff series and youngest sister Emerson is
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SPEAKER_01: in New York starring in a TV show,
5:14
SPEAKER_01: busy planning her upcoming wedding in Peachtree Bluff and then also struggling
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SPEAKER_01: with some things underneath the surface.
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SPEAKER_01: And then middle sister Sloane is very pregnant.
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SPEAKER_01: She and her husband Adam are building a house back in Peachtree Bluff,
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SPEAKER_01: and it is over time, over budget, and she is over it, for sure.
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SPEAKER_01: Vivi, who is the niece,
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SPEAKER_01: Caroline's daughter, makes a shocking realization that shakes her to her core.
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SPEAKER_01: And ordinarily,
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SPEAKER_01: eldest sister Caroline would be here to fix everyone's problems and sweep in
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SPEAKER_01: and make everything okay,
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SPEAKER_01: but she is more than a little distracted by this very unexpected love triangle
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SPEAKER_01: that she suddenly finds herself in.
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SPEAKER_01: Things seem pretty status quo with matriarchy.
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SPEAKER_01: Ansley, she's busier than ever with her design business and all her crazy daughters,
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SPEAKER_01: but when a scandal that would affect every single Peachtree Bluff citizen comes
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SPEAKER_01: to light and it looks like her husband Jack might be in the center of it,
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SPEAKER_01: Ansley begins to question whether she actually knows the man
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SPEAKER_01: that she thought she married as well as she thought she did.
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SPEAKER_01: Basically,
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SPEAKER_01: in a nutshell,
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SPEAKER_01: the air is crisper,
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SPEAKER_01: the water is calmer,
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SPEAKER_01: but when it comes to the Murphys and Peachtree Bluffs,
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SPEAKER_01: nothing is ever quite as simple as it seems.
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SPEAKER_00: Excellent description.
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SPEAKER_00: I think that I really love A Matriarch because I loved Ansley's plot and one of
6:25
SPEAKER_00: the things I highlighted when I read this was that she can smell fall coming.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm actually really happy that you said that because I got that from my own life.
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SPEAKER_01: Now it seems like something that I lifted from Gilmore Girls
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SPEAKER_01: because Lorelai can smell snow but actually I swear I can smell fall and it's
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SPEAKER_01: an instant it's like a wake I wake up and I'm like, it's fall.
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SPEAKER_01: And my husband's like, you can't smell fall.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: People cannot smell fall.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I can smell fall.
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SPEAKER_01: I can smell it.
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SPEAKER_01: I promise you I can smell it.
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SPEAKER_01: I don't know what it is.
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SPEAKER_01: It's so strange.
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SPEAKER_01: I don't smell it yet.
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SPEAKER_01: I don't either.
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SPEAKER_01: It's still pretty humid.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm in Philadelphia.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to Trader Joe's after this to get my candles.
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SPEAKER_00: I already have the date on the calendar.
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SPEAKER_00: This is candle day.
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SPEAKER_00: But I don't think other than smelling my candle,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't think I will actually smell fall till maybe
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SPEAKER_00: the first Eagles game is September 13.
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SPEAKER_00: So maybe that day I'll smell fall.
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SPEAKER_01: There's just something about it.
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SPEAKER_01: There's this moment and it comes all at once and the humidity is sucked out of
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SPEAKER_01: the air and you can smell it.
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SPEAKER_01: It's like this ionic smell to me.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: But yes, I'm glad you reminded me of that because Ansley can indeed smell fall.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: And I did love, for many years, I was reading books with weddings.
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SPEAKER_00: And I would update it every spring because I'm very seasonal reader and that's very seasonal.
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SPEAKER_00: But I love that this one gives us a fall wedding planning season.
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SPEAKER_01: So the Peachtree Bluff series is inspired by Beaufort, North Carolina, where I live.
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SPEAKER_01: And fall here is just fall everywhere is really great.
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SPEAKER_01: But fall here is really magical because it's when tourist season is over.
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SPEAKER_01: A lot of locals tend to get married in the fall because it's so warm.
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SPEAKER_01: It's still really beautiful, but it's not quite as crowded.
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SPEAKER_01: And so I just thought it would be fun to give Emerson a fall wedding.
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SPEAKER_00: That definitely makes sense.
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SPEAKER_00: Up north, it's popular too.
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SPEAKER_00: Not as much in Philadelphia,
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SPEAKER_00: but I just got back from Martha's Vineyard,
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SPEAKER_00: a Gilmar Girls vacation location,
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SPEAKER_00: and they were saying how busy the wedding season is in the fall there too.
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SPEAKER_00: Another thing that I loved,
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SPEAKER_00: for those who love I'm actually not into pumpkin spice lattes,
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SPEAKER_00: so I'd love to know why you pick cinnamon spice.
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SPEAKER_00: Is that something that you like?
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SPEAKER_00: Is it something that you like?
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SPEAKER_01: I love cinnamon anything.
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SPEAKER_01: Cinnamon is one of my absolute favorite things.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm a cinnamon gum person.
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SPEAKER_01: I love just anything cinnamon flavored.
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SPEAKER_01: And I know not everyone's into pumpkin spice.
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SPEAKER_01: I like it.
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SPEAKER_01: And I love pumpkin.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: So this is an important caveat.
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SPEAKER_01: I make pumpkin pancakes all the time and pumpkin muffins.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm a big pumpkin person, but I don't love pumpkin spice as much as I love cinnamon spice.
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SPEAKER_01: I did on pumpkin spice latte day go to Starbucks.
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SPEAKER_01: Had to participate, right?
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SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's part of the fun.
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SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you have Trader Joe's down there, but they sell these cinnamon stick brooms.
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SPEAKER_00: They're like $5 and I put them on my porch.
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SPEAKER_00: And again, if you want to smell fall, that is a way to smell fall.
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SPEAKER_01: They smell so good.
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SPEAKER_01: In fact,
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SPEAKER_01: when I was in elementary school,
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SPEAKER_01: we used to take them and make them into witches or ghosts or something.
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SPEAKER_01: We would like dress them up.
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SPEAKER_00: I think that's a good project for my mom to do.
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SPEAKER_00: She's really into arts and crafts.
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SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, definitely.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: If she's crafty, she would love it.
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SPEAKER_00: And it smells so good.
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SPEAKER_00: It does.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: One other thing I wanted to note about this book,
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SPEAKER_00: one of the first lines that I highlighted,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't remember if it was the first page,
9:31
SPEAKER_00: but I remember it was early on and you said, as humans, we are wired to forget.
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SPEAKER_00: And I loved that because you had two books out this year and I brought you with me
9:39
SPEAKER_00: on both trips that I had.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: So I just wanted to tell you that as a fan of your work and for people
9:42
SPEAKER_00: who are thinking about picking up the book and why we rewatch Gilmore Girls
9:46
SPEAKER_00: and do all these things, I think it all fits together.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: I love hearing that.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: And that you were right.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: That is actually the opening line of the book.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: And I love it too.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: I think it sums us up in a lot of ways because we do things over and over again
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SPEAKER_01: in good ways and bad ways.
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SPEAKER_01: But I think sometimes we have to forget the hard things in order to really go for them again.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: And I do think on the flip side,
10:19
SPEAKER_01: it's the same reason we come back to the same shows,
10:22
SPEAKER_01: to the same books,
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SPEAKER_01: because not just because we've forgotten,
10:25
SPEAKER_01: but because there's something about those memories that are really critical
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SPEAKER_01: that we want to relive.
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SPEAKER_01: And it brings us back to a special place.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: Glad you liked that.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: And on that note, I'm wondering, most of your books are or warm weather books.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: So we've got a fall book.
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SPEAKER_00: Did Gilmore Girls, whether it's fall or another way, inspire you to write it?
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Gilmore Girls inspired this series in a really big way.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: We were not living in Beaufort, but we were spending a lot of summer times here.
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SPEAKER_01: And Beaufort just reminded me of Stars Hollow so much,
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SPEAKER_01: not even in the way that it looks,
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SPEAKER_01: except it's on the water, which is great because we're kind of water people.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: But just the quirky characters and the funny traditions and there's always a parade.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: And somebody was asking me recently for my guide to Beaufort.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: And what do you do if you really want to feel like you're in Peachtree Bluff?
11:08
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, just go to any actual town event and you will feel it.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: I feel like you're a part of things because they are so fun and silly and a throwback.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: But Gilmore Girls, weirdly enough, I'm the exact same age as Rory.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: So all of that time when we would have been graduating high school,
11:25
SPEAKER_01: graduating college, we were the same age, but I didn't really watch Gilmore Girls.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: I love the town.
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SPEAKER_01: I remember when I pitched this series, I said to my editor, I don't care if people remember the
11:44
SPEAKER_01: I want them to remember Peachtree Bluff.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: I want this to be a place that people want to come back to.
11:48
SPEAKER_01: And I want it to be a place that feels like home.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: And I was actually writing about that this morning because
11:52
SPEAKER_01: when those initial reviews were coming in on Goodreads,
11:55
SPEAKER_01: pretty much everyone was like, it feels like coming home.
11:57
SPEAKER_01: It was like coming home.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: It was like going home.
11:59
SPEAKER_01: And I was like,
12:00
SPEAKER_01: yeah, that's all I ever wanted for this is for people to just get that cozy feeling.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: And of course the family's different.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: The struggles are different.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: The plot is not the same.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: But I hope you get that feeling of just being in this town that accepts you for who you are.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like we're primed for an adaptation.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: So this has been a long and winding road.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: Peachtree Bluff was sold to NBC and I was co-writing on it.
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SPEAKER_01: We wrote the pilot and they ordered the second episode and then the writer's strike happened.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: Thank goodness we needed the writer's strike, but we had to start from scratch.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: But it's going really well.
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SPEAKER_01: There's a great team working on it.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually going to California in a month from now to work on that a little bit.
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SPEAKER_01: So fingers crossed, but I feel like it would be just great for right now.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: I feel like we need a cozy place to belong.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: I do.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, especially since I don't think we're going to get another Gilmore Girls.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: You don't?
12:49
SPEAKER_00: I know the rumor of a Christmas episode, maybe, but I don't know.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: I don't know either.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: But we can fill it with Peachtree Bluff.
12:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll fill it with Peachtree Bluff.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: All right.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: So this one is out again, September 15th.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: You can preorder it now and it will be a wonderful gift to you mid month,
13:05
SPEAKER_00: really right around that time when we're going to start smelling fall.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: So because readers around here love listicles,
13:11
SPEAKER_00: we're also going to talk about four more books that you picked as a lifelong reader
13:16
SPEAKER_00: and writer like the Gilmores and like Rory.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: That are like Gilmore Girls.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll do a quick speed round where I'm going to try to sell you some of
13:22
SPEAKER_00: the ones that I picked.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: So the first one that you picked was Nantucket Second Chances by Pamela Kelly.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: And in that book,
13:30
SPEAKER_00: Claire returns to Nantucket after a devastating divorce leaves her a single mom,
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SPEAKER_00: unexpectedly pregnant and broke.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: When a joke about selling her designer handbag sparks a business idea,
13:39
SPEAKER_00: Claire opens a luxury resale shop with the help of family and friends,
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SPEAKER_00: including a furniture builder.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: So why did you pick this one?
13:46
SPEAKER_01: This one I picked for the Lorelai, Rory, Emily dynamic.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: It's three generations of women.
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SPEAKER_01: It's a close knit community, old friendships, fresh starts.
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SPEAKER_01: Nothing that I picked on the list is necessarily like Gilmore Girls,
14:00
SPEAKER_01: but I wanted to pick some things maybe that were slightly outside the box
14:04
SPEAKER_01: since you have written so well about so many of these.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: But I love that three generations of women dynamic and their dynamic felt
14:11
SPEAKER_01: a little bit like that Lorelai, Rory, Emily dynamic.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the books that I picked are super in your face,
14:17
SPEAKER_00: but then I love how yours inspire us to go a little bit outside of it.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: So this one,
14:21
SPEAKER_00: we also get Nantucket,
14:22
SPEAKER_00: which does play a role in the end of the series,
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SPEAKER_00: even though it's not originally set in Nantucket,
14:28
SPEAKER_00: but there's a Gilmore Girls connection there as well.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: I haven't read this one, but I have read her Christmas book.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: And I do love following her on threads.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: If anyone here wants a great account to follow for writing advice,
14:41
SPEAKER_00: she posts all of her tips about doing Amazon ads and stuff like that.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: And I find it to be so insightful.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure I follow her on threads.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: I know I follow her on Instagram, but she's great.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: I've gotten to meet her in real life a couple of times, so she's awesome.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she's an excellent follow.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: And so the next one you picked was The One and Only by Emily Giffen.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And in this book, Shay has spent her entire life in a small Texas town devoted to football.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: After a tragedy shakes the community,
15:07
SPEAKER_00: she begins questioning the life she's built and takes an unexpected path
15:10
SPEAKER_00: that forced her to discover what she really wants.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: So why did you pick this one?
15:14
SPEAKER_01: This one is a little different.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: It isn't cozy in the way that Gilmore Girls is,
15:19
SPEAKER_01: but I like that it's a small town with a very strong identity.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of our Stars Hollow.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: It's not cozy in the same way, but it's related in that way.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: Everybody in this town is connected.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: Everyone knows everyone's business.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: And we have a heroine whose identity is really wrapped up in her hometown.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: And for better or worse,
15:35
SPEAKER_01: that becomes a part of Lorelai and Rory's stories as well in the good ways and
15:39
SPEAKER_01: the bad ways.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: I think they are very wrapped up in that kind of hometown identity.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: There are a lot of longstanding Family relationships in this book
15:47
SPEAKER_01: and community traditions and obsessions,
15:49
SPEAKER_01: which we definitely see that a lot in Stars Hollow.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: This is more kind of football centric than it is parades and picnic basket auctions,
15:57
SPEAKER_01: but it's got obsession in the same way.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: Again, I wanted to pick things that were not 100% like Gilmore Girls,
16:03
SPEAKER_01: but you could make the connections.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you did a great job.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: And I love that this one is football because I'm also a big fan of Friday Night Lights.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: Same.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: And I think there is a connection.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: I think you wouldn't necessarily think this is like Gilmore Girls,
16:17
SPEAKER_00: but I think the same people who like Gilmore Girls,
16:19
SPEAKER_00: like Parenthood, like Friday Night Lights.
16:22
SPEAKER_01: I totally agree with you.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: And I would say that Friday Night Lights is,
16:26
SPEAKER_01: it's not a reach for me in the way that Gilmore Girls is,
16:29
SPEAKER_01: but it's definitely something I've seen and I would 100% watch it again.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: I love the small town vibes of it.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: And it's different, but there's something similar too.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: That was a really interesting connection you made there.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: It makes us think outside the box a little bit.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: I was trying to go for some less obvious choices.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: Here's another less obvious one.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: Tallulah's Back in Town by Brenda Novak.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: And this follows the title or character back to her Montana hometown 14 years
16:51
SPEAKER_00: after leaving her fiance at the altar in order to settle her great aunt's estate.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: When she reconnects with her ex's best friend, old sparks quickly reignite.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: So why do you think this one is like Gilmore Girls?
17:03
SPEAKER_01: This one is just small town hijinks.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: There is something about this character in Lorelai that running from something and
17:09
SPEAKER_01: then having to come back and reckon with it.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: That's such a big part of Lorelai's story.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: She did run away,
17:14
SPEAKER_01: but then she eventually has to come back and deal with the past and because of Rory,
17:18
SPEAKER_01: because of school.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: And thank goodness she does because we are all the better for it.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: And so is she in the end.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Just really though, small town hijinks.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: I definitely got that when I read the description of it.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: Lorelei never left Christopher at the altar,
17:31
SPEAKER_00: but you definitely get those same vibes of someone running from something.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: And this one is set in Montana.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: And I love that it challenges us when we think books like Gilmore Girls.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be New England.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: Montana is a really beautiful state.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: I have friends who go there every single year.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: It's so beautiful.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: And I also loved the cover is the little bake shop.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: So it felt very sookie as well.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that was a good one.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: I didn't think of that.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: But yes, that's very true.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: The last one that you brought today is This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: After her husband's death,
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Tilly receives 12 books he chooses for her,
18:03
SPEAKER_00: each accompanied by a letter to guide her through her first year without him.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: As she reads,
18:07
SPEAKER_00: Tilly begins to heal,
18:09
SPEAKER_00: reconnect with others, and embark on adventures that help her rediscover life.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear why you picked this one.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: This one is all about what you just wrote this book about.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: So much of Gilmore Girls is about the books that help us find our way.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: And this book made me think of you is truly a love letter to the books
18:27
SPEAKER_01: that help us find our way,
18:28
SPEAKER_01: that change our lives, that help us through these difficult parts.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's not a super obvious choice,
18:32
SPEAKER_01: although I will say the This bookshop to me does have some center of
18:36
SPEAKER_01: the community like dragonfly and vibes to it a little bit.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of cozy and nostalgic in that way.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: But this one 100% just the books you read that set you on your path.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: That's so important.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: Rory's story.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: In the 21 Day Challenge, I posted one that's either borrow a book or lend a book.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: And I said to hand someone a book and say, this made me think of you.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like a love language.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: It absolutely is.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: I talk about this a lot.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: We have all these fancy newfangled ways to sell books,
19:05
SPEAKER_01: but truly the way that books still take off,
19:08
SPEAKER_01: the way that books still become hits is because someone hands it to their friend
19:11
SPEAKER_01: and says, you should read this.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I think you would like this book.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: And I love that.
19:14
SPEAKER_01: I love that about us,
19:15
SPEAKER_01: that everything else can veer so wildly in a different direction,
19:18
SPEAKER_01: but books still kind of bring us back to that
19:20
SPEAKER_00: essential nature of who we are.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: And this is a book that I initially didn't think I was going to read.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: I was actually just looking it up on my phone to buy it while I was waiting
19:29
SPEAKER_00: for this live to start, because I think you finally convinced me.
19:32
SPEAKER_00: So many people have said that this is an amazing book.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: I just didn't know if I wanted something sad.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: But at the beginning of each chapter starts with those little listicles of themed books.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, OK, I'm sold.
19:43
SPEAKER_01: It's a sad, happy book.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: It's sad at the beginning,
19:45
SPEAKER_01: but you're really on this journey with this character and that transformative power
19:49
SPEAKER_01: of reading will really resonate with you.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: I have a friend who calls this genre soapful.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: So it's sad, but hopeful.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I like that.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Those are the five books that you brought that feel like Gilmore Girls.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: And I thought we would do a bonus round.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: The spicy fall romance that scream fall on the covers.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: I do a little curation every year of those.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: And I thought what I would do is describe the book to you in one I want you to rate
20:14
SPEAKER_00: the Stars Hollow vibes.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: One to five pumpkins.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: All right.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: So the first one is The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: And here is my sentence trying to sell it.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: A pastry chef takes a job at a Vermont inn where she falls for a local
20:30
SPEAKER_00: and experiences a harvest dinner and an apple pie contest.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: That's five pumpkins.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: For many years,
20:36
SPEAKER_00: this was the one book that I saw everywhere as the book
20:40
SPEAKER_00: that feels like Gilmore Girls.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: There's a couple more now that we'll get to, but for many years, this was the one.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: So I agree.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Five pumpkins.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: All right.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn by Valerie Bowman.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: A woman returns to her family's inn on the Long Island apple orchard,
20:54
SPEAKER_00: where she's tasked with planning a harvest festival with the orchard owner's son.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say three pumpkins for that one.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: I think good Gilmore Girls vibes, but not as much as the first one.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: So I'm going with three.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: It's a three on vibes for me too.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: I think the Long Island thing is throwing me off a little bit, but I did really like this book.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Set in the 1990s,
21:16
SPEAKER_00: a divorcee temporarily running her mother's Vermont B&B meets
21:20
SPEAKER_00: a charming single dad neighbor who is a beloved baker and a small town golden boy.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do three pumpkins for that one too.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Maybe four.
21:29
SPEAKER_01: Maybe four pumpkins for that one.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a four and I'll tell you why.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: Because this is the only one that is set in the 1990s.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: The 90s is a very important one.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: The thing that was throwing me a tiny bit is we all love Luke.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: But I'm not sure I would call him a hometown golden boy.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: But I do think he's beloved in his own way.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: So we won't get caught up in the semantics there.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm sticking with the four.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: I'll say four as well.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Lori Gilmore.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: In this first in the spicy Dream Harbor.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: A woman takes over her aunt's cafe in a town with its town meetings
22:01
SPEAKER_00: and nosy neighbors,
22:02
SPEAKER_00: including Logan,
22:04
SPEAKER_00: a grumpy farmer who begins to help her, both in the cafe and the bedroom.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: We have a Logan.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: I would maybe say four only because this book is really spicy and Gilmore Girls isn't spicy.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: But otherwise, the town meetings, the pumpkin spice cafe, it's all there.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: The last one, Something About September by Julia McKay.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: Rebecca McIntosh inherits her grandmother's diner and returns to her hometown
22:30
SPEAKER_00: of Bramley Hollow with just 30 September days to renovate it,
22:34
SPEAKER_00: only to find that the contractor she needs is the man who rejected her.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, that sounds so good.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to say Three Pumpkins, though.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: The Diner is a great angle.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: It's Gilmore Girls-ish, and I really want to read it, but I'm going
22:48
SPEAKER_00: to say Three.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: It's very Gilmore Girls.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: It's also Bramley Hollow.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: I love that her name is Rebecca McIntosh.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: The one thing that I do love about it,
22:56
SPEAKER_00: but it's not necessarily Gilmore Girls,
22:57
SPEAKER_00: it has this very nostalgic high school vibe,
23:00
SPEAKER_00: like a rom-com movie,
23:01
SPEAKER_00: which is slightly different than Gilmore Girls, but great fall vibes.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Still some great Gilmore Girls vibes as well.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: So those are 10 books that Feel Like Gilmore Girls on September 1st to last you all fall long.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Before we go,
23:15
SPEAKER_00: would you like to give us the final elevator pitch for Falling for Peachtree Bluff?
23:20
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I do start with one of those books and then September 15th,
23:24
SPEAKER_01: grab your copy of Falling for Peachtree Bluff.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: I would appreciate it so much.
23:27
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully this one has five pumpkins for you, but you'll have to read and let me know.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: And I love that if you pre-order it today,
23:34
SPEAKER_00: it will get to you right around that time when we're going
23:36
SPEAKER_00: to start smelling fall like Ainsley.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: That's absolutely right.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: So by the time you're smelling fall, it will be in your mailbox.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: You can drink it with your cinnamon spice or your pumpkin spice.
23:46
SPEAKER_01: Friends in Viction,
23:47
SPEAKER_01: the podcast that you mentioned,
23:49
SPEAKER_01: we do a subscription box every time we have new books out.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: So this one,
23:52
SPEAKER_01: you're assigned And then you will get Patti Callahan Henry's new Heart of the Wild
24:02
SPEAKER_01: when it releases.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: And then there's special Friends of Viction swag and a book club with Patti and me.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: If people want a signed copy, you can get a copy of the book.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm doing a special with Brenda Novak, who I just mentioned one of her books.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: She is selling signed copies in her Brenda Novak store,
24:16
SPEAKER_01: and they have a bunch of special swag with them, too.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: And what store is that?
24:19
SPEAKER_01: It's on her website.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: She actually has a shop on there where she does a subscription box.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: So we've put together a fun little package for that.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: That is the perfect way to start fall.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: So I am off to Trader Joe's to get my candles and to get my cinnamon broom.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for talking to us today.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Happy September.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Happy September.